Let's just drift through life together in this quick transmigration story.

Chapter 734 Phoenix Returns to Its Nest (20)

The scientific expedition was held as scheduled, but due to the lack of thorough publicity in the local areas, most of the candidates were female students from a few major cities in the country.

More than 300 people participated, and every one of them had a confident smile on their face.

A recommendation doesn't guarantee a high-ranking official position, and you might never even see the Emperor in your lifetime. But an exam guarantees a meeting with the Emperor, and if you're lucky and do well, you might become a high-ranking official.

The day before the exam, Xiong Bufan gathered the registered female students together, saying, "Female students, the future of the nation is in your hands. You will be the pillars of the Great Feng Dynasty..."

A few words were enough to get the girls excited, and they stood up and started shouting, "Imperial examination! Imperial examination! Imperial examination!"

Over the years, Xiong Bufan's brainwashing skills have improved significantly. These female students and ordinary people believe Xiong Bufan's words without a doubt. At this moment, Shangguan Yi also looked at Xiong Bufan with starry eyes and an expression of admiration.

The examiners and question setters could already foresee how many people would participate in the imperial examinations next year; these were all massive undertakings.

However, there don't seem to be many vacant positions in the imperial court.

On the first day of the exam, Xiong Bufan patrolled each exam room individually.

Not for any other reason than to find out who is cheating. No one can cheat under her direction, not even herself.

The fact that the emperor patrolled the examination hall was too challenging for the female students' mentality. Some of them couldn't even hold a pen, their hands were shaking so much that they couldn't even write.

Xiong Bufan was somewhat disgusted by this. He thought this person's mentality was flawed; even as an official, he could only bury himself in research and didn't know how to be flexible.

The exam is divided into five sessions, covering topics such as military strategy, agriculture, general knowledge, arithmetic, patriotism, and national history. The exam lasts for two days, with each session lasting one hour.

Because it was the first scientific expedition, each department set its own questions, and there were no dedicated examiners. However, those questions still gave the officials of several departments a headache.

However, things will probably be better during the second scientific expedition, and we won't be as helpless as we are now.

The results will be released half a month after the exam. The top 30% of disciples will be given official positions, while the remaining disciples will either return to their hometowns to teach or continue taking the exam.

After all, being a teacher requires ranking, and it's not something ordinary people can participate in.

Based on reports from officials in various regions, Xiong Bufan allocated candidates according to their overall scores. Those without merit were demoted, while those with some ability were allowed to stay in the capital.

Liu Tong paced back and forth at home, fearing that the emperor would demote her and that she did not want to leave the capital.

Her husband tried several times to intervene, but was driven away each time.

Ninety people stood in the main hall; most of them possessed strong mental fortitude and professional knowledge.

Most of them are quite unbalanced in their specialties, but their fighting skills are impressive. It's an exaggeration to say that they can kill a tiger with two punches; normally, they can kill it with one punch.

If Xiong Bufan were to conduct one-on-one interviews, it would take a very long time, so he only selected the top ten female students.

Chen Dengmei hid in the crowd, keeping his head down and not daring to look at Xiong Bufan's expression. He was the eldest son in the family, but unfortunately, none of his sisters were good enough to write articles. His mother had high hopes for him, so he had to disguise himself as a woman to take the imperial examination. After being assigned to a local post, he would return the official position to his sister.

I didn't feel scared during the exam, but now that I've finished and am facing the emperor, I feel flustered.

Xiong Bufan slowly walked over, pulled off the scarf around Chen Dengmei's neck, revealing a small Adam's apple. "You're a man."

Chen Dengmei reacted quickly, kneeling down and kowtowing repeatedly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, I did not mean to deceive Your Majesty."

Upon hearing a man's voice, the female students in the main hall all took a step back, afraid of being tainted by bad luck.

Hearing that there was a man nearby, the palace servants came over and tried to drag Chen Dengmei away.

Chen Dengmei's head was bleeding from kowtowing, but she continued to kowtow.

Xiong Bufan felt somewhat helpless, waved his hand, and told the palace servants to leave and not interfere in the matter.

"Stop kowtowing, I never said I was going to kill you."

Chen Dengmei: "Your Majesty~"

Xiong Bufan: "Did you participate in this scientific expedition voluntarily? Do you know that you can't break the rules?"

"Your Majesty, I know."

Chen Dengmei was the second-place finisher, while the top two finishers watched from the sidelines. The fourth-place finisher hoped that the emperor would drag Chen Dengmei out and behead her, because that way she could squeeze into the top three.

Xiong Bufan grabbed Chen Dengmei's chin and pulled him up, saying, "From now on, you'll stay by my side with the top scholar and the third-ranked scholar. I won't treat you badly."

Chen Dengmei: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

The third-ranked scholar and the top scholar instinctively admired Xiong Bufan, but they were somewhat resentful of Chen Dengmei. How could a lowly man take the exam with them? This was clearly a violation of ancestral rules, and it was even more unacceptable for a man to be studying.

Xiong Bufan: "You have violated the ancestral rules to some extent. From today onwards, your surname is Feng."

"I chopped up and robbed the Chen family, that's none of your business now."

Unexpectedly, he was still sentenced to have his entire family executed. Then, Chen Dengmei met his soulmate and saved him.

Chen Dengmei: "Your Majesty, my surname is Feng, and the Chen family is ultimately an outsider."

"Ah."

A wise person knows when to yield to circumstances, but Chen Dengmei is a bit too pragmatic.

The top two scholars exchanged a glance, both seeing the apprehension in each other's eyes; the man was indeed cunning.

The remaining people stayed in the court based on their performance and personal impressions, and Xiong Bufan also arranged their official positions.

Shangguan Yi looked at the three people, especially Chen Dengmei, and felt a deep sense of apprehension. She suspected that these three were going to take her place.

Xiong Bufan: "Someone, arrange for the three of you to stay in the palace. They will come to court with me tomorrow."

Shangguan Yi: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Kongkong: "Bufan, are you trying to elevate Chen Dengmei to the position of emperor? The original owner of this body does not agree to this."

Xiong Bufan: "I don't plan to do that. I want to be a qualified emperor and then prepare a whetstone for my successor."

"Kongkong, you should encourage the original owner to read more books and stop interfering with our decisions."

Kongkong felt that Xiong Bufan had misunderstood her, and explained, "The original owner did not discriminate against women. This Chen Dengmei is very strange. She seems to be a spy from an enemy country. The original owner was just reminding you."

"Okay, I got it."

Xiong Bufan had felt a little guilty just now, but that unease has completely disappeared now.

No one can harm the country she has worked so hard to build, not even spies from other countries.

Shangguan Yi did something malicious. When arranging accommodations for Chen Dengmei, he directly arranged for her to stay at Tingfeng Palace, which was the former residence of Wang Shijun.

Wang Shijun truly loves His Majesty and will kill any man who tries to get close to him.

Wang Shijun probably hasn't moved out of Tingfeng Palace yet, so sending Chen Dengmei to Tingfeng Palace is the best option.