Early Celebration (Seeking Monthly Votes, Seeking Rewards)

A youth was still scribbling away when he was reported by the person next to him.

"You, you may go home. You have violated the academy examination rules, and your score is void."

"Ah? Mr. Lu, my father is..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Lu Hong picked up a brush and drew a heavy stroke across his answer sheet, effectively ruining it.

"Whoever your father is, he cannot violate the rules set by the Great Qin Dynasty!"

The voice was loud enough for all the youths in the outer hall to hear, and Feng Yuan, sitting in the small courtyard, heard it as well.

"Go back." Lu Hong ignored the youth, who was on the verge of a breakdown, and continued collecting the papers.

Situations like this had occurred in previous monthly exams; as long as it wasn't too egregious, he generally turned a blind eye.

But this time was different. There was a person of status sitting inside the small courtyard who had been testing him earlier; now that he had caught an opportunity, he had to put on a good show.

After all thirty-some answer sheets were collected, Lu Hong said in a deep voice, "Grading will take about an hour. You may go home or wait here."

With that, he left the outer hall.

Once Lu Hong's figure had completely vanished, the outer hall instantly erupted into a buzz of activity.

Chi Lin and Guan Chong sat together, surrounded by a dozen or so youths.

"Brother Chi, how did it go?" Guan Chong asked with a smile.

Chi Lin shook his head lightly. "I didn't do well."

Yet, anyone with eyes could see that Chi Lin was feigning modesty; the corners of his mouth were twitching as he struggled to suppress a grin. Who was he trying to fool?

"Heh, I didn't answer well either." Guan Chong pulled a book from under his desk. "I still need to work harder."

Damn it!

They felt disgusted.

The youths who had been gathered around suddenly felt as uncomfortable as if they had swallowed a fly.

It was one thing for the two of them to be falsely humble, but why did they have to drag innocent people into it?

The youths dispersed, seeking out those of similar ability to discuss the exam in small groups.

They all knew it was unlikely they would place in the top three, but until the final scores were released, there was still hope, wasn't there?

Perhaps Chi Lin and the others had performed poorly.

Chi Lin looked at the studious Guan Chong and felt goosebumps; how could someone be so pretentious?

"My father is hosting a banquet at the Green Bamboo Pavilion tonight to celebrate my upcoming admission to Baiyuan Academy. If you all have time, you are welcome to come."

"We'll go, we'll definitely go! The Green Bamboo Pavilion—I've never eaten there before."

"What could possibly be more important than Brother Chi's invitation? Of course we must go."

"That's right, Brother Chi is going to Baiyuan Academy soon; he'll surely become a high-ranking official in the future."

The youths who had been disgusted a moment ago immediately gathered around again, showering Chi Lin with praise until he was practically floating.

Chi Lin looked at Guan Chong with a smug expression.

When it comes to putting on an act, you're still not quite there.

"Brother Lu, Brother Guan, why don't you join us?" Chi Lin asked confidently.

His family were wealthy merchants in Willow Town, and the Green Bamboo Pavilion belonged to them.

The youths looked at Guan Chong, then at Lu Xian.

Guan Chong clenched his hands tightly beneath the desk. He couldn't compare his family background to Chi Lin's, nor to Lu Xian's, whose father was a private tutor.

Therefore, he had to study with all his might.

If he failed to pass this time...

"Fine, I will certainly be there."

It was impossible for him not to pass. Even if Lu Xian and Chi Lin took the top two spots, he would still be third, which was enough to attend Baiyuan Academy.

In other words, they would all be classmates in the future, so he had to maintain this relationship.

"And Brother Lu?" Chi Lin looked at the youth sitting alone in the front-middle row.

Lu Xian paused for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Fine."

"Haha, Brother Lu, Brother Guan, we are all from Willow Town; we should stick together so we don't get bullied when we get to Baiyuan Academy."

The people Chi Lin truly wanted to invite were Guan Chong and Lu Xian; as for the others, they were merely there to cheer them on.

"I... can I go?"

Just as everyone was fawning over the trio, a cautious voice spoke up.

"Of course you can. Everyone can go today, including you, Huang Lu, and that friend of yours... what was his name again?" Chi Lin looked over with a mix of contempt and smugness.

"Chu Ming, his name is Chu Ming."

Huang Lu replied hurriedly.

Then, absolutely no one cared about him, and even less did they care about his answer.

Chi Lin merely swept a glance over him before looking away.

"Hehe, Brother Chu, we've struck gold! To think we get to dine at the Green Bamboo Pavilion; do you know that it is the finest restaurant in our Willow Town..."

Huang Lu seemed long accustomed to such indifference. Upon receiving confirmation that they could go to the Green Bamboo Pavilion, he began to chatter excitedly to Chu Ming.

Chu Ming sat at the desk in the very back, his gaze calm, only nodding symbolically every now and then.

In the inner hall.

Lu Hong was rapidly grading the examination papers when Feng Yuan entered with his attendants.

"Lord Feng." Lu Hong hurriedly bowed in greeting.

"Mm." Feng Yuan nodded slightly, then picked up the papers on the desk to review them, shaking his head at times and nodding at others.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and his gaze lingered on one particular paper.

"This one named Guan Chong has indeed answered quite well." After a pause, he looked at the next paper, his smile widening, "Master Lu Hong, you have taught them well."

Lu Xian's paper had very few errors.

"Thank you for the praise, Lord Feng. My son does indeed have a bit of talent." Lu Hong did not feel the need to be modest when it came to his son.

"And what about the one named Chi Lin?"

"I am grading it now; please wait a moment, my lord." Lu Hong immediately began to review the paper in his hands.

Before long, he finished grading it.

"Compared to Lu Xian and Guan Chong, he is a bit lacking..." Feng Yuan took the paper to look it over, his face devoid of much expression.

Although Chi Lin had answered well and had a high probability of ranking in the top three, there was no sense of surprise.

Setting the paper down, he looked at the remaining pile of ungradings, which still made up nearly half the stack. "Which one is the paper of the youth in the back corner? Has it been graded?"

"The back corner?"

Lu Hong was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized who Feng Yuan was referring to.

He flipped through the papers still waiting to be graded beneath the inkstone. "Is Lord Feng referring to the one named Chu Ming?"

When he had collected the papers earlier, he had noted everyone's name. He had paid attention to Chu Ming because Feng Yuan had mentioned him earlier, though he hadn't had the chance to grade it yet.

However, upon hearing this name, Feng Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. "Chu Ming?"

The third son of the wealthy Chu family in Baiyuan County was named Chu Ming. Ordinary people might not know, but as a Principal Eighth Rank official in charge of records, he had heard a thing or two about this illegitimate son.

He was fond of travelogues and frequenting brothels, a good-for-nothing who had been sent off to a small town under Baiyuan County after his mother passed away over a year ago.

He had never paid attention to which specific town it was.

But seeing this name, and recalling the conversation he had heard from those youths earlier... travelogues, brothels...

It couldn't be such a coincidence; it was likely the same person.

But... was it really the same person?

Could such a calm gaze belong to someone who indulged in pleasure?

Furthermore, given the habits of that illegitimate son of the Chu family, it was highly unlikely he would come here to participate in the academy examination.

As he pondered this, Lu Hong had already found Chu Ming's paper and begun to grade it.

But the more he graded, the more expressive his face became.

His brows would occasionally relax, only to immediately knit together again.

When he finished grading the final concluding question, he stared intently at the paper, reviewing it repeatedly.

"Impossible!" No matter how many times he checked, the answers on the paper were nearly standard.

There were only a few errors, and those few errors left him unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

Out of a total of five errors, three of them were originally correct answers that had been crossed out, repeatedly scribbled over, and ultimately changed to something wrong.

It gave him the feeling that... the student knew the answer but wasn't sure if it was correct, and ended up writing it wrong!

Yet, no matter how he looked at it, there was a sense of intentionality to it...

"Deliberately writing the wrong answer?" he muttered to himself.