Tong Cheng'er had no idea that someone was going crazy looking for her.

After returning home, she resumed her carefree life.

She was petting her cat when Rulan came in: "Madam, someone from the Qiqiao Courtyard has arrived."

Tong Cheng'er was taken aback when she heard this. The Wonderful Academy?

After a while, she remembered what the Oddity Hall was. She had almost forgotten about it after being away for so long.

The fact that they came to see her must mean they've made some new discovery.

Who's here?

"Dong Cheng and his nephew, and..."

Ru Lan named several people, and Tong Cheng'er nodded: "Let them in!"

Listen to what they have to say.

"Yes, Madam."

Not long after Rulan left, Dong Cheng and his group came in.

After bowing, Tong Cheng'er asked, "Is there something you need today?"

Dong Cheng said, "While the Princess Consort was away, we servants were not idle. We made some little trinkets for the Princess Consort to take a look at and see if they are acceptable."

Upon hearing this, Tong Cheng'er thought to herself that their results seemed to be quite good.

"Bring it here so I can take a look."

"yes."

After saying that, Dong Cheng told his nephew to take all the things upstairs.

The first item that came into Tong Cheng'er's hands was a cylindrical object that looked a bit like a telescope: "Is this a telescope?"

"Yes, Madam."

She picked it up and tried it out. Since the visibility inside the room wasn't good, she even took it outside to try it out.

They discovered that it could indeed see very far: "Who made this telescope?"

"It was done by my nephew, Dong Li."

After Dong Cheng finished speaking, Dong Li stepped out from the crowd and said, "It was something this servant discovered by chance."

Tong Cheng'er still remembers Dong Li.

"I remember it was your idea to try out spring damping, wasn't it?"

Dong Li nodded: "It was this servant's idea."

"You're good, you have great ideas, keep up the good work."

Dong Li said excitedly, "This servant will certainly do his best."

Next, Dong Cheng took out several more items, including a spring mattress that she had wanted to get but hadn't, and several spring-derived products of her own.

There are about five or six items in total.

To be honest, Tong Cheng'er was quite satisfied with their results. It was not easy to achieve this in just a few months.

After Dong Cheng finished presenting his work, Tong Cheng'er smiled with satisfaction, offered some words of encouragement, and concluded, "You all did a great job. Keep it up."

After finishing speaking, he said to Rulan, "Take them to the accounting office to collect the reward money."

"Yes, Madam."

Then Rulan said, "Please, masters."

After they left, Tong Cheng'er gave a big smile.

It's good if there are results.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she said to Ruxue, "Go back and tell the Qiqiao Academy that if you can make ten things in the future, your monthly salary will be doubled, and if you make more things in the future, your salary will be doubled again."

Ru Xue: "Yes, Madam."

When Yinzhen returned in the evening, she showed him all the things she had brought from Qiqiao Courtyard, and Yinzhen was quite pleased.

However, this was still not enough; the Qing Dynasty needed more.

Two days later, while Yinzhen was busy at the Ministry of Revenue, he was suddenly summoned away by someone from the imperial court.

On his way to the Qianqing Palace, he thought for a moment. Recently, the Ministry of Revenue hadn't had any problems, so it wasn't a problem with the Ministry of Revenue. Naturally, he thought of the kidnapper he encountered on his way to Jiangnan and his not-so-big imperial examination cheating case in Jiangnan.

Why were they suddenly summoned over? Is something really serious?

Thinking this, he couldn't help but frown.

I went to the Qianqing Palace, paid my respects, and greeted them.

Emperor Kangxi asked Yinzhen, "Do you know why I summoned you here today?"

"Your subject does not know, please tell me, Father Emperor."

Kangxi rubbed his head; this matter was also giving him a headache, as he had just been angry.

What's your opinion on the Jiangnan incident?

He really didn't know what to do. The situation in Jiangnan was complex and unpredictable; he didn't want to venture in yet, but...sigh!

"Which matter is Father Emperor referring to?"

Two things.

Yinzhen: "Your Majesty, I have limited abilities and have not found much information. In addition, I have to travel quickly, so I do not know what exactly happened."

Emperor Kangxi was also troubled by this matter. He hadn't paid much attention to the kidnapping incident, but since it was a memorial submitted by his son, and the memorial mentioned that there might be more to the story, he ordered someone to investigate.

Before the investigation was finished, he handed over another memorial, still related to cheating in the imperial examinations. Although the scope of this matter was not large, it concerned the imperial examinations, and even a small matter was a big deal. He ordered someone to investigate again.

As it turned out, what was initially thought to be completely unrelated turned out to be two completely unrelated groups investigating the same thing, which forced Emperor Kangxi to take it seriously.

According to the investigation, the organization behind the boycott incident in Bo County is not simple. They abduct girls whose parents are good-looking and then secretly train them to become women similar to the "slim horses" of Yangzhou.

The organization teaches these little girls music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and how to play musical instruments and sing, as well as how to please men, from a very young age...

Ultimately, these women would be sent to the harems of different officials as concubines, where they could play a significant role.

After all, when a man is in the throes of passion in bed, who knows what he might reveal?

As for the prefect of Jiangnan, he was able to engage in cheating on the imperial examinations. Even if the number of people cheating was small, it was only because he was the only one cheating. In reality, there was already a hidden "industrial chain" involved.

The prefect was just one of the more timid ones.

It's more accurate to say that what's called cheating in the imperial examinations is buying official positions with money, an exchange of benefits between money and fame.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!