Chapter 60: Strange People
"Huh!" Suddenly, Principal Wang looked at the paper in his hand with a strange expression on his face.
He read it through, thought for a moment, and began counting again. He counted three times from beginning to end, making sure he hadn't made a mistake before saying, "It's strange! Such a difficult question, and yet someone actually got it right."
"Is this true? There is actually someone who can answer this question." The headmaster next to him couldn't help but lean over to take a look.
This time, he was even more surprised: "It's really written out. It's so densely packed. Let me count and see if there are a hundred."
It's no wonder they were surprised. When they saw Prefect Fang take out the exam question, all the headmasters present were surprised. Some of them even pondered over it secretly, but they couldn't answer it for a while.
This is obviously not a question that is off topic, but rather a question of who would bother to calculate this.
But now, the test paper in front of them was neatly filled with one hundred names. Perhaps because of time constraints, only one sentence was written after each name to summarize the deeds.
Judging from the handwriting above, the person who wrote this paper was calm and not anxious, which shows that he was confident.
This headmaster's math was probably not very good. He entered the number three times and each time the number was different, either too many or too few. This made Headmaster Wang count again to make sure that there were exactly one hundred people, no more, no less.
At this moment, another headmaster nearby said in surprise: "I have someone here who got the answer right too."
Shanzhang Wang went over to take a look, and sure enough, the paper was also filled with writing. However, compared with the paper in his hand, this paper seemed like a defective product. Not only was the content missing, but the handwriting was also hurried, obviously not as calm.
He put the two test papers together and frowned, saying, "How is it possible that two people managed to answer such a difficult question? Could it be that someone knew the questions in advance?"
"Master Wang." Someone coughed, reminding him to be careful with his words.
Shanzhang Wang finally reacted and looked at Lord Fang over there and quickly put his thoughts aside.
They only knew the exam questions after entering the examination room. Before that, only Lord Fang knew about it. They knew Lord Fang's character very well, and it was impossible for him to leak the exam questions himself.
Shanzhang Wang dismissed this thought. The more he looked at the two exam papers, the more satisfied he became. He stroked his long beard and said, "I never expected that. This exam question is so difficult, but there are actually two people in Qingzhou Prefecture who can answer it. This shows that this place is indeed a place with a flourishing culture and education."
"What are the virtues of the 72 sages of Confucius? What are the achievements of the 28 generals of Yuntai?" Principal Wang continued. "This person can list them all, which shows his profound knowledge. He is definitely not comparable to ordinary students. He should be the best."
"Although the notes for this paper were a bit hasty and the content is a bit lacking, at least they are complete. This alone makes me better than countless other candidates and deserves second place."
Soon, the test papers with the rankings were delivered to Fang Zhiwen.
Fang Zhiwen looked down and was also surprised, but a smile appeared on his face: "The principals all said that the questions I set were too difficult and too harsh, but look, there are still people who can answer them."
He read it carefully from beginning to end, and felt even more satisfied: "This person's article flows smoothly and is completed in one go. What's rare is that the handwriting has a lot of style. It's already a small achievement. It shows that he has put a lot of effort into it. He is indeed worthy of the first place."
Putting down this paper, he picked up the next one and nodded: "This one is also good."
The rest were far behind, but with these two papers, Fang Zhiwen felt much better. He laughed heartily and said, "It is my duty as an official to select talents for our Great Zhou. I believe this examination will go down in history."
Several headmasters laughed inwardly. They didn't know whether their names would be recorded in history, but at least the exam question would be spread out, and who knew whether it would bring disaster to more people in the future.
What they didn't know was that Fang Zhiwen's words came true. There was nothing else noteworthy about the Qingzhou Prefecture's college entrance examination, but their top candidate went all the way to the Great Zhou Dynasty, and their fame has been passed down for thousands of years.
With Second Uncle Su not around, no one was scrambling to see the list. In fact, Mr. Wen was a little impatient, but he had to save face, so it was impossible for him to go and squeeze in in person at this moment.
Su Fengzhang and Wen Zhu simply stayed at home and sat opposite each other at a small table in the yard.
There was a pot of cold tea and a plate of watermelon on the table. The two of them were playing chess while eating and drinking, which was quite leisurely.
Of course, it was very likely that Su Fengzhang was the only one who had the leisure time. Wen Zhu had to look outside the door every time he placed a chess piece. He was no match for Su Fengzhang in the first place, and now he was completely defeated.
Seeing that his mind was not on the chessboard, Su Fengzhang simply gave up and took a bite of the watermelon. It tasted really sweet.
Wenzhu saw that he was eating happily and couldn't help asking, "Fengzhang, aren't you worried at all?"
"What are you worried about?" Su Fengzhang asked back.
"Of course I'm worried about not passing the exam. It's fine if I don't, but if you don't pass either, all the hard work will be in vain."
Su Fengzhang said earnestly, "How can you say it's a waste? We study for ourselves, to broaden our horizons, not just for the imperial examinations."
Wenzhu rolled her eyes and complained, "Come on, stop pretending. My dad can't hear it in the room."
Su Fengzhang laughed heartily and said, "You said it yourself, there are only a few people who can answer this question. Even if we can't be first or second, we can at least be in the last place."
"That's what I said, but if I don't see the list for a day, I won't feel at ease."
Su Fengzhang comforted him: "If you think so, the person who brought the good news is probably on the way. If he doesn't come before dark, we can go back to the room and continue studying hard, waiting for the next provincial examination. If he comes, then everyone will be happy."
"Oh, I'm afraid I'll never be able to learn to be calm like you in this lifetime." Wen Zhu sighed and angrily stuffed a large piece of watermelon into his mouth. Now only the deliciousness can soothe his worries a little.
Suddenly, Wenzhu pricked up his ears and asked, "Listen, is there the sound of gongs and drums coming this way?"
Su Fengzhang's body had been transformed by the spiritual spring, and his hearing was much more sensitive than Wenzhu's. He nodded and said, "There is indeed a sound coming this way."
Wenzhu jumped up and ran quickly to the door, opened it and looked out.
Seeing this, he saw two runners coming towards him with the good news, beating drums and gongs. Wenzhu couldn't help but smile, and quickly opened the door. He subconsciously straightened his clothes and wiped the corners of his mouth to avoid watermelon juice.
He was ready to accept the congratulations, but who knew that the two officers didn't even look over here, walked straight past the Wen family's house and continued inside, and soon entered the door of one of the houses.
Wenzhu suddenly remembered that there was also a student there, who seemed to be quite old. They had seen him before when they were conscripted.
How surprised he was just now, how disappointed he felt now. Wenzhu didn't even bother to close the door. He returned to the small bench dejectedly, lowered his head and started to eat the watermelon, grunting as if he could eat away all the disappointment.
Su Fengzhang was very considerate and handed over his half as well, so that he wouldn't be embarrassed if he finished it.
After a long time, until the hustle and bustle over there disappeared, there was no movement in this house. Wenzhu was no longer disappointed but worried. He stopped eating watermelon and held a cup of cold tea, not knowing what he was thinking.
It's also strange. Before the exam, Wenzhu didn't think he could pass, and even refused to take the exam at one point. But now he took the exam, and after the exam he felt that he did well, so he became anxious and worried.
"It seems like someone is coming this way again." Su Fengzhang suddenly said.
Wenzhu said gloomily, "There was no sound at all. Why didn't I hear anything?"
Soon, the sound of gongs and drums was indeed heard outside. Wenzhu did not get up this time. It was really embarrassing just now. He felt it was unmannerly and did not want to go again.
Su Fengzhang smiled, stood up and walked over, but before he even left the house, he ran into two officers head-on.
The two men had joyful smiles on their faces and shouted, "This must be Master Wen of Wenzhu. Congratulations, Master Wen, congratulations, Master Wen, on getting second place in the college entrance examination. No, no, no, I should call you Master Scholar."
Su Fengzhang laughed heartily, turned around and shouted, "Congratulations, Master Wen, for ranking second in the high school entrance exam."
Wenzhu stood up suddenly, and the small stool under his butt fell over. He rushed over excitedly and asked, "Really? I won, and I'm second?"
The two officers then realized that they had made a mistake. In fact, it was not their fault. After all, they saw Su Fengzhang as soon as they entered the door. He was obviously a scholar. So they congratulated the wrong person.
The two of them reacted quickly and immediately turned around to continue congratulating.
Wenzhu didn't mind the little accident at all. She stuffed wedding money into their hands excitedly, without concealing her smile at all.
Suddenly, he thought of his good friend who had not received the news yet, and felt a little worried for a moment, but after thinking about it, he felt that Su Fengzhang could not fail. After all, it was he who guessed the test questions and sorted them out for him to memorize.
Before he could ask, two more officers came in. Seeing that someone was already inside, they were a little surprised. "Brother Zhang, Brother Liu, why are you two here too?"
Both parties were surprised when they met: "We are here to bring good news, what are you doing?"
"We are also here to bring good luck, isn't this..."
The two groups thought they had snatched the responsibility of announcing the good news from each other. This kind of thing had happened before. After all, one could get money for announcing the good news, and some generous people would give quite a bit of it. It was a lucrative job.
Fortunately, Wenzhu interrupted their eye contact and asked, "Are you here to tell my brother Su the good news?"
The two officers immediately replied, "Yes, we are here to bring good news to Master Su Fengzhang. Congratulations on getting the highest score on the college entrance examination. He is truly a talented person in Qingzhou."
The two officers in front breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was fortunate that it was not the same person. However, when they thought that this small family had actually produced two scholars, one ranked first and the other second, it was truly a rare sight.
They also joined in the congratulations, Su Fengzhang also gave money as a gift, and Mr. Wen also came out and gave money again, which made these officials so happy that they were all smiling when they left.
The misunderstanding was resolved and the truth was revealed, and everyone was happy.
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The author has something to say: In fact, this question was asked by an examiner in history.
Then none of them answered correctly. The examiner was very capricious and did not admit any of them.
It's also very awesome.
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