Wu Qu stared at Su Xuezhen’s face. He felt that this person was fake and pretentious. He had been tolerating Su Xuezhen for this entire exam, but now, he is losing patience and is about to explode.

“I’ve always thought the calligraphy exhibit, since it is at national level, is completely fair and open. I’ve always thought all the calligraphists in the National Calligraphy Association are prestigious, and I’ve admired them. As a result, I’ve realized today that these were all my naive, childish thoughts. I didn’t think there would be a collusion behind this exhibition, which us, the calligraphers, see as a sacred celebration!”

As soon as a collusion was mentioned, an uproar struck between the participants in the ninth and tenth group. The initially quiet, grave, and organized hall became suddenly loud.

Many people had already discovered that something was wrong after Wu Qu’s words because the topic given on the spot was too challenging.

“This is nonsense,” Wang Qinghai shouted, “The selection process was witnessed by everyone, and it was the combined effort of all five judges, how could there be any collusion?!”

Wu Qu retorted, “Do you dare to evaluate group 10 with this topic?”

Wang Qinghai didn’t know how to answer.

Wu Qu continued, “Group 10 was the Seal Characters Group. They must have studied the Han Dynasty’s Xiaozhuan, and “Yunyang Ding” should be a piece of cake for them.”

The participants in group 10 all facepalmed, they just wanted to say, don’t overestimate them, they really don’t know anything about “Yunyang Ding”!

“This question is obviously made for people with connections!”

Wu Qu was going all out, as if he was afraid of nothing.

Wang Qinghai came up with the questions and gave them to Su Xuezhen two days ago.

Five judges alternated between giving the question prompts for the writing. The normal sequence is that the seal script judges are responsible for the running script group, the running script judges are responsible for the official script group, the official script judges are responsible for regular scripts, the regular script judges are responsible for cursive scripts, and the cursive script judges are responsible for seal scripts.

It was what Su Xuezhen and the other five judges agreed on, it has been the rule every time.

Su Xuezhen knew his son’s level, if he didn’t he wouldn’t have written “Bro Kiln Fu” for him.

With his professional skill, passing the initial evaluation was basically a piece of cake. His plan was simple, he wanted to trip everyone over in the second stage so that Su Maolin would be the only one advancing from his group.

Su Maolin turned 26 this year, after graduating from a third rate college, he’s been staying at home doing nothing and simply relying on his parents.​​ When Xizhen Academy was opened last year. He was arranged by his father to teach calligraphy in the academy. The students knew that he was the son of the calligrapher Su Xuezhen, and he called him “Mr. Su” respectfully.

TL’s Note: Not sure if everyone knows but a third rate college in Chinese terms is just calling the college trash but without bad words.

These kids were all beginners in calligraphy and couldn’t see that Su Maolin’s calligraphy was trash. The kids all think that he’s super cool and adores him.

In order to increase Su Maolin’s value as a calligraphy teacher, Su Xuezhen used his piece to enter the competition. Even if his son only passes the face to face evaluation, the Calligraphy Association would still pass out a Professional Certificate, even for the Calligraphers at the bottom of the list.

With this certificate, Su Maolin only needed a bit more experience to become a professional calligraphist.

That time, the thing that opened the gates for Su Xuezhen’s future was exactly this certificate. Unfortunately, his son didn’t inherit his talent in calligraphy, and became extremely spoiled under his parent’s love. However, Su Maolin was his only son, and he will pave the paths to Su Maolin’s success no matter how little talent his son has.

The computer randomizes the groupings; Su Xuezhen cannot dictate whether his son is put in the “death group” or the “lie down and win group”. To make sure nothing goes wrong, he chose the hardest question that most competitors won’t know. Even if there is a genius amongst them, his son only needs one of the spots.

Therefore, he was very surprised that Liu Man could write this passage. Su Yi’s last disciple could not be belittled.

Su Xuezhen says to the persistent Wu Qu, “There were only 2 people in the eighth group who wrote Yun Yang Ding, you were not one of them. Why are you blaming your own incapability on us? You can’t say these words without taking responsibility.”

Wu Qu laughed coldly, “I will take full responsibility for my words. I dare to say right now that Su Maolin and Liu Man both have connections here. They are the top two that you have already decided. The rest of the eight people, including I, are all here to waste our time and be the background.”

Liu Man was confused, how did she become the one who had “connections”?

Wu Qu was defeated by her. It was like her expression two months ago when she looked at Zhu Xiyang. Liu Man felt wronged and ludicrous.

She wanted to explain herself.

However, the other seven people had been persuaded by Wu Qu. They thought about how they had been acting as idiots just now, and that embarrassing feeling, when they could not write a single word, was unforgettable.

So every one of them got infuriated and sided with Wu Qu.

“Why is it that only Su Maolin and Liu Man know about ‘Yun Yang Ding’?”

“We got eliminated just because we don’t know ‘Yun Yang Ding’. That’s so bullsh*t. Is this a calligraphy competition or a literature competition?”

“There’s obviously a problem. It’s almost certain that they knew the questions beforehand and memorized all the answers.”

“No wonder in the Q&A section, Liu Man had such a deep understanding with “Longzang Temple Stele” and had no trouble answering the questions.”

“Wow, Su Maolin seemed like he had no pressure and easily answered all the questions.”

…

With supporters, Wu Qu’s guts grew. He said, “I’m curious, what is the relationship between Su Maolin and Judge Su Xuezhen?” Except internal workers, normal participants knew nothing about Su Maolin being Su Xuezhen’s son, “You guys look so similar, you must be father and son!”

The people who didn’t know the truth were shocked!

A father evaluates his son’s piece? That’s so corrupt!

All kinds of accusations were flung at Su Maolin and Su Xuezhen, even the obnoxious Su Maolin lowered his head in shame. Su Xuezhen pretended to be calm but the sweat on his back exposed his nervousness.

After exposing the Su father and son, Wu Qu did not kindly let Liu Man go. He said, “Liu Man is also a celebrity, the famous Hanfu Goddess. Since your teacher is the famous calligrapher Mr. Su Yi, I wonder what the relationship is between Mr. Su Yi and Su Xuezhen?”

How could he put the blame on Professor Su?! Liu Man was furious as she wanted to speak,

Su Yi stands up, “I have no relation to Su Xuezhen!” How can he tolerate words so derogatory to him and Liu Man,

“I used the regular way of signing up and just helped Liu Man deliver her piece. I didn’t have any say in the process of the evaluation, in fact, neither me or Liu Man knew what prompt would be given out today. Liu Man wrote “Yun Yang Ding” out of pure talent,” as he turned to Su Maolin, “unlike you.”