It had to be said — Jiang Chen's memory was nothing short of astonishing. One after another, the answer sheets were reproduced by him in their entirety, all within a single hour.
Jiang Chen rose to his feet, arranged the completed answer sheets neatly, and handed them over.
"I request that Your Majesty review them first, and then have the four subject heads examine them," Jiang Chen said in a relaxed tone, brimming with confidence.
Dongfang Lu took the papers, scanned a few lines, and found that these answers were indeed completely different from the ones he had seen before. After a moment of contemplation, he passed the sheets to the four subject heads.
"The four of you, examine these carefully. This matter is of great importance. You must not be careless or negligent in the slightest," Dongfang Lu instructed.
The four subject heads suddenly felt the weight of a mountain pressing down on them. On one side was the personal instruction of His Majesty the King; on the other was Du Ruhai's gaze, which carried an unmistakable warning and threat.
But this was the Golden Throne Hall, after all — the royal family's domain. In the end, the King's authority prevailed over the psychological pressure that Du Ruhai exerted on them.
The four men steadied themselves as best they could and began their review.
At first, the expressions on all four faces showed only mild surprise — they could tell these answers were indeed entirely different from the previous set. But as they read further into the free-form section, their expressions grew increasingly grave. Occasionally, looks of deep contemplation would cross their faces, followed by knowing smiles; then, as if suddenly encountering some difficult puzzle, their brows would furrow again, only to break into a moment of sudden realization — "So that's how it is!"
Watching these four men cycle through such a rich variety of expressions, many onlookers grew curious. Were these answer sheets really that complicated? Could they truly provoke such exaggerated reactions from these four?
After a long while, the four finally closed the answer sheets with visible reluctance.
"Well?" Dongfang Lu asked personally.
"Your Majesty, if we were the ones grading this paper, it would unquestionably receive a perfect score."
"Indeed, indeed. Moreover, the free-form section demonstrates a depth of theory, originality of insight, and breadth of vision that even we ourselves must humbly admit we fall somewhat short of."
"I share the same sentiment. This paper overflows with talent and brilliance — it leaves one gazing up at a towering peak."
"I have only one thing to say: this paper is the finest I have ever seen in my entire life. There is nothing like it before, nor will there be after!"
The praises only grew higher with each speaker. Everyone could see that the four subject heads were not just talking nonsense. From their expressions of rapt admiration, it was clear that many of the ideas in the paper would take them considerable time to fully digest.
Judging by their satisfied looks, the content of those answer sheets had broadened their horizons considerably and taught them a great deal.
Dongfang Lu cast a meaningful glance at Jiang Chen and sighed softly. "My ministers, even I am somewhat confused now. Given the same examination questions, why are these two sets of answers completely and utterly different? One overflows with talent and has won over the subject heads. The other is utter nonsense and cannot possibly pass."
"Your Majesty, an entire night has passed since that examination. In that time, the Marquis Jianghan household could easily have hired a group of experts to ghostwrite a satisfactory paper for him. This sort of thing is simplicity itself."
After a whole night, indeed, many things could change.
Du Ruhai also began clamoring. "Your Majesty, the Jiang family thinks themselves clever, but it's hardly worth a laugh. Allow me to say something blunt: this Jiang Chen is a wastrel and a layabout — that's common knowledge throughout the Royal Capital. If anyone claims that this paper which dazzled the examiners was written by him, I'm afraid even the street vendors wouldn't believe it."
The situation still looked unfavorable for Jiang Chen.
But when all eyes once again focused on him, Jiang Chen burst into hearty laughter and stepped forward with an air of defiance. "Same test questions — you suspect me of cheating, and I suppose that's fair enough. Then let me trouble the examiners to come up with some new questions. I'm happy to exchange ideas with them right here, on the spot."
An on-the-spot exchange!
"Jiang Chen, do you think this is your Marquis Jianghan estate? This is the royal court — how can you treat it as a child's game? Once is already too much; how can you be allowed to do it again?"
Indeed, letting him retake the test had already been an extraordinary show of royal benevolence. How could he be permitted to run wild a second time?
But Dongfang Lu laughed out loud and stopped the eager courtiers. "Discussing matters of learning here at court — this is a refined pursuit. Our Eastern Kingdom has a young man with such courage and conviction, and we should encourage it, not stifle it. Very well, let us grant Jiang Chen's request. Though I must ask the four examiners to trouble themselves a bit further."
The four examiners, for their part, didn't mind at all. They had already loosened up. After all, this was a chance to show their faces before His Majesty — a good opportunity by any measure. Besides, they were genuinely curious. Had these four answer sheets truly been written by Jiang Chen? If so, they wanted to test him and see if they could learn something from the exchange.
The four major subjects: "Martial Arts," "Spiritual Medicine," "Statecraft," and "Military Strategy."
Of these, "Statecraft" and "Military Strategy" were essentially supplementary — the examination content was limited and their weight was small. So the questioning would begin with these two.