The Immortal Seeker: Legend of Bronze Mirror
Chapter 244 - 125 Elder Fang’s Decisive Verdict, The World’s Top Scorer Is Born (Subscribe Please)_4

Chapter 244: Chapter 125 Elder Fang’s Decisive Verdict, The World’s Top Scorer Is Born (Subscribe Please)_4

The key point is, when Elder Fang was at court, no one remembered how many significant things he had done, but as soon as Elder Fang left, everyone felt that the court’s situation was no longer as stable as before.

Furthermore, Elder Fang’s retirement was somewhat related to the Grand Secretary’s intent to implement reforms.

With his seniority, his continued presence at court was not conducive to the Grand Secretary consolidating power and issuing commands from the Cabinet.

Elder Fang did not indulge in much small talk, always appearing drowsy. After everyone paid their respects, he slowly said, "Go look at the essays."

"Yes."

The officials gathered around Elder Fang and headed to the hall for reviewing the examination papers.

Shen Mo invited Elder Fang to sit at the Chief Examiner’s desk, which Elder Fang did not decline. He picked up the essays already laid out and read through them word by word.

Until he had finished reading all the essays for both the Four Books and the Five Classics.

By this time, everyone had been waiting for a while, but none dared to rush him, only waiting patiently for Elder Fang to speak.

Elder Fang slowly began,

"Shen Junshan, you’re meant to take on responsibilities, you can’t be so lacking in commitment."

Shen Mo, sweating profusely, said: "Thank you for your guidance, Elder."

Elder Fang sighed to himself. He knew that as long as Shen Mo didn’t make mistakes in his lifetime, he was destined to join the Cabinet; hence, taking on responsibilities was unnecessary, for he need not offend the Emperor, nor the court officials. Everything would come together naturally.

"Younger generations should have their own edges," Elder Fang thought of Xu Qing’s visage. At the time, he didn’t pay much attention to Xu Qing, but now, recollections of that day’s banquet were clear in his mind.

Others may forget as they age, but he was the opposite; the older he got, the better his memory. He could even recall incidents from his infancy.

That wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Elder Fang pulled back from his reverie, calmly saying:

"This youth should be this rural examination’s Top Scorer."

He didn’t elaborate, merely stated his verdict plainly.

For some reason, the examiners felt a great weight lift off their chests upon hearing this.

This Elder was like a steadfast mountain, capable of withstanding any storm.

"Thank you, Elder," Shen Mo bowed sincerely.

He knew Elder Fang would not refuse.

Only he hadn’t expected Elder Fang to be so straightforward.

"Continue on, no need to see me out."

"Certainly."

Everyone watched as Elder Fang left.

Shen Mo watched for a moment and then said to the others, "Let’s continue."

Assistant Chief Examiner, Lord Wang, sat contently at his desk, as always – taking every paper that was brought to him directly.

This made things difficult for Shen Mo.

There were only so many Scholar positions, it was unrealistic to pass all these recommended essays.

Therefore, he had to weed out some.

As the Chief Examiner, to object to the Assistant Chief Examiner and other examiners’ opinions, he needed sufficient reasons, so he dutifully wrote out the arguments for rejection.

Naturally, this increased his workload.

He knew this was intentional on Lord Wang’s part.

Shen Mo understood why and had no choice but to tolerate it.

What a mess.

By now, all the examiners probably thought he was to blame for this situation.

He felt extremely wronged.

After this incident, he became even more cautious, reminding himself never to stir the waters, for errors are bound to occur otherwise. By not acting, no mistakes could be made.

He seemed to have a profound realization; his desire for power faded further.

As the top scorer himself, desiring power was the root of all troubles.

Without that longing, what should be his would eventually come.

After the busy work of grading and ranking the examination papers, the results of the rural exam were finally announced.

Xu Qing was undoubtedly identified as the Top Scorer of the current rural examination. However, the examiners also felt pity for Xie Quan, even though his was the second-best essay. Due to sharing the Yijing Room with Xu Qing, he missed out on becoming the Five Classics Leader.

It was a matter of time, perhaps destiny.

One wonders what the proud scholar from Yingtian, Xie Quan, would think, knowing that a young man had overshadowed him.

Thinking of this, everyone couldn’t help but look forward to watching the drama unfold.

Subsequently, the papers were sealed confidentially and sent to the Capital for "scrutinizing."

Yet, there was no need to wait for the "scrutinizing" to announce the results; the list was simply filled in, stamped, archived, and could be announced.

Thus, the yellow report of Xu Qing becoming the Top Scorer was sent with utmost haste by specialized constables to the Li Mansion in Jiangning Prefecture.

...

...

As the rural examination results were being announced,

Xu Qing suddenly felt something and immediately turned to the bronze mirror,

"This is..."

Xu Qing looked surprised.

At this moment, the text under the Qi Fortune column had completely disappeared!