Special Thanks to these patrons for their support!
S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Azurixa] [Celeste S.] [Christine G.-L.] [Esther D.]
O R A N G E S T A R
[J Jean] [K.Rom] [Smurfinbatik] [Tori D.] [Ziana K.-P.]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Maria P.] [Nicole]
G O L D S T A R
[Cindy] [Nanashi D. Y.] [Reece P.]
R A I N B O W S T A R
[Amanda] [Book W.] [Britnae M] [Caroline] [Christigale M.] [DetectiveGeek421] [Haruka N.]
[Hlau V.] [Ine O.] [Kiiayame] [kuroneko_chan] [Liznel M.] [Michelle K.] [onepiece] [Oushna]
[Ray] [Samanta V.] [Scorpion Princess] [Sweetlove] [Victoria]
The Imperial Academy got the news yesterday that the list was going to be released today, and they decided to give the students of the six halls a day off.
As for the elementary division, since the elementary school students had nothing to do with the imperial exam, classes were still held as usual.
In the past, it was either Xiao Liulang had a holiday and Little Jing Kong would have too, or Xiao Liulang had no holiday and Little Jing Kong would still have a holiday. However, this time, it was Little Jing Kong's turn to go to school alone, making Little Jing Kong’s face filled with bitterness.
"Who said elementary school students have nothing to do with the imperial exam? Don’t I have to go and see how the fellow at home has fared in the exam?” Little Jing Kong, carrying his book bag with one hand behind him, leaned forward slightly and walked out of the gate with the same walking pace as their neighbor Uncle Zhao.
His little face crumpled up as he sighed, looking worried to death about something.
This was the appearance that Uncle Zhao used whenever he worried about his youngest son, who usually gave him the least trouble.
Xiao Liulang wasn’t in too much of a hurry to see the results. Instead, it was his neighbors who swarmed over to see the list. They made a bet and had to see if they had won.
Feng Lin and Lin Chengye also went to check the results. They got up in the middle of the night and kept waiting at the entrance of the examination compound.
There were also a lot of eager examinees crouching with them.
At the period of chenshi(7-9 am), the gate of the examination compound opened, and two imperial guards came out and posted the list of successful examinees on the notice board.
The Gongshi list was also called the apricot list because the apricot blossoms were in full bloom during the release of the metropolitan exam results.
Feng Lin and Lin Chengye were the first to rush over, running to the front of the apricot list.
The two began looking from the first place downwards.
"For real?"
They were both stunned at the same time.
The first place was Xiao Liulang.
But it wasn’t just Xiao Liulang.
There was also An Junwang!
This year's apricot list has two Huiyuan!
This was why they were dumbfounded. Others didn't know Xiao Liulang's strength, but they were tutored by Xiao Liulang for so long. How could they not understand?
However, An Junwang was also a powerful individual, and his background was far from what Xiao Liulang could compare. If one thought about it, it really wasn’t surprising for An Junwang to win the first place.
But it was still surprising that they tied for the first place.
There had never been such a shocking thing in the whole history of the State of Zhao.
There was actually a reason for this.
In the metropolitan exam, only the final perfect exam paper was eligible to become the Huiyuan. Generally, after the metropolitan exam, the chief examiner would not allow two final perfect exam papers to appear. In other words, there should only be one Huiyuan.
But something wrong had occurred during this metropolitan exam.
Thanks to the cheating transcribe official, An Junwang's exam paper was delayed, and Xiao Liulang's exam paper was marked first.
When the marking officials finished grading all the exam papers from the three sessions, they selected the 200 exam papers with the highest total score and handed them over to two senior examiners.
These exam papers were not separated one by one. The three exam papers of an examinee were put together and numbered as a single exam paper.
Among these exam papers, the ones which the marking officials had graded with full A’s were called initial perfect exam papers.
When an initial perfect exam paper reached the hands of the two senior examiners and got two more A’s from them, then it was called the final perfect exam paper.
The moment the two senior examiners started correcting the exam paper numbered sixty-nine, they were instantly amazed by the strength of this examinee.
This time, the senior examiners were students of Grand Preceptor Zhuang, and in this metropolitan exam, they were naturally in favor of An Junwang. Before that, they had a certain understanding of An Junwang's writing and problem-solving style.
To be honest, when they saw this vermillion exam paper, they both felt that it wasn’t quite like An Junwang's style.
But this exam paper was really well done. It was simply too good, completely beyond one’s imagination; the type that you couldn’t find any words to describe its excellence.
Apart from An Junwang, no one in the world could write such a powerful article.
Hence, despite the strange feeling in their hearts, the two of them were sure that this was An Junwang's exam paper, and uniformly gave it two A's.
As a result, Xiao Liulang's exam paper became a final perfect exam paper.
On the last day, when the two senior examiners reviewed and graded An Junwang's real exam paper, they felt a sense of familiarity. Although they didn't want to admit it, it seemed that this was the writing and problem-solving style of An Junwang!
But if this one belonged to An Junwang, whose paper was that previously?
Under the eyes of the public, the two could no longer change the previous perfect exam paper. It was easy to add words like what Gu Chengfeng did, but erasing what was already written was simply impossible.
The two people could only toughen their scalp and continue to give An Junwang’s exam paper two A’s.
In the past, when such a situation occurred, the two exam papers would be sent to the palace along the apricot list for the Emperor and the cabinet officials to make the final decision. And that was the case this time as well.
As before, there were no names indicated on the exam paper, only numbers.
But they knew that one of them must belong to An Junwang.
After reading the exam papers, the Emperor didn't decide immediately. Instead, he summoned Grand Preceptor Zhuang and asked him to choose for himself.
Grand Preceptor Zhuang snorted in his heart. What was there to choose from? In this day and age, was there any person who could compare to his direct grandson?
However, as soon as he finished reading the two exam papers with disdain, he was suddenly speechless.
He was An Junwang's grandfather. Of course, he recognized which style belonged to An Junwang.
The Emperor asked, "Do we still need to summon another cabinet minister and select one of the two exam papers?"
Grand Preceptor Zhuang replied, "No need, Your Majesty can make the final decision."
The Emperor smiled and said, "I think these two papers are well done. It's better to have them tied for the first place. What does Grand Preceptor think?"
Grand Preceptor Zhuang was relieved, "Your Majesty is wise."
To be able to make Grand Preceptor Zhuang tolerate another person sharing the top spot with his grandson showed just how good the other person's exam paper really was.
There was simply no way to manipulate things.
If there was even a small part he found lacking or debatable, Grand Preceptor Zhuang would never allow this tie to happen.
It was just that even the Emperor couldn’t bring down An Junwang at once.
Right now, the cabinet was still in the hands of Grand Preceptor Zhuang, and the successful examinees taking post as officials must first fall into the hands of Grand Preceptor Zhuang.
In a corner of the palace, voices of two men came from behind a big tree.
"How do you handle things? Didn't someone take it away? How did it still appear?"
"Lord Tong said that he did hide An Junwang's exam paper, but somehow, An Junwang's exam paper appeared again on the last day; he suspected it was a ghost."
"What damn ghost!?"
"If it's not a ghost, then it’s a living human, but why doesn't the other party expose Lord Tong?"
"That's right."
"That... What about the next step of the plan..."
Raz P.'s Thoughts
To read advance GSPW chapters! Updates 7x a week (daily).
You can read up to 20 advance chapters in our patreon so you should go check it out. ^^
No patreon but want to support us? Then,
OR if you can't support us in money, you can always support us emotionally -just hope into . Hehehe~
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.co(m) for the b𝘦st novel reading experience