Chapter 46: Another Top-Grade—Marvelous, Marvelous, Marvelous!

Zhao Xing had originally planned to hand in his paper and run off to eat, but since Chen Shijie had spoken thus, he could only stand aside and wait.

The several examiners read the papers separately, each taking charge of a portion, then conducted cross-circulation review.

In total there were just over five hundred papers, which wasn't all that many.

But there absolutely could not be any mistakes.

Xue Wenzhong's first look was at the topic 'In Chengnan there is wind, raging as it goes.'

Seeing that Zhao Xing had not fallen into the trap within the topic, and had answered it perfectly, half of his suspended worry was set down.

"Cao Zhenjun's methods—he has indeed memorized them thoroughly. And rightly so, for most of his techniques were taught by Zhenjun."

Afterwards he saw again that topic: 'Earth Yin cold, spring wood unused, summer Yang steamed, locusts flourish and breed.'

After reading Zhao Xing's answer, Xue Wenzhong's heart was completely set at rest.

His expression shifted from gloomy to bright, and he even revealed a smile.

"I wronged him. To answer this topic perfectly, his understanding of the Five Elements and the four seasons is already very profound; the remaining topics are simply beneath mention."

The old Minister of Agriculture was greatly gratified; once his mood turned pleasant, his bearing also relaxed considerably.

He no longer worried that Zhao Xing would grow arrogant because of his results.

Gao Li, Tang Wanchun, and Pang Yuan were reviewing the portion where Zhao Xing had transcribed classics from memory.

The freebie questions were all correct, not a single error or omission.

Broad learning and strong memory were nothing remarkable; the key was Zhao Xing's speed—thirty sheets of paper, working by lamplight through the night without a single mistake, truly rare.

"Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous!" Chen Shijie suddenly shouted three times.

This startled the other examiners.

Because Chen Shijie's voice was so loud, the candidates outside were likely to have heard it.

There were indeed candidates outside who heard it—after all, no one was deaf.

Some also saw Zhao Xing hand in his paper early and walk into the hall.

But the candidates who heard it were baffled: just how marvelous was Zhao Xing's answer, that the chief examiner was meowing like a cat?!

"Of the Five Elements, none is more esteemed than Earth; Earth dwells at the center and governs the four directions, commanding all without exception, and does not contend with Fire for merit and fame."

What Chen Shijie was looking at was precisely the final question Zhao Xing had answered.

The reason he was so delighted was purely because Chen Shijie himself was a member of the Dili Sect.

Zhao Xing's answer had, without question, suited his taste once again.

Moreover, these words aligned perfectly with the Dili Sect's ideology—any member of the Dili Sect who saw it would be pleased.

Because it further elevated the Earth element, even crowning it with the title of commanding the four directions. Though there was a touch of flattery in it, one had to see how the flattery was done.

Zhao Xing had hit the mark; it was not wild, groundless praise—it scratched right at Chen Shijie's itch!

"Ahem, this official has lost his composure a little." Chen Shijie, seeing the astonished gazes of the others, quickly realized something was amiss and could only cover it with a dry laugh. "No matter, everyone look at this answer sheet—you must review it with strict impartiality."

"What's the bloody point of covering it up? That grin of yours is harder to suppress than a waterwheel. With the chief examiner's attitude this obvious, how are we supposed to review it impartially?" Gao Li inwardly grumbled, feeling this chief official was truly unreliable.

He did not take that answer sheet, because he did not want to go against his conscience and give Zhao Xing a high score—even though Chen Shijie had made his stance so clear, that still wouldn't do! Gao Li's character was, after all, a bit upright.

The others were different; they immediately took the answer sheet and began examining it carefully.

"Hmm? Truly marvelous indeed!" Tang Wanchun praised after seeing it. Though he was not of the Dili Sect, objectively speaking, answering in this way could indeed earn a high score.

Pang Yuan and the other reviewers felt the same. Setting aside Chen Shijie's attitude, Zhao Xing's answer to this final question truly gave one a sense of being an eye-opener, and it was well-reasoned and well-supported, not fabricated out of thin air.

When the cross-review was done, the other officials also all acknowledged Zhao Xing's brilliance.

"Returning to the heavenly timing, supplementing one pentad of spring, reducing one pentad of summer? Bing Fire adjusts Yin, Ding Fire continues Yang—this answer is actually somewhat more complete than what this old man had previously thought."

"Chengnan builds mountains from earth veins, the mountains block the wind; the east of the city constructs canals, leading water around the city, building Return-to-Origin waterwheels—isn't this precisely what Cao Zhenjun once did?"

"This question was set by me, taking Cao Zhenjun and the ancient city as examples—I never expected him to see through it at a glance."

Seeing so many colleagues begin to praise, Gao Li could not resist starting to examine it carefully as well.

After a moment, his gaze toward Zhao Xing grew somewhat complex.

Why is this person not my student? Of all things, he had to be discovered by the old Minister of Agriculture!

"Hmph, at least his handwriting is terrible!" Gao Li sourly thought. "Right, among the top-grade papers, his handwriting must certainly be the worst!"

Without suspense, the participating examiners unanimously gave the evaluation of top-grade.

Even Gao Li did not go against his conscience and give upper-middle, because the examiners' scores and comments also had to be recorded and submitted upward.

Giving upper-middle on the grounds of ugly handwriting would leave a bad impression of bias on those above; ugly handwriting was not considered a major matter in this era.

Because after formally entering rank, one's vital essence was sufficient to precisely control oneself, and writing became like woodblock printing—so this was merely a trivial matter, absolutely impossible to use as a reason to eliminate a candidate.

By rights, the top-grade quota could not be handed out so quickly, but because opinion was so unified, Zhao Xing, the first to hand in his paper, received the first top-grade evaluation.

Others still had to continue the examination, and the examiners could not keep him here any longer to chat. Zhao Xing cupped his hands in a bow and silently left the examination hall.

The next day, people handed in their papers one after another; the examination results for the over five hundred clerks were released that very afternoon.

Zhao Xing once again obtained top-grade. Because this theory examination was of considerable difficulty, besides him, only two others achieved top-grade.

They were Ding Shan and Liang Bai respectively.

Ding Shan was someone the crowd was fairly familiar with—he was the oldest clerk in the Huai Liu Court, having always assisted Xue Wenzhong at his side, handling documents and records.

His aptitude for techniques was merely average; his obtaining top-grade was purely because he was old enough and had done enough questions.

Liang Bai had obtained top-grade for the first time. This kind of theory examination did not look at technique proficiency, only theoretical knowledge, so it was quite normal for someone of mediocre cultivation to achieve top-grade.

Besides these, the top list also had nine people, including Li Chengfeng, Wen Nanxing, Xiao Ze, and others.

Zong Shichang landed in the second grade; in this area, the young master Zong was not adept.

"He actually got top-grade again—so what if his techniques are exquisite, he's even this proficient in theory? Is this person truly cut out to be an official?" Wen Nanxing and Xiao Ze had steeled themselves to surpass Zhao Xing in this examination.

But once the results came out, they were immediately greatly disappointed.

How could he have gotten top-grade again?

"It must be that the old Minister of Agriculture cheated and gave his beloved disciple hints, or opened a back door for him in advance." Huang Tao said bitterly.

"Brother Huang, just because you didn't do well yourself, you can't stand others doing well?" someone shot back.

"Exactly, and the questions weren't set by the old Minister of Agriculture alone—your own teacher could see them too."

Lady Cai's many meals had not been cooked in vain—more and more people around were speaking up for Zhao Xing.

"You've lost to Brother Zhao before, no need to hold such a grudge—you were the one who went to challenge him and seize his territory first."

"Brother Huang, stop deceiving yourself, it's pointless."

"..." Huang Tao's heart was pierced, but seeing more and more people around speaking up for Zhao Xing, he didn't dare argue back any longer—otherwise he'd be the one losing face—so he slunk away.