Chapter 44 The Peony Soul Takes the Bait
"Leng Yanshan has been replaced by someone else?"
When Shao Yanzhe heard Madam Yin's words, his first thought was that Leng Yanshan had spent money to buy a death row inmate to be beheaded in his place.
After all, he had read many novels and watched many TV series, so such plots were not uncommon.
Madam Yin shook her head solemnly: "No, Leng Yanshan's body was indeed beheaded, but the soul inside was not Leng Yanshan's."
"What do you mean?" Shao Yanzhe didn't understand her meaning for a moment.
“After Leng Yanshan died, I saw the soul that came out of that body. Although the soul looked the same as Leng Yanshan, I recognized it at a glance. It was definitely not Leng Yanshan!” Madam Yin said with great certainty.
After frowning and thinking for a moment, Shao Yanzhe said, "You mean that an outsider soul has been occupying Leng Yanshan's body, and when it knew he was going to die, it left that body and let the original Leng Yanshan die in his place?"
Madam Yin nodded and said, "That should be so."
Shao Yanzhe's fingers tapped unconsciously on the table, a small gesture he made when he was thinking. Accompanied by the rhythmic tapping, he began to ponder.
If that foreign soul truly exists, where did it go after it left Leng Yanshan's body?
He didn't even consider the possibility of his soul being scattered, after all, he came out of Leng Yanshan's body because he didn't want to die.
It is highly likely that he will seek a suitable body to parasitize again.
Once they get their hands on the body, given that person's vengeful nature, they will surely seek revenge.
Shao Yanzhe didn't want someone like that constantly watching him.
“If that’s the case, then let’s find a way to do it!” he said.
Madam Yin looked at him and said, "That person is hiding, so it may not be easy to find him."
Shao Yanzhe was certainly aware of this, but he also had a general understanding of that person's temperament.
He smiled gently and said, "Madam Yin, don't worry. I'm sure that person is too narrow-minded to want to see us doing well. Today is the day the results are released. I'm confident that I did well this time. When the results are released, all we need to do is make a big show of it. When that person sees it, he will definitely come looking for revenge."
Madam Yin glanced at him and said, "You seem to know him quite well. However, I've dragged you into this mess. Don't worry, I'll stay by your side until we find that person."
As the two were talking, they suddenly heard a commotion outside the door, which seemed to include the sound of a gong.
Shao Yanzhe glanced at the sky; it was almost time for the results to be released.
The commotion outside must have been caused by the messenger who came to deliver the message.
"Brother Shao! Brother Shao! Hurry! Come out quickly! The person outside has brought you good news!"
Zhou Jiming pounded on the door from the outside.
Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe looked at Madam Yin and said, "Madam Yin, you must be on the lookout for any ghosts around me. They are very likely to be Leng Yanshan who has escaped."
Madam Yin nodded: "Don't worry, I will be careful."
Shao Yanzhe then pushed open the door and walked out with Zhou Jiming. Soon they saw the constables waiting in the reception room.
"Excuse me, are you Shao Yanzhe, the scholar?" A constable stood up and bowed to Shao Yanzhe.
Shao Yanzhe cupped his hands in greeting to the constable and said, "It is indeed I."
The constable then bowed and offered his congratulations with great joy: "Congratulations to Master Shao Yanzhe for achieving first place in the Jiangzhou provincial examination!"
Shao Yanzhe was stunned; he hadn't expected to get first place.
While he was in a daze, Zhou Jiming, who was standing next to him, was very happy. He quickly took out the money bag that he had already wrapped from his sleeve and stuffed it into the hand of the constable.
"Thank you! I'm sorry to have troubled you all to make this trip. This is a gift from Scholar Shao for your drinks."
With the money bag in hand, the constable had a pretty good idea of how much silver was inside, and his smile deepened.
After seeing off the messenger, Zhou Jiming looked at Shao Yanzhe with a beaming smile: "Brother Shao, congratulations on winning the top scholar title! We must celebrate today! Come on, come on, it's my treat today, let's have a drink together."
Just then, Liu Mingyuan and his group arrived, their faces beaming with joy.
Upon meeting, he immediately cupped his hands in congratulations to Shao Yanzhe, saying, "Congratulations, Brother Shao, on winning the top scholar title!"
Congratulations, Brother Shao!
Congratulations!
The group first congratulated Shao Yanzhe, and then happily reported their rankings.
Liu Mingyuan said with great excitement, "Hehe, I passed the exam too. Although my ranking is a bit low, it's enough for me."
Chen Yunhe nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right! I originally thought I'd have to wait until next time to pass the exam, but I never expected I'd actually pass!"
Su Yuheng appeared very calm, but a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth revealed that he was in a very good mood: "I came in ninth place."
Shen Jingzhou maintained his calm expression: "I came in third."
Finally, Wen Yanqing said, "I'm in fifth place."
Shao Yanzhe was overjoyed and congratulated the group, saying, "Congratulations, brothers!"
Congratulations! Congratulations!
Zhou Jiming snapped open his folding fan and said, "Alright, alright, since that's the case, how about we go have a drink now to celebrate?"
"Okay!" Liu Mingyuan was the first to agree.
The group then headed to the largest restaurant in Qingzhou, where Zhou Jiming had already made a reservation.
As soon as I entered the restaurant, a complaining voice rang out.
"I wonder who this Shao Yanzhe is, that he can actually suppress Brother Zhou!" said a scholar. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes were hazy, and he reeked of alcohol. It was clear that he had drunk quite a bit and was already drunk.
The man next to the scholar was taken aback. He glanced at the scholar and said, “Brother Liu, you must not talk nonsense. I have heard of Shao Yanzhe. I heard that he was the top scorer in the provincial examination, which is comparable to my score. Since he was able to become the top scorer in the provincial examination, he must have made progress recently.”
"Hmph! Brother Zhou, don't underestimate yourself! Shao Yanzhe is not well-known, so he must have used some means to get the top score in the provincial examination!" The scholar, who was already drunk, was indignant and convinced of his own idea.
"Alright, Brother Liu! If you continue to say such things, then we shall sever our ties!" The scholar surnamed Zhou's expression changed drastically.
Is this something that can be said out loud?!
His words implied that Shao Yanzhe had cheated on the imperial examination, and if it were exposed, he would be the first to be implicated.
The other scholars sitting in the restaurant's main hall also changed their expressions slightly, their eyes becoming wary as they looked at the scholar surnamed Liu. They resolved to stay away from this foolish fellow in the future, otherwise they would definitely be implicated by him.
The scholar surnamed Liu, whose mind was already numbed by alcohol, flew into a rage upon hearing the scholar surnamed Zhou's words. Pointing at him, he began to hurl insults: "You, surnamed Zhou! How could you be so heartless! Humph! Fine, let's break off our friendship!"
As he spoke, he stood up unsteadily and walked towards the exit of the restaurant. He happened to pass by Shao Yanzhe and his group, and he rudely pushed aside the person blocking his way before leaving the restaurant.
Chen Yunhe, who had been pushed by him, was very dissatisfied and wanted to go forward to argue, but was stopped by Shao Yanzhe.
Don't argue with a drunkard.
Chen Yunhe thought about it and realized that it made sense. He was just a pitiful guy who failed the exam. Why should he bother with him?
"Alright, Brother Shao, for your sake, I won't hold it against him."
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the scholars in the restaurant to hear, and their eyes instinctively fell on Shao Yanzhe.
They wondered if this person was the top scholar in the provincial examination.
As everyone speculated, the scholar surnamed Zhou stood up and bowed to Shao Yanzhe, saying, "I overheard this gentleman addressing you as Brother Shao. Your surname is the same as the top scholar in this year's provincial examination. Are you Shao Yanzhe?"
Shao Yanzhe returned the greeting with a cupped hand, his expression calm. He nodded slightly and said, "Indeed, I am Shao Yanzhe. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
The scholar surnamed Zhou's eyes lit up: "Forgive my abruptness, but may I have a look at the answers to the provincial examination questions for the top scholar from Shaozhou this time?"
"sure!"
Shao Yanzhe did not refuse; it was not a difficult matter.
"Thank you very much, Scholar Shao! Waiter, bring me paper and pen!"
The waiter was very quick-witted and immediately placed the paper and pen on an empty table.
Shao Yanzhe immediately picked up his brush and wrote down the answers to the questions on the provincial examination paper.
"This problem can actually be solved this way? How come I didn't think of that?"
"Brilliant! This solution is absolutely brilliant!"
"It seems that this Shao Jieyuan is indeed quite skilled; I could never write an essay as well as he does."
"As expected of the top scholar in the provincial examination and the top scholar in the provincial examination, this essay is truly exquisite!"
"That's right, if its literary energy is activated, it would surely be over six feet tall!"
"This poem is full of inspiration. It seems that Shao Jieyuan is not only proficient in writing essays, but also quite skilled in writing poetry!"
"No wonder Shao Jieyuan was able to become the top scholar!"
Shao Yanzhe's articles circulated among the scholars. Under the tutelage of Yun Weiyue and Yun Suqing, his writing skills had improved dramatically, surpassing most people. His poetry was also personally taught by Madam Yin, resulting in poems full of inspiration and a significant improvement over his previous crafty works.
These scholars couldn't help but start discussing with him how to write a more stunning opening to a cross-section essay, whether they had missed any classics, how to quickly learn about current events in the Dayong Dynasty, how to write a more logically rigorous eight-legged essay, and how to write poetry with more inspiration, and so on.
Before we knew it, the blazing sun, high in the sky, slowly began to set in the west.
The scholar surnamed Zhou glanced at the red sunset outside the door and was immediately inspired to compose a poem.
"Gentlemen, why don't we compose a poem about this sunset?"
"good!"
Everyone's interest was piqued, as they had just learned many techniques for writing poetry and wanted to test their learning.
Shao Yanzhe glanced at the door, paused, and then changed the words he was about to say: "That's exactly what I was thinking!"
So the scholars in the restaurant all buried themselves in deep thought.
No one noticed that the scholar surnamed Liu, who had left earlier, sneaked in from the entrance of the restaurant and hid in a corner among the other scholars, trying his best to keep his presence low.
His gaze kept glancing at Shao Yanzhe, who was writing poetry with his head down, and a look of resentment flashed in his eyes.
Compared to before, she seems to have a more gloomy demeanor.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one noticed, Xuan Yao, who had snuggled into Shao Yanzhe's arms, slowly opened his eyes. His golden-black heterochromatic eyes accurately looked at the scholar surnamed Liu hiding in the crowd. He grinned slightly and stared at him, his eyes full of vigilance.
Shao Yanzhe noticed Xuan Yao's movements. He gently stroked its very soft head and pressed it down to make it lie back down.
He glanced at the location of the scholar surnamed Liu, his eyes darkening.
Looks like the fish has taken the bait!
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