Good Man Operation Guide

The days of preparing for the exam were fulfilling yet boring.

Thanks to Young Master Sun’s favor, Lin Shiheng moved into the upper floor room, and the inn would prepare everything for his meals. The coachman would also do his best to think of ways to serve him.

The day of the exam came quickly. Following the process, he entered the examination room. Before the formal start of the exam, people around whispered to each other.

“Did you hear? The Crown Prince is also here as an invigilator.”

“Isn’t it said that the Crown Prince doesn’t involve himself in politics?”

“Brother Zhao is confused. That is indeed the Crown Prince. How could he be compared to other princes?”

The current Crown Prince was 15 years old. Before his birth, His Majesty had been delaying the announcement, so when he finally had his first son, he was overjoyed and immediately declared him the Crown Prince.

If only he were the only child, it would be better. Unfortunately, ever since the birth of the Crown Prince, the curse of infertility in the imperial harem seemed to have been automatically lifted. One prince or princess after another emerged, all of them not much younger than the Crown Prince.

With so many children, the Emperor no longer doted on the Crown Prince as much as before, and the situation of the Crown Prince with a large group of younger brothers and sisters became awkward.

Of course, these were matters for higher-ranking officials to ponder. The group of scholars in the examination hall right now couldn’t fathom such profound matters; they were simply excited about the opportunity to see the Crown Prince.

Among the excited scholars, one bookish scholar with a calm face sat quietly, lost in thought.

As soon as Scholar Sun... oh no, as soon as the Crown Prince followed the chief examiner into the room, he saw this scene and his heart trembled. He felt that his judgment was correct.

Lin Shiheng is indeed different from ordinary people.

His situation had become increasingly difficult. The Emperor was getting older, his temper was becoming even more eccentric, and he didn’t care about the Crown Prince’s younger brothers, allowing them to provoke him and dig traps for him. The younger princes below him had become bolder with his increasing indulgence.

He came as a deputy examiner this time, and it was his father’s command after all. As a result, he encountered an assassination attempt on the way. Don’t think that those assassins disguised as people from the previous dynasty could deceive him. Those people were clearly sent by his own younger brothers.

The Crown Prince felt an itchy hatred in his heart. He was young, his mother passed away early, and there was no one in the palace to speak up for him. Recently, his relationship with his father had become more distant, and his younger brothers were jumping up and down, trying to kick him off the position of the Crown Prince and take it for themselves. The pressure was immense, especially considering he was only 15 years old. No one would believe it.

In the end, it was fear. Although he was the Crown Prince, in reality, he couldn’t provide for his subordinates as much as his younger brothers, who had the support of their maternal relatives. Most of the people around him were driven by fame and fortune. The Crown Prince was very worried that if his brothers offered more opportunities for fame and fortune, would the people around him betray him, just like this time?

Thinking of that, the Crown Prince’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Lin Shiheng, who was sitting quietly in his own place.

He's different!

He has talent, is not interested in wealth, has principles, and is strategic. Moreover, he is a candidate in this exam.

The Crown Prince, as the deputy examiner this time, felt a natural closeness to Lin Shiheng.

Such a good candidate for an advisor, it would be strange not to recruit him!

Putting aside his confidence in Lin Shiheng’s literary talent, just based on his desire to recruit people, as long as Lin Shiheng’s writing wasn’t too bad, the Crown Prince could ensure his name appeared on the list.

The thought of finally cultivating his own group of loyal followers made the Crown Prince excited and happy. Lin Shiheng himself didn’t know his identity, it provoked a hint of juvenile mischief.

If I were to stand in front of Lin Shiheng now and have others call me Crown Prince, would this scholar, who had always remained calm and unchanged since they met, be frightened to the point of turning pale?

With these thoughts in mind, the Crown Prince cleared his throat and casually walked over to Lin Shiheng’s side.

Someone nearby reminded everyone, “The Crown Prince has arrived.”

The entire room immediately knelt down.

“We, the humble subjects, pay respect to the Crown Prince. May the Crown Prince live for a thousand years...”

Lin Shiheng also knelt lightly and went along with the flow, following the words. After the Crown Prince spoke, he raised his eyes and looked over.

The 15-year-old Crown Prince intentionally smiled at him, imitating his previous expression.

The scholar in the green robe returned the same smile and calmly sat back in his place.

Crown Prince: “...”

Something’s not right!

Where’s the shock I was expecting?!

Until the exam began and Lin Shiheng calmly grounded his ink and started writing, the Crown Prince still hadn’t reacted.

He knew that Lin Shiheng had guessed that his identity wasn’t ordinary, but would he have guessed that I was the Crown Prince?

The 15-year-old Crown Prince fell into confusion.

After the confusion passed, he busied himself with finding a good reason.

It must be because Scholar Lin is too clever.

Yes, that's it.

I have to recruit Scholar Lin. When grading the papers, if Lin Shiheng doesn't pass, I'll make sure he does. If his performance isn't outstanding, I'll adjust the ranking slightly. I have to make Scholar Lin owe me a favor before approaching him.

The Crown Prince made up his mind and buried himself in the papers.

He came prepared. Although the names were sealed, he had specifically looked at Lin Shiheng’s handwriting and memorized his style. As long as he saw the paper, he would surely find an opportunity.

He didn’t trust anyone, so he made the simple and brutal decision to grade the papers himself. Fortunately, even as the Crown Prince, he was allowed to participate in the grading.

However, the Crown Prince had such bad luck. He tirelessly corrected a batch of papers without a break, but he couldn’t find a trace of Lin Shiheng’s work.

Could I be unlucky? After finally getting a chance to impress and recruit a talented strategist, did he slip away?

The Crown Prince was feeling upset when suddenly he heard a discussion coming from the examiners who were reviewing the papers.

“This essay is excellent, with good handwriting. I wonder who the talented scholar is.”

“So far, this deserves first place.”

“Oh? Let me take a look.”

The Crown Prince felt a little disappointed. It seemed that they had already chosen the first place.

Such a pity. He still believed that Scholar Lin deserved to be the top.

With the thought of ‘let me find some faults,' the Crown Prince stood up and walked over to the group of teachers who were discussing a paper, “May I have a look as well?”

The teachers who were previously engaged in a lively discussion suddenly fell silent. They were also captivated by the idea and had forgotten about the presence of the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince successfully obtained the test paper, and then his eyes widened.

Isn’t this Scholar Lin’s handwriting?

In the previous dynasty, to prevent cheating, an order was issued that all examination papers had to be copied by someone before being handed to the examiners for evaluation. However, examinees could still write pre-arranged essays on the papers. It could be said, while you had Zhang Liang’s memory, I had a ladder to climb over walls.

(TNote: While you had Zhang Liang’s memory, I had a ladder to climb over walls = where there are policies, there are measures to counter.)

In the current dynasty, the late Emperor ordered that, to avoid cheating, examiners were appointed by the imperial court and couldn't go back to their hometowns. Once they arrived at the examination site, they would be accompanied by eunuchs sent by the Emperor, who would live together in the examination hall and set the questions.

After the questions were completed, the examinees could only leave the examination hall when the exam was over and the gradings were completed.

The Crown Prince was an exception. He acted as the mascot and didn’t have the right to set questions. Therefore, no one complained when he arrived late. However, once he entered the examination room as the assistant examiner, he couldn’t leave until the results were announced.

Due to this rule, the copying process became optional. The court didn’t want to waste time on it, and there were cases of mistakes made during the copying process. Even when the examinee didn’t make any mistakes, the copier would make errors, resulting in a decline in the examinee's scores. Therefore, the copying process was abolished in the current dynasty.

The papers of the examinees could appear in front of the examiners in their original form.

This wasn’t bad either. At least many examiners occasionally looked at the handwriting and gave extra points.

And now, as the Crown Prince looked at the paper in his hand, he was one hundred percent sure that it was Scholar Lin’s handwriting.

The article written on it was the one he had seen Scholar Lin write.

Filled with the intention of finding support, but the Crown Prince, who had intended to take a shortcut, found that someone had already opened the skylight and ascended to the sky. He was a little dazed.

Beside him, an older examiner asked, “Your Highness, what do you think of this paper?”

The Crown Prince forced a smile.

“Good.”

At the same time, he became even more determined to recruit Scholar Lin.

Such great talent must be utilized for my own benefit.

No, there was no need to recruit We had already made an agreement with each other.

The Crown Prince felt that Lin Shiheng was unfathomable. The smile the scholar had given him in the examination room was now interpreted as him accepting the Crown Prince’s olive branch.

The bond between them was destined, with divine will decreeing that Scholar Lin would lend him a helping hand.

In the future, he would be able to outlast his father, defeat his younger brother, ascend to the throne, and achieve a harmonious relationship with Scholar Lin.

With a heart full of determination, the Crown Prince waited in the stuffy courtyard until the papers were graded.

He hadn't had the chance to recruit Lin Shiheng when a group of fast horses arrived from the capital.

“Your Highness, His Majesty is seriously ill. You are summoned to return to the capital immediately!!”

In the countryside, Li Lanlan was doing laundry while Mother Lin had just returned, “Lan Lan, I saw your father going to our field to help again. Prepare more dishes and invite your father to dinner at our house tonight.”

“Oh.”

Li Lanlan responded crisply, hung up the freshly washed clothes to dry, and then went to the kitchen to see what dishes she could prepare for the evening.

However, Mother Lin was still somewhat absent-minded. After her son had taken the exams several times, she became familiar with the process. She knew that it was time for the results to be announced. Usually, the exam results would be reported to the county government first. If anyone from their village passed the exam, the government would naturally send someone to share the good news.

She had only heard her son talk about it before and hadn’t actually seen it. Now, she anxiously hoped that her son had passed the exam. At the same time, she didn’t want to show too much disappointment if he hadn’t passed, to avoid putting pressure on him. She would occasionally lift her head and look outside.

Seeing her mother-in-law’s expression, the eldest daughter-in-law next door immediately rolled her eyes.

I really don't understand what Mother-in-law is thinking. Younger Brother has been taking the exams for so many years and still hasn't passed. Perhaps he truly lacks the necessary talent. If he were my son, I would definitely not let him take the exams and would make him go to the county to earn money.

The second daughter-in-law, however, felt somewhat uneasy. Seeing her third sister-in-law’s indifferent appearance, she quietly approached.

“Sister-in-law, what if Third Brother actually passed the exam? Did we make a mistake in splitting up the family?”

“Don’t daydream. If he could pass, he would have passed long ago. Why would he wait until now?”

The eldest- daughter-in-law was very certain, “Rest assured, he’ll never pass in his lifetime.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a faint sound of drums and gongs came from outside.

Mother Lin’s body trembled, and with some anticipation, she stood at the door and looked into the distance.

Father Lin, who was dozing off inside the house, heard the commotion. Thinking about what his wife had told him before, that they would come to share good news if their son passed, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and weakly extended his hand to sit up and look outside.

Just as they were filled with anticipation, the people playing the drums and gongs finally arrived at the front door. The person at the forefront saw the expectant look on Mother Lin’s face and stopped.

“Is this the residence of Scholar Lin Shiheng’s family? We have come to share good news. Congratulations to Scholar Lin for achieving the top ranking in the provincial examination. From now on, he will be honored as a top scholar!”