Chapter 300

The thirteenth prince is coming to Fengyang Prefecture?

Du Ruo's dark face fell, "With so many officials in the imperial court, why did they send him?"

"What's wrong with him?" Doctor Ke asked in confusion.

"He..." Du Ruo made a sharp turn, "His status is too high, and he is too handsome; it would be bad if he caused a disturbance at the Apricot Grove Assembly."

Doctor Ke: "..."

His own master really worries a bit too much.

He laughed out loud, "Don't worry Master, there will definitely be heavy guards by then; who would dare to act recklessly? Unless they don't want their lives."

Du Ruo chuckled twice and did not continue this topic.

The two agreed that Doctor Ke would come to pick her up the day before the Apricot Grove Assembly, and then the master and disciple would go to the venue together.

When leaving, old baby Ke acted as if he had eaten something crazy, his footsteps even floating.

Du Ruo also turned and entered the guesthouse.

While going upstairs, she thought about the matter of the thirteenth prince.

The reason she was unhappy about his coming was that the thirteenth prince is not only the Emperor's good son, but also has an annoying identity: he is the nephew of Prince Ji and the dear cousin of Shen Jing Bin.

With Shen Jing Bin's character, he is already arrogant enough on weekdays; now that his backer has arrived, won't he jump around even more?

One can imagine that Shen Jing Bin will definitely take this opportunity to slander his cousin and attack and retaliate against everyone he dislikes.

The first to bear the brunt will probably be Jiang Li.

In Shen Jing Bin's view, getting rid of Jiang Li has too many benefits; not only can he vent his anger, but he can also steal his credit, and even snatch his wife, giving him a green turtle hat...

Heh, Du Ruo sneered inwardly.

Shen Jing Bin had better not court death, otherwise the consequences will not be as simple as showing off his "big eagle" in public.

She wouldn't mind letting that "down-to-earth" man taste the feeling of practicing the Sunflower Manual!

Standing at the door of the room, Du Ruo took a deep breath and adjusted her state.

It is better not to let Jiang Zhan know about these troublesome matters, so as not to affect his upcoming exams.

Besides, the matter is not yet settled; these are all her wild thoughts. Perhaps that thirteenth prince is a reasonable person who knows right from wrong? Furthermore, Jiang Li once saved his life; as a dignified prince, his perspective shouldn't be that small, and dealing with a small constable would not only be beneath him but also easily criticized if spread out.

Du Ruo cast aside these chaotic thoughts and pushed the door open to enter.

"How is it, are there any questions you don't know?" she asked with a smile.

While Jiang Zhan was busy doing problems, at the Prefectural Ya Men, Su Qingyao was also equally busy.

Thousands of exam papers, of course, cannot all pass through his hands; wouldn't he be exhausted to death?

There must be people to help.

According to practice, there are two groups of people helping.

One group is Su Qingyao's people, which are his several secretaries and disciples. Although these people do not have official positions, they are all Juren graduates, and their knowledge and character are recognized by Su Qingyao; it is just because the competition in the provincial exam is too great that they failed repeatedly and gave up the idea of taking exams further, so they were recruited by Su Qingyao to be his assistants.

And what they have to do is preliminary screening.

For example, dirty papers and papers that violate taboos must be picked out and dismissed first.

Then the remaining exam papers are handed over to another group of people.

This group of people usually comes from well-known academies outside the area, have Jinshi degrees, and are not in the same camp as the chief examiner, so there will be no bias when grading.

First, look at the first essay; if the first one is not pleasing to the eye, then even if the second one is written like a flower, it will not be looked at.

Directly brush it off.

After working nervously for a day and a night, the grading officials finally finished evaluating the exam papers.

In the end, there were still more than eight hundred exam papers sent to Su Qingyao's desk.

These are the best among them.

The chief examiner personally reviews them and determines the rankings.

Among them, ten exam papers were recognized by them as the best, and they were handed over to the secretary Gongsun Ang separately.

Gongsun Ang took the stack of exam papers into the prefectural office, handed them to Su Qingyao sitting by the table, and smiled, "Elder Dong, it seems the A-list is these people in my hand."

Su Qingyao first drank a cup of tea to refresh himself, and then reached out to take them, "Let me see how the standard is this year."

After speaking, he lowered his head to look.

When his gaze fell on the top exam paper, he couldn't help but brighten up, and he slapped the table, nearly knocking over the teacup.

"Good calligraphy!"

Magnificent and atmospheric, bright and elegant, every stroke shows proud character, which is truly amazing.

Not only amazing, but also somewhat familiar; it seems he has seen it somewhere before.

It's just that he couldn't remember it for a moment.

But there is one thing Su Qingyao is sure of, he said "Eh," "It's actually not Duan Xiu's?"

He had already read Duan Xiu's essay in the exam hall, so he naturally recognized his handwriting.

"It is indeed not Young Master Duan's." Gongsun Ang's tone carried a hint of regret; it's not that he had any relationship with the Duan family and was biased toward Duan Xiu, but simply for Su Qingyao's sake.

The Duan family has many disciples and old friends; if Duan Xiu fails to be appointed as the prefectural top scholar, I fear the Duan family will blame the chief examiner Su Qingyao for this.

And then make things difficult for Su Qingyao elsewhere.

Su Qingyao didn't feel regret, just a bit surprised, wondering which candidate is so powerful that they could actually suppress Duan Xiu.

His gaze shifted, and he caught sight of that name.

"Jiang Zhan?" It's him!

Su Qingyao didn't quite believe it.

He saw clearly when he was patrolling the exam; that little guy couldn't even squeeze out half a fart by noon, and he was so angry at the time, how could there be such a big reversal?

"Come, come, come, Old Gongsun, let's take a look at the best papers selected by the Dacheng Academy together."

"Yes, My Lord."

Gongsun Ang bowed and stood behind Su Qingyao.

Two people and four eyes looked at the beginning of the first essay at the same time.

The beginning is the breaking of the theme.

"If one does not use the compass and square, one can only rely on this brightness and skill."

Su Qingyao slapped the table again, "Good!"

Gongsun Ang's expression was complex, but he had to admit that it was indeed good.

It is more novel and appropriate than Duan Xiu's breaking of the theme.

The two continued to look down.

"The compass and square are things that cannot be ignored; if one cannot ignore them but does not use them, is one deeply relying on this brightness and skill? I have heard that the gentlemen of old, when moving, would follow the compass, and when turning, would follow the square; this does not necessarily mean that one must actually have these compasses and squares... then the compass and square are truly the standards to follow. Without the compass and square, how can one form a circle or a square!"

Flowing with over six hundred words.

From the opening theme, to the middle development, transition, argumentation, to the final conclusion, it is substantial and coherent.

It is truly a rare masterpiece!

Having been a chief examiner for so many years and having seen countless good essays, Su Qingyao had long since cultivated a calm state of mind.

But now, he couldn't help but feel surging emotions and uncontrollable excitement.

"Hahahaha, Old Gongsun, didn't you say that no one could surpass Duan Xiu's essay? You've been slapped in the face!"

What else could Gongsun Ang say?

He shook his head and sighed, "It was indeed my words that were too early."

After a pause, he reminded him again, "But Elder Dong, as for who to appoint as the first place, you still need to carefully consider it..."

Su Qingyao understood what he meant and gradually calmed down.

He didn't speak again and continued to look at the second essay.

Compared to the first one, the second one was not inferior at all, also with a clever theme, flowing like clouds and water, making people applaud.

This is difficult.

Su Qingyao turned to the next exam paper, and it was indeed Duan Xiu's.

He thought for a while and simply put the two exam papers aside, intending to finish reading all the other exam papers before making a decision.

Eight hundred exam papers is not a simple task.

Su Qingyao worked day and night, working overtime, and even cut his favorite meal time in half, finally finishing in the early morning of the third day.

He yawned, pointed to the stacks of exam papers on the desk, and instructed Gongsun Ang beside him, "Copy down the rankings in order from top to bottom, and post the list early tomorrow morning."

Gongsun Ang responded with a "Yes."

"Then the first place..."

Su Qingyao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Naturally, whoever writes the best is the first."