A Thought in the Spotlight, a Thought at Rock Bottom

"How could Young Master Wen possibly cheat?"

Xu Ran's voice had no effect on the situation, but Wen Zhizhen's eyes regained their sparkle when he saw her.

The sudden change caught him off guard. Some people even accused him of cheating, which led many other candidates to question him. Although some people defended him, the pressure was still unavoidable.

Talk was coming from Eight Directions, and while the words concerned him, they were slanderous and damaging to his reputation. Each sentence was delivered with great seriousness, like a venomous snake gnawing at his heart. He could clearly feel that the People's Prestige and prestige he had painstakingly built up were gradually collapsing.

Moreover, behind the collapse lies not flat ground, but an abyss.

The sound rushed in, my mind went blank, I froze on the spot, and the thing that was happening felt unreal.

He only came to his senses when the two men came to take him away. He tried to persuade them, but they were determined and unmoved. This made Wen Zhizhen somewhat worried and frightened. Although he did not know the whole process and background of the cheating incident, he knew in a flash that someone wanted to use him as a scapegoat.

Despite his great reputation, weak background, and lack of real power in the Imperial City, Wen Zhizhen knew the hidden problems in his exam paper. These were the result of his painstaking efforts to study the thoughts of several potential examiners and carefully construct his own.

It must be said that Wen Zhizhen was indeed extremely intelligent. Although he was in Jiangnan, he always paid attention to the political climate of the court and would try to take a look at the official reports sent to him.

He gradually grasped the characteristics, temperaments, and opinions of the various people in the court. For this imperial Metropolitan Examination, he not only guessed who was likely to be the chief examiner, but he even estimated some of the possible questions. His predictions were remarkably accurate.

Preparing in advance and then writing on the spot can be exhilarating, but it also leaves hidden dangers and makes one vulnerable to being taken advantage of.

"Could someone have seen my exam paper and is trying to frame me? Have I offended someone?"

As he pondered this, sweat streamed down Wen Zhizhen's forehead. He tried to struggle, but couldn't move an inch. The two men dragged and lifted him toward the soldiers. They used their strength skillfully, gripping his shoulders and pulling on his muscles, making it difficult for him to move his legs.

"No! If I'm taken away, even if nothing happened, I could be falsely accused, and my reputation would be ruined! I have to stop them! I have to! I have to..."

Struggling to think of a solution, Wen Zhizhen took in the surrounding scene as his eyes darted left and right. He noticed the gazes cast upon him by the other examinees, a mixture of doubt, fear, and schadenfreude.

An official was talking to a candidate, and what he said startled Wen Zhizhen—

"The contents of everyone's exam papers will be made public as soon as possible. Once you've seen the papers, you'll know for sure what's right and wrong!"

"No! The situation will only get worse for me once the exam papers are released!" Wen Zhizhen was drenched in sweat, but as she glanced at Xu Ran arguing with someone, an idea came to her.

"Xu Ran! She's the granddaughter of a high-ranking official. I can make good use of that! I need to get her to give up everything for me; that's the only way to escape this predicament! How should I use her? What words should I use to move her? No, I don't need to move her at all. All her attention is on me; she's easy to manipulate. It's a pity I haven't taken her virginity yet, otherwise I could easily drag Xu Jin this mess. But it's not too late now... Hmm?"

Just as Wen Zhizhen was thinking of a solution, Pang Qianru suddenly walked to Xu Ran's side and struck Xu Ran on the neck with a chop to the neck. Xu Ran fell down immediately and was caught by Pang Qianru.

"Little Xu, you can't be willful right now, or you'll drag your Xu Clan down with you!"

"This..." Upon seeing this scene, Wen Zhizhen's eyes widened, her mind went completely blank, and all the countermeasures she had come up with in a short time became useless!

"Why would Pang Qianru do this?" Looking at Pang Qianru, Wen Zhizhen was bewildered.

At this moment, Pang Qianru turned her head and gave him a sweet smile, which made Wen Zhizhen feel a chill from head to toe.

"This... Pang Qianru also has feelings for me. Even if there's some element of manipulation involved, with my looks and talent, it shouldn't be a problem for her to fall for me. Why would she kick me when I'm down like this?"

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Wen Zhizhen's mind. She turned her head sharply and looked towards the list, her gaze landing on Qiu Yan at the bottom of the list.

"Could it be that someone intervened? Trying to steal her away? Making Pang Qianru realize there were other options, or even simply instigating Pang Qianru to manipulate her feelings, that's why she did this?"

Swish! Swish!

Qiu Yan's gaze met hers and landed on Wen Zhizhen's face, causing a slight stinging sensation on the latter's skin. However, Wen Zhizhen was in a state of confusion and had no time to think about the reason.

"What to do? What to do? What should we do now?"

Wen Zhizhen asked himself in his heart, after Xu Ran fainted, his original plan had to be completely overturned, but he had no new way.

"Only those with active minds can be influenced by words. To achieve one's goal, one must utilize those with sufficient status and background. Xu Ran is unconscious, so the target can only be Pang Qianru. No, wait a minute, perhaps I can also try to leverage their influence, the influence of the examinees..."

As he pondered, he was led through the group of examinees. The gazes that fell upon Wen Zhizhen filled him with a sense of humiliation and shame. He couldn't utter any inflammatory words, because he could read a sense of respectful distance in those eyes.

"At this critical moment, these people are only thinking of themselves, wanting to protect themselves and unwilling to risk their lives for me! Despicable! So selfish! These people..."

Sensing the changing emotions of the people along the way, Wen Zhizhen's complaints grew increasingly agitated. Anger, resentment, injustice, unwillingness, and pride intertwined at this moment, and an article that had been lurking in her heart slowly emerged, with a faint mist on its surface.

This is a sign that Heart Demon are about to be born.

However, ever since the banquet at the Pang Clan Estate that day, Outer Demon had been lurking in his heart. This second Heart Demon gradually became clearer, and the scene in his mind became more and more chaotic. He could not even settle down on that article, and his mind also showed signs of disorder.

However, Wen Zhizhen was no ordinary person after all; she could barely maintain a semblance of composure and even began to set her sights on Qiu Yan.

"If we don't target the failed candidates, we might as well target those who did pass. Qiu Yan is acting discreetly. Perhaps we can use that as an excuse... No, he just caused an anomaly in his writing, so his position is unshakeable. What should we do? Who else can we use? Whose influence can I leverage? What should we do?"

His chaotic thoughts were reflected on his face, causing Wen Zhizhen's expression to change repeatedly. His eyes flickered, and his lips moved as if he was about to speak, but in the process of constantly coming up with solutions and then rejecting them, he did not actually utter a single word until he was taken away.

Watching Wen Zhizhen's figure disappear into the distance, the remaining examinees looked at each other in bewilderment. Their anger vanished in an instant, leaving them with a feeling of being caught in a rut.

"Wen Zhizhen's face looks terrible, could it really be..."

"He glanced around with a rather sinister look in his eyes, and I had no idea what he was thinking. When he saw me, I felt a chill run down my spine."

"He was caught red-handed, yet he didn't even say a word in defense. What exactly is he planning?"

"Young Master Wen has definitely been wronged! It's precisely because he was framed on trumped-up charges that he was so shocked and his face turned pale. That's why he didn't have time to defend himself."

"Whether he was wronged or not, we'll know once we see his exam paper. Since the court intends to make the exam papers public, we might as well wait and see. This year's imperial Metropolitan Examination is different from previous ones, as it involves New Law. It's difficult for ordinary people to grasp, and without prior preparation, it's impossible to answer the questions correctly."

"Don't look at things one-sidedly; you have to see the big picture. If there really is cheating, it involves a wide range of people, even the examiner might be implicated..."

"That's not necessarily true. Matters in the imperial court often deviate from the main point; they rely on indirect approaches, and the outcome is more important than the truth."

"The examination paper of Qiu Yan, the Metropolitan Laureate, has triggered extraordinary phenomena. Heaven has recognized him as the best candidate and will surely provide the answers to the questions. Moreover, there will be no cheating."

"Good. Once the exam papers are released, we must study diligently and verify our knowledge."

"The strange phenomenon just now seemed to convey something that deeply resonated with me; perhaps it was Qiu Metropolitan Laureate's insight..."

Amid the discussions, the tense atmosphere gradually dissipated. Despite the fact that such a large-scale incident involved Confucian scholars, the court did not arrest many people. However, many people still had mixed feelings about Wen Zhizhen's arrest, after all, he was the third-place winner in the Metropolitan Examination. On the other hand, their perception of Qiu Yan had also changed significantly.

Having witnessed the extraordinary phenomenon, Qiu Yan was completely awestruck. He then released his insights and perceptions, planting a seed in everyone's hearts and influencing their senses. As a result, they no longer Qi Ingestion any resentment towards Qiu Yan, nor did anyone consider him a stepping stone. Instead, they felt awe and admiration.

"People's hearts and public opinion can often be changed by a small matter. One moment they are the center of attention, and the next they have fallen to the bottom. Fame and People's Prestige make people seem extraordinary in the eyes of others, but many of these people are like Wen Zhizhen. If you peel away the surface, they are just driven by Human Thoughts. How can they have any extraordinary qualities?"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Qiu Yan seemed somewhat disinterested, but on the surface, he continued to talk to people normally while simultaneously connecting with the insights he had disseminated and sensing the thoughts of everyone present.

On the other hand, the medicinal power emanating from the Subordinate Deity expanded throughout the body, replenishing the energy consumed and replenishing the somewhat depleted Qi and Blood.

However, excessive supplementation can be harmful to the body, so it should be done gradually.

In reality, the flesh and blood transformed from the Divine Body can also replenish Qi and Blood, but it contains People's Wishes and impurities, which are impurities for the Fleshly Body and will affect future advancement, so it must be discarded.

"At least until the Divine Spirit Body is ready, the Life Cultivation of the Fleshly Body cannot be mixed with too many impurities..."

Replenishing physical strength was only the first step. Over the next two days, Qiu Yan used the medicinal power to rejuvenate and replenish the Qi and Blood that had been depleted by the soul over the past few days.

Medicinal soup is, after all, just an ordinary thing. Even if it can replenish the body, it will leave behind some problems. Moreover, now that the Dragon Qi has been interrupted and life is becoming increasingly unbalanced, it is the perfect time to take advantage of the situation to regulate the soul.

And so, the day of the Palace Examination arrived.

Qiu Yan had made preparations early on; this would be his first time facing the emperor directly and experiencing the Dynastic Fortune up close!

ps:

Thank you to "Wan Xia Xia La" and "Moon Forest o_o Awakening from Dream" for the generous donations!

Thanks to "samcai", "Puxian Student", "yulinling123", "し☆veヤ", and "erlei0214" for their monthly votes!

Yesterday, due to a friend's wedding, everything was scheduled, and the thank-you list wasn't updated in time. Please forgive me.