USWHC -Chapter 400 Openly Copying (Part 10)

“Heh, you’re really not just ordinarily bold!” The county magistrate looked at his shameless, “like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water” attitude and actually laughed. “Doing something like this—did Confucius approve of it?”

“The teachings of the Sage Confucius are something every scholar should keep firmly in mind!” Ji Yi replied calmly.

The magistrate immediately exploded. “Keeping them in mind doesn’t mean you should copy them verbatim during the exam! And you still dare say you didn’t cheat? I’d say even plagiarists do a better job than you! Enough—tell me, how much did you pay?”

“Not a single coin!” Ji Yi said, standing tall with his head held high.

Seeing his attitude, the magistrate’s mouth twisted in anger. He sneered coldly, “Fine, you won’t admit it—someone else will!” With a wave of his hand, he ordered, “Bring Liu Xuezheng here!”

Was this to confront Ji Yi face-to-face? Before long, a red-faced man staggered in, swaying from side to side. True to his nickname “Drunkard Liu,” he hadn’t even approached yet, but the smell of alcohol had already spread far and wide.

He stumbled and lunged forward. From a distance, people thought he was about to kneel to the magistrate—but instead, he rushed straight up to him, grinned foolishly, and said, “Little Xu, you were looking for me?”

What an “affectionate” nickname! Yes, the magistrate’s surname was Xu—but right now, he had no desire to have it called out like that in public by this drunkard. He barked coldly, “Insolence! At a time like this, you still dare to be drunk?”

“Not drunk, not drunk… If you don’t believe me, go get me another two jin—I guarantee I’ll drink you under the table!” Liu Xuezheng said, then let out a loud burp, nearly knocking Magistrate Xu unconscious from the fumes.

Holding his breath in disgust, the magistrate waved his hands to disperse the stench and muttered, “Still drinking like this—seeking death!”

Then he turned and shouted to the registrar, “Why aren’t you sobering him up?!”

The registrar immediately signaled to someone nearby, and a basin of water was brought over. To be honest, he didn’t want to make things too ugly at first, so he simply scooped up a bowl of cold water and forcefully poured it into Liu Xuezheng’s mouth, hoping to sober him up.

But unexpectedly, Liu Xuezheng had an incredible tolerance—he gulped it all down in big swallows. After finishing, he wiped his mouth and shouted, “Good—good wine!”

At that, everyone burst out laughing. Indeed, all eyes were wide open now, eager to see what kind of person this Liu Xuezheng was—someone who had actually selected an essay quoting Confucius. Such audacity!

Now that they saw him—just a drunkard! He must have been completely plastered at the time and picked it at random.

Not just others—even Ji Yi stared at him in astonishment. He couldn’t help it; he was curious too. What kind of person was this, that he could pass just by copying the Analects? Yes—he had done it deliberately. He truly hadn’t wanted to pass the exam. But who would’ve thought… there’d be a drunkard with an eye for “talent”…

Amid the unrestrained laughter, the registrar finally lost his temper. He grabbed the basin and splash! dumped the entire thing over Liu Xuezheng’s face. The man was drenched from head to toe, yet still muttered under his breath, “That’s no way to pour wine… such a waste…”

Hearing that, both the magistrate and the registrar nearly fainted. Just how drunk was he?!

The magistrate grew furious. Without thinking, he grabbed the brush-washing water from the table and flung it over as well—he was truly enraged.

“Drink! Let’s see if it kills you!” he cursed angrily.

Unexpectedly, Liu Xuezheng actually opened his mouth to drink—but after just one sip, he spat it out immediately. “Ptooey! Why does this taste rotten?” Grimacing, he shouted while spitting out ink. Now he truly had “ink in his belly—and it stank!”

Seeing that he had finally sobered up a bit, the magistrate coldly asked, “Speak! How much money did you take for this exam?”

Liu Xuezheng had just managed to steady himself when he heard such a sharp question. He froze, then muttered, “Didn’t we split it already? Half for you, half for me!”

The moment he said that, the magistrate couldn’t sit still anymore—he nearly slammed the gavel hard enough to kill him on the spot!