The Fourth Prince waited for the Grand Minister of Agriculture to finish his words before interrupting Qin Wan, "A woman participating in government affairs is like a hen crowing at dawn! Moreover, the imperial examination fraud case has not yet been concluded. What right does the Crown Princess have to attend court?"
Qin Wan lazily raised her eyelids and looked at the Fourth Prince on the other side of the screen. She raised the corners of her lips and smiled, "What does cheating in the imperial examination have to do with me?"
The Fourth Prince handed the memorial to the eunuch and asked him to take it to Qin Wan. "There are countless people in the court now impeaching the Crown Princess for cheating in the imperial examinations. Everyone is waiting for an explanation from the Crown Princess. Now, you are attending court as a woman. You have no regard for social order and etiquette, and you don't care about the students of the world!"
Qin Wan carefully read the memorials impeaching her. Without exception, they said that Sun Quanxue was a native of her village and studied in her school. Now, with two years of enrollment, he passed the imperial examination and was involved in cheating in the imperial examination. She wanted to give justice to the students of the world.
Qin Wan smiled and shook her head, handing the memorial back to the eunuch, who then showed it to Xie Qing. "I beg to differ with what the Fourth Prince has said. What are the principles of propriety and etiquette? Has there ever been a law, a principle of propriety, a sage's admonition that says women cannot participate in government affairs?"
"The hen crows at dawn, which is what the saints said!" the fourth prince said in a loud voice.
Qin Wan tilted her head and smiled, "As the ancients said, 'A hen never crows at dawn; a hen that crows at dawn signals the coming of her family.' Now, King Zhou of Shang only listens to the advice of his wives, neglecting his rituals and refusing to answer. This speaks of usurping power and disrupting government. Let me ask you, was my right to attend court stolen?"
The Fourth Prince frowned. The emperor was unconscious when Qin Wan came to court. How could she have been stolen?
Seeing that he remained silent, Qin Wan pressed him, "I'm involved in government affairs, but how can things be chaotic? I didn't steal the power I hold, and I haven't messed up the government. So why is it that a hen crows at dawn?"
She sighed softly and said, "Fourth brother, reading is a good thing, but you shouldn't just study blindly. You should be good at understanding."
The Fourth Prince was speechless after hearing what she said. After a long pause, he said, "You are just making excuses!"
Qin Wan frowned and looked at the ministers. "Isn't my explanation correct? Furthermore, King Zhou of Shang was the ruler of a nation. He was swayed by a woman's words and allowed her to disrupt the government. Wasn't that King Zhou's fault? If he had stayed true to himself and not been seduced by her, allowing her to manipulate him, how could he have disrupted the government?"
"It's ridiculous to blame others for your own dishonesty."
The university scholars carefully pondered the article where the phrase "hens crowing at dawn" came from, and racked their brains to think of any historical stories about the phrase.
Seeing them lost in thought, Qin Wan added, "Throughout the dynasties, there have been many women who have become famous for their roles. Why haven't they been called hens crowing at dawn? Because they didn't do anything bad. If they did something bad, they'd be called hens crowing at dawn. If they didn't do anything bad, and single-handedly supported their families and built their clans, they'd be called virtuous wives and remarkable women, wouldn't they?"
"Yes! The Crown Princess is right!"
It was like a revelation. There were many extraordinary women in history, but no one said that they were hens crowing at dawn. If we follow the Fourth Prince's theory, if they stood in the position of men, they would be hens crowing at dawn. Then, those extraordinary women who supported their families and took care of their mothers-in-law, weren't they also hens crowing at dawn?
But they are the hens crowing at dawn? If you tell anyone about it, it will make people laugh to death.
Qin Wan smiled and said, "So, words also have positive and negative meanings. Fourth Prince, study hard and don't use the wrong words next time."
The Fourth Prince was so upset by Qin Wan's rebuke that he racked his brains but couldn't come up with a single rebuttal. He stiffened his neck and said, "Then you can't participate in state affairs either! You've been impeached, yet you're still discussing state affairs here. How dare you!"
"Besides, it's just a matter of farming, can't anyone in the court take care of it? Or does the Crown Princess really want to be in the spotlight?"
The Grand Minister of Agriculture didn't like what he heard. He looked at the Fourth Prince and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Princess has always been in charge of the grain planting. There's really no one in the court who knows the details of grain planting better than the Crown Princess. Or does the Fourth Prince know someone like that? If there is such a talent, he should immediately recommend them to the court."
The Fourth Prince thought that he could do this himself. Wouldn’t the people of the world remember him as the one who promoted grain?
But he couldn't say that. He could only avoid the topic and return to the imperial examination cheating: "Students all over the world have studied for decades just to bring honor to their families. I ask the Crown Princess to give an explanation to all students and respond directly to the issue of imperial examination cheating."
Qin Wan looked at the clown-like Fourth Prince and said quietly, "Examination cheating is a serious matter. Whether I deny it or admit it, it's useless. Only when the evidence is before you will you be convinced."
"So, Father has already sent people to investigate this matter. All we have to do is wait for good news."
"What's more..." Qin Wan paused and said, "You said I cheated in the imperial examination. Please provide evidence. Otherwise, don't slander me with empty words."
The Fourth Prince said, "Of course it was you who leaked the exam questions, otherwise how could you have predicted them so accurately?"
Qin Wan raised her eyebrows and smiled, "Student Sun isn't the only one who's been able to accurately predict the topic. Furthermore, the questions for the Spring Examinations have always been based on government decrees from the past one or two years."
"Guessing the questions is easy. If you don't believe me..." Qin Wan paused for a moment, then named a few students. She then looked at the officials in the court and said, "These students are from the homes of these officials. They answered the questions about agricultural science and water conservancy well. Could it be that they were involved in cheating in the imperial examination?"
As soon as these words were spoken, several court officials who were named hurriedly stepped out and knelt.
One of them was a doctor from the Imperial College. He said, "I once participated in drafting the Spring Examination questions, so I knew the topics intimately. That's why I helped my child predict the topic this time. If he got it right, it was purely luck. There was absolutely no cheating involved!"
These officials hated the Fourth Prince to death at this moment.
Don’t you know the sage’s saying that only women and villains are difficult to raise?
The Crown Princess is intelligent and even harder to provoke. Why would you provoke her?
Qin Wan took in their expressions and said with a smile, "Of course I know about this. I don't even need to list all the dynasties, I'll just talk about the questions in the Spring Examination a few years ago."
Qin Wan mentioned a few more people, who were the backbone of the court today. One of them was the Minister of Personnel, Lord Wu.
Qin Wan looked at Lord Wu and smiled, "Lord Wu was also a dark horse who passed the imperial examination and became an official. I remember there was a rumor that Lord Wu's predictions for the topic were spot on, and that the students who participated in the poetry gathering with him back then all benefited from it."
"Master Wu's guess is so accurate. Could it be that Master Wu also cheated in the imperial examination to gain power?"
What does Lord Wu say now?
Is it true that he guessed the topic? Wouldn't that offend his master, the Fourth Prince?
But if the predicted topic is false, then the Crown Princess's hat of cheating in the imperial examination will be pinned on his head!
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