We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

But the third question was written like this:

There's a folk saying, "A dog faces east, its tail west." Is it the same for horses? A horse walked out of its stable, neighed loudly to the east, then turned and galloped off. It then turned right and galloped again, before turning left and taking a nap. It then walked a few steps west and began grazing on the grass. What direction is the horse's tail pointing now?

After reading the rather long and verbose title, Lin Qingyuan laughed so hard his shoulders trembled slightly.

Several students nearby, who were scratching their heads in frustration, were interrupted and cast disapproving glances their way.

Lin Qingyuan then realized that he was in the examination room and gave the others an apologetic smile.

He wasn't laughing on purpose; he just couldn't help it.

This question was more interesting than the one above, but Lin Qingyuan saw through the trick at a glance.

The lengthy description of the title, including things like neighing eastward, turning around and running, turning left and right, rolling around, and pacing westward, is actually all useless nonsense.

All of these operations are designed to construct a complex trajectory, leading the test-taker's thinking into a maze of directional judgment.

But the real answer lies in the crucial rhetorical question at the beginning: "Are horses like that too?"

There was no question mark in Daqing; what the students saw was just a blank space after a declarative sentence.

Thus, it is easy to assume from the outset that the question sets the horse and dog to be the same, with the tail direction changing according to the body's orientation.

However, anyone who has observed horses even slightly in real life knows that a horse's tail hangs down naturally most of the time during normal life!

No matter which direction it goes, whether it rolls or runs, once it stops to graze quietly, will its tail point to the sky in any particular direction?

Therefore, the answer is obvious: [downward].

Lin Qingyuan wrote down the answer with a flourish of his pen, his eyes shining even brighter, and he couldn't help but look up towards the direction of the palace.

His curiosity about the young emperor reached its peak at this moment.

This emperor... is quite cunning.

Not only are they ingenious in their interpretation of scriptures and practical applications, but they also effortlessly come up with logical traps that test common sense.

His unconventional thinking is truly beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Is he really not a fellow disciple of our Guigu School?

Lin Qingyuan scratched his head, wishing he could write a letter right now and ask the master on the mountain.

However, the exam was still going on, and no matter how curious Lin Qingyuan was, he had to wait until the exam was over to ask.

He silently recited the meditation mantra of his sect, then turned to look at the third question:

The father and grandfather are 84 years old combined. Given that the father is 45, how old is the grandfather?

Just like Wen Zaiyin before him, Lin Qingyuan instantly calculated the number 'thirty-nine' in his mind.

But at the same time, the same question immediately arose in my mind:

How could my father be older than my grandfather? This goes against common sense and human nature.

But with the experience from the first two questions, Lin Qingyuan's thinking was completely opened up, and he immediately began to diverge.

In the first two questions, His Majesty was instructing students not to be misled by the superficial appearance of words, but to see the true nature of things.

For this question, His Majesty's thinking suddenly changed, and he took the opposite approach, making the most of the ambiguity and traps inherent in the text.

The question does not specify whose father and grandfather the terms 'father' and 'grandfather' are used for.

It could be the sum of 'my father's' and 'someone else's grandfather's' ages!

This is purely a word game, testing whether students can break through the mindset of ethical relationships and dare to write down that seemingly absurd number.

Having figured this out, Lin Qingyuan couldn't help but chuckle again.

This smile, however, drew angry glares from the other test takers.

The questions were already annoying because they were bizarre and strange, but you kept laughing out loud. How were we supposed to answer them?

"That examinee!" The examiner on the platform finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "No noise is allowed in the examination room!"

"This is a warning. If you laugh without reason again and disrupt the examination room, you will be expelled immediately!"

Lin Qingyuan quickly composed himself, cupped his hands in apology, but felt little fear; instead, he felt a sense of relief.

He picked up his pen and wrote on the answer sheet without hesitation:

[Thirty-nine years old].

How interesting! This emperor doesn't play by the rules at all.

These three consecutive sophistry questions left not only other students completely baffled, but even some of their own classmates probably couldn't figure them out.

In fact, opinions about this emperor are mixed within the Guigu sect.

All I know is that this emperor is very capable in battle, even surpassing the achievements of the late emperor, and that he treats the people well, but has a very poor attitude towards powerful families.

Among his many students, quite a few came from prominent families and naturally had a poor impression of him.

But the Guigu School is a secluded school, and its disciples are all young people in their twenties, in the prime of their lives. Who would be willing to bury their talents in the mountains?

Having finally been granted permission by their master to descend the mountain and make a name for themselves, even those who harbored resentment towards Li Che were unwilling to miss this opportunity.

Lin Qingyuan, on the other hand, came from a humble background and had no prejudice against Li Che.

When he saw the questions Li Che had set, he not only had no prejudice, but appreciated them even more.

Master is right... This young emperor really doesn't seem like an ordinary emperor!

. . . . . .

On the other hand, Zhang Qian also struggled to write the third logic question.

He had already calculated the second problem once, but in the end he still felt that the solution was wrong. Finally, he realized that the horse's tail always seemed to be pointing downwards.

Having studied abroad for many years, I have never ridden a horse, but I have seen horses run.

Zhang Qian gave a wry smile, feeling that His Majesty seemed to enjoy joking.

After the first two questions, he was dizzy and felt like his brain was being turned into mush by all the twists and turns.

He pondered deeply about the question, "How old is my grandfather?"

Ultimately, the only mathematical answer that came to mind was 'thirty-nine years old'.

He was unaware of any linguistic traps involved; he simply felt the number looked incredibly awkward in that context, yet there was nothing he could do about it.

"Perhaps...His Majesty just wants to see if we dare to write such an outrageous answer?"

With this mindset in mind, Zhang Qian ultimately wrote 'thirty-nine years old' on the exam paper, but his heart was filled with trepidation, unsure whether it was right or wrong.

Fortunately, these three logic puzzles, which were like brain teasers, were finally over.

Turning the page, the next question is the most important and challenging one in the imperial examinations—the policy question!

As the only subjective question in the imperial examination, this question accounted for a very high percentage of the score, even more than all the previous questions combined.

Zhang Qian took a deep breath, focused all his attention, and stared intently at the scene.