Li Mu ate the noodles personally cooked by the Empress. If he were to say that the noodles were delicious, he would be lying.
An ordinary bowl of noodles with a few slices of vegetables and chopped green onions wouldn't taste that good, but it wouldn't taste that bad either.
This bowl of noodles cooked by the Empress could only be said to be ordinary.
Li Mu had eaten Liu Hanyan's noodles, Xiao Bai's noodles, Wanwan's noodles, and even Su He had personally cooked at Clearwater Bay in order to reminisce about her days as a human. Among all the noodles he had eaten, the Empress's noodles were probably the worst.
But she was the Empress. In the entire Great Zhou, perhaps only Li Mu could eat her personally cooked noodles.
This wasn't an ordinary bowl of noodles. This was the Empress's favor.
Li Mu finished the noodles and even drank the soup. Then he said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhou Yi asked, "How was the taste?"
Li Mu: "This is the best noodles I've ever eaten..."
...
In the end, Li Mu still went against his heart. For someone who was cooking for the first time, to be able to cook to this extent was already very good. At this time, he couldn't find fault with her. Instead, he should encourage her.
This was one of the reasons.
The other reason was that Li Mu knew better than anyone that the Empress's chest wasn't as big as her chest.
In order to suffer less in the dream tonight, he was willing to go against his conscience.
Zhou Yi didn't continue this topic. Instead, he asked, "How was the written exam?"
Li Mu: "There shouldn't be any big problems."
He could get full marks in mathematics. This subject was all objective questions. If it was right, then it was right. If it was wrong, then it was wrong. There was no possibility of losing marks.
Li Mu was not sure about the criminal law. Criminal law was not a simple matter of right and wrong. There were many questions that needed to be looked at dialectically. There were also a few questions that were counterintuitive. He reckoned that many examinees would fall for them.
As for policy, there was even less of a correct answer. The subjective view of the examiner was the deciding factor.
Li Mu thought for a moment and asked curiously, "Can Your Majesty predict who will be the top scorer in the written examination?"
"No." Zhou Yi shook his head: "Divining this is calculating the fates of thousands of people at the same time. Even ninth level cultivators can't do this."
In the past, Li Mu thought that the Seventh Realm was very powerful, but after truly understanding them, he realized that they were not as omnipotent as he had imagined.
There were many things that the Empress couldn't predict. There were so many Seventh Realm cultivators in the Immortal's Capital, but the Demon Sect still managed to sneak up on them. Cui Ming had also been hiding in the imperial court for many years. If Li Mu hadn't coincidentally captured that tree demon, there was no telling how long he would have been able to hide.
In the past, in Li Mu's heart, powerhouses of the Upper Realm were no different from Gods.
Now, it seemed that they were also humans, just stronger than ordinary people. They also had seven emotions and six desires, people who could see and touch them.
When he personally took the bowl of noodles from the Empress, Li Mu accidentally touched her hand. The Empress' hand was delicate, smooth, and warm. As Li Mu was thinking, he realized that he was distracted and immediately threw some inappropriate thoughts to the back of his mind.
Of course, it would be good to be the top scorer in the written examination. Being the top scorer in both civil and martial arts would make the Empress proud.
It didn't matter if he didn't get it. No matter what, passing the imperial examination was not a problem.
At this time, in the examination hall.
After the imperial examination ended, the examination hall was covered by a huge formation.
This formation completely isolated the examination hall from the outside world. People outside couldn't enter, and people inside couldn't come out.
This formation would only be activated three days later when the examination hall announced the results.
In these three days, many officials from the three provinces and six ministries were temporarily transferred. They had to finish marking all the examination papers and rank the examinees' results within three days.
The examiners who were transferred were at least in the fourth realm. Even if they didn't sleep or rest for three days, it was nothing to them.
In order to ensure the fairness of the imperial examination, the imperial court arranged for people to transcribe the examination papers as soon as the end of the written examination. The transcribed examination papers only had numbers and no names.
Among the three examination papers, the mathematics paper was the simplest. They just had to follow the standard answers and check them one by one.
The criminal law paper was second. Except for the Ministry of Justice and a few other special offices, there were very few officials in the Great Zhou who were proficient in criminal law. The second examination paper was mostly marked by the officials of the Ministry of Justice.
The most difficult one was the policy question.
There were no fixed answers to any of the questions in the policy section. The officials who reviewed the exam papers had to carefully review each examinee's exam paper. In order to finish reviewing the exam within three days, the officials of the Hall of Governmental Affairs came out in full force this time.
Two days later, under the review of dozens of officials without sleep and rest, all the examination papers were marked.
The next thing to do was to summarize the results of the three examinations and rank the examinees according to their scores.
The format of the written examination's results was different from the martial examination. It didn't use the "A", "B", "C", or "D" grading method. For the three examination papers, full marks for each subject were 100 points. The results of the three subjects were summed up, and it was clear at a glance who was higher and who was lower.
In addition, if any of the three subjects scored less than 60 points, no matter how high the other two subjects' scores were, they would be eliminated directly.
After another half a day, all the examination papers were summarized.
According to their scores, only 100 examinees would be selected out of the thousands of examinees in this imperial examination.
These 100 examinees had already appeared, but they only had numbers and no names. The last step was to match their numbers with their names.
Of course, everyone was most concerned about the top scorer of the written examination this time.
After the results of the three subjects were summarized, many people gathered around.
Then, the crowd cried out in surprise.
"Who is this person with the number 9527? He actually scored full marks for mathematics, criminal law, and policy questions!"
"Not only mathematics, but there are many people who scored full marks for this subject. He actually scored full marks for criminal law and policy questions at the same time. Only one person scored full marks for those two subjects …"
"Is it Zhou Zheng, Zhou Feng, or Prince Nan's son?"
…
Outside the crowd, a few officials from the Secretariat stood there. Liu Yi sighed, "I didn't expect Lord Li to score full marks for criminal law as well."
The six Imperial Secretaries of the Hall of Governmental Affairs had studied the exam paper that scored full marks on policy together. There was no other person in the entire Imperial Court who could answer so many questions about politics so perfectly, to the point that they felt that they were inferior to him.
Without a doubt, 9527 was Li Mu.
He scored full marks for policy questions and mathematics. As expected, the officials from the Ministry of Justice had said that the examination paper from Assistant Minister Zhou was not simple. If they were to do this examination paper, they would not be able to get full marks.
Full marks for criminal law not only required a thorough understanding of the laws of the Great Zhou, but also a thorough understanding of the laws.
Zhou Xiong said, "If that's the case, wouldn't he be the top scholar in both civil and martial subjects?"
Wang Shi shook his head and said, "There's nothing strange about this. No one knows his ability better than us. If he were to participate in the imperial examination with these examinees, there would only be one outcome."
Zhang Huaili said, "He is indeed a talent that His Majesty has set his eyes on. The top scholar in both civil and martial subjects, his future is limitless."
At this moment, an official had already brought over a thick booklet.
To ensure fairness, before marking the papers, there were people who would transcribe the examinees' papers and erase their names. If one wanted to know which examinee these numbers corresponded to, they would have to look in this booklet.
"Quick, quick, quick. Lord Liu, find out who 9527 is."
"I think it's Zhou Zheng."
"No, it should be Prince Nan's son."
"Want to take a gamble?"
…
The official flipped open the booklet and quickly flipped to the back. When he found the name corresponding to the number 9527, he was stunned.
The officials could not help but urge, "Don't just stand there. Who is it?"
The official placed the booklet on the table and said, "Everyone, take a look."
Everyone looked over, and after a short moment of silence, the atmosphere exploded.
"Hiss …"
"Li Mu, it's still Li Mu!"
"9527 is Li Mu!"
"Not only is he the top scholar in both civil and martial subjects?"
"That's impossible. Could it be that someone leaked the questions to Li Mu?"
…
The last person had just opened his mouth when his close colleague covered it. That person was stunned and immediately lowered his head, not daring to speak.
In order to ensure the fairness of the imperial examination, the imperial court had taken many measures. Not only did the subjects not communicate with each other, even the Empress did not know the questions.
Suspecting that someone leaked the questions to Li Mu meant suspecting the Minister of Revenue, the Assistant Minister of Justice, and all the officials in the Hall of Secretariat. Cheating in the imperial examination was a serious crime. Suspecting this would mean suspecting them. Who would dare to frame so many important figures in the imperial court at the same time?
At this moment, Liu Yi walked forward and explained, "You may not know this, but the establishment of the imperial examination system is mostly due to Lord Li Mu. Lord Li is not only proficient in mathematics, he is also well versed in criminal law. He also has insightful views on national affairs. It is not surprising that he was able to take the first place in the written examination. This is because Lord Li and I worked together to create the Imperial Examination …"
The imperial examination was related to the foundation of the country. Before the imperial examination, it was not convenient for the Hall of Secretariat to disclose any details related to the imperial examination.
It was only now that these officials knew that there was such an inside story.
One of the officials could not help but say, "If the examination was created by him, then wouldn't this be unfair to the other examinees?"
"Not at all." Liu Yi shook his head and said, "Lord Li only pointed out the direction for the imperial examination. The examination questions were created by many officials. There is no way that they were leaked. Even if one knew about the examination outline, it is impossible to get full marks. Without him, there would not be today's imperial examination. The imperial examination selection is based on him. He has contributed so much to the imperial court, but he still has to participate in the imperial examination. If this is not fairness, then what is?"
Everyone fell silent when they heard this.
Their doubts came from their previous understanding of Li Mu.
In everyone's understanding, he was bold, fearless, and cunning. This was the part of him that everyone had the deepest impression of.
Without this imperial examination, they would not have known that Li Mu, in addition to these, was also proficient in both the pen and the sword.
After accepting this reality, everyone's attention was gradually placed on the subsequent rankings of the written examination.
"95.28, who is 95.28? Zhou Zheng, Zhou Feng, or the Crown Prince of the Southern Prince?"
95.28 was right under Li Mu's name. Everyone looked down and their expressions froze.
After a long time, someone said in shock, "Who is this Li Si?"
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