Quick Transmigration: I Actually Became a System Bug

The county examination consisted of five sessions. Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu stepped out of the examination hall one after the other, becoming the first and second respectively. Outside the examination hall, only two servants, Siqi and Shishu, were waiting by the carriage. Upon seeing the two of them come out, they quickly drove the carriage forward, picked them up, and went straight back to the inn.

The results of the county examination came out quickly. Ji Han beat Shi Shaoyu to become the first place. Shi Shaoyu originally thought it was just a coincidence, since both of them had taken mental power development drugs and their IQs should be about the same.

Who knew that Ji Han consistently outperformed Shi Shaoyu in the county examination, the prefectural examination, the academy examination, and finally the palace examination, becoming the legendary perennial runner-up.

This made Shi Shaoyu seriously doubt whether the potion he drank had expired. Ji Han couldn't help but remind him that it was possible that the two of them had different starting points in terms of intelligence.

Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu became Xiucai in one year, Juren in the second year, and Zhuangyuan and Bangyan in the third year. In fact, after seeing their essays, the emperor originally wanted to appoint Shi Shaoyu as Zhuangyuan and Ji Han as Bangyan.

The reason is that the current emperor's most beloved eldest princess has taken a liking to Shi Shaoyu. The legitimate princess marrying a handsome and talented top scholar sounds like a beautiful story.

Unfortunately, one reason was that Shi Shaoyu's answer sheet was not as impressive as Ji Han's. More importantly, after hearing that the emperor wanted Shi Shaoyu to marry the princess, Shi Minghao dressed up and went to the palace overnight. He explained the situation of both Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu to the emperor in detail, and then he was kicked out of the palace while wiping away cold sweat.

What Shi Minghao said was too unbelievable. As the emperor, he would definitely send someone to investigate first. After the investigation, the result was that Shi Shaoyu was still the perennial runner-up. It wasn't that the emperor didn't want to appoint someone else as the top scholar or runner-up, but rather that the third-place scholar's writing was far inferior to theirs.

Just as Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu's palace examination results were released, even more people inquired about their marriage. Looking at his two handsome eldest sons, Shi Minghao, in order to prevent a repeat of the situation with the eldest legitimate princess, moved up the sworn brother ceremony that Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu were originally supposed to hold when they turned sixteen by three years.

To be honest, when the various prefectures in Kyoto received Shi Minghao's letter, they all doubted whether they had read it wrong or if someone was playing a prank. They even sent their trusted confidants to the Shi residence to find out what was going on. However, everyone who came to inquire replied with an incredulous expression.

Everyone found the bizarre reason given by the Shi family quite amazing, and some of the young people even set up a scheme with the rejected eldest princess.

Under the guise of making friends, they invited the young ladies and gentlemen of various families to visit the newly acquired manor of the eldest princess. During the banquet, someone deliberately put something in Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu's cups beforehand. The drug was so strong that the two of them only took a sip of tea before turning around and slumping onto the table.

The eldest princess personally led the two to a spacious place. She followed Shi Shaoyu step by step, gradually increasing the distance between him and Ji Han. When the two reached a certain distance, they both truly stopped breathing!

The servants carrying Shi Shaoyu and Ji Han were all startled when they realized that the two had stopped breathing instantly. Some even loosened their grip. If it weren't for a young master nearby who reacted quickly, Ji Han's precious head would have been badly bumped.

It was from this moment that the miraculous bond between Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu, along with their reputation as child prodigies, spread throughout the country.

For Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu, this only relieved them of some of the troubles of blind dates and pressure to get married; otherwise, nothing changed.

When Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu were thirteen years old, they passed the imperial examination. According to the usual practice, they should have been assigned to the Hanlin Academy to gain experience. Moreover, given their age, even if they did not go to the Hanlin Academy, the emperor would not assign them any positions with real power.

Everything still depends on oneself. Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu were personally taken to the palace by Shi Minghao. On the surface, it was to thank the Emperor for the reward (of course, these rewards were compensation given by the eldest princess for teasing the two of them). In reality, the two of them presented a map they had drawn themselves.

This map not only contains the gold, silver, and copper mines they discovered during their travels, but more importantly, it also includes iron and coal mines, and of course, it contains a major concern of the current emperor: a detailed hand-drawn map of the frontier.

The Tianqi Kingdom has only been established for thirteen years. That is to say, the people here only ended their war-torn and displaced lives thirteen years ago. Even now, countless battles, large and small, have taken place on the border during these thirteen years.

Every summer or autumn harvest season is a time of frequent warfare. In the years since the founding of Tianqi Kingdom, almost all of the grain and silver collected has been spent on these wars.

Does the Emperor not know that if taxes are too heavy, many farmers will go hungry? But if taxes are not levied, they will face not only hunger, but life and death, and the blood and corpses of their loved ones.

This is why the high yields of sweet potatoes and corn in the past two years have greatly eased the tense atmosphere across the country. Otherwise, even the current emperor doesn't know how long the country can hold out. Therefore, the current emperor is determined to crush those border countries and make them dare not or unable to invade our borders again!

The map that Ji Han and Shi Shaoyu presented was incredibly important for the battlefield on the frontier, however...

"Are you two sure you want to go to the front lines? You're still young, you don't understand what going there means, it means the war could start at any moment, it means you could die at any moment, it means your lives could end abruptly at the most exciting age."

"Your parents, your brothers and sisters, your relatives and friends, will be unable to help you in the end. They can only grieve after your sacrifice, and they may not even be able to see your complete or incomplete bodies."

When the current emperor said these words, his expression was very somber. He was the founding emperor who had experienced countless battlefields, large and small, not one of those spoiled brats who had never seen anything.

"Your Majesty, we know that I experienced those things when I was drawing the map, but I still want to go."

"Although I am not talented, I also wish to see a peaceful world, a safe place, people singing and playing music, a stable world through military force, and a peaceful and prosperous society through non-interference in governance during my lifetime."

"Your Majesty, I humbly beg you to grant my request!"