Jing Wan'er slowly released Lin Jingjing's hand that was holding the pen, looking at Lin Jingjing finally struggling to finish writing a few words on the paper. The handwriting on the paper was crooked and uneven, but it made people feel a deeper heartache.

  Because it was written on top, clearly "Fan Wen Jun" three words.

  This morning, Lin Jingjing suddenly asked Jing Wanyu to teach her how to write, with tears in her eyes, which made Jing Wanyu unbearable.

  It was all for this moment.

  This woman who had never read a book before was making such an effort to write with ink to remember her lover's name.

  Lin Jing clenched her teeth and endured the tears in her eyes, Fan Wenjun was no longer in this world, but his name she had to remember for a lifetime.

  Jing Wan'er couldn't bear to look and involuntarily lowered her eyelids.

  At this time, footsteps came from the dark door, and two women looked up at the sound with different expressions. One face still had an air of desolation that could not be concealed, while the other face was tinged with a hint of expectation.

  Bai Tan's figure indeed appeared there, "Sir." Jing Wanyu called out.

  Pei Tan changed into his usual simple blue robe and walked over to the desk, where he saw the words written by Lin Jingjing.

  Lin Jingjing seemed a bit embarrassed at this time, slightly lowering her head and saying: "I've made a fool of myself in front of you, sir."

  Pei Tan looked at the three words "Fan Wen Jun" on the paper, his eyes had a faint, dim glow.

  "He said: 'It's written very well.'"

  Jing Wan'er turned her head and glanced at Pei Tan, this person's unintentional gentleness made him not seem like a dignified official who handled cases with his brush, but rather someone high above, in the depths of his eyes, he could even see the pain of a humble woman like Lin Jingjing.

  Jing Wan'er also slightly lowered her eyes, as if she was also avoiding something.

  At this moment, outside the examination room, someone who thought they had done well in the exam walked away with their head held high and a proud expression.

  These poor young men, apart from their proud bones, are their true talents and learning that can surpass the children of noble families. Ten years of hard study is all for these three days.

  That Huangmen Shilang slowly reported to the chief examiner Zong Chuke about what happened in the early morning.

  As the examiners, Grand Preceptor Wei Xuanzhen and Zong Chuke, as well as two other chief examiners, were specially excused from attending early court by Emperor Zhong. After the imperial examination came the reading of the papers, but without an examiner present to supervise, how could fairness be guaranteed for so many examinees?

  Huangmen Shilang said with a few words of color about the morning court, but Zong Chuke's face was not happy at all. The emperor's partiality to the Grand Justice Temple and Pei Tan had long been seen by him, and previously Pei Tan was blocked from entering the palace to see the emperor, but this time he appeared in the morning court, making Zong Chuke's heart even more gloomy.

  He coldly looked at the yellow gate servant who was trying to curry favor and said: "What he said to Your Majesty, did you all hear every word?"

  Huang Men Shilang smiled faintly: "I heard that when Your Majesty scolded him, all the civil and military officials in the court were present. That Pei Tan was really humiliated, losing face completely. Now, Minister of Works, you can rest assured."

  As long as Pei Tan thoroughly loses heart under Your Majesty, Zong Chuke's purpose of revenge is also achieved.

  Ke Zong Chu Ke continued to press: "And then, Your Majesty didn't say anything?"

  The Huangmen Shilang paused for a moment before saying, "When the court retired, Your Majesty asked Pei Tan to stay behind in the great hall and asked him a few questions, roughly the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea."

  The time for a cup of tea is not long, otherwise it would not be possible to meet with the officials who are retiring from court.

  Zong Chuke's face flashed with a hint of gloom.

  The Huangmen Shilang said, "Is the Minister of Works being overly anxious? Although Pei Tan has committed a serious offense, Your Majesty's anger towards him is reasonable."

  Zong Chuke gave him a sinister glance, "People die quickly because they are too proud and forget their shape."

  That eunuch's face stiffened, his flattery fell flat, and he ended up looking like a dog instead of a tiger.

  For someone like Pei Tan to be so careless, in Zong Chuke's eyes, it was no wonder he was so foolish.

  When the examiner reads the papers, all the people around are cleared away. Several rooms are arranged for the officials to read the papers separately. All the examination papers seem to have the examinee's name sealed, and no one knows who it is.

  One of the examiners picked out an article and slowly looked at the person next to him.

  He took the exam paper, glanced at it, and nodded slowly to the examiner.

  He then pulled out a dagger from his sleeve, carefully cut along the line of the name on the exam paper, and casually threw away the remaining names at his feet.

  This outstanding composition was quickly rolled up and taken away, leaving the room.

  The man walked silently, holding the test paper and went to a nearby room, knocking on the door.

  The door was quickly opened and a small servant-like face appeared, "Did you bring it?"

  The man handed in his exam paper.

  The little servant took a glance and quickly closed the door. The man rolled up his sleeves and stood waiting outside.

  About half a short while later, the door was opened again. It was still that little servant who quietly handed over a rolled-up paper to the person outside the door.

  A package of silver was also sent along with it.

  That man took away the examination papers and silver, just this one examination paper, from 30,000 taels of gold to 10,000 taels of silver, the truly great essays have all been taken by the sons of various prominent families, in such a way that they quietly replaced each other, when it came to the imperial examination, naturally they were all relatives of these prominent families.

  That person returned to the examination room and handed a new scroll to the examiner from earlier.

  The examiner unfolded it and took a quick glance, the ink on the test paper had not yet dried, and the content was exactly the same as the article that was just cut off.

  A moment later, the examiner picked up a red pen next to him and marked an "Excellent" on the paper.

  ——

  In the Da Li Temple, Pei Tan carefully spread out Fan Wenjun's article on the table again. The topic of this big exam was "Harsh Taxes and Corvee".

  "The country's duplicate, for the people then plan."

  As Pei Tan slowly spoke out his thoughts, Lin Jingjing across from him said in a daze, "The people regard food as their heaven, who knows what can be expected..."

  Pei Tan suddenly lifted his head and stared at Lin Jingjing's pale face.

  Jing Wan'er's eyes widened in surprise: "Lin Niang, is it you?"

  Pei Tan unconsciously crumpled a corner of the paper, looking at Lin Jingjing, "Doesn't the official remember that you've never read books?"

  Just now, Lin Qingqing was still struggling to learn how to write, even the name of her beloved boyfriend was taught by Jing Wanyan.

  Lin Jingjing seemed to stare at Pei Tan in a daze as well, and after a long time, she said, "I've been listening to Fan Lang recite for a long time..."

  It's been a long, long time... She was tidying up the narrow and damp guest room in his house, but as soon as she looked up at him and heard his clear voice reading books, Lin Jingjing felt that her life, which had been dull and lifeless like a walking corpse in that brothel, finally had some light shining on her.

  But even this light was cruelly taken away.

  The one who took everything away...

  Lin Jingjing's lip was bitten by hatred and bleeding.

  Pei Tan suddenly picked up Fan Wenjun's article on the table and walked away from the table. He went to Lin Jingjing's opposite side.

  Lin Jing looked at Pei Tan with some confusion and puzzlement.

  Pei Tan pinched the article in his hand and slowly recited it behind his back, staring at Lin Jingjing and asked: "Can you still recite the rest?"

  Lin Jingjing was slightly startled, and Jing Wanyu's gaze shifted slightly, her innate keen sense of smell detecting something unusual.

  "All the people are allowed..." Lin Jingjing's trembling voice seemed to recall past events with tears, "Heavy taxes and corvee, no order to force the strong people to hide, but also to impose on the weak people, the household of able-bodied men, collect rent and grain two dan, annual output silk three pi, cotton three jin..."

  Pei Tan's hand behind his back grasped Article's hand, crumpling it more and more until it was a ball.

  A long article of a thousand words was recited by Lin Jingjing without any difference, and the expression on Qin Waner's face was extremely surprised. Not only did Lin Jingjing recite it fluently, but also with accurate pronunciation, clear and correct tones, and the ups and downs of her tone were similar to those of scholars when they recited books!

  Jing Wan'er couldn't help but ask: "Lin Niang, how did you manage to do it?"

  She taught her to write and imitate, this long article written in classical Chinese, the words that literate people found obscure and difficult to understand, how could Lin Jingjing recite them without missing a single word.

  Jing Wan'er asked herself, and she couldn't do it either.

  Lin Jingjing bowed her head and wept, her sobbing voice heart-wrenching. As she recited the last article written by her beloved before his passing.

  At that time, I thought I would never see this person again.

  Pei Tan Ning stood for a long time, that article he had crumpled up was like a burning ball of fire.

  Lin Jingjing wiped away her tears and looked up at Pei Tan: "Sir, I've finished reciting. Please, is there anything else you'd like to instruct me on?"

  Pei Tan had no idea what to do, and after searching for this article from Wenxi Inn, he himself read it more than a dozen times, completely memorizing every sentence on it, and reciting it with Lin Jingjing without any difference.

  Fan Wenjun's talent and ambition are fully reflected in this article, as well as his indignation and sympathy for the people who suffer from excessive taxes.

  This article can be said to be a bold stroke. It is also very consistent with this exam question, but if there are really candidates who write such an article and submit it to the examiner, they may be sentenced to treason.

  A commoner dares to question the imperial court, it's really unbearable. Even if what he says is true, for the sake of the imperial court's face, they won't admit that they have oppressed the people.

  "When did Fan Wenjun write this article?" Pei Tan finally let go of his hand.

  Fan Wenjun rushed to Beijing for the exam for only two months, and Lin Jingjing knew him even less.

  She can recite this article from memory, there must be some motivation behind it.

  Lin Jingjing calmed down: "During that time, Fan Lang was locked in his room writing this article. Sometimes he would get angry and slam his pen down, I had never seen Fan Lang like that before."

  Lin Jingjing said that Fan Wenjun was warm and elegant, but suddenly became violent and unpredictable half a month before his disappearance.

  "How did you remember this article?" Pei Tan asked back, Lin Jingjing indeed didn't recognize a single character, even if Fan Wenjun had been writing in the house for half a month, Lin Jingjing shouldn't have recognized what these were at all.

  Now she not only recognizes them but can also recite all of them from memory, a rare feat indeed.