Chapter 127

On this side, the neighbors were happy for them. However, those who participated in the provincial examination together found out that the top scorer of this examination had not even started learning a year ago.

Someone who had not started learning, from the county examination to the provincial examination, everything went smoothly all the way, and even got the first place. How could there be no tricks behind this?

Those who ranked lower and were dissatisfied with their own rankings felt extremely unconvinced.

On the afternoon of the day the results were announced, the examinees had already started making a fuss, and things got more and more intense.

An examinee wearing a moon-white uniform said to an acquaintance, “Sister Wang, do you know that the top scorer this time had just started learning a year ago?”

The young examinee addressed as Sister Wang was surprised when she heard this and widened her eyes, “There is actually someone with such extraordinary talent?”

The examinee in the moon-white uniform nodded, “This is true. I specifically asked. When Yan Jin first entered the academy, she didn’t even know the common knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics.”

At this time, there were quite a few examinees in the teahouse. Hearing this, the people sitting at the next table couldn’t help but say, “The sage’s books are as vast as the sea. How could she become familiar with them in just a short year?”

While speaking, someone slapped the table in indignation, “Sister Chu Yao, with your talent, how can you be inferior to that Yan Jin? There must be something fishy about this!”

The original female lead Mu Chu Yao sighed, “It’s because my skills are inferior to others. Besides, the scores have already been released, so no matter how much more is said, it’s useless.”

Mu Chu Yao felt quite regretful about narrowly missing the top spot.

If she had studied hard before the exam instead of indulging in pleasures, she might have gotten the top spot.

But she knew her own situation, so Mu Chu Yao was not surprised by this result.

Seeing that the person still wanted to continue talking, Mu Chu Yao advised, “Sister Li, watch your words. The walls have ears.”

When these words came out, the other people actually became even more angry.

Mu Chu Yao originally meant well in reminding them, but it had the opposite effect. Seeing that the emotions of most examinees had been stirred up, Mu Chu Yao rubbed her nose.

Never mind, that Yan Jin had nothing to do with her anyway.

As emotions intensified, someone finally proposed a joint petition, demanding the exam papers and scores be made public!

The teahouse was a place where news leaked easily. Everyone was denouncing Yan Jin, who had only studied for a year but got the top spot every time.

As more and more examinees joined in, the matter also spread out.

It spread so much that the entire capital was saying that the top scorer of the provincial examination was a woman who had started learning less than a year ago. The examiners favored her and wanted to push out a “six-element talent”, so there might be something fishy about the exams she had participated in.

It was well known that the court and the current ruler hated examination fraud and perverting the law for personal gain the most.

As a result, the examiners of Yan Jin’s county, prefectural, academy, township, and provincial exams were all implicated, and the matter completely blew up!

The next morning, the chief examiner received a joint petition from these examinees, accounting for about one-fifth of the scholars who participated in the provincial examination.

The chief examiner, who was busy handling official documents, looked at the paper full of names beside her hand and threw the brush aside in displeasure, “I shall enter the palace to have an audience with Her Majesty.”

In just one day, things had escalated to this point. It was impossible without someone fanning the flames.

Relying on just a few mouths to incite so many people to make trouble, this was truly a huge joke!

The chief examiner had always despised such villainous conduct of not studying diligently and putting one’s mind on crooked ways.

Therefore, she decided to enter the palace to have an audience with Her Majesty and see how Her Majesty would punish these people with improper thoughts.

Originally, the chief examiner had a belly full of words to convince Her Majesty, but who knew that after Her Majesty learned the ins and outs, she said lightly, “True gold fears no fire. Have someone directly post the exam papers of the top three scorers of the provincial examination. Let those people with improper motives take a good look at the gap between themselves and her.”

That morning, as rumors of cheating in the provincial examination grew more and more intense, the chief examiner and several reputable officials witnessed the public opening of the exam papers. Then, they had someone post the exam papers of the top three scorers.