Nie Huai had a different opinion from her.
“At this moment, at the very least, we must remove doubts about my ability before I can firmly hold the position of Grand Tutor. As for other methods in the future…”
Nie Huai raised his eyes. They were confident and bright.
“Once I become the Grand Tutor, I naturally won’t need to fear them.”
The Grand Tutor is a first-rank official position, and Nie Huai was confident he could secure it.
Feng Zhao thought for a moment and said, “Even so, the imperial examination for the spring recruitment is still some time away. I cannot wait that long.”
“Then we won’t wait,” Nie Huai replied. He already had a plan in mind. Feng Zhao, reminded by him, also thought of something else.
Not long after, the Empress Dowager issued an imperial decree:
Because many people had come to compete for the position of Grand Tutor, a competition would be held three days later. The candidates would compete in an examination to test their abilities. The strongest would become Grand Tutor. No matter who won in the end, no one would be allowed to question their ability or status afterward.
When Wen Meier heard this, she found it strange.
“What do they mean by ‘many people competing’? There are only two candidates, including Yuan Chao—and Yuan Chao is already disabled.”
Wen Chenglin slowly rubbed the jade ring on his thumb, deep in thought. Soon, he understood Feng Zhao’s intention.
“She is letting Nie Huai participate in the exam because she is confident in his ability. Since that’s the case, if I want to test his real strength, I will send people to compete.”
“First, to test him. Second, to replace Nie Huai with our own man. Either way, the Wen family will be involved.”
“If we are involved, then there will be enough participants.”
What a deep plan.
Feng Zhao’s scheme was open and direct—she dug a pit and made Wen Chenglin jump into it, and he had no choice but to do so.
..
Three days later, the Grand Tutor selection examination was held.
A total of ten people participated. Besides Nie Huai, the other nine were all from the Wen family.
Their goal was simple: if Nie Huai was strong, they would push him down and replace him.
The exam started at the hour of Chen (morning).
It had two rounds:
The written test was simply answering questions on paper. The debate round was held in front of the court, where officials argued with each other. Whoever could leave everyone speechless would directly be promoted to first-rank Grand Tutor.
The process looked fair, and both rounds were supervised by Feng Zhao. Outside the court, soldiers from Feng Ying were also patrolling to prevent cheating or leaking questions.
“Begin the exam!”
With Feng Zhao’s command, the first round began.
She sat behind the dragon throne, watching through a beaded curtain.
The Wen family was very confident in their candidates. Their confidence was shown by one thing—their helpers were all very old.
Older people had read more books, but this was only one advantage. This selection was about overall ability, not just book knowledge.
Feng Zhao was not worried that Nie Huai would lose. After all, he was the “protagonist’s” person—how could he be defeated so easily?
At this moment, the so-called protagonist was actually being held inside Feng Zhao’s wide sleeve.
She had heard from a maid that the black cat would not scratch people anymore. So this time, knowing the supervision would take a long time, she brought the cat in her sleeve to pass time.
But the cat (Shen Chen) did not like being treated like a pet and kept struggling to hide.
Fortunately, Feng Zhao did not insist on petting him—she just wanted to pass the time.
No one knew that under the dragon throne, a “cat-catching game” was happening quietly.
When time passed and the timer ran out, officials from the Ministry of Rites came to collect the exam papers.
“Wait,” Feng Zhao said. “I do not trust the officials from the Ministry of Rites. Let Lord Wen grade the papers instead.”
The Ministry of Rites was controlled by the Wen family—the current minister was Wen Chenglin’s trusted man.
Everyone turned to look at Wen Chenglin.
Wen Chenglin also looked at Feng Zhao. Through the curtain, he could not see her face clearly, but he could feel her intentions.
“Does Lord Wen refuse?” she asked.
Wen Chenglin naturally did not want to grade papers, because everything had already been arranged.
Feng Zhao continued, “To show fairness, the answers will be posted outside the palace gate for public judgment. This is very important. Surely you will not refuse?”
At this point, Wen Chenglin could not say no.
“…Yes, I obey your command.”
He took the ten papers. Nine were from his own people, and he casually gave them some extra points.
Then he reached Nie Huai’s paper.
He glanced at Nie Huai, who smiled faintly at him.
Wen Chenglin tore a small corner of the paper.
Feng Zhao, sitting above, clearly saw everything and asked calmly:
“Lord Wen, why did you suddenly stop? Is there something wrong with the paper?”
“No, Your Majesty…”
“Then continue quickly.”
Wen Chenglin carefully checked the paper again and again, but he could not find a single flaw. Even the handwriting was perfect.
How is this possible? How could he defeat the scholars he had carefully chosen?
Finally, he had no choice but to give Nie Huai full marks.
This round—he lost.
But he would not give up. The second round of debate would not be so easy for Nie Huai.
..
When the Wen family heard the results, they were first surprised by Wen Chenglin’s “fairness,” then realized Feng Zhao’s true plan.
She had made Wen Chenglin grade the papers himself so he could not cheat.
What a clever move!
Everyone turned their attention to the second round and began targeting Nie Huai in debates, trying to help the Wen family’s nine candidates and suppress him alone.
Nie Huai was surrounded by many critics, but he remained calm and composed. He even occasionally found chances to respond elegantly, without using any insults.
The battle of scholars began.
Because almost all court officials were arguing with Nie Huai, the debate lasted a very long time—so long that it started in the morning and continued until noon.
Shen Chen was not interested in arguments, but he kept hearing a faint familiar voice among the noise.
Who was it?
He tried to jump down to find the source, but every time he tried, Feng Zhao caught him.
“Stop causing trouble. We are working.”
—I am also working!
Shen Chen refused to admit he was a cat, so he did not meow. Without meowing, he could only communicate with Feng Zhao mentally.
But Feng Zhao could not receive his “telepathic signal,” so she simply held him tightly under her sleeve.