Chapter 1471: He Has a Big Handle on Him

The original Dou Anzhi must have been a wise man. He surely understood that a wife is not only for carrying on the family line, but also a right-hand support, a virtuous helpmate at home!

A good wife can bring prosperity to three generations!

Now this second wife of Dou Anzhi clearly does not meet the standard of a virtuous helpmate.

Besides, having seen the talent and beauty of his first wife, how could the original Dou Anzhi possibly fancy this second wife of his?

It feels off!

Contradictory!

They say a person's nature is hard to change! But in fact, one's taste is also very hard to change.

Men forever love eighteen-year-old young ladies! At eighteen, at twenty-eight, at seventy-eight — always the same!

Take him, for instance — he forever loves young married women.

In his past life it was so, in this life it is the same!

Among young married women, his favorite is the pretty widow!

But alas, a widow's door invites too much gossip, so he can only reluctantly give her up!

The original Dou Anzhi was no short of money. According to the investigation, he was quite a ladies' man in his youth, so he must have seen and tried everything. This second wife simply does not fit his taste!

Chen Chen Guanlou had sneaked over to the Dou residence and met the current lady of the house. By his standards, one could only say she was not ugly — not even pretty, let alone beautiful. At best, in her younger days, she had been a delicate beauty!

Any young girl, dressed up properly, looks fine — none of them are ugly.

But to be called pretty, beautiful, stunning, or captivating — that is exceedingly rare.

Money is a scarce resource, and beauties are likewise a scarce resource!

"Brother Wang, order your men to track down that servant boy without fail. This is very important."

Wang Hai nodded and agreed.

Taking money to do a job naturally means keeping the client satisfied.

"Why are you so curious about the Dou family's affairs? Spending so much money investigating him? Even if he offended you, you wouldn't need to go this far — just kill him outright. The handle is already there for the taking."

"What handle? Tell me about it. I might actually be able to use it later."

"He can't recite his metropolitan examination and palace examination essays — does that count as a handle?"

Huh?

Chen Chen Guanlou was dumbfounded. "Does that count as a handle?"

"Of course it does!" Eunuch Wang Hai declared with perfect righteousness, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "A jinshi of both lists can't even recite his own essays — I even suspect he cheated."

"Wait! You mean every jinshi, after finishing the exam, can still recite the essays they wrote years later?"

Isn't that a bit exaggerated?

"Exactly!" Eunuch Wang Hai held his head high, very smug. "When I was studying in the Inner Study Hall, the best essays I wrote back then, I can still recite them to this day. Reciting essays — one's own essays — for a jinshi, that's basic training. You didn't know? Just ask any jinshi about their metropolitan and palace examination essays, and they'll rattle them off without hesitation."

Chen Chen Guanlou let out an "ah," still a bit incredulous.

In any case, he couldn't recite them!

"Every single word?"

"Every single word! Want me to recite for you right now an essay I wrote ten years ago?" Eunuch Wang Hai was eager to show off. Without waiting for the other's agreement, he opened his mouth and began reciting, full of expression and emotion!

Chen Chen Guanlou: …

"You really wrote that?"

"Obviously!"

"You could write that well?"

He began to suspect Eunuch Wang Hai of cheating.

Eunuch Wang Hai gave a smug grin, thinking Chen Chen Guanlou was praising him. "Just average! My essays might scrape by for a xiucai exam, but they're far short of a juren level."

Chen Chen Guanlou suddenly realized that scholars of this era were all liberal arts students who needed to memorize vast amounts, and memory could be trained. Moreover, those with poor memory had long been weeded out at the tongsheng examination stage.

This meant that anyone who could pass the jinshi exam — whether or not they had other skills — certainly had an extraordinary memory. Not to mention essays from ten years ago, they might even recite books they had read twenty years ago.

That was why, when Zhang Zhang Yushi argued with people, he could cite classics and authorities at the drop of a hat. Reciting one's own written essays was even less of a challenge.

Chen Chen Guanlou continued to ask, "How do you know he can't recite them?"

"Because I went to keep watch on the Dou residence for a few days. I happened to run into the patriarch surnamed Dou testing his son's lessons, and the talk drifted to the metropolitan and palace examinations. His son asked him what topics came up in the metropolitan exam and how he had answered them — well, would you believe it, the man surnamed Dou couldn't answer at all. Absolutely absurd!"

Chen Chen Guanlou rubbed his brow. "What was Dou Anzhi's ranking in the metropolitan exam? And in the palace exam?"

"Metropolitan exam, ranked one hundred and twenty-third — not bad. Palace exam, ranked one hundred and fourth in the second tier — he even moved up."

"What level does that ranking represent?" Chen Chen Guanlou humbly asked. He didn't follow the imperial examinations, so he naturally had no idea how much weight those rankings carried.

"Definitely not up to the zhuangyuan or tanhua standard, and not as good as the top twenty of the second tier either. But beyond the top twenty, if his essays also aligned with the examiners' thinking, he could certainly have fought for a higher place."

The implication being: within the top twenty of the second tier, it was all genuine talent — ten percent luck, ninety percent hard skill.

Beyond the top twenty, talent counted for half, luck for half.

It all came down to whose essays fit the topic better, whose matched the examiners' intentions, whose pleased the chief examiner. In plain words — how to cater to their tastes!

Eunuch Wang Hai ranted fiercely, "With that ranking, when his own son presses him about his old imperial exams, he can't say a thing — can't even recite his own essays. I can't help suspecting he cheated on the exams.

But then I think about it, and it's impossible. The chief and deputy examiners of his cohort were all steady, seasoned officials who cherished their reputations! I just can't figure it out! I'm only at a xiucai level, yet I can recite my own essays on the spot. But he's a jinshi who can't — that's bizarre!"

Chen Chen Guanlou asked, "Is it possible that he isn't unable to recite them, but simply doesn't want to?"

"Impossible! You didn't see the look on his face at the time — a textbook case of shame turning to anger! No ink in his belly! Hey, could he really have cheated on the imperial exams?"

Eunuch Wang Hai's imagination ran wild, but unfortunately didn't run in the right direction.

Chen Chen Guanlou clicked his tongue twice. "You really dare to think! Didn't you think in any other direction?"

"What direction?" Eunuch Wang Hai wore a face that was both baffled and curious.

Chen Chen Guanlou felt the time had come to voice his suspicions — that way there would be a clear direction for the investigation, saving a good deal of time.

He gave a small cough. "You've always been curious why I want to investigate Dou Anzhi. It won't hurt to tell you."

Eunuch Wang Hai immediately pricked up his ears, leaned in close to him, his face wearing an expression of "go on, go on!"

Chen Chen Guanlou said with great solemnity, "I suspect the current Dou Anzhi is an impostor. The real Dou Anzhi may already be dead!"

Ah!

This time it was Eunuch Wang Hai's turn to turn pale with shock, looking utterly incredulous, as if he needed a moment to digest it.

Then, as if suddenly enlightened, he said, "No wonder you had me start investigating from the moment he was born, no wonder you kept asking about that little servant over and over. You mean the current Dou Anzhi is that little servant impersonating him?"

"It's possible! That's why I need you to investigate and verify it!"

Such a juicy piece of gossip—Eunuch Wang Hai's eyes immediately lit up!