"Whether I believe it or not is not up to me. Why don't you come with me and see for yourself, sir?" Hao Lie said calmly, glancing at Xiang Gan, who was already eager to try.

Xiang Gan immediately nodded in agreement. A short while later, he changed into civilian clothes and walked out of the yamen with Hao Lie, sitting in Hao Lie's carriage.

They traveled in silence until they reached the embroidery workshop again, where they once again summoned Liang the embroiderer.

Hao Lie, in front of Xiang Gan, cut another hole in the cloth bag. Judging from the length of the hole, it was more than enough to take out the test papers inside.

"Same as last time!" Hao Lie said, placing the cloth bag in front of Liang Xiuniang.

Although the cut was larger this time than last time, with the experience from last time, Liang Xiu Niang sewed much faster this time. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a brand new cloth bag appeared out of nowhere.

Xiang Gan's expression at this moment was exactly the same as Hao Lie's last time. Hao Lie placed the cloth bag in Xiang Gan's hand and waved for Liang Xiuniang to leave.

"So? Can you tell anything's wrong with this bag?" Hao Lie said in a low voice with a slight smile.

Xiang Gan opened his eyes again, and he almost stuffed the cloth bag into his eyes in an attempt to see more clearly.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Hao Lie's silver notes had already entered Xiang Gan's purse. As for the promise, it was that Hao's two children would pass the imperial examination in the fall and become scholars.

Hao Lie's money was not wasted, and Xiang Gan did not break his promise. Sure enough, with half a month left before the autumn examination, Hao Lie received three cloth bags, each with a seal and a dot of cinnabar on it.

That autumn examination went smoothly without any major incidents; both of Hao Lie's sons and daughters passed the preliminary examinations.

Thus, Hao Lie and Xiang Gan were essentially bound together. Even if one of them wanted to betray the other, they would have to consider the leverage the other held over them.

Hao Lie and Xiang Gan were making a fortune in this gray area, and the number of people on this pirate ship was increasing. However, Hao Lie and Xiang Gan were not worried, since everyone on this ship was dirty and no one wanted to lose their head or have their property confiscated.

However, five years later, Xiang Gan was caught red-handed by the people sent down by the emperor for embezzlement and bribery. When the news came out, everyone on the ship felt panic. But soon after, when the news of Xiang Gan's suicide in prison reached their ears, everyone tacitly put their minds at ease again.

After Chen Qiyu became the prefect of Qingzhou, Hao Lie originally wanted to bribe Chen Qiyu again, but after several contacts, Hao Lie gave up the idea. Chen Qiyu was an honest official. Although he did not regard money as dirt, he was always content. Such a prefect gave Hao Lie a headache for a long time.

Hao Lie had no intention of giving up that gray industry chain. According to his motto, who has a grudge against money?

Just when he was racking his brains but still couldn't figure out a solution, a servant of the prefect of Qingzhou made him feel that an opportunity had arisen again.

That day, he happened to be passing by the entrance of the gambling den when the thugs threw a man out of it. Hao Lie didn't want to get involved, but when he recognized the man's face, he stopped in his tracks. If he remembered correctly, the man should be a servant of the prefect of Qingzhou.

Hao Lie pretended to be concerned and helped the man up. The man simply said "thank you, sir" in a low voice and turned to leave. Hao Lie did not chase after him, but instead instructed two of his servants to keep a close eye on the servant's movements.

Hard work pays off, and in less than a week, Hao Lie figured out what the guy was up to.

The servant was a compulsive gambler who would secretly take valuables from the prefect's mansion and sell them when he was broke, but he always pretended to be very honest. Even Chen Qiyu did not discover this side of him.

Once a weakness is identified, it becomes easier to exploit. In less than three days, the servant defected and became one of Hao Lie's men.

At first, the servant was afraid, but after stealing the bag two or three times without incident, the servant gradually became bolder and more skilled.

Over the years, Hao Lie's two children from his previous marriage were also bribed through various channels to successfully pass the imperial examinations and become officials in the court.

With this protective shield, Hao Lie became even bolder in his actions. This year, he even started selling the exam questions for the young scholars through auction, and Boss Wang eventually won the bid for a considerable sum.

That's why we had the scene at the beginning.

What Jiang Ling heard was Hao Lie explaining to Boss Wang how the matter would be handled, and Boss Wang reassuring her.

What Jiang Suihe saw was that Boss Wang was somewhat worried about Hao Lie's method, and finally decided to take double precautions. He bribed the examiner and secretly slipped some relevant exam notes into his daughter's hand.

However, even the most cunning fox cannot escape the hunter's gun. Even Hao Lie, who had been operating in the shadows for many years, did not know that every year during the exams, the emperor would secretly send out two teams to prevent the delivery of the exam questions from encountering problems on the way.

The other team arrived the day before the exam. However, during Xiang Gan's years as prefect, the first team delivering the exam papers had never had any problems, so Hao Lie had no idea that there was a second team.

It was for this reason that Chen Qiyu came up with the idea of ​​changing the questions. In this way, everyone actually used the exam questions sent by the second team on the third day.

Mr. Wang's daughter, unaware of this, thought it was her previous answers and wrote them all down without a second thought. As for the note the examiner gave her, she didn't even glance at it; he had already tossed it into a corner of Qingzhou Academy.

"Catch them?" Jiang Ling asked again succinctly.

Chen Qiyu shook his head and said to Jiang Ling, "This matter is very complex, and I alone cannot uproot this large tree. I have already informed the Emperor, and if possible, I hope you can stay in Qingzhou for a while!"

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!