At the next table, Yu Qing could no longer hold it in. He covered his forehead with one hand and rolled his eyes several times. He wished he could grab Xu Fei’s ears and shout at him a few times. What is this big, dark fool dawdling about? If he drags it out any longer, my reward will be at risk. Hurry up already!
The deed had already been done, and it had succeeded. Seeing that fame and fortune were about to come his way, Xu Fei, who had been secretly sighing for a while, ultimately could not resist the immediate temptation. He rolled up the paper, stood up, and left the table.
In the hall, the few officials maintaining order in the examination room all suddenly fixed their gazes on Xu Fei, who was holding the paper as he approached.
Wherever Xu Fei passed, the candidates who were either bent over writing or looking up in thought were all startled one after another. In the end, all the candidates’ eyes were fixed on the back of the person submitting the paper with both hands.
Is he really submitting? The top scholar Zhan Muchun was first stunned. After confirming that it was indeed submission, his hand could not help trembling a bit. A drop of ink that had not been properly licked off the pen tip fell, making a soft patter, and spread into a dark blotch.
Only at the very last moment, after confirming that Xu Fei was the first to submit, did Yu Qing’s tense heart truly feel relieved.
The official in charge on site looked at Xu Fei a few more times, opened the paper, scanned the content, and found it correct. All thirty questions had indeed been answered completely.
Identifying right from wrong was not his responsibility. He simply picked up the pen and marked it in red on the paper, wrote the character one, indicating the submission order, and then extended his hand invitingly and said, Go back and sit quietly. Do not disturb or affect others.
Xu Fei did not have that kind of glory of being first. His heartbeat was very fast, and he was nervous. After all, he had a guilty conscience like a thief.
He politely cupped his hands in salute, then turned and walked back lightly. Only then did he realise that everyone’s eyes were staring at him. Since things had come to this, he could only endure it.
No one saw any pride on his face. Some secretly praised him, while others secretly despised him, thinking that being fastest did not necessarily mean all answers were correct.
At this moment, all the candidates who did not know Xu Fei most wanted to know was, who is this person?
The top scholar Zhan Muchun lowered his head, noticed the ink blot spreading, and after the shock, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately it was the draft. If the answer sheet had been dirtied, he would have had to recopy it all over again. He wanted to concentrate and try hard to solve the remaining puzzles, but all sorts of worries about gain and loss had already begun to surge in his heart.
The official in charge also saw no pride on Xu Fei’s face. There was a slight look of approval in his eyes. He lowered his head and carefully looked at the name on the paper, remembering it. Then he found the list of provincial exam rankings and checked Xu Fei’s position in the provincial exam.
Xu Fei, back at his seat, also picked up the pen and doodled here and there, as if he did not know the Yu Qing next to him at all.
The official in charge glanced at the incense that had burned nearly halfway, called over a subordinate, gave a few instructions, and then turned to leave.
Once out of the hall, he saw Lu Jiwei and the other two chatting and laughing in a waterside pavilion outside. He immediately headed straight there.
After entering the pavilion and cupping his hands in salute to the three, he reported, My lord, someone has finished answering all thirty puzzles and has already submitted the paper.
Oh! Lu Jiwei said with interest and asked, Who is it?
The official in charge: The current provincial examinee from Hengqiu County, Xu Fei.
This name clearly had no impression. It was definitely not among the top in the provincial exam rankings. Lu Jiwei asked again, What rank this time?
The official in charge: One hundred and thirty-first.
Di Zang and Yu Qi looked at each other. Lu Jiwei was also surprised. He gave a hey and said, An unexpected dark horse has emerged, surpassing this year’s top six. Compared to the provincial exam, although it is a trivial skill, it is still somewhat interesting. Gentlemen, let us go together to check the quality!
The two masters followed his gesture and stood up, returning together.
As soon as the three returned to the hall, they immediately drew the attention of all the candidates again.
The three did not sit down upon returning. They first gathered around the paper Xu Fei had submitted and examined the correctness of the answers together.
Lu Jiwei looked and looked, stroking his beard with a smile, gradually nodding.
The three were the ones who had set the questions, so they naturally knew whether the answers were correct. They quickly finished looking, and after that, they smiled at each other.
Lu Jiwei casually picked up the pen, circled the one character outside the questions that indicated the order, and then put the pen down.
Everyone nearby understood. First place was now beyond doubt. The prefect had personally confirmed it. The official in charge immediately asked for the register to record it.
The top scholar Zhan Muchun, closest to the lectern, had already understood what the three meant. A sense of misery suddenly arose in his heart. His thoughts became completely chaotic, making it hard to concentrate and continue solving the puzzles.
Yu Qing secretly rejoiced. His eyes kept glancing towards the rewards on the table by the lectern. He began to think about how to carry them. Carrying thirty jin of spiritual rice on him was actually quite troublesome.
The time for one incense stick was neither too slow nor too fast. It could not withstand much delay. With a little delay, the time had already neared its end.
No matter how many puzzles they had solved, all the candidates had to formally copy the questions and answer them. They began submitting one after another.
The official in charge marked the time on each submitted paper one by one, to serve as the basis for judgment in case of conflicts.
Most candidates had submitted. By the end, nearly a hundred people had not submitted. It could also be said they had self-awareness, knowing they would not make the rankings, so they did not hang their names up to make a fool of themselves. Yu Qing was the same.
The incense stick burned out. The official in charge stood up, pulled out the incense, inserted the last bit of ember upside down into the censer, and announced loudly, Time is up. Those who have not submitted are all considered to have forfeited.
There was no objection on site. The official in charge went to consult Lu Jiwei again.
After personally confirming the top name, Lu Jiwei had lost interest in reviewing personally. He tapped Xu Fei’s answer sheet and told him to judge the rest by referring to this sheet’s answers.
The official in charge accepted the order. He handled it neatly and efficiently. He had people count the number of answered questions on each paper on the spot.
There was no need at all to carefully review each paper. He picked out the ten papers with the most answered questions, then compared them against Xu Fei’s answers.
Based on the number of questions answered, if all the ones answered were correct, then naturally they qualified to compete for the top six.
Then comparing the submission times, half of the ten papers were eliminated.
The official in charge worked efficiently indeed. Knowing that Lu Jiwei had no patience to wait long, in about a quarter of an hour he had reviewed nearly two hundred papers, selected the final five papers, and presented them to Lu Jiwei with both hands to report completion.
Di Zang and Yu Qi could not help but look at that official in charge a few more times.
After a brief inquiry, Lu Jiwei could not help sighing. After Xu Fei submitted, he had originally thought the other candidates would gradually finish and submit.
Only now did he discover that, apart from Xu Fei, not a single other person had solved all the puzzles within the time limit, not even that top scholar.
Lord Lu also glanced at Zhan Muchun. This top scholar ranked after Xu Fei and had only solved twenty-three puzzles within the time limit, which created a flaw in his impression.
Among the top six in the provincial exam, only two had made it into the top six of this competition.
After asking the two masters and getting no objections, Lu Jiwei waved his big brush, personally approved the rankings for the five papers, put down the pen, and casually shouted out loud, Where is Xu Fei from Hengqiu?
The tone in his words was obvious. It was the feeling of wanting to see exactly what kind of person this was.
Di Zang and Yu Qi had the same expectation. More than three hundred people in the time of one incense stick could not match what Xu Fei did in half an incense stick. It really was a case of not knowing until compared. The gap was simply too huge. Although it was a casual, impromptu competition, this huge gap could to some extent explain some things. It was a true standout!
In this scene, the four words Xu Fei from Hengqiu were shouted out loud by the prefect himself in front of everyone. The group of candidates was filled with envy, and quite a few felt sour in their hearts.
It could be said to make others green with envy.
All the candidates knew that the prefect had probably truly remembered this name. After this shout today, it was likely that no one in the entire Liezhou officialdom would not know Xu Fei from Hengqiu!
The top scholar Zhan Muchun slightly lowered his head, feeling dejected and hurt. At least the prefect had not shouted his name so loudly like this.
He vaguely felt that there seemed to be a difference in closeness between himself, the provincial exam top scholar, and the one the prefect had personally set questions to test.
Xu Fei himself was also startled. He had never thought that one day he would be called by name like this in public by a high-ranking territorial official of Jin Country. After a moment of daze, he quickly stood up, hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed, saluting from afar, Student Xu Fei is here.
The candidates all turned to look. Everyone stared. The official in charge said loudly, Xu Fei, the prefect is awarding prizes. Hurry over and give thanks!
Xu Fei was a bit flustered and hurried over quickly.
Upon seeing the person approaching to salute, Lu Jiwei laughed heartily to the two masters on either side, Other scholars are all fair and clean, but you, Xu Fei, turn out to be a dark-skinned, dark-faced scholar. His impression became even deeper.
The two masters could not help but chuckle.
Xu Fei immediately stammered, Student, student, I like to practice with blades and swords, so I got, got tanned from the sun.
Hmm, no wonder you look sturdy. You, no need to be nervous. I do not mind that you are dark. A strong build is a good thing. With a good body, you can better serve the court. After a round of praise, Lu Jiwei did not continue rambling in public. He personally issued the promised reward to Xu Fei.
One bottle of profound-level demon-spotting dew. Xu Fei took it casually. Thirty jin of spiritual rice in a sack. With one hand he casually swung it and carried it on his shoulder as he returned.
He refused help from others to carry it. He casually lifted the dozens of jin heavy thing onto his shoulder. It just looked a bit comical paired with the scholar’s robe he was wearing.
Lu, Di, and Yu looked at each other and smiled.
Seeing Xu Fei carry the reward back, Yu Qing’s joyful little heart pounded wildly. However, he still had to remain composed and could not let anyone know the reward was related to him.
The award ceremony on stage continued. The second place Zhan Muchun and the third place received their awards at the same time. The prefect stepped back, and the subsequent rewards were all issued by the two masters.
After the awards were finished, Lu Jiwei and the other two left.
The official in charge had people post the answer sheets of the top six for the puzzles while announcing publicly that everyone should rest a bit. At mealtime, they should all go to Chenxiang Zhai for a meal. The prefect would personally host a banquet to entertain them, which also served as a send-off for the talents of Liezhou.
Once all the relevant officials on site had left, a group of candidates immediately surged to the posted six answer sheets to check them out. They mainly wanted to see what the puzzle answers were that they had racked their brains over but could not figure out.
Yu Qing gave Xu Fei a look. The two quickly took the opportunity to slip away.
Xu Fei carried the things. Yu Qing helped by sweeping up both his and Xu Fei’s draft papers. It was still to destroy the evidence and not leave any hidden dangers.