Chapter 111: The Dispute Over Exam Grading (Please Subscribe)

“Are you Fang Xian?” At that moment, a proud voice sounded nearby. Fang Xian looked over and saw it was Shi Hongchang. They had met that night upstairs at the Music Bureau, though Shi hadn’t recognized him then.

“What does Young Master Shi want?” Fang Xian replied calmly.

“I hope your strategy essay will be at least half as good as your poetry, so we can compare results tomorrow in the Golden Throne Hall. Don’t fail to place in the top thirty,” Shi Hongchang said coldly.

“Not interested.” Fang Xian said these three words lightly and turned to leave, leaving Shi Hongchang standing there, flushed with embarrassment.

“Young Master Shi, Fang Xian is so disrespectful. Shall I arrange for someone to teach him a lesson?” a nearby scholar whispered.

“Hmph.” Shi Hongchang felt a deep humiliation rise within him. His sworn rival, Fang Xian, had completely ignored him, making Shi feel as if his punch had landed on cotton.

Watching Fang Xian get into a carriage and seeing people greet him along the way, Shi Hongchang felt powerless. Fang Xian had another identity—renowned as the divine healer of Wudu—something Shi could never match.

However, Shi had his own advantages: his family belonged to the nobility, with an uncle serving as Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. He was destined to become a figurehead of the noble faction and a representative of the new generation, with access to far greater resources.

With this in mind, Shi Hongchang gradually calmed himself. Even if Fang Xian was a divine healer, governing a nation was not like healing disease; medical skill could not influence state affairs.

“Master Fang is out!”

“Look, that’s Master Fang Xian!”

“So it’s true—Fang Xian is indeed the divine healer!”

“Master Fang, Divine Healer Fang, do you still need a warm bed maid? How about us?”

As Fang Xian climbed into the carriage, a crowd gathered nearby, including some courtesans who had come specifically to see him. Someone shouted loudly.

“Thank you all for your kindness. I have a fierce wife at home, so I won’t keep you,” Fang Xian said quickly, bowing to the crowd before slipping away in the carriage.

That night, the Imperial Academy was brightly lit. The chief examiner, accompanied by many officials, nervously reviewed the palace examination essays. Other papers were easy to grade since they were anonymous, but Fang Xian’s was particularly thick—so much so that, even without a name, everyone recognized it as his.

“Chief Examiner, Fang Xian’s essay is excessively lengthy. Even with anonymity, it’s identifiable. This seems deliberate and could be considered cheating,” an invigilator reported.

“Sir, that’s incorrect. The palace exam’s strategy essays aim to select true talent, with no restriction on the number of pages. Therefore, Fang Xian cannot be accused of cheating.”

The officials at the Imperial Academy belonged to different factions. The noble faction wished to disqualify Fang Xian by branding his paper as cheating, while officials from humble backgrounds and those who respected Fang Xian opposed this, resulting in two opposing views that Chief Examiner Zhou Weiyang needed to resolve.

“The palace exam is to recruit true talent for the state. Although there are rules, practical circumstances must be considered. Has anyone read Fang Xian’s essay? Is it padded with worthless content to appear substantial, or does it possess genuine talent and solid reasoning?” Zhou Weiyang asked those who had reviewed the essay.

“Reporting, among over ten essays I reviewed, only Fang Xian’s can be ranked as top-notch,” one official said.

“Master Zhou, I believe Fang Xian’s essay is visionary and profound, a rare masterpiece. None of the others compare,” another added.

“After careful reading, I find Fang Xian to be a genius of unparalleled talent. Calling him merely gifted is insufficient; he is a great scholar,” said a third.

“I have a hypothesis: although Fang Xian’s essay is a single article, each section reads like the introduction to a specialized monograph. If expanded, it could form over ten substantial treatises,” remarked another.

Thus, those who had read Fang Xian’s essay unanimously praised it and deeply admired his scholarship.

“In that case, group leaders should finish reading Fang Xian’s essay first before reviewing others. Once their tasks are done, other examiners may also read it. Everyone will score it, and I will make the final decision,” Zhou Weiyang said cunningly.

At dawn the next day, in the martial training ground of the Princess’s residence, squads of guards were training—some on physical fitness, others on combat. Fang Xian’s previously suggested training methods had been fully adopted by Wu Qingluan’s guards, who had become adept at them.

In a corner of the training ground, two girls of similar age and appearance engaged in fierce combat. Their swords clashed with sharp metallic sounds, energy surging—both clearly masters.

Wu Qingluan watched nearby. The girls were Wu Lanxin and her younger sister Wu Lanxiang, who had returned to the capital a few days prior. Wu Lanxiang had resigned from the Flying Phoenix Army and brought hundreds of Wu Qingluan’s guards back with her.

Originally, Wu Lanxiang had superior martial talent and had become a top-tier expert half a year before her sister, which allowed her to follow Wu Qingluan to the border army as a female officer.

However, upon her return, her elder sister had proposed a duel. After the fight began, Wu Lanxiang realized her sister’s cultivation was no weaker and had caught up completely, leaving her puzzled.

She later learned that it was thanks to the Foundation Strengthening Pill and Body Forging Pill concocted by Prince Consort Fang Xian, which had laid a solid foundation and enhanced her sister’s cultivation.

Of course, Wu Lanxiang had also taken these pills since returning, but recently the sisters sparred daily and were evenly matched. Though Wu Lanxiang had better talent, Wu Lanxin’s early use of the pills had allowed her to catch up entirely.

“Hmm, some progress. But you still need to keep working hard. Now, experience the pressure of a Master at the Transformation Realm to understand the direction of your efforts,” Wu Qingluan said after their match ended in a draw, then struck out with a palm.

The sisters immediately joined forces to resist Wu Qingluan’s attack, but the overwhelming power of a Transformation Realm Master was too great. Her palm stroke crashed down like a tidal wave, pressing so hard that the two struggled to breathe.