☆ Chapter 144: Could there be another unexpected turn of events?
Should all scholars in the world be the examiners?
The Four Books and Five Classics are alright, the answers are fixed. The main thing is policy essays. A person's vision determines his knowledge, and a person's knowledge also determines whether his writing is ornate but empty, or plain but substantial.
However, no matter how well an article is written, the examiner's own knowledge, perspective, and preferences will produce different opinions from the examinee. A thousand readers will have a thousand Hamlets. If most of the students reading the article do not like it, does that mean it is not a good article?
The candidates all had this question in mind, and the Sixteenth Prince also asked Zhou Mujiao: "If Zhao Yunjing's article is posted and evaluated by a thousand students, and all a thousand students give it a low score, do you think he will still be qualified to be shortlisted?"
Zhou Mujiao was also puzzled. Now that the Emperor had arrived and the exam was over, why didn't the Sixteenth Prince go and serve the Emperor properly to make his presence known to him? Instead, he came to find her as soon as he left the exam hall and asked such a 'profound' question. It was really strange.
"Does Miss Zhou think he already has a way out, so whether he makes it into the finals or not is not important?" the Sixteenth Prince said again. "I think Miss Zhou chose him because he has more potential to rise in the ranks than others."
Zhou Mujiao smiled and said, "When two people are together, it can be because they are well-matched in terms of social status, because they are compatible in terms of soul, or because they are evenly matched in other aspects. I suppose the Sixteenth Prince has never been in a relationship properly and has never seen love that is simply based on being attracted by the other person's personality."
"Love?" The Sixteenth Prince looked puzzled. "What is that? Can you eat it? How much benefit can it bring me? I am of noble status, and everyone who approaches me has one purpose or another. I can't even keep up with their guard, let alone soulmates? Miss Zhou, what kind of joke are you telling?"
Zhou Mujiao spread her hands: "Then this commoner has nothing to discuss with Your Highness. Your Highness, the exam is over, when will the candidates be able to come out?"
"Tomorrow afternoon."
"Do we have to wait another day?"
"His Majesty attaches great importance to this re-examination, so naturally he must be cautious in everything he does. Miss Zhou, last time I came to Yuzhou, I only had a brief visit and didn't have time to properly explore the city. Why don't you do me the favor of being my tour guide and showing me around Yuzhou?"
Before Zhou Mujiao could speak, Jiang Wuyu spoke up first: "Your Highness, this is Miss Zhou's first time in Yuzhou City, and she is quite unfamiliar with the city. I, on the other hand, am a frequent visitor to Yuzhou Prefecture. If Your Highness does not mind—"
“Disdain.” The Sixteenth Prince didn’t even look at Jiang Wuyu, but stared at Zhou Mujiao. “Zhou Mujiao, you are the first woman to reject me. I will remember you. I heard that you are already preparing to go to the capital in October? You can accompany me.”
Is this a quote from a domineering CEO?
"Your Highness has made a mistake in showing favor; I am filled with fear and trepidation."
"This is an honor bestowed upon you by the King. You may accept it."
"I'm afraid Ajiao can't handle the favor the prince has given her." Jiang Wuyu pulled Zhou Mujiao behind him. "Five days from now is Ajiao's engagement ceremony with Yun Jing. We would like to ask the prince to do us the honor of coming to the village for a drink."
The Sixteenth Prince then looked at Jiang Wuyu properly. Upon seeing her, he felt that she looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before: "Have I seen you before?"
"Last time, when Your Highness fought with Young Master Zhu at the milk tea shop, I was there."
The scene was quite chaotic, with many people around; perhaps that's when I saw the man.
The Sixteenth Prince smiled meaningfully: "Then I'll come and ask for a cup of wedding wine then."
The person had already walked quite a distance when he suddenly turned back and looked at Jiang Wuyu several times: "Was this person really present when I fought with that Young Master Zhu last time?"
The attendant nodded: "They were indeed there, coming with that Ma Dalang. The two of them were extremely fierce. If Lord Tang hadn't revealed Your Highness's identity, they probably would have killed someone. As the saying goes, 'bad people come from poor and remote places.' Your Highness, perhaps we should skip the wedding banquet in five days?"
"Do they really dare to kill me?" the Sixteenth Prince laughed. "However, even if I dare to attend their wedding, it's still uncertain whether their wedding banquet will even take place!"
The attendants couldn't help but light a candle for Zhao Yunjing and Zhou Mujiao, as these two had thoroughly offended the Sixteenth Prince.
Zhou Mujiao did not sleep well that night, and kept having some unpleasant dreams.
The floodwaters bursting from the breached dikes, the mudslides that relentlessly destroyed houses and claimed lives like ferocious beasts, the flames shooting into the sky, and the children running and playing on the road who suddenly collapsed, convulsed, and then died...
Upon waking up to a pair of kind eyes, Zhou Mujiao felt inexplicably dazed. Looking at the silver hair on Old Madam Li's head, she seemed to yearn for the modern world.
Grandma Li touched her face: "Did you have a nightmare?"
She shook her head and told a little lie: "I dreamed that Brother Zhao became the top scholar in the imperial examination."
"Silly girl, although you are not my biological child, we are still connected by blood. If you were dreaming that Yun Jing would become the top scholar in the imperial examination, why would you cry?"
Grandma Li patted her hand: "Get up. Xiao Wu and Xiao Jiu have been waiting for you for a while. That girl Shi Ba has come to ask three times. Seeing that you are still asleep, they are all wondering if you have been bewitched by that Sixteenth Prince."
Zhou Mujiao was both amused and exasperated.
Five small heads suddenly appeared at the window of the lobby on the second floor of the inn. It was Xiao Wu and his friends. They lined up from shortest to tallest and from left to right. They stood at the window looking at the people passing by below. The people passing by below also looked up at them. When their eyes met, they all smiled.
Eighteen ran from the back of the line to the front, tilting her head: "Little Fifth Brother, why isn't Sister up yet? Today is the day Big Brother leaves the examination hall, she wouldn't have forgotten, would she?"
Xiao Wu patted her head. The little girl was almost six years old and was growing more and more beautiful. Her little face was chubby and fair. The phrase "powdered and jade-like" in the Shuowen Jiezi (a Chinese dictionary) must describe someone who is about eighteen years old.
"Brother Zhao won't be leaving the exam hall until the afternoon. It's only Chen Shi now. If my sister goes there, she'll be in the sun, and my sister hates the sun the most."
"Don't be afraid, we have a big parasol! It can block out even the strongest sun! Little Wu, shall we go and call for our sister again?"
"I don't want to, my older sister will beat me up. Go ahead, my older sister favors girls over boys, she won't beat you up, she'll just say 'Eighteen, I like you so much'."
Eighteen laughed as if he had gotten a great deal.
"Then I'll go call my sister! Oh no, I want to sleep a little longer with my sister and whisper some secrets!"
The little girl skipped and hopped towards Zhou Mujiao's room, her silvery laughter echoing all the way. When Zhou Mujiao heard it, the corners of her mouth curved into a smile.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the candidates came out of the examination room, and Zhou Mujiao quickly went to greet them.
Zhao Yun Jing was nowhere to be seen in the team!
She was about to go into the examination hall when Young Master Chen stopped her: "Miss Zhou, don't go. Zhao Yunjing left the examination hall early this morning."
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