There is a god in the sky

Chapter 411 Entering the examination room

On the day Fu Qingyan finished his exams, a heavy snow fell in the capital.

Many candidates were frozen stiff when they left the examination hall, and many had to be carried out.

Fu Qingyan had made ample preparations and was not cold, but he was exhausted after eating and drinking in the examination hall for three days and three nights.

When he woke up from a deep sleep at home, he heard that Shen Lan had gone to take the Mingfa exam.

After King Zheng ascended the throne, he established a special imperial examination, but only considered the Jinshi degree.

However, after the second prince ascended the throne, he temporarily added three subjects: law, mathematics, and military examination.

Both the Mingfa and Mingsuan examinations were held after the provincial examinations, but no one expected that Shen Lan, a woman, would be among the applicants.

When she stood outside the examination hall dressed in women's clothing and carrying a test basket, she caused quite a stir.

Shen Lan is already an official, but her official position is coroner, and she will never have the opportunity to be promoted in her lifetime.

She managed to register for the Mingfa exam through connections.

Xiao Ji presented the list directly to the emperor, and the news was only released after the list was stamped and approved.

The court officials naturally refused to agree.

There has never been a precedent in history for allowing women to participate in the imperial examinations.

Although the Da Xi dynasty has appointed many female officials since its founding, most of them were positions without real power, and were honors enjoyed only by the best in their respective fields.

However, the Ming Dynasty's legal examination was a legitimate examination for selecting officials for the imperial court, and no woman had ever participated in it.

If she passed the exam, would they really grant an official position to a woman?

Officials didn't care about an eighth-rank coroner; having this position was practically useless, and there was no way he could be promoted.

Shen Lan handed his examination number to the examiner, who didn't even look at it, but pointed to the small room behind him and said, "For Lord Shen's sake, I have specially invited two old women to verify your identity. Please come in."

Shen Lan ignored his mockery and went inside to search him.

The other candidates queuing up to enter the exam room pointed and whispered about her.

"We're being forced to take the exam in the same room as a woman? What kind of nonsense is this?"

“If we fail and she succeeds, I’ll start to question whether the exam was fair.”

"Exactly. Judging from her age, even if she started school at a young age, she couldn't possibly do better than us. I really don't know where she gets her confidence from."

"I heard that it was Lord Xiao from the Criminal Investigation Department who vouched for her."

"Wasn't it rumored long ago that she had a close relationship with Lord Xiao? How come Lord Xiao would still let her out to embarrass herself?"

"Perhaps this is precisely Lord Xiao's unique taste."

After Shen Lan came out of the examination room, all the discussions stopped abruptly.

Compared to these candidates who had not yet entered officialdom, Shen Lan was a legitimate official with far more experience in the officialdom than they were.

She carried her exam basket into the exam room and was assigned a seat in a corner, the furthest from the toilet.

The examiner walked past her several times, seeing her writing furiously without pausing, and couldn't help but think: Could it be that all the candidates in the room are not as good as a woman?

He wasn't the only one who thought this way; many others outside also thought so.

After all, this is Shen Lan, the extraordinary woman who dared to manipulate corpses at such a young age and possessed superb painting skills.

"Hurry up and place your bets! Qian Sheng Casino has opened a betting pool. They're betting on the top ten in this year's Mingfa exam. If you bet on Miss Shen, the odds are 5 to 1."

"Who would dare bet on a girls' high school? If they win, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to all the other test takers?"

"That also shows that they have real skills."

Fu Qingyan brought Guanshu out, and upon hearing about this, he immediately instructed Guanshu to place the bet.

"One thousand taels? Young master, that's all our money. Are you really betting it all?"

Guan Shu clutched his purse tightly. When he left, he made sure to bring two extra guards with him, just in case the huge sum of money was robbed.

I don't know what got into the young master, he insisted on taking all the money with him, turns out he wanted to gamble it away.

"Young Master, how about we just bet half? Miss Shen is very skilled at autopsies, but she's not a scholar after all."

"You don't understand. My cousin dared to let her into the examination room, which means he has confidence in her. If you don't believe in Miss Shen, do you not believe in my cousin?"

After reading the book and remaining silent, who would dare not believe Lord Xiao?

"Then...then I'll go."

Guan Shu not only bet the huge sum of money, but also his own private savings.

He was initially uneasy, but then he heard that someone had placed a large bet of five thousand taels on Shen Lan before them.

After reading the book, he was quite suspicious that it was Lord Xiao, which put his mind at ease.

Xiao Ji was sitting in a teahouse outside the examination hall when he saw Fu Qingyan and his servant. He then asked Sui Feng to bring them up.

He had overheard the surrounding discussions about Shen Lan, and there were hardly any kind words about her.

But so what?

Shen Lan's ability to even enter this examination hall already puts her ahead of countless others.

"Cousin, are you planning to wait here for Miss Shen to come out?"

Fu Qingyan brought up a bucket of burnt charcoal.

Xiao Ji glanced at his thin body and pushed the pastries in front of him.

"Eat more, you really look rather frail now."

Fu Qingyan coughed, clutched the woolen scarf around his neck, and shook his head, saying, "My throat hurts, I can't eat this sweet and greasy pastry."

"Did you catch a cold?"

"Yes, there are some. Compared to the candidates who fainted in the examination hall yesterday, I'm doing relatively well."

"Then why did you run out? It would be better to stay home and rest for a few days."

Fu Qingyan joked, "Of course it's because I heard some big news that I went out. Cousin, what made you think of having Miss Shen take the Ming Law Examination?"

"She's suitable."

“You have a lot of confidence in her,” Fu Qingyan said confidently.

"Of course, I know her capabilities. She does more than just work as a coroner in the Criminal Investigation Department."

Fu Qingyan had accompanied Shen Lan all the way and had watched her participate in solving cases, so he naturally knew that she had a very thorough understanding of the law.

At that time, he did not know that Shen Lan was burdened with a blood feud.

Looking back now, Shen Lan may have been preparing for revenge since she was a child.

Shen Lan received three questions.

How should we balance the relationship between 'rites' and 'law'?

How should corrupt officials be punished?

How to formulate a reasonable tax system?

Shen Lan has her own insights.

She knew how to answer in a way that was more appropriate for the current national situation, and she also knew what the emperor wanted to hear.

But she had no intention of catering to the emperor's preferences.

She came to take the Mingfa exam not to aim for high school, but simply to prove to students that women are not necessarily inferior to them.

Actually, she would have been more confident participating in the Ming Suan Ke (a type of mathematics course).

Officials selected by the Ming Suan Ke (a government department) could at least serve as county magistrates in local governments, and if they were lucky, they might even become minor officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

If Shen Lanruo wanted to pursue a career in government, the Ming Suan Ke (calculation department) offered her a wider range of employment opportunities than the Ming Fa Ke (law department).

However, it might not be a good thing for her, this tiny grain of sand, to plunge headlong into officialdom.

After sitting for a while and drinking several cups of hot tea, Fu Qingyan's body warmed up.

"How did my cousin manage to get through the imperial examinations, which he took three times and failed each time?"

"Young and strong, they can handle this kind of situation. Of course, good luck also plays a part."

If you're assigned to a bad cell, even the best body can't withstand it.

Looking at the people waiting in the wind and snow, Fu Qingyan sighed, "Only by experiencing it firsthand can one know how much effort my father put into achieving his great success."

"Of course, Marquis Pingyang was a renowned war god on the battlefield back then."

"But in the end, didn't he still become someone people feared, and end up unemployed at a young age?"

"Retiring at the height of one's career is not a bad thing. Does it really mean that only if your father dies on the battlefield can one be considered loyal and righteous?"

Fu Qingyan quickly retorted, "Of course not."

Even when he hated his father the most, he never thought of letting him die on the battlefield.

However, it just didn't feel quite right.

"What is the purpose of our official positions? Is it for the sake of the common people or for the sake of the imperial family?"

Xiao Ji did not provide an answer, and there is no standard answer to this question.

Many people do it for themselves or their families, but it cannot be ruled out that some do it for their country and its people.

"Once you enter officialdom, you will naturally know what you want."

"And what about you, cousin? What are you doing this for?"

Xiao Ji gazed into the distance and answered softly, "To have the ability to protect those I want to protect."