They weren't frightened.
The Metropolitan Exams were different from the County and Provincial Exams. In the lower exams, candidates could still try to win the examiner's favor with their calligraphy. But the Metropolitan Exams emphasized absolute fairness.
To prevent examiners from cheating by recognizing handwriting, all exam papers were first copied by scribes before being sent to the graders.
Naturally, to prevent scribes from cheating or candidates from being careless with their penmanship because they knew their work would be copied, after the graders evaluated the transcribed copies, they had to review the original papers again.
Only if the content of both copies matched, and the penmanship on the original met the exam standards, would the paper be fully approved.
So, the graders first read the transcribed copies of Xu Huaiqian's papers. After unanimously passing them, they checked the originals against the transcripts for discrepancies. It was then that they saw Xu Huaiqian's blood-stained papers.
"This!"
They held the papers, looking at each other, seeing shock in each other's eyes.
It was... beautiful!
They expected blood-stained papers to be filthy and unsightly, but these were unexpectedly neat.
The speckles of blood didn't mar the paper. On the contrary, the fine droplets of blood had fallen onto his flawlessly beautiful calligraphy. After drying, the scattered reddish-brown spots created a powerful image of red plum blossoms braving the snow.
It made the originally meticulous exam paper look less like an exam script and more like a exquisite piece of calligraphic art.
Furthermore, the current affairs topic for this session happened to be ["Snow"]. His paper not only detailed the various advantages and disadvantages of snow, but even the physical presentation matched the theme's conceptual atmosphere perfectly. It was utterly flawless!
The eighteen associate examiners reviewing the originals, after seeing Xu Huaiqian's paper that was beautiful like a painting, all fell into a dilemma.
They didn't know whether to confirm the pass or fail it. Could they say the paper was untidy? It wasn't. But if they said it was tidy, the bloodstains were an undeniable fact.
While they were struggling with this, to save time, the four chief examiners determining the rankings among the already-passed papers also faced a difficult choice.
Like the Provincial Exams, the Metropolitan Exams used sealed names. However, they added the step of transcription, together called "sealed names and transcribed papers."
Because the papers were anonymized and transcribed, the chief examiners didn't know who was who. They could only rank them based on the quality of the answers.
Most were straightforward.
But there were two papers they truly couldn't decide between.
One candidate's answers on current affairs and policy questions were nearly perfect, but their regulated poem a five-character, eight-line verse with strict tonal patterns and rhyme was utterly mediocre.
Apart from having correct rhymes, it lacked any artistic conception. Reading it made them want to beat their chests in frustration. What a promising candidate for the top rank ! If only their poem had been even slightly above average, they would have chosen them!
The other paper was a surprise. Although its policy questions and current affairs answers weren't as stunning as the first candidate's, they weren't far off. This candidate just wasn't as comprehensively thorough.
The important thing was, their regulated poem was excellent!
After reading the poem, the four chief examiners were full of praise: "Marvelous! Exquisite! Brilliant!"
"So catchy, yet it doesn't lose its artistic conception! The meaning conveyed in the poem is also delivered perfectly. Such a superb poem could be sung throughout the land, couldn't it?"
When the chief examiner said this, the three deputy chief examiners nodded in agreement. "Indeed!"
Why did officials love poetry so much? Because officials were as common as hairs on a cow, but only a handful could leave their names in history.
However, if one wrote poetry well, and casually produced a poem sung across the land, wouldn't that effortlessly secure a place in history?
And if you couldn't write well yourself, it didn't matter. Knowing one or two people who could write well was enough. What if one day they had a sudden inspiration and wrote a poem like "To Wang Lun"? Without any effort, your name and deeds could be passed down for a thousand years!
Just thinking about it was exciting!
So, the popularity of poetry wasn't without reason!
And this candidate's poem had already reached such a standard. Therefore, even though this candidate's policy and current affairs answers weren't as dazzling as the first candidate's, the chief examiner was inclined to rank him as this session's top graduate !
"But His Majesty probably prefers the first candidate's papers, doesn't he?!" The other three chief examiners thought the same way, but considering the Emperor's determination and attitude towards promoting current affairs in governance, they didn't dare make a final decision outright.
The chief examiner thought so too.
If they appointed the candidate who excelled in poetry as the top graduate without the Emperor's approval, His Majesty might be furious afterwards.
"Then we shall present the papers to His Majesty and argue our case forcefully!" the chief examiner said after some thought. "If the other candidate's answers were mediocre in other sections, that would be one thing. But he excels in every area! He's an all-rounder! Why shouldn't we fight for him?!"
"That makes sense!" Since the chief examiner said so, the others had no objection.
Emperor Changsheng also placed great importance on this round of exams. Upon hearing that the chief examiners couldn't decide on the top graduate and requested his judgment, he immediately summoned them and scrutinized the two papers in question.
As expected, he preferred the candidate with excellent policy and current affairs answers. "Designate this one as the top graduate!"
"Your Majesty," the chief examiners, having anticipated this, stepped forward. "We believe it would be better to designate the other candidate as the top graduate."
Seeing this, Emperor Changsheng understood. They weren't indecisive; they were here to persuade him!
He raised an eyebrow, demanding a reason. "Oh?"
"The scholar Your Majesty favors is indeed good," the chief examiners stated fearlessly, "but his poetry is far too mediocre. If Your Majesty designates him as the top graduate, I fear it will be difficult to convince the public."
"Furthermore, while this candidate's policy and current affairs answers are slightly inferior to the first candidate's, his exceptional poetry more than compensates for it. Appointing him as the top graduate would leave the other candidates convinced."
The Metropolitan Exams were different from the Provincial Exams. The results were final, but candidates were allowed to request a review of their papers afterward.
Last year's Provincial Exams passed without issue because no candidate excelled in poetry. But now, with a candidate whose poetry was so brilliantly outstanding, if candidates later reviewed the papers and found the top graduate's poetry utterly ordinary while the second candidate's was stunning, an uproar was inevitable.
Emperor Changsheng could easily imagine the accusations: intentional suppression of talent! Would poetry be trampled into the dust just because current affairs could aid governance?
He had used the current affairs argument to suppress dissent once, but he couldn't do it a second time. Considering the consequences of acting solely on his preference, and not being an unreasonable ruler, he hesitated.
Moreover, this candidate's poetry was truly brilliant, and his policy and current affairs answers were also strong. After a moment's thought, he agreed. "Then let the candidate with the excellent poetry be the top graduate."
The four chief examiners were overjoyed. "Your Majesty is wise!"
They were happy, but Emperor Changsheng, after making the decision, felt increasingly unsettled.
The talent he wanted was someone who excelled in policy and current affairs. The court was already full of people skilled in poetry; it needed such individuals to bring about change.
Yet he had to admit the chief examiners were right. As Emperor, he couldn't rule by personal preference; he had to consider the bigger picture.
Frustrated at not securing the top rank for his preferred candidate, Emperor Changsheng set aside his memorials and summoned an attendant. "Fetch the original paper of the candidate who excelled in both policy and current affairs. I wish to study it more carefully."
If he couldn't award this candidate the top rank, he could at least keep his paper for personal reflection, couldn't he?
No one would oppose the Emperor on such a small matter.
In fact, the Emperor's request relieved the associate examiners who were struggling with Xu Huaiqian's paper. If the Emperor found the blood-stained paper unacceptable, failing it would be justified. If the Emperor said nothing, they could pass it, as the content was indeed excellent.
Thus, Xu Huaiqian's original paper smoothly reached Emperor Changsheng.
When he unrolled it and saw the familiar, flawless calligraphy, he was stunned.
Why hadn't he realized? The only person who could produce such perfect policy and current affairs answers was him!
He still had Xu Huaiqian's provincial exam papers. He knew that handwriting intimately. He had already intended to make him this year's Zhuangyuan , top candidate in the palace exam.
Yet, for the sake of compromise, he had just awarded the Metropolitan Exam top rank to someone else!
A pang of regret shot through Emperor Changsheng's heart.
If he had held firm and made Xu Huaiqian the top graduate, he would have achieved the auspicious rarity of a "Triple First" , top candidate in all three exam levels!
A Triple First!
In the first year of the exam reforms, producing a Triple First would signify that his reforms were correct!
But he had thrown it away with a moment of weakness.
Emperor Changsheng felt deeply uncomfortable. But an Emperor's word was final; he would never issue an order one day and reverse it the next.
Besides, the other candidate was truly excellent.
Producing one outstanding talent through the exams was difficult enough. Having two was something to be satisfied with. Yet, he felt he had wronged Xu Huaiqian.
It wasn't just favoritism. Emperor Changsheng felt that among all the court officials, only Xu Huaiqian truly understood him. He wanted to use exam reform to change the court. Far away in Yong'an, Xu Huaiqian had paved the way for this reform by boosting local tax revenue, leaving the court and the people with no grounds for objection.
Even before becoming ruler and minister, they had already learned to cooperate seamlessly.
He dared not imagine how in sync they would be once they officially became ruler and minister.
Therefore, he inevitably favored Xu Huaiqian a little more. In his heart, he regarded Xu Huaiqian as his Bole, the talent spotter. Now that he had done something to let down his thousand-li horse, he wanted to compensate him elsewhere.
As he pondered how to make amends, his eyes fell on the dark red speckles covering Xu Huaiqian's paper.
The paper had been stored for some time. The dried blood had almost merged with the color of the ink. At first glance, Emperor Changsheng hadn't noticed. But upon closer inspection, he saw the paper, while not frightening, was "shocking" with its pervasive dark red stains.
He remembered. His young talent spotter was in poor health. His husband had mentioned that local doctors predicted he wouldn't live past thirty.
Yet, despite such poor health, for the sake of the empire's well-being, he exhausted his mental energy devising policies for governance.
Could it be that this exam paper was also produced through painstaking effort?
The thought that Xu Huaiqian was so dedicated, while he himself had cost him the top rank, made Emperor Changsheng feel even worse.