In the evening, Fan Xian returned to his courtyard. He briefly discussed his meeting with the Second Prince during the day with Wan'er, and then welcomed another expected guest - Xin Qiwu, a close associate of the Crown Prince from the Eastern Palace.

After being seated and served tea, Fan Xian looked at the names on the slip of paper in his hand and smiled slightly. He knew what the Crown Prince wanted to do, but he didn't understand why they were coming to him.

"Why are you showing me this?" Fan Xian held up the paper, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Lord Shaoqing, this official has no influence over the imperial examination."

Several months prior, during the negotiations with Northern Qi, these two individuals served as the chief and deputy envoys, respectively. They worked together quite well, and there wasn't much friction in their personalities. Plus, they had gotten drunk together a few days ago, so they were naturally more familiar with each other now. Xin Qiwu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and softly explained, "You should know what these names represent."

Of course, Fan Xian knew. The imperial examination was starting the day after tomorrow. At this crucial time, various households were secretly making overtures like shy daughters-in-law and stable grooms. The thresholds of the back doors were practically worn down. It was said that Grand Scholar Guo Youzhi of the Ministry of Rites was so annoyed that he didn't dare offend too many nobles, so he simply requested an audience and hid in the palace. The other four co-examiners and supervisors had also turned the Imperial College of the Ministry of Rites into their own residences, not daring to return home.

But with the Eastern Palace's influence, if the Crown Prince wanted to promote some young talents he wanted to cultivate in this imperial examination, he should have plenty of methods. Just take the chief examiner, Guo Youzhi, for example. Everyone knew he was a staunch supporter of the Eastern Palace. Just a word from the Crown Prince should suffice. Why would they come to him?

Seeming to sense his confusion, Xin Qiwu smiled and shook his head, saying, "Lord Fan is a gifted talent, admired by all, but it seems he's not very familiar with the many rules of the capital. The rules for imperial examinations in our dynasty are based on the precedents of the previous dynasty, with not too many changes. To prevent cheating, the examinees' papers must be re-copied to prevent their handwriting from being recognized. The most crucial step, however, is the sealing of the names."

Xin Qiwu continued, "These six names on the paper are all people I have personally met." He smiled and said, "Talented individuals."

...

...

Fan Xian had always thought of himself as a very calm person. But after Xin Qiwu left, he sat quietly in his study, looking at the piece of paper in his hand, and still felt a faint sense of anger. The day after tomorrow was the actual day of the imperial examination, and he only found out today that besides the chief examiner, instructors, and supervisors, he also held a very troublesome and important role among the examination officials.

In the previous conversation, Xin Qiwu told him that the court had issued an edict, appointing Fan Xian, a fifth-rank official of the Imperial College, as the "Ju Zhong Lang" for this imperial examination. This somewhat strange position of "Ju Zhong Lang" was actually the official fully responsible for the order of this imperial examination, wielding considerable power. More importantly, after the papers were sealed at night, in the long night before the papers were graded, before the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the teachers of the Imperial College re-copied the papers, the matter of sealing the names was the sole responsibility of the Ju Zhong Lang.

Anyone who wanted to play some tricks in this imperial examination had to deal with the sealing of the names first. Even if the candidates' backers had already bribed the Ministry of Rites officials, or even the seat masters (zuo shi) and examiners, if they didn't tamper with the sealing of the names first, the examiners grading the papers wouldn't be able to help.

Originally, after so many years of imperial examinations, Qing Kingdom officials had already turned these shady dealings into a skilled profession, and the distribution of power among various factions had some established patterns for reference. However, because the renowned Fan Xian had very inexplicably taken the position of Ju Zhong Lang, the various factions in the court couldn't help but be a little unsure. No one knew what this Little Fan Poet Immortal would do.

That's why the Crown Prince shamelessly sent Xin Qiwu to Fan's residence beforehand. He believed that Fan Xian shouldn't go against his wishes, and in recent days, the Crown Prince believed that the Eastern Palace had given Fan Xian enough favors, and it was time for Fan Xian to show his attitude.

Fan Xian glanced at the six names on the paper again, smiled, destroyed the paper into powder, and then slowly walked back to his bedroom. He felt a little more grateful to the Second Prince for no reason. If the Second Prince had also played this card, it would have been really difficult for him to deal with in the middle.

But he still underestimated the complexity of the matter.

Lin Wan'er sat at the table, smiling at him, and then gently tapped the table. The few clean white papers beside her fingers looked chillingly pure. Fan Xian sighed and slapped his forehead, saying, "Don't tell me those are names written on them."

Lin Wan'er giggled, stood up from the stool, walked to his side, took his arm, and praised, "My lord is indeed a smart man."

Fan Xian said with a wry smile, "I thought we could have a good rest and recuperation in the capital before going to Northern Qi, but who knew..." He finally couldn't help but curse in a low voice, "Who made me the Ju Zhong Lang!"

"My father, your father." Lin Wan'er looked at him pitifully. "Although this position is not as good as the supervisor, it is in a key position. According to the usual practice in previous years, after this batch of students passes the imperial examination and enters the court as officials in the future, they will have to call you 'teacher' when they see you. It's really a very…"

Fan Xian said unhappily, "Are our two not-so-close fathers a little too enthusiastic? I'm only seventeen. In the future, will a bunch of middle-aged Hanlin scholars and pedantic academics have to salute me in court?"

Lin Wan'er's worried expression disappeared completely, and she said with a giggle, "Now your reputation in the capital is too great. This time, some people even recommended you to be the seat master. If it wasn't for your young age, which was rejected by the palace, you might have become the youngest seat master in the world in hundreds of years."

Fan Xian said, "It's not a good thing. I regret going crazy at the palace banquet now." But there's never been any regret medicine to take in the world. He looked carefully at the paper his wife handed him and found that some of the names on it were relatively familiar. They were all relatively famous scholars in the capital. Some of them he had met before and they did have some talent. Seeing this, Fan Xian felt a little more at ease.

"Since I'm the Ju Zhong Lang, they still dare to come to the residence so blatantly?" Fan Xian sighed. "This paper is the evidence of their cheating. To send it to my hands, their courage is too great."

"It's all old rules." Lin Wan'er had lived in the palace for a long time and naturally knew these things. She explained, "Although the Ju Zhong Lang in previous years was a key position, the rank was too low, so various parties didn't pay much attention to it. Anyway, if someone in the palace wanted to cultivate a few confidants, that Ju Zhong Lang would just pretend not to see it and wouldn't dare to say much. It's just that this year it's my lord's turn to hold this position. Those people are afraid of your methods and background, but they don't understand your nature, so they will come to greet you in advance, just like they treat the chief examiner, to show courtesy and respect. Of course, those officials who think they can't curry favor with you will still follow the old practice and go through the seat master's connections, not daring to bother you."

"In that case, I just have to do things according to the usual rules." Fan Xian frowned slightly. He really hadn't expected the officialdom of Qing Kingdom to have deteriorated to this point. When he thought of those students who worked hard in rural private schools, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

"Do whatever you want." Lin Wan'er was not an ordinary person, and she said softly, "Even if you don't give face to these people, who would dare to do anything to you?"

Fan Xian smiled wryly, thinking that you are a princess, of course you are not afraid of anyone. Although his background was also not small, your Crown Prince brother wanted to use this opportunity to see his attitude. He turned and asked, "Who sent these names?" There were actually only three papers, not as many as he had imagined.

Lin Wan'er said with a slightly embarrassed and shy smile, "Actually, it can all be considered things I caused."

Fan Xian asked strangely, "How so?"

Lin Wan'er replied, "I went to the palace today and sat in Consort Ning's palace. You know I always played by her side when I was little. That's one thing." She then said with a frown, "As for the other two pieces of paper, one was sent by my father through Mister Yuan, and the other was sent by Lord Qin of the Military Council."

Fan Xian shook his head. Consort Ning naturally represented the First Prince who was still far away guarding the border in the west. Since the Prime Minister had sent himself to the position of Ju Zhong Lang, there was no reason not to take advantage of his own son-in-law. As for Lord Qin of the Military Council, although he had never met him, he knew that he was a veteran of three dynasties, a super powerful figure in the military. If he didn't honestly cultivate a few generals, why would he come to meddle in the civil service examinations?

"Forget it, it's all small things. Since the whole country is crows, I naturally won't pretend to be a red-crowned crane." Fan Xian said indifferently, destroying all these papers, gently putting his arms around his wife's shoulders, and walked towards the front courtyard.

——————————————————————

On the ninth day of the second month, the day of the grand competition, the scholars of Qing Kingdom had to sell all they had learned in ten years of hard study to the imperial family. As for whether the imperial family would buy it or not, it depended on these few examinations. Those scholars wearing long robes, like swimming fish, walked towards the examination site of the Ministry of Rites, either in fear or excitement, looking like they were desperately trying to squeeze into a narrow fish basket.

Fan Xian had met with Chief Examiner Grand Secretary Guo, the two seat masters, and the two supervisors the night before. The officials nervously arranged all the procedures properly, and the next day they each performed their duties.

An armchair was placed next to the gate, with yamen runners and officials sent by the Overwatch Council as usual beside it. Fan Xian sat steadily on the armchair in the middle of the crowd, coldly watching these students walk past him.

The students who walked past him, whether old or young, all saluted respectfully. Those who knew Fan Xian respected his reputation, and those who didn't know Fan Xian respected his position. At the entrance, the tigerish and wolfish officials beside Fan Xian had already pulled open the cloth curtain and began to search the students one by one, strictly preventing them from bringing contraband inside.

Fan Xian sipped his tea, looking at these miserable students carrying bedding, chamber pots, and food, who looked just like long-term workers in the village, and couldn't help but shake his head. Suddenly, he saw a student who had been inspected was about to enter the courtyard, rolled his eyes, and shouted, "Wait!"