The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror
Chapter 241 - 125 Elder Fang Decisively Ends the Debate, the World’s Top Scorer Emerges (Seeking Subscriptions)

Chapter 241: Chapter 125 Elder Fang Decisively Ends the Debate, the World’s Top Scorer Emerges (Seeking Subscriptions)

All intrigued, everyone stopped their tasks before them. Lately, Shen Mo had been relentless, depriving everyone of proper rest.

You should know that the time and energy everyone spares for their official duties in a usual year don’t add up to as much as these past few days.

Oh, how exhausting.

Seizing the chance to witness some excitement, even the supervising officers and Inner Supervision Officers began lazing around.

Seeing the examiner report cheating, Shen Mo naturally wouldn’t dare be careless.

Ignoring the sneaky tricks of these rascals, he commanded sternly, "Master Yu, show me this examination paper."

Master Yu hurriedly presented the paper.

Shen Mo took the paper in his hand and scrutinized it closely.

Initially, his expression was tranquil, but as he read further, the storm within him grew increasingly turbulent, though it never showed on his face until he finished reading and could no longer contain his excitement, violently gripping the edge of the desk. Knowing his behavior was inappropriate, he pretended nothing had happened and calmly suggested, "Let us all take a look at this article."

He picked up the article, passing it first to Assistant Chief Examiner Wang.

Old Master Wang was the Assistant Minister of Rites from the Six Ministries in the capital, holding a position meant mostly for retirement.

His role as the assistant chief examiner in this local examination was intended as a lucky charm to smooth relations between the Central government and the localities.

Unexpectedly, he found himself involved in a cheating scandal in the local examination, secretly cursing his bad luck.

Helplessly, he took the paper and read it through once.

Just like Shen Mo, the more Old Master Wang read, the more alarmed he became. Being an old hand in worldly society, he managed to stay composed and after finishing, without expressing an opinion, he said, "Please, everyone, come look at this."

Several other examiners gathered around.

There were exclamations.

Some declared it unbelievable.

Others pondered thoughtfully...

After everyone had finished, Shen Mo spoke, "Gentlemen, please feel free to speak your mind."

An examiner said, "This essay is morally sound and rigorously logical, truly a masterpiece deserving of being passed down through generations."

Another examiner added, "This essay is powerful and passionate, reading it is exhilarating and inspiring."

Yet another commented, "This essay is logically tight, well-structured, combined with the profound scholarship it exhibits, it indeed possesses the style of ancient great scholars."

Each examiner praised the article and used precise and appropriate language, yet none addressed the core issue of whether there was cheating involved or if it was a copy of ancient saints’ work.

Come now, everyone out there has their own burdens; no one speaks out of turn without specific responsibilities.

But when the chief examiner asks, they can’t just ignore it.

So they could only "honestly" express their thoughts.

Shen Mo scoffed coldly. He knew well that this bunch were all slick operators and didn’t hold out much hope, yet it was disheartening to see them so slippery.

Resisting the urge to curse out loud, he asked again in a measured and respectful tone, "Your Excellency Wang, what is your opinion?"

Old Master Wang, seeing the trouble come his way, rushed to bow and said, "Master Shen, this is the local examination, you can just call me by my official role right now."

Shen Mo: "..."

He paused, then helplessly asked, "Assistant Chief Examiner Wang, what is your opinion?"

Old Master Wang twirled his beard for a good while before slowly stating, "My opinion is the same as the others, this article indeed meets the standard of a timeless masterpiece."

Shen Mo glanced at Examiner Yu.

Examiner Yu was now in a dilemma, regretting speaking too hastily, as now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

For one thing, he couldn’t believe that a local examination candidate was capable of writing such sage and profound text.

That would require vast scholarship and cultivation, plus a very deep understanding of Confucianism, to create such straightforward yet profound and substantial writing.

Typically, scholars from the country, even before passing the local examination, would need to focus on the eight-legged essays, with few having read historical books from previous dynasties.

Even among the few geniuses, though they may have read a vast number of unrelated books and accumulated sufficient learning, it’s impossible to produce a founding and defining work of this caliber before acquiring official recognition.

Simply put, it doesn’t seem logical.

Not only did he find it hard to believe, so did many of the examiners present, yet none dared to make definitively negative assertions.

After all, if such an article were from a famous ancient text, they surely would have some recollection of it.

Moreover, over thousands of years, with each rise and fall of dynasties, many great works have been lost and scattered, so it isn’t easy to definitively claim if this truly was an ancient text discovered and secretly kept.

Shen Mo internally felt that this was definitely not an ancient work.

Having spent many years in the Hanlin Academy, he had seen countless rare ancient texts. If it had been an article by an ancient great scholar, it would have a traceable pattern.

Though this article did carry an ancient style, it definitely was not in the unique literary style of any past renowned saint or great scholar.

Because each scholar’s work has its own unique charm, with thoughtful perusal, one could surely trace its origins.

Yet, he also couldn’t forcefully insist.

What if he was wrong in his judgment?

Even if he were right, he couldn’t produce absolute proof and would instead provide others with ammunition against him.

Hence, a consensus needed to be reached on this article.

Similarly, if it were to be judged as cheating, evidence must be presented. After all, cheating in a local examination is an immensely serious affair, involving Hanlin Academy, Ministry of Rites, and the Three Judicial Departments, and it must be reported to the Emperor.

Thus, from the moment Examiner Yu declared the writing as cheating, the nature of the matter shifted.

After all, both supervising officers and Inner Supervision Officers belong to the Inner Court, and they are not in the same system as the civil servants, having no reason to cover for them, especially in the examination hall where both the Embroidered Guard and employees of the Inner Factory were present.

These individuals are especially the eyes and ears of the Emperor.

Minor matters typically can be laughed off, but with something like this, negligence is absolutely forbidden.