Ji Xiaolan: Kill Qianlong at the beginning

The man continued, "If you're really talented, you'll pass. If you're really incompetent, you won't pass."

Mo Li said, "What do you mean by that? Can you pass the exam without any ability?"

The man said, "That depends on your sincerity."

Mo Li became interested and said, "So what if I'm sincere?"

The man said, "Are you sincere? Come with me upstairs and take a look."

"Take a look upstairs?"

The man let out a cry.

Mo Li continued, "Why? There's a Wenquxing statue upstairs. Just burning a stick of incense will guarantee you pass the exam."

The man said, "That's about right. Let's go, take a look upstairs, take a look upstairs, walk, walk, walk, walk."

Mo Li said, "Okay, okay, you lead the way."

He said to Du Xiaoyue beside him: "Let's go and take a look."

The three of them came to the door of a room. The man pushed the door open, extended his hand, and gestured for invitation, "Sir, come in."

Three people walked into the room. This person walked in front and came to a box. He opened it. Inside were shoes, clothes, and various small items. They all seemed to be related to the exam.

The man said, "How about it? Let's see?"

Mo Li pretended to be confused and asked, "What?"

The man introduced it, "Look at this, look at this dress. From the shoes to the underpants, there's no place where a book can't be hidden. Everything a scholar needs can be hidden inside this dress."

Mo Li picked up a shoe and fiddled with the cheat sheet hidden inside. He shook his head slightly, put it down, and said, "Oh, such a trivial trick. I've already found out everything you need to know before you can even pass the first level."

The man said, "I can tell you've been through a lot. Considering your age, you must have fought five or six times."

Mo Li smiled and said yes.

Du Xiaoyue thought that people are already officials, why are they still taking exams?

The man continued, "You are right, sir. Come, take a look at this again." and picked up a small box.

Mo Li took a look and said, "Isn't this the Four Treasures of the Study? Liulichang has plenty of them. We don't want this."

The man smiled and said, "Sir, you are from the country, right?"

Mo Li exclaimed.

The man continued, "Have you never seen this? This inkstone is hollow. Open it, and there is a whole volume of exam preparation books inside. This pen tube is empty, and, look..." He also made various demonstrations while speaking.

Mo Li pretended to be stunned and said, "What a wonderful thing! It's truly a wonderful thing. It's incredibly well-made, isn't it, Xiaoyue?"

Du Xiaoyue nodded.

She picked up the exam preparation book from the inkstone and said, "Brother Li, this is really useful. We must buy a copy when the time comes."

Mo Li said, "Yes, yes, yes, I should buy one. It's worth buying one, right? How much is one?"

The man said, "Not much, five hundred taels."

Mo Li exclaimed when he heard this, but this time he was not acting, he was really surprised.

He said, "Isn't five hundred taels too much?"

The man said as if it was a matter of course, "Yes, I say, think about it, if you pass the imperial examination and spend a little more money to get a lucrative position outside the province, you can be a prefect in three years and make a hundred thousand silver coins. If you work harder and make more money in your position, you don't know how much more silver you can make."

Mo Li regained his composure and said, "Yes, yes, it's worth it, absolutely worth it. It's really worth it, then let's buy one." He glanced at Du Xiaoyue beside him.

Du Xiaoyue said, "Buy it."

Mo Li stammered and asked her to pay.

Du Xiaoyue looked embarrassed and said, "Oh, I don't have that much silver."