All the academies in the capital city heard the bell ringing from the Imperial Palace. The written exam officially began.
Li Yi had already received his exam paper. The questions on the paper covered a wide range of topics, including poetry, classics, governance, and even science …
However, the first few questions on the paper made Li Yi smile.
Without thinking, he picked up the pen and began to write.
However, when the other examinees received the paper and skimmed through it, their hearts immediately sank. They cursed the fat man who had just sold them the paper.
Damn it, they had spent dozens of taels of silver on the secret test paper, but none of the questions were correct.
What was more hateful was that in order to memorize the questions on the secret test paper, they had already stayed up for several nights …
They might as well not have bought it!
However, they did not dare to curse for too long in their hearts. After all, the exam only lasted for four hours. All the grudges would be settled after the exam.
When they were about to answer the questions, they were stunned again.
The first question: Ignoring air resistance, if two stones, one light and one heavy, fall from the same height, which one will land first?
There were four options below.
A: The heavy one.
B: The light one.
C: The two will land at the same time.
D: I don't know.
The second question: Wang Xiaoming's father had three sons. The eldest son was called Damao, the second son was called Ermao, and what was the third son's name?
There were four options below as well.
A: Sanmao.
B: Fourmao.
C: Fifty.
D: Wang Xiaoming.
The third question was very simple. There was only one sentence: How many plum trees were planted in Hibiscus Garden?
The first question was needless to say. Two stones fell at the same time. This was verified by the Emperor himself, so they could not get it wrong. The second question seemed inexplicable, but it was actually a math question. The eldest son was called Damao, the second son was called Ermao, and the third son was definitely called Sanmao.
As for the third question, how would they know how many plum trees were planted in Hibiscus Garden?
The third question was skipped. Fortunately, the following questions were starting to move in a normal direction. Time was limited, so the examinees began to write quickly …
Outside the examination room, there were also examiners gathered together to analyze a paper.
They were satisfied with the overall quality of the paper, but they were also helpless about the first three questions.
The first two questions were set by the Emperor himself, so they did not dare to raise any objections.
The question of the two stones falling to the ground had already been decided. If anyone still answered incorrectly, they would have to suspect that they were spies sent by other countries. Even if they were not, they would be too ignorant and disrespectful to His Majesty if they did not even know the famous "Law of Free Fall". Therefore, anyone who answered incorrectly on the first question would be directly eliminated.
As for the second question, they could only interpret it as saying that the person who answered this question incorrectly might have something wrong with his head. And geniuses with brain problems would naturally not be able to marry princesses. Those who answered this question incorrectly would also be directly eliminated.
The third question was set by Princess Shouning herself. They did not know how many plum trees were in Hibiscus Garden. They did not know how many plum trees there were in Hibiscus Garden. They did not know how many plum trees in Hibiscus Garden, but this question had no.
If one answered the first two questions correctly, he would be able to proceed to the combat test directly, no matter how he answered the rest of the questions correctly.
If, they were, and would, they would Palace. Academy, and would. Emperor would, and would and Dynasty..
There was an 80% chance that he would eliminate the person who answered the question incorrectly.
As for the third question, there was no doubt that it was set by Shouning.
In her previous letters, she had said that she had given each of the thirty-six plum trees in Hibiscus Garden a name. She had already been very restrained by not asking these people what the tenth plum tree was called.
He spaced out for a while, then continued to answer.
Not far from him, the fat man bit the shaft of his pen, lost in thought.
He didn't take the exam to marry the princess, but to make money by selling fake exam papers.
Therefore, he did not intend to answer. However, if he handed in a blank paper, would he be arrested for disrespecting the princess?
He couldn't take this risk, but he also couldn't answer too well. If he passed the written exam, he would definitely be beaten to death by those who had spent a lot of money to buy his exam papers.
To be safe, he would only answer the first three questions.
He picked up his pen and looked at the first question.
Ignoring air resistance, if two stones, one light and one heavy, fell from the same height, which one would land first?
There was no need to choose, it must be the heavy one. However, to be safe, he still intended to choose the wrong one.
Choosing the heavy one was right, but choosing the light one seemed to be a bit too stupid. He didn't know if it was a bit too perfunctory, so he just randomly chose the one that landed at the same time.
After choosing the "C" option, he continued to look at the next question.
Wang Xiaoming's father had three sons. The eldest son was called Damao, the second son was called Ermao, and what was the third son's name?
He was a bit suspicious of the intention of the person who came up with the questions. Two consecutive free marks questions would not be able to pull everyone apart …
The eldest son was called Damao, the second son was called Ermao, and the third son was definitely called Sanmao. The one who chose Forty-Five was because he had never studied mathematics. To be safe, he still had to answer this question incorrectly. Well, he would choose Wang Xiaoming!
When he saw the third question, he finally frowned.
How would he know how many plum trees there were in Hibiscus Garden? When he was about to fill in a random number, he turned to look at the stingy guy beside him and happened to see his answer.
Thirty-six.
He wrote "thirty-six" on the bar, then got up, handed in his paper, and left the examination room.
If he left late, he was afraid that he would be surrounded outside and beaten to death.
In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, some people handed in their papers early and left the examination room, causing a commotion in the examination room. Li Yi was not disturbed. Although most of these questions relied on memory and could be solved by cheating, it still took a lot of time to finish all the questions.
Two hours later, the bell rang again, and all the examination rooms in the capital handed in their papers at the same time.
Everyone walked out of the examination room, some frowning, and some high-spirited.
"Hey, I didn't finish …"
"I almost finished it …"
"Who knows how many plum trees there are in Hibiscus Garden!"
"What about the fat guy who sold the papers? He didn't get a single question right. I'll beat him to death!"
"Is there a mistake in the second question? Damao, Ermao, Sanmao, and Wang Xiaoming, shouldn't there be four sons? How can it be three? I pointed out the mistake in the question. Do you think they will give me extra marks?"
…
The imperial court placed great importance on the theory examination this time. After the examination ended, the imperial army would immediately transport all the examination papers to the palace. There would be nearly a hundred teachers from the Academy who would finish grading all the examination papers within a day. According to the rankings, the one hundred talents who would enter the wushu examination would be selected.
In Hibiscus Garden, Shou Ning looked at his Imperial Mother and said with dissatisfaction, "It's clearly me choosing the Emperor's son-in-law, but I can only come up with half a question. Even Imperial Brother can come up with two questions. This is not fair …"
Concubine Yan looked at her and said, "If you didn't ask them what the name of the tenth plum tree in Hibiscus Garden is, you could also give two more questions."
A eunuch came in with a tray and said respectfully, "Concubine Yan, all the papers have been marked. The papers of the top 100 are all here."
Concubine Yan took out a paper and frowned. Looking at the blank paper, she asked, "What's going on?"
The eunuch bowed and said, "Concubine Yan, although this person only answered three questions, he is one of the two who answered the first three questions correctly. According to the rules, he can enter the wushu examination directly."
Concubine Yan thought for a while and asked, "Who is the other person?"
"The other person is the only one who answered all the questions and got full marks." The eunuch said respectfully, "He is the first in this written examination!"
"What's his name?"
"Mu Zi."
…
"Mu Zi …" Shouning took a deep breath and walked over. She said, "Where is his paper? Show it to me."
The eunuch handed her the paper at the top.
She took the paper but didn't open it immediately. She even looked away. After taking another deep breath, she slowly opened it.
After a long time, she closed the paper and put it back gently.
She covered her face and pinched it. Suddenly, she looked at Concubine Yan and asked, "Mother, have I gained weight recently?"
Concubine Yan nodded and said, "I told you to eat less."
"Ah!" She was shocked. She quickly ran to her room and stood in front of the mirror. She pulled her elastic face and said in distress, "I've really gained weight. What should I do, what should I do …"
After being distressed for a while, a smile appeared on her face again. She threw herself on the bed and rolled around while giggling …
As she giggled, she quickly sat up and tidied her clothes and hair. She stood in front of the mirror and smiled like a lady …
…
It was only a day before the written examination. On the high palace wall, there was a huge red list.
This was the list of 100 people who passed the written examination and entered the wushu examination.
There were thousands of people who participated in the written examination. In the end, there were only 100 people left. Most people just came to take a look and left with a sigh.
Naturally, there were also those who were on the list. They stood under the list with a face full of surprise and didn't want to leave for a long time.
"This Mu Zi is a beast. He even got full marks for that kind of paper!"
"It's not just that. I heard that even Prime Minister Shen and a few officials in the court were full of praise for his political analysis. They said that most of the officials in the court can't compare to him!"
"Also, that poem of his has spread like wildfire in the imperial court. Some people even say that his attainments in poetry are on par with King Jing's …"
"Luckily, there's still the wushu examination. When the time comes, we must unite and get rid of him first!"
"Who is that Peng Er? He's actually ranked second. I've never heard of him before. The capital is really full of hidden talents …"
…
Under the imperial list, there was a lot of noise. Some people made it onto the list and laughed wildly. Some people failed, crying and snot.
In a corner of the crowd, a fat man looked at the name on the imperial list. His face was ashen and his body was shaking like a sieve.
His lips trembled and he couldn't help but mumble, "It's shady, shady, shady!"
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