Top Scholar

Chapter 463 Filling in the Yellow List

A deathly silence fell over the hall, broken only by the soft crackling of candle flames. The couplets in the central hall flickered in the light and shadow, the characters seemingly dancing:
'The Holy Dynasty is not suitable for public affairs when there is no governance, let alone this event which is a grand ceremony for selecting talents;'
The emperor had a specific intention in naming it; those who ascend this hall should also reflect deeply on its meaning.

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, all the officials in the hall were shocked and turned pale. They all knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "How dare we, Your Majesty, be so wise!"

Wang Ao, as the chief examiner, prostrated himself and reported, "Your Majesty, the grading of this imperial examination has concluded. I swear on my life that all the examiners were impartial in selecting candidates, and there was absolutely no favoritism or cheating!"

"Hehehe..." The only old man who was given a seat chuckled and said, "It's alright."

"What do you mean by 'not bad'?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

“It’s alright… means ‘not bad’,” the old man said seriously.

"That's alright." Zhu Houzhao nodded, his expression softening slightly. "But since we're already here, let's get it checked out properly, so we can prove the worth of the candidates."

"Your Majesty is wise," Zhang Mao echoed.

Zhu Houzhao then issued an imperial edict: "Present all the Chinese examination papers in red ink."

"Your Majesty, they are all here." Tian Jingxian, the examiner, hurriedly pointed to the several red boxes in the hall and said, "We are just about to open the examination papers and fill in the results."

"Then it seems I have arrived at just the right time. Check it thoroughly and make sure it is completely clean before filling it in again." Zhu Houzhao then ordered Zhang Yong to lead people to check each scroll to see if there was any of the four-character key code.

Upon receiving the decree, Zhang Yong immediately summoned one hundred junior scholars from the Inner Study, who picked up the scrolls and began to rapidly peruse them.

For a moment, the Zhigong Hall was filled with the rustling sound of pages being turned.

The fourteen examiners knelt on the ground, their hands and feet icy cold, sweat beading on their foreheads. Although they hadn't done it themselves, they couldn't guarantee that others wouldn't make a foolish mistake, and if a major case were to break out, they would inevitably be implicated...

"This scroll is unavailable!" The eunuchs began to report after a short while.

"This one is also unavailable!"

"none!"

After saying that, the young eunuch moved on to checking the next document...

After an agonizing wait, Zhang Yong finally reported: "Your Majesty, all 350 Chinese examination papers have been examined, and none of them contain the four key words!"

The examiners all breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, none of them had made a foolish mistake...

Zhai Luan, Dong Qi, Zhan Ruoshui, and the others looked at each other, their faces filled with lingering fear.

"Not a single one?" Zhu Houzhao raised an eyebrow, a playful smile playing on his lips. "Is this truly selecting officials fairly, or is it a deliberate choice to knowingly choose but not accepting?"

“Your Majesty,” Wang Ao did not answer directly, but repeated what he had said in the Leopard Chamber, “Your Majesty’s instructions have been carefully kept in mind from beginning to end—to be vigilant outside and to carefully select officials inside. We must be cautious and impartial, and only seek out truly talented people, so as to inherit Your Majesty’s virtue and repay even the slightest bit of your kindness!”

This was a very skillful remark, subtly reminding Zhu Houzhao that they had acted on his advice. Bringing up old grievances or escalating the situation further would be pointless…

Zhu Houzhao stroked his smooth chin and smiled broadly, "Excellent! Truly a pillar of my state! A model for all civil officials!"

"I will reward you handsomely, I'll promote you one rank, and I'll also give you two sheep!" He couldn't help but laugh as he said this.

Wang Ao was startled, his hip throbbing slightly. He quickly declined, saying, "I appreciate Your Majesty's kindness. I am already one of the Three Sovereigns and cannot be promoted further. As for the sheep, there is no need for that!"

"Don't worry," Zhu Houzhao wiped his face to suppress a laugh, "This time we'll send it directly to your residence, so you don't have to catch it yourself."

Wang Ao then had no choice but to express his gratitude.

"You may all rise as well." Zhu Houzhao raised his chin and said to Zhang Yong, "Write down the names of all the examiners, and each of them will receive a reward."

"Your Majesty, we thank you for your great favor!" The examiners hurriedly expressed their gratitude before standing up, feeling as if they had escaped a calamity...

However, the case is not yet closed—although the examiners' integrity was proven by examining the Chinese-style examination papers, this is not enough to prove that the key words did not exist.

We still need to examine the remaining case files. If those four key words are hidden in them, it will still be a major case!
Zhu Houzhao then instructed Zhang Yong and Gu Dayong: "You two go and check all the missing scrolls immediately, and be sure to find all the scrolls with those four characters!"

“Yes!” Zhang Yong and Gu Dayong replied in a deep voice, and then led their men to the collection office to check the missing scrolls.

Zhu Houzhao then turned to the examiners and asked with a smile, "Where have you progressed to?"

"Your Majesty, we are currently reviewing the examination papers and filling in the results," Wang Ao replied.

"Continue," Zhu Houzhao said, adjusting himself to a more comfortable position. "I haven't seen how the list is filled out yet."

"As you command!" the examiners replied in unison, returning to their positions.

~~
Inside the Zhigong Hall, a blank yellow notice was hung high on the wall.

The examiner opened the sealed Chinese-style examination paper in front of everyone and loudly announced the candidate's number.

The supervising official checked the register, found the corresponding examination paper, and the sealing official removed the seal from the paper, loudly reading out the candidate's name, place of origin, and courtesy name. After the invigilators verified that everything was correct, the chief examiner announced the names in a loud voice:

"Ranked 350th, Yin Jing from Taiyuan Prefecture, Shanxi Province, courtesy name Benming!"

The deputy chief examiner, Liang Chu, then picked up a red brush and fairly filled in the bottom of the yellow list.

Unlike the palace examination, the provincial examination started by announcing names from the last place to the top.

"Ranked 349th, Ma Lu from Runing Prefecture, Henan, courtesy name Junqing!"

"No. 348..."

Zhu Houzhao rested his chin on his hand, leaning against the throne and listened quietly. He soon dozed off.

The Duke of England, seated to his left, was snoring. The rhythmic chanting was incredibly soothing…

Seeing this, the examiners all looked at the chief examiner, but Wang Ao continued in the same unchanging tone:

"The 300th person is Lin Zhihong from Luzhou, Sichuan, whose courtesy name is Yunqu..."

The examiners then continued to perform their duties, but with less intensity.

Zhu Houzhao was fast asleep when he suddenly heard someone softly calling his name.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

He struggled to open his eyes and saw that it was Zhang Yong.

Zhang Yong then leaned down and whispered a few words in his ear.

The Duke of England groggily opened his eyes, saw the Emperor subtly raise his hand to wipe it away, and quickly closed his eyes again to sleep.

Zhang Yong understood immediately, tucked the emperor's cloak in, and quietly withdrew.

Then the emperor and the Duke of England continued to sleep, while the examiners continued to fill out the list.

~~
Half an hour later, the yellow list was filled in at the top.

Wang Ao's voice is already hoarse, but his reputation as a singer is growing stronger.

"Fifth place – Jingyang from Yingtian Prefecture!"

"Fourth place – Dai Dabing from Xinghua Prefecture, Fujian!"

"Third place—Ouyang Zhong from Luling Prefecture, Jiangxi!"

"Second place – Shao Rui from Hangzhou, Zhejiang!"

At this point, only the last examination paper remained unopened. Wang Ao, no longer relying on others, personally opened the examination paper and announced its number.

The supervising official glanced at the last scroll; the serial numbers matched perfectly. Just as he was about to open it and announce the names, a scream suddenly came from outside the courtroom:
"Fire! The entire stronghold is on fire!"

The Duke of England suddenly awoke with a start, jumped up, and shouted, "Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!"

Zhu Houzhao also woke up, wiped away some dragon's saliva, and asked, "Where is this commotion coming from?"

Zhang Yong rushed in and reported, "Your Majesty, it's the examination hall! The little brats accidentally knocked over a candle while checking the exam papers, which set the papers on fire!"

"A bunch of idiots, what are you doing?!" Zhu Houzhao roared in fury, "Hurry up and put out the fire!"

"Gu Dayong has already led his men to put out the fire. Your Majesty, please return to the palace for now, lest the fire get out of control!" Zhang Yong said urgently.

"What's the rush!" Zhu Houzhao said with great interest, "Let's take a look first!"

He then went to the entrance of the Zhigong Hall and began to watch the commotion.

The officials in charge of the imperial examinations and the supervisor were terrified and hurriedly organized soldiers to put out the fire. But the Western Depot had already been mobilized, and they couldn't get involved at all.

Fortunately, the Gongyuan (Imperial Examination Hall) has always emphasized fire prevention, with complete fire-fighting facilities and firewalls separating the buildings.

The fire was quickly extinguished and did not spread to areas such as the courthouse. However, most of the storeroom of the tax office was burned down, and the more than fifty boxes of examination papers stored inside were reduced to ashes.

"Your Majesty, it's all because this old servant failed in his duties!" Zhang Yong, along with Gu Dayong and the eunuch who had inadvertently started the fire, knelt down and kowtowed.

"Hey, what are you all doing?!" Zhu Houzhao was also very angry. He pointed at the little eunuch and said, "Take him away and interrogate him thoroughly to see if he did it on purpose."

"Yes." Then the Imperial Guards took the little eunuch with his head down away.

Zhu Houzhao then smiled at Wang Ao and Tian Jingxian and said, "Fortunately, the admission process is over, and all the accepted papers are fine. It's a stroke of luck amidst misfortune."

"Yes." Wang Ao knew perfectly well where the fire came from.

It was, after all, the first imperial examination of the Zhengde reign; it would be disgraceful if a cheating scandal broke out.

Wang Ao couldn't help but look at this young emperor with new respect. He had thought he was just a foolish emperor who didn't care about anything, but it turned out he still had a sense of shame and was quite shrewd.

"Very well, since the exam papers have already been burned, let's consider it an accident and not pursue the matter any further!" Zhengde clapped his hands, yawned, and said, "That's enough for today, I'm going back to sleep."

"Doesn't Your Majesty want to see who the top scholar is?" the Duke of Yingguo asked hastily.

"I'm not watching anymore. It's more interesting to leave some suspense." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, then boarded the imperial carriage and, with the respectful farewell of his ministers, left the examination hall billowing black smoke in a grand procession.

After seeing the emperor off and returning, Zhan Ruoshui and the others looked at the ruins of the former headquarters and exclaimed in amazement, "How could the fire be so sensible?"

“Yes, if we burn the documents related to bribery, the case will be solved without any evidence, and we can stop there and prevent further major cases from arising…” Dong Qi nodded, then asked quietly, “But, should all the documents really be burned?”

"Who knows? Besides, the people from the Western Depot have been in the collection office for more than an hour. They must have seen everything they needed to. They might have already picked out the scrolls related to bribery and taken them away," Zhan Ruoshui said quietly.

"Who cares, as long as it has nothing to do with us." Zhai Luan laughed and said, "Now the eunuch faction can't cause us any trouble, they should thank us."

"Haha! So, it's true that if you act uprightly and honestly, you'll naturally have divine help!" The other students were also very happy.

“Yes, we were really lucky this time…” Zhan Ruoshui and Zhai Luan nodded.

(End of this chapter)