Chapter 33 How is this possible?
"It's appropriate. Why shouldn't it be appropriate? It meets your majesty's requirements. Isn't that enough?"
"Yes! But we set questions so arbitrarily that I can't even answer them myself, let alone the candidates."
"Is this your exam?"
"no."
"Well, you are just setting the questions. It is still in accordance with His Majesty's requirements. What does it have to do with you whether the candidates can answer them or not?"
Xin Qiwu looked around, confirmed that there was no one around, and spoke in a low voice.
"I suspect that His Majesty is asking these questions for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Second Prince."
"and then?"
"And then, the question is so biased, what will His Royal Highness the Crown Prince do if he can't answer it and can't beat the Second Prince?"
"Oh, so that's what you're worried about. Then this question is more appropriate."
Xin Qiwu looked at Mei Chengan as if he were a fool.
"Did I not express myself clearly enough?"
"Be clear, Lord Xin, please listen to me and let me analyze it for you."
"You said."
"Are you going to tell the prince about this news?"
"Of course. As the most loyal disciple of the Crown Prince, this is my duty."
"Then why don't you reveal the exam questions you prepared to the prince?"
“But there are some questions I don’t know the answers to.”
"It doesn't matter. You don't know that I know. Why don't I just tell you?"
Xin Qiwu was dumbfounded.
"you know?"
"Ah, what's wrong?"
"Master Xiaomei is very knowledgeable. I am ashamed to be inferior to her."
"Oh, that's not important. Listen to me. Think about it. If the question is simple, then the Second Prince will be able to answer it, right? The best way is to make the question a little off-topic. Then you can secretly reveal the question and answer to the Crown Prince. Think about it carefully."
The more Xin Qiwu thought about it, the more he felt it made sense. In this way, reporting the news in time would count as one merit, revealing the test questions and answers would count as another, and scoring better than the second prince in the test would count as another. Wow, this merit was enormous, and becoming the Crown Prince's confidant was just around the corner.
Xin Qiwu's eyes almost disappeared from laughing. He twisted his body and bumped Mei Chengan with his shoulder.
"It has to be you, Lady Xiaomei. Your reminder has opened my eyes and helped me see the moon after the clouds have been cleared."
"Thank you for the compliment. Shall we continue?"
"Keep going."
……
Mei Cheng'an only gave Xin Qiwu guidance for half a day before he understood his idea of asking questions about Tianma Xingkong. Then he went to read classics on his own.
Mei Chengan returned to his seat leisurely, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank three cups in a row. He must be very thirsty after talking for so long.
Looking at the four figures shuttling around in the Qilin Hall looking for test questions, Mei Cheng'an sighed in his heart, why would Emperor Qing have to test the prince on these things when he has nothing better to do? The news leaks out like a sieve, and there are people of the Crown Prince and the Princess here, which means that the two princes will receive the news, and this assessment will be meaningless.
Could it be that this move has some other deeper meaning?
I thought about it for a while but couldn't come up with anything, so I just gave up thinking about it. Forget it. Wouldn't it be nice to use this time to copy some books?
That night, the Crown Prince and the Second Prince received the news one after another, and they all thought the same thing as Mei Chengan, pondering the deeper meaning of His Majesty's actions.
Three days flew by.
Xin Qiwu and three other people compiled the test questions, deleted the duplicates, and totaled three hundred questions.
Then it was handed over to the printing bureau in the palace for typeset and printing.
Early in the morning of the fourth day, a brand new test paper smelling of ink appeared in front of Emperor Qing.
Emperor Qing picked up the test paper and began to read it.
Hiss~ These guys are quite something. The angles of their questions are so tricky that he was confused after reading many of them.
As he continued reading, Emperor Qing's expression became better. He finally saw questions that he could understand.
Until he finished reading, Emperor Qing's expression was uncertain. If he was asked to answer this question, he would be lucky if he could answer one-third of it. If Mei Cheng'an could answer it, his face would be...
Then he reacted and burst out laughing. He was the dignified Emperor Qing, why would he compare this with a child? It was so dementia and too cheap.
"Go and call Mei Cheng'an." Emperor Qing said softly.
"Old slave obeys the order."
Eunuch Hou took small steps out of the imperial study and ran towards the Qilin Palace.
When they arrived at the Qilin Hall, they were stunned because Mei Chengan had not arrived yet.
Just when I was considering leaving the palace to look for someone at home, I saw Mei Chengan walking towards me leisurely.
Eunuch Hou hurried to meet him.
"Oh, my lady Xiaomei, can you please pay attention to the time when you are on duty? I have been waiting for you for a long time."
Why does this sound so familiar? I seem to have heard it somewhere before.
"I will definitely do it next time, Eunuch Hou, what do you want to talk to me about so urgently?"
"Come with me quickly, His Majesty wants to see you."
Mei Chengan was stunned when he heard this. What was going on so early in the morning?
"Eunuch Hou, can you tell me what His Majesty wants to see me about?"
"Oh my dear, can we talk while we walk?"
"Okay, okay, of course no problem."
The two hurried to the imperial study. "Eunuch Hou, you can speak now."
"You will know it soon anyway, so it doesn't hurt to tell you. His Majesty has prepared a test paper for you and will test you."
What? An exam? Who? Me?
"Could it be Lord Guo, Lord Xin and the others..."
"Exactly!"
Depend on!
guessed wrong!
I thought it was a test for the prince, but it turned out to be aimed at me.
Mei Chengan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. You test me, so why don't you give me a few days off? I was the one who gave some of the questions.
I make up the questions for myself, what the hell is this? I give up.
Fortunately, Lao Xin deleted the question about Si Gu Jian’s real name. He really didn’t know that question, so it was a blessing in disguise.
When they arrived at the imperial study, Mei Cheng'an paid his respects and was then called up.
"Mei Cheng'an, I have said before in the court that you have made great contributions in tidying up the Qilin Palace, and I want to reward you. But I have no idea what reward to give you."
"So I asked the president of the Supervisory Council if he had any suggestions, but he disagreed to reward you, saying that you said in the court that this was your job and there was no need for a reward."
"I said that you are so young but you are well-informed and learned, and you have written famous poems that will be passed down through the ages. You are known as a child prodigy and are a pillar of our Qing Kingdom in the future. But people disagreed and said that you are no longer worthy of the name of a child prodigy. You have not written a single new work in all these years, and I have never heard of your being well-informed and learned. People don't believe it."
Mei Cheng'an's mouth twitched. He was so blatantly stabbing Chen Pingping. Did he want me to have a falling out with Chen Pingping? So he cooperated with Emperor Qing's performance and showed an indignant expression, and his breathing became heavier.
As Emperor Qing was speaking, he was also observing Mei Cheng'an's reaction. Seeing how angry he was, he felt very satisfied.
"I am in a difficult situation. I said I would reward you, so I must reward you. But I cannot completely ignore the opinions of some ministers. After all, you also said in the court that the monarch and his ministers are of one mind, and the government is in good order and the people are in harmony."
"So, I thought about it and came up with a solution, which is to prepare a test for you. The purpose of this test is to completely convince those people who advocate that you have run out of ideas. Do you have the confidence to do this?"
Mei Chengan knelt down excitedly.
"Your Majesty, I am confident and willing to take the test!"
Emperor Qing held out his hand and said, "Hurry up, hurry up, are you really determined to take part in this test? I have read all the questions, they are all over the place, if you want to answer them, you need real talent and knowledge."
Mei Chengan said passionately.
"I beg Your Majesty to allow me to take the test. I will use my own strength to crush all doubts."
Emperor Qing clapped his hands and laughed.
"Okay, this is what I think of a child prodigy. In this case, I will grant your request."
"I will definitely live up to your majesty's high expectations."
"Okay! Eunuch Hou, take the proofreader to the side hall and start the examination."
"Yes!"
Mei Chengan sat in the empty side hall, looking at the thick test paper in front of him and speechless.
What a sin! How long will it take to get the answer?
Are the questions difficult? It was difficult for others, but it was easy for him. After all, all the questions came from the books in the Qilin Hall. He had read all those books long ago. He just felt sorry for his wrist that had suffered an unexpected disaster.
Well, now that things have come to this, just answer it.
Mei Cheng'an picked up the pen and started writing quickly.
The Crown Prince in the palace and the Second Prince outside the palace received the news from the Imperial Study almost at the same time. They both felt puzzled. They had prepared for three days and pondered over the deep meaning of His Majesty's arrangement of this assessment for three days. And now you tell me that there is someone else taking the exam?
Prince: "What kind of rules are these?"
The Second Prince: "It seems that His Majesty is going to make use of the little prodigy."
……
It took Mei Cheng'an three and a half hours to finish his answer.
He put down the brush, rubbed it, and quietly used his Qi to repair it.
"Eunuch Hou! Eunuch Hou!"
"The old servant is here. Has the proofreader finished answering?"
"Yes."
"Please follow me, Schoolmaster."
"Hmm? You're not collecting the test papers?"
"Someone will come here to mark the papers later."
"Well, where are we going?"
"Let's go to the Imperial Study and wait for the result with His Majesty."
Mei Chengan looked up. It was already daylight, around three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Would the results be out on the same day?
Arrived at the imperial study.
"See Your Majesty."
"Get up, sit down and wait, the results will be out soon."
"Yes, I thank your Majesty for the seat."
The only sound in the imperial study was that of Emperor Qing knocking and banging.
Not long after Mei Cheng'an left the side hall, the four examiners who set the questions walked into the side hall. They divided the work and began to mark the papers.
They had received the news in advance that the person taking the exam was Mei Cheng'an, not the Crown Prince or the Second Prince, so they were not surprised to see that there was only one test paper.
There was no need to copy the papers under seal this time. Apart from the Three Books and Six Classics, they had also prepared answers for the rest of the exam questions, so they were able to mark the papers very quickly.
It only took half an hour to complete the marking.
The four people looked at each other's parts and then fell silent. Except for a few extremely unpopular questions that were left blank, the rest were not only answered, but also answered correctly.
How is this possible?
(End of this chapter)
