"My lords, there are nearly a hundred vermilion scrolls before you. We will each review about thirty per day, aiming to complete them within three days." Chen Xuezheng, as the chief examiner, also had to review papers, though his workload was significantly reduced.
Any scrolls that the other examiners were unsure about would be handed over to Chen Xuezheng for a final decision on whether to pass or fail them.
With the tight schedule for reviewing papers and the uncertainty of a second round of examinations, there was no time for pleasantries. As soon as they sat down, everyone began reviewing the vermilion scrolls.
Zhang Chengli, as the prefect of Nanxuan and the host, was seated in the first position on the lower left. He looked at the vermilion scroll in his hand with a complex expression. The opening sentence read: "Geese fly in formation, a traveler embarks on a journey; envoys receive commands and find solace among refugees."
This was a segmented question from the Four Books, and the candidates' essays followed suit, resorting to crude and artificial constructions. While the opening sentence was not entirely coherent, the underlying sentiment was good. However, upon reading the subsequent sections, the entire essay was revealed to be a jumbled mess.
The other examiners shared Zhang Chengli's sentiment. Reviewing brilliant essays was like attending a grand feast, a true enjoyment. But reading these nonsensical papers was as unpleasant as swallowing a fly for these learned scholars.
The problem was that Chen Xuezheng was the one who set the questions. Despite their grievances, Prefect Zhang and the others could only suppress them, just like the candidates participating in the imperial examinations. Perhaps this was what was meant by sharing hardships.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Prefect Zhang, Hu Bingzhi, and the other examiners had selected a total of two hundred and sixteen vermilion scrolls. Chen Xuezheng then spent another day reviewing them, ultimately selecting one hundred and fifty candidates.
From these one hundred and fifty who passed the imperial examinations, the top three were chosen. The first place was the top scorer of this examination, and also the top scorer for the four prefectures of Nanxuan and Qing'an.
"These are the vermilion scrolls of the top three candidates I have selected. Please review them, colleagues, and let me know if you have any objections. If not, I will finalize the rankings for this examination and then proceed to unveil the names and post the results." Chen Xuezheng laid out the top three scrolls on his desk.
Prefect Zhang frowned in thought. He had reviewed nearly a hundred scrolls, passing twelve. However, apart from one that was somewhat outstanding, the other eleven were merely mediocre, truly a case of picking the best among the mediocre.
During his review, when he occasionally came across a particularly good essay, Prefect Zhang had taken the time to read it. He was somewhat familiar with Zhan Feiyu's writing style but had not encountered any essays with a similar flair.
As for the top three papers selected by Chen Xuezheng, Prefect Zhang had read them all. The prose was ornate, and the classical allusions were abundant. To be able to write such a florid essay on a segmented question like "Gu Hong" was a testament to the writers' talent. However, Prefect Zhang felt that Zhan Feiyu's essay was not among the top three.
"Even if not in the top three, she should at least be on the list," said Cheng Shanzhang, who was responsible for reviewing papers, in a low voice while the other examiners were looking at the top three essays.
Chen Xuezheng's intention in setting such questions was to make things difficult for Zhan Feiyu, but it had also affected many candidates in this prefectural examination. Fortunately, the imperial examinations were held twice every three years, and if they didn't pass this time, they could try again in the next one.
Prefect Zhang knew that Cheng Shanzhang's youngest son was a disciple of a renowned scholar from the Kong family. He glanced at Chen Xuezheng, who was leisurely sipping tea, and said, "I fear there might be further maneuvers."
If the intention was merely to make things difficult for Zhan Feiyu with the examination questions, Prefect Zhang felt the possibility of success was almost zero.
Zhan Feiyu's first place in the prefectural examination was due to her genuine talent. To this day, Prefect Zhang had not seen any essays with a writing style similar to Zhan Feiyu's. He even suspected that Zhan Feiyu might have "failed."
"I have no objections," Hu Bingzhi said after carefully reading the top three scrolls. Compared to the hastily assembled and poorly constructed essays, these three scrolls were indeed outstanding and deserved their top three rankings.
Chen Xuezheng put down his teacup and smiled. "In that case, let us proceed with removing the seals from the red-numbered scrolls."
Soon, several scribes brought out the "black scrolls" of these one hundred and fifty candidates. After verifying the numbers on both the vermilion and black scrolls, they began to remove the seals.
A scribe sitting nearby, responsible for recording, wrote down the names and origins. In a short while, the names of one hundred and forty-seven individuals were recorded. This imperial examination involved candidates from four prefectures, with nearly a thousand participants in total.
Among them, forty-two individuals from Nanxuan Prefecture passed the imperial examinations, which was undoubtedly the best result in recent years. Lizhou had the fewest participants, with only eighteen.
"There are no candidates from Nanxuan Prefecture in the top three?" a reviewer exclaimed in surprise. He looked thoughtfully at Prefect Zhang, with a hint of mockery in his eyes.
The first place in the imperial examination was the top scorer of the Qing'an Prefecture examination, which was well-deserved. The second place came from Guangning Prefecture. Although Lizhou had a good number of participants, achieving third place was not too embarrassing.
Hu Bingzhi did not forget the instructions from Scholar Gu and quickly scanned the list of forty-two individuals from Nanxuan Prefecture who had passed the imperial examinations. He saw Qi Heng's name, but Zhan Feiyu was not on the list.
The other reviewers also recalled the past interactions between Chen Xuezheng and Zhan Feiyu, exchanging glances with each other. As for what they were thinking, outsiders could not know.
It was not surprising that Zhan Feiyu missed out on the top three in the imperial examinations, given how biased, strange, and difficult the questions were. However, for the top scorer of the prefectural examination to not be on the list was rather unusual.
Crucially, Zhan Feiyu was a disciple of Scholar Gu, and several of her essays had circulated previously. Although Zhan Feiyu's poetic talent was mediocre, her prose was excellent, especially her previous policy essay on salt tax, which was comparable to that of a master.
Now that Zhan Feiyu had failed the imperial examinations, what was the trick behind it?
At this moment, an eerie silence fell upon the room. All the lords were silent, let alone the scribes present. They all kept their heads down, held their breath, wishing they could disappear on the spot.
After a long pause, Chen Xuezheng broke the silence. "I am also surprised. Perhaps even a skilled archer can miss the target? Prefect Zhang, why don't you take someone and look through the failed scrolls, and let me see Zhan Feiyu's essay for this imperial examination and why it was not selected."
"Your subordinate obeys," Prefect Zhang said without being polite. He immediately took two scribes to find Zhan Feiyu's scroll.
In less than half an hour, as Prefect Zhang received the scroll from the scribe, Chen Xuezheng, along with Hu Bingzhi and others, also arrived.
"This scroll was reviewed by this subordinate," Hu Bingzhi had an excellent memory. Even after reviewing over a hundred scrolls and more than three hundred essays, he still remembered this one.
Since Hu Bingzhi did not select it, it meant the essay was mediocre.
Some reviewers from Chen's faction leaned in and took a few glances, smiling and saying, "The young lady started her studies late. She has only been studying for a little over two years. If she doesn't pass this time, she can try again next time."
If the examination questions had been normal, Zhan Feiyu would not have failed, even if she wasn't in the top three. Hu Bingzhi had also looked at the list from Qing'an Prefecture, where two people had failed, and both of them were in the top ten of their prefectural examinations.
Although the questions were frustrating, all candidates faced the same questions. Ultimately, failing was due to insufficient foundation, or perhaps bad luck.
"Prefect Zhang, this is Zhan Feiyu's scroll, isn't it?" Chen Xuezheng asked with a smile. Anyone could see his good mood at the moment.
It made sense. Ever since Zhan Feiyu clashed with the Chen family, Chen Ji was forced to withdraw from Nanxuan Prefecture. Later, in Fengzhou, the Chen family had to send assassins to kill Chai Yi to silence him to quell the situation.
Each of these events was a loss of face for the Chen family. Now that they had regained a victory, it was no wonder Chen Xuezheng was happy.
Hu Bingzhi had read Zhan Feiyu's essay and recognized her handwriting. Prefect Zhang was even more familiar with it. When he first received the scroll, Prefect Zhang's first priority was to identify the handwriting, and it was indeed Zhan Feiyu's.
However, if such an essay was written by Zhan Feiyu, Prefect Zhang would not believe a single word of it.
"Reporting to Your Lordship, Zhan Feiyu wrote in the official script. This subordinate cannot be certain. If Your Lordship does not mind, this subordinate would like to ask Zhan Feiyu to come to the prefectural office to confirm," Prefect Zhang's words were polite, and his attitude was humble, but everyone could hear the implication in his words. He suspected that Zhan Feiyu's scroll had been swapped, which was essentially a "bribery and fraud in the imperial examinations" case.
Chen Xuezheng's expression suddenly darkened. However, if a candidate had objections to their results, they could indeed review their scrolls.
Therefore, despite his displeased expression, Chen Xuezheng agreed. "Lord Hu was responsible for sealing and transcribing the scrolls. This matter will be handled by Lord Hu."
After saying this, Chen Xuezheng flicked his sleeves and left first to rest. It was estimated that the posting of the results would have to wait until Zhan Feiyu confirmed her scroll.
The other reviewers exchanged glances and did not leave. They stayed to bear witness. If there were no problems, it would be best. However, if Zhan Feiyu denied the scroll, the matter would become troublesome. It would involve a case of imperial examination fraud, and even if it was cleared up, it would still cause trouble.
Half an hour later, in the Ministry of Rites of the prefectural office.
"Student Zhan Feiyu pays her respects to all the lords." Zhan Feiyu did not know what had happened on her way here.
It was not the yamen runners from Nanxuan Prefecture who went to Donghu Inn, but four unfamiliar soldiers. These four were all transferred by Chen Xuezheng from various places and were previously responsible for patrolling the examination hall.
However, even though the four had not revealed a single word, Zhan Feiyu had guessed. At this moment, her fair and delicate face showed no signs of dejection or indignation. After bowing gracefully, she stood aside.
Hu Bingzhi and the others were seeing Zhan Feiyu for the first time. It was said that one's appearance reflects one's inner self. Looking at the calm and clear-eyed young girl, everyone had a very good impression of her.
The lovely and adorable young girl naturally evoked affection. Even Hu Bingzhi's expression softened slightly. Compared to his boisterous son at home, the delicate and well-behaved young girl was more likable.
Zhan Feiyu was wearing a pale blue pleated ru yi skirt and had her hair styled in a double bun. Besides the jade pendant at her waist, she only had a pair of mushroom-shaped white jade hairpins on her head. She was elegant yet retained a childlike innocence.
Coupled with her intelligent eyes, even if her essay was not well-written, or even complete nonsense, Hu Bingzhi and the others would not be able to say anything critical or difficult. Such a soft and adorable young girl deserved to be doted upon.
"Xiao Yu, please take a look and tell us what you think of these three essays." Prefect Zhang spoke first, asking a scribe to lead Zhan Feiyu to the table, where three re-sealed examination scrolls were placed, all of them vermilion scrolls.
When Prefect Zhang made this arrangement, Hu Bingzhi frowned but did not object.
The others, perhaps because Chen Xuezheng had already left, or perhaps out of deference to Scholar Gu in the capital, did not intervene.
"Yes," Zhan Feiyu quickly picked up the first vermilion scroll and began to read. Writing an essay was slow, but reading it was very fast. The shortest essay was only four hundred characters, and the longest was less than seven hundred.
As Zhan Feiyu began to read, Hu Bingzhi and the others focused their gaze on her. The first vermilion scroll she picked up was written by "Zhan Feiyu." Any normal person would show a hint of surprise upon seeing their own essay.
However, after Zhan Feiyu finished reading all three essays in less than a quarter of an hour, her expression showed no surprise. It was as if the essays were not written by her, but by someone else.
Could it be that Chen Xuezheng had indeed tampered with the imperial examinations? Once this thought surfaced, everyone except Prefect Zhang had extremely grim expressions. The imperial examination fraud case ten years ago had angered the Emperor, leading to a bloodbath from the chief examiner to the reviewers.
If Zhan Feiyu were an ordinary candidate, it would be one thing. But she was a disciple of Scholar Gu. If his only disciple was bullied, how could Scholar Gu not be enraged?
Thinking of what might happen next, everyone wished they had not taken on the arduous task of reviewing. It was like gods fighting, and mortals suffering! Even if Chen Xuezheng wanted to deal with Zhan Feiyu, he should not have done so during the imperial examinations. Wasn't this going to harm everyone!
If this were indeed the case, Prefect Zhang once again asked the scribe to retrieve the original scroll. "Go and take another look. Is this your handwriting?"
"Oh?" A sound of surprise rang out. Zhan Feiyu's dark eyes suddenly widened. She looked at the black scroll in her hand, then at the vermilion scroll on the desk. Her long black eyelashes blinked, and her cherry-red lips parted slightly, showing genuine shock.
"Your Lordship, this handwriting really looks like mine." After the shock, Zhan Feiyu smiled. Even after seeing the name on the black scroll, she did not appear flustered.
"No wonder my teacher warned me not to write casually outside. It turns out some people can imitate handwriting to the point of being indistinguishable from the real thing." Zhan Feiyu's look of novelty suggested she was completely unaware of the seriousness of the matter, appearing more like a young girl who had found something fun, her face full of surprise.
If this was not Zhan Feiyu's scroll, then where had the real scroll gone? Prefect Zhang and the others were pondering this question when they saw the young girl standing aside take out a few pieces of paper.
"Your Lordship, after the imperial examinations, I first wrote a letter to my teacher, telling him about the questions for this imperial examination," Zhan Feiyu said with a smile. She even seemed to regret that Chen Xuezheng was not present, otherwise, she would have dared to say this in front of him, finding the imperial examination questions too disgusting.
"After complaining, I then remembered to have my teacher review my essays, so I rewrote the three Four Books essays and the trial poem and had someone send them to my teacher in the capital." Zhan Feiyu handed the essays in her hand to Prefect Zhang. "When Shanzhang Ming asked me about the imperial examination, I rewrote another copy. Please review it, Your Lordship."