Chapter 75: Taking the Test
"Oh, you don't even have the courage to name names, and you are qualified to say that my case is questionable?"
Different from his previous low-key and forbearing behavior, this time even though the other party had chosen to avoid him, Shen Yichen did not intend to reveal the truth.
The reason is very simple. Today, it was confirmed that cheating was taking place in the private school of Duke Chengguo's Mansion. I have to make my position clear. This matter has nothing to do with me.
Otherwise, rumors of cheating in the imperial examination will always follow you!
"Shen Yichen, don't go too far. Do you really think I dare not say anything to you?"
Faced with Shen Yichen's aggressiveness, Xu Donghai became a little annoyed at this moment.
After all, he is the nephew of Nanjing Minister of War Xu Qi. He might be timid in front of the legitimate son of Duke Chengguo. However, Shen Yichen is just the son of a maid who is not included in the family tree. It is not enough to suppress him so that he dare not speak.
And with so many candidates watching, if Xu Donghai backed down today, how would he survive in Yingtian Arena in the future? Would he still want to be called a child prodigy?
"Too much bullying?"
Shen Yichen sneered and continued, "Xu Donghai, you have slandered me behind my back more than once, right?"
"I didn't bother to argue with you before, but today you hinted to the invigilator, which has exceeded the limit of verbal dispute. So I pointed it out bluntly. Is this also called bullying you?"
"If this is considered bullying, then even if I did bully you, so what? In terms of academic performance , literary talent, and poetry, which one of you can compare to me?"
The confidence and momentum displayed by Shen Yichen's words one by one made many candidates on the scene feel the pressure.
As expected, he is the winner of the Winter Solstice Poetry Competition, taking two first places in a row and surpassing all the talented men in Yingtian. He is truly an imposing man!
Xu Donghai was also shocked by Shen Yichen's momentum at the first moment. When he reacted and tried to refute, he found that he had no idea where to start.
Just as Shen Yichen said, he was inferior to the other in terms of imperial examination results, literary talent, and poetry that became famous all over the world.
In the past, Shen Yichen didn't use these things. It would be fine if he just showed off in front of him, but if he really used them to bully her, it seemed irrefutable.
Looking at Xu Donghai who opened his mouth but could not utter a word in response for a long time, Shen Yichen finally just gave him a contemptuous look and returned to the progression card.
I am here today to take the examination for the title of scholar, not to have an argument with this young boy.
"Is this the power of being the first in the case? I've never felt that Shen Yichen was so imposing before."
"In fact, Xu Donghai can be considered a prodigy who became famous at a young age. Unfortunately, the person he met was Shen Yichen. How could he be better than him?"
"Xu Donghai has really hit a wall. A relative of the Duke of Cheng's mansion was caught committing fraud, but Shen Yichen has not yet provided any evidence to prove that he was involved. It is too early to question the suspect now."
"Yes, at least we have to check it first."
It might be because Shen Yichen acted too conspicuously and calmly, and the chorus of attacks that had already been aroused suddenly died down.
After all, even a prodigy in officialdom like Xu Donghai was suppressed by Shen Yichen and was speechless. Who am I to compare with him?
After the examination square became quiet, the invigilator glanced at Shen Yichen. There was less suspicion in his eyes, and instead a hint of approval.
Based on his many years of experience as an invigilator, he knew that those who could face it as calmly as Shen Yichen either had a strong mental quality and were not surprised by anything, or had nothing to hide and were not afraid of being questioned.
Either way, it shows that this young man is extraordinary and a talented person.
After the commotion, the body search continued, and this time it was the turn of Zhu Qingyu who was standing in front of Shen Yichen.
At this time, Zhu Qingyu's face was pale, and he held the test basket tightly in his hand, not wanting to let go. His actions almost made it clear to everyone that the way to cheat was on the test basket.
Sure enough, when the inspecting soldier took the examination basket from Zhu Qingyu, he found bamboo strips with the same characters carved on them.
At the same time, Zhu Qingyu's exposure means that among the four people who passed the Chengguo Mansion examination, three have been confirmed to have cheated, leaving only the last one, Shen Yichen, who is still awaiting a body search.
"It's confirmed that the Duke Cheng's private school cheated. It seems that Shen Yichen will have a hard time avoiding it."
"Originally, I didn't believe Shen Yichen would cheat, but the current situation really makes me suspicious."
"It all depends on whether Shen Yichen has any problems with his exams. If he got the first place by cheating, I'm afraid it will lead to a big case."
"Yes, if the suspect in the case is brought down, Duke Cheng will not be able to suppress it."
Now, the candidates for the college examination have almost fixed their sights on Shen Yichen. If problems are found in his examination basket, the impact may be greater than that of the previous students from the Chengguo Mansion combined.
After all, Shen Yichen doesn’t dare to say that he is famous all over the world now, but at least he is famous in Yingtian Prefecture, and he has won two first place in consecutive cases, involving countless officials.
Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong is now a high-ranking official, but that does not mean he has the ability to control the government. Since Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the position of prime minister, there has been no legitimate official who can cover the sky with one hand.
By then, even Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong himself might be implicated in this imperial examination scandal.
Shen Yichen faced everyone's gaze and walked in front of the military officer for inspection. He felt extremely calm and was not afraid of any body search at all.
After taking off their clothes, the soldiers took out the items in the examination basket one by one, carefully checking the woven bamboo strips to see if there was anything unusual.
In order to ensure that there would be no gossip, the invigilator outside the curtain took the initiative to come forward and check Shen Yichen's belongings. Unlike the previous Zhu clan members, the bamboo strips of Shen Yichen's examination basket were the same color and there was no loose parts.
I carefully checked it again against the light, but did not see any carved words on any of the bamboo strips.
As for other aspects, Shen Yichen is more normal and the suspicion of cheating can basically be ruled out.
Since no problems were found, he would naturally be allowed to pass. The examiner behind the outer curtain nodded, indicating that Shen Yichen could put on his clothes to show that he was innocent.
This situation was beyond the expectations of many people at the scene. After all, the Chengguo Mansion Private School had already found out three people. According to inertial thinking, the possibility of Shen Yichen cheating was very high.
Facts have proved that Shen Yichen did not participate in it, and all his achievements were due to his own talent and knowledge.
"Shen Yichen is actually fine. Could it be that the private school of Duke Cheng's Mansion cheated and missed him?"
"Normal. Have you forgotten that Shen Yichen is a maid's son who is not included in the family tree? Seriously speaking, he is not a member of the Zhu family."
"It seems that Shen Yichen is truly talented and knowledgeable. Will there be the first person in Yingtian Prefecture to win three consecutive first prizes in the college exam today?"
As the examinees were discussing, Shen Yichen crossed the dragon gate with his examination basket and entered the Xiajiang examination room. He was going to Duzhi Building to meet Sun Tixue, the chief examiner of today's college examination.
But when Shen Yichen just stepped into the examination room, a soldier stood in front of him and said, "Mr. Shen, please wait a moment."
"Why?"
Shen Yichen now looked a little solemn. No matter how noisy the candidates outside were, it would not have much impact on him.
He suspected that the military service move now was a result of his investigation into fraud and that if it affected the normal conduct of the college entrance examination, the consequences would be serious.
"The chief examiner, Lord Sun, has ordered that Master Shen be brought to the hall to wait for the examination."
To be brought to court for an examination?
When he suddenly heard this unfamiliar term, Shen Yichen was a little confused, but he quickly reacted.
The so-called "bringing candidates to the hall to sit for the exam", just as its name suggests, is to bring the candidates to the hall to sit for the exam, which is equivalent to putting them under the nose of the chief examiner.
Previously, the news of cheating in the imperial examinations at the Chengguo Mansion had spread like wildfire, and almost everyone in Yingtian Prefecture knew about it. In addition, during the pre-exam search, three of the four people who passed the Chengguo Mansion exam were found to have cheating tools, leaving him the only one who was innocent.
However, this level of "innocence" is obviously not enough to silence the world's gossip.
According to the traditional unspoken rules of the imperial examination, Shen Yichen, as the first in the prefectural examination, has a high probability of passing the imperial examination. Even if the essay is well written, the chance of passing the examination is much higher than that of other candidates.
The influence brought by the three top scorers will inevitably push speculation about imperial examination cheating to a peak again.
How to avoid giving people something to talk about?
The best way is to have Shen Yichen take the test in class and answer the questions in front of the examiner, which will completely eliminate the possibility of cheating.
There is another advantage of taking the test in class, which is that you have the opportunity to be tested directly in class. After all, you hand in the paper directly to the examiner, and it is difficult for him not to take a look at it in advance.
Of course, there are disadvantages, just like in later exams, the invigilator will sit in front of you and watch you write. Even if you don't have any intention of cheating, the psychological pressure of being stared at will make you feel unnatural.
Therefore, those who can write good essays while sitting in the examination must be people with real talent and knowledge, and there will be no objection to their being admitted as a general!
It seems that Sun Tixue also knows about the search. This is to help me clear my name...
Just as Shen Yichen had thought, the news of cheating in the Chengguo Mansion discovered outside the door had already reached the ears of several examiners behind the curtain.
So Sun Ding came up with the idea of having Shen Yichen sit in the exam in order to help him stop all the gossip after he passed.
But in addition to this, Sun Ding also did this to avoid suspicion. After all, he and Shen Yichen's teacher Lin Zhen were good friends, and many people knew it. Moreover, he had also taken care of Shen Yichen at the Winter Solstice Poetry Conference, so it would be easy for someone with ulterior motives to make up a story.
The method of taking the exam in court can kill two birds with one stone, helping Shen Yichen as well as himself.
While Shen Yichen was waiting, many other candidates completed the body search and entered the dragon gate, and several of them were also retained to take the exam.
Among them, Shen Yichen knew Xu Donghai from Zhaowen Academy, Luo Zheng from Jiangning County, and Qin Xusheng, the first in Shangyuan County. These people were old rivals who had competed with each other all the way to get the exam.
There was another person Shen Yichen had also heard of, his name was Meng Fan.
This person was no ordinary one. Strictly speaking, he could not be considered a Ming Dynasty person. Instead, he was a descendant of a chieftain who surrendered in the Battle of Luchuan in the southwest in the sixth year of Zhengtong and was settled in Yingtian Prefecture.
However, unlike those pure chieftain descendants who were uneducated, Meng Fan had a Chinese surname and was proficient in Chinese studies. He passed the examination for a tongsheng in the seventh year of Zhengtong.
But he is, after all , a descendant of a frontier chieftain, and his aura is always somewhat out of tune with others, so he has always been a loner.
What is Sun Tixue's intention in bringing this group of people to the court for examination today?
