Page 52 (1/2)

Chapter 52: First Place

Translator: Translation Nation/chuchutrain Editor: - -

Acade late, and the weather was getting colder Lanterns were all around, shining brightly across the yard

Outside the Acadeuarding the entrance They were not to let unauthorised personnel in A few of them were sent to patrol the area for suspicious activities

Within the Academic Institution, there were several soldiers with a feather in their hel the exae in, the soldiers have been authorized to kill on sight

Outside the Acade prepared There were roasted chickens and ducks, vegetables of different variety and many fruits The soldiers were to consume their meals here and weren’t allowed to leave as well

The Room Examiners were not allowed to leave the roorade all the scripts within the halls and were not peruards acted like a double-edged knife, frightening outsiders away and preventing the exa

A Room Examiner put down the quill in his hand and rubbed his eyes They had been cooped up in this roo but examinations scripts, his vision was a blur He rubbed his eyes onceto their standards A few more scripts until I’m finished My head is painful and my vision is blurry”

Another Roohed and said, "It’s our duty to handpick the best candidates in the nation But it’s been 7 or 8 days already, and indeed, we’re all tired”

Hearing this, another Roo We will finish all this today To to sleep the entire day away What’s left is for the Assistant Chief Exas to the Chief Examiner to confirm”

After the establishment of the dynasty, there are only four branches of education, but practices and routines have already been formed In the capital examinations, most of the Room Examiners were from local institutions The Assistant Chief Examiner was from another prefecture, his job was to prevent any mistakes or favouritism to be shown

The Assistant Chief Examiner was the director of an institution outside the capital He was tasked with selecting High Scholars fro!”

“The checking of the grades has been coh Scholars list to the Chief Exa Zhen read the first fifty essays and felt that the standards for this exaood, "These candidates are conscientious, and most of them are worthy of official placements I’ve read up till now and have yet to find a poor essay”

When he read the script placed in 7th position, his eyes brightened up, "This candidate’s knowledge surpasses everyone else It is an ace script”

He then continued reading and thought to himself, "This candidate has the potential to become a Grand Scholar!”

“Why has this script been placed in position 7th? Are the first six scripts truly better than this? If that’s the case, it’s astonishing” He then started reading the scripts which had been ranked in the first six

When he had finished, he returned to the 7th script and frowned He thought to himself, "What rubbish This script is better than the first six by an entire league He made no mistakes, and included no taboos He should be placed in the top three at least”

Usually the first three scripts were all of Grand Scholar standard, thus the differences between the points But in this particular examination, the best script, which was initially placed 7th, ay better than the other three scripts

He paced for several steps in the rooh the names of the candidates have been blurred out, with an essay of this standard, it was like a furnace burning brightly in the night Even if his na, a local examiner would probably knoho this candidate is”

“It must’ve been that these local Room Examiners had their doubts about this candidate, or that he had offended soe was too old” He then shook his head, feeling very dissatisfied, "The establishment of the new dynasty should follow the positive ways of the older dynasty A good essay should receive the necessary recognition”

He then picked up this essay and placed it in the first position He looked around and asked, "Who here has any objections”

“We have no objections” The Rooet bright, as the sun shone brightly overhead A rooster fro the start of a new day Hu Ying Zhen announced, "If that’s the case, the rankings have been determined Let’s reveal the candidate’s names!”

“The order by the Chief Exarades have been confirh Scholars have been decided upon

They then started revealing the candidates as they matched their papers to the namelist

The person who had come in first place was Pei Zi Yun

“First place in the capital’s imperial examinations, Pei Zi Yun from Slow River County!”

Just as the name was revealed, the exa Zhen was unable to mask to surprise on his face, "He's only 15, isn't he too young?”

But since the rankings had already been confirmed, he did not utter a word

One by one, the names of the candidates were revealed to the examiners on a red table There were 33 successful candidates, split into three bands The first bad had 3 candidates The next had 10, and the final band has 20

“Since there are no objections, let's transfix our seal onto the final results”