"They have lived in Xishui County for most of the past six years. Even if someone smuggled them in, it must be someone from the Lu family."
Xiao Lingyu smiled and nodded: "I have arranged for people to secretly investigate and find out clearly that this matter is related to Lu Zeyi, the second master of the Lu family."
"That must be related to the Cui family!" Meng Gaoyu blurted out without thinking.
"Could it be that the Cui family is colluding with Nan Kun to smuggle iron ore and manufacture weapons privately in an attempt to rebel?"
"If this is true, once it is exposed, the entire Lu family will not be able to escape responsibility."
Simeng was anxious and angry. The second branch of the Lu family was going to destroy the entire Lu family. How could her eldest daughter-in-law still have a good pregnancy?!
"Madam Su, A Yuan doesn't know about this yet, right?"
Xiao Lingyu patted her and soothed her softly, "Don't worry. It was Ayuan who found out that this matter was related to Lu Zeyi. With me here, no innocent people in the Lu family will be implicated."
"But……"
"A Yuan is your Si family's daughter-in-law. If anything happens, she won't be implicated. I'm Jie'er's mother. He finally got to know his family. Naturally, I won't let anything happen to the Lu family."
"Yuer." Meng Hongru said, "Your sister-in-law is waiting for you in the room. You and Zhenye should go find her."
Meng Hongru sent the couple away and said to Xiao Lingyu, "Madam Su, the Cui family has always been very secretive. There is no substantial evidence that they smuggled iron ore and manufactured weapons. With the Second Prince stepping in, it will be easy to suppress this matter."
Xiao Lingyu said, "Cui Zheli will return the smuggled iron ore to the capital on the day he returns. I don't have enough manpower, so I need someone from your Meng family to follow the shipment and find out where it's going... Follow the clues and catch all those involved."
Meng Gaoyu was overjoyed. Once this matter was exposed, the Cui family would be doomed and the second prince would have no chance of becoming the crown prince.
"Madam Su, I will send someone to follow your people and investigate along the way. We will definitely find out who is involved in this matter. After collecting evidence, will our Meng family directly report it?"
"Don't expose it for now," Xiao Lingyu said slowly. "Once the Cui family's imperial examination cheating is exposed, we'll present it to His Majesty!"
"The Cui family is cheating in the imperial examination?!" Both the Meng family father and son were shocked!
"There's a scholar named Wu in Xishui County who was a government aide. He failed the provincial examination three times in a row. As far as I know, the Cui family has often produced top scorers in the past twenty years. I guess the Cui family is good at studying."
"Humph! This Cui family member is a pure bookworm, even though he can study. Every time the top scholar in the Cui family becomes an official, his achievements are mediocre and he has made no achievements at all!"
Meng Gaoyu was a little indignant. He had worked diligently in his official career over the years, but he was still just a small Tongzhi and had been re-elected for several terms!
"Gao Yu." Meng Hongru raised his chin, signaling him to stay calm.
"Madam Su, the Beiyi Imperial Examination is very strict. If anyone is found to have cheated, the punishment could range from exile to execution. Just because Scholar Wu failed the exam, we can't conclude whether the Cui family cheated. Perhaps that person lacks talent and knowledge."
Xiao Lingyu said, "I thought so at first. A while ago, my brother Jie brought back three copies of the Analects from Haoyue Bookstore that were annotated by students from Tianhong Academy. One of them was annotated by Cui Xun. My brother Jie said Cui Xun is very famous in Tianhong Academy."
Meng Hongru nodded. "I've heard of this kid's name. He passed the imperial examination and ranked first. The Cui family even sent an invitation to my Meng residence. I think his annotated version of the Analects is selling very well at Haoyue Bookstore."
"The annotations are very ordinary, not even as good as your Meng Zihe's..."
Meng Gaoyu raised his eyebrows slightly, and said with a hint of pride, "My Zihe is a very good student. I think he can rank third in the next exam!"
Xiao Lingyu said, "Everyone is praising Cui Xun for taking the top spot. I've carefully read his annotated version of the Analects. Considering that Wu Xiucai has failed the exams multiple times, and the Cui family's lack of achievements in government despite having produced a top scholar, I suspect the Cui family may have cheated in the imperial examinations, so I've been secretly investigating..."
Meng Gaoyu said excitedly: "Then what should we do? The provincial examination will be held in a few days."
Xiao Lingyu glanced at Meng Gaoyu and asked, "Did you know that three years ago the Emperor issued an order to the Ministry of Rites, allowing those who failed the exam to bring their own papers back with them?"
Meng Gaoyu shook his head slightly. "I've been staying in Huayang County and didn't know about this. My eldest brother is now serving as the Censor in Beijing, so he should know... Ah! Are you planning to have those failed candidates take their papers back on the day the provincial examination results are announced, so that they can discover the Cui family's cheating?"
Xiao Lingyu nodded: "That's right, we're going to make a big deal out of this that day..."
Meng Hongru was a little confused when he saw that Xiao Lingyu didn't mention anything about rehabilitating the Xiao family.
"Madam Su, do you have anything else that you would like our Meng family to do?"
Xiao Lingyu said, "There's something. Nankun's spies are ruthless. I've interrogated them many times but haven't been able to extract any useful information from them... There's no direct evidence proving that Nankun's spies are colluding with the Second Prince, but they certainly seem to be connected to the Cui family... For the sake of the people living along the border, I'd like to ask the Meng family for help. I'd like the Emperor to take this matter seriously!"
Upon hearing this, Meng Hongru showed great respect to Xiao Lingyu.
The Xiao family was ordered to have their property confiscated and exiled, but she still had a heart that cared about the people and protected the territory. This was truly commendable!
"Madam Su, don't worry. Nankun sending spies to infiltrate Beiyi is a major event in itself. The Emperor will definitely take it seriously!"
Xiao Lingyu said, "Not only must the Emperor take this seriously, but we must also instill fear in the Nankun Royal Family, so they don't dare act rashly for the next ten years! This way, I can spend my days with my children growing up in peace!"
Meng Gaoyu asked, "Where is Nankun's spy? If we send it to the capital together with the Cui family case, it will attract the emperor's attention!"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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