The young man next to him was one of the two good buddies who had been bickering last time. "Because I didn't want to go against my conscience, I wrote two words."
"What did you write? I figured out some of the tricks of the trade, so I wrote a lot of flattering things, and at the end I even wrote something a bit sarcastic..."
The young man called A-Si said, "If the examiner who set this question finds out, you might be eliminated..."
"Oh, that's great." Then she whispered in A-Si's ear, "If the ruler can't distinguish right from wrong, why should we be loyal to him?"
"We strive for official rank and fame for the sake of our country and its people."
...
Three days later, two young men made the list.
"I never thought I'd be on the list. But, examiner, it seems I wasn't eliminated."
"I wonder who came up with that question. I really admire him."
A-Si looked at the first place and said, "Hmm."
The young man next to him said, "You said you'd get first place last time, and it seems you weren't just joking."
A-Si looked at him and said, "You weren't just joking. You even got second place."
After they left and returned to their lodgings, Liu met an old man who looked like a wise and venerable elder...
"Excuse me, could you...?"
"I am Feng Qingling."
The young man was shocked: "Grand Scholar!!!"
"I am quite interested in your answers. If possible, would you two like to enter the Academy?"
The Imperial Academy.
"Your Excellency, what does this mean?"
"To be precise, it's because of the answer you wrote for the last question on your last exam that someone noticed it."
The two men's expressions changed.
So, is this a preparation to deal with them?
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