Chapter 88

When she woke up again, the sky was already faintly bright. Qiulan felt warm all over, although there was a sharp pain in her lower body, it felt strange as if something was contained within. She gently moved her body to avoid the discomfort, but the pleasure that swept through her body with the movement made her involuntarily let out a muffled groan.

An arm was wrapped around her slender waist, and Qiulan lay on a warm body, rising and falling with its breath. She lifted her head slightly and looked at the handsome face close by, and she smiled foolishly.

Ye Yu was woken by Qiulan's light laughter. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Qiulan, whose skin was slightly flushed. He then used his other hand to pull her into his chest. He gently said to the woman in his arms, "Don't move around, it will hurt!"

Qiulan obediently nodded and curled up in Ye Yu's arms. She breathed lightly, her breath fragrant, and extended her delicate fingers to draw circles on Ye Yu's broad chest, her eyes full of allure. She said in a soft voice, "Young Master, you were so fierce just now, you didn't even show any mercy..."

Ye Yu enjoyed Qiulan's gentle caress. Hearing her words, he chuckled and held her even tighter, feeling somewhat guilty. He sighed, "I'm sorry, I lost control after drinking!"

As soon as he said this, Qiulan's delicate fingers covered his mouth. She looked at Ye Yu with affection, "Young Master, Qiulan doesn't blame you. Qiulan has been waiting for this day for a long time..."

"Um! You shouldn't move around today. Rest well in bed!" Ye Yu said, then took a pillow from the bedside and gently wiped her lower body with it, still under the quilt.

In fact, even now, as Ye Yu recalled the madness of the night before, it still felt like a dream. For Ye Yu, who was a disciplined soldier in his previous life, although he was not unfamiliar with the pleasures of the flesh, he was not as skilled as those experienced in such matters.

Moreover, he had been here for nearly three years without touching any of the women around him, which was indeed a miracle. Because of this, after the madness of the night before, he still felt a bit nervous and excited when he recalled it.

Unfortunately, he was too drunk to fully experience the wonderful feeling. Although he was very clear-headed now, and his lower body was still embedded in her, he did not move.

Ye Yu, who had just tasted the pleasure, was quite infatuated with the scent of women. However, he understood that Qiulan, who had just experienced the pain of losing her virginity, could not bear another storm of passion.

The two chatted until the sky was bright. As a scholar who had passed the autumn examination, Ye Yu had to attend the Lu Ming Banquet. Although he did not want to attend, as the top scholar of the autumn examination, it would be impolite not to go.

After getting up, Ye Yu prepared to instruct the servants to heat water for a bath, but to his surprise, the servants had already prepared everything. This made Ye Yu feel a bit unexpected, as he usually did not have the habit of bathing in the morning. If it were not for the night of passion, he would not have bathed on this chilly autumn morning.

Thinking about his private life being known by the servants, Ye Yu felt a bit uncomfortable for a moment. After bathing and changing clothes, he had a light breakfast and specially asked the kitchen to prepare some nourishing soft food for Qiulan.

After a short rest, he heard the sound of drums and trumpets, welcoming the new top scholar to the Lu Ming Banquet. The people who came to welcome them had already found out the whereabouts of the scholars the day before, especially the residence of Ye Yu, the top scholar.

Ye Yu followed the welcoming party, with music and cheers, and was escorted to the Chuzhou Prefecture School — the Huai River Academy. The Lu Ming Banquet was attended by the chief examiner Fan Chengda, the deputy examiner Yue Lin, the fifteen examiners, the inner and outer curtain officials, and the new scholars who had passed the autumn examination.

The Lu Ming Banquet had two meanings: one was to congratulate the scholars who had passed the examination, and the other was a banquet to thank their teachers. The founder of the dynasty had already stipulated that all scholars who passed the imperial examination were not to have a teacher-student relationship with the current chief examiner but were to be listed as the emperor's disciples. Therefore, the Lu Ming Banquet was the only opportunity to build a closer relationship.

Upon entering the hall, among the full hall of scholars, Ye Yu was the youngest and the most popular, at least on the surface. An 18-year-old top scholar was rare since the founding of the dynasty.

The spacious hall had only a dozen or so scholars, which seemed rather empty. In the past, there were usually two or three dozen, and sometimes even a hundred. However, this also showed the strictness of the examination and the grading of this year's imperial examination.

Shortly after Ye Yu entered the hall, the chief examiners Yue Lin and Fan Chengda walked in, and everyone bowed to show respect.

Fan Chengda waved his hand to indicate that there was no need for formalities and then said solemnly to everyone, "You are all young and outstanding scholars, and in the future, you will be the pillars of the court! Do you know why, during the autumn examination, I issued a blank test paper?"

"Um..."

Fan Chengda's question left the dozen or so scholars at a loss for words, as they were still confused about the meaning of the blank test paper.

However, most of the scholars' gazes were directed at Ye Yu, who was seated at the top, as he was the top scholar of this year and the most qualified and capable to answer this question.

Feeling the unusual gazes of the others and seeing the expectant looks of the two chief examiners, Ye Yu felt that he had to say something. Just as he was about to push his wheelchair forward to answer, a young man stepped out from the seats.

He first bowed to the two chief examiners and then said respectfully, "This student, Meng Tong, believes that the chief examiner must have intended to warn us students that if we become officials in the future, we must remain as clean as a blank sheet of paper!"

"Oh? Meng Tong? The second-place scholar of this year's autumn examination. Hmm! Your answer does have some merit!" Fan Chengda stroked his short beard and nodded, but then added, "However, you have not fully understood the deeper meaning of my question!"

"Ah..."

Hearing this, Meng Tong's expression turned awkward. He had been confident just a moment ago, but now he blushed and stepped back.

"Yue Chen, do you know the deeper meaning?" Fan Chengda turned his gaze to the yellow-faced scholar.

Yue Lin, who was seated at the top with Fan Chengda, waved his hand and said, "Brother Fan, my son is only ranked seventh and passed the examination by chance. Asking him would be futile."

Fan Chengda, however, was not convinced and smiled, "Brother Yue, you are too modest. I have read your son's essay, and it is very well-written. How can you say he passed by chance?"

At this, Yue Chen hesitated for a moment before stepping into the hall and said solemnly, "This student, Yue Chen, did not know the meaning of the blank test paper, so I left it blank..."

What? A blank test paper? As soon as Yue Chen finished speaking, a murmur of surprise spread through the hall. The scholars began to whisper, expressing doubts about the fairness of the examination.

The imperial examination tested the candidates on the classics, the ink questions, and the poetry and essays. Yue Chen had submitted a blank paper for the final essay, yet he still ranked seventh, which caused some dissatisfaction among the five scholars who ranked below him.

Although they did not know the meaning of the blank paper, they had at least put in a lot of effort to answer the questions.

Yue Lin, seeing the scholars' murmurs, had the authority to reprimand them as the chief examiner, but to avoid a conflict of interest, he turned his gaze to Fan Chengda.

"Such noise is inappropriate!" Fan Chengda glared at the scholars, and they quickly fell silent. He then continued, "I know you are dissatisfied and suspect that I and Chief Examiner Yue have acted unfairly. Is that not so?"

"The student dares not!"

"Hmph! You dare not? Let me tell you, in the three exams of the imperial examination, only one out of over a thousand candidates in this state answered the final essay correctly!"

"And you, who have passed the examination, did so only because you performed well in the first two exams! Tell me, what is the difference between your thousands of words in the final essay, which were off-topic, and Yue Chen's blank paper?"

Sigh!

Fan Chengda's words left the scholars stunned. They never expected that their thousands of words in the final essay would be marked as off-topic and given zero points.

Ye Yu, sitting in the hall, was also shocked. He had not expected that nearly two thousand candidates in Chuzhou had almost all failed the final question. Only one person had answered the blank test paper correctly. Could it be...

At this moment, Ye Yu thought of himself. If it was not him, he would not have been the top scholar. At the same time, all the scholars in the hall turned their gazes to Ye Yu, as they believed he was the only one who had answered the blank test paper correctly.

When Ye Yu looked at the two chief examiners for confirmation, Fan Chengda said, "Ye Yu, as the top scholar of this year's autumn examination, you are also the only one who answered the blank test paper correctly!"

Wow!

The confirmation of their guess left the scholars with mixed feelings. Some were envious and admiring, while others were secretly critical and dismissive. Scholars have always been competitive, and even if they knew they were inferior, they still acted dismissively.

"The student is humbled! It was a lucky guess, and I was fortunate to see the deeper meaning!"

"At first, Chief Examiner Yue said you would definitely rank in the top three in the autumn examination, and I had my doubts. Now it seems that it was not a lucky guess but a certainty! Today, at this Lu Ming Banquet, you will explain to the scholars the meaning of the blank test paper..."

"Yes!"

After receiving the order, Ye Yu turned his wheelchair toward the scholars, organized his thoughts, and then said solemnly, "The so-called blank test paper actually had a question, but the question was not on the paper! On the day of the third exam, the drum should have been beaten once to start the exam. However, it was beaten three times, which was unreasonable. I believe you can now guess the answer..."

When Ye Yu said this, Meng Tong, who had been frowning, asked in a low voice, "Are you saying that the question was in the 'drum'?"

"Top Scholar Ye, could the question be 'Three Beats of the Drum'?" Yue Chen suddenly realized and asked Ye Yu with a mix of joy and worry.

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