My Wife is A Sword God

Chapter 627: The End of the Imperial Examination

As the poetry banquet came to an end, Qin Feng walked over to the white scroll containing the poem “The Hard Road”. With a wave of his right hand, the white scroll fell into his palm.

‘This literary treasure can help students enter the ninth-class foundation realm. It can be placed in the Peaceful Academy to help future students from poor backgrounds cultivate their literary talents,’ he thought to himself.

However, just as he was thinking this, voices from both sides sounded simultaneously.

“Can this poem be copied for me?” 

As soon as the words were spoken, the two speakers looked at each other. They were none other than Cang Feilan and Anya.

One loved literature, the other was from the Dao Lineage of Literature. Naturally, they were both very interested in this poem.

Of course, the main reason was that this poem was written by Qin Feng, and there might even be a sense of reciprocity in it.

Just like the jade box that Qin Feng had written for Cang Feilan earlier, which she had always treasured and kept in her storage ring.

Even if her aunt, Cang Mu, wanted to take a look at it, she wouldn’t agree…

He was just about to put the original treasure into the Spatial Ring and wait until tomorrow to hang it in the Peaceful Academy. However, a ray of white light suddenly flew from the direction of the Grand Literature Academy’s Heavenly Tower and directly took the white scroll back.

“Uh…”

This sudden change happened so fast that Qin Feng didn’t even react.

The others were also shocked as they stared at the direction where the white scroll flew off. This thing was a supreme treasure that could help scholars gain literature qi!

Seeing this, Cang Feilan’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her figure flashed, intending to grab the white scroll back.

However, the white light gently pushed her back to where she was, this divine technique was truly astonishing.

Qin Feng also realised that whoever took the original treasure must be the National Teacher of Heavenly Tower.

And indeed, it was!

The voice of the National Teacher of Heavenly Tower sounded in the void: “This original treasure can guide people in the right direction and help the Great Qian’s people to enter the realm of the Literature Saints. It might as well be left to me.”

Qin Feng bowed and said, “I will abide by the teacher’s arrangement.”

“Good.”

As the words fell, the crowd watched as the white scroll, instead of flying towards the Great Academy of Literature, flew straight into the starry sky and turned into a bright white star.

At the same time, in various regions of the Great Qian, students who had aspirations but no opportunities suddenly felt something in their hearts.

They all looked up at the white star and felt their minds become much clearer.

Meanwhile, in Jinyang City in the Southern Region, Tie Wa’er, the son of the vendor Qin Feng had taken care of, was filled with literary inspiration and unexpectedly entered the ninth rank of the Literature Saint Dao Lineage!

Of course, Qin Feng was unaware of these events in Great Qian.

All he knew was that the literary aura in the Divine Sea had suddenly surged, continuously transforming into Righteous Thunderous Qi.

As he stirred his consciousness and looked up at the sky, he saw that the number of towering white stars of destiny had far surpassed before!

This not only increased his strength and divination abilities, but also allowed him to collect the Ancient Divine Breath and Primordial Immortal Qi with the help of the Heavenly Reflecting Stone, achieving twice the result with half the effort!

‘Could all of this be due to the teacher’s actions just now?’ Qin Feng muttered to himself.

After being shocked for a long time, the crowd finally came to their senses.

Aside from being disgusted by the dandyish young man in the brocade clothes tonight, one could say that everything else went smoothly and Qin Feng’s mood was quite good.

…

His only regret was that he had always wanted to write the prelude to the ‘Water Tune Song Head’ song to show his wisdom in public, but he had missed the best opportunity.

If he had actively written it, it would have been considered inferior, which would have greatly diminished the significance of showing his wisdom in public.

Thinking about this, Qin Feng couldn’t help but sigh.

At that moment, the Crown Prince beside me suddenly said, “Brother Qin’s poem of clear aspiration can be described as unprecedented in the past and unmatched in the future.” 

“It’s just a pity that on this Mid-Autumn Festival, the night of the full moon, I had hoped that Brother Qin would write a poem praising the moon to add luster to the Literature Gathering, but our spirits have been dampened by this National Academy.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng’s eyes brightened and his face lit up with joy.

Soon after, the place where the Literature Gathering was held began to experience strange phenomena in the night, and exclamations filled the air.

From then on, poems praising the Moon and the Mid-Autumn Festival could only compete for second place, and no one dared to compete for first place.

The scroll of a poem that flew into the starry sky and turned into dazzling stars was also called the Literature Star by scholars.

But these are stories for another time.

……

For the literati of the Imperial City who come to see the show, the Literature Gathering in the Flying Sky Courtyard might just be a grand interlude, a topic for discussion after tea.

But for the students of Peaceful Academy, it was a rare experience.

After becoming the Literature Saints, their ability to comprehend and learn was far beyond what they used to be.

And as the shackles in their hearts were broken, their wills became even stronger.

In the midst of diligent study, half a month passed quietly, and finally, the time came for the first Imperial Examination of the Great Qian in history.

On that day, the streets of the Imperial City were deserted.

On this day, Qin Feng and the other teachers of Peaceful Academy all appeared outside the examination hall and watched as their students entered the examination room.

‘Why do I feel like a worried father…’ Qin Feng shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, although he couldn’t help but feel nervous.

For the students of Peaceful Academy, this was their chance to rise to greatness.

Whether they could rise like a phoenix depended on their own luck.

……

The content of the Imperial Examination was based on the Great Qian National Book, and it’s worth noting that this time the questions were set by Emperor Ming himself.

After the exam papers were reviewed by the examiners, the scores wouldn’t be finalised immediately, because the final review would be done by Emperor Ming himself!

At the Imperial Study, Emperor Ming had already finished reviewing the memorials from various regions and was now flipping through the poetry scrolls for the Imperial Examination.

After reading a dozen or so scrolls, he furrowed his brow.

Eunuch Li, who was standing beside him, noticed his thoughts and asked curiously, “Your Majesty, are you not satisfied with these answer sheets?”

“Mm.” Emperor Ming slightly wrinkled his forehead and replied weakly.

The last question of this Imperial Examination was about how to govern the people, a question he had personally set.

The answers he had read so far all praised the supremacy of the monarch, with imperial authority at the centre, but none of them resonated with him.

Without even looking at the names of the candidates, he could tell that they must be from the National Academy.

Having collected his thoughts, Emperor Ming continued to leaf through the papers. Suddenly, he exclaimed softly and his eyes lit up.

The candidate’s answers were indeed quite new, and he found himself involuntarily immersed in them.

However, when he saw phrases like “Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it” and “The people are the most valuable, The country is second, The king is the least important”, which seemed rebellious to others, he couldn’t help but applaud.

When he turned to the first page to see the candidate’s name, the two letters “Lu Rong” jumped out at him.

…

Three days later, on the day of the announcement.

Candidates crowded around the announcement board like a flood.

And the results of the exam took everyone by surprise. Seven of the top ten came from the Peaceful Academy, and only three from the National Academy.

Even the top three were all Peaceful Academy students, with Lu Rong taking the top spot!

This result alarmed the entire court of civil officials. When Mo Siye heard the news, he slumped back in his chair.

Everyone understood that the court of Great Qian was about to undergo major changes.

This was also recorded in the history books of The Great Qian Dynasty. In the autumn of the eleventh year of Mingde, the Imperial Examination was held, and the students of the Peaceful Academy surpassed those of the National Academy and entered the court. The Golden Dragon rose on the Coiling Dragon Pillar in the Floating Dragon Hall, and the country prospered…