Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

Bai Su looked taken aback for a moment, but wasn't too surprised.

After all, cheating in the imperial examinations has never stopped throughout history. He just didn't expect that people would start having crooked ideas so early.

However, it is normal to cheat when it comes to the convenience of the law.

This martial arts exam tests horseback riding, archery, and direct combat. With everyone watching, there's no way to cheat even if you wanted to.

It's often easy to tell who can fight and who can't at a glance.

Only the examination under the laws of the Great Xia Dynasty makes it relatively easy to bluff one's way out of trouble.

Unless you question them carefully, who knows if they are truly capable or simply have memorized the answers to one or two questions?

Hu continued, "Although I have already asked Liu Ji and the others to prepare new exam questions, I still haven't caught the person who leaked the questions."

"I'm worried that something unexpected might happen again. After all, if this can leak exam questions once, it can happen a second time."

"My husband, what should I do?"

Bai Su stroked his chin and said, "Since we're worried about the questions being leaked, why don't we just not prepare any questions?"

"I'm so worried, and you're still teasing him."

When did I tease you?

Bai Su smiled when she saw Hu Yi's puzzled expression: "In the past, the questions for the imperial examinations were set well in advance. Several months before the examinations began, it was inevitable that some well-connected wealthy merchants and nobles would meet with each other in private."

"In this situation, even if you prepare ten sets of exam questions, it will be difficult to keep them confidential."

"The best way to prevent leaks of exam questions is not to prepare any questions. A few days before the exam, close your eyes and draw a circle on the law at random. Use that as the test questions."

"What should be done if someone under the age of fourteen commits theft?"

"How should a woman be punished for innocently stabbing a coachman with a knife?"

"You should copy down these exam questions and hang them on a large screen on the day of the imperial examination, so that the candidates present can answer them on the spot."

"Before this, you yourself didn't even know what the question was, so naturally no one else had the question to reveal."

Hu Su stared wide-eyed in disbelief at Bai Su.

This problem had been troubling her for days, and she couldn't come up with a solution. But her husband came up with a solution in the blink of an eye.

Bai Su continued, "This is just the beginning. To prevent anyone from bringing cheat sheets into the examination room beforehand, no one participating in the imperial examination is allowed to bring anything on their person."

"Neither clothes nor food are allowed to be brought in."

"The imperial court provided them with uniform clothing and food, and they were also required to take a bath."

"To prevent people from writing cheat sheets on their clothes, stuffing them into steamed buns, hiding them in shoe insoles, rolling them up and stuffing them into pen holders, or even writing them on their own arms or legs."

"We must assign special personnel to conduct thorough checks and give them absolutely no chance. At the same time, no one is allowed to leave the examination room before the exam ends. This way, we can eliminate cheating."

He spoke at length, detailing every possible possibility of cheating.

Mo Xun and Hu Yi were both stunned. They looked at Bai Su as if she were a monster, never expecting that the seemingly safe imperial examination would have so many ways to cheat.

Fortunately, Bai Su was on their side. Otherwise, if Bai Su had participated in the imperial examination and cheated, she could have easily obtained an official position.

Bai Su smiled as she looked at the two of them, who were in a daze.

After all, cheating on exams is something that evolves with the times, and when it comes to cheating experience, he is quite experienced.

It's no exaggeration to say that the cheating methods these people use are, in his eyes, nothing more than child's play, utterly insignificant.

Chapter 283 Hu Yu's Reward

Several days later, the imperial examination began.

Outside the examination hall, a large crowd of people thronged the courtyard, stretching as far as the eye could see, a dense, dark mass that seemed to have no end in sight.

Among them were scholars who came to take the exam, as well as passersby who came to watch the spectacle.

After all, scholars from all over the country gathered in Xianyang to pursue fame and fortune; such a scene was not something one could see every day.

"Someone's coming! Someone's coming..."

A gong sounded, which made the scholars tremble.

"I know!"

The heavy courtyard gate slowly opened, and a group of guards cleared a path for people to pass through, standing on both sides to maintain order.

Liu Ji, dressed in a black and red official robe, walked out from there.

Her large, almond-shaped eyes swept across the faces of the surrounding scholars as she smiled and said, "The imperial examination has begun. Please enter the examination hall one by one according to your credentials..."

Chen Ping and others, who were in the crowd, were rubbing their hands together and occasionally exhaling a breath of air.

It's already late winter, and the mornings are still quite cold. Many people's faces are turning slightly blue, and their noses are running.

Just as everyone was waiting, a commotion suddenly broke out in front of them.

"What...what are you doing with my rations? This is my lunch today."

"According to the Grand Chancellor's order, all the scholars' clothing, food, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones were specially provided by the court, and no one was allowed to bring anything in from the outside."

"No...no, how could you do this?"

No matter what the scholar said, Liu Ji ignored him completely and waved his hand to order the guards to forcibly take the items away.

Sure enough, in just a short while...

The guard then handed over the laid-out steamed buns, with a rolled-up piece of paper hidden inside. Inside, various cheat sheets were written in tiny characters.

Liu Ji twirled the note between his fingers and said with a smile, "Just as you predicted, young master, someone really did hide a cheat sheet in here. What do you have to say now?"

The scholar turned ashen-faced and fell silent, unsure how to defend himself.

Liu Ji glanced at the guard beside him with his large, almond-shaped eyes and ordered, "Drag him out, cancel his place in the imperial examination, and ban the cheater from participating in the imperial examination for life."

"Yes……"

The guards bowed and then lifted the scholar up and dragged him out.

Upon seeing the severity of the consequences of being caught cheating, some scholars with ulterior motives broke out in a cold sweat and dared not even breathe.

Some people nervously clutched their collars, wanting to turn around and leave.

However, they discovered that their retreat route had already been blocked by the guards, leaving them with no way out.

Chen Ping stood in the line, his almond-shaped eyes glancing at Liu Ji with interest.

I've heard that this Lord Liu was once just a minor official in Sishui Pavilion, a mere pavilion chief. He rose through the ranks by currying favor with Bai Su... Lord Bai, and is now the second-in-command of the Imperial Household Department.

I initially thought he was just a sycophant, but now it seems this Lord Liu is no ordinary man.

He first went on and on about the precautions for the imperial examinations to lower the guards of the scholars around him, but secretly he ordered the guards to keep a close watch on the area, giving no chance for cheaters to escape or hide cheat sheets.

Despite his seemingly carefree and irresponsible demeanor, he turns out to be surprisingly meticulous when it comes to getting things done.

"Chen Ping, is he from Wei...?"

After checking the credentials and finding no problems, Liu Ji had Chen Ping change into the uniform and enter the examination room.

When Chen Ping arrived at her seat, led by the guards, the warmth that greeted her caused a look of surprise to appear on her face.

"This...this place actually has heating."

"The imperial court is really going all out."

"That's good, then we don't have to worry about the freezing weather anymore."

The candidates who entered the examination hall were assigned to small cubicles. Although the spaces were small, they had everything they needed.

It had everything needed for warmth: writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone; a cushion to sit on; a special oil lamp; and a blanket to keep warm. It was small but complete in every way.

After all, those who could pass the provincial examinations and gradually make their way to Xianyang to participate in the imperial examinations were extremely rare, one in ten thousand, and there weren't many people in total.

Providing these people with a suitable examination venue is naturally no big deal for the imperial court, which is currently flush with cash.

The inspectors patrolled back and forth, while others had huge, rolled-up scrolls unrolled in the courtyard, containing questions about the imperial examinations.

"What should be the punishment for failing to deliver the prisoner to the designated location within the stipulated time...? Oh dear, why are we suddenly testing this? Shouldn't we be testing on theft and the appointment and removal of officials?" Some scholars were completely bewildered after seeing this question.

Through their family connections, they once hosted a banquet to entertain some officials and inquire about the direction of the imperial examination questions for the year.

He stayed home and memorized the answers perfectly, hoping to use this opportunity to gain fame and fortune, but unexpectedly the exam questions suddenly changed.

Immediately, a scholar raised his hand and asked, "Sir..."

The patrolling supervisor raised an eyebrow: "What is it?"

The scholar said awkwardly, "Sir, is there something wrong? Why are you suddenly testing people on corvée labor and escort duties?"

The supervisor snorted coldly: "This is a special order from His Highness Hu Yu. You should all focus on doing the questions properly. If you dare to make any more noise, I will consider you to have given up and expel you from the examination hall."

"hiss……"

Everyone gasped in shock.

Many of them have endured three long years for this day; if they were expelled from the exam hall, wouldn't that be a huge loss?

For a moment, no one dared to stand up and refute them anymore, and they could only grit their teeth and continue writing.

Inside the Shaofu (a government office).

Bai Su and Hu Yi were playing chess.

After hearing about the situation in the examination room, Hu Yi's heterochromatic eyes lit up.

She happily hugged Bai Su's arm and said admiringly, "Husband, it's exactly as you predicted. Following your method, we caught them every time."

"These little tricks can't fool my eyes. But the best way to prevent cheating is to change the people every year and not let the same people set the questions. Otherwise, over time, cheating will naturally breed."

Bai Su rubbed her nose, her expression somewhat strange.

Just because Hu Yu's two fair arms were wrapped around his arm, and the slightly immature girl's entire body was squeezed and deformed on his arm through the thin fabric, and feeling that burning temperature, he couldn't help but feel a surge of desire.

Hu Su noticed that Bai Su's expression was off and looked down slightly.

A blush immediately spread across her fair face, but she remained nestled in Bai Su's arms, showing no sign of leaving: "This is a reward for you..."

After saying that, she looked at Bai Su with affection in her heterochromatic eyes, and slightly raised her head, wanting to kiss him.

Looking at the beautiful young girl, with her youthful face that bore a resemblance to Zheng Jie, Bai Su's heart pounded wildly. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her soft waist and kissed her pink lips.