Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 19 The Examiners' Dispute
Examination Room No. 6, Class A

Han Yugui suppressed his discomfort and, recalling the tales of the demons of Wuling Mountain he had once heard, wrote a short chronicle of spirits and monsters.

【"The Old Locust Tree and the Red Wedding Dress":】
In the valley of Wuling Mountain lives an old locust tree spirit that absorbs the moonlight year after year, its canopy covering three acres.

In the spring of the third year, the woodcutter saw the old locust tree draped in red silk at night, transformed into the appearance of a bride: withered locust flowers as hairpins, moss as a shawl, morning dew as rouge on her lips, and the cold stars of midnight in her eyes. As she walked, locust pods fell to the ground like weeping pearls.

He once lured a lost scholar, using roots and fibrous materials to make a wedding bed, and then they drank from the same cup together.

At the end of last year, lightning and fire struck and burned it.

An old villager once said, "I heard a poem emerge from the scorched earth: 'The heart of the locust tree is my soul, awaiting your return for a thousand years.'"

After writing,

Han Yugui's forehead was covered in cold sweat, his face was deathly pale, and his hand holding the pen trembled.

He seemed to see the roots of the old locust tree, draped in green moss and a red wedding gown, crawling out from the paper and reaching for his wrist.

Suddenly, her stomach churned, and she vomited up the lotus seed soup she had eaten for lunch, mixed with bile.

He has an innate aversion to literary purity and is unwilling to touch such obscure writing.

"After returning to the manor, I will bathe, burn incense, and fast for a month to cleanse my mind and hands of this evil and filthy aura."

Han Yugui was panting, furious.

As dusk fell, the twilight seeped through the carved windows of the county school.

The second exam is over.

The yamen runners in their black boots collected the examination bags, totaling three hundred examination papers for the students of the Imperial Academy, and piled them all together in the main hall of the county school.

"This one, approved!"

"This one, discard it!"

Cai Chao swept the sleeves of his official robe over the mountain of examination papers, reading them quickly and efficiently.

"This story portrays demons as benevolent philanthropists, doing good deeds! Bah! Demote it!"

Zhao Tieshan, still in his armor, slammed his wrist guards against the table with a clang, his face full of anger.

The deputy examiners, including Chief Clerk Shen Yanqing, County Magistrate Zhou Wenyuan, and Clerk Cui Mingyuan, remained calm and composed as they graded the papers.

Write a short essay of about 100 words on the theme of "demon" and include it in the "Monsters and Strange Tales" volume of the Jiangyin County Annals.

For Meng Sheng, this requirement was exceptionally high.

Those with poor writing, irrelevant content, or incorrect stance will be eliminated immediately.

After rounds of selection, five outstanding short essays with superior writing skills stood out and ranked among the top five. They were finally placed on the sandalwood desk, awaiting the final judgment of the five chief and deputy examiners.

In the previous short exam, the five examiners had gained some understanding of each candidate's writing style.

Even though the answers are anonymous, you can still guess about 70-80% of the answers correctly.

The first one is "The Iron-Chained Dragon Chapter". This article is dignified and majestic, recording the legend of the monster in the river being suppressed by the former magistrate with iron chains. It is full of momentum.

Judging from its grand and majestic writing style, it must be the work of Jiang Xingzhou.

Secondly, "The Wolf Mountain Lord's Moon-Eating Chapter" tells the story of the Wolf Mountain Lord, a demon, who eats the moon to cultivate his demonic path. Wolf demons are commonplace, and the writing is sharp and incisive.

It was probably written by Li Yunxiao, whose brushstrokes carry a sense of killing intent.

The third one is "The Tale of the Ink Demon's Chaos," which is novel and delicate about ink turning into a demon and causing chaos.

I'd guess it was Cao An, given his meticulous nature.

The fourth story, "The Shad Demon Robs the Tribute Ships," tells the bizarre tale of a shad demon robbing tribute ships on the Grand Canal, full of ups and downs.

It was very likely Lu Ming's doing.

The fifth piece, "The Old Locust Tree and the Red Wedding Dress," portrays the old locust tree as a demon, exuding an eerie and alluring charm, and is written with remarkable literary talent.

Upon seeing such stunning and enchanting brushstrokes, it must undoubtedly be Han Yugui. No one else could have written the locust tree spirit so vividly and charmingly.

These five hundred-word essays each had their own strengths and weaknesses, and the examiners were quite fond of them.

"In my opinion, this piece, 'The Wolf Mountain Lord Eats the Moon,' is the best."

Its sharp and powerful writing surpasses all others, making it worthy of being ranked first!

Furthermore, wolf demons are the most common type of demon cultivator, enough to fill a county annals! The people are very familiar with them and will all agree.

The academic official, Cai Chao, said with a smile that he greatly admired this piece.

Of course, most importantly, the ink used in this piece was finally secretly made with red scales—this was the secret code agreed upon between Magistrate Li Mo and him, and he was certain that this piece was undoubtedly Li Yunxiao's work. "This humble official thinks it inappropriate!"
Although this story, "The Wolf Mountain Lord Eats the Moon," is good, the events described are just hearsay!

Without corroboration from any famous person, Zhou Wenhuan, a mere scholar, boasted of encountering a wolf demon in the dead of night and killing it in a bloody battle under cover of darkness, which is hardly credible.

There are no other important physical evidence to corroborate this, such as rubbings or cultural relics.

How could this possibly meet the criteria for inclusion in the "Jiangyin County Annals"?

On the contrary, this story, "The Iron-Chained Crocodile Dragon," is quite good!

It was the former magistrate Pei Shoucheng who personally suppressed the alligator dragon; this event has long been recorded in the biographies of figures in the Jiangyin County Annals. A fragment of a stele remains, now preserved in the east wing of the Confucian Temple.

This short chronicle, with its origins and sources, is dignified, grand, and magnificent, thus deserving of inclusion in the county annals!

This magnificent and awe-inspiring piece deserves to be ranked number one!

Chief Clerk Shen Yanqing was most fond of "The Iron Chain Dragon Chapter," believing it to be magnificent and in line with the standards for inclusion in the county annals.

"In my humble opinion, this 'Old Locust Tree and Red Wedding Dress' is the best, with its brilliant writing surpassing all others!"

County Magistrate Zhou Wenyuan offered a different opinion, praising it highly.

"No, no! I think 'The Robbery of the Tribute Ship' is the best! The shad spirits transforming into knife-fish formations to rob the tribute ships—that kind of ferocity is the true method that can withstand real combat!"

County Lieutenant Zhao Tieshan waved his hands repeatedly, spitting as he spoke.

As a county constable, he most enjoyed watching cases like this, where the shad spirit robbed tribute ships.

For a moment, the five examiners, both chief and deputy examiners, argued heatedly about the ranking of the answer sheets, their faces flushed.

No one can convince anyone else!
"This"

Cai Chao pondered for a moment.

The four examiners present—Shen Yanqing, Zhou Wenyuan, Cui Mingyuan, and Zhao Tieshan—each held their own opinions, and almost none of them shared his views.

This is a tricky matter!

If he were to use his authority as the chief examiner to forcibly designate "The Wolf Mountain Lord Eats the Moon" as the top-ranked piece, it would likely displease the other four examiners.

Cai Chao glanced at the five short essays on the table, then turned to Pei Jingyi and respectfully asked, "Master Pei, what are your thoughts on these five essays?"

County Magistrate Li Mo was required to avoid kinship ties and could only observe from the sidelines; he was not allowed to offer any opinions on the candidates' answers.

The only person he could consult was Pei Jingyi, a literary giant.

Pei Jingyi stroked his beard, his expression calm.

He also quite liked these five short essays, which were either grand, sharp, novel, dramatic, or stunning, each with its own strengths.

There's no need to argue!
In my opinion, all five short essays are top-notch, and their quality is comparable.

Even if there are differences in quality, the distinction is not significant.

The overall level of students in Mengsheng, Jiangyin County is quite good!
Moreover, the short essay is a hundred characters long.

Meng Sheng lacked talent and ability, making it difficult for him to demonstrate his literary skills and distinguish between true superiors and inferiors.

Since the five examiners each hold their own opinion, let's settle the score in the third round of the county examination!
If someone stands out from all the candidates in the third round and wins the top prize, then the outcome will be decided.

There's no need to argue about who's better right now.

The Jiangyin County Examination consists of three sessions. If you can get the [First Class] in any two of them, you will almost certainly be the top candidate in the preliminary examination.

"What Lord Pei says makes sense!"

Since that's the case, then as Lord Pei wishes, these five excellent answer sheets will not be ranked for the time being.

We'll talk about it after the third exam.

Only the top one hundred students were allowed to continue to the third examination; the remaining two hundred who wrote poor essays were all eliminated.

Upon hearing this, Cai Chao's eyes flashed with deep thought, and he nodded.

As soon as he finished speaking, the examiners nodded in agreement.

The sun was setting in the west, and it was already quite late.

The county examination must be completed tonight.

Since the five short essays on the desk were of equal quality, they were temporarily set aside, and the final competition of the third county examination was to be held directly.

(End of this chapter)