Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 147 The Jade Pendant of the Sect's Inheritance: How Many Generations Has It Been Passed Down?

Zhuge Zhengwo was a temporary examiner; he was more like a security guard at the examination hall than an examiner.

Zhuge Zhengwo was only responsible for supervising the examination hall. The grading of the papers was the responsibility of Grand Tutor Pang and Grand Tutor Hua. The papers of Li Zhaoting and Feng Suzhen were taken out separately and given to him for grading.

"This exam paper is excellent! It's impeccable in every aspect. Grand Tutor Pang, please take a look!"

Grand Tutor Hua handed over a scroll.

Grand Tutor Pang read it carefully twice and found that there were no markings or hints. The entire article was written in one go from beginning to end, showing his elegant talent.

Being exceptionally talented is certainly a good thing, but the downside is that one's talent is too outwardly displayed, and one's writing style is too unrestrained, full of youthful passion and lacking a certain maturity.

This judgment is perfectly normal.

There is no first place in literature.

Different examiners will give different scores to the same article. Some people like ornate language, some like plain and simple language, some like allusions, and some like straightforward language. In order to avoid making mistakes, most candidates will find out who the examiner is and what their preferences are before the exam, so as not to make a mistake and receive a low score.

Some examiners, in order to avoid suspicion, slightly lowered their scores when they discovered that the papers were from their own students.

Of course, this consideration has its oversights.

It is said that when Ouyang Xiu was the chief examiner, he discovered an article that was exceptionally talented. He thought of his student Zeng Gong who was participating in the imperial examination and mistakenly believed it was Zeng Gong.

To avoid suspicion, the score was placed second. Unfortunately, this paper was actually written by Su Shi.

It's difficult to judge the quality of the articles.

The examiner's likes and dislikes will greatly affect the score.

After a brief discussion, Grand Tutor Pang and Grand Tutor Hua decided to temporarily set aside this exam paper and continue grading other papers. They would grade this paper after grading all the other papers.

During this period, anti-cheating measures such as anonymous writing and copying were already in place. As a result, techniques for dealing with these measures emerged, such as agreeing in advance to use a certain allusion in a certain part, avoiding using a certain allusion when using it, or using a certain fixed writing style.

You have Zhang Liangji, I have a wall ladder.

Even if Zhuge Zhengwo were to oversee the review of the papers, various unexpected events would still occur, making absolute impartiality impossible.

Therefore, the imperial examination followed the spring examination.

The emperor personally inspected the site.

The emperor's words are golden, and his imperial pen appoints the top scholar.

Feng Suzhen and Li Zhaoting's papers would not be disqualified from being graded by two candidates. Originally, Liu E wanted to mix the papers with all the other papers for grading, but Li Zhaoting felt that this would take up a quota and suggested that Zhuge Zhengwo grade the papers separately.

Moreover, Emperor Zhao Zhen granted special permission to add two more slots for this scientific expedition, slightly relaxing the standards.

The imperial examination was not something to be taken lightly.

Only Empress Liu, Emperor Zhao Zhen, and Zhuge Zhengwo knew about this, so they could handle it secretly.

Grand Tutor Pang and Grand Tutor Hua reviewed the exam papers, while Zhuge Zhengwo reviewed the papers of Li Zhaoting and Feng Suzhen. They would occasionally pass them around to compare the candidates' abilities.

Grand Tutor Pang did not submit a memorial to advise Zhao Zhen, but simply assumed that Zhao Zhen wanted to win people's hearts and cultivate his own loyal faction, and that Li Zhaoting's background was very suitable for this purpose.

After all, Li Nanxing was exiled because of his regency, and in the emperor's eyes, he was an absolutely loyal minister who deserved to be rewarded.

It’s the same old routine.

Those who wrote memorials criticizing Empress Liu were exiled back then, but after Emperor Zhao Zhen came to power, he pardoned them. Even if people knew it was a tactic, they would still be grateful for the emperor's benevolence.

Grand Tutor Pang often supported such matters.

Spurred on by Liao spies, the Eighth Prince is about to hold a selection ceremony, in which the daughter of Grand Tutor Pang will enter the palace as a concubine, and Grand Tutor Pang will become the father-in-law of the emperor.

The more power Zhao Zhen held, the more stable Grand Tutor Pang's position became. However, when Grand Tutor Pang's daughter and son encountered Bao Zheng, most of them had their reputations diminished.

After the recent two months of commotion, Grand Tutor Pang was eager for Li Zhaoting to enter the court as an official, so he would keep a close eye on Li Zhaoting to prevent him from causing trouble in the martial arts world and ruining Grand Tutor Pang's side business.

Grand Tutor Hua was also somewhat aware of this matter; he was a master at feigning ignorance and was most adept at playing the fool.

Grand Tutor Hua pondered to himself, that elegant and unrestrained exam paper seemed to be the work of a wandering swordsman. Could it be Li Zhaoting's paper? Would the Emperor approve of the grading?

Uh……

Grand Tutor Hua is overthinking it.

That exam paper belonged to Li Xunhuan, and there was another one that was even more frivolous and arrogant—it belonged to Tang Yin.

For the past six years, Li Zhaoting has either been practicing martial arts or causing trouble everywhere. He was completely unprepared and took the exam without any preparation. Relying on his childhood foundation, he can at best barely pass the test.

Grand Tutor Pang asked, "Xiao Hua, which paper do you think is the best? I don't have one that I'm particularly satisfied with."

Scholars address others by their courtesy name (表字).

Zhuge Zhengwo, courtesy name "Xiaohua", was a courtesy name he chose himself. He felt that the name "Zhengwo" was too rigid, as if he were a piece of charcoal.

Zhuge Zhengwo doesn't like black charcoal.

He likes flowers.

He could travel thousands of miles at breakneck speed for a single celestial flower, exhausting his entire vacation, just to see it bloom before it withers.

Zhuge Zhengwo once proudly said: "If a person can see a flower that is different from the ordinary in his life, he has not lived in vain. If he opens his eyes and sees a flower, that day is a good day."

Therefore, Zhuge Zhengwo changed his proper name to Xiaohua, which sounds very cute and adds a touch of childlike fun to this seemingly old-fashioned man.

Whenever Grand Tutor Pang thought of this title, he felt that Zhuge Zhengwo had been driven mad by Wei Qingqing, but he could not call him by his name directly and could only force himself to endure it.

Wei Qingqing is Zhuge Zhengwo's master, a peerless martial arts master with unparalleled skills, who is both righteous and evil, extremely righteous when he is righteous and extremely evil when he is evil.

It is said that Wei Qingqing saw that Zhuge Zhengwo was the most capable among her four disciples and was worried that he would turn into a demon. So she specially created the Six Harmonies Azure Dragon Formation to deal with Zhuge Zhengwo and gave it to her eldest disciple Ye Aichan.

The formation fell into the hands of Yuan Shisanxian.

Yuan Shisanxian has a grudge against Zhuge Zhengwo.

Zhuge Zhengwo may have been tricked by his master!

Grand Tutor Pang's criticisms were very reasonable and well-founded.

Grand Tutor Hua curiously leaned closer: "You've looked at these two exam papers dozens of times. I heard that the Empress Dowager set up a separate examination hall in the palace. Could these be the two exam papers?"

Zhuge Zhengwo smiled and said, "As you know, Li Zhaoting was once a child prodigy in Jinling, but he was stripped of his official title due to certain matters. His Majesty gave him special tutoring."

How was his test paper?

"Barely enough to make the list." "What about the other paper?"

"This exam paper is impressive. If this person participates in this imperial examination, the title of top scholar will undoubtedly belong to him."

I've only seen a few words about this person's insights in some rare books. Look at this; the structure of the writing and the use of allusions truly demonstrate his erudition and talent.

It's a pity that such a talented person had no interest in officialdom!

Do you two have any ideas?

Zhuge Zhengwo shook his head regretfully.

Grand Tutor Hua praised, "What a fine article! Could this person be Feng Shaomin? How could that fat pig Feng Shaoqing be so fertile, having such a remarkable son!"

Grand Tutor Pang felt a pang of envy upon hearing this.

Grand Tutor Pang has both a son and a daughter. His eldest son, Pang Tong, is a general with outstanding military achievements. In recent years, Pang Tong has become increasingly powerful and has repeatedly provoked his father.

The eldest daughter is about to enter the palace as a concubine.

The second daughter married Cui Mingchong.

The youngest daughter, Pang Feiyan, possessed exceptional medical skills, but had little interest in practicing medicine and preferred a life of wandering and adventure.

The remaining sons were basically all good-for-nothings.

He was beheaded by Bao Zheng in "The Three Heroes and Five Gallants"!
"The execution of the emperor's brother-in-law" is a classic story about Bao Zheng.

The three of them carefully read Feng Suzhen's exam paper several times, exchanged a few jokes, and presented the results to the emperor. Next, they would prepare for the palace examination.

The examination process needs no further explanation.

This is the brilliance that belongs to the examinees. Li Zhaoting is just there to join in the fun and fulfill a childhood dream. It would be shameless for him to actually compete with these people.

Feng Suzhen was quite competitive, and both Zhao Zhen and Liu E felt a little regretful after reading her exam paper.

It is a pity that such a talented person was not employed by the imperial court.

One regret is that Feng Shaomin was actually a woman who had already married and could not possibly become a female official.

A few days later, the results of the imperial examinations were announced.

Li Zhaoting went to Zhuque Street to check the list.

Several acquaintances all passed the imperial examination with flying colors.

Li Xunhuan, third-ranked scholar;

Bao Zheng, sixteenth place;

Tang Yin, ranked nineteenth;

Gongsun Ce and Zhan Jun made it onto the list.

The previous murder case at Tianhong Academy caused the academy's reputation to plummet. However, with Bao Zheng, Gongsun Ce, and Zhan Jun passing the imperial examinations with flying colors, the academy instantly transformed from a ghost school and dilapidated place where a murder had occurred into the most popular school in Luzhou.

Originally, money couldn't retain students; now, either they need excellent grades or a huge sum of money, otherwise, visiting Tianhong Academy is a pipe dream.

Li Xunhuan sighed with a worried expression. His family had produced two third-place scholars (探花), and his father and elder brother had always dreamed of producing a top scholar (状元), but they were still only third-place scholars.

A scholar who ranks third among ordinary people is said to have ancestors whose graves are emitting auspicious smoke.

Li Xunhuan felt ashamed before his father and brothers.

Li Zhaoting said loudly, "This is a joyous occasion! The Li family has produced seven Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) and three Tanhua (third-place scholars in the imperial examinations). Seven Jinshi from one family and three Tanhua from father and son—even if this is not an unprecedented achievement, it is certainly the first of its kind. Our family has a good foundation and our members are quite handsome. If we don't let you become the Tanhua, others will definitely be dissatisfied."

Upon hearing this, the people around him echoed his sentiments.

"Seven members of one family passed the imperial examination, and three of them, father and son, were ranked third in the imperial examination!"

"Seven members of one family passed the imperial examination, and three of them, father and son, were ranked third in the imperial examination!"

"Seven members of one family passed the imperial examination, and three of them, father and son, were ranked third in the imperial examination!"

The surrounding yamen runners, servants, and pageboys immediately came over to congratulate Li Xunhuan. Li Xunhuan's pageboy, Tie Chuanjia, took out red envelopes from his pocket and distributed them to the people who came to congratulate him.

On the other side, at the Li family residence.

Empress Liu sent over a set of red robes.

"If you are interested in becoming an official, I can grant you the identity of Feng Shaomin to participate in the next imperial examination."

"Don't rush to refuse. I will keep this promise for three years. The imperial examination is held every three years. You can give me a reply before the next imperial examination is held."

"This is my token. Holding this token will make things much easier when you travel the world. Take a close look at the material of the token, and you should be able to understand why."

Feng Suzhen changed into a red robe and looked at her spirited appearance in the bronze mirror, feeling a little smug.

Immediately afterwards, Feng Suzhen examined the jade pendant and discovered that its material was exactly the same as the jade pendant her master had given her. When she was engaged to Li Zhaoting, he had given her a priceless jade pendant, saying it was an heirloom. The pendant was made of a different material than the one her master had given her, but the carving technique was exactly the same, forming the image of "distant mountains and streams".

At the time, Feng Suzhen didn't think much of it, only feeling that it was a predestined marriage. Now, thinking back, it seems that Li Zhaoting's inexplicable exile, his inexplicable apprenticeship in martial arts, and her own master all concealed secrets.

A jade pendant passed down through the Li family!
A jade pendant passed down directly from the sect!
A jade pendant given by Empress Liu!

Liu E was fully aware of the material issue.

Could it be that Master is a disciple of the Yin Gui sect?

its not right!
The Yin Gui Sect belongs to the six paths of the demonic sects. Its master specializes in the Demon-Subduing Qin (a type of zither), making it an inherent enemy of the Yin Gui Sect.

However, the sect that has been hostile to the Demonic Sect for hundreds of years is Cihang Jingzhai. Cihang Jingzhai mainly focuses on swordsmanship, and has no profound inheritance in the fields of music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

What exactly is going on?

Feng Suzhen frowned, a very strange thought popping into her mind: Did Li Shengnan also have a similar jade pendant? Either the material was exactly the same, or the patterns complemented each other, both were secretly given by their elders.

Did Cheng Huaixiu have a jade pendant?
Does Lan Fenghuang have a jade pendant?

Does the Five Poisons Sect have a similar lineage?

A series of questions flashed through my mind, and my thoughts wandered freely, inevitably becoming more and more distorted. Many things that seemed impossible were actually just coincidences.

Similarly, many things that seem like coincidences are actually pre-written!

How is this going?

(End of this chapter)