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“But that’s understandable…” The chief steward then recalled Feng Wu’s mother, who was known as the most beautiful woman on this continent. How could her daughter be anything but beautiful?

In the imperial palace.

Emperor Wu greeted Grand Secretary Fang as soon as he spotted the latter.

“Here, help me with the exam papers. I want to find some potential talents.”

Grand Secretary Fang smiled. “Your Majesty, Yu Mingye is a candidate this year as well.”

That was right.

Now that the Yu family had claimed its independence and had an empire of their own, that kid had been showing up everywhere in the imperial capital lately.

Emperor Wu said, “Remove the stickers and find me his paper.”

Soon, Grand Secretary Fang found Yu Mingye’s exam paper and presented it to Emperor Wu with both hands.

Emperor Wu nodded as he read on. “Well, that kid might look like a rogue, but his handwriting is pretty neat. Look, he got none of the memorization questions right.”

Emperor Wu spoke resignedly and Grand Secretary Fang chuckled.

“Young Master Yu just couldn’t be bothered to memorize those books. He actually has a very good memory,” Grand Secretary Fang said with a smile.

Emperor Wu nodded. “His mind wasn’t on the exam. He wouldn’t have gotten such low marks if he had put his mind to it.”

Shaking his head, Emperor Wu put Yu Mingye’s paper aside, then asked, “Where’s the girl’s paper?”

Although he had seen her answers, reading the real exam paper wouldn’t feel the same.

Grand Secretary Fang and the chief steward had already been looking for Feng Wu’s paper while Emperor Wu was reading Yu Mingye’s, but they still hadn’t found it yet.

Hearing Emperor Wu’s question, Grand Secretary Fang said in a hurry, “One moment, Your Majesty. We’ll find it in no time.”

Emperor Wu went back to Yu Mingye’s paper and laughed as he read.

Such a silly kid. He didn’t take this important exam seriously at all. He had left everything he didn’t know blank without even trying to make up an answer.

Not only didn’t he fill in any of the blanks in section one, he didn’t choose any options for the multiple choice questions either. He couldn’t even be bothered to guess. Emperor Wu found the boy so amusing.

Meanwhile, Grand Secretary Fang and the chief steward exchanged concerned looks.

“I’ve flipped through every page and she’s not here.”

“So have I. I didn’t see her paper.”

They looked at each other in bewilderment.

Grand Secretary Fang wouldn’t give up. Splitting the stack in two, he said, “Let’s take a half each and check them again.”

There was no way that a candidate like that could have been excluded. She got full marks!

With 500 sets of the exam paper each, Grand Secretary Fang and the chief steward quickly ran through the stack.

Feng Wu’s handwriting was so exceptional that it could be spotted right away.

This time, Grand Secretary Fang and the chief steward turned each page more slowly, in order not to miss anything. However, until the last page was turned —

It wasn’t here!

Grand Secretary Fang’s face darkened!

The chief steward found it odd as well.

The chief steward had read the exam paper while standing by the emperor’s side when Grand Secretary Fang brought it in earlier. His Majesty and Grand Secretary Fang had lavished the answers with compliments, making Miss Feng Wu sound like a fairy.

Emperor Wu had finished enjoying Yu Mingye’s paper and prompted, “Quickly, bring me little Feng Wu’s paper. I need the refreshment! Xiao Yu’s paper is a joke!”

“Your Majesty —” Grand Secretary Fang looked at Emperor Wu strangely.

“What?” Emperor Wu raised his head and saw the odd looks on Grand Secretary Fang’s and the chief steward’s faces. He rose to his feet. “What’s wrong?”

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Grand Secretary Fang couldn’t hold back his anger. “Xiao Wu’s paper isn’t here!”

What?

Emperor Wu was shocked.

That was impossible. If Grand Secretary Fang was telling the truth and Feng Wu really had written down those answers from memory, she could get nothing but full marks, which would shock the entire empire!

The first candidate with full marks in history!

The emperor himself had put all the memorials aside just to read her paper, but it wasn’t here?

“How is that possible?” Emperor Wu’s face darkened.

Grand Secretary Fang put the stack he checked in front of Emperor Wu and shook his head. “I’ve checked every page. Hers isn’t here.”

The chief steward also shook his head when he put down his stack.

“There are a thousand sets here! Xiao Wu couldn’t have gotten such a low score!” Emperor Wu found it ridiculous.

He wouldn’t believe it!

Hence, the emperor himself began to read each page in turn.

The exam papers were put together from the highest mark to the lowest.

The one on the very top belonged to a teenager named Ning Chenxi, who scored 250.

Such a score would have made him first in the previous year. However, after reading Feng Wu’s answers, Emperor Wu found Ning Chenxi’s answers nothing special at all.

Emperor Wu read each one in turn until he reached the last one, which belonged to Yu Mingye.

Yu Mingye hadn’t taken the exam seriously. He only scored enough to pass.

After searching through everything himself, Emperor Wu realized in astonishment that Feng Wu really wasn’t included!

There were only two possibilities. One was that Feng Wu did really badly and failed the exam.

The other possibility was that someone had tried something behind his back.

Emperor Wu wasn’t happy with either option.

More than one senior eunuch served Emperor Wu.

Aside from the chief steward, there was also a Master Bai.

And he said in an unhurried tone, “Is it possible that Miss Feng Wu didn’t do a great job?”

Grand Secretary Fang flared up!

He cast a stern look at Master Bai. “Master Bai, what are you trying to say? Are you accusing me of lying?”

“Grand Secretary Fang, please don’t be mad. I didn’t mean that…” Master Bai smiled and remained unperturbed. “It’s just that at your age, maybe you don’t remember things as clearly as you did before.”

“Heh, you might as well call me a dotard!” Grand Secretary Fang smirked.

Luckily, Feng Wu had stuffed some papers in his pocket before he left for the imperial palace, or he would have had no proof now.

Grand Secretary Fang’s stomach lurched when he remembered that.

Had the girl given him her previous exam papers because she had anticipated this?

But how?

Was it because he had told her that Mr Lu had gone into seclusion and Mr Zuo was the acting principal at the moment?

Exactly how clear-minded was this girl, to be able to have such forethought?

Meanwhile, Emperor Wu was staring at Grand Secretary Fang and he was getting suspicious.

Master Bai tried to aggravate that suspicion. “Grand Secretary Fang, it’s only common sense that Miss Feng Wu can’t be that perfect. Did you dream everything up?”

Emperor Wu found Grand Secretary Fang even more dubious.

For he trusted Master Bai a lot.

And Grand Secretary Fang’s retirement actually had a lot to do with Master Bai.

Therefore —