Shen Shikang suspected this was Gu Chengyu's examination paper, but why was Yu Zheng so hesitant? He had intentionally made a sound just now to observe Yu Zheng's reaction and noticed that Yu Zheng's expression was somewhat unusual. Could it be that there was some grudge between him and Gu Chengyu? Or was he simply trying to curry favor with Chief Minister Xia?
No! He felt it was impossible, even if he wished to curry favor, his expression wouldn't be this unpleasant.
There was no doubt that this examination paper was well done, and he had heard that during the Imperial Examination, the Emperor had stood behind Gu Chengyu for so long, though without any expression. Yet he knew the Emperor was very satisfied with this paper. He did not wish to provoke the Emperor, hence marking a circle was inevitable, even if it offended Xia Qing, he had no choice.
