It was an honest question, without any ridicule or contempt, he was genuinely asking Chen Chang Sheng as to if any rules were being broken.
This question was one that many examinees present were also asking.
One of the scholars from Cassia Mansion had found an invigilator and was talking to them with a stern expression on their face.
The examinees turned their gazes towards that direction, waiting for a final verdict.
After a time, the invigilator walked up the students of Orthodox Academy, looked at Chen Chang Sheng and mournfully said: “This is not allowed.”
For the invigilators and other related personnel that were here today, at least half of them were from the Education Board and thus, leaned towards Orthodox Academy and Chen Chang Sheng, but this leaning only extended to the finer minutiae of the exam, such as the provisions of tea and stationary supplies, or the position of seating and such; with so many eyes bearing witness to Chen Chang Sheng crossing the river on a crane, they couldn’t favour him even if they wanted to.
Chen Chang Sheng was obviously confident of success before making his move.
“The rules do not forbid crossing the river with this method.”
He singled out one of the examinees and pointed at them: “Previously, while on the other shore, he asked the examiner: if he was to bring the personal steed of his sect’s Elder and fly across while mounted upon it, would this also count as passing, the examiner did not disprove of this.”
The disciple from the Longevity Sect’s Precipice of Violet Qi was stunned, thinking to himself, “don’t tell me my question will turn out to be something that will help you?” yet, under the stares of everyone present, he couldn’t deny having asked that question.
The invigilator was stunned by what they heard; they then smiled while shaking their head, but didn’t say anything else.
Seeing what was happening, a lot of the examinees vehemently protested; Gou Han Shi, Tian Hai Sheng Xue and Zhuang Huan Yu remained silent.
Su Mo Yu spoke: “This… is a rather disingenuous interpretation of the rules, but as long as it doesn’t break any of them, I don’t have anything to say on the matter.”
As the representative student for Li Palace College, his words had a degree of authority amongst the students of the Capital, coupled with the silence from Zhuang Huan Yu and the two students of Star Seeker Academy, sounds of protest dimmed. Only a number of youths from the South were persistent in their appeals to the invigilator to disqualify Chen Chang Sheng.
“Wait? Where did they go?”
Someone suddenly interjected; Chen Chang Sheng’s group had disappeared from the riverside.
Everyone turned around to look; unknown when, the Orthodox Academy group had left the meadow and were about to enter the woodlands ahead.
One of the scholars from Cassia Mansion looked upon their fading figures and said in a cold voice: “Shameless to the extreme.”
Chen Chang Sheng did not feel that crossing the river on a crane was shameless, though, he also didn’t think of it as something to be proud of. Just as the colloquial usage of “smart”, it was hard to objectively judge; the Grand Examination was too important for him, and his opponents were far too strong, thus, he had to make use of all the advantages available to him.
As long as he could achieve his aims without bringing harm upon anyone, the views others had of him were not important. In order to place first on the First Banner, his biggest advantage was that no one knew of his current ability and strength, this even included Luo Luo; conversely, with aid from the Education Board, he had information on all the other examinees.
This was the reason why he felt a sense of unease as he saw that youth at the pavilion.
That youth was too secretive, to the point of being a little unfathomable.
Within the cool Spring breeze, that youth wore but a single piece of clothing, his sleeves rolled up to reveal his arms, as if he had no fear of the cold at all.
In the information provided by the Education Board, that youth was registered as a student of Star Seeker Academy, named Zhang Ting Tao.
Chen Chang Sheng didn’t believe it to be his real name.
That youth did not participate in the Academic Exam and was the fastest to cross the sea of trees, the earliest to cross the River Qu, to enter these woodlands, to enter this pavilion, yet, he hadn’t done anything else since.
Be it when Gou Han Shi and Tian Hai Sheng Xue crossed the river, or when Luo Luo had leapt across, or even when he had ridden the crane across, no matter how crowded the riverside had gotten, he still remained within the pavilion.
That youth hadn’t even directed a single glance towards the river.
He stood within the pavilion solitarily, causing the pavilion and the mountain to also become solitary.
This lonely person couldn’t have possibly been named Ting Tao (listening to waves).