The palace examination was held on September 18, three days after the results of the provincial examination were released.
The palace examination was held in the palace, with the emperor personally setting the questions.
Gu Shouxin ranked first in the imperial examination and sat in the first row, where he could see the emperor very clearly.
To please the emperor, Gu Shouxin naturally had to feign surprise and disbelief.
The emperor glanced at Gu Shouxin and nodded in satisfaction.
Hehe, Second Prince Gu, aren't you surprised to see me? Hahaha, I've been waiting to see your expression for days!
The exam papers were handed out, and the candidates began to read the questions.
The emperor walked down from above, his hands behind his back.
Some students with poor mental fortitude smeared their exam papers with ink, much to the emperor's dismay.
He then wandered around with his hands behind his back.
The other examiners wanted to stop him. You're putting pressure on people. Do you even want to recruit talent this year?
Unfortunately, they dared not shout.
Since this emperor ascended the throne, he has been able to frighten many people during the palace examination held every three years. There is no other reason than that he likes to stand with his hands behind his back for a quarter of an hour, making the candidates' hands tremble.
In the imperial examination two years ago, an official suggested that the emperor not stand for too long. The emperor replied, "If I stand next to him, will it affect him? How can he serve me as a subject? Attending the morning court every day, wouldn't he just be afraid? How can he share my burdens?"
Nobody knew that he genuinely wanted someone to share his burdens! He really wanted to go out and have some fun.
Normally, the palace examination only has one question, but this year there are two, and the time allotted is longer than usual.
Everyone thought it was just the emperor's whim, but actually one of the dishes was suggested by the Empress Dowager.
After the palace examination concluded at sunset, the candidates left the palace to await news.
That evening, the emperor brought several answer sheets that he had his eye on to the Empress Dowager's Renshou Palace.
The Empress Dowager was about to retire when she saw the Emperor arrive with his answer sheets, just like in previous years. She couldn't tell whether she was happy or unhappy.
She had actually relinquished power to the emperor long ago, but this child still insisted on bothering her.
She's over seventy years old, doesn't this young man know how tired the old lady is?
"Grandmother, please take a look at these answer sheets. I'm telling you, I plan to let one of these students stay in the Hanlin Academy for two or three years before sending him to a better place!" the Emperor said excitedly.
The question posed by the Empress Dowager was: what should be done with the territories possessed by previous dynasties that the founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty had not conquered?
The Empress Dowager took them and began to read them one by one.
The top one was Huo Junhao's. After looking at it, she said, "This child should be quite young. He must be from a scholarly family. Could he be that little kid from the Huo family?"
The Emperor nodded: "Yes, that's right. I plan to appoint him as the third-ranked scholar! With his looks, he's worthy of the title. Throughout history, haven't our third-ranked scholars always been handsome?"
The Empress Dowager said nothing and continued reading: "This essay shows that this young man has a deep understanding of the people's suffering, and his views are fair and unbiased. He is tactful, yet he also has his own ambitions."
The Emperor nodded: "This candidate is from Jiangnan, but he didn't get a good ranking in the provincial examination, though he ranked third in the metropolitan examination. Just a couple of days ago, Jinghe forced him to paint a picture for her! I want to appoint him as the second-highest scorer."
The Empress Dowager took another copy and began to read it.
She commented on every single one, and her comments were very accurate, which further increased the emperor's admiration for her.
The last one was Gu Shouxin's. She picked it up, and after reading it, she didn't comment immediately, but instead frowned.
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