Zhang Lu bowed his head and replied, "Your Highness, since the Queen Mother passed away, our people in the palace have either been executed or sent to the cold palace laundry department, so we have no way of receiving this news."
Lu Mubai punched the window. "Okay."
Bai Ting was defeated, but some people still refused to give up and said, "Then how could someone report Shang Yanqing for bringing cheat sheets into the examination room, and wasn't his test paper destroyed? Did he bribe the examiner to give him a high score?"
Ye Nian stepped forward and said with a smile: "That's a good question. I just heard that someone reported Shang Yanqing for bringing cheat sheets, so I sent someone to check it out." Ye Nian looked behind him and said: "Bring the person up."
A moment later, a man was escorted forward by two guards.
Ye Nian looked at Wu Luo, who was already trembling all over, and asked, "Minister Wu, tell me, is this person the one who came to the Imperial Examination Hall to report Shang Yanqing?"
Wu Luo frowned and looked at the man, who nodded. "It's him."
Ye Nian nodded: "That's good, then I will tell you what he went through when the Chicheng Army found him."
Ye Nian looked at the examinees present and said, "He was being hunted down. If the Chicheng Army had not arrived in time, he would have died tragically on the street.
I believe some people will say that it was Shang Yanqing who sent people to kill him, but he was in the examination room at that time and was watched by our impartial Minister Wu. How could he send people to hunt him down? It could also be that Lord Shang Yuanshan sent people to hunt him down. But do you understand that if this person died, Shang Yanqing would be convicted of bringing cheat sheets? Do you think Lord Shang would be stupid enough to do such a thing?
I am going to say something off topic. The imperial examination is to select talents for our Xiling country. Although reading is important, we don’t want people who only know how to read but don’t know how to do things. We need people who can at least distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise, even if you become an official in the court, you will only become a knife in the hands of others and you won’t even know how you died. "
After Ye Nian finished speaking, the students present lowered their heads in shame, and some of them had already begun to think about the matter calmly.
Suddenly Shang Yanqing strode forward and knelt in front of Emperor Yuanming. "Your Majesty, please make the decision for me."
Emperor Yuanming cast an admiring gaze at Shang Yanqing. "No need to be polite. I came out today to make a decision for the students of Xiling Country."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Shang Yanqing stood tall and straight, like a pine tree standing in the wind. He turned around and looked at everyone present, and spoke in a sonorous and powerful voice: "That day, the student was answering the test paper in the dormitory. Suddenly, Minister Wu brought people forward and said that the student brought cheat sheets into the Imperial Examination Hall. The student was innocent and did not stop the search.
However, the students' test papers were deliberately damaged by the search officials, who soiled them and destroyed them. Minister Wu handled the matter unfairly, and only told the person involved to go out and accept the punishment, without dealing with the injustice suffered by the students. I beg the emperor to make a decision for the students. "
Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuanming looked at Wu Luo with a sharp gaze, which frightened Wu Luo so much that he fell to his knees. "Your Majesty, I handled the matter impartially. I also dealt with the people who made mistakes according to the rules."
Emperor Yuan Ming looked at Ye Nian who was standing beside him and said, "Minister Ye, do you think there was any problem with his handling of this matter?"
Ye Nian replied, "There is indeed a problem. There is an emergency plan for the imperial examination. If an official makes a mistake and ruins a student's test paper, it should be reported immediately. The student will be given an extra hour to answer the paper, and three examiners will personally supervise the students writing the test paper. But Wu Luo did not report the matter at that time. I feel that there is something fishy about this matter."
Emperor Yuan Ming looked at Wu Luo who was kneeling on the ground again: "Do you have anything else to say?"
"Your humble servant, your humble servant......."
Shang Yanqing took out a stack of papers from his arms and handed them to Emperor Yuan Ming. "Your Majesty, Minister Wu's attitude towards me made me suspicious, so I secretly investigated him after I left the Imperial Examination Hall."
Emperor Yuanming took the paper and opened it to check. When he saw the contents, he laughed out loud: "Haha~ Good, Minister Wu, you are a really fair and good official. Forming cliques and living an extravagant life, are these what you, a Minister of Rites, can do?"
"Your Majesty..." Wu Luo knew clearly what he had done recently, and he really didn't know how to defend himself.
"If I am not mistaken, the people who are in league with you are all officials who died recently. What do you have to do with their deaths?"
Wu Luo suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Emperor Yuanming looked at Shang Yanqing and said, "I will send the Dali Temple to investigate his case later. Now I need you to explain to me why he got the first place in the exam even though his test paper was destroyed? Did he bribe the examiner?"
Emperor Yuan Ming's words made the officials involved in the marking tremble in fear. Although they did not participate in cheating, the fact that Emperor Yuan Ming had suspicions was enough to make them suffer.
Shang Yanqing: "Your Majesty, I wrote two papers that day, and when Minister Wu brought people here, I was in the process of choosing which paper to use, so I had to keep the clean one."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was shocked, because they knew that it was already difficult to finish a test paper in one day. If it was true as Shang Yanqing said that he wrote two tests, then he was really amazing. This was even more surprising than using the last less than an hour to copy a neat test paper.
Everyone's eyes turned to Shang Yanqing.
Ye Nian said, "Your Majesty, I am very curious about these two papers."
Emperor Yuan Ming nodded and said, "Send it to me. I am also very curious."
Soon someone took the order and ran to the Ministry of Rites to present the test paper and the other waste paper that Shang Yanqing had handed in as waste paper.
When Emperor Yuan Ming saw the two test papers, he laughed out loud: "Great, great! It is a blessing for Xiling to have such talents."
Emperor Yuanming gave the test paper to Ye Nian, who could not help but read it out: "Advocate moral education to establish the foundation of human beings. The beginning of education must be based on moral education. Morality is the foundation of human beings. The country should set up schools widely... so that students can understand etiquette and honor from an early age, cultivate their loyalty, integrity, and benevolence..., experience and understand the people's sentiments, and do not be a person who watches the flowers on the shore. I examine myself three times a day..., only those who have both moral integrity and talent can become the pillars of the country..."
Ye Nian's powerful and eloquent speech throughout the article made the students present realize the gap between them and Shang Yanqing.
At this time, the suspicion of Shang Yanqing cheating completely disappeared, and everyone knew why Shang Yanqing was the top scorer. Those who were not optimistic about Shang Yanqing regretted why they did not bet that Shang Yanqing would be the top scorer.
But it's too late now. After the imperial examination, the last bet has been closed, and if the market opens again, Shang Yanqing's odds will be very low.
Outside the crowd, Shang Yangyang pulled Yun Shu and Luo Chuansheng. She straightened her back and said proudly, "Yun Yun, Grandpa Luo is my big brother. Isn't he awesome? Hehe~"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
