Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 304: Subtle Fraud
After all, he was the black-faced god who was in charge of the Rope Punishment Hall and had beaten countless people with bamboo sticks. After Xu Heida's roar, the Banshan Hall, which had just been buzzing with discussions, suddenly fell silent. Although most of the noble children had not experienced the embarrassment of being beaten with 20 small bamboo sticks as soon as they touched his lips, they still understood that their grades would be lowered and their grades would be invalidated.
As a result, those who were trying to take advantage of the situation all sat down straight at once, those who were watching the fun hastily withdrew their gazes and continued to concentrate on doing their own papers, and as for some people who were originally busy writing, they would not even look up.
This time, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, who will not be staying in Banshan Hall in the future, did not participate in the branch examination. They were also relieved of a heavy pressure. Otherwise, if they were ridiculed as being worse than a child in the future, how could they put their faces aside?
Zhang Shou had already come behind the big guy Zhang. Seeing the man's shoulders trembling slightly, he knew what the intention of the person who shouted cheating was, regardless of what it was, there was no doubt that this tall and strong man in front of him was suspicious. Sure enough, when he turned around the desk and came in front of the man, he saw that his left hand was pressed tightly on the desk, and there was clearly something hidden under his palm.
Seeing that the big guy Zhang had his head hung and didn't dare to look up and look at him, he gently tapped the back of his hand with two fingers and found that the stiff hand gradually moved away inch by inch, revealing a booklet about two inches long and one inch wide underneath. He couldn't help but curl his lips, thinking that this was the first time he had seen cheat sheets these days.
Zhang Shou picked up the thick booklet with two fingers and put it in his sleeve calmly. He turned to the side and looked at the big paper for a few more times. Seeing that he had answered about half of it, he said with a smile: "Okay, let's continue!"
Wu Silang, who was standing by and accused Zhang of cheating, was shocked and angry when he saw that Zhang Shou didn't kick him out on the spot or scold him harshly, but just took the cheat sheet away and left it at that. But before he could figure out what to do next, he found Zhang Shou suddenly walking towards him. He noticed that Zhang Shou lowered his head and glanced at his paper, and his nerves tensed instantly.
Oh no, not only did Zhang Shou not punish that hateful guy who usually bullies the weak and fears the strong, he even paid attention to his paper!
Zhang Shou noticed at a glance that Wu Silang's paper was horribly done. Seeing him trying to cover up the huge blank space on the paper below, which might be a glossary or a question, he laughed and said, "Do your own questions well. The situations that Xu Jiancheng just mentioned will all be deducted points. There will be no extra points in this exam."
This clearly meant that exposing cheating would not add points, and for a moment, the other people who were ready to make a move felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads, and no one dared to think of any crooked ideas. As for how Zhang Dakuai, who had escaped the disaster, felt, no one cared.
Zhang Shou took the cheat sheet and came to the gate of Banshan Hall again. After flipping through it casually, he couldn't help but marvel at it.
This is a notebook that records a lot of his class content. The handwriting is very beautiful small regular script. The content is detailed and the sentences are fluent. Many of them are his original sentences in class. Don't ask him how he remembers them. Even if it is impossible for him to remember every word he said, he still has a good idea of his own language habits.
In this era without shorthand, he couldn't believe that someone could be so distracted to take notes while listening to the class. Moreover, it was obviously refined and organized. This small booklet included the content of about ten days of classics and history classes, and the summary was just right. In the absence of outsiders in his Banshan Hall, the person who wrote this note was very questionable.
As for whether this note was made by one person, or the collective wisdom of several students, or whether it was compiled by a top student and copied by a group of poor students, and the original purpose was to study, or it was ultimately used for cheating, it is unknown. But no matter what, it is a very interesting thing. As for Wu Silang who shouted cheating, it is even more interesting.
Zhang Shou thought it was interesting, but Zhang Dakuang didn't think it was interesting at all. Although he had just avoided the worst outcome, he couldn't help but think about the consequences. The damn Wu Si next door had named and accused everyone of cheating. Would he be kicked out of Banshan Hall? Would he be scolded or even beaten by his father at home? Would he...
He looked around in confusion, and saw most people racking their brains to finish the test. When he saw Ji Jiu, he saw this guy who was similar to him but always very smart, writing calmly and smiling from time to time, as if doing the densely packed test was just a small test for him and not worth mentioning.
"There is still half an hour to hand in the papers . Don't waste time. For this 100-point paper, those who get 70 points can enter the first class, and those who get 50 points and pass the daily, monthly and annual exams can enter the third class. As for the rest, if you have a special skill, you can choose to enter the second class. For the rest of you, I don't need to say more. At this time, ask yourself, do you have time to be distracted?"
Zhang Daku was startled by the sudden voice of Xu Heizi behind him, and then he woke up as if from a dream. Since he was not kicked out for cheating, he should at least try to see if he can meet the standard of the third class.
If there is really no other option, he will have to join the army! At that time, his life or death will be in the hands of his elder brother who is very successful in the army!
After Xu Heida made another round of inspection and returned to the gate of Banshan Hall, he did not ask Zhang Shou why he had not found the cheater and expelled him immediately to serve as a warning to others.
Although it was the duty of the Punishment Hall, most of the time, punishments were imposed according to the requirements of the Imperial College Doctors and other higher-level academic officials. Unless the crime was committed directly by him, he would not interfere.
However, when Zhang Shou handed him the cheat sheet, he still took it and flipped through it quickly.
At first he was a little disgusted, but after roughly flipping through it, he couldn't help but look at Zhang Shou in surprise and said in a low voice: "The content above is indeed what you have taught, Dr. Zhang, but it is only about ten days of teaching content. However, the content is so detailed that it is as if you have memorized every word you said in class and summarized it."
"Yes, it's actually not very useful for today's exam, but it is a condensed text version of some courses." Zhang Shou reached out to catch the cheat sheet that Xu Heida handed back, but said with a smile, "I don't know where this thing came from."
Xu Heida was not stupid, and had a vague guess in his mind at this time. He smiled and said nothing. However, he then took two trusted clerks to patrol several times again, and his hawk-like eyes kept searching among the students, but he never found anyone who secretly brought cheat sheets - even those who looked around to try to see other people's answers disappeared.
Be it Ji Jiu who finished all the questions early and checked the results calmly; or Zhang Dagger who was rushing to fill in all the blanks to try his luck at passing; or the majority of people who were confident about some questions but not others and hesitated and tried to answer the questions... When the bell rang, the huge Banshan Hall was filled with gasps.
Is this really the end?
When it was time to collect the papers, it was Zhang Shou who did it himself, and he did not forget to glance at the names while collecting them.
In his previous life, he remembered a way to cheat in an exam, which was to coerce or bribe an honors student with no background, and then have him write his name on the test paper. As for his own test paper... hehe, of course he would write someone else's name. For an exam that does not verify the name on the admission ticket and test paper, this is the best way to cheat, no doubt about it.
As for the extremely rare situation where the teacher knows your handwriting and can easily tell that you have changed your name, that is definitely a special case.
As Zhang Shou was collecting papers, he took a test paper and glanced at the name on it. His eyes narrowed slightly, and then he looked at the student in front of him who was lowering his head and had always behaved very honestly and had excellent grades in Banshan Hall. Then he said in a low voice with a smile, "I didn't know you had another name."
When the honest student noticed that Zhang Shou had checked his name on the test paper, he knew that he had been exposed. He looked ashen, but when he looked up to explain, he saw that Zhang Shou had already passed him and walked to the next person. At that moment, he felt hopeless and collapsed on the stool.
He didn't want to... He could do all those questions, and he was always in the top ten in the monthly and annual exams. He could definitely get into the first class, but Wu Silang coerced him into writing someone else's name on his test paper, trying to get someone else into the first class, while he could only leave it to fate. But now the truth has been revealed, and everything is ruined!
He is just an unappreciated son in the middle class of the family. He is not as talented as Lu Sanlang, nor does he cling to Zhang Chen's thighs as early as Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu. Later, he met Zhang Shou, and he is not as wise as Ji Jiu, who can shine once given some sunshine... His diligence is not enough to get him a good future, but instead brings him malicious coveters!
He staggered and tried to stand up, but saw Zhang Shou standing in front of Zhu Youning to collect the papers. Although the person who coerced and bribed him did not tell the truth, the fact that the name of the Minister of Personnel Changsun was written on his paper made the situation very clear. But at this moment, the other party was calm and composed, without any frustration about the fact that the matter was about to be exposed, and even looked at him mockingly.
The honest student could at least distinguish between good intentions and bad intentions. After a slight pause, he immediately realized the other party's sinister tricks. For a moment, he felt like he was falling into an ice cellar, and even his teeth were chattering.
His name was not written on the other party's paper... This matter was destined to be exposed. The coercion and inducement were just a false appearance, just to make him fall into the trap! But why? He was not someone worth framing!
When Zhang Shou collected Zhu Youning's papers, he saw the upright name, which he had seen once before. He did not frown, nor did he look at Zhu Youning. He collected the papers and walked to the next one without saying a word. After collecting more than a hundred papers, he handed them to Xu Heida, who came forward with two clerks to help.
"Okay, the exam is over. You will have the next two days off. You can relax as much as you want."
Zhang Shou calmly announced the end of the test as if two extremely subtle cheating incidents had not occurred today. When he asked Xu Heida and two clerks to help him deliver the test papers directly to the university archway of the Imperial College, the Supervisor of the Imperial Examination Hall immediately asked in surprise: "Doctor Zhang wants to take the test papers back for review?"
"It's not an imperial examination. There's no covering up of names, no copying, and naturally there's no need to lock up the courtyard to correct it. If Xu Jiancheng is worried about any injustice, why don't you come back with me to Zhang Garden to stay for two days and help me? I only have two hands, and it's really hard to correct more than a hundred papers. I'm planning to find someone to help me."
If it were anyone else, they would have refused without hesitation. However, the famous Xu Jiancheng actually considered it seriously for a while, and finally nodded solemnly in front of the astonished gazes of the two clerks in the Shengqian Hall.
"That's what I really want, but I dare not ask for it!"
The two clerks dared not show it on their faces, but they were madly complaining in their hearts. Didn't their supervisor clearly say that he was worried that Dr. Zhang would be unfair when reviewing the papers? This was too bad of a human being. Wasn't he afraid of being hated?
Zhang Shou laughed and said as if he had no grudges: "Then I really have to thank Xu Jiancheng. There are plenty of empty houses in Zhang Garden, so I invited Xu Jiancheng to stay at my place for two days."
As he spoke, he looked at the two clerks with a smile and nodded slightly, saying, "Since you two are Xu Jiancheng's capable men, why don't you come and help me for a few days? I will report back and will not negate your hard work."
Seeing that Zhang Shou was going to drag them into this, the two clerks looked at each other, all of them feeling panic and helpless. However, Xu Heida had already agreed, so how could they, two insignificant clerks, refuse? After thinking it over, the two of them had no choice but to smile and agree.
However, when they arrived outside the university archway, they saw two carriages parked there. Zhang Shou ordered the paper to be loaded onto one of the carriages. Before they could say anything, they saw Xu Heidao followed the paper onto the carriage. They immediately complained inwardly. One of them hurriedly got on the carriage, while the other hurriedly apologized to Zhang Shou with a smile.
"Dr. Zhang, Xu Jiancheng has this temper..."
"If he wasn't like this, I wouldn't have asked him." Zhang Shou laughed and said nonchalantly, "He only cares about fairness and school rules. Although he is like a ruler and has no room for compromise, it may not be a bad thing to have such a person in charge of the Penal Court. Don't worry, since I asked him to help, he will naturally see it through to the end. I wish Xu Jiancheng could check for me."
The clerk originally thought that Zhang Shou was just talking, but when the carriage arrived at Zhang Garden, Zhang Shou did not ask anyone else to help him and still asked the two of them to help Xu Heida transport the papers. He also specially set aside a yard for the three of them to live in. Not only were all the beddings and utensils new, but dinner was also specially delivered. It was rich and delicious, except that there was no wine. It was impeccable!
What’s even more exaggerated is that when Zhang Shou came once and found out that Xu Heida was actually planning to work late into the night, he just smiled and said, “Those who are capable should do more work,” and then he left!
