"First place, top scholar, Zhao Lin!"
Zhu Zhongyan folded the gold list and placed it on a plate held by the eunuch, and said to Zhao Lin, "Congratulations, Master Zhao, you have won three prizes in a row."
Zhao Lin was about to reply.
"No! Impossible! I'm the top scorer! I'm the top scorer! How could a lowly bastard like him be the top scorer?"
Zhao Chenhan's hysterical voice rang out.
The entire hall was in an uproar.
Everyone, whether they were civil or military officials, or the Jinshi scholars, or the eunuchs and palace maids, all looked at Zhao Chenhan in shock.
How could he say such a thing?
Is this still the handsome young man praised by everyone, the prince of Zhenbei Marquis Mansion?
Isn't it said that he is gentle and elegant, with extraordinary grace?
What’s the difference between this and a shrew?
Those civil and military officials all looked at Zhao Jingzhou.
Zhao Jingzhou's face turned pale and he shouted angrily, "You evil creature! How can you have the right to speak in this hall?"
Zhao Jingzhou quickly stepped out of the group and knelt down. "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have not been well-educated. Please punish me."
Cheng** waved his hand: "You're just a kid, I understand. I wanted to choose you as the top scholar, but unfortunately, Zhao Lin's answer was better."
Zhao Chenhan also realized that he had lost his composure. He broke out in a cold sweat and quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "I have spoken carelessly. Your Majesty, please punish me."
Cheng ** laughed and said, "You two, father and son, just one or two, it's just a word, what's the crime? Besides, who doesn't want to be the top scholar? If I weren't the emperor, I would also want to take the exam and come back with the top scorer. Get up."
Only then did Zhao Jingzhou express his gratitude profusely.
He was very angry.
Zhao Chenhan usually looks well-behaved and sensible, so how could he make such a fatal mistake in such an important occasion?
On the other hand, Zhao Lin has been very calm since he entered the hall. Even now he is still indifferent, neither sad nor happy, which makes him extremely outstanding among these three hundred Jinshi.
Many ministers around began to talk about and praise Zhao Lin.
Fu Chengwang was also very dissatisfied.
Zhao Chenhan is known as his disciple, although he has not become his disciple.
But Zhao Chenhan's performance also made Fu Chengwang feel embarrassed.
Not to mention that compared with Zhao Lin, whom Fu Chengwang has always disliked, he is even more unsightly.
Fu Chengwang suppressed his anger and said, "Everyone, thank me."
Led by Zhao Lin, they knelt down and shouted "Long live the emperor" three times, and then were given seats.
At this point, they have completely entered the officialdom, and it all depends on what kind of official they can hold in the future.
Cheng ** asked Zhao Lin with a smile, "You wrote 'I am the greatest emperor in history' eighteen times in your volume. Do you really think so?"
Except for the examiners, all other civil and military officials and new scholars looked at him with awe.
Shameless!
So shameless!
No wonder His Majesty ranked the son of his favorite general Zhao Jingzhou second and insisted on making Zhao Lin the top scorer.
It turns out that this guy was flattering His Majesty in his answer sheet.
It is really a shame for literati!
Why didn't we think of that?
Those newly-minted scholars secretly regretted their decision. If they had known that His Majesty would fall for this, they would have written well.
Who hasn’t learned the ways of the world? How can you not know how to praise others?
The civil and military officials were secretly alert. This new number one scholar was not as calm and composed as Bai Shiyuan. He was truly shameless.
In order to become an official, he clung to Li Xingye and Zhu Zhongyan, and now he even has to cling to Your Majesty.
It's so shameless!
But even if His Majesty liked this kind of answer, why did the examiners also approve it? And even ranked it in the top ten?
Zhao Lin said sincerely and solemnly, "Every word I write comes from my heart. Before this scroll was presented to Your Majesty, the examiners had already reviewed it. If it were merely to flatter the emperor, why would you have presented it to Your Majesty?"
Oh shit!
I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone as shameless as this.
The dragon farted.
Your Majesty must be even happier.
As expected, Cheng** burst into laughter at Zhao Lin's flattery: "Lord Zhao is very interesting. Let me read your answers to you, lest they still think that you are just flattering me. No, flattering the dragon."
Zhu Zhongyan took out Zhao Lin's answer sheet and read it out in public.
After hearing the contents of the answers, everyone present had different expressions.
Some people focused on the last sentence of each paragraph, "He is worthy of being the first emperor in history", and had a deep understanding of Zhao Lin's shamelessness, while also secretly learning from him.
Some of them tried to understand the meaning of the answers carefully, but were horrified by the content Zhao Lin wrote about politics, economy, culture, etc.
This was written by a 17-year-old boy?
Even the ministers present, from Prime Minister Li Chengqian to the military generals who can barely read, couldn't write something like this, right?
No wonder he was chosen as the top scholar by His Majesty.
It really deserves the title!
After Zhu Zhongyan finished reading, Cheng** said, "My dear gentlemen, what do you think of this volume?"
Li Chengqian immediately stepped out and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty has a keen eye for talent. This article deserves to be ranked first."
"It really should be number one."
"It's rare that this boy, at such a young age, could write such an article."
"What's even more rare is that he is an orphan and has never studied under a teacher."
Other ministers echoed this.
Every time someone mentioned the word "orphan", Zhao Jingzhou's face turned ugly.
This is his own son.
It is such an honor that my own son became the top scholar.
If it were someone else, they would jump for joy.
But Zhao Chenhan didn't dare to recognize him.
Zhao Chenhan is already the eldest son of the Zhenbei Marquisate. If Zhao Jingzhou recognizes Zhao Lin, how will he explain it to everyone?
You have already found your biological son, but you made an adopted son the crown prince. Are you, Zhao Jingzhou, crazy or what?
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