Vol 2 Chapter 161 (1/2)
Chapter 161: Exaht, Fan Xian returned to his own place He chatted to Wan’er aboutan unexpected guest—vice-minister Xin Qiwu, the Crown Prince’s aide froiven a seat and some tea, Fan Xian stared at the names on the strip of paper He knehat Crown Prince was up to, but he didn't know the reason for this visit
”Why are you showing this tohis head, ”Vice-minister, I’m afraid I do not have the authority to interfere with the exa the process of negotiating with Northern Qi, the two of them were head and assistant deputies They had cooperated quite ith one another, and there were no character conflicts Furtherether So it was no wonder that they had become more familiar with each other today Xin Qiwu took a sip of tea and explained, ”You should knohat those names an in two days At this crucial tianizations were all secretly in touch with each other; their back doors were almost broken Supposedly Guo You of the Board of Rites became annoyed by it, but he was afraid to provoke too many nobles, so he asked for Imperial permission to wait it out in the palace The exae into their own residence, and they dared not to leave
But, just based on the current authority of the eastern palace, Crown Prince should have access to plenty of ways if he wanted to pick out some talented people from this examination Everyone knew that Guo You was a firm supporter of the eastern palace, so it should be simple to deliver word to hi Fan Xian’s suspicion, Xin Qiwu shook his head ”Young Sir Fan, you are admired by all, but you don’t seem to understand the various custo examinations were passed down froes In order to prevent cheating, all the subraders could not associate the exa Thean exae fraud”
Xin Qiwu continued, ”Those six names on the paper – I’ve seen them all in person” He smiled, ”They are all very talented”
Fan Xian always thought of himself as a composed person But after Xin Qiwu left, he sat quietly in the study looking at the strip of paper He could feel anger faintly brewing Just two days before the exa with the director, head examiner, and other officials involved, his own position was a complicated but important one
Xin Qiwu had told him that the Imperial court had ordered him to be the proctor for this year’s exae of the exam The proctor held substantial authority Most iht, before the officials of the Board of Rites and teachers froe copied down the exaed for the next day, Fan Xian would be in charge of sealing all the examinees’ names
For those anted to play so they would have to take care of would be the sealing of the name Even if one were to bribe some official from the Board of Rites beforehand, the official couldn’t do much if the name seal wasn't ta had already beco Each of them contributed the best they could to provide some assumptions for reference As for the fa the position of e would do
That hy Crown Prince sent Xin
Qiwu directly to Fan Manor He didn’t think Fan Xian would betray hih, and noas time for Fan Xian to show his appreciation
Fan Xian looked at the paper strip again With a grin, he ripped it to pieces He then walked slowly back to his bedroom He was a bit thankful toward Second Prince Had Second Prince been planning the saht in the middle and it would be a difficult situation
But he was still underesti the complexity of it all
Lin Wan’er sat beside the table, looking at hiently knocked on the table The sheets of white paper next to her finger gave off a chill Fan Xian sighed and slapped his forehead ”Don’t tell me names are written on there”
Li Wan’er chuckled She stood up and walked over to hi onto his arm She said, ”You are sht I’d live a life of leisure just before setting off for Northern Qi Who knew…?” He finally couldn’t hold back anymore ”Who appointed me to this position?”
”My father, and yours” Lin Wan’er looked at him painfully, ”While not a head examiner, it’s still a crucial position Based on how it’s always been, the students that pass this year’s exam and become officials have to call you 'teacher' when they see you”
Fan Xian was still not pleased ”Don’t you think our fathers are being too enthusiastic? I’m only seventeen Do I have to be saluted by a bunch of pedantic scholars?”
Li Wan’er giggled ”With your current fame in the capital, there were even people anted you to oversee the exa thatthe youngest overseer in centuries”