A short while later!
Time was up!
The students stepped forward one by one to submit their poems!
After almost everyone had submitted, Qin Yun was the last to step forward and hand in his poem!
Looking at the incense in front of him, Qin Yun smiled. "Just in time!"
Li Fengsheng sneered. "Putting on airs."
Qin Yun walked up to Li Fengsheng and said calmly, "Lord Li, you have been targeting me since the beginning. Is it because of the auction banquet incident?"
"Lord Li, you wouldn't be so narrow-minded, would you? You bought a treasure to give to Prince Li, hoping to curry favor with him. I didn't stop you! Knowing it was a treasure Lord Li liked, I reluctantly let you have it. Do you think I did something wrong?"
Instantly!
Everyone present looked over!
They began to whisper among themselves!
"What treasure did Lord Li buy for Prince Li? When did Lord Li become so close with Prince Li!"
"Doesn't the law of our Great Zhou prohibit officials from colluding? And even more so from secretly colluding with members of the royal family! They should only wholeheartedly assist the monarch and not harbor any ulterior motives towards other princes or imperial princes!"
"I heard about the last auction banquet too. I heard Lord Li did buy a good treasure, something that was tribute from the Western Regions! Could that treasure be with Prince Li now?"
"Isn't Lord Li a favorite of the Emperor? Why is he helping Prince Li? Shouldn't he have presented the treasure to the Emperor?"
Hearing the voices of the students around, Li Fengsheng panicked.
"Qin Yun, don't spout nonsense."
"Whether I'm spouting nonsense or not, Lord Li knows best, doesn't he?" Qin Yun said and turned to leave, leaving Li Fengsheng with a meaningful smile before he departed!
Xue Jin, standing nearby, had seen everything!
He instantly had his answer!
He finally understood why the Emperor had arranged for him and Li Fengsheng to be judges for this poetry gathering!
Looking at Qin Yun's retreating back, then at the furious Li Fengsheng beside him, and the students pointing fingers at Li Fengsheng.
The Emperor's plan was indeed killing three birds with one stone!
No one could escape Xie Qianmo's control, including him!
The Emperor must have known that Li Fengsheng and Qin Yun were at odds. Arranging for him to be a judge was to test his suitability for the position of a third-rank attendant, to help Qin Yun out of his predicament, and to see if Qin Yun truly had talent!
If he guessed correctly, it was probably also arranged by the Emperor's subordinates for Qin Yun to draw Su Qingwen in the second round today!
As for Li Fengsheng, the Emperor had long suspected his loyalty!
Qin Yun targeting Li Fengsheng this time and causing him such a big trouble, Li Fengsheng's future would likely not be easy!
Thinking of this, Xue Jin smiled faintly!
All of this was just a setup by the Emperor!
They, present, were merely chess pieces on the Emperor's chessboard!
He looked back in the direction of Qin Yun, narrowing his eyes in thought!
It seemed Qin Yun had caught the Emperor's eye, and this was just the beginning of testing Qin Yun!
After a small interlude!
Li Fengsheng and Xue Jin began to review the poems!
As expected!
Li Fengsheng directly placed Qin Yun's poem in the B-grade category!
Good poems were naturally placed in the A-grade, and only those that did not pass were B-grade!
Therefore, Li Fengsheng had not even read Qin Yun's poem, he only saw the name and directly put it in the B-grade!
Xue Jin's side was different!
He praised Qin Yun's poem repeatedly!
Since Xue Jin and Li Fengsheng each set a question, the two poems written by the students were naturally one copy for Xue Jin and one for Li Fengsheng!
And Qin Yun's poem was stuck in the middle, one side passed, the other did not!
Qin Yun was not surprised by this outcome!
She knew very well that Li Fengsheng would not let her pass, so her situation was truly precarious!
She was even starting to doubt what that devilish man Xie Qianmo was thinking!
Did he truly not know that Li Fengsheng was her nemesis?
Li Fengsheng and Xue Jin deliberated and selected nine passing poems from the thirty submitted. The last one remained an unknown!
Xue Jin strongly recommended Qin Yun, stating that Qin Yun's poem was vivid and lifelike, a masterpiece for eternity!
Li Fengsheng, on the other hand, responded that Qin Yun's poem did not match the topic he had set, and it was not the style he preferred!
Thus, the two remained at a stalemate!
In the palace!
Fang Jing relayed the events at Blue Mountain Academy to Xie Qianmo, word for word.
After listening, Xie Qianmo put down the memorial he was holding and said sternly, "Bring me Qin Yun's poem!"
Fang Jing immediately understood and then returned to Blue Mountain Academy!
In the Imperial Study, Xie Qianmo smiled slightly as he thought of Qin Yun's powerful performance against Su Qingwen and how she had publicly exposed Li Fengsheng's collusion with members of the royal family! This young man had indeed not disappointed him!
Blue Mountain Academy, in the venue!
Just as Li Fengsheng and Xue Jin were ceaselessly arguing over whether Qin Yun's poem should pass or fail!
Fang Jing approached the two of them.
"Since the two lords are finding it so difficult to decide, why not let me take Qin Gongzi's poem and submit it to His Majesty for a decision!"
Xue Jin and Li Fengsheng looked at Fang Jing simultaneously!
Xue Jin nodded repeatedly. "Good, let His Majesty decide!"
Unexpectedly, Li Fengsheng refused. "Eunuch Fang, this is not appropriate! This poem by Qin Yun has not passed my review, how can we trouble His Majesty to look at it!"
"His Majesty is busy with state affairs and need not be bothered with such trivial matters!"
Fang Jing sneered. "Could it be that Lord Li no longer listens to His Majesty's words? Lord Li has quite the authority!"
"This subordinate dares not!" Li Fengsheng quickly clasped his hands together in a bow, assuming a most respectful posture!
Fang Jing ignored Li Fengsheng and directly said to Xue Jin, "Lord Xue, please compile the top ten poems and give them to me. I will then submit them to His Majesty for review!"
"Yes, Eunuch Fang!"
Qin Yun's poem was selected!
It was smoothly brought to Xie Qianmo!
"Your Majesty, these are the top ten students from today, and their poems are all here!" Fang Jing respectfully placed all the poems before Xie Qianmo!
Xie Qianmo reviewed them one by one!
When he saw Qin Yun's poem, his eyes were filled with admiration!
Clearly, among these ten poems, Xie Qianmo liked Qin Yun's the most!
However, Xie Qianmo did not give Qin Yun the first place, but the third!
First place, Zheng Haonan, the second son of the General's mansion. The Zheng family had always sent a man to the army every generation, and each generation sent a valiant man to the border. His legitimate son, Zheng Nanjun, would lead troops to fight at the border after he came of age. This sentiment was something Xie Qianmo could not ignore, and he had to give face to the Zheng family!
Second place, Wei Xiaochang. Xie Qianmo learned each year from officials in court which families in the capital had produced talented scholars, how their knowledge was... and their character. It was this overlooked Wei Xiaochang whose poem attracted his attention!