"Don't come any closer, or you'll be killed without mercy!" Dozens of soldiers linked together drew their swords and blocked their way.
"Come on, stab me here!" someone shouted angrily, pounding his chest as he charged toward the guards.
One person charged forward bravely, and the others followed, rushing forward side by side with him. They seemed unafraid of death, their bodies aimed directly at the blade, as if they wanted to bleed on the spot and demand an explanation from the imperial court.
The guards dared not actually harm the students, so they had no choice but to retreat.
They took a step back, and the students took a step forward, their bodies almost touching the tip of the knife.
With only a dozen or so feet left to the examination hall, the guards knew they could not retreat any further.
If we move further back, these noisy sounds will disturb the students who are diligently writing in the examination hall.
Influence the imperial court's selection of talent is a serious crime.
"If they won't let us in, we'll beat the drum to appeal to the Emperor and ask him to do us justice!" someone in the crowd shouted.
"Yes, let's beat the drum to appeal and ask the emperor to judge this for us!" someone immediately echoed.
"Walk!"
"Walk!"
A large group of people then headed towards the palace.
The guards breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.
Zhu Dan, who was in charge of all matters related to the imperial examination, had already heard the commotion outside.
At this moment, he was dressed in a purple official robe with a jade belt around his waist. Although his face was still gentle, his peach blossom eyes were as cold as an icy pool.
His tall figure stood with his hands behind his back, inside the tightly closed gates of the examination hall, watching everything through layers of gauze curtains.
Zhu Heng's act of using the lives of ordinary people and students to satisfy his desires in order to seize the throne was undeniably despicable.
Zuo Xiu stood behind him: "Your Highness..."
Zhu Dan raised his hand, indicating that he didn't need to say anything more, and then turned around and went to patrol.
The students inside the examination hall seemed unaffected by the outside world, some deep in thought, others writing furiously, with a faint scent of ink wafting in the air.
At the palace gate, Xiao Song could see hundreds of people rushing towards him from afar, a dark mass that almost darkened the sky.
His brow furrowed, and he instinctively gripped the sword at his waist, but then slowly relaxed his grip.
The deputy commander Fu Yuanliang, standing nearby, was startled, his face darkening: "Didn't His Highness the Fifth Prince send someone to say there were only twenty or thirty people? There must be six or seven hundred of them. Commander Xiao, something seems amiss."
Xiao Song smirked. Six or seven hundred people? Ha, still too few.
"There's nothing wrong with it. They must be those people's servants. They think that with more people, they can force His Highness the Fifth Prince and the Emperor to compromise. Guard the palace well. If they try to storm the palace, kill them!"
Fu Yuanliang exclaimed in surprise, "Commander Xiao, these are students, they are ordinary people, are you really going to kill them?"
Xiao Song gave Fu Yuanliang a cold look: "What, if they break into the palace, that would be considered a rebellion, and you won't kill them?"
Fu Yuanliang's hand, gripping the waist knife, was covered in cold sweat. Several hundred people had already failed to even enter the palace gates, so how could they be accused of rebellion?
Those people rushed towards this side in a flurry. The skinny students who had been stained with blood in the East Street conflict suddenly became brave and charged towards this side with an unstoppable momentum.
Before Fu Yuanliang could react, one of them leaped forward, took the drumstick, and a loud "thud" was heard.
The Dengwen Drum, which had been sitting outside the palace gates for over forty years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty and had become rusty from neglect, was suddenly struck, startling all the birds inside the palace into flight.
As if it were some kind of signal, Fu Yuanliang was startled to feel the ground shaking, as if a wall of soldiers, like an iron wall, was pressing in from afar.
Xiao Song shouted: "Who dares to strike the Dengwen Drum without permission? Don't they know that anyone who strikes the Dengwen Drum must first be flogged twenty times in court!"
The man who struck the drum had eyes blazing with fury: "The Fifth Prince is unfair! We were unexpectedly late because the streets were blocked, but we were refused entry to the examination hall. Why have our three years of hard study been wasted!"
"That's right! We've studied hard for ten years for this day, but the Fifth Prince, without even asking what happened, had soldiers point knives at us, forcing us to abandon the exam, and he won't even let us beat the drum to appeal for justice!"
"We're not saying you can't beat the petition drum, but the country has its laws. Anyone who beats the petition drum must first be given twenty strokes of the cane," Xiao Song shouted.
Fu Yuanliang whispered in Xiao Song's ear, "After the ringing, it's the same as being flogged again."
But Xiao Song ignored them and waved his hand, ordering dozens of imperial guards to draw their swords and rush forward, forcing those who had already jumped onto the high platform where the drum for petitioning was placed to retreat.
The old emperor, who was reclining on the soft couch, drinking tea and eating snacks with Consort Ye's help, was startled by the sound of drums and shouted, "Zhang Zhongwei!"
Zhang Zhongwei rushed in from outside the palace and knelt down: "Your Majesty."
"Who dares to beat the drum? Today is the first day of the imperial examinations. Who is so rude as to not know their place?" the old emperor asked with a stern face.
"Your Majesty, this old servant has already ordered a young eunuch to check."
The early spring weather was still a bit chilly, but Consort Ye, dressed in a thin garment, leaned against the old emperor's lap. Hearing Zhang Zhongwei's words, she gave a charming laugh and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry about whether it's crowded outside or not. I've learned a new dance. Would you mind if I danced it for you?"
The old emperor was instantly captivated, ignoring the drumbeats outside. In high spirits, his eyes were glued to Consort Ye's chest as he said, "You understand me best."
Zhang Zhongwei tactfully withdrew.
Before long, a young eunuch told Zhang Zhongwei what had happened in front of the palace gate.
Zhang Zhongwei frowned. The students' disturbance was no small matter. He was about to step into the hall to report to the old emperor when the sounds of lovemaking came from inside.
The loud noise made the Imperial Guards guarding outside turn pale with shame.
Zhang Zhongwei's raised foot came to an abrupt stop.
The emperor's health had been poor in recent years, and he was unable to do many things. He rarely visited the harem. However, not long after Consort Ye entered the palace, the Second Prince sent a Taoist priest to the palace.
Zhang Zhongwei clearly remembered that when the old emperor first favored Consort Ye, it was over in no time.
But now it will take a long time to resolve.
That Taoist priest was truly remarkable; the elixirs he concocted restored the old emperor's virility. Sometimes, even one concubine like Consort Ye wasn't enough, and if there wasn't enough time, he would simply pull a palace maid into the tent.
Zhang Zhongwei couldn't understand it at all. Wasn't the Second Prince supposed to be a vegetarian and a Buddhist? How could he befriend a Taoist priest?
At this moment, outside the palace, the students and the imperial guards were on the verge of exchanging blows.
Some people tried to rush forward and beat the Dengwen Drum again, but the Imperial Guards' swords were already pointed at them.
The students seemed to rely on their numbers and charged forward, forcing the Imperial Guards to retreat several steps.
It's unclear who pushed Fu Yuanliang, but he stumbled forward two steps, and the knife in his hand was plunged into the chest of the student standing at the front.
The student who was stabbed collapsed limply, and blood instantly flowed all over the ground.
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