Chapter 73

Note: I humbly request a few recommendation votes, thank you all.

Zhineng could hardly bear to grade the policy essays of these noble academy students. From the first word, the ignorance and superficiality of the authors were evident. For a proud talent like Zhineng, reading essays was like tasting fine cuisine; a good essay was like a delicious dish, intoxicating. But a bad essay was like a dish that was hard to swallow even with a whiff.

After reading dozens of policy essays, Zhineng was almost on the verge of losing it, even feeling nauseous and irritable. The essays were truly terrible, with more than half of them praising the royal family, claiming that the Raging Wave Kingdom would last for thousands of years under the wise rule of the royal family.

Another part of the essays was purely sensational, claiming that the Raging Wave Kingdom had only a few decades left, or even that its downfall was imminent. However, upon closer inspection, these essays were merely pandering to the crowd, lacking any substantial content.

As she skimmed through the papers, giving them low scores, Zhineng eagerly awaited Soren's essay, looking forward to mocking his stupidity and superficiality in her heart.

Many people thought that the political essay topic for this final exam was set by King Zhibian, but that was not the case. It was set by Zhili and Zhineng, and then approved by His Majesty the King.

The reason for setting such an unusual topic was largely to prevent Soren from cheating. Since Songbing was a talented woman, she had certainly done extensive preparation for the policy essays, making Soren memorize many of them. If the topic was guessed correctly, it would be easy for him to score high.

The topic "How many years does the Raging Wave Kingdom have left?" was so obscure and unusual that Songbing could not have guessed it correctly. Thus, Soren, the good-for-nothing, would naturally not perform well, and his essay would be terrible.

Enduring the nausea, Zhineng continued to read through each paper. Twenty examiners had to grade over two hundred papers, and this tedious and nauseating task would last for two days.

Opening the next paper, Zhineng was slightly taken aback. She recognized the handwriting—it was that of the scoundrel Soren, who had written her no less than a hundred love letters.

However, the handwriting on this paper, though still Soren's, had changed. It was more restrained but also more sharp, and she had to admit that Soren's handwriting had improved a lot, as if his encounter in the Demon Mountain Range had matured him.

The next thing she saw was the title of Soren's policy essay: "Party Strife Misleads the Nation, Party Strife Ruins the Kingdom."

Instantly, Zhineng's eyes lit up. This was an unprecedented angle.

Moreover, the term "party strife" immediately resonated with her.

Eagerly, she read on.

On the first read, she read quickly, finishing the two-thousand-word essay in just a few minutes.

Instantly, she forgot that this was Soren's essay, the man she hated to the core.

Reading a good essay was like eating ice on a hot summer day, making her feel refreshed and invigorated, as if all her pores were opening. And now, Zhineng felt this deeply.

Zhineng closed her beautiful eyes and began to savor the words.

The essay was truly excellent, with clear and sharp viewpoints and a far-sighted perspective. The entire essay, centered around the concept of three party strifes, was well-supported and logical, making it highly convincing.

Especially the first party strife, which had already begun subtly. The second party strife was only occasionally sensed by King Zhibian and Zhili. Yet, Soren had written about it so clearly.

After savoring it for a while, Zhineng began to read it a second time.

This time, she read slowly, almost word by word. After finishing a paragraph, she would even ponder and analyze it in her mind. Sometimes, she would go back to read previous sections.

After nearly half an hour, she finished the second reading.

It was truly written excellently, and even the proud Zhineng was impressed.

Talent was something that experts could recognize at a glance.

Zhineng easily saw the immense talent and wisdom behind this essay.

Could this be the work of Songbing? Zhineng was immediately skeptical but quickly dismissed the idea.

The topic was so obscure and unexpected that Songbing could not have guessed it correctly.

So, this must be entirely Soren's work. This meant that all the previous strategies for developing the navy and predicting that the king would reject the navy plan were Soren's own insights, not Songbing's.

If that was the case, what did it mean?

It meant that Soren was a genius. Then, what about his previous bad behavior? Was it a cover?

Or perhaps, the death of Solon and the encounter in the Demon Mountain Range had made Soren realize his mistakes and turn over a new leaf.

This possibility was not out of the question. Soren had been a womanizer, seducing many outstanding women in the royal city. Could these women have been blind? Knowing he was a playboy, they still fell for him one after another.

Perhaps, Soren had spent all his energy on pleasing women. But when the Song family faced a fatal crisis, he finally used his talent for the right things.

Then, she thought, perhaps Zhili had sensed Soren's change early on, which was why he had initiated the dramatic changes in Tian Shui City and even agreed to the greedy demands of the high-ranking warriors and lords.

Suddenly, Zhineng felt a bit disheartened. Despite her efforts, she still fell short of Zhili in terms of insight and wisdom.

Opening Soren's paper again, she recalled his handsome and rogue face, and the day he suddenly rushed up and bit her lip. The tingling and pain seemed to return to her heart.

"This good-for-nothing, is he a genius? How could he write such a far-sighted and sharp policy essay?" Zhineng sighed to herself.

Taking a deep breath, Zhineng handed Soren's policy essay to Dean Jianyong, saying, "Your Grace, please take a look at this essay."

Within just two hours, this essay by Lanling had spread among all the examiners, shocking everyone.

Not only that, but Zhineng also brought it to the cabinet and the royal family.

This essay was so sharp that it could pierce through everyone's defenses, especially those of the cabinet and the royal family.

Moreover, this essay won the favor of most of the noble class. It was the first time someone had defended the interests of the noble class from such a high perspective.

Of course, Lanling did not intend to align himself with the noble class. If King Zhibian did not widely promote talented commoners, the Raging Wave Kingdom would fall even faster, as the noble class was decaying too quickly.

After reading this essay, King Zhibian said nothing but instructed the chief eunuch, "Give this essay to Zhili."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The chief eunuch took the essay to Zhili's residence.

Zhili spent an entire hour reading it and then closed his eyes in deep thought.

Taking a deep breath, he patted the beauty kneeling between his legs and said, "You should go home now. Otherwise, your husband might really be upset."

The mature beauty cooed, "How could he be upset? Sending me to serve you is a great honor for him."

Zhili replied, "Trust me, no man really likes to wear a green hat."

Then he said, "Have Zhineng come to see me, and prepare a bath. I need to wash up. My sister can't stand to see me with other women, so don't let her smell anything."

After the first two exams, there would be a two-day break because grading the policy essays took two days.

On the fifth day, the results of the second exam were announced in the afternoon, and the third exam, the arts exam, was held in the evening.

In the commoner academy's final exam, there was no arts exam. For them, art was optional, and only the literature and martial arts exams were the most important.

For the nobles, however, art was a symbol of status and taste, so it became one of the four main subjects.

At this moment, with over two hours before the third exam, most of the noble students had already gathered outside the exam venue, eagerly waiting for the results of the second policy essay exam.

Of course, they were not concerned about their own scores but about Soren's score.

Now, the bet between Soren and Princess Zhineng had become the focus of the entire royal city. However, no one still favored Soren, as the gold coins bet on his win had not increased.

Originally, many ruffians wanted to bet a few silver coins, hoping to get lucky. But the Silver Casino said the minimum bet was one gold coin. Thus, no one bet on Soren's win.

Lanling was also eagerly awaiting his results because the grading of the policy essays was entirely subjective, and since his ranking in the first exam was not shown, the second exam's performance was more important.

"Here it is, here it is," Tutor Xiuyan held a thick list and posted it on the wall.

At once, Lanling saw his name. He was ranked first.

In the second policy essay exam, with a full score of 100, each of the twenty examiners had to grade, and the highest and lowest scores were removed. The final score was the average. Lanling's score in the second policy essay exam was 95.

"Heavens, is the academy crazy? Giving Soren 95 points?"

"With such an obscure topic, Soren couldn't have cheated. How could this good-for-nothing get 95 points?"

All the noble students were shocked, frequently glancing at Lanling, unable to believe this score.

Moreover, the second-place score in the second policy essay exam was only 75, and Soren was 20 points higher.

Lanling was also slightly surprised by the high score. He knew his essay was very sharp and that with the presence of the Divine Dragon Temple's cultivators, Princess Zhineng could not suppress the score. But 95 points was still unexpected.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and prepared for the third exam.

"Soren, come with me." At that moment, a voice reached his ears. Turning around, he saw Li Zhu, the eunuch by Princess Zhineng's side.

Lanling was taken aback. Why did Princess Zhineng want to see him now?

...