Everyone was shocked. One was so audacious, the other so direct. Du Yuntai actually expressed his feelings so bluntly, and Li Shishi actually agreed.
Everyone thought Li Shishi said this on purpose. After all, the Song Dynasty was full of talented people. No matter how talented Du Yuntai was, it was impossible for him to be the top scorer in the imperial examination.
Du Yuntai said, "Okay! If you pass the exam and become the top scholar, I will marry you in style!"
Li Shishi's heart moved: "Then I will wait for good news from you, Master."
Zhao Huan returned to the capital, and the Imperial College began preparing for the exam. The test questions had already been released, and to prevent cheating, all the officials in charge of setting the questions were imprisoned. They were not allowed to return home until the exam was over.
Such strict surveillance was in place to prevent the examinees from leaking secrets. The examiners who set the exam questions were all veterans transferred from the Imperial College. They were all well-educated and their questions were extremely tricky.
Everyone returned to the palace, and Li Gang, He Li, and Meng Gurao gave instructions in the Wende Hall.
Zhao Huan looked at the memorials handed to him, all of which were about the palace examination. Suddenly, a name came into view: Qin Hui.
Zhao Huan frowned: "Why is Qin Hui in there?"
He Li stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Qin Hui was once the principal of the Imperial College, but his appointment to the Imperial College is a valuable asset. He will be the one setting the questions this time."
Zhao Huan hadn't anticipated the important tasks Qin Hui had entrusted him with during his time away from the palace. Fortunately, Qin Hui was a man of considerable knowledge. He might as well set the questions, so he declared, "The imperial examinations must be conducted with extreme caution. I don't want bookworms who can only recite Confucian and Taoist texts. The questions must revolve around current affairs. I want their philosophies on statecraft and their talent for governing the world. The questions must be bold. I want to see if these students are mere idiots or full of profound scholarship."
Li Gang and the others bowed in unison and said, "As ordered!"
"The exam will start in three days! Meng Gurao, you will be the chief examiner this time!" said Zhao Huan.
Meng Gurao was a man of great integrity, primarily because he was not greedy and would not engage in corruption. This was the reason Zhao Huan chose him.
Meng Gurao bowed: "As you wish!"
Now the largest inns in the entire Bianjing are Fanlou and Qian Laiye's Gaosheng Inn. At this moment, a story is circulating everywhere in these two inns.
"Sir, do you want the test questions? The latest test questions, leaked from the palace, I guarantee you'll pass."
"Sir, I guarantee with my life that these test questions are 100% authentic. You can pay 30% and the rest after the exam."
Students, especially those from wealthy families, were circulating the latest leaked exam questions. Some of the questions had been copied and sold at exorbitant prices.
At Gaosheng Inn, Lei Xiangrong asked, "Brother Du, what do you think of these leaked exam questions?"
Du Yuntai chuckled softly, "It's fake, how could it be possible? With such a grand occasion and the court putting so much effort into this, how could there be any real test questions leaked out?"
Lei Xiangrong nodded, agreeing deeply. Shen Feiyu, standing beside him, said, "Maybe not. I heard some test questions have already fetched 30,000 taels of silver. And there's even a guarantee from the dealer: if it's not this test question, double the compensation will be paid."
Lei Xiangrong was shocked: "Thirty thousand taels? That's so high. Brother Du, could this be true?"
Du Yuntai was also shocked. Thirty thousand taels—such a high price—it was hard to say whether the test questions were real or fake. "Could it be that there are scoundrels in the imperial court? The court has put so much effort into the imperial examinations. If a few bad apples spoil the whole thing, it would be a real loss for the Song Dynasty."
Lei Xiangrong nodded. "This is so unfair to a talent like Brother Du. I won't be able to pass the exam anyway, and I don't want to. I'm just here to join in the fun."
Shen Feiyu said, "Brother Lei, you are wrong. We study to get a good score and bring honor to our family. Since there is such a good thing, why don't we give it a try? It's only 30,000 taels of silver. I want to see it."
Du Yuntai was shocked: "Brother Shen, this is 30,000 taels of silver. You have 30,000 taels, why not do something with it? Besides, this is cheating, even if you pass the exam, how can you feel at ease?"
Lei Xiangrong also advised: "Yes, Brother Shen, we are not here for fame and fortune, we are just here to join in the fun. We are lucky enough to meet Brother Du and these students. Besides, the officialdom is dark and full of intrigue. It is not as free as our business."
Lei Xiangrong knew that he and Shen Feiyu were uneducated. They came from wealthy families, their ancestors having been businessmen. They had come to the exam to make friends with these students. If one of them passed the exam and became an official, they could establish a relationship with him.
Lei Chen and the other two were already familiar with half of the students at Gaosheng Inn, but they were particularly optimistic about Du Yuntai. They always felt that Du Yuntai's behavior was not like that of an ordinary person, and that he was talented and had a bright future.
Shen Feiyu's family owns a cloth shop. In the capital alone, there are eight major Shen family shops. The people of the capital are proud to have cloth from the Shen family cloth shop, so Shen Feiyu is not short of money.
Shen Feiyu remained silent. It was obvious that he was still thinking about the matter of bringing glory to the family in high school. After a while, he said, "If we don't cheat, others will. Let me think about it again."
The Gaosheng Inn was fully booked, and it wasn't just about how much money you had. There was a shortage of beds, so Lei Xiangrong, Du Yuntai, and Shen Feiyu shared a room.
At night, the three of them slept in the same bed. Du Yuntai talked at length, commenting on worldly affairs and making suggestions on state affairs. Lei Xiangrong and Shen Feiyu were dumbfounded as they listened, and were deeply impressed by Du Yuntai's talent.
The three of them fell asleep exhausted. That night, Du Yuntai had a dream. He dreamed that he had won the first place in the imperial examination. He rode a tall horse to marry Li Shishi. Li Shishi was waiting for him in Zuixinglou, wearing a bright red robe and looking shy. The story of the talented scholar and beautiful woman has been passed down through the ages.
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