Confucianism under Heaven

Chapter 20 Arbitration of the Saints!

Chapter Twenty: Arbitration by All Saints!

The stern shout caused many students to look up, and when they saw that the person in question was Ye Ru, their faces showed extreme contempt.

"I wrote it all by myself, stroke by stroke. Where did I copy it?"

Ye Ru frowned and looked up at the teacher. He knew that this teacher had a very close relationship with the Wang family, and that the two of them were probably in cahoots.

He was falsely accused of plagiarism simply because he glanced up at the time.

"It's Master Li. This time, Ye Ru has offended Master Li, and he's probably doomed."

"Yes, Master Li looks down on students from poor families the most. He even said that students from poor families should be the lowest class. Ye Ru is both a student from a poor family and at the bottom of the exam. I'm afraid even a god can't save him."

Some people shook their heads and sighed. Wang Xiaoyang raised his head, put down his pen, and looked at Ye Ru with schadenfreude.

"Let me see your exam paper!"

Before Ye Ru could even agree, Master Li forcefully snatched the exam paper away, glanced at it, and sneered:

"Ye Ru, I remember you. You were a mediocre student at Wenxing Private School, stubborn and incorrigible. If you didn't plagiarize, how could you write so quickly!"

What proof do you have that I copied my classmate's exam paper?

Ye Ru's face turned cold. He put the pen on the pen holder and said in a deep voice.

"There must be evidence in the book box."

The teacher picked up the book box, fiddled with it casually for a moment, and then pulled out a slip of paper.

This note was actually part of "Exhortation to Learning".

"Hmph, my Wenxing Private School is named after students who are upright and sincere. You, a poor student, should be grateful that you can attend school. But you secretly plagiarized, which is as worthless as dung. You have truly tarnished the reputation of my Wenxing Private School."

Master Li cursed, enunciating each word clearly, showing no regard for Ye Ru's feelings.

Upon hearing this, Ye Ru's eyes filled with anger, and he said:

"I, Ye Ru, have acted with integrity and uprightness, with a clear conscience before Heaven and man. How have I tarnished the reputation of Wenxing Private School?"

“Master Xu was your teacher, yet you drove him away, which is deceiving your teacher. Wang Xiaoyang treated you like a brother, yet you turned around and blamed him, which is unjust. You cheated on the imperial examination, which is distrustful, deceiving your teacher, unjust, and distrustful. What qualifications does a person like this have to participate in the imperial examination, what qualifications does he have to become an official, and what qualifications does he have to access the classics of the sages!”

"You are morally corrupt, disrespectful to teachers, and utterly treacherous. You are a beast in human clothing, a scoundrel, and a disgrace! I hereby declare that you are stripped of your status as a student of Ye Ruwenxing Private School and will never be employed there again."

Everyone around sighed, their various gazes fixed on Ye Ru. Although they didn't say anything, they all believed that Ye Ru was an utterly wicked person.

Those who were on good terms with Ye Ru, such as Zhao Cheng, all had angry expressions and clenched fists, because they knew that Ye Ru was not that kind of person.

Some students had shifty eyes and struggling expressions.

But what this teacher did was too vicious. If these excuses cannot be overturned, Ye Ru's literary reputation will be ruined, his courage will be destroyed if he is not careful, and his career will be difficult to advance from then on.

"Master, I don't believe Ye Ru is that kind of person!"

Zhao Cheng, filled with righteous indignation, could not stand seeing wicked people in power, so he stood up and roared.

"I don't believe it either!"

Qian Wei also stood up and shouted in a rather immature tone.

“These fools. The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind. Although Ye Ru has no great talent, he has already offended the gentry, who will surely harm him even more. These fools are willing to be the first to stick their necks out and do not know how to seek advantage and avoid harm.”

Liu Zhi also put down his pen, sneered, and looked at Qian Wei and Zhao Cheng with more pity.

"None of us believe it!"

At this moment, several more students stepped forward.

"It's true what they say, 'If you're in a fish market long enough, you won't notice the stench.' You've colluded and ruined your reputations. You're guilty of the same crime as Ye Ru, and you're stripped of your exam status."

Master Li snorted coldly and said.

“Master, although Ye Ru is a traitor who betrays his teacher and ancestors and has no respect for his elders, even if he is a disgrace and a scoundrel, he does not deserve to be expelled from the private school.”

Wang Xiaoyang seized the opportunity to stand up and smiled slightly.

"No, this man's crimes are too numerous to count. Come with me and hand him over to the authorities for judgment!"

In the Confucian and Taoist continent, cheating is a very serious matter and is subject to law.

Having a righteous mind and sincere intentions is also one of the standards for everyone to cultivate the holy path.

"Under the clear blue sky, how dare you distort the truth and tarnish my literary reputation?"

Upon hearing Ye Ru's words, most people were confused about what Ye Ru wanted to do, and all eyes turned to him.

This charge is irrefutable; even the most famous debaters would likely find it futile.

Ye Ru glanced at Master Li, then looked at the Wenqutai, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and spoke in a clear voice, word by word, which caused everyone to fall into a deathly silence. The gazes of everyone looking at Ye Ru were filled with horror!

"Student Ye Ru requests the Arbitration Council of All Saints to make a ruling!"

The resounding voice echoed around, drawing everyone in the examination room to look at the God of Literature.

Upon hearing that Ye Ru had requested the arbitration tribunal to make a ruling, the teacher and Wang Xiaoyang's faces immediately lit up with joy. Then they looked at Ye Ru with pity, secretly mocking him.

"To actually request arbitration, they really don't know their own limitations."

Many people's expressions changed. The arbitration ruling was a major event. The rulings were different between the county and the prefecture. The county was ruled by a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination), while the prefecture was ruled by a Daxueshi (a high-ranking official).

Although the Jinshi degree holders held a middle-ranking position in terms of literary talent, they possessed immense learning. In particular, the arbitrators of Qingyun County were renowned for their cunning and difficult nature throughout the county.

This person was named Chen Sijun, but he had an eccentric personality. He disliked reading the Four Books and Five Classics, but had a special fondness for obscure subjects such as the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.

It should be understood that in the Confucian and Taoist continent, mathematics is a deadly threat to scholars.

I almost always get every question wrong.

This is why Wang Xiaoyang was gloating.

This Court of All Saints, dedicated to adjudicating injustices, was established after Confucius became a saint, leaving behind the Court of All Saints, the Court of All Saints, and the Temple of All Saints.

The House of Saints gathers saints from all over the world, and each country has a House of Saints.

The Court of All Saints was dedicated to adjudicating injustices, primarily represented by the Legalists, and exercising the law.

The Temple of All Saints was dedicated to collecting the classics and poems of the sages, in order to enhance the national fortune of the ten kingdoms, resist foreign demons, and oversee the imperial examinations.

The three entities check and balance each other, yet remain independent.

On the Wenqu Terrace, an elderly man in a scholar's robe sat cross-legged. He finally opened his eyes, his gaze deep and unfathomable, and looked towards room number five in the Dingzi building.

Who will arbitrate?

The sound, transmitted remotely, reached room number five in the T-shape, causing everyone to experience a ringing in their ears, as if struck by thunder.

This is one of the methods used by Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations). Their words are like thunder. Many Jinshi have used the imperial edicts and this method to kill many demons on the frontier.

Everyone bowed respectfully towards the Wenqutai (a platform for worshipping scholars). Ye Ru said:

"Student Ye Ru, this examiner believes that I have cheated and plagiarized poems and essays, and hereby requests arbitration to prove my innocence."

"Ye Ru? Fine, since you accuse me of plagiarism, then let me ask you a question."

"Please, Your Excellency, set the questions."

Ye Ru said respectfully.

Zhao Cheng and Qian Wei clenched their fists, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Listen carefully, there are five sparrows and six swallows. When they are weighed together, the sparrows are all heavy and the swallows are all light. When a sparrow and a swallow are placed together, the scale is just right. The total weight of the sparrows and swallows is one jin. How much does one sparrow and one swallow weigh? You have three minutes."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Cheng and the others' expressions changed drastically:

"This Nine Chapters of Arithmetic is so difficult, none of us have ever learned it!"

"Shut up!"

The teacher angrily rebuked Ye Ru, then looked at him with a mocking smile:

"Can you answer? If not, pack your books and leave immediately, never to set foot in this private school again!"

Even a scholar like him couldn't answer these nine chapters of arithmetic, let alone Ye Ru, who was just a student.

Moreover, three minutes of calculation time is simply not enough; even three hours would probably not be enough to calculate it.

The others were also pondering, while Wang Xiaoyang and the other aristocratic students watched with schadenfreude as Ye Ru was about to make a fool of himself.

"If you plagiarize, just admit it openly. Why go through the trouble of having an arbitration tribunal decide? It's made public, it's delayed your exams, and now your reputation is ruined."

Liu Zhi also joined in the mockery, adding insult to injury.

Ye Ru also frowned, head down in thought.

The sentence translates to: Five sparrows and six swallows weigh a total of one jin (approximately 500 grams). The sparrows are heavier than the swallows. If one of them is swapped, the weights will be the same. Question: What is the weight of each sparrow and swallow?