Outside the examination hall, the crowd was no longer crowded.
The initial excitement and bustle had already passed. Those who came specifically to check the results because of the more than ten thousand candidates had basically left after confirming the list. In addition, it was mealtime, and this was the time when the afternoon sun was at its strongest. In an open area with no shelter, it was unbearable to be exposed to the sun, so most of the onlookers had also dispersed.
Because of this, the dishevelled Mr Ming finally squeezed his way to the front of the displayed examination papers. At one glance, his pupils suddenly shrank.
The handwriting was one he recognised.
The questions were also ones he had seen before, and they left a deep impression. He had almost exhausted all his energy writing answers to these questions for an entire afternoon. How could he possibly forget them.
His first reaction was anger. Someone had leaked the exam questions in advance.
Before the metropolitan examination, even the examiners who set the questions had not been decided, yet the exam questions had somehow leaked out.
He was extremely angry.
Half his life had been ruined by this. Half a lifetime of hard work had been wasted inside these high walls of the examination hall. His reputation had been ruined because of it. So many students had struggled bitterly, yet in the eyes of some people it could be trampled so easily. Where was heavenly justice.
What made him even more grief stricken was…
The content of the answers was also familiar to him. It was written by his own hand. How could it be unfamiliar.
He read through the four questions and confirmed it. It was what he had written. Someone had copied his answers almost word for word.
It was not hard to guess who the copier was. He had only given the answers to one person, and that person’s name was right there on the paper, hanging at the very top of the tribute list.
These were his answers. Someone had used his answers to take the top spot in the metropolitan examination. Someone had used his answers to achieve a perfect score and become the top metropolitan examinee.
A chest full of anger turned into a low, heavy panting sound of “ho ho” in his throat, like a furious wild beast wanting to tear everything apart.
The raging fire in his chest nearly burned him to ashes.
His initial thought was to report it.
To make a complaint, to appeal directly to the emperor.
No matter what family background you have, no matter what connections you possess, at worst it would be mutual destruction, but you must give me justice.
This is too much bullying. Leaking the exam questions in advance is one thing, but they did not even avoid suspicion. They actually dared to use them to test him, then took his answers to claim the top spot. It was simply arrogant to the point of recklessness, arrogant to the point of being outrageous, blatant and shameless, too much bullying.
He had never seen anyone bully others like this.
“Brilliant. This policy essay is truly brilliant, full of profound insights, shining and dazzling. The words and sentences flow smoothly, and the literary rhythm is accomplished in one breath. This is the first time I have seen a metropolitan examination policy essay written with such a sense of completion in one go.”
“It expresses the frustrations in the chest directly, like the surging river waters rushing down for thousands of miles. I think when Ah Shiheng wrote it, he must have written with great satisfaction and delight.”
“This Ah Shiheng is indeed extraordinary, with quick and fluent thinking. I am convinced that this policy essay deserves a full ten points.”
“Gentlemen, if I am not mistaken, this essay will surely be included as a required model text in the Imperial Academy.”
The sun was too harsh. After a few men discussed beside Mr Ming for a while, they said they could not stand it any longer and called out to each other as they left.
As soon as those few left, others came forward to admire the work.
“What a fine line, ‘One day entering the emperor’s hall, to settle the fame before and after life’. Truly worthy of the top metropolitan examinee’s handwriting.”
“Yes, look at that spirit. As long as I enter the emperor’s hall, I will settle the fame before and after life. What great spirit, heroic aura reaching the clouds.”
“Gong ming… gong ming… wu wu…”
A man with grey hair on both temples suddenly sobbed. He actually looked up and wept, as if he had some great regret towards the heavens.
“Brother Huang, what is wrong with you?”
His companions nearby all showed concern for the sobbing man.
The man surnamed Huang shook his head, raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears, pointed at the poetry paper, and said in pain, “When I savour it, I find another deep meaning. Facing the heavenly palace. Facing the heavenly palace. How is this poem title not the long cherished wish of us back then. Studying the classics until white haired, seeking gong ming. It is ‘gong ming’ not ‘gong ming’. Thinking back to when I took the exams several times and used all my hard effort, was it not for one resounding cry to wash away the bitterness. Seeking gong ming, this one character ‘ming’ is simply crying blood towards the heavens.”
Hearing him say this, the others nodded. “Yes, this one character ‘ming’, this ‘seeking gong ming’, tells the hardships of so many people. One cry and it startles the world. If there is no cry, then all the hard work becomes a joke. Crying blood, this one character is indeed crying blood.”
A poem faced different people and, only because of their different personal backgrounds and experiences, produced various different flavours, yet all had to praise it as good.
Mr Ming, standing in front of the barrier, looked up at the sky and closed his eyes. He also seemed to have some great regret towards the heavens. Listening to the various praises from those around him for Ah Shiheng’s answers to the four questions, there were tears on his face. The tears flowed long, hanging on his beard and dripping silently.
He felt hatred. At first he really hated it so much. How dare they steal his hard work to invite fame and rise above others. He wanted to rush to the Zhong residence to fight to the death with Yu Qing.
But after hearing all the praises, slowly, slowly he no longer hated. His anger gradually calmed.
Slowly, scenes from long ago appeared in his mind.
Scenes that seemed to have been forgotten, yet at this moment when he closed his eyes, they became very clear.
That was the period when he was most high spirited and vigorous. The child prodigy known to everyone in ten li and eight townships and the surrounding counties and prefectures. In the early imperial examinations he showed his edge and went all the way to seize the top in the child examinations, attracting countless praises and compliments. It was also then that he chose the woman he admired most.
Everything was so beautiful. It was the feeling of getting whatever he wanted.
Until the provincial examination. He looked down on his fellow examinees and openly boasted in public, claiming that the top provincial graduate could only be him.
Who knew that after the exam, when the results were posted, it gave him a heavy blow. Not to mention the top spot, he could not even enter the ranks of the classics experts. His name fell more than ten places behind. He was so ashamed that he had nowhere to hide his face. At that time he became a laughing stock.
It seemed from then on that his mentality had undergone a huge change. He no longer dared to be arrogant.
He was not stupid. It was obvious that if he dared to be arrogant again, others would surely use the previous provincial examination results to mock him. He was not foolish enough to bring shame upon himself.
After that, he went to the capital with the mindset of gaining fame to wash away the shame and participated in the metropolitan examination. After entering this examination hall and starting the exam, when answering questions he weighed every word and then weighed every word again. He guessed who set the questions, guessed the examiners’ preferences, and guessed whether answering this way would displease the examiners.
The torment of that gain and loss anxiety was still fresh in his memory. He was afraid of failing again, afraid of becoming a laughing stock again.
What he feared came true. After the results were posted, he, this former child prodigy and very young provincial graduate, had failed.
This time it was not that his ranking was at the back, but that he did not even make the list and was directly eliminated.
Afraid of becoming a laughing stock, in the end he really became a big laughing stock, with no face to see anyone.
Later, before each subsequent attempt, he learned from others to predict the questions in advance, carefully studied the examiners’ preferences, and almost researched all the civil officials in the capital.
However, the final metropolitan examination results were still repeated failures, yet he kept fighting despite repeated defeats.
No one could understand how he felt when he saw the gates of the examination hall. To him it was a monster with a bloody mouth full of fangs that would eat people.
Later he no longer dared to go home. He really had no face to see those who had seen his previous arrogant face, including the neighbours and such. Only then did he realise how detestable his face had been back then.
After that he used debauchery to cover his shame and earned the reputation of “Mr Afternoon”.
The past events were vivid in his mind. Mr Ming, with tears all over his face, suddenly opened his eyes and smiled. He looked at the displayed answers on the wall and smiled.
His hatred towards Yu Qing completely disappeared. He really no longer hated.
Because he understood that even if it was still him entering the examination hall this time, even facing the same questions, he still would not have passed.
The displayed answers on the wall let him find the answer to the puzzle that had troubled him for many years.
“Truly the talent of a top scholar.”
Someone nearby looked at the top metropolitan examinee’s paper and exclaimed in admiration.
“Talent of a top scholar… talent of a top scholar…” Mr Ming muttered this sentence repeatedly for a while, then suddenly gave a bitter smile. He repeatedly raised his sleeve to wipe clean the tear stains on his face, took a deep breath, turned around, and with a face full of relief walked out of the crowd.
As he walked out of this empty area and entered the street, he passed a carriage from which several people alighted. They were precisely Zhan Muchun, Xu Fei, Su Yingtao and the other four.
The six of them still carried the smell of alcohol. They had just finished lunch and come from the restaurant.
Zhan Muchun and Xu Fei had faces full of high spirits, with a hard to conceal delight in life, and a naturally transcendent aura about them.
But the smiles on the faces of Su Yingtao and the other four all carried reluctance and dejection. The four of them clearly took those two as leaders. There was now a real distinction of high and low between people.
There was no helping it. Someone had been sent to check the results at where the six of them were staying. Zhan Muchun and Xu Fei had both passed the metropolitan examination and entered the tribute ranks. They were already equivalent to court appointed officials, only lacking the palace examination where His Majesty the Emperor would designate the first, second and third ranks.
Su Yingtao and the other four had all failed without exception. The chances of those ranked after twentieth in the provincial examination passing were not high to begin with, so it was not unexpected.
That is to say, Zhan Muchun and Xu Fei were about to enter the palace to face the emperor, while Su Yingtao and the other four did not know in what year or month they would have this honour. Perhaps they would never have the chance to enter the imperial palace in their lifetime.
Fortunately, before the results were posted, the few of them had already arranged to come today. Otherwise Zhan Muchun and Xu Fei really would not have had time to mix with them today.
“Brother Zhan, Brother Xu, I was right, wasn’t I. This is the emptier time here in the afternoon. It was hard to squeeze in if coming in the morning.” Su Yingtao pointed with the folding fan in his hand towards the no longer crowded area outside the examination hall, and his tone became even more humble.
Zhan Muchun waved his hand and said, “Let’s go. I am really impatient to see Brother Shiheng’s displayed answers.”
He had heard about it before, and while eating at the restaurant he had heard discussions filling the hall. A perfect score top metropolitan examinee, rare in a hundred years, had already become famous throughout the capital. It had truly shocked them.
The group ultimately stopped first at the archway where the results were posted. Zhan Muchun and Xu Fei both wanted to confirm their own rankings, and the other four could not help but look carefully again in case they had missed something.
On the list the three characters “Ah Shiheng” dominating the top were very obvious.
Zhan Muchun sighed with emotion, “Rare in a hundred years, astounding. Brother Shiheng was indeed low key before. It was also us who had eyes but failed to see.”
Some doubts in his heart seemed to be resolved. No wonder the other party had not taken him, this top provincial graduate, seriously along the way. It turned out he was confident in his own talent not inferior to his. The previous provincial examination was probably due to some accident that he only ranked over a hundred.
Seeing the name “Ah Shiheng” and the top ranking, Xu Fei was the most puzzled one. That fellow actually had such talent. Passing the top metropolitan spot was one thing, but he even got full marks in four subjects. This was examined too fiercely. He really was ruthless and unreliable.
He thought about the Yu Qing he knew in his impression, who secretly dared to do tricks under the eyes of a frontier official, who dared to risk his life for money, who dared to kill with a sword in hand, who could draw talismans by pretending to be supernatural, and who, when picking up a pen, could take the top metropolitan spot with a perfect score. This was too abnormal.