The Prime Minister’s Darling-Chapter 505 - 254 Top of the Honor Roll (First Update)

Chapter 505: 254 Top of the Honor Roll (First Update)

Chapter 505: 254 Top of the Honor Roll (First Update)

The Emperor was in Jinluan Hall, reviewing the examination papers of the candidates. The Minister of Rites, the Chief Eunuch of the Honglu Temple, and several Grand Scholars of the Cabinet were all present.

Although the papers had been corrected by several people, the Emperor would still question them if he had doubts.

All of them were extremely tense, especially the Chief Eunuch of Honglu Temple.

Of course, the papers presented to His Majesty were not all clean. They had intentionally mixed in papers from candidates they wanted to promote from each faction. These candidates were not necessarily weak, as those who performed poorly could not even make it to the Palace Examination.

They feared the Emperor might not favor the selected candidates and single them out for elimination, reselecting from the papers of those ranked after the 20th. This happened rarely, but it was not unprecedented.

If the Emperor placed a paper to his right after reading it, it meant it was accepted, but if he placed it to his left, it indicated an objection.

Papers with objections usually had no chance of being placed in Class Alpha, but they generally wouldn’t descend to Class Three ranking either.

The Emperor had reviewed ten papers so far, and no paper had been rejected yet.

The weather was nice today, so the Imperial Study Room was incredibly quiet, with only a warm spring breeze slowly entering from outside.

The wind blew up a corner of a paper, and Eunuch Wei hurriedly used a yellow jade figurine to hold it down.

Without raising his head, the Emperor appreciated Eunuch Wei’s meticulous care. Eunuch Wei had served him for many years and was indeed worthy of his trust.

The Emperor gave a low cough, and Eunuch Wei quickly offered him a cup of hot tea.

Even the temperature of the tea was just right.

“Your Majesty, you have been reviewing papers all morning, please take a break,” Minister Li advised worriedly. “Your Majesty’s health is of utmost importance.”

“I am fine,” the Emperor answered. It was just a little feverish. This was the worst part of being an Emperor. A small rumour could cause a big upheaval, so he didn’t like to admit when he was unwell.

The Emperor took a sip of tea and continued to review the papers. He had just finished reviewing the papers of Yuan Yu and Ning Zhiyuan, the talented scholar from Jiangnan. Currently, both papers seemed to be ranked in the top three.

The overall quality of the candidates of this session was better than the previous sessions, making the selection process much more difficult.

The Chief Eunuch of Honglu Temple was one of the people who had tampered with the papers. He knew well that the Emperor was about to review Xiao Liulang’s paper. Xiao’s paper was not highly graded, ranking at the tail end of the top twenty.

Of course, there was a reason behind this. He had written some inflammatory words. The reason why he was still allowed in the Palace Examination was that he was the top scorer of the provincial examination, and by convention, the highest scorer could not be eliminated. Even if he was to be eliminated, it wouldn’t be their decision to make, the Emperor had to do it himself.

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Everything was seamless.

The Chief Eunuch of Honglu Temple had his attention fixed on the paper under the second pile.

After the Emperor finished reviewing Song Ping’s paper, he was not satisfied and placed it on his left.

Minister Li sighed inwardly—Song Ping was his disciple, and it seemed like he was out of luck.

The Emperor lifted his hand to pick up the next paper. This belong to a candidate named Zhu Guangmao, a humble scholar from a poor background. His performance was not spectacular in the examinations, and his provincial exam rank was merely top ten in his region. So far, he hadn’t attracted any factions’ interest.

After reviewing his paper, it would be Xiao Liulang’s turn.

The Chief Eunuch of Honglu Temple’s heart was now in his throat. Despite being almost certain that there would be no issues, he was still feeling guilty for having committed a wrongdoing in his heart. He was considering what if the Emperor identified that the handwriting was not Xiao Liulang’s?

The impersonation was indeed excellent; even Xiao Liulang himself might not recognize it as a forgery, let alone the Emperor.

Just as the Chief Eunuch of Honglu Temple was in a state of tension and apprehension, a eunuch outside reported, “Your Majesty, the Grand Mentor Zhang is seeking an audience.”

The Chief Eunuch of Honglu Temple shifted his gaze from Xiao Liulang’s paper to the entrance.

Why would the Grand Mentor Zhang come at this time?

Just as the Emperor was about the pick up the next paper, he placed it back down and commanded to the hallway, “Allow him in.”

“Yes,” the eunuch responded, “Your Majesty is calling Grand Mentor Zhang for an audience—”

Eunuch Wei raised his eyebrows; this was a new eunuch who he had promoted, who was being too formal. He was in front of the Emperor, where such formalities were unnecessary anymore.

Why the announcement? Just let him in directly.

Grand Mentor Zhang was also taken aback. He had originally planned to walk in directly, bowing in respect, but now with this new eunuch making the scene so formal, he had to kneel and pay respects to the Emperor upon entering the Imperial Study Room.

The Emperor waved his hand indifferently, signaling Grand Mentor Zhang to rise, “Grand Mentor, what brings you here?”

All the ministers also paid their respects to the Grand Mentor.

Only after Grand Mentor Zhang responded with a bow, he then looked at the Emperor and said solemnly, “Your Majesty, I have something to report.”

“Now?” The Emperor looked at him.