Without further ado, Grand Secretary Fang gave his instruction. “Find me Feng Wu’s exam paper, serial number 10001.”
The teacher in the record office gave Mr Zuo a pleading look.
Mr Zuo frowned. “Grand Secretary Fang, what are you doing? It’s very inappropriate to investigate a candidate’s paper in private like this.”
“Mr Zuo, Master Bai is here. Do you think it’s still ‘private’?” Grand Secretary Fang smirked.
Mr Zuo was speechless.
Master Bai smiled. “Mr Zuo, we’re here on behalf of His Majesty. Go ahead.”
“Of course, I’ll do as told when the order comes from His Majesty!” Mr Zuo said with a smile and he remained where he was.
He had an excellent ability to mimic someone else’s handwriting and he was very confident about the paper he had written himself. He was sure that there wouldn’t be any problems.
Soon, the teacher found Feng Wu’s paper.
He then handed it to Grand Secretary Fang.
With the paper in hand, Grand Secretary Fang let out a breath of relief.
“This is Miss Feng Wu’s paper, right?” With his hands behind his back, Mr Zuo smiled at Grand Secretary Fang.
Master Bai looked at Grand Secretary Fang as well. “You taught Miss Feng Wu yourself. I’m sure you can recognize her handwriting.”
Grand Secretary Fang nodded. “That’s right. This is —”
He stopped abruptly and frowned!
This wasn’t right!
One look at the paper and Grand Secretary Fang knew something was off!
Feng Wu’s paper was perfect!
She got everything right!
However, there were mistakes in this paper from the third question onward. The fifth question was wrong, and then…
There were many more wrong answers!
Some simple memorization questions were incorrect, which was unacceptable!
“This is ridiculous!” Grand Secretary Fang tossed the paper on the table. “There’s no way that this is Feng Wu’s paper!”
He had seen through the scam? Mr Zuo panicked a little, but covered it up soon enough.
“What’s wrong?” Mr Zuo feigned an innocent voice. “Look at the serial number and the name. It’s Feng Wu’s, isn’t it?”
Master Bai also glanced at Grand Secretary Fang. “And the handwriting is identical to that paper you brought in earlier.”
Mr Zuo smirked. “Grand Secretary Fang, this is too big a matter for you to say whatever you want!”
His tone was already intimidating.
It would do everyone good to just leave it as it was.
However, Grand Secretary Fang cherished all talented people, especially someone as exceptional as Feng Wu! He wouldn’t be fooled like this!
Grand Secretary Fang snorted. “Mr Zuo, you can’t turn white into black and black into white! If His Majesty discovers malpractice in the exam and the exam papers were switched, well, I hope you can live with the consequences!”
Face dark, Mr Zuo said, “Grand Secretary Fang, I see you’ve set your mind on smearing the reputation of Imperial College! May I remind you that you’re a member of the education board as well? You won’t be better off if the college is affected!”
“Smear its reputation? I’ll show you who’s the real culprit of that!” Grand Secretary Fang stormed off with the paper.
Narrowing his eyes, Master Bai gave Mr Zuo a look.
Mr Zuo nodded back confidently, indicating that he was sure of his win.
Master Bai gave him a nod, then left with Grand Secretary Fang.
In the imperial palace.
Emperor Wu was looking at a pile of exam papers with a big frown.
