After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Upon hearing this, Hongfeng's face turned ashen.

He had originally intended to leave when he saw the restaurant getting bustling with activity, but he didn't expect this scoundrel to stick to him again.

In nearly fifteen minutes, he played eleven rounds of gambling with his opponent and lost all eleven.

Every time he ordered someone to pour the wine and set it aside, the other person would always glance at him after checking the wine, and their expression would change.

Sometimes doubt turns into understanding, and sometimes understanding turns into mockery.

It seemed that the other person only needed to glance at him to know whether he was pouring warm or hot wine.

This feeling of being seen through at a glance sent chills down Hongfeng's spine, making him extremely uncomfortable.

He sneered inwardly when the other party suggested the drinking session.

I thought the other person was planning to pour hot wine and then test his courage to drink it.

This humiliated him, and he suddenly felt he had nothing to be afraid of!

But to his utter surprise, the other party seemed to possess supernatural abilities, able to discern whether the wine was warm or hot simply by observing his facial expression.

Even after a few rounds, he would deliberately keep a blank expression or say, "This is hot wine, Brother Ning, would you dare to drink it?"

The other party only needed to glance at him a few times, his expression sometimes showing mockery and sometimes admiration, and said, "Seventh Young Master is honest. It is indeed hot wine. I will not drink it. Please, Seventh Young Master."

He choked on his words. Since it was hot wine, he naturally dared not drink it, so he could only lose another thousand taels of silver.

The rules this person proposed were that whoever won could designate who would pour the wine in the next round… Hongfeng unconsciously clenched his fists. He never imagined that this person would win every single round, starting from the very first one when he poured the wine…

Hongfeng snorted, "This prince came to hear the results of the imperial examinations! Now that the results are about to be announced, this prince certainly doesn't have the time to play these petty tricks with Brother Ning!"

Ning Nan frowned, not refuting at first, but rather looking somewhat puzzled... In fact, he had always been quite puzzled.

Logically speaking, given this person's arrogance, although he passed the provincial examination, he was second to last and shouldn't have participated in the metropolitan examination... With such a low ranking in the provincial examination, the chances of him failing the metropolitan examination are very high.

This person still went, and the entourage that day was quite grand. Today, he also came in a big way to hear the announcement of the results, which is rather strange.

Just then, another announcement came from outside.

"Congratulations to Master Hongfeng of the Hong family... for achieving the highest honors in the imperial examination... may your descendants be blessed with longevity and prosperity... and for ranking second in the provincial examination!"

A long, drawn-out chant followed.

Hongfeng listened several times to confirm that it was about him. His face remained calm, but he was secretly delighted. He didn't even mind the person who brought the good news calling him "a nobleman for generations."

As he let out a long sigh, he subconsciously turned his head to look at the ground.

Unfortunately, the ground was empty, leaving only a water stain.

He was stunned for a moment, only then remembering that Lu Jing had been sent back to the Northern Dynasty embassy, ​​and it was currently unknown whether he was dead or alive.

Upon hearing that their master had indeed passed the imperial examination in the Southern Dynasty, the dozen or so men in black jackets looked around and chuckled, their faces beaming with pride and smugness.

Inside the Crane Cry Tower, upon hearing that Hong Feng had achieved second place in the imperial examination, everyone was immediately taken aback and exchanged bewildered glances.

"second?"

"That Tartar came in second in the imperial examination..."

"Call him Prince..."

"Let's still call him Master Jinshi!"

"Wow, that's amazing... I thought he came in second to last on the list for the provincial examination..."

"Hmph! These Tartars... Yang Xiuyue was harmed so tragically..."

"Wasn't that an order given by that scoundrel Lu Jing?"

"Isn't he Lu Jing's master?"

"Heh, since Wu Shangmei insulted him like that... he'll just have to be dealt with by Lu Jing..."

"If it weren't for Wu Shangmei..."

Immediately, discussions erupted inside Heming Tower. Some said, "Lu Jing is too ruthless," others said, "Wu Shangmei was arrogant and deserved this retribution," and still others said, "She ruined diplomatic relations; Wu Shangmei deserves to die! What if the Northern Dynasty invades from the south?"

At this point, someone sarcastically remarked, "Speaking of provoking the Northern Dynasty to invade the south, perhaps someone's crimes are even more egregious than Wu Shangmei's!"

"Hey!" someone raised an eyebrow, displeased, "If it weren't for Ning Baixuan, Lu Jing would probably still be acting so arrogantly!"

"I didn't say Ning Baixuan!" the man said, his face flushed.

"He's only relying on being the grand-nephew of the Marquis of Jingbei..."

"Wasn't it Lu Jing who struck first?"

"You can report it to the authorities!"

"We could ask Your Highness to punish him..."

"Didn't you see the Prince and Ning Baixuan betting on wine? That Prince has never reneged on his debts... He's gentle and refined... and well-versed in classical texts..."

How did Ning Baixuan win?

"...Could it be that Prince lost on purpose?...That's too strange..."

"It's possible..."

"They genuinely want to join our Southern Dynasty..."

"At this crucial moment when the two countries are forming an alliance... Alas... Lu Jing deserves to die... And Ning Baixuan..." Someone sighed worriedly, adding, "...We mustn't let this ruin important matters of the court..."

At this moment, several scholars who prided themselves on being "unfettered," "of noble character," and "dedicated to maintaining diplomatic relations between the two countries" mustered their courage and stepped forward, forcing a smile, and offered their congratulations:

"Your Highness, while residing in our court... has now passed the imperial examination with flying colors... Hmm... Congratulations... Congratulations..."

Hong Feng's hostility vanished, and he greeted everyone with a calm and collected gesture of greeting: "Greetings, Brother Li, and everyone else..."

……

……

Inside a black carriage by the river.

Upon hearing that Hongfeng High School ranked second, Wang Bing's eyelids twitched.

Yan Yuqing narrowed his old eyes and said, "This Lu Jing of the Northern Dynasty is indeed... indeed..."

Zhu Cuiwei, who was initially happy for Qinghuan upon hearing that Li Yanting had come in third, couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation and sighed somewhat:

"Lu Jing was indeed a talented man... it's just a pity... he ultimately ended up as a servant..."

She was somewhat surprised that the second and third place winners that day, after Sun Chengshan and Li Xiangsong, would actually be Lu Jing and Li Yanting.

Lu Jingzhi's writings focused on the foundation of the nation, while Li Yanting's writings focused on reform; the two were equally brilliant.

Seeing that most of the essays in the Huiyuan competition were orthodox, she placed Li Yanting's essay second.

Li Xiangsong was naturally quite unwilling, but since she had spoken up, this Grand Secretary Li Xiangsong had no choice but to acquiesce.

However, just as she was about to leave, Sun Chengshan and Lu Machang's faction exchanged a glance and gave in, not wanting to make things difficult for her. In the end, they placed Lu Jing in second place...

Upon hearing their conversation, Wang Bing's heart suddenly stirred.

Hongfeng clearly came in second, while Lu Jing didn't even participate in the imperial examination, yet His Majesty and Vice Prefect Yan were both referring to Lu Jing.

He frowned, guessed for a moment, and asked curiously:

"Your Majesty, Prefect Yan... Could it be... could it be that Hongfeng..."

Yan Yuqing was taken aback. He exchanged a glance with the Emperor above, both of them with a wry smile on their lips, and said:

"Eunuch Wang guessed correctly. This Hongfeng..."

Yan Yuqing sighed.

Seeing that he knew he wouldn't pass the exam himself, he... then his playboy nature took over, and he simply sent Lu Jing to impersonate him...

Wang Bing was instantly surprised, thinking to himself, "Just as I thought." Both of them had shaved heads and wore melon-shaped hats, making disguise extremely easy.

Yan Yuqing smiled wryly:

"It's not easy to expose this. If we expose it directly, it would be like tearing off the mask of civility... Well... we can only tolerate his deception for now... But I never expected... Sigh... Lu Jing actually came in second place... That's quite something."

Wang Bing nodded silently, but his expression changed.

Suddenly, a thought struck him: Lu Jing had been seriously injured by his son-in-law today, so what about the essay for the palace examination...? A strange smile involuntarily crept onto Wang Bing's lips... Hongfeng might not be able to find anyone to write it for him...

At this time.

Her Majesty the Empress, seated at the head of the table, sighed, a troubled expression appearing on her fair face:

"You two, hmm... now, the list of successful candidates is only missing this year's top scholar... um... I wonder who it is?... Alas... it seems my husband won't be passing this year's imperial examination."