“Shao-xiong! Shao-xiong! Quick, hide!”
Liu Mingyuan rushed breathlessly into the teahouse, not even pausing to catch his breath as he grabbed Shao Yanzhe’s arm to pull him away.
Shao Yanzhe looked confused and handed him a teacup. “Don’t rush, have some tea first. What’s happened?”
Liu Mingyuan didn’t take the tea. After gasping for breath a few times, he continued, “Shao-xiong, you’re this year’s Top Candidate. Those who failed are jealous and are spreading rumors that you cheated to get the top position! They’re coming here now. You should hide first!”
Shao Yanzhe frowned. He hadn’t expected to become the Top Candidate, let alone that it would cause such trouble.
Seeing him hesitate, Liu Mingyuan grew anxious. “Don’t just stand there! While they haven’t arrived yet, hide first!”
As he spoke, he grabbed Shao Yanzhe’s arm to lead him out.
Shao Yanzhe stopped him. “No, if I hide now, they definitely won’t let it go. They might spread even more damaging rumors about me.”
Nearby, Shen Jingzhou put down his teacup and stood up. “Shao-xiong is right. I trust Shao-xiong’s character and absolutely don’t believe he would cheat. I’ll testify for Shao-xiong when they come!”
Hearing this, Liu Mingyuan abandoned his earlier idea. Shao Yanzhe was right—hiding wouldn’t solve the problem.
“Alright, I admit your thinking is correct. So how should we handle this?” He plopped down, picked up the untouched teacup, and downed the now-cold tea in one gulp, moistening his dry throat and quenching the fire of impatience in his heart.
Shen Jingzhou suggested uncertainly, “How about having Shao-xiong compete with them in essay writing?”
Liu Mingyuan’s eyes lit up, slapping his folding fan against his palm. “That could work!”
Shao Yanzhe shook his head. “No.”
“Why not?” both asked in confusion.
Shao Yanzhe sat down and poured himself another cup of tea, gesturing for them to sit as well. “I shouldn’t have to prove I didn’t cheat on the Imperial Exam just because of their baseless suspicions. Shouldn’t they be the ones to provide evidence that I cheated?”
The two were momentarily stunned by his words, then suddenly understood.
Shen Jingzhou: “Shao-xiong is right! Since they suspect you cheated, they should present evidence!”
Liu Mingyuan looked at Shao Yanzhe with shining eyes. “Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that!”
Shao Yanzhe smiled slightly and took a sip from his teacup.
At that moment, Wen Yanqing and Su Yuheng, who had gone out with Liu Mingyuan earlier, returned.
“Eh? Why is Shao-xiong still here?” Wen Yanqing looked curiously at Shao Yanzhe, then at Liu Mingyuan.
Liu Mingyuan cheerfully repeated what Shao Yanzhe had just said, and both expressed admiration.
While the four were drinking tea and chatting, the accusers finally found them.
“Who is Shao Yanzhe?” A middle-aged man with a mustache strode into the teahouse shouting loudly. Other candidates followed behind him, apparently making him their temporary leader.
Hearing the commotion, Shao Yanzhe exchanged glances with the four, then put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to the stairway to look down.
“I am Shao Yanzhe. May I ask what business you have with me, sir?” he said, cupping his hands in salute toward the mustached man.
Instantly, all the examinees’ gazes fell upon him.
Standing at the staircase entrance on the teahouse’s second floor was a young scholar in his early twenties, dressed in a moon-white robe and exuding an air of refined elegance.
He appeared pale and somewhat frail, perfectly fitting the contemporary image of a scholar.
For some reason, being stared at by those distinct black-and-white eyes of his evoked an inexplicable urge to retreat.
“Brother Shao, are you aware of this year’s Imperial Examination results?” the man with the mustache inquired.
Shao Yanzhe stepped down the staircase, slowly walked to the second floor, and stopped three meters away from the crowd.
“I have already heard from my classmates and am aware of this year’s Imperial Examination results,” he replied.
“Then what are your thoughts on becoming the Top Candidate, Brother Shao? I have never heard of your reputation before. May I ask where you studied?” the mustached man asked with ill intent.
Shao Yanzhe’s expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn’t detected the implied meaning in the man’s words. He said, “This is what I rightfully deserve! Over the years, I have never let books leave my hands, studying by lamplight until late every night, completing Fuzi’s assignments flawlessly, and recently working tirelessly on nearly a hundred practice exams. I am not surprised by this achievement.”
“As for why you haven’t heard of my reputation, it’s simple: I never attend poetry gatherings or banquets. I focus solely on studying at Wenyuan Academy and only discuss essays with Fuzi and classmates. To me, reputation is unimportant.”
The mustached man’s face immediately darkened. Shao Yanzhe’s words were clearly a veiled criticism, implying that he didn’t concentrate on studies but only sought frivolous friendships.
What was more infuriating was how shamelessly he boasted about himself!
Suppressing his anger, the mustached man abandoned subtlety and directly accused, “What I mean is, did you cheat to become the Top Candidate, Brother Shao?”
Shao Yanzhe stared at him furiously. “Since you accuse me of cheating on the Imperial Exam, do you have evidence to prove it?”
Immediately, all eyes turned to the mustached man, waiting for him to produce proof of the scholar’s cheating.
The mustached man was speechless—where would he get such evidence!
Seeing his silence, Shao Yanzhe pressed on, “It seems you have no evidence of my cheating. If so, what are your motives for fabricating such accusations out of thin air?”
Flustered, the mustached man retorted, “But you had no prior reputation for talent! How could you possibly become the Top Candidate without cheating? Shen Jingzhou, the renowned scholar, was ranked below you—I refuse to believe your essays could surpass his!”
Shen Jingzhou quickly descended the stairs and said sternly, “Brother Shao is my classmate. I’m familiar with his essays—Fuzi has praised them, and I’ve studied them myself. Our writing abilities are comparable!”
Shao Yanzhe chuckled lightly, nodding at Shen Jingzhou before declaring clearly, “Everyone, this is the first time I’ve heard that achieving the Top Candidate without prior fame constitutes cheating. How absurd!”
The surrounding crowd nodded in agreement, pointing and criticizing the troublemakers, especially the mustached man leading them, with clear disapproval in their eyes.
They too had no reputation for talent. If one day their ancestral graves emitted blue smoke and they also managed to become Top Candidates, only to be slandered like this—just imagining it made their eyes burn with fury.
They had worked just as hard as this scholar who achieved the Top Candidate position—what was wrong with becoming a Top Candidate?
Thinking of this, they grew even more enraged.
“How utterly ridiculous! Since this gentleman claims Brother Shao cheated, where is the evidence?” one person questioned.
“Exactly! Judgment must be based on evidence. Without evidence, this gentleman should not make baseless assumptions. You must know that false accusation is a serious crime under the Great Yong Law—those who falsely accuse others shall be stripped of their scholarly rank and sentenced to caning or exile. Those who spread rumors to mislead the public shall be beheaded after imprisonment.” A scholar well-versed in the Great Yong Law spoke up.
Instantly, those standing near the mustached man stepped back in unison, and some positioned further away hurriedly departed.
In mere moments, the original group of dozens dwindled to a sparse dozen or so people.
The mustached man panicked and hastily defended himself: “No, it wasn’t me who said Brother Shao cheated! Someone else said it, and I merely believed that person’s words, which led me to think Brother Shao had cheated.”
Shao Yanzhe sighed and said, “This gentleman, you ought to understand that trouble comes from the mouth.”
After speaking, he looked past them with a sympathetic gaze.
“Arrest them all!”
A minor officer in armor commanded the soldiers behind him to surround the scholars gathered at the teahouse entrance, then proceeded to restrain each scholar’s hands behind their back.
Liu Mingyuan walked in from outside the teahouse and smiled at Shao Yanzhe.
Shao Yanzhe nodded in acknowledgment. As a modern person, the instinct to seek the police in times of trouble was ingrained in his bones, so he had asked Liu Mingyuan to fetch officials from the magistrate’s office.
“No, don’t arrest me! It has nothing to do with me!”
“Waaah! Let me go!”
“It’s not my fault! Please release me!”
“I didn’t say it! Let me go!”
Shao Yanzhe watched them being taken away, sighing and shaking his head. These people truly lacked intelligence, allowing themselves to be used as pawns.
He turned to the scholars still seated in the teahouse, clasped his hands, and expressed gratitude: “Thank you all for speaking up for justice!”
“No need for thanks!”
“Indeed! Actually, I’d rather like to see the hundred exam papers you’ve worked on, brother.”
“I’d like to as well!”
“And I!”
“Not only do I want to see them, but I’d also like to hear your insights on studying!”
Shao Yanzhe laughed heartily and agreed directly: “No problem! The exam papers are at the academy, so we probably can’t view them now. But we can exchange our thoughts on studying for now.”
“Excellent!”
Everyone gathered together, discussing their study experiences while drinking tea, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
By dusk, the five of them left the teahouse and headed together to a restaurant they had reserved earlier.
“Brother Shao, I offer you a toast.” Shen Jingzhou picked up a cup of wine and looked at Shao Yanzhe.
Shao Yanzhe smiled slightly and raised his own cup: “Cheers!”
The two drank in one go and smiled at each other.
“How about we all drink together? This Imperial Examination has granted us both the Xiucai title. In the future, we can take the Provincial Examination together and keep each other company. What do you say?” Liu Mingyuan suggested.
“Agreed!” the other four replied.
Through this incident, the five of them had formed a favorable impression of each other’s character and temperament.
After eating and drinking their fill, the five parted ways at the crossroads, each returning home.
Shao Yanzhe carried a lantern in one hand, walking toward Wenyuan Academy in the warm yellow glow of the candlelight.
He glanced up at the sky, where the disc-like moon was half-obscured by dark clouds, creating a rather poetic scene.
It was now Xu Zheng (8 PM in modern time), an hour when nightlife would just be beginning in the contemporary era, but in ancient times, it was nearly bedtime, with hardly anyone out on the streets.
Shao Yanzhe walked alone on the dark path, initially unfazed, but soon he noticed something amiss.
It seemed that behind him, he could hear footsteps.
Author’s note: