The northwest corner of Gongyuan is the cleanest place in the whole Gongyuan. There is a small pond in the center. Various trees are planted on the east, west and north sides, with lush branches and green trees. There is a somewhat narrow road.
A boardwalk leads to a small pavilion in the pond.
At this time, Tang Ji was standing behind the guardrail of the pavilion, crushing the steamed bun in his hand into small pieces and feeding it to the red koi in the pond.
"Before, we said that the officials from the Imperial Academy were allowed to enter the Gongyuan in advance to avoid suspicion and prevent them from collaborating with foreigners to commit fraud. But now Li Qin'an still has an eye on him." Tang Ji complained a few times in his heart.
However, the conversation between the two officials just now also provided him with the direction of investigation.
Tang Ji specifically asked Su Qing, and learned from the latter that there were hundreds of minor officials in the Gongyuan today. Like the officials of the Imperial College, they entered the Gongyuan several days in advance to receive control, and entered the front of the Gongyuan every day.
They all had to strip off their clothes and conduct a body search. Logically speaking, there should be no problem, but these people did have the opportunity to pass in the answers to the test papers.
Therefore, he planned to stay in person tonight to see if he could find out anything.
In this way, the daylight hours passed little by little, and soon it was dusk. Some candidates took out the dry food they had brought with them and planned to lie down on the small wooden beds in the dormitory for a while after eating. The petty officials in each tribute courtyard also began to
Distribute candles to candidates.
Tang Ji and Su Qing were walking side by side in the northern tribute courtyard. Looking at the thick tube candles that the clerk took out from the brown-red wooden box, the former couldn't help but ask: "Old Su, where did these candles come from? And when were they brought in?"
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"These were purchased by the palace and were deposited in the Gongyuan half a month ago." Su Qing learned about the fraud, but she took it directly without evidence. She looked a little worried and her voice was a little low.
Tang Ji pursed his lips. In his previous life, he had seen someone hiding the answer in a candle in a TV series or novel. He couldn't help but become suspicious. He stopped thinking about it and walked faster towards the Gongyuan.
Just when he walked to the row of dormitories where Shen Yunchu was, he happened to see the clerk put the candle on the other party's table, turned his eyes slightly, and walked over quickly.
Shen Yunchu covered his lips and yawned. Looking at the filled-in Ming Jing question paper, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth. He had never liked memorizing books since he was a child. He has not finished reading the Four Books and Five Classics. The previous state examination was because of Ming Jing questions.
With a low score, I believe this provincial examination will be a blockbuster.
He raised his eyebrows proudly, but found Tang Ji's figure, and quickly adjusted his expression.
Unexpectedly, Tang Ji suddenly fell to the ground and pressed a hand on his table, causing all the two candles on the table to fall to the ground.
"Ah yo~"
Tang Ji pretended to be in pain and cried out.
The invigilator who was standing not far away quickly came over and said, "Mr. Tang, are you okay?"
"It's okay, it's okay. I've been walking back and forth all day, and I'm a little tired. My legs and feet are weak." Tang Ji stood up with the help of the other party, explained a few words with a smile, and then looked down at the candle on the ground.
: "Oh, I'm so sorry, the candles are all broken."
Immediately, he knelt down and quickly picked up the two candles.
The invigilator on the side smiled and said: "It's just two candles. It's fine, Mr. Tang. You are a once-in-a-hundred-year genius from Ningguo. You should pay attention to rest and don't let your body collapse from exhaustion."
Yesterday Tang Ji wrote a paper in the North Courtyard. The fact that he was praised by Prime Minister Shen has long been spread. In addition, he is valued by His Majesty. Although he has no interaction with the other party, he can't say for sure in the future. In short It's always good to be on good terms with the other person.
"Where, where, Sir Yan is ridiculous." Tang Ji replied perfunctorily, but looked at Shen Yunchu from the corner of his eye, but did not see a trace of panic in the other person's eyes. He felt a little strange and coughed lightly: "Then this I'll just take the two candles and throw them away."
After saying that, he continued to walk forward.
Su Qing, who was standing not far away, had a panoramic view of this scene. When she saw Tang Ji taking away the candle, she quickly chased after him.
But the invigilator standing there curled his lips and muttered to himself: "Master Tang, my surname is Yang!"
He shook his head with some disappointment, waved his hand and ordered the clerk to add two new candles to Shen Yunchu.
Shen Yunchu clenched his hands into fists. From his perspective, Tang Ji was walking well, how could he suddenly fall? This was clearly the other party provoking him. A sullen look appeared on his face, and he said to himself: "Tang Ji , sooner or later, I will trample you under my feet!"
On the other side, Tang Ji walked out from the side door of the courtyard. Seeing no one around, he started to dismantle the candle in his hand.
Su Qing followed up quickly without saying much. She took another candle from his hand, squeezed it hard and crushed the whole candle to pieces. Seeing that there was nothing inside, she lowered her voice and asked: "Brother Tang , Is Shen Yunchu a cheater?"
"He's not the only one." Tang Ji replied casually, and smashed the candle in his hand to pieces, but still couldn't see anything, and murmured: "It doesn't seem to be in the candle."
If the answer is hidden in it, Shen Yunchu won't be so calm, so what other way can he pass the answer in?
Tang Ji was puzzled, threw the broken candle aside, and scratched his hair irritably.
After hearing his reply, Su Qing was slightly surprised. He quickly thought of the relationship between Shen Yunchu and Shen Di, and his eyes were a little dazed. Could it be that Prime Minister Shen, who has always been honest and honest, was also involved in this fraud? He shook his head and looked. He said to Tang Jiyan: "Brother Tang, please tell me everything you know!"
Tang Ji glanced at the other party. According to Su Qing's character and Su Ling's status, he was not worried that Su Qing would betray him. If he didn't say anything before, he was just afraid that the other party would be impulsive and alert him. He nodded slightly and led Su Qing to a place. In an open area with no one around, he roughly told the whole story.
After listening, Su Qing frowned: "They are so brave, they actually cheated on the provincial examination!"
"Okay, I've said what needs to be said. Don't act rashly without evidence. Just listen to my arrangements." Tang Ji whispered a few words, then stretched, turned around and planned to leave: "Let's go, let's go first Go back and keep an eye on it."
Su Qing put away her thoughts and followed quickly.
...
In the middle of the night, a gust of cool spring breeze blew by, which made Tang Ji, who was leaning against the wall and drowsy, wake up a little. He raised his eyes to look at Shen Yunchu's dormitory in the distance, and sighed. Nearly six hours had passed. This guy didn't move at all, and now he just fell asleep on the table.
Could it be that they were able to write so many questions overnight because they simply changed the papers?
Just when he was full of doubts, Su Qing walked over and said, "Brother Tang, I have sent people to monitor those nineteen people secretly. Why don't you go back to sleep first and leave it to me to keep an eye on them for the rest of the night. "
Tang Ji rubbed his eyes. The other party didn't move in the first half of the night, and there was a high probability that he would act in the second half of the night. But he really had lost his energy. It was better to leave it to Su Qing, nodded slightly, turned around and left, heading to the north wing.
A night of silence.
The next day, Tang Ji didn't sleep in anymore. He got up early in the morning, rinsed his mouth with tea and left the room. He planned to go back to Gongyuan to have a look, but he met two petty officials halfway.
"Damn it, these scholars are really good at tossing people. They pooped and peeed so early in the morning. I'm exhausted." One of them complained.
Another person followed suit and said, "Who says it's not the case? You don't know that the fat guy in the C-size house eats a lot and poops a lot. I even poured shit out of the pot for him four times!"
Tang Ji was just thinking about what to eat for breakfast today, but when he heard such a topic, he felt a little sick in his heart. He patted his forehead helplessly, but suddenly thought that Shen Yunchu was going to have a chamber pot last night, and turned his head He looked at the chamber pots in the hands of the two people, thought about it, and said, "You two!"
There was no one on this road, and his voice was a bit loud. The two clerks reacted immediately and turned around quickly: "Sir!"
Tang Ji walked straight over: "Is this chamber pot clean?"
The two clerks looked puzzled after hearing his words, but they still nodded.
Seeing this, Tang Ji bowed his head and observed. This kind of chamber pot is somewhat similar to the spittoon of later generations. It is cylindrical, with a lid on top and a base below. It is indeed very convenient to hide answers, but each chamber pot must be opened before being used by candidates. They all have to be checked by the invigilator and should not be hidden...
Halfway through his thought, his eyes suddenly noticed the base below, and then he said: "Turn over!"
The clerk obeyed the order and turned the base over. He saw that the base below was made of wood and had a square depression in the center.
Tang Ji touched his chin and asked, "Will you also check the bottom of the chamber pot?"
The two clerks looked at each other, and one of them replied: "Master Qi, the chamber pot... the master in charge of the exam will not check it, but the master in charge of internal affairs will check it in advance."
Tang Ji raised his brows slightly and exhaled, "I hope you won't cheat in such a disgusting way."