Chapter 229 When will the exam start again, the examiner candidate
The tenderness between father and son lasted for a while, and then Cai Jing suddenly remembered that there was something else to do.
"We can't delay any longer. Come with me to the Song Mansion and the Han Mansion."
Cai Jing sighed leisurely, looked at Cai You and said, "You haven't been there since the imperial edict came down yesterday, right?"
Cai You's face darkened, he lowered his head and said, "My son is ashamed..."
"It doesn't matter."
Cai Jing waved his hand: "Deng Xunwu and Gao Xun are also going there today, and you will go with me."
"Yes, father." Cai You immediately bowed his head in agreement.
The two of them sat on the sedan and arrived at the Song Mansion first. It was surrounded by officers and soldiers. Ordinary people could not get in, and the people inside could not get out.
"grown ups."
Gao Xun and Deng Xunwu had been waiting outside the street for a long time. When they saw Cai Jing's sedan, they hurried up to join them.
Waiting for Cai Jing is just one of the reasons. In fact, without Cai Jing taking the lead, they would not be able to enter the mansion at all.
"stop!"
The soldiers guarding the door hurriedly stopped the group. If it weren't for the official robes Cai Jing and the others were wearing, they might have driven them away with curses.
Cai Jing frowned and walked forward slowly: "Go and inform your commander that Cai Jing is here to visit."
The soldier guarding the door was startled and subconsciously took half a step back. When he regained consciousness, he swallowed and carefully backed away and said: "Yes, sir, I will go and report it now."
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
After saying that, he ran in without a trace.
Cai Jing and others waited at the door for a while, then they saw a man in armor who looked like a commander running over quickly, and saluted Cai Jing from a distance.
"I have finally met Mr. Cai!"
Many military generals do not need to abandon civilian officials, but the Ministry of War is an exception.
Military attachés who offend the Ministry of War usually have nothing to gain, and Cai Jing is the Minister in charge of the Ministry of War and the immediate superior of the Ministry of War. He is also a god who must not be neglected.
"No need to be polite."
Cai Jing waved his hand: "Have you finished sorting out the matters in the Song Mansion now?"
"The inventory is over."
The general wiped the sweat from his head and replied: "The general and the brothers below have been busy all night, and we have just finished counting the things in the house."
"good."
Cai Jing nodded: "Since everything has been counted, there is no need to maintain such a martial law. I, together with the two ministers, will go in to visit my former colleagues."
Only then did the general notice that Deng Xunwu and Gao Xun were following him.
Although the lineup was huge and luxurious, the general still wiped his sweat and said hesitantly: "Sir..."
"Although I have finished counting the property and servants in the house, I have not yet reported it to the court..."
"Just report it to my officer."
Cai Jing looked at the military attaché expressionlessly.
"Yes... sir!" The military attache finally couldn't resist the pressure in his eyes and led Cai Jing and his party through the gate.
Although he successfully achieved his goal, Cai Jing still frowned, without any joy in his brows.
Before the examination begins, a mere military attache would never dare to have a different opinion with Cai Jing.
But now this kind of martial arts school dared to talk back to him in public. If it had happened before, Cai Jing felt that such a thing would never happen.
Deng Xunwu and Gao Xun, who were walking behind Cai Jing, also had different expressions on their faces, but neither of them dared to say anything else, lest they would offend Mr. Cai.
Along the way, the Song Mansion, which a few people were familiar with, is now full of patrolling soldiers.
Confiscating a house is also a very particular matter. You must separate the master, mistress, male servants, and maids of the house, and there must be no confusion.
With the help of the soldiers, Cai Jing and others quickly arrived at the place where the male host was detained.
"Master Cai..."
As soon as they entered the door, everyone heard a cry of sadness.
Several people turned around and saw that Song Qiaonian was wearing a simple robe made of Ge Qing. He looked withered and looked over with tears in his eyes.
"Immortal people..."
Cai Jing was stunned for a moment. When he came back to his senses, the corners of his eyes were already moist.
"Lord Taishan..." As for Cai You, his eyes were filled with tears and he ran over choking.
Looking at this scene, Cai Jing let out a long sigh of relief.
But he did not go up to greet Song Qionian. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the general who was following him, his expression became serious: "Commander Zhou, you are too slow in doing things!"
"ah?"
Zhou Fa didn't know beforehand that Cai Jing actually knew his name. Now that he suddenly called him out, he was a little surprised.
Cai Jingze continued to reprimand severely: "The imperial edict should be completed as soon as possible instead of delaying it again and again!"
"The last general..."
Zhou Fa was very aggrieved. The imperial edict issued yesterday was almost completed today. Can this be called another delay?
But he couldn't argue with Cai Jing, so he could only lower his head silently and admit his mistake: "Yes, sir, I am lowering my rank..."
“If you realize your mistakes, you must correct them!”
Cai Jing reprimanded unceremoniously: "Now that the property here has been inventoried and reported to the court, we will settle the matter as soon as possible without any further delay."
"Yes, sir."
This time Zhou Fa didn't even dare to hesitate and agreed directly.
One is because he has been scared since he found out that Cai Jing knew his name. The other is because... he is a small deputy commander, can he be serious with a minister?
Whatever he said was what he said. Anyway, the gap in status between the two was so huge that no one would blame him afterwards.
Cai Jing's face softened slightly and he nodded slightly.
"Thank you, Mr. Cai..."
Song Qiaonian looked at the soldiers who were gradually withdrawing from his house and the empty mansion, and the huge feeling of disparity in his heart almost made him suffocate.
Now not only are those belongings gone, but this mansion no longer belongs to him.
The Song family must move out within the specified time, and then all of them will be repatriated to their place of origin and are not allowed to stay in the capital.
Thinking of all this, Song Qiaonian couldn't help but feel sad.
Cai Jing looked at him, sighed quietly, leaned over and took Song Qiaonian's hand: "I'm sorry for you, immortal people."
"grown ups……"
With tears in his eyes, Song Qiaonian looked up at Cai Jing, as if asking if things had turned around and whether it was possible for them to reverse the situation?
Cai Jiang looked at him silently, then pursed his lips and shook his head.
Song Qiaonian collapsed, and if Cai You hadn't been holding him up, he might have collapsed directly to the ground.
"Alas~"
Cai Jing sighed and said to Cai You: "Send your father-in-law back to your house and arrange a place to live."
"For my father, I will go to Han Mansion again and pick up your uncle and the others."
"Yes, father." Cai You choked with sobs and agreed, then he helped Song Qiaonian and walked out...
On the other side, Zheng Mansion.
There are several Zheng Mansion in the capital, but if you say it without adding any prefix or suffix, then it basically refers to only one Zheng Mansion.
Xingyang Zheng Mansion.
The mansion here was built by the Xingyang Zheng family in the capital. It does not belong to anyone, but to their family. Any member of the Xingyang Zheng family or the Zheng royal family can stay here temporarily after coming to the capital.
As for those family members who have official positions in the capital, most of them will not live here, but will find new places on their own.
In the splendid backyard of Zheng Mansion, Zheng Guan was stuffing the food on the table into his mouth with big mouthfuls. His mouth, face, and even neck were all covered in oil.
Across the table, Yan Zhenqing's eating appearance is better than his, but it's not much better.
Li Qian sat aside and looked at them looking like reincarnations of starving ghosts. He asked curiously: "Can't you buy food in the Gongyuan? Why are you still suffering like this?"
"you do not know……"
Zheng Guan tore off half of the roasted chicken and stuffed it into his mouth, and replied to Li Qian with a smile on his face: "The smell in Gongyuan, even if the delicacies of mountains and seas are put in your face, you won't be able to eat."
The smell in Gongyuan?
Li Qian nodded as if he understood. Although he didn't go to the Gongyuan at that time, he could imagine the smell just by relying on his imagination. Tens of thousands of candidates couldn't take a bath, and the daily excrement might not be cleared away in time. How much better could it be?
"I didn't expect that I would suffer so much this time..."
Zheng Guan straightened his neck, forced to swallow the meat in his mouth, and finally had his mouth free: "When I think about that examination room now, I feel uncomfortable all over."
When I said that, I was really excited.
Yan Zhenqing looked heavy as he recalled what happened in the Gongyuan, and couldn't help but sigh, as if that place had left a big shadow on him.
Li Qian looked at the two of them and couldn't help laughing: "Don't miss me in a hurry, I think you will be able to go back soon."
What?
Zheng Guan was startled. The chicken bones he was holding suddenly fell to the table. The meat in his mouth was no longer fragrant: "We have to go in again? Haven't we only been out for a few days?"
Yan Zhenqing also frowned and looked at Li Qian, as if doubting the authenticity of his words.
“Will definitely go back soon.”
Li Qian said very confidently: "It's almost April now. If we look at previous years, the results of the general examination will be out. But now this situation is like no exam. It has been delayed too much."
"As long as the imperial court still wants to hold the trial conference, it will definitely not delay it any longer."
Zheng Guan and Yan Zhenqing looked at each other and both felt that Li Qian's words were very reasonable. Both of them looked bitter.
Zheng Guan seemed to have thought of something again. He didn't even eat. He directly picked up the silk cloth on the side and wiped his mouth. He looked at Li Qian nervously and asked, "Will the examiner be Cai Jing this time?" ?”
During the previous examination, he jumped out at the door of the examination room and took the lead in angrily attacking Song Qiaonian. This matter must not have been hidden for long. With Cai Jing's ability, he might have known about it by now.
Under such circumstances, even if He Shen tried to explain things to him, it would be useless. He would almost certainly be deposed.
"It won't be him."
Li Qian shook his head and said: "There was such a big mess in this exam. How can Cai Jing still serve as the examiner unharmed?"
"real?"
Zheng Guanyi was happy, as long as it was not Cai Jing, and as long as he was not deliberately targeted, he would have the confidence to pass the exam.
Yan Zhenqing thought for a moment, frowned and asked, "Who do you think the court will arrange to be the examiner for this examination?"
The selection of the examiner position is very important. I believe that thousands of candidates are paying close attention to this matter at this moment.
"Who arranges it..."
Zheng Guan pondered for a moment, frowned and said, "Could it be Prime Minister Qin? Now he is the only prime minister in the capital. Who can come if he is not allowed?"
Yan Zhenqing shook his head slightly, as if he didn't agree very much: "Xingyang is not far from the capital. What if the imperial court calls back Prime Minister Yan and your Excellency?"
"this……"
I have to say that Yan Zhenqing's guess is also very reasonable. After all, it is impossible for him to serve as the examiner for two subjects in the previous examination, right?
The two looked at each other but couldn't find an answer, so they turned their attention to Li Qian aside.
"I don't know either."
Li Qian laughed in surprise: "I'm not a god, how can I know everything?"
have no idea?
The two looked at each other in surprise, but felt that this was normal.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be too weird if Li Qian knew everything?
~~
At the same time, Cai Jing, Gao Xun, and Deng Xunwu who left the Song Mansion got into another sedan and rushed to the Han Mansion.
"grown ups……"
On the sedan chair, Deng Xunwu and Cai Jing reported on everything that had happened in recent days.
Although Cai Jing had already heard the general idea from Jia Ding yesterday, looking at it from Deng Xunwu's perspective today, it was obviously a different feeling.
"Let's talk about it..."
As he listened, Cai Jing clenched his fists.
According to what Deng Xunwu said, the scandal of leaking the title had already spread when he first entered the Gongyuan.
"You just ignored this?"
Cai Jing looked at Deng Xunwu coldly. Anyone with a little political sense should know that such news must not be allowed to spread.
"Not so, my lord."
Deng Xunwu hurriedly explained: "Xiaoguan and Master Gao were originally going to unite with other ministers of the Sixth Department to deal with the accident according to your wishes, but who would have expected that another rumor would spread at that time!"
Cai Jing frowned, another rumor?
Why is this behavior so familiar, so familiar?
"At that time, officials in the DPRK and the Central Government were spreading rumors that the deputy examiner who we had been fighting with the emperor and Zhongshu Province for so many days had actually been appointed as the Minister of Han, especially the Sixth Department..."
Cai Jingtong shrank!
Could it be him? Wang Mang??
Cai Jing's guess was also well-founded, because from beginning to end, he only told Wang Mang about this matter to an outsider.
However, this does not seem to be correct. If Wang Mang really leaked the information, then why did he help Cai's party before?
If he had spread the news earlier, the hearts of the six ministers would have been upset, and the fight for the deputy examiner would not have been so smooth...
This rumor also seems to have been fabricated by the emperor to vent his anger after he lost the position of deputy examiner.
After all, he has such a criminal record...
After thinking about it, Cai Jing still felt that there were two possibilities for this matter. Either Wang Mang had a big plan and was holding back all this time. Or His Majesty the Emperor accidentally hit a mouse and guessed the truth of the matter...
Deng Xunwu continued to explain: "...My lord, after much thought at that time, the lower official and the higher lord still felt that the most important thing was to quell the rumors in the court."
"Yes." Cai Jing nodded, as he would have done even if he was present at the time.
Even the rumors among the scholars did not have such a great impact on the officials. On the contrary, it was the negative news in the officialdom that made them overturn.
"But how can someone interfere with it!"
Deng Xunwu gritted his teeth and said: "Sir, after investigation by the lower officials, I found that the news first came from Guan Peng, the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and later Su Ling'a also spread the news everywhere!"