Chapter 92: County Examination Fraud

Chapter 92: County Examination Fraud

Chapter 92: County Examination Fraud
"Although Mr. Fu has done righteous deeds, has the ability and responsibility, his knowledge is a bit mediocre."

Chen Shi stayed at Wencai Academy overnight, and Hu Feifei, who was from the countryside, also stayed. It was still early to go to bed, and the two of them had made some money, so they made an appointment to go to the night market.

The night market in Xinxiang County was even more lively than during the day. The streets were full of people, and there were all kinds of stalls on both sides, selling all kinds of delicious food. Chen Shi, Hu Feifei and Hei Guo ate as they walked, carrying all kinds of food in their hands. When they couldn't fit in more, Hei Guo stood up and helped carry the food.

"Brother Chen, don't you think your dog is a little weird?"

Hu Feifei glanced back and saw the dog walking on its hind legs. It was taller and steadier than a normal person, and the way it was carrying things didn't look like a dog.

Chen Shi looked back and didn't think anything was wrong. He said, "Don't you walk on two legs too? What's so strange about that?"

Hu Feifei was dumbfounded and speechless.

After walking around for a while, they were chubby and staggered towards the academy.

Chen Shi was increasingly puzzled and asked, "Fei Fei, where is my godmother in the city?"

After entering the city, he had been looking for his godmother in Xinxiang County, but after searching for so long he still couldn't find her.

Hu Feifei seemed to be pregnant for ten months. She supported her waist with one hand and carried food with the other hand. She walked forward with difficulty and shook her head, saying, "There are no godmothers in the county and provincial capital."

Chen Shi was puzzled: "Without a godmother, how can we dispel evil spirits? Can't evil spirits enter the city whenever they want?"

Hu Feifei said: "Although there is no godmother, there is a magic weapon to guard the county. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner is such a magic weapon. This treasure guards the county. Whenever there is an evil spirit approaching, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner will automatically burst out with power and kill the evil spirit. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner is extremely ancient. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner in Xinxiang County has a history of thousands of years, and the ghosts inside are also extremely powerful. No evil spirit can compete with it. Over time, many evil spirits died, and no evil spirit dared to approach the county."

"I see."

Chen Shi suddenly realized, and said, "But why did the county magistrate and his wife, two evil spirits, enter the county town and not die under the Ten Thousand Souls Banner?"

Hu Feifei was stumped by him and shook her head, "I don't know about that either. The chief of my fox clan is also an evil spirit, but he has entered the city many times, and the Ten Thousand Souls Banner didn't react. The chief's cultivation is too high, so he can hide his aura, but County Magistrate Geng doesn't have the chief's ability, so why was he able to enter the city?"

Chen Shi asked, "Do you think that County Magistrate Geng was eaten by an evil spirit, and the evil spirit became County Magistrate Geng, or that County Magistrate Geng was the evil spirit?"

Hu Feifei thought for a moment and said, "I think County Magistrate Geng is an evil spirit. I can't walk anymore! I can't walk anymore! Let's find a place to sit down and digest the food!"

Chen Shi looked around and saw a guardrail by the river, so he sat on it with her.

Hu Feifei was very depressed and leaned on his shoulder.

Chen Shi's heart was slightly moved, and he said, "Fei Fei, it's dark now, where is your hairpin? Is it really glowing?"

Hu Feifei was full of energy. She pulled out the hairpin from her head, covered it with both hands, and said with a smile: "Look!"

Chen Shi came closer and said in surprise: "It really glows!"

Hu Feifei was very proud. She bit the hairpin and put her hair up with both hands. She protected her hair with one hand and inserted the hairpin with the other hand. She smiled and said, "There is a talisman engraved in my hairpin. It absorbs sunlight during the day and releases it at night. It's shining! Brother Chen, do you have any interesting stories? Tell me."

Chen Shi told her about his funny stories in the mountains, which always made this vixen giggle non-stop. She shouted, "I won't listen to you anymore. My stomach hurts from laughing! Please rub it for me!"

Chen Shi helped her rub her stomach, and sure enough, she laughed so hard that she almost choked on her stomach. His stomach was warmed up, the gas went away, and the pain went away.

The two of them rested for a long time before getting up and returning to the academy.

Fu Leisheng was waiting for them. When he saw them coming back, he said, "I'm going home to rest. You two can stay in the academy for one night. Chen Shi, the true god needs to be a boy to descend. You must not lose your yang energy. Remember this."

His words were profound and serious, and I carefully pondered the meaning of his words.

Fu Leisheng passed away.

The two of them rested for a while, then went to clean up and make room for sleeping. After all, this was a college where students attended classes and lectures, and there were no beds, so they could only sleep on the floor.

Chen Shi took bedding from the wooden cart, gave half to Hu Feifei and kept half for himself.

The two said goodnight to each other and went into bed. Gouzi stayed outside and heard crickets chirping, but there was no other sound.

The bustling night market in the county town seemed to be getting farther and farther away from them.

Hu Feifei crawled out of bed and said with a smile, "I can't sleep. Brother Chen, can you tell me more about what happened in the mountains? I practice with my sisters from the fox clan and rarely go into the mountains."

Chen Shi sat up and told her various stories about Qianyang Mountain, the strange rules in the mountain, the spirits guarding the mountain, the giant snake Xuanshan, the six thousand year old Granny Zhuang, and many naughty ginseng babies.

Hu Feifei moved the quilt closer to him, crawled into it, and listened to him while lying sideways, her eyes shining in the dark.

"Brother Chen, what do you want to do after you pass the exam?" the vixen asked.

"doing what?"

Chen Shi was a little confused. He thought about it carefully and realized that his original purpose of taking the exam was to become a juren, return to his hometown to become a master, exploit the villagers, and let his grandfather live out his old age.

But now grandpa has gone to the underworld, and I don’t know when he will come back.

Now, taking the college entrance examination has become a long-cherished wish that he wants to fulfill.

"After I pass the entrance exam, I want to return to my hometown and become a master, so that I can oppress the villagers with justification."

Chen Shi said, "What about you?"

Hu Feifei placed her hands on her chest, grasping the edge of the quilt, her eyes sparkling as she smiled and said, "My purpose in taking the college entrance examination is to find a scholar I like and develop a touching love story between a human and a fox with him!"

Chen Shi asked, "Did you find it?"

"Not yet."

Hu Feifei was a little disappointed and said, "There are only a bunch of little brats in our academy, not even wet behind the ears, and none of them can catch your eye. When I pass the exam to become a scholar, there will definitely be better scholars."

They talked about the future, and before they knew it, Hu Feifei's voice became lower and lower, and she slowly fell asleep.

Seeing this, Chen Shi also curled up in the quilt, and fell asleep in a short moment.

The day of the county examination finally arrived.

The location of the county exam was the Confucian Temple in the county town, where Confucius was enshrined. The area near the wall was divided into compartments one after another. All the private school students in the towns and villages of Xinxiang County rushed to the Confucian Temple. There were hundreds of people in the county town alone, and even more in the towns, hundreds of people, and even white-haired old men, who went to the Confucian Temple to participate in the county exam.

The first test is a written test.

Chen Shi and the students of Wencai Academy were separated and placed in different compartments. After everyone was seated, pens, ink, paper and inkstone were distributed to prevent them from cheating. The chief examiner was Tian Huaiyi mentioned by Fu Leisheng, a serious young official. He first offered sacrifices to the Master, then to Wenchang, and then announced the official start of the exam.

"Today's exam question is, On Zengzi once said: When a bird is about to die, its cry is sad; when a person is about to die, his words are kind."

Tian Huaiyi read out the test questions in a rumbling voice, saying, "In the examination room, no discussion, no chatting, no cheat sheets. Use a clear mirror to check every detail!"

I saw two examiners working together to lift a huge mirror, more than one person tall, with a stick of incense in front of the mirror, and passing in front of each cubicle.

As the incense stick burned, the fragrance drifted towards the mirror. The mirror seemed to have a spirit, absorbing the scent of the incense and emitting a soft orange-red light.

Suddenly, the two examiners stopped and glanced at the yamen runners beside them.

Two yamen runners immediately stepped forward and came to the cubicle. The student in the cubicle was terrified and screamed, but he still couldn't help but write like the wind.

The two yamen runners sneered and pulled off the student's black hat.

I saw a three or four-inch tall white-haired mouse sitting on the student's head. He was holding a slender brush and had a drawing board with paper in front of him.

The white-haired mouse was concentrating very hard, writing quickly and fluently, and was writing exactly the interpretation of the test questions.

Whatever it writes, the students will write.

When the white-haired mouse saw that he had been discovered, he dropped his brush and ran away, but it was too late and was caught by the yamen runner on the left.

Another yamen runner took the student to the examiner Tian Huaiyi. Tian Huaiyi glanced at the white-haired rat and sneered, "So it's Zhishu. How dare you cheat in front of me? You're so bold! Drag him away and give him ten big strokes of the cane!"

The bailiffs dragged the student away.

The two examiners still held up the mirror and continued to shine.

Chen Shi was sitting in the cubicle, feeling inexplicably excited: "A dying man's words are good! Zhu Xiucai has explained this exam question more than once, and it is exactly the question I am familiar with!"

He wrote as if possessed by god and quickly finished the 200-word essay. Then he wrote his name, the academy he came from, blew away the ink, and stood up to hand in the paper.

At this time, other students were still concentrating on writing, some were struggling to think about how to start, and some had not yet handed in their papers.

Tian Huaiyi was surprised to see that he was the first to hand in his paper. He took out the test paper, glanced at the academy, and said with a smile, "It's my mentor's Wencai Academy. My mentor is devoted to studying, and it seems that he has another talented student."

The other examiners complimented him, "A good teacher produces a good student. Otherwise, how could he have taught someone as talented as Mr. Tian?"

As Tian Huaiyi continued reading, the smile on his face became more and more stiff. He suddenly closed the test paper, took a long breath, and calmed himself down.

"Have any traitors emerged from among my teacher's disciples?"

He thought to himself, "No, I have to see my mentor! This is a serious matter. If I chop off his head, it might implicate my mentor and me!"

Chen Shi walked out of the Confucian Temple. Fu Leisheng was waiting outside. When he saw Chen Shi coming out, he was very surprised and hurried to meet him.

"Chen Shi, you came out so soon? How did you do in the exam?"

Chen Shi was quite pleased with himself and said with a smile, "I am familiar with Confucius' classics, so I can easily pass the county exam this time."

Fu Leisheng was about to ask him what he was writing when suddenly a bright red light shone straight down from the sky and fell directly into the Confucian Temple. A strange fragrance filled the air.

“God is coming…it’s God is coming!”

Fu Leisheng stared at the rosy glow in a daze, and suddenly he exclaimed. Several exclamations were also heard in the Confucian Temple. Many examiners were also startled by the rosy glow and asked one after another: "The true god has descended! Which student has the true god descended?"

Judging from the sound, it is obvious that this descent of God is extremely extraordinary.

Chen Shi's heart was also pounding as he stared at the straight ray of light.

The fragrance in the air becomes stronger and stronger, making people feel like they are floating in the air.

God’s Descent, the full name is the Descent of the True God.

The young monk at the shrine realm will hold a ceremony to offer sacrifices to the heavens after he has completed the construction of the shrine. The true gods from outer space will be inspired by the aroma of incense and will send down rays of light to bestow a divine fetus on the monk.

When the divine fetus enters the shrine, the cultivator officially enters the divine fetus realm and has the possibility of impacting the next realm and condensing the golden elixir.

However, gods would only appear after the sacrifices in the county examinations. It was extremely rare for gods to appear out of nowhere during the major examinations.

"No need for a grand ceremony, a divine descent from nowhere is often a gifted and talented person with great literary luck!"

Fu Leisheng murmured, "Who is this person?"

Just as he said this, someone suddenly came hurriedly and bowed, saying, "Mr. Fu, Lord Tian wants to see you."

Upon hearing this, Fu Leisheng hurriedly followed the man and entered the temple from the back door. Tian Huaiyi was already waiting at the back door. He did not bother to greet him and hurriedly said, "Master, something big has happened in Wencai Academy! Both the traitor and the genius appeared in Wencai Academy!"

Fu Leisheng was surprised and delighted, and asked quickly.

Tian Huaiyi said: "The one to whom the True God descended is also a student of Wencai Academy, named Shen Yusheng. This boy was favored by the True God in the literary examination and was granted a divine fetus. We don't know what rank it is now. But it will definitely not be lower than the second rank! This is a genius, congratulations, teacher! As for the traitors..."

He took out Chen Shi's paper and handed it to Fu Leisheng.

"Please have a look, Master."

Fu Leisheng took a quick look and said with a pale face: "Are you sending me to the Ten Thousand Souls Banner?"

Tian Huaiyi hurriedly asked: "Master, what should we do?"

Fu Leisheng gritted his teeth and said, "I'll write one for him! No matter what, we can't let the academy get into trouble!"

Tian Huaiyi hesitated for a moment and said, "If my mentor writes for him, he will definitely pass the exam. If he passes the exam, he will take the imperial examination in the fall. If he takes the imperial examination in the provincial capital, won't it cause an even bigger commotion?"

Fu Leisheng quickly took out his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and said, "After he passes the examination, I will kick him out of Wencai Academy. When the examination comes, no matter how much trouble he causes, it will have nothing to do with Wencai Academy!"

Tian Huaiyi lowered his voice and shouted: "Master, this is cheating!"

"Cheating is better than using the Ten Thousand Soul Banners! If he hands in his paper, he might even get you into trouble!"

(End of this chapter)