The Scum Gong’s Redemption Manual (Quick Transmigration) 101p2

Chapter 101 p2

Seeing that the situation had finally stabilized, the guard breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and quickly said, “Replying to Your Majesty, that group of scholars also said that before the provincial examination, the scholars from Jiangxi were particularly arrogant, especially the top student, Zhao Chengji. He seemed to be determined to get the position of Huiyuan, and his words were as if it were as easy as taking something out of a bag, so they kept an eye on him. This time, when the apricot list was posted, they were suspicious, so they held a banquet and invited all the scholars. During the banquet, they probed with their words and got from one person that ‘what’s the use of having a high level of knowledge? Without anyone behind you, wouldn’t you still end up in this situation?’ His words were directed at…” He glanced at Zhang Xianlin. “Master Zhang.”

Zhang Xianlin immediately jumped up. “This is simply nonsense! Slander! This official—”

“Zhang Xianlin!” Before he could finish, the emperor on the throne was furious. His face was dark. “I think you are the one who is presumptuous! I am asking a question. When is it your turn to interrupt?”

Zhang Xianlin’s heart trembled, and he quickly kowtowed. “This subject has been impolite. I hope you will forgive me, Your Majesty!”

Lu Ze did not reply to him and just continued to look at the guard. The guard added, “Because of the special identity of the various scholars, this subject did not dare to use torture to interrogate them, so I came to ask for your instructions, Your Majesty.”

Zhang Xianlin carefully looked up. From a long way off, he saw that the emperor’s face was not good. He opened his mouth to say something, but he heard a young eunuch announce from outside the hall again, “Reporting to Your Majesty, the deputy commander of the Capital Investigation Department is requesting an audience.”

Zhang Xianlin’s face changed, and he immediately had a bad premonition in his heart. Lu Ze’s face was light. “Let him in.”

The person who came was in a flying fish robe. He strode forward and bowed. “This subject pays his respects to Your Majesty.”

Lu Ze said, “What did you find? Tell me.”

The person said, “This subject has secretly searched the residences of the various masters, including Zhang, Liu, and Li, and has found their secret correspondence, which includes the content of recommending Master Zhang as the chief examiner. And from the scholars from Jiangxi, we have found that most of them had paid a visit to Master Zhang when they entered the capital. This subject has dared to arrest one of them for interrogation, and has learned that a month ago, when Master Zhang was talking to him, he had indeed mentioned the content related to the provincial examination questions.”

As he spoke, he presented the few letters that had been found. Fushun went down to take them and presented them to the imperial desk. Lu Ze glanced at them, and his face was as cold as water.

There was a dead silence in the court. Zhang Xianlin was kneeling on the ground, and he only felt his vision turn white.

“Good, very good.” Lu Ze gritted his teeth and opened his mouth. He waved his hand and threw the letters down. The white paper fluttered down to all four corners of the hall, and one of them even landed in front of Zhang Xianlin.

He looked at the content on it and only felt his head was dizzy.

Lu Ze said, “Since it has come to this, Zhang Xianlin, how else do you want to argue?”

Zhang Xianlin was trembling all over and did not dare to say much.

Lu Ze said angrily, “I trusted you, which is why I handed over such a big matter as the provincial examination to you. But what about you?! Is this how you respond to my trust?”

The court was silent, and the hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

“…Your Majesty,” Zhang Xianlin said with a trembling voice. “This subject was muddle-headed for a moment, but I have never had any ulterior motives. This matter was done by me alone. I hope you will… forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Lu Ze looked at him with a cold eye and ordered, “Where is the commander of the Capital Investigation Department?”

Yan Lingqiu immediately took a step forward. “This subject is here.”

“This matter is handed over to you. You must investigate this matter thoroughly for me!” He glanced at the various ministers below, his posture majestic and heavy, and his tone was a warning. “The disaster of the party struggle has a great impact. It has only been thirty years since the reign of Emperor Xian, and the court is stable. I will absolutely not allow this matter to happen again under my rule! If there are any violators, they will be executed without fail!”

The various ministers’ hearts skipped a beat. They all knew that the emperor was really angry this time, and they quickly replied respectfully, “We will remember.”

Zhang Xianlin and the two masters, Li and Liu, had already been taken away by the guards. I’m afraid it would be difficult for them to escape this time. Some people in the court were watching with a cold eye, and their hearts were filled with sorrow. There were also those who were related to this matter, and they were terrified, their minds blank, and they could only think about what their own end would be.

The court was silent for a moment before someone dared to come forward. “Your Majesty, this provincial examination involves cheating, and the results are probably not valid. As for the various scholars… what do you think should be done, Your Majesty?”

Lu Ze pondered for a moment. “The Jiangxi scholars who were involved in this matter will have their titles stripped, and they will not be allowed to participate in the imperial examination for the rest of their lives. As for the other scholars… what do you think should be done, my beloved subjects?”

One person came out and said, “Most of the people involved in this matter are scholars from Jiangxi. I think we should exclude the people involved and re-determine the rankings.”

“No!” someone quickly said. “How can you be sure that only those scholars from Jiangxi knew the questions before the examination, Master Feng? What if a scholar was on good terms with other scholars and revealed the questions? What should be done then?”

Master Feng frowned. “This kind of thing should naturally be handled with caution. How can it be leaked casually?”

The person said, “So you can’t be sure either, Master Feng?”

Master Feng was at a loss for words for a moment.

Someone else said, “I think what Master Wang said is reasonable. No situation can be ruled out, so I suggest that we retake the provincial examination this time.”

Another person objected, “Do you know how much of an impact one provincial examination has on the students, Master Zhou? Many students collapse after leaving the examination hall. Besides, those students have been concentrating on the examination, but they have to face the fate of retaking it. How unfair is that?”

Master Zhou looked back at him. “Then do you have any other good ideas, Master Wei?”

Master Wei was silent for a moment.

The hall fell silent again. At this moment, Yan Lingqiu spoke up. “Although retaking the examination is tiring, there are many vacancies in the court now, and there is a great need for manpower. So I think we should increase the number of admissions this time. On the one hand, it will give the various scholars an explanation, and on the other hand, after the scholars enter the court, with more training, they can also quickly accept those vacant positions, which is a win-win situation.”

As for where those vacancies came from…

If those who were involved with Zhang Xianlin were dismissed or exiled, wouldn’t they be vacant?

Lu Ze’s expression softened slightly. “What you said, Yan Qing, is quite appropriate.” He glanced at the bottom. “What do you think, my beloved subjects?”

The various ministers looked at each other and all said, “We think it is feasible.”

“Good,” the emperor said. “In that case, Yan Qing will still be in charge of the academy and will work with the Ministry of Rites to draw up a plan as soon as possible, so as not to keep the scholars waiting for a long time. Do you have any objections, my beloved subjects?”

A group of people looked at each other. The proposal itself was not a problem, but the matter of Yan Lingqiu’s cooperation…

The various officials held their noses. Although they were reluctant for a eunuch to touch the matter of the imperial examination, no one dared to touch the emperor’s bad luck at this moment, so they all agreed.

Lu Ze waved his sleeve. “Court is dismissed.”

“We respectfully see you off, Your Majesty.”

The emperor’s figure left, and the various ministers also slowly relaxed, and their gazes on Yan Lingqiu were mostly scrutinizing. Yan Lingqiu tidied his sleeves and did not care. He had always been a lone minister in the court, and he was only loyal to the emperor. The opinions of others had no effect on him.

The Minister of Rites came over with a smile and said to him, “In the future, I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation, Director.”

Yan Lingqiu nodded. “Naturally.”

The crowd slowly left the main hall of the court, and Yan Lingqiu also followed the crowd, falling behind. Just as he was about to stride away, he suddenly had a feeling in his heart. He unconsciously looked back and, as expected, saw Fushun trotting over with a small box, and his face was full of smiles when he saw him turn his head. “Director Yan.”

Yan Lingqiu stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on the wooden box, and he already had a faint idea of what it was.

Fushun handed him the things and said with a smile, “His Majesty was worried that you didn’t have a good meal, Director, so he specially ordered the imperial kitchen to prepare some pastries for you.”

Yan Lingqiu paused, raised his hand and took it. He looked at the wooden box for a long time before he said silently, “Thank you for me, His Majesty.”

Fushun chuckled. “You don’t have to thank him too much. It’s good that you understand His Majesty’s feelings, Director.”

Feelings…?

Yan Lingqiu’s fingers caressed the carved handle, and his heart was complicated for a moment.

Fushun didn’t say anything more. “Since you’ve received the things, Director, then this servant will go back now. By the way, His Majesty also has a word for me to pass on to you.”

Yan Lingqiu looked up at him. Fushun said, “Please take care of your body, Director. His Majesty doesn’t want to see you lose a lot of weight the next time he sees you.”

Yan Lingqiu actually didn’t think he had lost weight, but the emperor always thought he had.

He was silent for a moment, then said, “Please reply to His Majesty for me…”

“I understand in my heart, and I will definitely not let Your Majesty worry.”

It wasn’t until Fushun’s figure had slowly disappeared that Yan Lingqiu looked down at the wooden box, opened the lid, and saw that inside were two plates of his favorite pastries.

Hibiscus cake and jade crisp cake.

Yan Lingqiu couldn’t describe what he was feeling.

Even if he had had so many suspicions before, and even if he had been thinking that His Majesty was comforting him on the surface, but was he still on guard against him behind his back, and wanted to use this provincial examination to pull him down as well?

But now that the matter was settled, the things he had imagined had not happened at all, only these two plates of pastries.

Yan Lingqiu picked up a piece and tasted it. It was sweet.