Chapter 129 The Imperial Examination
"Alright, now that Marquis Changping has returned to his body, I will be leaving."
The fake Marquis of Changping, Huang Wanli, was wearing a full suit of armor and exuded a murderous aura that made people afraid to approach him.
Shao Yanzhe nodded: "Of course, since you've already said that, you can leave now."
Upon hearing this, Huang Wanli had to admit that he felt a sense of relief.
The next moment, Shao Yanzhe spoke up again: "However, we are enemies. When we meet again, it will be either you or me who dies."
Huang Wanli nodded: "Of course!"
After he finished speaking, he tentatively floated towards the outside of the secret chamber, but his gaze remained fixed on the few scholars present.
After realizing that these people had no intention of keeping him, he quickened his pace, his figure flashing through the Changping Marquis's mansion, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived at the alley outside the mansion.
He was in a dark alley. He turned his head to look behind him and, after confirming that no one was following him, he finally relaxed completely.
Huang Wanli sneered, "Hmph! Womanly compassion!"
He originally thought that Shao Yanzhe was a difficult guy to deal with, but now it seems that he is unlikely to achieve great things.
If he were in the other person's position, he would seize him and cause his soul to be scattered after he emerged from Changpinghou's body.
Only then can he feel at ease.
So what if this frail scholar is clever? Isn't he just letting a tiger return to the mountains?
With a disdainful smile on his face, he turned around, intending to find Chief Minister Gu right now and inform him of this information so that a solution could be found as soon as possible.
However, as soon as he turned around, he met a familiar figure, and the smile on his face instantly froze.
"Hi! I didn't expect to see you again so soon!" Shao Yanzhe held the jade hairpin pen in his hand and smiled gently at Huang Wanli opposite him.
He had just finished greeting Huang Wanli when countless streams of literary energy rushed towards him before Huang could react.
The soul has absolutely no resistance to literary energy. Even though Huang Wanli was a general in his lifetime, he could only surrender when faced with literary energy that far exceeded his own abilities.
No, it should be said that even in his lifetime, he had no power to resist this terrifying literary energy.
Military generals are naturally at a disadvantage when facing civil officials who have just entered the ranks of scholars.
After confirming that Huang Wanli had been dispersed by the literary energy, Shao Yanzhe finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was the first time he had done something like this, and he was a little nervous.
Fortunately, Huang Wanli's already collapsing soul was powerless against the Wen Qi in the face of his attack, and he easily dealt with the opponent.
"Meow! You're so spineless!"
Xuan Yao, who came out with Shao Yanzhe, saw his appearance and couldn't help but curse him in annoyance.
What's there to be afraid of?
With the cat demon lord present, even if Shao Yanzhe failed to kill Huang Wanli, he would still intervene.
"Yes, yes, I'm useless. Okay, let's go back. Are you hungry? It's almost dawn. I'll go buy you some dried fish."
Shao Yanzhe glanced at Xuan Yao standing on the wall with amusement. With Wen Qi supporting him, he was as light as a swallow. The moment he swept over the wall, he reached out and scooped him up, and they re-entered the Changping Marquis's residence.
Xuan Yao's eyes immediately lit up: "Meow! I want it! Dried fish!"
On the other side, Gu Huiming, who was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes. He looked down at his hand and saw a broken thread.
"You're really useless."
After he finished speaking, he casually crumpled the fine threads in his palm into a ball and threw it into the charcoal brazier, where it instantly burst into flames.
Now that he was awake, he had no intention of going back to sleep. He got dressed, opened the door, and went out.
"My lord." The steward immediately followed Gu Huiming to the study.
Gu Huiming had just arrived at the study when ten men dressed in black entered in single file.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!" The ten men knelt on one knee to pay their respects.
"Get up." Gu Huiming looked at the people who came, his dark eyes sweeping over them one by one, and finally said, "Go and tell them to be more vigilant lately. They don't want to know the consequences if they dare to ruin my plans."
"yes!"
Gu Huiming glanced at the sky outside and silently calculated that the palace examination would begin in two days. At that time, his plan could be put into action.
Thinking of this, even though he was usually composed and never showed his emotions, he couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile as the Millennium Plan was about to succeed.
Before they knew it, it was time for the palace examination. Shao Yanzhe, Zhou Jiming, and the others lined up according to their scores in the provincial examination and entered the magnificent palace.
Everyone kept their heads down, looking extremely cautious, as if they were afraid of accidentally bumping into some important person and losing their heads.
The group of scholars arrived at the main hall and, led by Fuquan, performed the three kneelings and nine kowtows before Emperor Xirui, who was seated on the dragon throne, before taking their seats.
After receiving the test paper, I picked up my pen and buried myself in writing the questions, focusing all my attention on the test paper in front of me.
This imperial examination was extremely important to them; whether they would pass or not depended on this one test.
If you succeed, you will soar to great heights and become a person of high status.
The other outcome was that they were abandoned by the candidates.
Sitting at the front, Shao Yanzhe picked up his pen and wrote his answers on the test paper in front of him. He appeared calm and composed, but he was somewhat puzzled.
Ever since he entered the hall, he had noticed a gaze fixed on him, and even now that he had started answering questions, the gaze showed no intention of looking away.
But he couldn't actually look up now, so he could only try his best to ignore the gazes on him and focus all his attention on the test questions in front of him.
The test was prepared by Xiruidi and was not particularly difficult.
Shao Yanzhe solved the problem quickly and finished writing the essay question in no time. He breathed a sigh of relief and stretched his head slightly.
As soon as he looked up, he caught a glimpse of yellow behind his right side out of the corner of his eye.
He paused for a moment, then returned to normal, looking down at the front of him, seemingly deep in thought.
Judging from the color and quality of the fabric, it is undoubtedly a Xiruidi brand.
He didn't know how much time had passed before Xiruidi, who was standing behind him, disappeared, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon, the palace examination ended without any major incidents.
The candidates who had completed the palace examination were led out of the main hall by eunuchs and stood outside to wait for the final results.
"My dear minister, what do you think of these exam papers?" Emperor Xirui casually handed several exam papers to Gu Huiming.
Gu Huiming did not reach out to take it, but instead said humbly, "Your Majesty can decide these matters!"
Emperor Xirui couldn't help but curl his lips. This old fox was really cunning. In the past, the final rankings of each imperial examination were all determined by him.
snort!
Since that's the case, he might as well just make a decision this time, and he just hoped that Gu Huiming wouldn't blame him for it.
"This essay is beautiful and substantial, and its poetry is unmatched. Let's name it the top scholar!"
"As for the third and second place winners, let's choose those two!"
Emperor Xirui quickly determined the top three winners of this palace examination.
He looked up at Gu Huiming, a smug glint in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, Gu Huiming was quite different this time, showing no interest in the top three in the palace examination as set by Emperor Xirui.
Seeing his current appearance, Gu Huiming only glanced at him before looking away, adopting the demeanor of an upright subject.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Xirui felt somewhat puzzled.
"Minister Gu, do you think this ranking is appropriate?"
He ultimately decided to ask.
"I will obey Your Majesty's arrangements!" Gu Huiming bowed his head and clasped his hands in a salute to Emperor Xirui.
Emperor Xirui was overjoyed to see that he truly had no intention of interfering with the rankings of this imperial examination.
He turned to Fuquan beside him and said, "In that case, let's announce the rankings!"
"Here you go!"
Fuquan received the final rankings of the palace examination and called out the names one by one, starting from the last place and proceeding to the top three.
Finally, he began to call out the top three names.
"Sound the whip!"
The next moment, a eunuch below the steps brandished a whip, striking the air with three loud and clear sounds.
Then, Fuquan began calling out the names.
Holding the golden edict given to him by Emperor Xirui in both hands, he walked to the entrance of the main hall, and immediately, his high-pitched and melodious voice clearly resounded through the sky.
"First place, third place: Shen Jingzhou, from Jiangzhou Prefecture!"
"First place, second place: Wen Yanqing, from Jiangzhou Prefecture!"
"First place in the first class, Shao Yanzhe, from Jiangzhou Prefecture!"
The song was sung one after another until it reached the person who sang it and then stopped.
Upon hearing the result, Shao Yanzhe, who had his head slightly lowered, was somewhat surprised. He had not expected that the top three spots would be taken by the people from their Jiangzhou Prefecture.
Then, led by a eunuch, the group returned to the main hall and bowed to Emperor Xirui once more.
Emperor Xirui sat on the dragon throne, looking down at the new batch of imperial examination candidates, feeling extremely satisfied.
Perhaps because he had decided on the top three this time, he had a different feeling towards them, especially the champion whom he had personally selected. His gaze swept over the champion's face, and his eyes flickered.
He looked at Fuquan beside him.
Fuquan understood Xiruidi's meaning and had someone send the top three winners their costumes for the upcoming parade.
Next came the parade of the top scholar. After experiencing all of this, Shao Yanzhe returned to the Zhou residence in a daze. Despite his glorious day, he was truly exhausted.
After washing up, he lay down to rest. As for the rest, he could deal with it tomorrow.
As soon as Shao Yanzhe closed his eyes, the literary energy within his body began to grow stronger, increasing slightly every second.
These spiritual energies circulated slowly within the body, gradually expanding its capacity, silently and imperceptibly, without anyone noticing.
The next day, dazzling sunlight slanted in through the window cracks, shining directly on the side of Shao Yanzhe's face, who had his eyes closed.
He slowly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and better rested than ever before.
He simply thought that his body would feel relaxed only after he had slept until he naturally woke up and rested enough.
After getting up and washing up, he went to the front hall, where Zhou Jiming and the others had already gathered.
He was about to say something when he noticed the solemn expressions on everyone's faces, and the atmosphere became even more oppressive.
"What happened? Why do you all look so serious?" Shao Yanzhe asked.
Wen Yanqing, who was closest to him, looked at him and handed him a letter.
"Just now, Chief Minister Gu Huiming sent you an invitation to visit the Gu residence tomorrow."
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