Fifty thousand taels of silver in exchange for an examination paper is like adding insult to injury for those poor students who have studied hard for ten years.
The examination papers were circulated in great secrecy, limited to the children of wealthy families. Therefore, even the supposedly omnipresent Tiger Yasi didn't get a single peep of information this time. After all, who would be foolish enough to leak the answers? They had bought them with their own money.
Birds of a feather flock together. Except for talented guys like Du Yuntai, the wealthy children looked down on these poor scholars.
This is probably what it means when people of letters look down on each other. The wealthy young men who had failed the exam now looked at these poor scholars with contempt and indifference. They were all arrogant and sneered at those who were worse off than them.
Fortunately, Shen Feiyu was carefree and still treated Du Yuntai with respect. The day of the exam was approaching, and the candidates were more than they had imagined about the severity of the invigilation.
Meng Gurao personally supervised the exam, and the Imperial Guards were dispatched to maintain order. The Imperial Guards cordoned off the exam room, and the invigilators and examiners from various departments conducted checks to prevent illicit activities.
Meng Gu Rao even invented a unique method of entrance through fingerprints. All candidates entering the examination hall had to put their fingerprints under their names to prevent someone from taking the exam on their behalf.
The search was extremely detailed, with hair, clothes, pens and inkstones all carefully checked and searched.
The exam lasted three days, during which candidates were not allowed to leave their seats. Eating, drinking, and defecating were all done at their own seats, with each candidate provided with a wooden bucket for use. Meals were provided exclusively by the imperial court and were free of charge.
The examination subjects included the scholar, the classics, the law, the history, the mathematics, the policy essay, etc. The first five subjects were inherited from the Tang system, and only the policy essay was added by Zhao Huan.
Policy essays mainly test students' answers to questions about governing a country, managing government, economy, finance, deploying troops, river defense, etc. They are required to elaborate on the issues by citing classics. It tests the breadth and depth of knowledge, which is also the most important part of the subject.
Ten years of hard study lead to instant fame. Many students have aged to the bitter end, all for the day the imperial edict will be announced. Meng Gu Rao was extremely pleased with the results of the imperial examination, having discovered only twelve candidates who had sneaked into the examination hall. Each of these individuals was recorded, given twenty lashes of the cane, and banned from further employment. Fortunately, they were all mediocre, while the other candidates were meticulously answering their questions.
Zhao Huan in the palace was also impatient. He wanted to see how many talents could be won over this time. He wondered whether the Song Dynasty would produce a figure who would be remembered through the ages, such as Zhang Liang and Zhuge Liang.
"Cao Dongsheng, call Linghu Yunlong, let's go to the examination room." Zhao Huan's monkey nature was hard to change, and he finally couldn't sit still anymore.
Cao Dongsheng shook his head. "Your Majesty, this won't do. The candidates are all busy preparing for the exam. Wouldn't it be a big nuisance for you to go there? If they get nervous and don't perform well, it will ruin everything."
"Well, let's go incognito and secretly."
Cao Dongsheng still shook his head: "No, Your Majesty. The examination hall is a sensitive place, and no one can come and go at will. If you go there, it will inevitably alert the officials and cause trouble."
Zhao Huan was unhappy: "I am bored in this palace. I can't leave or look around. What do you think I should do?"
Cao Dongsheng bowed and said, "How about I go get a test paper and have Your Majesty take it?"
Forget about letting Zhao Huan take the imperial examination. He knew his own knowledge and experience: "If I don't take the exam, I can't go to watch. So, just stretch out your butt and let me kick it to cheer you up."
Cao Dongsheng took a step back. "Your Majesty, it's not that there aren't good places to go. You haven't been to Empress Wan's place for a long time. You should also go see Princess Rou'er."
Zhao Huan then remembered that he had not been there for a long time. He looked at Tang Wan'er and said after a moment's hesitation, "Let's go to Luoyu Pavilion."
Tang Wan'er was holding her daughter in the backyard of Luoyu Pavilion, admiring the flowers and feeding the fish. The harem was lonely. It seemed that these concubines had nothing else to do except admiring the flowers and feeding the fish.
When they were almost at Luoyu Pavilion, Cao Dongsheng opened his hoarse voice and was about to call out to the emperor, but he had just taken a breath when Zhao Huan kicked him from behind.
"Why are you shouting? I'll go in by myself." Zhao Huan said as he walked to the front.
"Your Majesty, do you know how it feels to be unable to achieve something by spray painting?" Cao Dongsheng suddenly asked.
Zhao Huan turned around and said, "Huh? I know. It's very uncomfortable."
"This is how I feel now. If you don't let me scream, I will feel uncomfortable all over." Cao Dongsheng said in a mean way.
"You bastard." Zhao Huan said, and ignored him and walked into Luoyu Pavilion.
Only the maid Caidie was busy in Luoyu Pavilion. Zhao Huan suddenly rushed in. Caidie was so frightened that her whole body trembled and she almost dropped the teacup in her hand. "Your Majesty."
"Where is Wan Cairen?" Zhao Huan asked.
Caidie was delighted: "In the back garden, she is picking flowers with the little princess."
"Don't tell them, I'll go there myself," Zhao Huan said and walked towards the back garden.
Cao Dongsheng was still following behind, and Zhao Huan turned around and said, "Get lost!"
Cao Dongsheng: "Your Majesty, I must protect your safety!"
Zhao Huan raised his big foot and said, "Come over here and try it."
Cao Dongsheng had no choice but to bow and leave.
"Rou'er, look what your mother has prepared for you." Tang Wan'er was teasing her daughter.
Zhao Rouer could already walk unsteadily. She staggered to Tang Waner's side and said, "Mother."
Tang Wan'er took out a bouquet of flowers from behind her back: "Do they look good?"
Zhao Rouer was overjoyed: "Wow, so beautiful. Mother, I want it, I want it."
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