Tonight's Gongyuan is destined to be one of the most unforgettable scenes in the minds of this year's candidates. There are imperial guards holding torches everywhere, and from time to time there will be urgent footsteps. Many candidates who still don't know what happened are rushing to Their heads were buried on the table, for fear of having anything to do with themselves. Of course, there were a few brave people who stuck their heads out to join in the fun.
In the northern compound, the Forbidden Army soldiers wearing armor clasped their fists at Tang Ji and Su Qing and said, "I would like to inform Mr. Tang, Colonel Su, that all nineteen people involved in the fraud have been arrested and brought to justice."
Tang Ji nodded slightly and said loudly: "Okay, stop arguing and continue answering the questions. Anyone who makes any more noise will be kicked out of the Gongyuan and their results will be invalid!"
After listening to his words, the nearby candidates suddenly became quiet, and the invigilators in other places also organized discipline.
Immediately, Tang Ji exhaled, finally able to have a good rest. He greeted Su Qing, stretched, and then followed the imperial troops towards the gate of the North Courtyard.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the north courtyard, he met Shen Di. He hesitated for a while, then walked forward and saluted: "I pay my respects to Prime Minister Shen."
Shen Di didn't reply, looked up at the stars and sighed.
Tang Ji didn't know what the other party meant, and whether he was waiting for him here specially, so he tried to say: "I'm sorry, Prime Minister Shen, I'm just doing my duty as an examiner."
Unexpectedly, Shen Di shook his head: "I am just ashamed that my Shen family has such a descendant. I don't blame you for anything. Instead, I should say thank you. If it weren't for you, this provincial examination would be an injustice." I don’t know how many scholars will be dissatisfied with the imperial court.”
Hearing this, Tang Ji was slightly surprised. Judging from what the other party said, the old man probably didn't know about Shen Yunchu's fraud before, but he also admired him for doing such a righteous thing to kill relatives, and he handed over his hand again.
Shen Di sighed again and asked, "How did you find out there was something wrong with them?"
"To be honest, Shen Yunchu and Xiaguan had a conflict in the street a few days ago, and they happened to go into the same restaurant. Seeing that he interacted with Zhang Shangshu's son, they took a close look at it. Unexpectedly, they actually got together. He will cheat on the provincial examination." Tang Ji said calmly.
"Zhang Xiuhao's son? It turns out that was that day. I shouldn't have let him go out that day!" Shen Di recalled the scene where Shen Yunchu was drunk and was sent back by Zhang Tianyu a few days ago, with sadness on his face. With a look on his face, he clenched his fists with regret, but soon and slowly released them: "I'm afraid my whole life's reputation will be ruined in the hands of this bastard!"
Tang Ji shook his head and said, "Mr. Shen, you understand the righteousness well. I believe that after learning the truth, students all over the world will not only not blame you, but will respect you even more."
"Forget it, just pretend that my Shen family has never raised this bastard. Anyway, Yu'er has grown up and is more filial and sensible than his brother. I can still maintain my body for a few more years, so I have time to train him." Shen Di His voice was a little low, and his eyes were dim.
Tang Ji had heard from Li Yu that besides Shen Yunchu, there was also Shen Yunyu in the Shen family. They were only three years apart in age, but their behavior and styles were completely different. Now it seems that it should be true, so that's fine. At least the old man in front of him still had something to look forward to. His expression softened slightly and he rubbed his eyes: "Then Prime Minister Shen, I will go back and rest first."
"Go, go." Shen Di waved his hand. Seeing him leave, he remembered something and said quickly: "Now that the fraud has been found out, you should have time to write the title of the political paper, right?"
The corner of Tang Ji's mouth twitched. In the past two days, he had often heard the invigilators talking about him behind his back, saying that Prime Minister Shen boasted that he was ranked in the provincial examination list. Some people were even more exaggerated, saying that if he participated in the imperial examination, he would be able to win directly. If you get the top prize in the exam, doesn't this bring hatred to yourself? If those competitive candidates find out, they will probably have to find a solo. He quickly shook his head: "Prime Minister Shen, I told you the day before yesterday that I don't know classical Chinese. ."
Shen Di asked around but couldn't figure out what "classical Chinese" was. She thought he was still fooling her, and her face turned gloomy: "Master Tang, do you think there will be more test papers in this provincial examination?"
"No way?" Tang Ji asked back, then touched his chin and thought for a while. It seemed that he had been wandering around the Gongyuan for three days, and he did not see any spare exam papers. Yesterday, a candidate spilled the ink and the entire exam paper was black. Yes, the invigilator also asked him to sit where he was and wait for the provincial examination to end.
Suddenly, something suddenly occurred to him and he asked tentatively: "You mean this paper was specially prepared for me?"
Shen Di closed his eyes slightly and nodded.
Seeing this, Tang Ji raised his hand and patted his forehead. This was probably another trick played by the Dog Emperor. He sighed and agreed.
Looking at his retreating back, Shen Di looked disappointed again and murmured: "If the descendants of the Shen family were half as talented as him, I might have retired long ago, alas!"
...
Imperial City, Imperial Study Room.
It was already late at night, but Emperor Ning was sitting on the dragon chair with an angry look on his face, looking at the various search evidence handed over by the Star Guards in his hands, he raised his hand and patted the table, and glared at Li Xian who was kneeling in the palace. It happened that this The Forbidden Army brought Zhang Xiuhao in.
Zhang Xiuhao saw that Li Xian was also here, his eyebrows trembled slightly, he knelt down and saluted and said: "I, Zhang Xiuhao, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, have come to see your Majesty."
"You still know that you are the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs? Look at all the bastard things you have done!" Emperor Ning jumped up from his seat, smashed the memorial in his hand onto him, and said angrily: "I will I entrusted you with the position of chief examiner of the provincial examination because of your ability. I believe you can help me solve my problems. But what are you doing? Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the chief examiner of the provincial examination is helping others to cheat!"
This was the first time that Zhang Xiuhao saw Emperor Ning being so angry, so he subconsciously replied: "Your Majesty, I was wronged, I..."
But before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Emperor Shu: "What? In the face of so much evidence, you still want to deny it? Are you saying that Tang Ji, Su Qing and Tianxuan have wronged you, or do you want to say that I have been wronged? you?"
"I don't dare, I..." Zhang Xiuhao's body trembled slightly, with beads of sweat on his forehead. He glanced at Li Xian beside him. When he saw the other person's eyes escaping, he stopped thinking about it and kowtowed and said: "I'm guilty, I'm guilty. The crime deserves death!"
"Zhang Aiqing, do you still remember how you came here all these years? When I came to the throne, you were still a doctor in the civil service department. I promoted you to a minister step by step. Is this how you repay me?" Emperor Ning He put one hand on the table, breathing a little heavily, and turned to look at Li Xian: "It's all because of you, you bastard, and you've made the whole court so chaotic!"
Li Xian quickly kowtowed: "Father, please calm down, I know you were wrong!"
Emperor Ning stood there for a long time before he slowly sat down. He looked at the two people kneeling on the ground and said in a deep voice: "I must give an explanation to this class of students and the students of Ning Guo about this matter. Zhang Xiuhao, Minister of Civil Affairs,
As the chief examiner of the provincial examination, he committed malpractice for personal gain. From now on, he will be transferred to Guanglu Temple and appointed as the Minister of Guanglu Temple!"
Hearing this, Zhang Xiuhao's eyes widened instantly. He actually asked him, a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, to go to Guanglu Temple. It was an idle organization that purchased sacrifices for the royal family, prepared banquets, etc. He raised his eyes slightly, wanting to try to plead, but he was
After seeing Ning Huang's deep and angry eyes, he had no choice but to lower his head: "I obey your order, thank you Your Majesty!"
Hearing that Zhang Xiuhao's punishment was so severe, Li Xian became nervous. After Zhang Xiuhao left, he quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Father, I really realized my mistake. Please forgive me!"