I searched for corpses in the Wuding River to extract entries

The layout of the streets in the capital city is like a Go board, crisscrossed and arranged in an orderly manner.

On the grand day of the Gong test, more than ten broad streets from all directions,
Every place was packed with people, creating a spectacular sight.

Although the number of people who can pass the imperial examination each year is limited, after several years, the total number of successful candidates accumulated is quite considerable.

Just counting those who came from far away with dreams to take the imperial examinations in Beijing, the number is already quite large.

Moreover, there were many relatives and friends who came with them, as well as servants and drivers who accompanied them.
With their joining, the population of the entire capital city reached an unprecedented peak at this time.

The red fox has lived for more than a hundred years. Although it has seen a lot of things in the world,
But today, it was the first time that he witnessed such an unprecedented scene.

After going through layers of rigorous inspections and body searches, Chihu produced documents that could prove his identity.

After careful examination, I was finally allowed to step into the towering walls of the Ministry of Rites.

Due to the close relationship with the Zhou family, Chihu came to Beijing quite early this time.
Therefore, he had enough time to adjust his body and mind, which were a little tired from the long journey, and now he has fully recovered to his best condition.

Not only that, with Mr.'s enthusiastic recommendation and the deep relationship between him and his father,
He had the opportunity to have in-depth academic exchanges and discussions with many prestigious scholars and officials.

However, the moment he stepped into the door of the Ministry of Rites, Chihu suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart.

Immediately afterwards, an indescribable force silently swept through his whole body.

This power actually suppressed all his thoughts and demonic powers, making him physically stronger than an ordinary person.
In other aspects, he is no different from an ordinary person and has completely lost his previous abilities.

Faced with this sudden change, the red fox couldn't help feeling flustered and at a loss.

But he also knew very well that at this critical moment, if he showed the slightest abnormality, it would immediately arouse the vigilance and suspicion of the surrounding officers and soldiers.

Although it was not difficult for him to force his way out of the Ministry of Rites with his strong physique,
But in this way, the identity of Zhou Qiangguang, which he had worked so hard to obtain, would be wasted and vanish into nothing.

This result was undoubtedly what he least wanted to see, and it made him feel extremely unwilling.

After thinking it over again and again in his mind, Chihu finally identified the crux of the problem as being within this official compound.

Recalling the moment when he entered the prefect's residence, although he had felt the signs of his demonic power being weakened,
But the degree at that time was far from as serious as it is now, which was almost unbearable for him.

It seems that... the complexity behind this secular dynasty regime is far beyond my initial imagination...

The red fox sighed inwardly and shook his head.

After thinking for a moment, he made up his mind that he must finish the exam no matter what and not let his efforts go to waste.

The examination was long and arduous, and candidates had to choose a room as their examination room.

Over the next few days, all the trivial matters of life such as eating, drinking, defecating and urinating will be carried out in it.

Following the master's previous instructions, Chihu took out ten taels of silver from his pocket and respectfully handed it to the clerk who led the way:

"I'm sorry to trouble you in the next three days. Please take good care of me."

Upon seeing this, the clerk immediately showed a happy smile on his face and quickly accepted the silver:
"Okay, okay. I will do my best to arrange everything for you."

After saying that, the clerk led the red fox to choose a clean and tidy room among the many rooms.

The mats and blankets in the room were all brand new, obviously specially prepared for this exam.

When the last candidate entered the examination room, time passed quietly until the stipulated deadline.
The heavy doors of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Examination Hall were closed one after another, isolating the entire examination room from the outside world.

During these critical days, the perimeter of the Ministry of Rites was closely guarded by military personnel.

Unless they have the emperor's decree, anyone who trespasses will be killed without mercy.

After all, there were 3,000 candidates in this examination room, each of whom was a pillar of the country's future.

If anything goes wrong, the consequences will be disastrous.

The red fox sat in the examination room, patiently waiting for the exam to begin.

Soon, sheets of paper were distributed to each candidate.

Then, a clerk read out the test questions loudly.

The red fox listened attentively, then carefully wrote the questions on a piece of white paper.

For Red Fox, he had never experienced such an exam before, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

Moreover, his magic power was blocked at this moment.
He was unable to use his telepathy to spy on the thoughts of other candidates as he had done before, which made him feel restless and unable to calm down.

Even so, he could only suppress his panic and try his best to cope with the exam in front of him.

However, as a demon, the red fox has an amazing memory that far exceeds that of humans.

When the test questions were presented in front of him, countless wonderful articles instantly emerged in his mind.

Although not all articles can perfectly match the test questions, Chihu will never copy them blindly, that is definitely not his style.

He just draws inspiration from it and learns from its essence, and that is enough for him.

The red fox is extremely intelligent, and he is able to draw inferences from other texts and has unique insights into scriptures.

Therefore, in less than half a day, he had deeply understood the essence of scientific research and his writing was fluent.

As the three-day exam time passed quietly, Chihu's heart was filled with confidence.

Although he can no longer use telepathy, his insight into people's hearts is still profound.

Coupled with his rich experience and profound accumulation over the past hundred years, he can also put it into words.

After those long three days, Chihu and a group of newly-acquainted fellow disciples spent the whole day wandering around the prosperous capital city, having fun to their heart's content.

After learning about the prominent family background of Zhou Qiangguang, the man disguised as Red Fox, these new friends became more and more enthusiastic about him, allowing Red Fox to gain a lot of hearts during the communication.

In the blink of an eye, another ten days passed and finally the day of the announcement of the results arrived.

With a nervous and expectant mood, Red Fox glanced at the list and was surprised to find that his name appeared in the third place on the first list.

He couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He didn't expect that his ranking in this scientific expedition would be so high.

I had thought before that it would be good enough to be on the list.

He knew very well that the emperor would personally mark the papers this year and the examination process was rigorous and fair, with absolutely no possibility of cheating.

Therefore, this ranking is undoubtedly real, and it is an honor he won with his real talent and knowledge. At this time, there were crowds of people in front of the list, and some candidates fainted on the ground due to excessive excitement or nervousness.
This made the clerks in the Imperial Examination Hall extremely busy, constantly shuttling among the crowd to provide treatment and comfort.

At this moment, several officials walked out of the Imperial Examination Hall. They stood in front of the list and announced loudly:
"Those who have not passed the imperial examination, please leave the Imperial Examination Hall; those who have passed the examination, please wait here for the emperor to summon you."

The sound echoed among the crowd, filling the entire examination hall with a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

This is actually a matter of course. After all, among the three thousand candidates,

Even if there are three lists to announce the results, there will only be 10 people on the first list, 20 people on the second list, and 30 people on the third list.

Adding up the three lists, only sixty people can stand out.

This means that only one outstanding candidate can be selected from about fifty candidates.
As you can imagine, the competition is fierce.

It didn't take too much time for the sixty new candidates to receive their tokens to enter the imperial city in an orderly manner according to their rankings on the list.

They need to stay in the capital for three days, using this time to rest their bodies and minds and make full preparations for the palace examination on the fourth day.

The red fox was not too surprised that he could pass the imperial examination.

After all, he knew very well that what he relied on in this exam was all real talent and knowledge.

If he had relied on telepathy to read other people's thoughts as he did before, he might not have achieved such outstanding results.

Because this time the marking work was done by the emperor himself, and the test papers were judged entirely according to his preferences.

If you try to plagiarize other people's ideas, you probably won't get such a good ranking.

In just three days, the news that Zhou Qiguang was on the list spread like a spring breeze.
It quickly spread throughout his hometown and became a hot topic of discussion among the Zhou family.

This good news not only brought glory to the Zhou family, but also allowed Red Fox to gain unprecedented growth in his mind.

As friends and family warmly congratulated Zhou Qiangguang, the thoughts in the red fox's body began to surge.

Almost overnight, his fifth and sixth tails grew out one after another, which marked that his cultivation had reached a new level.

As the number of tails increased, the red fox clearly felt that his magical power increased greatly, and his control over his telepathy became more proficient.

In the blink of an eye, the morning of the fourth day quietly arrived. Red Fox, along with the other examinees who also had dreams in their hearts, entered the gate of the Imperial City.

However, as soon as he entered the palace, the red fox felt as if his skin was being gently pricked by countless fine needles.

He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise in his heart, and secretly felt fortunate that his cultivation level was now much higher than before.

Judging from his cultivation level in the past few days, I'm afraid that this method of transformation will be difficult to maintain, and he may directly reveal his true form as a fox demon, thus causing unnecessary trouble.

But now, with the blessing of the sixth tail, his control over his transformation has improved a lot, and he can hide his true identity more easily.

However, the red fox could also keenly sense from within the palace that many human monks had gathered here.
Their strength is completely different from that of Master Zhao whom he had met before. They are definitely not that weak.

Among these monks, there are many masters whose strength is far superior to his own and unfathomable.

After respectfully paying homage to His Majesty, the Red Fox was led to the designated seat and sat down.

At the same time, the red fox fell into deep thought.

He vaguely felt that the human court seemed to have some kind of suppressive power over the demon race.
This kind of suppression is not only reflected in the various restrictions he encountered when he entered the Imperial Examination Hall before, but is also further confirmed in the imperial palace where he is now.

As time went by, after all the candidates had paid their respects to the emperor in turn, the much-anticipated palace examination finally began.

Suddenly, a melodious and deep sound of the Yangyang bell rang through the sky.

Then, the sound of delicate and long drum music came faintly from the distance.

The sound of the bells and the drums intertwined together, causing everyone present to fall silent involuntarily.

The surroundings suddenly became silent, without even the slightest sound.

When the red fox heard the sudden bell sound, he was startled.
He immediately realized that the demonic power in his body was sealed again, as if it was tightly bound by an invisible force and unable to flow freely.

However, what surprised him was that although his demonic power was sealed, his telepathic ability did not seem to be affected at all.

He tried to use his telepathy to spy on the minds of those around him, and found that he could still easily read the thoughts of ordinary people who had no cultivation.

However, for those human monks, their minds are still like fog, difficult to peek into.

Just as the red fox lowered his head in thought, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an unusual sound in his ears.

He looked up suddenly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

However, he soon regained his composure and began to wait for the palace examination to begin.

Afterwards, His Majesty the Emperor personally wrote the carefully prepared title on rice paper.

The eunuch in charge of ceremonies stood by respectfully, and when the emperor finished writing,
He quickly copied it down and distributed it to every tribute scholar present one by one.

The examination time is strictly limited to one hour, and the papers will be collected after the time limit.

After receiving the topic, Red Fox did not rush to grind ink and write like the others, but looked at it carefully and thought for a while.

The emperor sat on the high dragon throne, observing all this from a high position.

The questions in this exam are not actually profound and difficult to understand scriptures, but practical issues closely related to current politics.

When a country selects talents, it is naturally not to train a group of useless bureaucrats and literati.

Although Confucian classics occupy an important position in daily learning and education,

This is due to considerations of brainwashing and cultural inheritance, and also because there is no better alternative.

However, during the palace examination, what was examined was the candidates' insights into current affairs and their ability to write policy essays, in order to determine whether they had actual political talent.

After looking up several times and secretly observing the emperor's expression, the red fox finally put down his pen.

As he wrote, a smile appeared on the corner of Red Fox's mouth:
"Sister... When you taught me telepathy in the past, you only told me to use it on lone passers-by in the mountains or in the countryside."

"No matter how accurate my ability to read other people's minds is, I can only become their dream lover one after another..."

"Now... I have entered the palace examination room, and I can understand what the emperor is thinking!"

"So... I, Zhou Qiguang! I am the pillar of talent that the emperor and the court have always dreamed of!" (End of this chapter)