EMHTC -Chapter 129 The Professional Substitute Exam-Taker — Five Candidates Guaranteed Passes

Of course, not all candidates were like this. Most had solid foundations, and while some had weak spots, they weren’t this ridiculous.

As for those with exceptional knowledge—

Xu Yanmiao saw that Gao He had already taken out rice and charcoal, lighting a small stove in his examination cubicle to steam porridge.

His exam paper was filled with answers, and he looked confident. Unhurriedly, he even measured the water level with his fingers—after all, the firepower was weak, and too little water would leave the rice undercooked and hard to eat.

In the cubicle next door was cousin.

The aroma of porridge wafted over, and his cousin simply stopped writing. He pulled out a carton of soy milk from his box, along with his favorite crispy fried dough twists, and dunked them in, crunching away without restraint.

—His laziness was so extreme that Xu Yanmiao suspected he had no intention of passing the imperial exam at all and was simply forced here by his family.

Meanwhile, the eldest grandson—the one constantly running to the latrine—had also started his stove, presumably to boil hot water in hopes of settling his stomach.

Now that he was quiet, the yellow-faced man in the stinking cubicle next door could finally take a breath. He pinched a chunk of flesh on his thigh to stay awake, bit down hard on his left hand until it bled, and forced himself to keep writing, desperate to avoid passing out from the stench.

Xu Yanmiao continued to observe others.

For instance, Liang Rui’s eldest son, Liang Youwen, had wrapped himself up like a silkworm, leaving only his forehead and arms exposed, meticulously answering each question.

His younger brother, Liang Youwu, was also diligently writing. When Xu Yanmiao took a lap downstairs and returned to the upper floor, he saw that Liang Youwu’s handwriting was exceptionally neat. However, he seemed stuck on a difficult question, repeatedly patting the back of his own head.

Watching an imperial exam could reveal quite a lot.

The wealthy candidates brought pastries, ginseng, and even dried duck. The poorer ones had to cook porridge themselves—or worse, they couldn’t even afford charcoal or a stove, forced to chew on cold, hardened flatbread they had brought along.

The young examinees were full of spirit, brimming with ambition.

The elderly ones—those in their sixties and seventies—struggled just to catch their breath, their faces filled with despair.

At that moment, Xu Yanmiao felt that he had done something truly great!

【I have ensured fairness for most examinees! (Hands on hips)】

【I even rejected some unreasonable exam questions!】

【Oh, not questions like Lady Jun’s Husband and Yang Huo’s Desires—those are just difficult, not unfair.】

【But I have no idea what Academician Le was thinking. Even if he was overjoyed to have taken in an outstanding disciple, he shouldn’t have used his student’s new poem as an exam question—and then falsely claimed it was from The Greater Odes of the Kingdom!】

【If the system hadn’t picked up on the gossip, we would have all been fooled!】

All the examiners who set the questions suddenly fell into awkward silence.

One of them, the Director of the Imperial Academy, muttered in frustration, “You can’t really blame us for being fooled!”

Academician Le was a Hanlin Scholar—the highest-ranking official in the Hanlin Academy! Only individuals of extraordinary talent could hold this position! When someone of his status confidently stated that a verse came from a classical text, others would only feel ashamed for not remembering it themselves—who would dare suspect that the esteemed scholar was outright lying?

The Minister of War smirked teasingly at Academician Le.

The seventy-something-year-old scholar turned red with embarrassment. He lifted his hand to press against his forehead, and his loose sleeve slid down, conveniently covering his face.

He himself had no idea what had possessed him at the time—why had he used an imperial exam question to pull such a stunt?

Now that he had calmed down, he could already imagine the outrage if Xu Yanmiao hadn’t caught the issue in time. Once the examinees realized that the question was falsely attributed to The Greater Odes of the Kingdom, their fury would have been immeasurable.

The Director of the Imperial Academy, seeing the esteemed scholar so flustered, couldn’t help but chuckle. “You don’t need to feel too bad. This issue isn’t exactly minor, but it’s not the end of the world either…”

Academician Le blinked in confusion.

The director lowered his voice, preparing to smooth things over and earn some favor with the scholar. He idly twirled a brush in his fingers—completely unaware that Xu Yanmiao was watching him with a puzzled expression.

【Huh? Why is Director Wu still in the mood to chat? His mistake is even bigger! Even I wouldn’t dare go that far!】

Hearing this, the director jerked his hand, slamming his wrist against the edge of the table, nearly dropping the brush.

This time, Academician Le was the one consoling him. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. Your issue is indeed a bit more serious, but you meant well. His Majesty won’t—”

The director forced a stiff smile, his gaze locking onto Xu Yanmiao’s reflection in the lacquered column.

Meanwhile, Xu Yanmiao lowered his head, wiping his face with a clean handkerchief to wake himself up.

And, of course, he took the opportunity to complain internally—

【Setting a policy question about The Emperor Begging from Neighboring States? Just because the old emperor takes pride in his rise from slavery to the throne doesn’t mean he wants people to highlight his days of begging in an exam! Even a regular scholar could tell you that was a bad idea!】

Outside the Examination Hall, in a Private Room at a Teahouse

The Crown Prince: “Hiss—”

Princess Xiangyang: “Wow—”

Empress Dou: “Pfft—”

The old emperor remained expressionless as he forcefully cracked a boiled egg against the table and peeled it with a blank face.

The eggshell shattered with a crisp crack, crack on the table. The old emperor let out a dry chuckle. “There is nothing in my past that I cannot speak of. This Director of the Imperial Academy is truly one of my most trusted ministers. Once the exam concludes, I will personally have a chat with him.”

The Crown Prince gathered the eggshells together and, in a symbolic gesture, built a small grave mound for a certain someone inside the examination hall.

Good luck—

Amitabha—

Meanwhile, directly across from the teahouse, inside a residential building, the Examination Department official of the Ministry of Personnel stopped mid-motion from ramming his head into a pillar. He stared at the examination hall wall in utter shock: “He, he, he—”

The Assistant Minister of the Directorate of Imperial Banquets couldn’t help but give a big thumbs-up. “I am not as bold as him! No wonder he was able to rise to the position of Director of the Imperial Academy! Such audacity is truly rare in this world!”

To come up with an exam question like ‘The Emperor Begging from Neighboring States’—if that’s not gutsy, then what is?

Meanwhile, Inside the Examination Hall

The Director of the Imperial Academy remained utterly unrepentant.

He muttered to Academician Le, “I think my question was excellent. It teaches the candidates just how heroic and destined for greatness His Majesty is. For centuries, has there ever been another like him, someone who rose from such a humble background to become the Son of Heaven?”

Academician Le studied his expression, feeling a bit suspicious.

Why did it seem like… when Xu Yanmiao exposed his exam question, instead of panicking, he actually looked relieved?

Was he afraid of Xu Yanmiao?

Afraid of what? Afraid that Xu Yanmiao would reveal some secret of his?

Seeing that Academician Le wasn’t in the mood to continue the conversation, the Director of the Imperial Academy awkwardly excused himself. He grabbed a low wooden stool, moved it to a sunny spot by the window, and lounged there comfortably. Only occasionally did he get up and take a slow stroll to inspect the examination cubicles.

His inspections were carried out by the book, without any signs of favoritism or corruption.

Academician Le smirked. He suddenly felt like he was being overly paranoid—wasn’t it normal for people to have secrets? Being afraid that Xu Yanmiao would expose them was also understandable. Besides, the secret might not even have anything to do with the imperial examination.

Inside the Exam Hall

【Whoa—】

【Another cheater!】

【Mark him down! We’ll find a chance to drag him out later!】

…Excuse me, what?!

The entire room of examiners nearly collapsed.

Catching a cheater before the exam starts was one thing. Catching one after the exam had begun? That was a completely different matter!

Especially the latter—it could implicate the examiners and lead to heads rolling!

And it was a good thing they didn’t know that the emperor himself was listening in outside the examination hall. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have almost collapsed—they would’ve been long gone.

The Minister of War sat stiffly in his chair, not daring to move, afraid that any action might draw Xu Yanmiao’s suspicion. But in his mind, he was already rehearsing the steps for banging the gong and sending off the plague god.

Please, I beg you, Xu Yanmiao!

Please let it be an isolated case of cheating! Please don’t let this implicate a large number of people!

Wait—

The Minister of War suddenly thought of something that made his hair stand on end.

He stiffly turned his neck to look at the other examiners, and from their expressions, he could see the same terror reflected in their eyes.

Given how thoroughly Xiao Baize had searched outside the exam hall, it was practically impossible for anyone to have successfully smuggled in cheat sheets! If it wasn’t hidden notes, then the only explanation was that a candidate had colluded with an examiner!

Outside the Examination Hall

The Examination Department official of the Ministry of Personnel was sweating profusely, praying non-stop: “It has nothing to do with my family, nothing to do with my family, nothing to do with my family…”

The Assistant Minister of the Directorate of Imperial Banquets thought for a moment about his eldest grandson’s personality and let out a small sigh of relief.

Knowing his grandson, if he was the type to cheat for better exam results, he wouldn’t have snuck out the night before the exam to eat hotpot.

—That particular method of sneaking out had, after all, originated from Xu Yanmiao.

Inside the Teahouse

The old emperor calmly ate his boiled egg, placing a slice of steamed ham on top—perfect for pairing with rice or congee—as if he hadn’t heard Xu Yanmiao’s inner thoughts at all.

When he glanced up and noticed the grim expressions of those around him, he chuckled, “No need to be so serious. Eat. Eat well.”

He picked up his chopsticks and placed a slice of steamed ham on each of their plates.

“Eat your fill…”

“So you’ll have the strength to draw your blades later.”

Inside the Examination Hall

Xu Yanmiao started searching for the culprit through the system.

【Candidate from the ‘Tian’ section…】

The examiners peered out the windows, scanning the rows of pigeonhole-like exam cubicles below.

【Number 20!】

Countless pairs of eyes instantly locked onto Exam Room 20.

But the visibility inside was poor.

The Minister of War had already begun contemplating how he could naturally walk over there and casually discover the cheating.

For now… he decided to listen and see if Xiao Baize would reveal the method of cheating.

【Tsk, tsk. That’s some misplaced intelligence.】

Xu Yanmiao clicked his tongue. In his opinion, the candidates who only knew how to smuggle in cheat sheets were too honest.

【Other people are hiring stand-ins to take the exam for them. And not just any random stand-ins—they’re hiring candidates who have already passed the provincial exams. Meanwhile, you guys are still using your real names to cheat.】

【Both people enter the exam hall, but when it’s time to submit the papers, they swap names at the last moment. With the names blurred together, no one can tell who was the real candidate—if it weren’t for the system upgrade, I wouldn’t have been able to catch these two at all.】

The Minister of War’s mouth twitched.

So you’re telling me they’re applying military strategy to cheating?!

What was this? The Thirty-Six Stratagems—Crossing the Sea Under Camouflage?

This was much more discreet than relying on connections and having examiners turn a blind eye during the name verification process. After all, the stand-in was a legitimate candidate with an official exam pass and an assigned seat.

【Hiss—】

【“This guy has already been a stand-in for five imperial exams! And every time, he helped someone make it onto the list!”】

【If you’re this good, why are you even being a stand-in?! Five times! Fifteen years! Do you even realize what rank you could have reached by now?!】

Outside the Examination Hall

The Crown Prince also sucked in a breath.

“Fifteen years?!”

That meant at least five officials were holding positions they didn’t deserve!

The Crown Prince turned his head and saw that his father had already finished his egg. The emperor was leisurely wiping his mouth, a bit of yolk clinging to his fingernail. A moment later, even that trace of yolk was gone.

【Anyway, the first person you took the exam for is now an Assistant Director in the Ministry of War. A fifth-rank official!】

The Tiantong Emperor narrowed his eyes.

There were two Assistant Directors in the Ministry of War. It wasn’t clear yet which one was the culprit, but it would be easy to find out—just check which of the two had taken the imperial exam in the same year as the stand-in.

—And as it happened, these two officials had not passed in the same year.

At that moment, one of the Assistant Directors, who had been casually watching the show, inadvertently exposed himself. Upon hearing these words, his foot slipped, and he nearly fell.

In an instant, the surrounding officials instinctively stepped back—at least ten paces away—to avoid any association. No one wanted the emperor to think they were too friendly with him.

【Oh, oh! There’s also the current Prefect of Tianzhou! And he’s even from the same clan as the Vice Minister of the Imperial Stables!】

The Prefect of Tianzhou wasn’t present, but the Vice Minister of the Imperial Stables was, and he immediately teared up, desperately counting whether his kinship with the Prefect fell within the nine generations that could be implicated.

【And there’s more…】

Xu Yanmiao was excitedly scanning the list, while outside, the Jin Yiwei (Imperial Secret Police) were vigorously taking notes, occasionally licking their lips, eyes gleaming with a predatory glint.

—After all, it was the Jin Yiwei’s job to arrest the families of these corrupt officials!

Another batch of achievements! Another opportunity to seize some… extra benefits!

Now, all they had to do was wait for the first round of the imperial exam to conclude. Once the candidate in Exam Room 20 filled in the stand-in’s name on the answer sheet, they could catch him red-handed. Then, the Jin Yiwei could be unleashed!

“Oh, right.”

The Tiantong Emperor spoke calmly: “Make sure to identify the chief and deputy examiners of those past imperial exams as well. Their failure to supervise properly… Heh.”