Since Li Chunfang was taken away in front of his colleagues, the group of soldiers escorted him to the nearest prison to await his release.
In the prison, perhaps because it had not been exposed to sunlight for a long time, the straw on the bed had already become moldy, and in the gaps between the stone tiles on the floor, there was dark red blood stains that could not be washed away. There was a wooden bucket in the corner with unknown contents inside. The excrement of this creature gave off a foul smell.
Just when Li Chunfang was about to lie on the bed and rest for a while, she suddenly realized that the bed had become a paradise for mice! As soon as he lifted the quilt, the mice seemed to be frightened, making a "squeaking" sound, and quickly ran to the corner and disappeared.
"What on earth is going on?" Li Chunfang sat on the ground slumped, thinking about what she might have committed.
"Could I have offended someone? Someone wrote a memorial to impeach me!" This idea suddenly appeared in Li Chunfang's mind.
But soon, this idea was rejected by himself: "But I have been responsible for setting questions for the imperial examination recently, and I can't even meet a few people, let alone offend others!"
But soon, Li Chunfang's doubts were answered.
…
"Li Chunfang, do you plead guilty?" Zhang Runde, the Minister of Punishment, asked.
"Plead guilty? What crime do you admit to? What crime have I committed?" Li Chunfang tilted her head, her face full of doubts.
"Hmph, you dare to quibble! Tell me, how much money did you charge those candidates? Who did you sell the exam questions to?" Zhang Runde seemed to be very dissatisfied with Li Chunfang's answer and angrily shouted.
"What, you said that I took money from the candidates and leaked the exam questions!" Li Chunfang couldn't help but be surprised when she heard Zhang Runde's question.
Accepting bribes and leaking imperial examination questions are all first-rate crimes! They might want to confiscate the family and exterminate the family, but Li Chunfang didn't think she was so courageous.
"Do you still want to quibble? An impeachment memorial was delivered to the Supervisory Council early this morning. It said that you had accepted money from the candidates. And behind the memorial, the questions of the imperial examination were clearly written. I am very happy. I'm curious, how should you explain this!" Seeing that Li Chunfang still wanted to deny it, Zhang Runde couldn't help but use his trump card.
"Hmph, adults keep saying that the lower officials leaked the imperial examination questions. Dare I ask what the examination questions were written behind that memorial?" Li Chunfang still refused to give up and continued to ask Zhang Runde.
"Humph, I won't shed tears until I see the coffin! You listen to me, sincerity is the foundation of heavenly virtue and the source of sanctity. Scholars are the first of the four peoples, and scholars are accustomed to..." Zhang Runde glanced at Li Chunfang, He chanted lightly.
"Your Excellency, there is no need to recite any more. What you just recited is indeed the question asked by me." As early as Zhang Runde recited the first sentence, Li Chunfang understood that what the Minister of Punishment said was true, and the examination questions were really revealed. Got it!
"Oh, do you have anything else to say?" Zhang Runde asked, pointing to the clerk responsible for recording confessions.
"Sir, I don't know how the exam questions were leaked, but I really didn't accept any bribes from the candidates! I have been locked up in a dark room these days, and I was not free until the test papers were released."
"Furthermore, during this process, whoever Xianguan came into contact with and who he talked to were all monitored by dedicated personnel! Moreover, there are lessons learned from the past, how could Xianguan go against the trend and commit a crime? What an injustice!"
Li Chunfang turned her gaze to the Minister of Justice, with a hint of pleading in her words.
"Well, you can rest assured. After the matter is investigated, the court will give you an explanation! Tell me, who have you been in contact with in recent days?"
After listening to what Li Chunfang said, the attitude of Zhang Runde, the Minister of Punishment, also softened a little. Then he nodded to the subordinate in charge of recording the confession and signaled him to record everything that followed.
"The thing is like this, that day..."
Immediately afterwards, Li Chunfang began to recall the people or things that had interacted with her in recent days.
…
Capital City, Yan Mansion.
After Yan Shifan obtained Li Chunfang's confirmed confession from Zhang Runde, the Minister of Punishment, he rushed home without stopping and knocked on his father Yan Song's door.
"What, are you recruiting?" Yan Song opened the door and asked.
"No, father, then Li Chunfang claimed that she did not accept bribes from candidates! Here is a detailed confession."
After Yan Shifan said this, he handed the exact confession to Yan Song.
"Well, come in! Also, open the door to the study room." Yan Song took the confession, turned around, and slowly sat on the desk, not forgetting to say this.
"Yes, father." Yan Shifan said and came to wait in front of Yan Song.
Yan Song put on his reading glasses leisurely, read Li Chunfang's confession several times, took off his reading glasses, and sighed: "This is going to be difficult! Everything Li Chunfang confessed should be There’s no problem, but if that’s the case, how did the exam questions get leaked?”
Yan Song frowned, but his mind kept thinking about possible answers.
"By the way, have you found anything from Li Chunfang's home?" Yan Song suddenly came back to his senses and asked Yan Shifan.
"No, we sent people to turn Li Chunfang's house upside down, but we couldn't find the stolen money he accepted!"
After hearing his father's question, Yan Shifan shook his head and responded.
…
On the other side, everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion was also troubled by this matter.
"Have you read Li Chunfang's confession?" Xu Jie scanned the crowd and asked.
"Mr. Xu Ge, we have read the confession several times and still can't find any problems! We have also sent people to search Li Chunfang's home and found nothing." Gao Gong shook his head and responded.
At this moment, Zhang Juzheng was still looking through Li Chunfang's confession carefully, trying to find some clues.
Seeing this, Xu Jie couldn't help but comfort him: "Master Zhang, please rest for a while! Don't be so tense."
"Do you think we were looking in the wrong direction from the beginning?" Zhang Juzheng suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing and he said slowly.
"What do you mean?" Gao Gong was a little confused after hearing what Zhang Juzheng said.
"What I mean is, could it be that after Li Chunfang finished giving the test questions in the black room (note: the place where the examiner gave the test questions, it is called the black room), the test questions were leaked! As far as I know, he made a draft Habit." Zhang Juzheng looked at Gao Gong and explained aloud.
"According to your opinion, is it the hands and feet of the small officials responsible for daily life in the dark room? They secretly collected the draft paper written by Li Chunfang, and then read it from the relevant books." Xu Jie was also at this moment. Understanding what Zhang Juzheng meant, he said in a deep voice.
"Well, I can't rule out this possibility!" Zhang Juzheng nodded, agreeing with Xu Jie's view.
"But since we have already obtained the exam questions, why do we still need to report them to the Inspectorate? Isn't it better to sell them secretly by ourselves? No matter how high the price is, there are many candidates who want to buy them!" Zhu Zaijing on the side also raised his own question at this time doubts.
"Could it be that after someone learned this news, they wanted to use this method to attack Taichang Shaoqing Li Chunfang, but they were not sure whether the leaked exam questions were true, so they came up with this strategy." Gao Gong also made the right decision at the right time. Put forward his own views.
"Well, it's very possible! I'll immediately send someone to check according to this line." After Xu Jie said this, he called his subordinates and gave instructions on the matter.
(End of chapter)
