By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Chapter 337: Clear distinction

After celebrating the princess's birthday, the results of the second phase of the legal education competition were released.

As usual, the results were posted outside the Shuntian Prefecture government office, with each candidate's score clearly written down and the cutoff score for excellent candidates also marked.

Because the questions in the second stage were significantly more difficult, and the passing score for excellence was lower than that in the first stage, everyone understood this and no one raised any objections.

Only ten candidates made it to the third stage. Of these ten, eight came from good families, while only two came from ordinary families.

Before the report cards, the two groups of people were clearly separated, as if there was an invisible chasm separating them.

Wen Zongji, sitting in a nearby teahouse, watched this scene and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Who do you think will ultimately win?"

Lu Nian'an rolled his eyes: "I just came out, I don't know a single one of them."

He was first tortured by Wen Zongji for nearly a month because of the questions he was asked, and then he was kept in captivity until now in order to keep it a secret.

Because the questions for the third stage were set by Wen Zongji himself, and no one knew about them except for himself, Lu Nian'an and the other question setters were released after the second stage ended.

Wen Zongji pointed to the man dressed in gray linen clothes and said, "His name is Zhao Liu. He is a fisherman. He was the victim in the croton seed case that caused such a stir before. It was he who acted decisively, not giving the person who poisoned him time to clean up the mess, and reported it to the authorities directly. Only then was the government able to find the person who poisoned him as quickly as possible."

"Zhao Liu is intelligent, decisive, and has keen observation skills. I suspect that he already knew who drugged him, and was just using the government office to confirm it."

Lu Nian'an sensed Wen Zongji's admiration: "You think he has potential?"

Wen Zongji shrugged: "After all, of these ten people, I only know Zhao Liu better."

Lu Nian'an was speechless: "What's there to say? We'll just wait and see how they perform in the third stage. We'll give them scores then anyway."

The question setters, including Lu Nian'an, were released in advance, firstly because they genuinely didn't know the questions for the third stage, and secondly because they were required to score the questions in the third stage.

Wen Zongji took a sip of tea: "Then you must carefully observe everyone's performance and be strict. There's no need to go easy on them just to save face or anything."

Lu Nian'an laughed and said, "I've been out here for so many years that I've long forgotten how to write the words 'show mercy'."

Wen Zongji looked at him and said, "I almost forgot, over the years, dozens of officials have fallen into Brother Lu's hands, and many of them were ruthless."

Lu Nian'an picked up his teacup: "For corrupt officials who plunder the people's wealth, it wouldn't be too much to be ten times harsher on them."

Wen Zongji agreed: "Brother Lu is right."

……

The third stage of the exam is scheduled for three days later.

These three days are a chance for candidates to relax and catch their breath, allowing them to be in better shape for the third stage.

Zhao Liu and Lin He were the only two ordinary people to make it into the third stage. One was a fisherman and the other was a farmer. Because they were both quite smart, they overcame all obstacles and made it into the final stage.

Faced with eight other people from families far wealthier than theirs, the two tacitly chose to stick together for mutual support.

They were all staying at the same inn. Normally, they wouldn't have been able to stay for so long with their money, but after they entered the second stage, the innkeeper halved their room rate. Now that they've entered the third stage, the innkeeper has not only waived their room rate but also refunded their previous room rates.

Before they had even done anything, they had already experienced the benefits of fame.

Of course, the innkeeper didn't lose out either. The day after they collected the room fee, he hung a banner at the entrance of the inn—congratulating the two guests of the inn on entering the third stage of the legal education competition.

With just a little money spent on room fees, he ruined his inn. That's why they say merchants are the most shrewd, good at seizing every opportunity.

Zhao Liu and Lin He didn't say anything, after all, the innkeeper was indeed very thoughtful, not only providing what they had just received, but also preparing and delivering three meals a day to their rooms.

Having benefited from the situation, neither of them could bring themselves to say anything that would spoil the mood.

The two had been very tense and hadn't had a chance to explore the capital yet, so they decided to go out for a walk together.

Then I had a real eye-opener.

"The puppet show is so lifelike, and it's all controlled by just one person. It's amazing."

"The clay sculptors next to me are also very skilled; they sculpt both animals and people beautifully."

"Hmph, you country bumpkin."

Just as the two were getting excited, a discouraging voice came from behind them.

The two turned around and frowned simultaneously.

Standing opposite them were several other candidates who had entered the final stage with them.

"I'm telling you, you're all somewhat famous now, can you stop acting like country bumpkins? We can't care if you embarrass yourselves, but it wouldn't be good if you dragged down our reputations."

Lin He frowned: "What does this have to do with you?"

"Of course we are. We are all candidates who have entered the third stage. It's easy for others to associate us together."

Lin He's eyes widened: "That's just sophistry! The legal education competition isn't over yet. We're not that famous. Don't overestimate yourselves."

Although the legal education competition had been hyped up for a long time, and coupled with the public opinion storm a few days ago, it did attract a lot of attention, most people were only interested in the final first place winner.

As for Zhao Liu and others, although some people pay attention to them, it can't be said that there are many.

Moreover, very few people know what they look like. When they walk down the street, who would know who they are?

Lin He's words successfully turned the faces of the self-satisfied group on the other side dark.

They got a little carried away after being praised a few times.

Before he could even enjoy his success for long, Lin He poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

"Don't try to compare yourself to us!"

Zhao Liu didn't want to waste time talking to these people: "Let's go."

Having been drugged, Zhao Liu became more composed and cautious. He didn't want to get into a conflict with these people by being quick-witted, as it would only waste his time and bring him no benefit.

The two turned and left, not giving the people behind them another glance.

"A country bumpkin is a country bumpkin; he doesn't know any manners at all."

"Should we broaden their horizons?"

"Don't do anything reckless. There are only ten of us who have entered the third stage. If something happens to those two, the Shuntian Prefecture will definitely suspect us first."

"That's right. Our top priority is to win first place; we can worry about everything else later."

"Alright."

The group reached a consensus, glanced at Zhao Liu and the others who had walked away, snorted coldly, and continued shopping in a different direction.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The third stage of the examination was held in Shuntian Prefecture.

Early in the morning, outside Shuntian Prefecture

The guards checked the identity documents of each candidate one by one, and only allowed them to enter after confirming that no one was impersonating another.

The servant led the ten men to a room where an official was waiting for them.

Upon seeing them enter, the official said, "Now, I will tell you about the content of the third stage of the legal education competition..."