Zhang Zhi glanced at the situation and defended, "Maybe he intentionally wrote ugly characters, or switched hands to write!"
"My brother writes with his right hand," Zong Wenxiu said.
"Who knows if he's left-handed!"
"..."
Although Zhang Zhi kept making excuses, what he said wasn't entirely without reason. The headmaster began to waver as well.
Xu Wan suggested, "Then please have the headmaster compare the handwriting of Jincheng's and the second-place student's exam papers."
Upon hearing this, Zong Jincheng protested unhappily, "Why not compare with the first place? There's no way I could have come in second!"
Xu Wan shot him a glance and said, "Because the first place is really strong, stronger than you."
Zong Jincheng was unconvinced: "Nonsense! I want to compete for the first place!"
"You're asking for trouble."
Zong Jincheng: "!!!"
Zong Wenxiu: "..."
Even in such a tense moment, his brother still had the mood to bicker with his wife. His mental state was truly remarkable.
The headmaster took out Zhang Zhi's exam paper. As soon as he opened it, the ugly handwriting felt like it had flipped his skull over.
Every sentence in this exam paper was written at the top of the line, with some even trying to spill over the margins. The headmaster had managed Qingbo Academy for so many years and had never seen such a bizarre and ugly handwriting.
However, at the same time, this ugly handwriting was indeed the same as what Zong Jincheng had just written!
"This..." The headmaster quickly realized the issue and angrily ordered, "Someone, go get the examiner who graded the papers!"
Zhang Zhi instantly became tense, his face dripping with cold sweat.
Zong Jincheng also stretched his neck, eager to know the result. The second-place paper definitely wasn't his!
That woman looked down on him. If it were up to him, he would have started by checking the first-place paper!
Seeing this, Xu Wan knew the truth was out, and now they just had to wait for the headmaster's verdict.
In the meantime, the headmaster gave Zhang Zhi another chance to write a sentence on the spot for a handwriting comparison.
Zhang Zhi's hands trembled as he deliberately wrote ugly characters.
The headmaster, with a black face, said, "If you don't cooperate, I have plenty of ways to verify. I still have last year's exam papers archived, and comparing your handwriting with those would reveal the issue. It might just take some time!"
Zhang Zhi's mental defenses crumbled, and he was utterly panicked.
The following moments felt like waiting for a verdict. When the year-end exam papers were compared, the handwriting on the paper that had replaced Zong Jincheng's score was indeed Zhang Zhi's.
The examiner, seeing the evidence, was terrified and quickly admitted his mistake: "Headmaster, I'm sorry! It was because I was blinded by money. Yesterday, Zhang Zhi secretly gave me two taels of silver, and I thought, since the exam papers wouldn't be seen by the students, I..."
The headmaster was so furious he kicked the examiner: "What do you mean, 'I thought'! For just two taels of silver, you dared to tamper with Zong Jincheng's results! Do you know who he is? The hundred-year reputation of Qingbo Academy could be ruined because of you!"
Zong Jincheng was almost furious.
"Two taels of silver? Two taels of silver bought my results??"
He looked incredulously at Zong Wenxiu, his big eyes filled with the anger of being insulted!
Two taels of silver was the price of a dish of goose that Zong Jincheng would eat.
But someone had swallowed his results.
The damage wasn't significant, but the insult was extreme!
Seeing this brat about to explode, Xu Wan had Zong Wenxiu hold him back to prevent any trouble.
Zong Wenxiu was struggling.
His brother's strength was too much; he was about to lose his grip!
Meanwhile, the headmaster was pronouncing the verdict: "The examiner tampered with students' papers, affecting the fairness of the monthly exam. Effective immediately, Qingbo Academy will no longer employ this person!"
"Zhang Zhi, for bribing the examiner and fabricating results, you are expelled from Qingbo Academy effective immediately!"
The examiner pleaded desperately, "Headmaster! Please forgive me; it was my first time taking a bribe. I will change!"
Zhang Zhi quickly followed suit: "Headmaster! It was my first mistake too. I'm still young and don't know the weight of my actions. Please give me another chance!"
The headmaster angrily shouted, "Get out of the academy!"
The two masterminds were quickly dragged away. There was also a Wu Shusen, who hadn't participated in the cheating, so he wasn't punished. But since he was associated with Zhang Zhi, he was also at a loss and flustered.
The headmaster sternly said, "You too, pack up and get out."
Wu Shusen was instantly stunned: "No, Headmaster, I didn't participate! I didn't tamper with his paper! I didn't do anything wrong!!"
The headmaster said, "You aided and abetted Zhang Zhi, knowing about it but not reporting it. With such character, Qingbo Academy, a hundred-year institution of integrity, cannot accept you! Take him away!"
Wu Shusen wailed as he was dragged away along with the others.
On the other side, the headmaster ordered the examiner to rewrite the monthly exam rankings. This time, Zong Jincheng watched as his name climbed to the top.
He was now at the top of the first column, ranked A.
Second place.
Zong Jincheng still wasn't satisfied: "I want to check the first place's paper!"
The headmaster asked, "Do you have a grudge with the first place?"
"I don't know him!" Zong Jincheng confidently said, "But he couldn't have done better than me!"
The headmaster: "..."
Although you're very strong, don't be too confident.
He thought about his words and gently advised, "Qin Ye always comes in first. His results are not fake."
"I don't care; I want to check his paper!"
The headmaster sighed and still had someone fetch Qin Ye's paper. He thought for a moment and first handed it to Xu Wan.
Xu Wan took it and looked it over.
Compared to the little demon's ugly handwriting, Qin Ye's was beautiful, almost like printed text. The exam paper was full, with not a single mistake.
Looking at his dictation and translations, his answers were all excellent.
Truly perfect.
Normally, the little demon could have done well by rote memorization, but Qingbo Academy's questions weren't directly from the books. The final big question asked students to write about the similarities and differences based on the general ideas of several books.
Such questions were difficult to answer perfectly through rote memorization alone.
So Qin Ye outperforming Zong Jincheng was well deserved.
Xu Wan handed the paper to the little demon, who took it and quickly furrowed his brows.
Although the little demon was usually very confident, he wasn't without basic aesthetics. He could clearly see the gap between himself and the other person.
But...
"Did a real person write this? Or was it printed?"
The handwriting of the answerer was too similar to the exam paper's text, making it seem like it wasn't written by a human.
Zong Wenxiu also looked over and agreed; it didn't look like human handwriting. But if it was a fake score, that would be fine. If it was real, then Qin Ye was truly terrifying.
Xu Wan smiled and said, "Headmaster, it seems our child isn't convinced. Could we invite this student Qin Ye to come over for a discussion? Jincheng wants to see the first place's prowess."
In fact, she had sent someone to investigate Qin Ye's background over the past two days. His father was a fifth-rank official and a former top scholar from six years ago's imperial exams.
Qin Ye had been influenced by his family's scholarly atmosphere since childhood. He had started reading and writing early and worked hard, which was why he was so far ahead of his peers.
This time, the little demon had really bumped into a tough opponent.
