Chapter 411: Ambiguous Attitude

The answer sheet that the examiner received was the one written by Qi Yunzhou.

He watched it two or three times, exclaiming in admiration over and over again, and his thighs were almost swollen from slapping them.

By the end, he was no longer sleepy.

He quickly called his family and asked them about the origin of the article. He immediately got up, dressed hastily and ran out.

He ran all the way to the Minister of Rites' residence.

"My lord, my lord, something bad has happened! No, it's a good thing..."

He followed the servant and stumbled into the Shangshu's study.

As soon as I pushed the door open and went in, I found that in addition to the Minister of Rites, there was also the Grand Tutor.

The examiner touched his nose awkwardly: "The...the tutor is here too!"

"You are so flustered, how disgraceful!" The Minister of Rites looked displeased.

The examiner quickly took out Qi Yunzhou's essay.

"Sir, I found this after I returned home." The examiner handed over the article.

The Minister of Rites took a quick look and nodded, saying, "These papers are indeed quite good. Could it be that they were written by your children?"

"No, sir, if I had such an outstanding child, I would never hide it.

There are problems with these essays. I found that the poetry, prose and classics they contain are exactly the same as those written by a candidate in this imperial examination."

"What did you say!" The Minister of Rites became excited instantly.

The reason why the Grand Tutor was in his house was because they all saw this policy on current affairs.

They gathered together to analyze and discuss the noteworthy aspects of the article and whether the methods in the article were feasible.

What effect will it have if it is combined with the methods in Yingzhilin's current affairs policy?

If this person takes an exam, who will be the champion in the end?

Before they could come to a conclusion, it was revealed that the article was consistent with the examinee's.

Who plagiarized whom?

After all, the candidates answered the questions first, and Qi Yunzhou's article only appeared two or three days later.

The Minister of Rites suppressed his suspicions and asked, "What was the name of the candidate? What was his ranking in the exam?"

This person's ranking should not be too high, otherwise his answer sheet should be handed to me.

He should have discovered it earlier.

The examiner quickly shook his head and said, "He failed the exam. His name is... Huo Yaoxing!"

The Minister of Rites took a breath.

Huo Yaoxing!

It’s him!

Although Huo Yaoxing came from a prominent family, he did have some talent for studying.

With his talent, he doesn't need to plagiarize others.

It is even more impossible for him to fail the exam and not even pass the ordinary Jinshi exam.

He had countless doubts in his mind.

Discuss with the Taifu what to do.

The Grand Tutor said, "Qi Yunzhou's articles have spread too widely. I'm afraid it won't work if I try to suppress them."

The emperor has always had zero tolerance for matters related to the imperial examinations. Once a problem occurs, let alone continuing to serve as an official, even if one can save his life and be exiled to Lingnan, it would be a disaster for his ancestors.

No one dared to disobey.

The Minister of Rites said, "Call all those who have access to the answer sheets to the Imperial Examination Hall."

After they collected the necessary things, they set out from the Imperial Examination Hall and went to the palace to meet the emperor.

When the emperor learned what had happened, he was not furious as expected, and there was not even a hint of anger on his face.

He just frowned slightly and read both of their articles.

He pointed at Huo Yaoxing's answer sheet and said: "Huo Yaoxing's writing skills in the provincial examination were very good.

This current affairs policy is like the work of a child, and is not at Huo Yaoxing's level at all."

The two confidential ministers wiped the sweat from their foreheads.

This is where things get really weird.

Huo Yaoxing shouldn't be at this level.

The whole thing looked like it was possessed by an evil spirit.

It was as if Huo Yaoxing was possessed by the ghost of illiteracy while writing his answers. He was possessed by the ghost of illiteracy and started writing nonsense.

The emperor gave the order and said, "I will let someone handle this matter. You can go down first."

The Minister of Rites and the Grand Tutor looked at each other in surprise.

Their reaction to the emperor became increasingly unpredictable.

This matter is somehow related to the imperial examination.

The emperor was neither lukewarm nor angry.

What does this mean?

Did he know the inside story a long time ago?

Or perhaps he was being deliberately ambiguous, leaving this incident like a guillotine hanging over their heads, with no one knowing when it would fall.

The two ministers took their leave.

"Wait." The emperor suddenly called them again.

The two turned around and said, "Your Majesty, do you have any further instructions?"

The emperor said to the Grand Tutor, "Go meet Qi Yunzhou and see if he is as talented as the article suggests."

"Yes..." The two of them took the order and left the palace soon.

They immediately called their men and asked about Qi Yunzhou's situation.

It was learned that all the news about Qi Yunzhou came from "Yidian Mo".

When it comes to "a little ink", these officials can be said to love and hate it.

Last year's auction to raise funds for disaster relief was grand and spectacular.

All the officials in the court who had some dignity sent some of their "treasures" to be auctioned.

During snowstorms, they burned charcoal for twelve hours to protect the poor, which made them famous.

The people in the capital city today may not know who the Minister of Rites is, but they certainly know the existence of "A Little Ink".

The Grand Tutor suggested: "Why don't we go directly to Dian Mo, maybe we can see him there."

The Minister of Rites thought for a moment and said, "No rush. I heard that the young owner of 'A Little Ink' is the adopted daughter of the Wen family. I'll send someone to find out."

The Grand Tutor thought about it and agreed to his proposal.

Wen Yan returned to Qingfeng Xiaolou and prepared new perfume powder with Pei'er in the incense room.

A guest accidentally broke into her yard and liked her newly blended perfume very much, so he invited her to taste it together.

At the guest's request, Wen Yan had no choice but to accompany him.

After entertaining the guests, she was about to leave when Su He hurried over to report, "Miss, the master is here."

"Master? Which master?"

"The one from the Wen family. His people were making a big fuss at 'A Little Ink' and said they wanted to see you."

It turned out to be her former adoptive father!

If he hadn't come to her house suddenly, Wen Yan would have almost forgotten about him!

She wondered, "What does he want from Qi Yunzhou?"

"I don't know, he refused to explain why, and just told you to go see him.

But I heard his servant let it slip that it seemed to be targeting Qi Yunzhou.

I have no choice but to come to you."

Qi Yunzhou?

Could it be that Huo Yaoxing asked him to come?

"Just tell him I'm not seeing guests." There was no one in the current Wen family that Wen Yan wanted to see.

"Yes." Su He responded and went out.

However, in less than a moment, she hurried back.

She said anxiously, "Miss, the Wen family's carriage has arrived at the door of Qingfeng Xiaolou.

After I conveyed your wishes, Master Wen not only did not leave, but instead sent his servants to rush in, and now they are making a commotion at the door."

"This is outrageous. If I don't show my power, they will really think I'm a sick cat! Come on, I'll go meet him!" Wen Yan put down the half-collected tools and hurried towards the door of the store.