Top Scholar

Chapter 244 The County Chief Case!
At the end of the day, as the sun began to set, it illuminated the magnificent archway outside the Confucian academy, making it shine with golden splendor.

Suddenly, the parents and teachers of the examinees saw that the golden gates of the academy had opened once more...

"Someone else has come out!" Everyone shaded their eyes with their hands, wanting to see whose child had emerged from the golden light this time.

They saw a group of clerks carrying various colored flags, all dressed in brand-new uniforms, leading the way, followed by four scribes, with Zhang, the clerk from the Ministry of Rites, at the head.

The clerks carried a roll of red paper, paste, brushes, plumb lines, and other items on a tray, and came to the white wall of the Confucian Temple where notices were posted, all under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

The clerks first cleaned up the rotten notice, then applied paste to the wall, and finally used a plumb line to carefully paste the large red paper on it!
It turned out to be a red notice stamped with the county government's official seal, and the onlookers were buzzing with discussion. "What does it say on this?"

Then a teacher loudly read:

"Upon the opening of the county examination, the young scholar Su Lu's essay, 'The Son of Confucius Says the Book of Poetry is Surrounded by Stars,' displayed astonishing literary skill, a rare occurrence in ten years. Although it was the first paper in the first session, his talent and learning were outstanding, surpassing all other young scholars. After deliberation by the county magistrate, the registrar, and the instructor, he has been specially selected as the top scholar of the year, and this list is hereby posted publicly. All scholars in the county should take him as a model, study diligently, and work together to promote the flourishing of literature!"

"Lu, the magistrate of Hejiang County, was appointed on the second day of the second month of the first year of Zhengde."

"What does this mean?" The people looked at each other, wondering if it meant what they had guessed.

"That means the top spot in this year's county examination has already been decided!" the teachers exclaimed in shock.

It's not uncommon for a county to be ranked first in two years, but I've never heard of anyone being ranked first as soon as they submit their paper, especially being the first to submit their paper in the entire room!

No one else has left the academy yet, which means the magistrate has only looked at Su Lu's exam paper...

"Is this reasonable?" Although the gentlemen knew of Su Lu's achievements, they still thought it was absurd and shook their heads vigorously.

Even if it's definitely him, there's no need to be in such a hurry.

Indeed, too much of a good thing can be bad.

"That will cause controversy..."

Upon hearing this, the relatives of the test takers also joined in the clamor:
"My child hasn't even handed in their paper yet, how come they've already decided on first place?"

"That's right, they're not even pretending anymore!"

"There's something fishy going on!" They became more and more angry as they spoke. If their own child hadn't been taking an exam inside, they would have definitely made a scene.

"Shh, keep your voice down, Su the Prodigy is here too..." Someone glanced in the direction where Su Lu and his two nephews were standing not far away.

Uncle's sixth-rank official robes were enough to intimidate the common people. The crowd reluctantly shut up, but they were still indignant and kept attacking Su Lu with all sorts of interesting glances.

This has really frustrated Su Lu. What is Magistrate Lu up to? Couldn't he have been a little more composed? Couldn't he have waited until all the papers from the first round were graded before assigning him the top spot? He wouldn't be being treated like this now, with everyone giving him the cold shoulder.

Finally, some candidates came out, and there was a whole bunch of them... Actually, many of them had already finished answering the questions. But they all knew that handing in their papers early was not good, so they insisted on waiting until the very end before handing in their papers.

Every student leaving the examination hall was drawn to the notice. Upon reading it, they realized that while they were still answering the questions, the top scorer had already been decided!

One by one, things went terribly wrong...

"I refuse to accept this! How can someone who hasn't even read my article be so sure I'm inferior to him?!" One young man, his composure faltering, exploded on the spot, shouting:

"No, we must get an explanation from the master!"

"What are you all so excited about?" At this moment, the students from Sheng Shen Zhai also came out and, seeing the situation, quickly defended their elder brother, saying, "Look carefully at the name of the head of the table—Su Lu!"

"With just that name, doesn't he deserve to be the top scholar?!" Cheng Wanzhou shrieked. "Have some self-awareness!"

"We acknowledge that Su Shentong's phonetic symbols are of immeasurable merit!" The other students also had something to say, with one indignantly saying, "But one thing is one thing, if he has done a good job, he should ask the court for a reward. If we give him a Hanlin degree, we will be happy for him!"

"That's right, but you can't use exams to reward people!" a gray-haired student exclaimed indignantly. "This harms the three thousand candidates. Where is the fairness? Where is the morality?!"

"Yes, we want fairness!"

"We demand an explanation!" This further fueled the crowd's anger, completely drowning out the voices of Cheng Wanfan and the others.

Seeing that more and more students were gathering, the uncle asked in a low voice, "A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall. Why don't you hide first?"

"Alright," Su Lu said sincerely.

Just as he was about to leave this troublesome place, he heard an angry shout: "Silence! No noise is allowed outside the examination hall!"

Then everyone saw Cao Mingyuan, the county magistrate, escorted by a group of officials, walk out of the gate, his face dark as he reprimanded:

"What are you all yelling about? There are still people inside who haven't finished their exams!"

"We are not convinced! We want to see the Master! How can they be so blatant?!" By this time, six or seven hundred students had gathered at the gate, raising their arms in protest.

"We demand fairness! We want to see our elderly parents! We want to petition!"

"Shut up!" Magistrate Cao roared.
"The magistrate knew you were not satisfied, so he ordered me to copy this document and post it here. You are all welcome to come and bang your heads against this wall! Anyone who thinks their writing is better than his can go and appeal to the magistrate in person now!"

"Alright, let's see what kind of divine writing he has produced!" the students shouted. "Can he truly 'suppress the stagnation of Hejiang with a single piece'?"

So a passage was automatically opened, allowing the scribe to paste the large-script copy of Su Lu's article next to the big red notice!

The student who had been cursing the most earlier, craning his neck, leaned closer to the white wall. As he angrily glanced at the first line, "Virtue is established, governance is promoted; the foundation is laid, the Way is practiced; the poem's meaning is pure, all poems return to righteousness," his Adam's apple suddenly trembled. Then, unconsciously, he began to recite it aloud, his voice shifting from indignation to hesitation, then gradually becoming resounding:

"Virtue is the foundation of governance, just as the North Star remains fixed and all other stars revolve; poetry serves as a model, just as the words of sages are concise and the poems are well-structured..."

"When in a high position, one should not be arrogant; when in a low position, one should not cause chaos; when in a place of shame, one should not contend. Thus, governance will naturally be prosperous and effective..."

When he read the lines, "Stars share virtue, not their positions but their principles; poetry returns to righteousness, not its words but its heart..." he felt a chill run down his spine and was filled with awe.

The other students were now completely convinced; the difference in their writing was too great, there was no need for comparison at all.

If you hesitate for even a second about whether or not to give such an article a title, you are insulting your own intelligence.

Moreover, this is an unprecedented cross-reference question, so there is no possibility of plagiarism of famous works.

There's no possibility of using a ghostwriter. If a ghostwriter could write this kind of article, they wouldn't need to make guns for others.

Even the family members who hadn't had much schooling were captivated, finding the article so pleasant to read.
After he finished reading, they asked in hushed tones, "How was the article?"

"Does it sound good?" one gentleman asked in return.

"It sounds beautiful, like reciting poetry." The family members nodded in agreement.

"A good article is one that sounds good!" The gentlemen sighed, stroking their goatees. "We thought the sir's claim of 'once in ten years' was an exaggeration, but now we know it was actually an understatement!"

The other students also looked ashamed, straightened their hats and bowed deeply to Su Lu, apologizing, "We were so narrow-minded! Su Lu's essay is unparalleled, and he truly deserves the title of top scholar!"

"Not at all, not at all. My writing still has much room for improvement; it's all thanks to my parents and esteemed gentlemen for their kind words." Su Lu also put the unpleasantness from earlier behind him and returned the greeting with a smile:
"May all my friends have good luck in their exams! Let's study together soon!"

"We appreciate your kind words, Chief Scholar." Hundreds of students returned the greeting in unison, saying:
Congratulations, Brother Su, on achieving the top score in the imperial examination!

Congratulations, my dear brother, on achieving the top score in the imperial examination!

"Thank you!" Su Lu bowed again to Magistrate Cao, who had come to his rescue, and Magistrate Cao actually returned the bow...

After the incident, the candidates left one after another, but many others stood in front of Su Lu's article for a long time, unwilling to leave.

Until it got dark and we couldn't see anything anymore...

There were hardly any people left the examination room, but Su Youcai was still nowhere to be seen.

Just then, Su Man finally appeared, dragging her weary steps. "Hasn't Second Uncle come out yet?"

"Where have you two been all day?" Su Youjin frowned and said, "You even missed your brother's arrest."

"What?!" Su Man asked in surprise, "The results were released so quickly?"

"We're only putting your brother on the list!" Su Youjin said smugly.

"The magistrate only looked at his paper and appointed him as the top scholar!" Su Youma was also proud.

"My God, it works!" Su Man's reaction was a bit strange. She was happy, but the reason for her happiness was puzzling.

"What true spirit?" Su Lu asked.

"Our ancestors have shown us their power!" Chun Ge'er tried to grab Su Lu's shoulder, but halfway up his arm, he suddenly grimaced and bared his teeth...

"Did you go to burn incense?" Su Youjin asked.

"Yeah, more or less." Su Man nodded excitedly. "So, Second Uncle will be fine this time too!"

"Forget it," Su Youjin said, having already lost all confidence. "There's no one left in the exam room, and he hasn't come out yet..."

~~
In the examination room on the right side of Minglun Hall, Brother Youcai was answering questions by candlelight.

It wasn't until the afternoon that he finally decided which article to use, using the method of "the rooster's head and the hen's head, whichever one is pointed to."

By the time he finished writing the first article, it was already dusk, and he still had one more question to answer!
This time, he finally didn't have time to hesitate and quickly started writing the second draft of "The superior man communicates with the superior man, and the inferior man communicates with the inferior man"!

He had just finished drafting when it was so dark in the examination room that he couldn't see anything...

And he was the only candidate left.

If Mr. You hadn't instructed beforehand to take good care of him, the supervising clerk would have kicked him out long ago.

At this moment, Su Youcai looked up, wanting a candle, only to see the clerk bring over a bright candlestick and place it on his desk, saying, "Don't worry, there are plenty. If one isn't enough, there's another one..."

Su Youcai thanked him, then quickly copied the article onto the paper by the light of the candle, and was the last to hand in his paper...

After the clerk took his exam paper and left the examination room, Su Youcai tried to stand up while holding onto the table, but his legs went weak and he couldn't stand up.

Then I realized I hadn't eaten, drunk, or gone to the toilet all day...

P.S. Chapter 3 hasn't been checked yet.

(End of this chapter)