On the high platform in front, a proctor stood, stroking his beard as he loudly announced.
"Candidates, please enter the examination rooms. The exam will begin in fifteen minutes!"
Many candidates walked past Qin Ming and the others. Just then, a white-robed scholar at the entrance of the exam hall caught everyone's attention.
He carried a worn bamboo basket on his back and held the hand of a little girl with his right hand. The little girl, about seven or eight years old, wore tattered clothes and appeared extremely frail.
"Honorable proctor, my name is Wang Yu. Both of my parents have passed away. I came here to take the exam with my younger sister. I request that you allow her to sit outside the exam hall while I take the test, and I will take her away once I am finished."
"No!" The proctor snapped, "This is a restricted area. No one unrelated is allowed to enter!"
Wang Yu turned to his sister with a gentle smile on his face.
"Niuniu, wait for me outside the exam hall. Today's exam is about poetry. I've studied for thirty years, and I will surely pass with flying colors. Then, we can live a good life."
"Brother, Niuniu is so hungry."
"Wait for me to finish the exam, and then I'll take you to eat something good."
"Mm-hmm!"
The proctor, hands behind his back, asked loudly, "Wang Yu, are you so confident that you'll pass with flying colors?"
Wang Yu, though poor, was filled with self-assurance. He replied confidently, "I've studied calligraphy since I was three, wrote poetry since I was five, and have spent thirty years in the cold study. Today, I will certainly top the exam!"
The younger scholars in the exam room murmured to each other.
"I've heard that Wang Yu is incredibly talented, indeed impressive."
"Yes, I heard he can compose a good poem in two hours. He's sure to earn the emperor's favor this time."
The proctor, stroking his beard, praised, "If you really can write a good poem in two hours, Wang Yu, you truly are a genius."
As soon as these words fell, a voice from Exam Room No. 3, Section A, called out loudly.
"Proctor, if writing a good poem in two hours is considered genius, then what should we call me, Xiao Chen, if I can write a poem in just fifteen minutes?"
Qin Ming and the others turned to look at the young man in green. They noticed that, as he walked, his trousers, visible beneath his green robe, were actually jeans!
A time traveler! Qin Ming and his companions immediately recognized him!
For time travelers, writing a poem in fifteen minutes was no challenge at all.
The other scholars around them immediately began to murmur in disbelief.
"Wang Yu is a genius who can write a poem in two hours, and this guy thinks he can write one in just fifteen minutes? He must be out of his mind."
"Yeah, how could he possibly be better than Wang Yu?"
The young man in green, Xiao Chen, stared intently at Wang Yu and shouted.
"Wang Yu, since everyone thinks you're so impressive, do you dare to compete with me in today's exam?"
Wang Yu set down his bamboo basket. The surrounding crowd began to stir with excitement, even the proctor on the high platform looked eagerly at Wang Yu.
Wang Yu, who believed he was a genius after studying for thirty years, thought to himself, "Can I possibly be outdone by a fifteen-year-old boy?"
"Fine, I'll accept the challenge!"
"Good!" Xiao Chen, the time traveler, slammed the table.
"Proctor, you heard it! If I can write a good poem in fifteen minutes today, and Wang Yu cannot do the same, then he should be kicked out of the exam!"
Hearing this, Qing Xuan walked to Qin Ming and whispered.
"This time traveler Xiao Chen is a bit abominable. He clearly wants to step on others to get to the top."
Qin Ming nodded, but suddenly he remembered something. He had read many novels on Earth. Wasn't this how time travelers always behaved? A literary thief coming to bully others with their thirty years of hard study.
The competition began.
The other students on the field were both answering questions and watching the excitement.
Less than fifteen minutes later, the young man in green, Xiao Chen, indeed had finished his poem.
"Proctor, I've finished my poem. My fingers have been aching recently, so my handwriting might not be as good. Please excuse me."
Qin Ming muttered to himself, "What time traveler writes well with a brush?"
The surrounding scholars were stunned, and even Wang Yu, who had been deep in thought, was taken aback.
The proctor took the poem and began to read aloud.
"Zhao ke man hu ying, Wu gou shuang xue ming.
Yin an zhao bai ma, sa ta ru liu xing..."
Qin Ming and his companions immediately recognized the poem as "The Heroic Traveler" by Li Bai.
The surrounding scholars burst into applause.
"How neat and structured! The imagery is elegant and graceful!"
"Wang Yu has lost. This guy finished such a timeless classic poem in just fifteen minutes. Truly a genius!"
"I thought Wang Yu was a genius, but now I see that compared to Xiao Chen, Wang Yu is nothing!"
Wang Yu, nearly forty years old, trembled as he looked at the poem.
Unwilling to admit defeat, he asked, "What does this 'Zhao ke' mean?"
"It refers to an assassin from the state of Zhao."
"But... but there was no state of Zhao in our history."
Xiao Chen paused for a moment, then casually responded, "Of course, it's fictional. You fool, you lost, now get out of the exam hall."
"I refuse to accept this! I've been a prodigy since I was young and studied for thirty years! I can't even write a famous poem in two hours, yet you did it in fifteen minutes?"
"Too bad, you lost. Now go!" Xiao Chen waved his hand.
The surrounding people also waved their hands in agreement.
"Get out of here! Wang Yu, admit your loss."
Even the proctor, holding the poem, was excitedly shouting, "Xiao Chen, this is truly a good poem! Can you add my name to the title? That way, I can also be remembered for eternity!"
"Of course, Proctor!" Xiao Chen said with a grin.
"Good, good! Wang Yu, you lost, hurry up and get out of here!"
"Guards! Throw Wang Yu out of the exam hall!"
In an instant!
With Wang Yu's desperate cries echoing, two guards grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out.
Snow began to fall from the sky.
The entire exam hall was covered in white snow.
Qin Ming and the others also felt a chill in the air.
"That's just too much," Qing Xuan gritted her teeth, holding her sword and walking toward Xiao Chen's phantom. "I'm going to kill him! How could he bully people like this?"
As a result! Qing Xuan swung her sword, and the scene of the exam hall shattered instantly.
Suddenly, a new scene appeared before Qin Ming and the others. Snow fell heavily onto the streets, and the cold was unbearable.
At the corner of a broken temple, Wang Yu, the white-clad scholar, and his sister were huddled together. His sister was shivering from the cold.
"Brother, I'm so cold, so hungry," she whispered, her voice weak.
Wang Yu continued to cry, his tears streaming down his face.
"Brother, they said you were kicked out of the exam hall... Does that mean you can't take the imperial exam this year?" His heart sank with sadness.
"Poof..." He spat out a mouthful of blood.
"I don't believe it. I don't believe there's anyone who can write a timeless masterpiece in just fifteen minutes. I don't believe it. His writing was so ugly, yet he could create such a good poem..."
Wang Yu stood up in despair, looking at the heavy snow, crying uncontrollably.
"My parents sacrificed everything to send me to school. They couldn't afford medicine when they got sick, and they died from their illness. I sold all the property in the house and brought my sister to the capital for the imperial exam. But today, I was kicked out of the exam hall. Heaven, why? Why was he so good? Why?"
Poof~
Wang Yu spat out another mouthful of blood onto the pure white snow.
This scene made Qin Ming and the others feel deep sympathy.
"Qin Ming, look," Qing Xuan pointed sadly at the corner of the wall. "That little girl, Niuniu, looks like she froze to death."
Indeed!
The little girl, cold and hungry, who had pinned all her hopes on her brother passing the exam, had truly frozen to death! Her hands, feet, and ears were all covered in frostbite!
Qin Ming suddenly realized.
The body parts he had pieced together earlier had frostbite on the ears, hands, and feet!
It seemed that the body he had reconstructed was that of this child!
In his ears, he could hear Wang Yu's heart-wrenching cries.
He held his sister's lifeless body and wept uncontrollably.
"Niuniu! Brother is sorry, I'm so sorry! He defeated me in fifteen minutes after my thirty years of hard study!"
Just then, the tavern keeper, accompanied by two young attendants, walked over and kicked Wang Yu.
"You poor scholar, you stayed in my tavern for two days, claiming you could pass the exam, but you lost to a fifteen-year-old boy! What a disgrace! Pay back the three taels of silver you owe for staying in my tavern!"
Wang Yu was already consumed by pain and sorrow. He was crying continuously, cursing the injustice of the heavens.
One of the attendants whispered, "Boss, so many scholars come by early in the morning these days. Our bun shop by the exam hall should have made a fortune. But this broke scholar, Wang Yu, won't pay back the money, so how can we buy meat?"
The fat tavern keeper turned his evil gaze to Niuniu.
"Since this poor scholar can't pay his debt, we'll use his sister to settle it. Take her away!"