Song Xing: I am cultivating immortals in Qingcheng Mountain

Chapter 558: Weishui chess game, undercurrent of apocalypse

On the banks of the Weishui River.

Zhao Shouyi was playing chess with an old man.

There are 19 lines in Go, and the truth of the world is hidden between the black and white pieces. The game on the chessboard is sometimes more cruel than real combat with real guns and swords. Some people say that life is like chess, and chess is like life.

The game between the two is something that ordinary people cannot understand.

I saw two people sitting cross-legged in the void, with a clearly defined chessboard in front of them. The red-gold true qi formed a huge chessboard in the void.

Zhao Shouyi plays with white pieces and the old man plays with black pieces. This game should have just begun, but these few simple chess pieces make people's hearts tremble.

If someone looks closely, they will find that these scattered chess pieces have transformed into the current situation of Apocalypse in the void.

Murder is lurking, and a storm is about to come. An impending storm has already arrived outside the city of Apocalypse, and everyone is on the alert.

Zhao Shouyi suddenly frowned and looked at the old man. Beside him, the Wei River was rolling and forming a water curtain.

Above the water curtain, the scenes inside the Imperial Examination Hall began to change, starting with Xiao Se, Xiao Yu, and Xiao Chong, and later on Tang Lian, Lei Wujie, Sikong Qianluo, the Minister of Rites, and the accompanying guards, and finally stopping on a young man.

Zhao Shouyi's gaze paused, and the next moment, his originally indifferent gaze became extremely sharp, as if he could see through the vast distance.

Then a mysterious aura emerged around him, as if he was deducing the destiny of the world.

"I see. Your Excellency is very calculating."

The old man snorted softly, his eyes moving slightly. He seemed not to have expected that the other party would discover the crux of the matter so quickly.

"The universe is like a chessboard, and so is the human heart. In this game of chess, what I'm betting on is the human heart."

Zhao Shouyi's eyes narrowed slightly, thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, and he sighed softly.

Fairness is so simple, yet so difficult.
The simplicity lies in these two words, which have only a few strokes. The difficulty lies in making them come true, which is extremely difficult, even harder than climbing to the sky.

"Old man, do you believe in fate?"

Suddenly, Zhao Shouyi asked.

The old man looked over when he heard this, and there was a hint of suspicion in his weathered eyes under his bamboo hat.

"destiny??"

He chuckled, with a hint of sarcasm on his lips.

If he believed in fate, he wouldn't be in the realm of truth today. If he believed in fate, he would have become one of the common people and rotted in the ground. If he believed in fate, would he still have this showdown today? ?

"Since you don't believe in fate, then what's the point of our game of chess?"

The old man chuckled, and his slightly hoarse voice sounded again.

"I don't believe in fate, but I do believe in human nature!!"

As soon as a piece was dropped, ripples suddenly appeared on the chessboard in the void. On the Wei River, waves rolled and a huge wave was created at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In Tianqi City, Xiao Se was stunned when he saw the information sent by Ji Xue.

"This is all the information about this year's candidates, including their place of origin, residence, family members, rankings in the provincial examinations and other exams, as well as their comprehensive evaluation!"

Ji Xue began to explain that it took her a lot of effort to gather those lines of intelligence. Xiao Se understood that if he wanted to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools. So after Emperor Ming Kang issued the decree, he began to investigate the situation of all the candidates who took part in this special examination.

Naturally, the chief examiners and assistants did not let it go. "What's going on with this Zhuge Jingxuan?"

Looking at the candidate ranked first, Xiao Se was silent for a moment and then couldn't help but ask.

Xiao Se had an impression of this person. Sikong Qianluo had greeted this person in front of the Imperial Examination Hall. Later, he heard from Lei Wujie that they had met this person once. At that time, this person seemed to be pushed out by someone, and the things in the book box were scattered all over the floor. It was Sikong Qianluo who helped pick them up.

I thought this was an ordinary person, but Ji Xue ranked him first in the comprehensive evaluation. This is a bit abnormal.

"This person is very interesting. He participated in the provincial examination three times, but failed in the first two times. It was not until this year's provincial examination that he succeeded and became the champion of Liangjiang area. This time, he happened to be in the special examination, so he participated."

Hearing Ji Xue's words, Xiao Se frowned.

"Xie Yuan??"

Jieyuan is the first place in the provincial examination. Such a level is not something that any ordinary person can achieve. Anyone who can become Jieyuan will definitely not fail even if he performs poorly in the first two examinations.

"I have investigated his previous examination papers, and they were written just like this time, both of which were extremely outstanding. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was rated as the top scorer. It's just a pity that in the previous two examinations, the direct descendants of two adults in the court participated, and his examination paper was replaced by someone else."

Xiao Se narrowed his eyes, and a hint of coldness appeared under his slightly closed eyelids.

Cheating in the imperial examination was no small matter. The consequences of favoritism and fraud were very severe in the officialdom. During the reign of his father, he had dealt with similar incidents, in which three clans were exterminated and ten clans were exiled.

He couldn't believe that there were people who would dare to take such a risk under such a knife.

"who is it??"

Ji Xue leaned against the door frame, without hiding anything, and went straight to the point.

"The son of Zhong Hong, the Minister of Revenue, and the son of Qi Xuan, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple."

When Xiao Chuhe heard these two names, he fell silent. Indeed, even in the entire court, these two people were in high positions and had great power.

"So Zhuge Jingxuan just accepted it at that time? He didn't go to the government office to make a scene?"

Others may not know a person's level, but he himself knows it. Since Zhuge Jingxuan was able to win the title of Jieyuan, his results in the college examination must have been among the best. However, he failed the provincial examination. Although such cases do happen, they are still too rare.

Ji Xue seemed to remember something and sighed softly.

"I've been there."

"It was quite violent at the time, but it was suppressed by the government at the time."

"I heard that he was nearly beaten to death, and his family was implicated. In the end, he settled down and the government stopped targeting him."

Xiao Se had clenched his fists at some point; this was not the answer he wanted to hear.

"Who was the person who presided over the provincial examination at that time? Why didn't they report this situation?"

Ji Xue could tell that Xiao Se's tone was not right at this moment, but there were some things that could not be concealed after all.

"He is the current Minister of Rites. At that time, he was only the governor of the Liangjiang region, and he personally presided over the provincial examination."

"Xu Kaihou?"

Xiao Se mentioned a name, and he had heard of this person's relationship a long time ago. He was considered to be a man of King Bai Xiao Chong.

"Of course he didn't dare to conceal the situation of the imperial examination, but this memorial disappeared without a trace after the Tianqi period. Even Bai Xiaotang hasn't found it yet."

(End of this chapter)