Chapter 741: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 741: Shock and Awe (2)
Compared to the others who quickly and intensely focused on their writing, Mo Qingze appeared unusually relaxed. Despite his seemingly slow pace, he never paused, and the questions seemed effortless to him, as if he could write the answers without any difficulty.
The crowd's attention was initially on Mo Qingze, shifting from indifference to amazement. If it weren't for the Grand Secretary's assurance that the difficulty of the questions was comparable to the autumn examination and the normal performance of the other nine, they might have thought the questions were too easy!
Prince Heng noticed the gap between Mo Qingze and the other nine and his expression darkened. He clenched his fists tightly, cursing the initial arrangements that had allowed Mo Qingze to find a way out. Otherwise, he would have been convicted long ago, and the person sitting next to him would have faced a grim fate as well.
Chu Heng, observing Prince Heng's grim expression, was very satisfied with Mo Qingze's performance. Although he wasn’t sure of Mo Qingze’s exact abilities, this display indicated that he was a formidable competitor. In fact, Chu Heng was grateful for this opportunity, as it provided a chance to undermine Prince Heng and the Lin family.
The hall was quiet, with only the subtle sounds of pages turning. Waiting was a tedious and monotonous task, but no one was willing to leave.
Three hours is neither long nor short. By noon, when it was time for lunch, only half the time had passed. Not just the ten who were focused on answering the questions, but even the observing scholars were feeling hungry.
The imperial kitchen had prepared meals, and Emperor Huian ordered that the food be sent to the side hall for everyone to serve themselves. He, along with Chu Heng and the princes, returned to the inner palace for their meal.
Mo Yan went to the side hall to get two portions of food. She ate one herself and took the other to her father.
Even though the time was tight, Mo Qingze still had time to eat. He took the food, savoring it slowly and thoroughly, while the other nine, increasingly hungry, found it hard to concentrate on their writing.
Despite the unfinished questions, the nine participants forced themselves to continue answering, pushing aside their hunger to avoid an embarrassing result.
After lunch, everyone returned to the Taihe Hall. Mo Qingze and the others had finished their meal and resumed writing. Shortly after, Emperor Huian, Chu Heng, and the other princes returned. Seeing there was still an hour left, everyone, except Prince Heng, patiently continued to wait.
At the third quarter of the afternoon, as the incense burned out, marking the end of the allotted time, the Grand Secretary declared, “Time’s up.”
Mo Qingze put down his pen, stood up, and looked at his completed test papers with a smile, clearly confident in his performance.
In stark contrast, the three witnesses looked pale and dejected, clearly not performing well. Seeing Mo Qingze’s confident demeanor left them almost incapacitated, their bodies swaying as if on the brink of collapse.
The other six participants also did not fare any better. Although they completed the questions within the three hours, they had no time to review the ones they were unsure about. They were uncertain whether their performance would make a strong impression on Emperor Huian and the nobles.
The grading was handled by the Grand Secretary and several Hanlin Academy scholars. It took half an hour to assess all ten sets of answers. The Grand Secretary presented the completed papers and results respectfully to Emperor Huian, who bypassed the easily identifiable subjective questions and focused on the final policy essays.
(End of Chapter)
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