Miss Truth

"He is quite famous?" Ran Yan couldn’t help but sigh, assuming Sang Chen had indeed made quite a name for himself, hence his acceptance by such noble and prestigious families.

Ran Yunsheng nodded, "He participated in the imperial civil service examination during the sixth year of the Zhenguan era and came out on top, winning the title of Advanced Scholar in the Mingjing examination. At that time, Yu Shixian and several other great scholars all fought to take him as a disciple, causing quite a stir throughout the city. Ultimately, with just a word from the Emperor, he was admitted to the Imperial Academy to study. Upon reaching the age of sixteen, he was appointed to an official position. In the seventh year of Zhenguan, he participated in the Advanced Scholar examination again and secured the first rank. Oh, by the way, Xiao Song ranked second behind him that year! In the eighth year of Zhenguan, he once again took the Advanced Scholar examination and continued to obtain first rank. In the ninth year of Zhenguan, he took the Mingjing examination and was again at the top of the list. In the ninth year of Zhenguan, he sat for the Advanced Scholar exam once more... When the Emperor learned of this, in a fit of anger, he ordered Sang Chen’s examination papers to be thrown away."

Xiao Song, the official with such an imposing aura, had also once ranked below him? But being in the same Advanced Scholar examination, why was the difference in their dispositions as vast as heaven and earth?

Ran Yan was momentarily lost in thought but then heard Ran Yunsheng say, "In the ninth year of Zhenguan, when he was precisely sixteen years old, he held the position of Imperial Doctor, an official title that, while not high in rank, was particularly prestigious. However, he only stayed in this position for half a year before resigning. The Court, afraid that he would continue to take the civil service examination, issued an order that any future papers submitted by Sang Chen were not to be scored. Nonetheless, since then, he never participated in the civil service exams again and simply vanished into thin air."

"At thirty, one is still considered a youthful Mingjing scholar, and at fifty, a young Advanced Scholar. Being recognized as an Advanced Scholar at the age of fifty is still considered youthful and promising, which shows how difficult this examination is. Yet, this individual treated it as if it were a meal he had every day. Is the person Ran Yunsheng is talking about really Sang Chen?"

Ran Yan couldn’t see any trace of a young prodigy’s temperament on that particular individual, but considering his way of doing things, it seemed undeniably like him. She couldn’t help but ask, "Could it be a case of mistaken identity?"

"It should not be! I have seen a portrait of him in his work ’General Strategies for the Civil Service Examination,’ drawn by the daughter of Yan Liben, the Minister of Public Works. It depicts his appearance at the age of sixteen and bears a resemblance to his current looks," Ran Yunsheng affirmed confidently.

Ran Yan asked, "’General Strategies for the Civil Service Examination’? What is that?"