While they were still stunned, the master craftsman, not believing in superstition, turned around, jogged to the box of "absolute" questions, and excitedly took out another set of answers.
But this time, upon glancing at him, the expression on his face immediately faded considerably.
But he still carefully read through the answers.
"Is this also from Zheng Qing of Ye?" a master craftsman next to him asked in a low voice.
However, the master craftsman shook his head. After reading it, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Yu Manqi of the Southern Chen Kingdom gets... one point."
This is the score he gave for grading the answer sheets.
Yu Manqi never expected that the second answer sheet he picked up would be his own. When he heard the master craftsman calmly announce the score, his face turned ashen.
With Zheng Qing's excellent performance as a precedent, his score was simply a cause for celebration.
One point?
Only one point?
Yu Manqi was considered by some of the master craftsmen present to be the champion.
However, he only got one point on the "absolute" question, while Zheng Qing, a craftsman of the first rank, got full marks... Was it Zheng Qing who got lucky, or did Yu Manyi make a mistake on this question?
After announcing the scores, the master craftsman handed Yu Manqi's answers back to Gongshu Jiruo for review.
Gongshu Jiruo took it, and his expression was no different from when he had reviewed Zheng Qing's answers.
Yu Manqi below clenched his fists nervously and swallowed hard.
He prayed silently in his heart that the master craftsman might have a bad eye and misjudge his score; he hoped for a high score, a very high score, even just one more point...
Gongshu Jiruo didn't keep them waiting long. He put down the answer sheet in his hand, his cold, snowy eyes narrowed slightly, and said, "Yu Manqi of Nan Chen Kingdom... will not be counted."
No points awarded...
Yu Manqi was stunned.
Not scored?!
Doesn't this mean he got the question completely wrong, and there's nothing acceptable about his answer?!
Yu Manyi's lips trembled, and his pale face turned deathly white.
"Why?! Master Gang clearly said that one point could be added... Zheng Qing's answer sheet, you said it was worth four points, how could she?! She is clearly a deceitful scoundrel, a craftsman of the first rank who is not even qualified to join any guild in our Southern Chen Kingdom, how could she get four points while I was deducted even one point?!"
Overwhelmed by rage, Yu Manqi forgot where he was, who he was yelling at, and how he was acting like a furious stag, pointing and shouting repeatedly in Zheng Quchi's direction.
Everyone was taken aback and cautiously looked at Master Gongshu. They hadn't expected Yu Manqi to be so bold as to question Master Gongshu in such an attitude.
"Yu Manqi, are you questioning the master craftsman, or my impartiality?" Gongshu Jiruo's casual question made Yu Manqi feel a heavy pressure from the bottom of his heart.
Yu Manqi had only dared to publicly provoke the Gongshu Master because his anger had clouded his judgment. Now that his arrogance had subsided, he was terrified and quickly lowered his head, clasped his hands in apology: "No, I dare not. Manqi was inappropriate in his speech. Please forgive me, Gongshu Master."
The master craftsman, unable to bear it any longer, frowned and stepped forward, saying, "Yu Manqi, I will give you one point, only because your answer was rather novel and had some merit. However, it is not because the answer was correct, but because I was slightly biased in valuing your talent. The score given by Master Gongshu is the rightful one. This was my mistake, and I will take it as a lesson and never do it again."
The master craftsman had originally thought highly of Yu Manyi's talent, but seeing how narrow-minded and irritable he was, he told him in public the whole story of how he had given him this share.
It's not that you answered correctly, but I gave you a point out of sympathy because I saw you wrote so many words.
The craftsman's words deeply wounded Yu Manyi's pride.
He lowered his head, gritted his teeth, turned his head, and glared at Zheng Quchi with resentment and hatred.
It's all Zheng Qing's fault. He made him lose face and offended Master Gongshu and Master Gang.
Zheng Quchi met his gaze: "..." Ha, impressive, he can't do anything about the winter melon, so he can only grind the eggplant?
But does she look like an "eggplant"?
I'm afraid he's picked the wrong person to pick on.
Zheng Quchi raised an eyebrow slightly and gave Yu Manqi a meaningful look, as if to say, this is nothing. If he can't even stand this, then next... he will want to die even more.
"Alright, let's start with an exceptional case next," the other master craftsmen said, trying to smooth things over.
A master craftsman took out a piece from the "exquisite" box.
The questions were labeled as "exceptional" or "unique". When he tried this question, he found it a bit tricky, as there were many key points to answer. He wasn't good at this type of question, so he took out the answer booklet for "exceptional" questions, which contained the standard answers for questions on the categories of "craft", "skill", "technique", and "unique".
After comparing them one by one, he finally made up his mind.
"For some reason, I got two points."
"This one, please review it again, Master Gongshu."
As the head of the Gongshu family, Gongshu Jiruo was naturally very familiar with the types of questions they had collected. He was also faster at answering questions than the master craftsmen: "Unanswerable, two points."
Seeing that there were no mistakes, the master craftsman breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his original position to continue.
At this time, the other master craftsmen also completed their corrections to the answer: "The Kingdom of Kucha is located by the sea, and it receives two points."
Gongshu Jiruo reviewed the case, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table as if weighing the final score, but in the end he did not reject it: "The Kingdom of Kucha is located by the sea, so it gets two points."
Upon hearing this, Yu Hai's face lit up with obvious joy. He licked his dry, nervous lips and then secretly glanced at Zheng Qing.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
