"Hehehe." Genichi let out a weird chuckle, "Ogata-kun, do you know what is the most profound truth I have learned after living for so many years?"

"That is - the things that happen in life are always more exaggerated and unreasonable than the stories told by storytellers."

"So it's not impossible that your article happens to suit the reviewer's taste, and then the reviewer decides to award you the top spot in the essay test."

After saying that, Yuan Yi poured a large sip of wine into his mouth again, and then let out a big wine burp.

Looking at Genichi who was drinking wine leisurely, Ogata couldn't help but complain in his heart:

——Speaking of which... I always feel like Mr. Gendai has done nothing since he came to Edo. He just sits in the corner of the room drinking wine every day...

…

…

That night——

Edo, Matsudaira Sadanobu's residence, Matsudaira Sadanobu's room——

"Lord, this is the final exam paper."

Tachibana, the nickname of Matsudaira Sadanobu, placed a large stack of examination papers on the tatami in front of him.

"Yes." Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting not far in front of Tachibana, nodded gently, "Tachibana, thank you for your hard work."

There were stacks of examination papers placed on the tatami between Matsudaira Sadanobu and Tachibana.

These test papers are all test papers for the participants who participated in the "Imperial Examination" this morning.

After all the examination papers were collected, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately sent people to start grading the papers.

Matsudaira Sadanobu sent a total of 10 people to mark these papers.

The scope of corrections by these 10 people is limited to the first 100 fill-in-the-blank questions, and the following "composition questions" are not graded by them.

Because these "fill-in-the-blank questions" are very easy to correct, and the 10 correctors carefully selected by Matsudaira Sadanobu are all people who are proficient in Sinology.

So it only took one afternoon for these 10 examiners to digest all the test papers.

And these examination papers, which had been corrected with fill-in-the-blank questions, were all sent to Matsudaira Sadanobu's residence tonight.

The reason why those 10 examiners only evaluated the fill-in-the-blank question and not the subsequent "composition question" was because Matsudaira Sadanobu specifically requested that he should correct the last question in the examination paper himself.

Matsudaira Sadanobu crossed his arms over his chest, glanced over the pile of examination papers in front of him, and with a look of obvious disappointment on his face, said softly:

"The number of people participating in the 'Imperial Trial' is much less than expected..."

According to official statistics, the total number of people who participated in the "Imperial Trial" was only 538.

There were only 508 people present for the literary test this morning, and 30 people were absent.

In other words, the total number of people who actually came to participate in the "Imperial Trial Match" was only a little over 500.

Much less than Matsudaira Sadanobu expected.

When he heard that a large number of people from all over the world were pouring into Edo, Matsudaira Sadanobu was very excited, thinking that many people would come to participate in this "imperial trial".

But who would have known - until the registration deadline, the total number of people who signed up to participate in the "Imperial Trial Match" was only a little over 500 people...

After seeing the disappointment on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face, Tachibana hurriedly explained:

"The reason why many people go to Edo is simply to see the excitement of the 'Gozen Trial Match', not to participate in the 'Gozen Trial Match'."

“There are also some people who originally wanted to participate in the ‘Imperial Trials’, but found that in addition to martial arts competitions, the ‘Imperial Trials’ also required literary competitions, so they gave up.”

"There are also some people who give up participating in the 'Imperial Trial' for other reasons."

As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu let out a sigh of relief.

"Anyway, although the quantity is much less than expected, it is not unacceptable."

"I hope more people can successfully pass the literary test."

After saying that, Matsudaira Sadanobu placed the table beside him in front of him, and then laid out the pens, ink, and inkstones he had prepared early in the morning on the table.

Tachibana, who was kneeling on one knee in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu who was fiddling with the desk, smiled bitterly, and asked softly:

"Sir, Lao Zhong... do you really want to go through these examination papers one by one?"

Having said that, Tachibana couldn't help but glance at the pile of examination papers in front of him.

There are 508 people participating in the "Imperial Examination", which means there are 508 examination papers in total.

Matsudaira Sadanobu planned to personally correct the last question of these 508 examination papers... Tachibana felt his scalp numb just by imagining the workload.

Matsudaira Sadanobu smiled slightly until he found out what Tachibana was worried about:

"For me, who has directed countless political affairs, this is just a trivial matter."

"And I can read very quickly."

"It only takes me a day or more to read and correct this amount."

When he finished saying this, Matsudaira Sadanobu had just arranged the table and all the objects on the table.

"Laozhong-sama, you may not know that many people who participated in the 'Gozen Examination' today complained about why the questions in the literary test paper are different from what the government said before." Tachibana then put on a wry smile and said

said.

As for Matsudaira Sadanobu - after hearing Tachibana's words, he chuckled a few times:

"It seems that we have done a good job in keeping secrets. No one knows that there is such a question at the end of the exam paper."

"...Sir Lao Zhong, I still don't understand."

Tachibana's voice suddenly became much deeper.

"Why did you suddenly add this extra question to the exam paper? Why did you keep it strictly confidential, not letting everyone know about the existence of such a question before the literary test started, and why did you have to personally correct this question?"

Tachibana is the nickname of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Generally speaking, everyone will only choose their close relatives as their nickname.

Matsudaira Sadanobu was no exception, and Tachibana was one of his cronies.

As a close confidant of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tachibana naturally knew a lot of inside information.

For example - the literary test paper did only have 100 fill-in-the-blank questions at the beginning, and there was no "composition question".

Korematsudaira Sadanobu suddenly ordered that more questions be added and required strict confidentiality. No outsiders were allowed to know that there were other questions in the exam paper besides fill-in-the-blank questions.

After silently listening to the series of questions raised by Tachibana, Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a calm tone:

"If everyone knows in advance that there are questions of this type, then everyone will prepare in advance."

"This way, I won't be able to achieve what I want."

"As for why we need to add more questions and answer them personally..."

After Matsudaira Sadanobu was silent for a short while, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted up, revealing a faint smile.

"There are many reasons."

"The main reason... is probably just to see if there are any like-minded people."

After saying something that made Tachibana feel confused, Matsudaira Sadanobu waved his hand at him.

"Okay, please step back first. I'm going to start grading papers, so don't disturb me."

Tachibana also wanted to ask Matsudaira Sadanobu what he meant by what he said just now.

But seeing that Matsudaira Sadanobu had already begun to evict people tactfully, it was not convenient for Tachibana to say anything. He could only quickly say "yes" loudly and quickly exited Matsudaira Sadanobu's room.

After Tachibana exited the room, Matsudaira Sadanobu moved the pile of examination papers closest to him to his side, and then spread the examination papers above one by one on the desk in front of him.

What Matsudaira Sadanobu said to Tachibana just now, "I can read words very quickly" was not bragging.

Since he was a child, he has never let go of the scroll, so he has unknowingly developed the ability to accurately read the main content of an article even if he glances ten lines at a time.

Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly looked at them one after another.

The movements of his hands were fast, but the expression on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face never changed much.

Just looking at the exam papers one after another with an expressionless expression.

The moon outside the window keeps changing its position as time goes by.

The oil lamps in the room were also replaced once.

The expression on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face finally showed some changes.

But - it's a bad change.

His originally expressionless face now frowned slightly.

There was also a faint look of displeasure on his face.

"One or two...they are all just following the script..."

After reading another exam paper and placing it on top of the "hill" of already-read exam papers, Matsudaira Sadaira said this in an impatient tone.

Matsudaira Sadanobu rubbed his already sore eyes.

Because he was focused on grading, Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know how much time had passed since Jirachika left.
To be continued...