In Love With My Fierce Farming Wife!
Chapter 1220 - 1132: Grading Papers

Chapter 1220: Chapter 1132: Grading Papers

Based on Qin Yi’s understanding of his parents, if he didn’t agree, he was afraid he’d have to dawdle here until nightfall.

"Alright, alright, let’s go inside to talk!"

Without care for propriety at that moment, he casually agreed and turned to rush inside, leaving Xue Qian standing there.

Su Lao Si and Mrs. Su-Hua were both stunned, then both simultaneously showed an awkward expression: "This child today is... really..."

But Xue Qian could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.

"Uncle Su, Mrs. Su-Hua, you don’t need to worry. As they say, ’three urgents’, and Su Ke he... cough cough, was a bit urgent."

So that was it!

This left Su Lao Si rather tongue-tied, and he couldn’t help but flush with embarrassment: "The child is truly impolite, Young Master Xue..."

"Not at all, not at all. Xue Qian and Su Ke are classmates and of the same examination cohort. In the future, they will inevitably have to advance together in officialdom. Such small matters are not worth troubling yourselves over as elders. Please allow your young nephew to go check on him."

Having said this, Xue Qian saluted the two elders with a fist and then headed into Su Ke’s residence as if he was familiar with the place.

Su Lao Si and Mrs. Su-Hua exchanged glances, both at a loss for words.

While Su Ke was dealing with ’three urgents’ and facing Xue Qian’s teasing with embarrassment, within Jiying Hall, several Review Officers were grading papers.

With ten papers to review, naturally, it shouldn’t take too much time.

But as per tradition, the Review Officers would gather together, starting with the examiners’ evaluation, and finally, selecting four outstanding papers to be presented to His Majesty, who would appoint the specific rankings.

However, His Majesty was someone who did not follow conventional thinking— which four should be chosen to align with His Majesty’s wishes?

Everyone was uncertain in their hearts, which led to their hesitation.

Waiting always felt prolonged.

Regardless of how slowly the examiners dragged their feet, when the time came, they still had to present the final results to His Majesty.

As the Chief Examiner, Lord Gao was trembling with fear, holding the four dossiers above his head, and with his head bowed, he reported.

"Your Majesty, we have completed the paper review, particularly with significant effort from the other lords. The Central Council’s Grand Scholar is highly learned with unique insights; Hanlin Imperial Academy’s Grand Scholar Xue even more so—defying general consensus, he selected several scholarly outstanding dossiers. Please have Your Majesty review them!"

With that statement, he betrayed the previous shirking behavior of everyone involved.

Several examiners, seething yet not daring to express their anger, glared at Lord Gao’s back.

But Lord Gao was oblivious, carrying out his orders to place the dossiers onto the tray offered by a high-ranking eunuch and presented them to His Majesty.

Qin Yi took them and casually flipped through the papers, clearly seeing the contents of the several dossiers.

Within these dossiers, they all reasonably proposed methods for improving water irrigation, but most were clichéd and offered nothing fresh. However, two of the dossiers caught Qin Yi’s attention.

Aside from proposing the typical water management measures, these two dossiers lavishly praised His Majesty. With words like "Under the great talents and strategy of Great Zhou, once in a millennium, the great, emperor for all ages... Under His Majesty’s rule, the land was well governed, with peace all over the world. His Majesty cared for the land and kingdom and saw his subjects as his own children, worrying about even the insignificant sores of bandits, embracing the world, a blessing for the commoners under heaven..."

Holding that dossier, Qin Yi couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

The student who produced this article must be one of those from the "Beneficent Examination’s special list."

He couldn’t help but admire the candidates’ skill in pandering to human nature. According to the dossier, the most sagacious person in the world was none other than himself, and why then did imperfections like insignificant sores still exist in this well-governed world? Naturally, it was due to the incompetence of the officials below. They had failed to fully understand His Majesty’s edicts, to implement them thoroughly, nor did they possess the selfless spirit of sacrificing personal gain for righteousness...

After considering it from all perspectives, it all boiled down to one thing, he, the Emperor, was wise and faultless! And should there be any errors, they were definitely the fault of those officials below, whose weakness and incapability were to blame.

What a talent in the art of flattery these people have!

If such "talents" became officials and gained power, through their subtle influence, it probably wouldn’t take many years before he, His Majesty, would truly become a "wise monarch" deemed flawless!

The candidates and the examiners below all didn’t dare to breathe heavily, silently awaiting His Majesty’s signal.

His Majesty simply flipped through the dossier repeatedly, compared them, and even paused occasionally to contemplate, clearly deliberating whether the solutions within the dossier were feasible.

After quite a while, he set down the dossier and lifted his head to look at the several examiners.

"You all must have looked through these dossiers, in your opinion, which one is better?"

The officials seated below all bowed their heads; none of them spoke.

His Majesty slammed the dossier onto the desk with a smack.

"What’s the matter, you don’t know which dossier is good, or is it that each one of you from the Central Council, Hanlin Imperial Academy’s Grand Scholars, and Deputy Ministers of Revenue lack talent and learning, unable to understand the words on the dossier, to comprehend its meaning?"

Now that he had brought it to this point, if they still didn’t speak, wouldn’t it just confirm the proverb about being completely illiterate?

But such words were difficult to express!

Lord Gao sent a look to Lord Xue, who was alongside him, but Lord Xue turned his head away pretending to be blind. Feeling helpless, Lord Gao then looked toward Lord Wu, who was intently gazing at his black gentlemen’s boots as if they were flowers, becoming more beautiful the longer he looked. His heart filled with indignation, he looked elsewhere...

"Hmph! Lord Gao, why don’t you share your thoughts?"

He hadn’t found a scapegoat yet when His Majesty, presiding above, called him out by name.

Lord Gao had no choice but to brace himself and stand forward, "In replying to His Majesty, this humble official believes that each dossier has its strengths as well as flaws. This humble official is incompetent and truly struggles to discern their respective merits and weaknesses, and begs for His Majesty’s forgiveness."

These words made Qin Yi’s eyebrows shoot up high, he wanted to erupt in anger but instead let out a cold laugh and turned back to look toward the Grand Scholar of the Hanlin Imperial Academy, Lord Xue.

"Lord Xue, what do you think about this matter?"

Instead, Lord Xue stepped forward unhurriedly and bowed in respect towards His Majesty, "In reply to His Majesty, in this humble official’s view, it would be best to choose the dossier that His Majesty last put down."

Qin Yi was taken aback.

"How so?"

"Your Majesty, previously, Your Majesty reviewed several dossiers, especially that one in Your hand, which you have looked over repeatedly. Presumably, the content of that dossier contains aspects that Your Majesty both admires and finds tormenting to decide upon. Although this humble official does not understand why His Majesty feels this way, from my perspective, if His Majesty is so cautious, there must be many merits to that dossier. Hence, I daringly suggest that Your Majesty selects that dossier."

"But I perceive this article as truly shrewd, its sharpness readily apparent, with a vibe as if it were knife flashes and sword shadows, brimming with a murderous aura. However, I wonder what Lord Xue thinks?"

Qin Yi picked up that dossier, perused it again for quite a while, then lifted his head to look at Lord Xue, expecting him to give a definitive answer.

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