Zhu Yunying returned to the East Palace dejectedly and went straight to Lian Qiongqiong's bedchamber.

The adorable baby girl was chubby and cute, just typical baby fat. Holding this little bundle of joy, Zhu Yunying was in a great mood. Especially since the little girl couldn't talk or crawl yet, she could already interact with people in simple ways, which made Zhu Yunying very happy.

Looking at Lian Qiongqiong sitting to the side, Xu Miaoqing said, "Later, have someone send a letter to Taishan, saying that I have my own considerations regarding today's imperial examination, and Taishan should not get involved in anything. Whether it is a colleague asking for a favor or a scholar sending a name card, ignore it all."

Lian Qiongqiong didn't ask too many questions, but simply agreed, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will write a letter home immediately."

In truth, Lian Qiongqiong knew very little about what happened outside the imperial court, even though she was an Imperial Noble Consort, second only to the Empress. She was, after all, just an Imperial Noble Consort. Even the Empress couldn't participate in political affairs, let alone someone like her.

Zhu Yunying was relatively at ease with Lian Qiongqiong. In fact, there wasn't much to worry about in his harem, mainly because Zhu Yunying was the emperor. As emperor, there was sometimes no need to worry about intrigue or power struggles. Even if there were, they were mostly just competition for favor.

As for Wu Zetian and others like her, Zhu Yunying doesn't need to worry about them for the time being, since someone like Wu Zetian is extremely rare. Moreover, even Wu Zetian was cultivated and empowered by Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi). Clearly, Zhu Yunying will not relinquish power.

Zhu Yunying will not relinquish power, and Xu Miaoqing's position in the harem is also very secure, so there is no need to worry about many things.

As the second-place scholar in the imperial examination of the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign, and also a fellow townsman of the current top scholar, Lian Zining is likely to attract a lot of attention. After all, this old man holds a special position; not only is he a man of literary talent, but he is also a high-ranking official in the court. Furthermore, he is the father of an Imperial Noble Consort, so it wouldn't be entirely wrong to say that he is the emperor's father-in-law.

After all, the Empress's father is no longer alive, so it's not unreasonable to say that Lian Zining's status is somewhat special.

Lian Zining received the letter from home, sighed, and said nothing more. In fact, quite a few scholars had indeed sent him their calling cards in the past two days. Scholars from the north were dissatisfied with the rankings and quotas for the imperial examinations and were now causing trouble throughout the capital.

The scholars in the south were also unhappy. Why should the court favor the northerners while they, the southern scholars, passed the examinations based on their genuine talent and ability? The court should abolish the so-called North-South ranking system and instead have all scholars take the exams together, ranked according to the quality of their essays, instead of allocating a certain number of places to the north and a certain number to the south.

It's best not to say anything more at this time, for the sake of his career and for the sake of his granddaughter.

Let things continue to escalate; Zhu Yunying is essentially sitting back and doing nothing at this point. He has been preparing for this for a long time, which is why he is constantly fueling the flames. He needs to escalate these events to make things more profitable.

Although he was resting in Lian Qiongqiong's palace, it didn't affect Zhu Yunying's status as a diligent and good emperor. He got up when it was time to rise and went to the morning court session when it was time to prepare. Moreover, Zhu Yunying still had high expectations and was waiting for some important events to happen.

The civil and military officials have arrived at the Fengtian Hall, and it can be said that many of the civil and military officials in the court already know about some things.

The military officers were somewhat gloating. This year's imperial examination had caused such a huge uproar that they were basically just watching the show. As for Mei Yin and the others, at first glance they seemed to have some connection, and could be considered 'nobles'. However, whether it was Mei Yin or Liu Zhi, their status as maternal relatives was more significant.

The military officials were naturally uninvolved at this time, but for many civil officials, these events were quite significant. The uproar surrounding this year's imperial examinations was something they hadn't anticipated.

Zhuo Jing actually wanted to say something. As a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign, and as an ambitious scholar, he certainly wanted to do something. However, it seemed that many things in the court were not going according to his expectations.

Including the one I had previously favored, although he had been by the emperor's side since the time he was a prince, Zhuo Jing, as a scholar, also had his own pursuits and ambitions, and his own ideals and values.

His colleagues had their own thoughts, or perhaps they had discerned something. But Zhuo Jing had no intention of doing so, for he was a scholar, and he had to be true to his conscience and to the teachings of the sages.

Zhu Yunying was not in a hurry at all. As for the many civil and military officials who were anxious at this time, there was nothing that could be done about it.

We must follow the rules; reports must be submitted by each department one by one—that's the proper order. Especially with a major battle looming, the Five Military Commands have many matters to attend to and will require considerable time.

Just as this process was coming to an end, many people looked at Ren Hengtai, Ru Chang, Mei Yin, and Liu Zhi. Next up was their turn, which led to the now-commotion-filled imperial examinations.

Although Ru Chang was bitter inside, he took the initiative to speak up at this moment, "I am honored by Your Majesty's grace to serve as the chief examiner for this imperial examination, but I did not expect that the scholars are now indignant and crying out that the imperial examination is unfair. I beg for forgiveness."

Liu Zhi and Mei Yin also knelt down at this time. They were also deputy chief examiners, so it seemed that they were also involved in these matters.

Zhu Yunying was puzzled and asked, "Oh? Minister Ru, did you show any favoritism in this imperial examination?"

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