Shen Wan stayed at the Pingyang Marquis's residence for about half an hour before leaving.

Shen Wei saw Shen Wan off at the mansion. As they walked, Shen Wan noticed that Shen Wei seemed hesitant to speak.

Shen Wan said, "You have something to say to me?"

Shen Wei shook her head, "No, no..."

They're already stammering like this, and they still say no.

Shen Wan said, "What's so hard about asking me?"

Shen Wei twisted the embroidered handkerchief in her hand. Seeing her hesitation and difficulty in speaking, Shen Wan guessed, "Is it related to the heir of the Duke of Wei?"

If it were a matter concerning the fourth branch of the family, Shen Wei wouldn't be so hesitant.

Shen Wei blushed, unsure how to tell Shen Wan that the Duke of Wei's mansion wanted to marry her as soon as possible. Her parents trusted her eldest sister and believed her words without question. No matter how many times the Duchess of Wei came, they never dared to agree to let her get married next spring. Since she couldn't get through to her parents, the Duke of Wei's heir came to her, and she really couldn't handle it.

She's now afraid to even see the heir of the Duke of Wei.

Shen Wei looked at Shen Wan and whispered, "Can I tell the Duke of Wei's heir about the smallpox outbreak that ravaged the capital this winter?"

Shen Wan thought Shen Wei wanted to talk to her about something, but it turned out to be just this.

Without her consent, none of the four families dared to tell the Duke of Wei's heir about the smallpox outbreak in the capital that winter.

Shen Wan said, "It's fine to tell the heir of the Duke of Wei, just don't let him know that it involves me."

Shen Wei nodded hurriedly, "I definitely won't cause any trouble for you, big sister."

Shen Wei knew a little about what was happening in the court. She had even heard her father say that Prince Ling would participate in the struggle for the throne sooner or later. He also praised Prince Ling for being smart, saying that Prince Ling had not yet entered the court as an official or taken on any duties, so the First Prince and Prince Jin had no way to target him. The earthquake in Meizhou and the dam in Xizhou were probably things her eldest sister dreamed about. If the First Prince and Prince Jin knew that her eldest sister had such abilities, they would definitely do things to harm her.

Her parents had strictly forbidden her from revealing a single word, but she really had no choice. Now that her older sister had agreed, her parents had nothing more to say.

Shen Wei escorted Shen Wan to the main gate, watched as Shen Wan got into the carriage, and the servant drove the carriage away.

Inside the carriage, Shen Wan was thinking about smallpox. Many people get sick in winter, and in her previous life, smallpox broke out that winter, killing many. She couldn't stop the outbreak, but she and Xie Jingyan could prepare in advance. If someone contracted smallpox, they could isolate them promptly, preventing it from ravaging the entire capital like it did in her previous life. Because so many people were infected with smallpox, and with the snow, medicinal herbs couldn't be transported to the capital. Even those with typhoid fever, let alone smallpox, died that winter because they couldn't buy medicine.

I need to find a time to talk to my older cousin and ask him to send some medicinal herbs to the capital in advance. We must not repeat the mistake of lacking medicine in my previous life.

Besides medicinal herbs, there's also charcoal...

Shen Wan was thinking about this matter. Seeing that she was lost in thought, Yin Shuang did not dare to disturb her. She lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside. There were many more lantern stalls on the street, as well as many students.

There were many more lantern vendors. Yinshuang was not surprised. The Emperor's birthday was approaching, and a lantern festival would be held outside the palace on the day of the Emperor's birthday. But why were there so many more students?

Yinshuang couldn't help but ask Shenwan. Shenwan glanced out of the carriage and indeed saw several people dressed as students.

Shen Wan thought of the cheating scandal in the imperial examinations, how the emperor asked the eighth prince to write a memorial to clean up the mess, and how the eighth prince couldn't do it and even came to Xie Jingyan for help. The sudden increase in the number of students in the capital must be related to this matter.

Back at Moyuxuan, Shen Wan asked Xie Jingyan, and sure enough, it was because of cheating in the spring imperial examination. At that time, the emperor wanted to reopen the special examination to select talents for the court. However, most of the students had already left the capital, or even returned home. It was not good to make them travel back to the capital again after returning home, so he simply changed the spring examination to the autumn examination.

When students traveled to the capital for the imperial examinations, they would consider the possibility of acclimatization issues and would usually arrive a month or even earlier in advance. In addition, with the Emperor's birthday approaching, the Emperor would investigate the cheating in the imperial examinations and give the students another chance to take the exams. The students were grateful for the Emperor's great grace, otherwise they would have to wait another three years. Life doesn't offer many three-year periods to waste, so arriving a few days early to participate in the Emperor's birthday celebrations was definitely something they would do.

Xie Jingyan pulled Shen Wan into his lap and said, "Why are you asking about this?"

Shen Wan said, "I just noticed there are a lot more students on the street. I'm wondering who will be the chief examiner for this year's imperial examination. Hopefully, there won't be any more cheating incidents."

Just as Shen Wan asked the question, there was a knock on the door, and Shen Wan quickly got up from Xie Jingyan's arms.

Chen Feng walked in and said, "Your Highness, the First Prince and Prince Jin's men are vying to become the chief examiner for the imperial examination."

Shen Wan had this concern, and then the matter started to veer towards the direction of fraud.

Cheating in the imperial examinations was a persistent problem, despite repeated prohibitions.

Where there is profit, there will be people willing to take risks.

The chief examiner of the imperial examination, Madam Chen, was a member of Prince Jin's faction, which is why the cheating in the examination occurred. The emperor probably won't hand the responsibility over to Prince Jin's faction again.

Just then, the maid Chun'er came in and said, "Your Highness, the Eighth Prince has arrived."

Yes, the Eighth Prince is right outside the study.

He was used to going directly to Xie Jingyan's study, but thinking of the previous awkwardness, he dared not go in casually, especially with his sixth sister-in-law also in the study. He knew that things shouldn't happen more than three times, and if he were to stumble upon his sixth brother's good time again, his sixth brother would really order him to stop coming to the Lingwang Mansion to see him. So he could only wait patiently outside the study.

"Let him in."

Only after receiving permission did the Eighth Prince enter.

As soon as he entered, before he even saw anyone, he shouted, "Sixth Brother, help!"

Xie Jingyan glanced at him and said, "You are a prince, who would dare to take your life?"

“Father,” the Eighth Prince said with a bitter expression.

Xie Jingyan looked at him, frowned, and asked, "What's going on?"

The Eighth Prince was bitter inside. "It's all because several months ago, Father Emperor made me write a memorial about cheating in the imperial examinations. Today, Father Emperor summoned me and asked me questions, but I don't even remember what was written in the memorial. How could I answer? I stammered and angered Father Emperor. I couldn't hold back and said that I didn't write it myself. Then Father Emperor said that whoever wrote it for me should come to the palace to answer for me. If I can't answer, I will be punished with a beating..."

I've never seen my father be so cruel. He knows he doesn't have the ability, yet he still gives him this difficult problem, clearly intending for him to find Sixth Brother.

Knowing it was his sixth brother who wrote the memorial for him, he pretended not to know and made him beg his sixth brother to come to the palace. How could the Emperor treat him like this?!

However, the Eighth Prince's biggest grievance was still with his mother. She would bring food to his father all the time, but since she rarely showed her face in front of his father, his father couldn't bring himself to target him. It had been months, and it was still not over.

The Eighth Prince looked at Xie Jingyan with a pleading expression, "Sixth Brother, please have mercy and help me this one more time."

Xie Jingyan remained silent, and the Eighth Prince then turned to Shen Wan, "Sixth Princess..."