The autumn day was bleak, and the cold wind blew the iron bell hanging under the temple, making a tinkling sound. In this windy night, it became even more cold and lonely.
The candles in the imperial study were brightly lit, but Emperor Xiaochun still found it too dark, so the young eunuch hurried to add more candles.
Emperor Xiaochun sighed while holding his forehead, his head was as big as a bucket.
The imperial examination was a major matter of national policy, and Daye had only been recuperating for two or three years. The selection of knowledgeable people through the imperial examination was the foundation of the country, so Emperor Xiaochun attached great importance to it, but he could not imagine that such scandals that could damage the foundation of the country could occur.
Several princes, great scholars, prime ministers, and six ministers all knelt on the ground, occupying all the space in the imperial study. They all lay prone on the ground, as silent as a cicada.
He raised his head and glanced at the room full of people. He became increasingly angry and said angrily:
"You guys are so quarrelsome in the morning. You are all so talkative. Why are you all mute now?"
The emperor was so angry that he slapped the table, causing the tea cup to rise up and making a clear sound of clinking porcelain.
"Zhang Chengru."
"Your Majesty..." Zhang Chengru was so frightened that his name was called, his legs trembled, he kowtowed twice and crawled forward two steps, shouting in a tearful tone: "Your Majesty, I am wronged. I have been an official for six years. I have never done anything immoral. I regard this imperial examination as an opportunity and try my best to avoid failing, not to mention causing trouble behind my back and doing sleazy things. I am... unjustly accused."
"Unjust, you are unjust. Then tell me who is not unjust."
The emperor simply stood up, walked around from behind the desk, and stood in front of Zhang Chengru: "How can you still have the nerve to say that you are wronged when you have done something like this?"
"I...I really don't know. That title was published by the Imperial Academy together with the Prime Minister, and has been properly sealed within the secrets of the Imperial Academy. As for why it was leaked, I..."
The more Zhang Chengru talked, the more excited he became. He simply burst into tears and shouted: "Your Majesty, I don't know. I handed all the files to His Highness the King of Jin. I'm not a minister. I really am not a minister. The handwriting of the test questions that was leaked is not my handwriting." Ah, that is clearly... His Highness's handwriting, I... I am scared."
At that moment, Shen Que silently closed his eyes.
Li Luansong had always said that Zhang Chengru was a sanctimonious coward, and he was indeed right. In Zhang Chengru's position, it was the King of Jin who gave him this opportunity. Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to have a future based on his ability and character.
However, something happened now, and everything was not clear yet, but he immediately found out about himself and pushed everything on Li Luansong.
Repaying kindness with hatred, and only thinking about himself in everything, this is Zhang Chengru's character, and this is also the way he treats people who have the kindness to know and meet him. At that moment, Shen Que felt that he was really blind back then, how could he fall in love with such a loser.
Of course, what was even more stupid about Zhang Chengru was that he underestimated His Majesty's willingness to protect his own shortcomings. He was his favorite son.
"It has nothing to do with you?" Emperor Xiaochun yelled, and his face suddenly changed with anger, "His Royal Highness the King of Jin kindly recommended you, but I only let you try it out of his face. It would be better for you to recommend it after you have found out. Gotta be clean.”
"Okay, it has nothing to do with you, it's very good." Emperor Xiaochun was so angry that he raised his foot and gave him two more slaps, "How can such people who don't know how to repay their kindness and such timid people be our officials in Daye? You want to be beautiful, you want to be beautiful..."
His Majesty was really furious and kicked Zhang Chengru several times, knocking him far away before he stopped panting.
"Father, don't be angry, it's all my son's fault."
Shen Que quickly knelt down and helped his staggering old father.
Unexpectedly, after his death, Li Luanhong said: "Father, this matter is very important. I think that even though my father loves my brother, there is no room for falsehood in the imperial examination. It is not appropriate for my father to protect my brother at this time. As far as I know , the exam questions that were living abroad were actually written by the eldest brother, and Zhang Chengru’s sister-in-law Song’s younger brother Song Kuan confessed that the exam questions were given to him by his sister. Is there anything else that you don’t understand about this? It’s that the eldest brother and Zhang Chengru are colluding for personal gain. .”
Here comes another blind man.
Li Luanfeng, who was kneeling next to Lao Wu, closed his eyes in despair.
Emperor Xiaochun looked at Lao Wu and asked with a cold snort: "Then based on your opinion, how should we decide this matter?"
Li Luanfeng knelt on the ground, turned his face slightly, and tried his best to hint to Lao Wu: Stop talking, shut up.
However, Li Luanhong finally caught the boss's mistake. He was so focused on victory that he couldn't care about that. He simply said: "Father, this matter is already very clear. It has led to such a big mistake. I think that the prince has committed the same crime as the common people." , we must not tolerate it and ask my father to make a decision."
The voice is loud, the words are righteous, and the justice is awe-inspiring.
Emperor Xiaochun was so angry that he was shaking so hard that he couldn't speak. There were several people between the two of them, and he couldn't walk past. There was nothing to hit at hand, so he simply took off his boots and pointed at Lao Wu's The door was thrown out.
Li Luanhong didn't react in time. The sole of his shoe hit his head, leaving two big footprints on his face. He lay on the ground and didn't dare to speak anymore.
"Lao Wu, Lao Wu, you are really... you only grow taller but not wiser." Emperor Xiaochun scolded: "What does it mean to make a big mistake? What does it mean to make a big mistake? Is there something wrong with the imperial examination? Isn't there a backup for the test questions? Yes, ah~"
"The matter is already clear. How can you tell me how to clarify it? Who leaked the test questions, your elder brother? Then why does he still have a spare set in his hand? Why did he just use the spare set in the exam? Ah, you say something."
At this point, Li Luanhong suddenly realized what he was talking about.
"And you, boss." Emperor Xiaochun was finally willing to say a few words to Li Luansong. "I've known for a long time that someone leaked the test questions. Why didn't you tell me and secretly prepared a backup plan? You concealed the truth. You are so capable."
"Father, I realized that I was wrong." Shen Que quickly apologized, "When I found out about this, I was also confused and didn't know what to do. However, when the article I gave to my husband was lost, I Only then did I understand. As for why I didn't report it to my father, I didn't want to alert others, and I wanted to catch the real culprit behind the scenes. This person is so hateful and must be severely punished."
"Okay, okay, you two have grown up, become more capable, and become more successful. You are planning under my nose."
All the princes kowtowed together, their heads hitting the floor with a thud.
"And you." His Majesty the Emperor pointed at the group of veterans, "What do you do for food? These little brats are causing trouble, don't you know? Don't you know any of them?"
"Ah, whose students, these are all students taught by whoever they are."
Academician Li quickly handed over his hand: "I am my student, I know my mistake."
Yes, these princes are not all his students, but is he willing to teach them? It’s not like His Majesty the Emperor is forcing him to have a champion son in his family and having his sons be taught by a great scholar...
Thinking of the past, Grand Scholar Li felt miserable and sighed in his heart: Don't mention the past again, Your Majesty is too unreasonable.
Forget it, just think about it in your heart, my student is still your son, huh.
"Father, you cannot blame the bachelor for this matter. It is your son's fault. Don't be angry, father." Shen Que said: "The son will prove his innocence, and then catch the person behind the scenes and give his father an explanation."
Emperor Xiaochun gave him a helpless look and said, "Forget it, the person who untied the bell has to tie it, so I'll give you a few days to find out the truth as soon as possible."
Turning around, he saw Zhang Chengru slowly rolling back and kneeling, and said: "Zhang Chengru was dismissed on the spot and will not be allowed to serve as an official in the court in this life."
"I'll lock him up for a few days and reflect on it."
Soldiers came in from outside and took Zhang Chengru away. The original gentleman Duan Fang had no strength to struggle at this time. He was as limp as a puddle of mud, his face was bloodless, his eyes were empty, and he couldn't even cry out for injustice.
Seeing him like that, Shen Que felt sad for his once ignorant girlish feelings.
"Your Majesty, what's going on?"
A familiar voice sounded on the door, and the Queen had already entered without being informed.
The emperor and the empress were childhood sweethearts who grew up together. They had deep feelings and were very attached to each other. When he saw the empress, Emperor Xiaochun showed a trace of grievance and resentment on his face.
"The queen has come at the right time. The child is older than the mother. I can't control it."
The Queen said: "Hit your Majesty when you need to be beaten, scold when you need to be scolded, don't make yourself angry. I have seen your Majesty scolding you for several hours. You are tired. Please rest. We will scold you again tomorrow."
After saying that, he winked at Li Luansong, then helped Emperor Xiaochun sit back on the dragon chair, and said: "Your Majesty, you have a good rest. Song'er, I will take my concubine away and continue to train you."
After saying that, Lord Dan walked down and said to the others: "Why are you kneeling here, waiting to take care of the food? There is no food to eat today."
The empress came to the rescue, and no one was ungrateful. They all left the hall dejectedly, leaving only Emperor Xiaochun on the dragon throne alone.
When he came to his senses, he realized that everyone was gone. It turned out that the queen was not here to care about him, but to save her son.
Emperor Xiaochun: ...I only have your son in my heart, and the Queen is not accompanying me.
His Majesty began to get angry again.
But it was said that the empress held her son's hand and walked out of the royal study, and met the noble concubine head-on. The concubine heard that your majesty was angry and the queen left, so naturally she could not be content with others, so she immediately dressed up and chased after him.
As a result, the mother and son came out of the study, but they didn't see their son.
"My concubine, see you, the Queen." The imperial concubine gave a scrawled salute and stretched her neck to look into the royal study.
The queen didn't pay attention to her. She was looking so kind and cheerful just now but her face immediately changed and she said to Shen Shen, "Song'er, don't pay attention to him. I'm so confused. Let's go and ignore him."
After saying that, he pulled the confused Shen Zhen away in a hurry.
Shen Que turned around and saw the imperial concubine carrying her skirt and heading straight to the imperial study. Her sweet voice made people's scalp tingle:
"Your Majesty, I am here to accompany you. Please don't give birth to..."
"Why, you're here to get your son too." Emperor Xiaochun had just reacted and was silently angry with the queen. When he met the imperial concubine, he shouted: "Get out of here, get out of here. You... you'll make me angry to death." .”
Outside the door of the royal study, the queen, who was listening to the joke, breathed a long sigh of relief and said to Shen Que with a smile on her face: "Let's go, it's cold today, let's go eat pot."
Shen Que helped the queen get on the chariot. He turned around and saw a two-person sedan not far away. Li Luanfeng happened to lift the curtain of the sedan, and there was another person sitting inside, Zhou Xueying.
*
Dark clouds cover the moon, and Zuixian Tower is shrouded in night.
Li Luansong stood on the railing with his hands behind his back, and reported in May behind him: "Back to Your Highness, my subordinates have already reminded the Queen as you ordered. I saw with my own eyes that the Queen rushed into the imperial study room, and within an hour of burning incense, she We brought that His Highness out. The subordinates saw clearly that the Empress and His Highness had smiles on their faces."
Li Luansong nodded. Growing up, every time his father made him suffer, it was his mother who came to rescue him. As the saying goes, one thing brings down another, and at this time the queen must take action.
"Okay, I'm in a good mood today. Let's have a few drinks." He flicked his sleeves and said, "You ask the waiter to ask Zelan to come up and have dinner with me."
May: ...I didn’t eat either.
Seeing that he refused to leave, Li Luansong said: "Go back and have dinner with your highness. I won't keep you here."
May: ...Your Highness is too involved in the drama!
