When Zheng Qian woke up, the second exam had already ended. The examiner received his blank paper, paused for a moment, and then put the paper into a box and drove away with a strange look in his eyes.

Hmph, the landlord's foolish son, he comes to take the exam and will get official rank when he returns.

Heavens, you are unfair.

As expected of the Crown Prince, Dong Hao's meals were incredibly lavish. He threw all the leftovers from lunch into the trash can, and then another eighteen dishes were placed on the table.

Zheng Qian had finished his pancakes, but Dong Hao said they were delicious at noon and shared them with his men.

Such delicious pancakes must be given to his men to try, otherwise it would be disrespectful to him.

In this situation, Zheng Qian respectfully obeyed.

In front of the examination room under Dong Hao's command, there were five large barrels piled up, containing Dong Hao's food.

Dong Hao said he ate five meals in two days and one night, with eighteen dishes at each meal, so there were eighty dishes in total, and none of them were the same.

Dong Hao, the crown prince, knows how to enjoy life.

As the sun set, the third exam papers were distributed.

The text contains numerous puzzles and intricacies, requiring the reader to solve them.

Upon seeing the question, Zheng Qian's mind went blank. He wrote down his name and went back to sleep.

This exam tested an algorithm called "number of pages" and a mechanical formula. Zheng Qian had heard of it but had never learned it, so he decided to continue submitting a blank paper.

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, everyone was engrossed in studying the questions, hoping that the examinee of "The Song of Everlasting Regret" would once again amaze them, and they were all guessing how many points Zheng Qian would get.

"A perfect score in poetry and prose, the first person in history to achieve this; the exam papers that follow will surely amaze everyone as well."

"Learning has no end. Seeing Zheng Qian's exam paper made me realize that there is still a long way to go in the path of literature."

"Yes, the emergence of such an outstanding person in fifty countries is not an honor for any one country, but an honor for all fifty countries."

Everyone was chatting happily, hoping for a perfect love story where the emperor would ignore state affairs, but the perfect story that did happen was far more outstanding than they had expected.

The task of this literary examination was to select articles that would elevate the status of women. "The Song of Everlasting Regret" did not emphasize this elevation, nor did it contain any discriminatory or demeaning intent.

The best form of publicity is the absence of discrimination and denigration.

At this stage, the fifty countries cannot drastically improve the status of women all at once; they must gradually improve it from the sidelines, like boiling a frog in water.

What they had left to do was interpret "The Song of Everlasting Regret" and spread it back home, not only to warn the emperor but also to promote the idea of ​​gender equality and that women could also influence the development of the country.

bang...

"Shameless! To submit a blank paper is utterly shameless and a disgrace to us literary people."

An examiner slammed his fist on the table and cursed loudly; the exam paper in his hand was blank.

For them, who value literature above all else, it was unbearable, absolutely unbearable.

“Such a slacker who submits a blank paper should be kicked out of the examination room and never allowed to take the exam again, as a warning to others.”

"What? Submitting a blank exam paper? People like that should be expelled from all countries and banned outright."

"Yes, it must be banned by all countries. This is a disrespect to the gathering of heroes and a disrespect to literature."

The scholars were furious; every exam paper contained questions they had copied by hand.

There were 8,352 candidates, and each subject required copying 8,312 exam papers. For all six subjects, that's 49,872 copies.

They copied nearly 50,000 exam papers day and night; it must have been incredibly hard work.

And the candidate actually submitted a blank paper?

I can't stand it, I can't stand it at all.

Even though it's split among 300 people, each person only gets 166 copies, I still can't stand it.

Mo Yuan was still savoring the poem "Song of Everlasting Regret" when he heard that a candidate had submitted a blank paper, and his face turned cold.

"Give it here. I'm going to open it myself in a bit and see who has the audacity to hand in a blank paper."

As the second person in charge of the literary examination at the Gathering of Heroes, Mr. Wen also had a cold expression.

If this candidate is from the Crescent Moon Kingdom, then let him return home kneeling and kowtowing with every step he takes; otherwise, let him never return home and abandon him in the Guangxiang Kingdom to fend for himself.

Mo Yuan's eyes were icy cold, and his heart was burning with anger. Submitting a blank paper to the examination he was in charge of would not only make the candidate infamous for eternity and a laughing stock of fifty countries, but it would also be a slap in his face.

The second subject's review speed was not as fast as the first subject's. The third subject's exam papers were piled up for a long time before the second subject's results were released, even after sunset.

"Is this edition of the classics, history, philosophy, and literature a perfect score in terms of both ancient and modern times?"

After Mo Yuan finished speaking, the examiners looked at each other and shook their heads.

There were some impressive exam papers, but none that were truly astonishing.

Everyone stared at the exam paper with a score of 97. Could it be Zheng Qian's?

The examiners in the 90-point group were puzzled, as the handwriting with its iron-like strokes and silver hooks did not appear in the 90-point group. Could it be that Zheng Qian was only good at singing and writing?

Once the scores were calculated, Mo Yuan asked symbolically if anyone got a perfect score, and then he was eager to see who had submitted a blank paper.

After the scores are calculated, the seal is torn off to register the scores. Only at this stage can the seal be torn off.

Mo Yuan stood on the high platform with a cold face, holding up a blank exam paper and speaking in a cold voice.

"Submitting a blank paper is a contempt for the classics and a great disrespect for literature. After I open the envelope, no matter who this person is, I hope you will all do your best to ban them as a warning to others."

"Scholar Mo Yuan is right. If it were a candidate from our country, I would make it impossible for him to move an inch in the country."

“If it were my student, I would break both of his legs and make him crawl back.”

"Block them, block them out completely."

Three hundred people were calling for a boycott, but the exam paper was written by them stroke by stroke; it was their hard work.

We will not tolerate anyone submitting a blank paper.

"Scholar Mo Yuan, open the seal. I want to see who is so bold as to submit a blank paper."

"Yes, hurry up and open it, I can't stand it anymore."

Mo Yuan suppressed his anger and tore open the seal.

Zheng Qian's calligraphy is characterized by its strong, elegant strokes.

Uh... Mo Yuan's brain stopped working.

How could it be him? It's impossible, there's no reason for it.

Why did you submit a blank paper when you are so talented?

"Scholar Mo Yuan, who is he? Please pronounce his name."

"Yes, read it out loud, ban it."

"I think it should be publicized widely, his infamy should be put on the list, and he should be remembered for his infamy for eternity."

Everyone was furious. If words could kill, Zheng Qian would have died hundreds of times over.

“Zheng Qian.” Mo Yuan looked puzzled. Why him?

"Oh dear, Scholar Mo Yuan, what are you talking about Zheng Qian at a time like this? Tell me who he is."

"Yes, we all know Zheng Qian is a genius. When we talk about him later, let's first talk about who handed in a blank paper."

"Yes, yes, who said that the one who handed in a blank paper is not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Zheng Qian?"

"It is Zheng Qian." Mo Yuan regained his senses and said loudly, "Scholars, the one who handed in a blank paper is Zheng Qian."

"What? Zheng Qian? No way!"

“Zheng Qian’s literary talent is rare, how could it be Zheng Qian? I don’t believe it.”

"No, the question must be wrong, that's why he handed in a blank paper."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yuan and Wen Xianren immediately checked the text themselves and indeed found two typos.

“Zheng Qian must have noticed those two mistakes, which is why he handed in a blank paper.”

The two exchanged a glance and both saw the other's appreciation.

A scholar with a proud spirit would hand in a blank exam paper to remind others that they had written the questions incorrectly.

I admire you.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like