Chapter 82

In the entire noodle shop, the atmosphere was unusually quiet. Chulian saw that all the customers had been driven away by Ye Mingzhi, and her delicate face showed a rare anger.

She then took light steps and walked over, saying coldly, "Young Master Ye, by doing this, aren't you cutting off my source of customers?"

"Chulian, you know how I feel about you. Why must you insist on getting your hands dirty with the spring water? If you come with me, you can enjoy the service of servants, isn't that better?" Ye Mingzhi said with a patient and earnest tone.

But Chulian seemed ungrateful and replied coldly, "I am just a woman of lowly status and dare not aspire too high. I hope Young Master Ye will pity me and not come here again, so as not to disturb the customers..."

"Ha! I really can't believe you, a woman, are so ungrateful. Brother Mingzhi values you so much, it's a blessing from your past life. Why do you act so coy?" Li Mo, who could no longer bear it, slammed the table with anger.

Ye Mingzhi held back the angry Li Mo and asked Chulian with a strange expression, "Is my affection for you not clear enough?"

"Sorry! Chulian really..."

"Enough! Tell me, is it because of him?" Seeing Chulian's refusal, Ye Mingzhi could no longer contain his anger and pointed at Ye Yu, who was drinking tea on the left, and shouted.

"It's not..." Ye Mingzhi's accusation made Chulian visibly flustered.

"Not? If it's not, why did you refuse when I offered to buy your freedom, but accepted it when he did? If it's not, why is the noodle in your shop called 'Lian Ye Noodles'? Hmph! I don't think the 'Ye' in 'Lian Ye' refers to me, Ye Mingzhi!"

Chulian, unable to answer, lowered her head and was about to flee, but was caught by Ye Mingzhi, who said with burning jealousy, "After so long, you still can't forget this bastard, but he won't accept you, a broken woman!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Yu, who was drinking tea on the left, turned cold and slammed the teacup on the table, spilling tea all over it.

"Slap him!"

With a low and cold voice, She Tongcheng, standing behind Ye Yu, rushed forward without a word. By the time Ye Mingzhi reacted, his right arm had been twisted.

Feeling a sharp pain in his right arm, he suddenly felt dizzy and then numb in his mouth.

Slap, slap, slap!

Three consecutive slaps, and just these three slaps almost dislocated Ye Mingzhi's jaw. When Ye Mingzhi felt the pain, She Tongcheng had already stepped back.

"You! You... dare to hit me!"

Holding his mouth, Ye Mingzhi, in unbearable pain, spoke indistinctly. But his anger had disappeared, replaced by a fearful look.

"Hit you? If I hadn't promised someone not to punish you severely, you would have been dead long ago! If I hear you say something you shouldn't again, I, Ye Yu, can't guarantee that you won't become a mute!"

Ye Yu's voice was light, but the threat in it made Ye Mingzhi feel stunned. However, Li Mo, holding a fan, said angrily, "Ye Yu, you hurt someone in public. Don't you know the law?"

"The law?"

Hearing these two words, Ye Yu laughed. He looked at Li Mo and said, "You talk to me about the law? Let me ask you, did this person follow the law when he shouted at the customers in the shop? Did he follow the law when he acted improperly towards the shop owner without reason? Did he follow the law when he slandered others?"

"This..." Ye Yu's three consecutive questions left Li Mo speechless. He then tried to remain calm and said, "Harming someone is wrong!"

"You're right, it is wrong, but this person committed the first offense. Even if we go to court, I would only have to pay for some medicine..."

Saying this, Ye Yu looked at Ye Mingzhi and asked with a smile, "Young Master Ye, how much medicine do you need? One hundred taels or one thousand taels? If this can be calculated in terms of medicine, I, Ye Yu, am willing to pay ten thousand taels and have my brother slap you a hundred times! What do you think?"

At first, when Ye Yu said he would pay for the medicine, Ye Mingzhi planned to extort some money from him. But hearing the last part, he immediately abandoned the idea.

Just three slaps had already made his teeth loose. If it were a hundred times, wouldn't he be disfigured and severely injured?

"Fine! Fine, you... Ye Yu! You take advantage of the fact that I don't have an official title to mock me. Wait until I pass the exam this year, and see if you dare to be so arrogant!"

"That's for you to see..."

Ye Mingzhi was right. Whether a scholar or a graduate, having an official title gave certain privileges. Scholars and graduates could stand in court without kneeling and could not be punished by criminal law before the charges were clear.

Now, although Ye Mingzhi's family was wealthy and he had studied for a few years, he was still considered a commoner. Therefore, Ye Yu's punishment of him was different from punishing a scholar.

"Hearing that you are also going to take the exam this year?" When it came to the imperial examination, Li Mo asked Ye Yu with interest.

"That's right!"

After getting the answer, Li Mo laughed, "The imperial examination, though a special order allowing disabled students to participate, do you really think they will treat you fairly?"

"Does that concern you? Besides, a failed scholar, do you have the right to talk about fairness?"

Ye Yu retorted without hesitation. Hearing the word "failed," Li Mo's face turned purple with anger, as this was his most unwilling wound to touch.

He was the third-ranked scholar in the previous exam but failed to pass the imperial examination in the capital. Meanwhile, the scholars who ranked behind him all passed. This was a bitter irony that made him unable to hold his head up for half a year.

At this moment, the waiter Xiao Meng came out of the back room with a tray and placed a steaming bowl of noodles in front of Ye Yu, saying earnestly, "Sir, please try it!"

Ye Yu nodded and smiled at Xiao Meng. Seeing that Li Mo and Ye Mingzhi had no intention of leaving, he waved his hand and said sternly, "Get out, don't disturb my enjoyment of the noodles!"

The two wanted to argue but, seeing She Tongcheng's fierce gaze, they suppressed their anger and left.

Tasting the delicious noodles, Ye Yu didn't forget to share and called She Tongcheng to eat with him. Because he had followed Ye Yu for a long time, She Tongcheng didn't refuse and sat down to eat a second bowl of noodles.

After they finished eating and paid for the noodles, Ye Yu solemnly said to Chulian, "Miss Chulian, the world changes, and many things are not set in stone. I am not suitable for you! Find a good family and get married! This will also cut off Ye Mingzhi's thoughts!"

Chulian lowered her head in silence. From her breathing, Ye Yu could tell she was sobbing silently. But in matters of the heart, if there is no feeling, there is no feeling. Even if she were as beautiful as a flower, it wouldn't change this fact.

He, Ye Yu, was not a playboy who accepted all women. This was not his pursuit or his taste. So for the Miss Chulian in front of him, he could only leave with a regretful back.

Ye Yu's departure did not disturb anyone, but it felt like a heavy blow to Chulian's heart. Watching Ye Yu's departing back, she couldn't help but shed two tears.

...

The Song Dynasty's imperial examination system was divided into three levels: the prefectural exam, the provincial exam, and the palace exam. The examination subjects were numerous, roughly divided into the Jinshi (advanced scholar) and the regular subjects.

According to the rules, the prefectural exam for the Jinshi was presided over by the vice-prefect, while the other subjects were presided over by the registrar. The candidates who passed the prefectural exam gathered in the capital's Ministry of Rites in winter.

By the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination system had been greatly improved compared to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. To prevent bribery and cheating, the system was continuously refined.

For example, the establishment of the name-blinding and transcription systems significantly reduced cheating.

However, no system is perfect. Even with the improvements, the Song Dynasty's imperial examination system was not as strictly supervised as the Ming and Qing Dynasties' or modern college entrance exams. But despite this, cheating in the examination hall was still rampant. For the current Song Dynasty, bribery and cheating in the imperial examination were inevitable.

However, this special imperial examination was clearly advantageous for Ye Yu. Although the current vice-prefect of Chuzhou was no longer Liu Quan, the new vice-prefect, Fan Chengda, was well-known to Ye Yu. One of the four great poets of the Southern Song Dynasty, besides Yang Wanli, Lu You, and You Mao, was this famous historical figure, Fan Chengda.

He was well-known in history for his unique style and upright character, which was highly respected by later generations. Therefore, with him presiding over the prefectural exam, the fairness was trustworthy.

On August 9th of that year, more than a thousand candidates from the four counties of Chuzhou gathered at the Anfu Imperial Examination Hall in Chuzhou. Although the number of candidates was not as large as the previous year, it was still impressive.

Among the more than a thousand candidates, there were many with unusual appearances, disabilities, and advanced age, and Ye Yu was one of them...

Inside the examination hall, rows of examination rooms faced south, forming long alleys. Each row of rooms was named according to the sequence of the "Thousand Character Classic," such as "Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow, Universe, Vast, Boundless," with the characters as numbers. The entrance of each alley had a gate, and the wall above it was inscribed with the corresponding character.

After entering the examination hall, each alley gate was locked, and the main gate was also closed, with a cannon firing to signal the start of the exam.

The Song Dynasty's imperial examination system largely followed the Tang Dynasty's. The Jinshi exam included the examination of classics, ink questions, and poetry. After the first two sessions of the autumn examination, which covered classics and ink questions, the last session should have been poetry and policy questions. However, what happened next was very strange.

"Bang, bang, bang" a drum sound suddenly rang out from the back of the hall. A moment later, another "bang, bang, bang" sounded, followed by another drum sound.

After the drum sounded three times, a thin, middle-aged man in official attire walked in. He was the chief examiner of this prefectural exam, Fan Chengda.

Fan Chengda scanned each examination room with a sharp gaze and then said to the official beside him, "Distribute the exam papers!"

At his command, several officials carried the exam papers to each candidate's room. However, when the candidates opened their papers, they found them blank...