The water flowed rapidly under the white marble Feihong Bridge, and waves of chill rose up with the splashing water. The cold wind blew, making people standing on the bridge and on the shore very uncomfortable.
This year's "late spring cold" is particularly severe and lasting.
But fortunately, the last cold spell has come to an end, and the weather in the capital has gradually become warmer.
On Feihong Bridge, Li Yuan led a group of censors and Huben guards, and quietly looked at the inner curtain officials in front of them.
The atmosphere here is a bit solemn.
The officials and their servants were divided into two groups, separated by Tiger Guards, and stood in different places.
The former can get preferential treatment, but the Tiger Guards are not so polite to those servants.
It is difficult for officials to interrogate before they are convicted, but they don't have much scruples about their servants. From time to time, Huben guards will come out of the official residence one by one, drag out a servant and go back, or ask about the details of the house, or ask them to
There is something fishy about identifying your own master...
Standing on the other side with the examiner and a group of inner court officials, looking at all the things their servants suffered, their expressions were extremely ugly.
But at this time, all officials are like clay bodhisattvas crossing the river - they cannot protect themselves, and who can take care of the servants at home?
From time to time, screams could be heard in the official residence, and the atmosphere in the air became increasingly tense.
The officials held their breath subconsciously. It seemed that something terrible would be found in the official residence in the next moment, which would trigger a series of thunderous consequences, with heads rolling to the ground...
All the officials felt heavy.
Everyone understands that when things have reached this point, it is already very difficult to make things right.
The examination was suddenly interrupted, and Tang Guogong took Doctor Wei into the examination room... This was a major change that had not happened in dozens or hundreds of years. If he did not pull down a significant person, he would not be able to handle such a big battle.
Thinking of this, everyone secretly glanced at Mr. Cai in front of him.
I don't know what he was thinking.
Cai Jing also looked unhappy, but he just stood there and did not go up to talk to Li Yuan.
At this time, the situation has been decided. It is useless to argue with Li Yuan, Wei Zheng and others. On the contrary, it will only add to the laughter and make people feel that he is guilty.
Only today does Cai Jing truly feel impatience and urgency.
Now that something like this has happened, it is impossible to contact the outside world until the case is thoroughly investigated. The outside world can only hope that Cai You, Deng Xunwu, and Gao Xun can put a good end to the matter.
And there are no flaws in the Gongyuan. As long as Han Mulu doesn't get out of the trap, everything will be fine...
Thinking of this, Cai Jing subconsciously turned around and glanced at Han Mulu next to him, and found that his face was even paler and he was staring straight at the ground under his feet without even noticing Cai Jing's gaze.
An idea suddenly appeared in Cai Jing's mind.
Did he leave any clues?
Cai Jing turned around and no longer looked at Han Mulu, but his heart suddenly rose.
If Han Mulu was really careless and something was discovered by the Tiger Guards... then even the gods would be hard-pressed to save him.
The Huben Guards searched quickly and thoroughly. Everywhere they went, they moved the bed, table, bedding, and food in the official residence outside. They took apart the bedding, crushed the food, and even cut open the suspicious walls.
, search for hidden compartments.
After searching one official residence after another, soon there were not many official residences left.
However, there was never any movement from the Huben Guards until the search of the last official residence was completed.
The chief censor, Bao Xuan, was dressed in a scarlet robe and led a group of censors and tiger guards from the front.
The dense footsteps were like heavy drums, beating in the hearts of every official. Almost everyone had a sullen face, stretched their necks, and looked over there, wanting to see if the Tiger Guards had brought any evidence that they had found.
come over.
But they found nothing.
Cai Jing also breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Han Mulu was not stupid enough to leave a loophole for himself.
"My lord, Lord Wei."
Bao Xuan shook his head gently at the two of them.
A gust of breeze blew by, slightly dissipating the tense atmosphere in the square. The officials all breathed a sigh of relief, at least everything was fine now.
But then their hearts arose again. Although the raid did not find the culprit behind the scenes, it did not prove that they were innocent, nor did it mean that the matter was over!
On the contrary, as long as they can't find the mastermind behind the scenes, what awaits them is endless interrogation and screening.
Sure enough, Li Yuan glanced at them again and said to Huben Wei: "The adults here have not completely proven their innocence, so they cannot leave the Gongyuan yet."
The officials all lamented in their hearts. If they continue to investigate like this, they don't know how long they will have to deal with it.
What's even more frightening is that if nothing is found in the end, will they be used as scapegoats...
"I respectfully obey the orders of the Duke."
Cai Jing took the lead and accepted the order. It was okay not to accept it. There was no other way for them to take it.
Seeing this, other officials also bowed their heads in response.
Li Yuan nodded, put his hands behind his hands and said, "I have wronged you all during this time. Until the truth comes out today, you will not be able to leave Gongyuan. In the future, your food and clothing will also be provided by Huben Guards!"
After saying this, he did not give the officials a chance to continue the discussion, but waved his hand and asked Hu Benwei to lead these people away.
Moreover, in order to prevent collusion in confession, these people were taken separately to different places, and they never had the chance to interact with them again.
After these people left, Wei Zheng suddenly suggested: "Your Majesty, these people are not in a hurry to interrogate them. Now only the Ministry of Rites is left."
Li Yuan was silent for a moment and nodded slightly: "Go to the Ministry of Rites."
The process of generating exam questions is fixed.
First, the chief examiner and the deputy examiner will give three questions. Then the questions will be sent out to the Gongyuan and handed over to the Ministry of Rites, and His Majesty the Emperor will choose one from the three.
The examination questions will then be taken back to Gongyuan by the Ministry of Rites, where they will be sealed for a month until the exam begins.
During this process, the place where the test questions stayed the longest was Gongyuan, so Gongyuan was the most suspicious.
However, the suspicion of the Ministry of Rites cannot be completely ruled out.
The person who went to the palace to ask His Majesty the Emperor to choose the topic that day was Song Qiaonian, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites. Now he is locked in the front yard of Gongyuan as the deputy magistrate Gongju. This can be reviewed slowly in the future, but other people in the Ministry of Rites may also leak the exam questions.
Several people left the Gongyuan from Longmen again. It was already past noon. Some people had been here since early in the morning to pick up their own candidates, but they had not yet made any money.
A gust of cold wind blew, mixed with a few small children's cries, but they were muffled by the frightened woman.
Li Yuan looked at this scene and sighed softly: "Rentai."
"The end will be here."
Zheng Rentai responded and walked up.
"Let these people go."
If you don’t even search the candidates in the examination room, what’s the use of keeping these candidates’ families?
"Yes, sir." Zheng Rentai responded.
Then the Huben guards let go. Some of the candidates' family members quietly breathed a sigh of relief, while some were reluctant to leave. They turned to look back at Gongyuan, obviously worried about their own candidates...
The people on the other side watched these people leave eagerly, their eyes full of envy.
"Send these people back to Gongyuan."
Li Yuan pointed at the people and said in a deep voice: "Give them some more food."
You can have food, but don't even think about charcoal fire. Although Li Yuan didn't ask everyone to search all the people just now, it doesn't mean that they won't do it in the future.
If there are really no clues after that, then we need to start searching the candidates. At worst, we will stop in time after searching a few unlucky ones, and continue the investigation based on the clues on them.
Therefore, Li Yuan now will never allow candidates to destroy clues.
Nowadays, the soldiers in charge of the Nancheng Military and Horse Department's invigilation have been replaced by a group of energetic soldiers, and there are also Tiger Guards constantly patrolling the examination room. Even the candidates have to be watched by two people while they eat.
As long as someone does something suspicious, they will be caught immediately.
"Yes, sir."
Zheng Rentai responded to Li Yuan's order and began to carry it out, driving the examiners back to the examination room.
The families of the candidates can leave, but the candidates who are present cannot leave.
This represents the attitude of pursuing everything to the end!
Seeing these people starting to settle in, Li Yuan and the others did not want to stay any longer.
But at this moment, there was another burst of dense footsteps outside the street. The movement was so loud that it was like thunder, and even the ground shook slightly.
This is Li Jiancheng coming with troops from outside the city.
The Huben Guards had the responsibility of guarding and guarding the imperial city and could not stay here forever. Li Yuan arranged some defense changes and replenished manpower. Then he and Wei Zheng and others got on the carriage and rushed to the imperial city.
"Uncle Zheng."
It wasn't until Li Yuan and others could no longer be seen that Li Jiancheng walked towards Zheng Rentai with a smile, said hello and asked, "Isn't my second brother here today?"
"Prince."
Zheng Rentai returned the greeting and then said: "Second Young Master does not need to be on duty this morning, so he is not in the imperial city and did not catch up with this search."
"That's it." Li Jiancheng nodded and said with a smile: "This matter seems to be very troublesome. Even my father has a headache. It's a good thing that he doesn't get involved."
"But the second brother is on duty in the imperial city on weekdays, thanks to General Zheng's care. As an elder brother, I can't repay him. If Uncle Zheng is free these two days, my nephew has booked a private room in Huabao Tower...
"
This was an obvious invitation and acquaintance. The eldest son of the Duke's Palace was about to be engaged to the Zheng family in Xingyang. Logically speaking, getting close to each other was a matter of course.
But when Zheng Rentai recalled the recent news from home, he hesitated a little subconsciously: "The prince invites me, so I am naturally very willing."
"It's just that I have ordered the Duke to stay around the Gongyuan and cannot leave, so I'd better wait to entertain the Crown Prince later."
The smile on Li Jiancheng's face froze slightly, but Zheng Rentai's words did make sense. Not only him, but even Li Yuan had to run around for this matter.
"Then we have to wait until we have the opportunity in the future." Li Jiancheng said with some regret.
"Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty."
Zheng Rentai bowed his hands and bowed, then turned and left, making arrangements for the people to return to Gongyuan.
Since there were two more exams to come, the juren who came out this time did not bring their luggage out at all. The bedding, stove, paper and pens and other things were still in the room, so they just had to return the way they came.
Under the supervision of Huben guards, the candidates returned to the examination room according to the established route.
Zheng Rentai was walking on the road inspecting, and under his gaze, every Huben Guards officer subconsciously straightened his chest.
"Third uncle..."
A suppressed call suddenly came from the people-raising team beside him.
Zheng Rentai raised his head and looked around, and found that there were no Tiger Guards nearby. Then he turned his head and glared at the source of the sound.
Zheng Guan felt his eyes, smiled, and said no more.
It's probably okay this time.
~~
On the other side, Li Yuan specially invited Wei Zheng to ride in a carriage with him.
"Doctor Wei, where do you think the source of this leak is?"
Li Yuan looked at Wei Zheng solemnly: "Nothing has been found in the Gongyuan yet. Is the person who leaked the information in the Ministry of Rites?"
Wei Zheng shook his head meaningfully: "Your Majesty, the number of people in the Ministry of Rites who have access to the examination questions is probably no more than one palm, and they should all be officials no higher than the fourth rank. It is unlikely that they will leak the examination questions."
Since this kind of thing has happened, officials below the fourth rank cannot quell public anger.
Li Yuan sighed softly and understood what Wei Zheng meant.
"There are currently no clues in the Gongyuan. Where do you think Master Wei should start investigating?"
Wei Zheng thought for a moment and shook his head slightly: "To be honest with you, Your Majesty, we have actually found clues in the Gongyuan just now."
Li Yuan was startled and looked at him in confusion.
Wei Zheng and Li Yuan looked at each other for a moment, and then said meaningfully: "Just now, Yushi Bao and the Huben guards went to search the official residence, and they have actually found clues."
Found a clue?
Li Yuan's pupils shrank.
"It's more of an evidence than a clue."
Now that he had spoken out, Wei Zheng no longer had any scruples. He said frankly: "According to Mr. Bao, he found evidence of internal and external communication in an official's residence!"
"Who on earth...is so bold!"
Li Yuan subconsciously sat up straight, his face full of anger.
Wei Zheng shook his head: "Yushi Bao only said that he found the evidence, but he didn't tell me who it was."
"I'm guessing that he didn't say anything at the time because he wanted to find out more people behind the scenes."
"Then let's invite Yushi Bao now..." Li Yuan subconsciously stood up and wanted to ask Bao Xuan to get on the carriage.
"My lord, don't do this."
Wei Zheng hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him. When Li Yuan looked over with puzzled eyes, Wei Zheng smiled bitterly and said, "Yushi Bao has his own rules for doing things. I went to ask him just now, but he didn't tell me."
"If you forcefully ask him, he will definitely not tell you."
Li Yuan raised his eyebrows. He knew that many civil servants were tough, but he never expected that Bao Xuan would be so independent.
He doesn't even trust his superiors and has to hide it. How did such a person get into the censor Zhongcheng?
Li Yuan's face darkened and he said coldly: "Master Wei, now we are investigating the case for Your Majesty. This is not the time for Bao Yushi to be petty!"
"How can we investigate this case if we even hide it from our own people? We have an imperial edict, how can he still resist it?"
"Of course not."
Wei Zheng hurriedly explained with a wry smile: "Yu Shi Bao is also a person who understands the general situation. He will definitely not delay the official business."
"After we investigate the Ministry of Rites, we will go to the palace and report our fate to His Majesty for the first time. By then, Yushi Bao will definitely not hide it anymore."
Li Yuan then sat back on his seat, his expression softened slightly, and after taking a few breaths he said: "Since Yushi Bao is also doing it for the emperor's life, if the business is not delayed, then let's follow his opinion."
"Thank you for your understanding..."
The carriage went all the way north and arrived at the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites of the Imperial City.
This place was at the feet of the emperor. As soon as the news reached the capital, the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites was sealed off.