The questions were difficult, but he had answered every single one. Even if some answers weren't ideal, they shouldn't be too bad, right?
Moreover, he remembered that ancient examiners also valued handwriting. His hands were shaking too badly. Afraid his writing would be crooked and unsightly, he had numbed his hands in cold water, then dried them and carefully transcribed each word sentence by sentence onto the paper.
Those characters were much better than his usual handwriting.
Even if they didn't consider his results, couldn't they give him a pass just for this excellent calligraphy, letting him scrape through at the very bottom?
While Xu Huaqian was pondering his results, Song Yunfan, the chief examiner from Suzhou, was indeed struggling with his exam paper.
So beautiful! So beautiful!
This handwriting was truly too beautiful!
Song Yunfan had served as an examiner for many years, presiding over large and small exams numerous times, but he had never encountered handwriting that moved him so.
After all, Suzhou was full of literati; he had seen countless examples of excellent calligraphy—elegant, delicate, sharp, grand, majestic, resilient, all varieties. If you went to Suzhou, you could randomly grab a scholar off the street, and their handwriting, while not necessarily masterful, would at least be passable.
Therefore, when examining outside Suzhou, he never showed leniency based on a candidate's calligraphy, earning him the reputation of "Impartial Lord Song."
He thought he would never encounter handwriting that captivated him in his lifetime, so he was content with others calling him that.
A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow!
Not only did candidates need reputation during exams; officials also needed reputation while serving.
With this reputation, he wasn't entirely unknown in the Hanlin Academy. Song Yunfan thought that during the next major Hanlin assessment, as long as his results weren't at the bottom, his position might even be promoted.
But to maintain this reputation, he had to sacrifice his personal preferences...
Song Yunfan looked at Xu Huaqian's exam paper over and over. The calligraphy was beautiful, yes, but the answers were terrible.
An essay praising snow was a mess; the regulated verse was a complete mismatch; the policy essay on people's livelihood at the end was written quite well, but it was too full of empty, impractical grandiosity, all requiring financial support—if local areas had money, why would they need essays on livelihood? The juxtaposed questions were also answered confusedly.
Finally, there was only that transcribed classical text, written exquisitely—not a single wrong character, not a single pause, the entire text flowing smoothly from start to finish.
Song Yunfan even felt like cutting out this classical text section from the exam paper, taking it back, and pasting it on his wall to admire daily.
It felt like looking at it more could calm his mind.
It was just that apart from this classical text, he couldn't find any other reason to pass it. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so conflicted.
"Lord Song?"
The two educational officials assisting him saw Song Yunfan holding this beautifully handwritten paper for several days without making a decision and couldn't help but ask: "Is Lord Song fond of this calligraphy? Should we pass it?"
Don't waste any more time. If this delays further, will we have time to review the other papers?
The prefectural exam, like the provincial exam, couldn't be taken lightly. Every essay had to be carefully reviewed and considered for inclusion.
Essays were, by nature, divinely inspired, occasionally grasped by a skilled hand. Some essays they found nonsensical might be masterpieces in others' eyes. Therefore, they had to review each essay repeatedly, and only after everyone unanimously agreed to pass it would it be included.
Initially, they had glanced at this essay and were ready to fail it—apart from the transcribed text, there were no redeemable qualities.
But the handwriting was truly outstanding. The group couldn't decide, so they finally sent the paper to the chief examiner for a decision.
But they didn't expect that even the always impartial chief examiner would struggle this time.
He had been looking at this candidate's paper for several days without deciding. If this continued, could they still post the results next month?
So they had to speak up and remind him.
Song Yunfan collected himself. Seeing the two educational officials who had accompanied him to Yong'an Prefecture, and remembering they weren't his own men but local officials from the Education Intendant's office, he knew that if he passed this essay today, his reputation as "Impartial Lord Song" would be ruined before long.
He thought about how he wasn't exactly a favorite in the Hanlin Academy; otherwise, he wouldn't have been sent to a remote and poor place like Changnan—a Provincial Administration Commission without a single official who could enter the main court hall—as an examiner. If he lost his reputation too, he would be doomed to sit on the cold bench in the Hanlin Academy for life.
For the sake of his future, Song Yunfan had to painfully let go of the exam paper with the calligraphy he adored. "The handwriting is excellent, but unfortunately, the essays have no merit. Fail it."
The two educational officials watched as Lord Song placed this exam paper, which he clearly liked immensely, into the pile of failed papers.
Instantly, their respect for him soared!
Truly, the Impartial Lord Song! He could fail an essay he had admired for days! Just like that!
They would have to tell their colleagues all about Lord Song upon returning! Let all their colleagues know of Lord Song's integrity!
Having failed it, Song Yunfan initially thought painfully that if only the regulated verse had been slightly more competent, he wouldn't be so upset now.
But then, noticing his colleagues' newfound admiration for him, he suddenly felt it wasn't so bad after all.
...Well, so be it.
Thus, he completely set aside Xu Huaqian's exam paper and picked up another from the desk.
Lord Song, whose eyes had just been cleansed by Xu Huaqian's beautiful calligraphy, immediately scowled when he picked up the next exam paper and saw the entire page covered in crooked, scraggly characters that looked like they were dug up by a dog.
He held the paper and asked the educational officials: "What is this? How does such an exam paper deserve to be on my desk?"
As the chief examiner, Song Yunfan didn't need to read every essay. With the two educational officials present, he only needed to review the papers they were uncertain about and finally rank all the included papers based on the quality of the essays.
In the chief examiner's view, papers with illegible handwriting should be failed directly. Why even show them to him?
The educational official stood up to reply: "Although this candidate's handwriting is ugly, his approach to deconstructing the questions is very novel. Please look at his section on the juxtaposed questions, Lord. The question excerpts from the Four Books, but he directly used the Analects to deconstruct it, and in the conclusion, he tied it back to the Four Books. This proves he has memorized the exam texts thoroughly and has very solid knowledge. This official believes this candidate is a rare talent."
Hence, despite the ugly handwriting, he couldn't decide.
Hearing this, Song Yunfan turned the exam paper to the juxtaposed questions section. He tried very hard to read it.
Really!
But he still couldn't quite make out what was written?
Finally, Song Yunfan's eyes grew sore. He had genuinely never seen such ugly handwriting. It made him dizzy and extremely uncomfortable. He shook his head and placed this exam paper into the pile of failed papers: "The handwriting is too ugly. Let him go back and practice his calligraphy for two more years before taking the exams again."
"...This," The educational official felt somewhat couldn't bear it, but also thought Lord Song had a point. After a moment's thought, he conceded, "Alright."
The following exam papers were all rather unremarkable. Only two papers remained that required his decision for the top rank, which gave Song Yunfan quite a headache.
One was exceptionally good in poetry and verse.
The other was written with remarkable spiritual insight and originality.
Both were rare exam papers, and Song Yunfan was genuinely stuck.
If it were up to him, he might choose the one strong in poetry and verse, because besides that, the other answers were also quite good.
It completely matched the style of Suzhou Prefecture. Awarding this candidate the top rank would be most appropriate.
But the essay in the other paper was just too outstanding. He hadn't seen such spiritually insightful writing in many years. The compassion and emotion within were too充沛 (abundant). If this candidate became an official, his innate talent for writing could move even scholars and officials to tears.
What did officials fear most? They feared subordinates who couldn't write memorials well—submissions that were dry, merely stating facts. With so many regions across the country, who would notice your memorial?
But if a memorial was written well, reached the Emperor's ears, with one word from above, what couldn't be accomplished below?
However, this candidate was only outstanding in essay writing; everything else was rather average.
Song Yunfan hesitated. He still wanted to play it safe. After all, this was just about selecting the top rank, not about failing someone. So, he would choose the candidate strong in poetry and verse. The one outstanding in essays could be placed second, which wouldn't be an insult.
After finalizing these decisions, Song Yunfan stood up to return to his room to rest when his servant from outside came in with a visiting card: "Master."
Song Yunfan took the card, puzzled: "The Magistrate of Pingxi County is sending a visiting card this late? What for?"
The servant shook his head: "This humble one does not know."
"Let's go," Song Yunfan said, stretching. Whatever the reason, he wasn't afraid. "Let's go meet him."