Sun Shanhe said, "Fu Jieyuan, please speak."
Lu Wenfeng trotted to Fu Ciyi's side, as if he had found a supporter.
Fu Ciyi asked directly, "Who ranked higher in the Autumn Examination, Lu Wenfeng or Fu Minghe?"
Sun Shanhe and Prince Chi looked at each other and still remembered the names of the top candidates.
As for the rankings of others, they couldn't tell at all.
Both of them looked at the official who was responsible for distributing the list to each county.
The official stepped forward and said respectfully, "Prince, Lord Sun, I have a list here."
After saying that, he took out a document from his pocket and unfolded it.
Immediately, two followers came forward, one on the left and one on the right, holding up the documents.
The names of those who passed the imperial examination in Jinzhou were recorded in very small regular script, just like a small list of top scorers.
Fu Ciyi's name is at the top.
Fu Minghe and his classmates rushed forward to watch.
The official explained, "There are hundreds of people on the list, representing the successful candidates from various counties in Jinzhou, listed according to their rankings. The successful candidates from each county have been separated, and we need to search for them one by one."
The font was really too small, and everyone who was trying to read it had to stretch their necks.
At this time, Fu Nanyao came over and asked Lu Wenfeng: "Hey, where are you?"
"I'll look for it."
Lu Wenfeng started looking from the end of the list.
He was the last one on the list at the county government office today, so it was natural for him to start looking from the last one.
He was feeling complicated at the moment. It was rare for Fu Nanyao to ask him on her own initiative, but he was also afraid that she would see that he was ranked too far behind.
Then he thought that with Fu Ciyi, the top scorer, here, even if he was indeed not as high up as Fu Minghe, he could probably find a better way to deal with today's matter.
Suddenly, Liu Yuanjing's voice broke out from the crowd: "I see myself, 249th place."
He pointed at his name excitedly, as if he had seen the list of top scorers in the state capital.
Suddenly he stopped laughing: "I am ahead of Brother Minghe."
Another classmate pointed out Fu Minghe's ranking: "Brother Minghe, you are ranked 250th!"
Fu Minghe's face darkened. In fact, even Liu Yuanjing was ahead of him.
In the past, when competing with Fu Ciyi, he often came in second.
Could it be that I didn’t do well in the exam when I was carried out?
A classmate followed their pointing, looked at the names, and was puzzled: "On the list posted by the county government today, Brother Minghe was listed first, except for the first place winner. I remember Brother Yuanjing was ranked quite low. What's going on?"
Lu Wenfeng also looked in the direction Liu Yuanjing pointed, and unexpectedly saw his name in the first two columns of Liu Yuanjing's name.
Then he shouted: "Ci Yi, Miss Fu, Miss Yan, I am number 191!"
His voice was full of joy.
Fu Ciyi nodded.
Lu Wenfeng strode up to Fu Minghe and said, "I'm clearly ahead of you. Even Liu Yuanjing is ahead of you. I believe there are many students here who are ahead of you as well."
As soon as these words came out, the classmates whispered to each other.
What they are saying is that the rankings they are looking at now are different from the order on the county government list.
Lu Wenfeng bowed deeply to Sun Shanhe and Prince Chi, "I am not talented, having only ranked 191st. Yet, this morning, I saw on the list at the county government office that I was last in Ling County. This is puzzling to me, and I beg the Prince and Your Excellency to make a decision!"
Sun Shanhe looked at Fu Zhengqing: "What's your explanation, Master Fu?"
Fu Zhengqing broke out in a cold sweat. "I ordered someone to copy the names of the successful candidates, but the notice that was posted only listed the names of the successful candidates, without their rankings. Perhaps they got the order wrong when copying the names."
The official in charge of distributing the lists to each county spoke up, "Prince, Lord Sun, the lists I sent to each county contain the names and rankings of all the successful candidates. How could there be a mistake in the transcription?"
The implication is that you should copy it in large characters in order and post it on the notice board.
There is no need to change the order and there is no chance of making mistakes.
Fu Ciyi said coldly, "Perhaps Master Fu has just been promoted from County Magistrate to County Magistrate and is not familiar with official duties."
Fu Zhengqing lowered his head, a fierce look flashing across his eyes.
What a good guy Fu Ciyi is. He puts obstacles in his way as soon as he gets the first place in the imperial examination.
But now, in front of so many officials from the provincial government, he couldn't discipline him, but he had to go along with what he said: "As a county magistrate, I am not familiar with official duties on one hand, but the main reason is that I trusted the chief clerk too much. The chief clerk recorded the wrong order, and I, as the county magistrate, also have a responsibility."
As he spoke, he bowed deeply, even bowing to the students present.
The attitude is extremely sincere.
At this time, the chief clerk of Ling County immediately came out to confess his guilt.
He sank to his knees, leaning forward, sobbing, "I am guilty. Master Fu told me to copy the list out early so that all the students would know. I was woken up in the early hours of the morning, having just drunk some wine. When I was copying, my mind was confused and I made a mistake in the order. I beg you gentlemen to punish me!"
Sun Shanhe smiled.
The appointment and removal of seventh-rank county magistrates must be approved by the Ministry of Personnel.
No one knew what connections Fu Zhengqing had in the capital to be promoted from county magistrate to county magistrate.
As for the county government's list, anyone with a brain would know that Fu Zhengqing deliberately wrote his son's name at the front.
The wonderful thing is that he was able to pull the chief clerk out to take the blame.
Prince Chi's face was expressionless: "The Chief Clerk of Ling County is a ninth-rank official, so forget it."
The chief clerk of Ling County glanced at Fu Zhengqing secretly and immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude.
Fu Zhengqing bowed and said, "I have mismanaged my personnel and I beg to be fined six months' salary."
Prince Chi said "hmm" lightly.
Fu Ciyi sneered in his heart. Fu Zhengqing was indeed a veteran. He escaped just like that.
However, he didn't want to be caught this time. After all, he hoped that the first person he would deal with after entering the officialdom would be Fu Zhengqing.
Having said that, it's no big deal if it annoys Fu Zhengqing once.
Thinking of this, Qing Leng said, "Wen Feng, while the prince and the others are here, why don't you tell us about the bet?"
Lu Wenfeng replied, "Prince, my Lords, the third Autumn Examination has concluded. It was Fu Minghe who proposed that those with poor performance should crawl under the crotches of those with good performance."
"And I added a little bit, barking like a dog." He glanced at his classmates. "It was clearly him who proposed the bet. What he said to you, haha, is just like the list of names in the county government office today, always confusing right and wrong."
The classmates looked at each other in surprise.
It was Fu Minghe who proposed the humiliation of being kicked in the crotch.
He was very pleased to think that many of them were ranked higher than Fu Minghe, but they all complimented him this morning.
Thinking about it now, I feel quite uncomfortable.
Fu Minghe looked at Fu Zhengqing for help.
Fu Zhengqing felt sorry for his son and smiled to smooth things over: "We are all scholars, so this is disrespectful to our manners. Minghe has already lost, so he should apologize to Master Lu."
Lu Wenfeng held his buttocks, which were hurt by the beating, and shouted, "No!"
"Fu Minghe fainted during the third exam, and he blamed me for it."
"I feel very wronged. I was blamed for a crime I didn't deserve, and was even punished by my father. My butt still hurts."
Hearing this, Yan Funing burst out laughing.
Fu Ciyi glanced at her, his brows slightly furrowed.
She laughed so hard when she heard about another man's butt?
Fu Nanyao couldn't help laughing.
The aunt and sister-in-law gathered together and laughed.
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