Fortunate Young Gentleman

Tang Ning looked at the small fish handed over by Prince Run Zhao Yuan, and was also stunned.

"Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish", it turned out to be spread from Prince Run, but since the emperor knew it, why did he still ask this question?

Was he selected?

Was this the reward he said he would save for him?

Tang Ning didn't know what Emperor Chen was thinking, but even if it was selected, he couldn't say it in front of so many people!

He looked at Prince Run, took the small fish handed over by him, and said: "Your Highness Prince Run, goodbye."

After that, he turned around and strode towards the outside of the palace.

Prince Run followed behind him and hurriedly said: "When will we meet again? Can I come to you tomorrow? If tomorrow is not possible, then the day after tomorrow is okay..."

Xiao Jue was stunned, and followed him in big strides.

The candidates who stayed in place stood there, and their outlook on life and worldview suffered great challenges.

Leaking the test questions is fine, but how can you set the test questions for yourself? This is a shady deal, it is cheating!

But even if it is a shady deal, who dares to speak it out?

Are they going to go to the government office and say that His Majesty participated in the cheating of the palace examination and deliberately set questions that some people can answer, so that the government can investigate the matter thoroughly?

Isn't this courting death!

Everyone's mood is very complicated. They don't know what His Majesty means. They have heard that His Majesty loves this Lingzhou Jieyuan very much. Half a year ago, when there were so many people in the country who passed the state examination, His Majesty rewarded him alone. This palace examination is even more...

Does this mean that he is determined to be the top scorer in the imperial examination?

But there are so many scholars in the world, why does His Majesty treat him so well? They can't figure this out, and they dare not think about it, let alone ask.

Privately discussing the emperor will be punished.

They looked in a certain direction and sighed secretly. What other advantages does Tang Ning have besides being more beautiful, more knowledgeable, and better at writing poems and essays, that can be loved by His Majesty so much?

After everyone calmed down, they suppressed their thoughts.

In any case, this had little impact on them, but Gu Bai, Cui Lang, and those who wanted to compete for the top scholar were afraid that they would cry.

Cui Lang did not cry, but his expression was a little complicated.

Finally, he had a chance to catch up, but in the end, he found that he had made up the questions and answered them himself. What could be more despairing than this?

Gu Bai patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Born at the wrong time, there is nothing you can do. Why don't you go in and tear up the test paper now and take the test next time?"

"It may not be..." Cui Lang shook his head and said: "No one knows the result until the last moment."

Although the top scholar was appointed by His Majesty, the candidate for the top scholar was selected after the examiners reviewed it.

If his two policy essays were not included in the ten, then His Majesty could not single him out.

He knew Tang Ning's policy essay level very well, and they still had hope.

Outside the palace, Xiao Jue rushed to catch up with Tang Ning and shouted, "You are so mean. If you had told me earlier about this, I would have bet my entire fortune on you!"

"If I say I only knew it after seeing the test questions, would you believe me?"

Xiao Jue looked at him with a look of "Don't take me for a fool".

"Believe it or not."

Tang Ning thought about it carefully and felt that Emperor Chen could not have chosen him as the top scholar just because he saved Concubine Shu, but he absolutely did not believe that Emperor Chen was so careless that he forgot that Prince Run had heard this question from him.

There must be some other reason for this.

It's a pity that he couldn't guess the emperor's thoughts, nor could he point at his nose and ask him what he meant. He could only take one step at a time.

In a hall in the palace, an eunuch walked in slowly and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the palace examination has ended, and the examination papers of the tribute students have been sealed. Lord Tang asked outside the hall when to start marking?"

Emperor Chen thought for a while and said: "It is the end of April now, time is urgent, let's start tomorrow."

The eunuch received the order and slowly retreated again.

Emperor Chen looked calm, tapped the table lightly with his index finger, and whispered: "I hope he won't let me down."

...

The major gambling houses in the capital can no longer place bets two days before the palace examination.

After the palace examination, various news emerged in an endless stream and soon gathered together.

Among them, there was news that one of the questions in this palace examination was actually asked by the top scorer in the provincial examination a few days ago, and this question became his self-questioning and self-answering.

For this news, most people think it is nonsense. How important is the palace examination? Who dares to cheat in the palace examination is purely courting death.

Besides, the questions for the palace examination were set by His Majesty himself. Anyone who dared to say that His Majesty cheated would be guilty of treason. If the government took it seriously, they would lose their heads.

Moreover, the questions were set by the emperor. He only needed to lightly write down who he wanted to be the champion. There was no need for so many twists and turns.

Of course, many people still regretted that they should have bet more money on Tang Ning at that time...

The questions for the provincial examination were also disclosed at the first time.

Soon, a learned scholar analyzed that the questions for the palace examination were relatively easy. Although the question "Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish" was not expected before the exam, the Tao Te Ching is a classic among classics. Every sentence in the original text has extremely detailed annotations, and there is not much room for students to play. In other words, this question cannot make a difference at all.

The second question was simpler. The relationship between Chen and Chu, and the relationship with the grassland, had been a hot topic since last year. Everyone had memorized it as a key point. The court's attitude towards this matter was also very clear. If you answered this question wrong or biased, you would be unworthy of being a Chen citizen!

This also caused a problem.

There was not much room for candidates to express themselves freely, which was not a good thing for people like Gu Bai and Cui Lang who were good at policy. Their advantages were not obvious, and this palace examination gamble became more confusing.

In the county government office, Tang Ning wrote down the answers to the two questions and handed them to Li Tianlan.

"I didn't expect this question to be asked in the palace examination." After reading the first question, Li Tianlan said, "Your idea is different from ordinary people, but it is well-founded. If the examiner agrees, it should be ranked among the best papers."

There are eight examiners in the palace examination, each with a table, and they take turns to read the papers. The examiners divide the papers into five grades, "○" for the best and "×" for the worst. Then, among all the papers, the ten with the most "○" are presented to the emperor, and the ranking of the second and third places is the same.

She looked at the answer to the second question, pondered for a long time, looked at Tang Ning with a complicated look, and apologized: "I'm sorry for your delay. You shouldn't have answered this question like this."

Tang Ning waved his hand, indicating that he didn't care.

Although he had prepared for the first question in advance, he didn't prepare carefully, but just saved time to think. After all, it was something he wrote.

If Li Tianlan had written one at that time, the result would definitely be different.

After answering the first question, his advantage was not great. If he answered the second question in a conventional way, he would not even be ranked second. It would be better to give it a try, and perhaps there would be a different result.

According to the information Li Tianlan told him, Chen and Chu must form an alliance. Once the tribes on the grassland are unified, Chen does not have to think about being able to reap the benefits. The Sushen people are not the small fish that the fisherman catches, but the shark that can eat the fisherman. If Chu is finished, Chen will not be able to jump for long.

Of course, this is contrary to Chen's current political proposition. Tang Ning is not sure what the result will be.

But who cares? Answering it right or wrong is also ranked third, and answering it backwards is also ranked third. The palace examination will not eliminate you, so why not give it a try?

Li Tianlan walked out of the county government office and after a long detour, he came to a post station in the capital.

She jumped lightly, and the whole person floated over the courtyard wall lightly.

A middle-aged man standing in the courtyard hurried over and bowed, saying, "You're back."

Li Tianlan looked at him and said, "Send someone to the palace to deliver a message, asking to see the Emperor of Chen."