That night, in a large tent outside Qingshan Town.
The curtain was opened with a clang, and two figures, one tall and one short, walked in.
The invigilator Shen Chun who was guarding the table looked through the candlelight and saw that both of them were wearing dark high-collar robes and half silver masks on their faces, which was the standard dress of Privy Council officials. Among them, the tall man has three red lines embroidered on his shoulders. This is already a symbol of guarding in the mansion and is equivalent to a third-rank official in the Sixth Department.
Obviously the person who came was the inspector he had been waiting for for a long time, Lord Ba Xingtian.
It's just another person... Shen Chun quietly turned his eyes to the short man. He had not heard before that there would be two inspectors supervising the exam. Moreover, there was only a white line on that man's black robe, and he was equivalent to a new alchemist in terms of grade. Logically speaking, he was not qualified to enter the important place for the scholar examination.
But even his immediate superior didn't say anything, so he decided to pretend he didn't see it.
"Phew, this mask is really suffocating." The first thing the tall man did after entering the tent was to pull off the silver mask and throw it aside. "Do you have any wine?"
"Master Ba," Shen Chun said helplessly, "There is only tea here."
"Tsk," the latter spat and sat down in front of the table. His burly figure made the chair creak as if it was about to fall apart. "Then let's have a pot of tea. It needs to be cold!"
The short man neither took off his mask nor spoke, but sat down next to Ba Xingtian.
This means that the two are at least equal in status.
Shen Chun couldn't help but have more respect for the latter. Although the other party didn't say anything, he still poured him a cup of herbal tea.
Although the Privy Council Office is mainly responsible for dealing with evil events, which is different from the official officials of the Six Ministries, being an official is being an official, and you must have basic vision, otherwise you will not feel that you have sinned, and you will not be able to die in the line of duty. Know where to go to get justice.
Ba Xingtian directly put a pot of tea to his mouth and drank it down.
After finishing the drink, he let out a long breath, wiped it casually with his sleeve, and finally asked about business. "How is the general situation of this military examination?"
"Sir," Shen Chun replied immediately, "Qingshan Town allocated 427 candidates, and 401 actually arrived. Everything is going well so far, and nothing unusual has happened yet."
"There are even 400 people in Qingshan Town?" Ba Xingtian looked satisfied, "It seems that there will be many new faces in the Privy Council this fall."
"With so many people, won't the qualification standards be improved?"
"It will be very difficult if we don't lower the level." He shook his head. "The impact of the locust plague last year is still there, and Qi and Gao are ready to move again. People are needed everywhere. There is also a lot of pressure from the top."
This already involved national affairs. Shen Chun couldn't say any more and could only nod. The more severe the disaster, the more frequent evil spirits appear. Sometimes the harm caused is even greater than war, and these require alchemists to deal with them. How can we expect people who can't even pass the assessment to make a difference in the face of these major threats? In addition, training an alchemist is expensive, so he doesn't think lowering standards can really solve the problem.
Ba Xingtian did not talk any further on this issue. He pointed to an open directory on the table, "Those crossed out names...are they people who have been eliminated?"
"Yes!" Shen Chun replied, "There are nine in total so far."
"Nine? Were eliminated on the first day?" The short man finally spoke, his voice unexpectedly light and not too loud considering his age.
Can you be on an equal footing with Master Ba at this age? Shen Chun suddenly became a little curious about the other party's identity.
"The reasons were all written in the notes. They were eager to find out the clues and spent all the money in one afternoon. They didn't notice the meaning of the money until dinner. For the magicians, they couldn't survive the seventh day if they were hungry, so they I chose to give up the exam.”
"A guy without perseverance." Ba Xingtian commented, "If you don't have it yourself, you can just go and steal it from others!"
"If they have your strength, of course they can." Shen Chun smiled, "I think that they can give up the exam on their own, which is a bit self-aware. Those who want to hold on will only make themselves The failure is even more ugly.”
The short man picked up the directory and flipped through it, "So these people with lower financial status are facing elimination?"
"Sir, it is easier to be eliminated than others." Compared with answering Ba Xingtian, Shen Chun took his question more seriously, "Alchemists often encounter unexpected situations when performing tasks. Only reasonable and Only those who make full use of the resources at hand will have the opportunity to turn danger into safety.”
"Really? But this person only had half a bag of silver from the beginning. Isn't it unfair?"
Shen Chun looked at the position of the other person's finger and found that the word "Xia Fan" was filled in that column. Compared to other candidates who had a whole row of ten taels, his less than five taels really stood out.
"We can only ensure that the rules are generally fair, not to mention whether the preparation is sufficient itself also represents the degree of attention." He paused, "In addition, this person's expenses are not less than others at all, which proves that he is not aware that he Being in an extremely disadvantageous position, it’s normal to be eliminated.”
The short man nodded, as if he agreed with his statement.
However, Shen Chunlue felt it was a pity. He still had some impression of this candidate named Xia Fan. After all, candidates who could not raise ten taels of silver were extremely rare nowadays, and it was difficult not to notice. When everyone laughed and laughed in a low voice, he was not affected at all. His response was quite mature and his character is commendable.
But in just one night, he spent all the money he had on hand, even choosing the most expensive meal for dinner, as if he didn't know that he only had half of other people's wealth, and he had no vigilance at all.
It can only be said that he made a mistake.
"What do these incompetent people have to discuss?" Ba Xingtian waved his hand, "Why don't we talk about the top three candidates this time. Who do you think they will be?"
The short man also flipped to the front of the directory, and Shen Chun noticed that the time he stayed on each page was obviously longer, as if he wanted to write down the names of these candidates.
"As expected, Fei Nian from the Fei family, Fang Xiandao from the Fang family, and Luo Qingqing from the Luo family will be the top three in the Qingshan Town examination room." Shen Chun reported word for word.
"One for each family?" Ba Xingtian showed a playful smile, "You can be considered a qualified invigilator."
"Your Majesty, thank you." Shen Chun bowed his head. After overseeing the examination for many years, he already understood that the examination was not only about selecting talents, but also about distributing benefits. What's more, these three people are indeed extremely talented, and they have been exposed to the cultivation of Qi earlier than other candidates. Their performance cannot be any worse, and it is difficult to find fault with them both internally and externally. "Of course, the final result will have to be decided by the adults after the exam."
"Is there anyone who is not from an aristocratic family?" the short man asked suddenly, "not talking about the top three, even the top ten or the top twenty."
"This..." Shen Chun hesitated for a moment. He seemed to hear some dissatisfaction in the other party's tone, "The ranking of the list does not represent the actual results. In the end, it must be based on the performance in the exam..."
"Haha, it's normal if you don't have any." Ba Xingtian interrupted with a smile, "Think about it, if they are both good young people, one of them is born in a poor family and can't read or write at the age of ten; while the other can't read at the age of three and can't read at the age of five. Which one has greater prospects? If the former is stronger than the latter, it would be too high a regard for genius."
The short man didn't answer any more, as if he was lost in thought.
The Inspector cleared his throat and stood up.
There was something important to be told. Shen Chun quickly stood up and clasped his hands.
"I don't care about the rankings in the examination. You can just take care of it." Ba Xingtian turned his back to him and said, "Compared with the examination, the most important thing is to eliminate hidden dangers. You should know that the Privy Council sent us to supervise Purpose."
Shen Chun's heart skipped a beat, and he licked his lips before tentatively saying, "Because of the 'listener'?" "
"Huh, you know it as expected." Ba Xingtian's tone suddenly dropped, "Ten years ago, just knowing this word was a felony for the invigilator."
"The official has gone too far..."
"It doesn't matter, there is no secret that will never be leaked - unless everyone who knows it is dead." Ba Xingtian waved his hand and returned to his previous disinterested tone, "You have to keep your mouth shut, and you have to be on guard at all times, the world There is no such thing as such a good thing. If you find any abnormality, whether good or bad, report it to me immediately."
"Yes, sir!" Shen Chun lowered his head and promised. "But... I have only heard others mention the term "listener". I have no idea what his characteristics are or how to identify him. I wonder if you can give me some more detailed clues?"
"Nothing. Because the listener is not a person, but a class of people."
Ba Xingtian picked up a talisman and raised it casually, and then a breeze blew by, and the buzzing of insects around him suddenly disappeared without a trace.
Shen Chun realized that it was an isolation note.
"In fact, I don't know much about the Listener. Only the four heads of the Privy Council know its details."
"You... can't either?"
"I only know that they can hear some... incredible things, such as secrets that no one in this world should know, or spells that have never been seen before." Ba Xingtian said slowly, "But more of them are Completely incomprehensible gibbering. Hence the name of the listener."
"Raving?"
"It's the kind of words that don't mean much when taken alone, but have no meaning when connected together. So they usually don't live long, either they are murdered or they fall into madness. But before they go crazy, they can cause amazing damage. If I start a big If there is an uncontrolled listener..."
"What will happen?"
Ba Xingtian looked at him deeply and said, "The country is in danger of subjugation."
Shen Chun shuddered involuntarily.
He began to regret asking about it.
"Although anyone who can sense Qi is likely to become a listener, the possibility is highest between the ages of ten and twenty - after all, it is during this period that most alchemists can stably master the absorption and use of Qi, so Privy Master The government will start focusing on the scholar examination." Ba Xingtian stared at him, "Do you understand now?"
"Yes! This official will do his best!" Shen Chun bowed.
"Don't worry so much," the inspector patted his shoulder with a palm like a cattail fan, "I'm just following the routine. As far as I know, no one suspected of being a listener has appeared in the past ten years, so Only then will the restrictions on information be relaxed. Watching is going to be guarding, and the Shikao still needs to concentrate on presiding over it."
After hearing this, it would be difficult to ignore it anymore, and Shen Chun smiled bitterly in her heart. The only thing he was thankful for was that he was already here and was unlikely to go crazy one day. But that short guy...
He couldn't help but glance at the other person - according to the age of the tone, this person was probably within twenty years old. He was obviously in a high-risk range, but he didn't react at all from the beginning to the end, as if he didn't care about the listener at all. The state of mind cannot even be described as calm and composed.
Who is he
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Chun finally suppressed this question in his heart.