Chapter 23: The Palace Examination Ruined (23)
twenty three
The interrogation went smoothly.
Pei Xuan used the letters he had searched to dig out the court officials who had colluded with Prince Jing and got the details of their interactions from Prince Jing.
Those who should be arrested should be arrested, and those who should be imprisoned should be imprisoned.
A month later, the trial of treason was completed, shocking the government and the public.
Pei Xuan and Liu An sorted out the files and went into the palace to present them to the emperor.
The emperor flipped through it briefly and pushed it aside. He looked up at the two young courtiers below him and said, "Well done. Now it's time to reward you two for your merits. Do you two have anything you want?"
The two men bowed and saluted, saying solemnly, "This is our duty, and we dare not take credit for it."
Just at this time, Eunuch Yang brought Zhu Qingchen over.
The emperor asked him again: "Zhu Qing, according to the merits, you are the number one meritorious official, is there anything you want?"
Zhu Qingchen also said: "I have no other request."
"Just say it."
"Then I won't be polite." Zhu Qingchen blinked and looked at him seriously, "I want the painting of Old Crows and Cold Pond in your Majesty's study."
The emperor nodded slightly: "Well, is there anything else?"
"Can I still bring it up?"
"nature."
"Then I also want the wolf-hair brush on your majesty's desk, the gold-sprinkled paper, the two pieces of scented flowery paper, and Li Rongshan's unique copy."
Pei Xuan and Liu An next to them:?
Is this okay?
The emperor waited for a while, and when he saw that he was silent, he asked him, "Are you done?"
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen nodded seriously, "Is it okay?"
The emperor stood up and said, "Follow me."
"Here I come!" Zhu Qingchen walked briskly and happily.
The Emperor took him to his study, and gave him everything he had just said, and added a lot more.
Zhu Qingchen smiled brightly and opened his arms towards him: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Qingchen happily sent his two students out of the palace, holding a pile of calligraphy and painting papers and pens.
Liu An and Pei Xuan looked at him with complicated expressions. Isn't it said that loyal ministers must be clean-handed? Why did the master take so many things? Did the master empty the palace?
Zhu Qingchen looked at them with curved eyes, looking at his two stupid students who had worked hard for half a month but didn't get any rewards, and now they were looking at him like two stupid geese.
So miserable.
After walking out of the palace gate, Liu An finally couldn't help but asked, "Master, is this okay?"
"Of course." Zhu Qingchen lifted up his arms full of rewards and said, "This is what His Majesty wants to give me. I can take His Majesty's rewards, but I can't take the people's money."
The two students looked depressed: "The teacher didn't tell us."
"Haven't I told you guys this? Loyal ministers don't have to suffer. If you want any reward, just tell the emperor. You've done something for him, so don't you deserve it?"
"yes."
The two students looked at the painting of the cold pond in his hand and hesitated to speak: "Master, we also want to..."
Zhu Qingchen pushed the painting forward, and the two students were flattered: "Master!"
"I'm lending it to you for a day. Each person can read it for half a day. You can take turns reading it. It's not a gift for you." Zhu Qingchen said seriously, "Remember to return it to me after you finish reading it."
"Yes." The two students pursed their lips and took the scroll from him. "Master, just send it here. We will go back first."
"Yes." Zhu Qingchen said softly, "This is the last lesson that the Master taught you. Don't torture yourself. If you want something, as long as it does not violate morality and etiquette, just ask for it openly. Don't keep it in your heart."
"Don't set yourself too high. It's good enough to be an ordinary minister with seven emotions and six desires. Don't force yourself to become a god without any desires. Not only can you not do it, but you will easily be backfired."
"Yes." Pei Xuan and Liu An bowed and saluted, "Thank you for your guidance, Master."
Zhu Qingchen smiled, watched them leave, picked up his things, and turned back.
The system asked: "The mission is completed, the health points have been received, and we can go to the next world at any time. When do you plan to leave?"
Zhu Qingchen thought for a moment and said, "If I suddenly disappear, won't it scare others?"
"The world's logic will help you make it up. Everyone will think you resigned from your post and went traveling."
"Then... at least wait until the two of them can really stand on their own? I'm not sure if they leave now."
The system was speechless: "Then we have to wait for decades?"
"..." Zhu Qingchen paused, "Then wait until they are both married."
"Don't think I don't know that Pei Xuan has made up his mind not to get married. You are waiting for him to get married, but in fact you are waiting for him to take care of you in your old age, right?"
"Then..." Zhu Qingchen thought for a moment, "At least wait until Prince Jing is beheaded? You want to see it too, right?"
The system whispered, "Hmm."
"Right?" Zhu Qingchen said, "Besides, the students have passed the palace examination, but the Qionglin Banquet has not been held yet. We will leave after the banquet is over in a few days. The first thing I love is to see bad people get into trouble, and the second thing I love is to attend banquets."
*
It is a foregone conclusion that Prince Jing is plotting treason.
The emperor wrote with cinnabar ink on his wrist and sentenced him to immediate execution.
It has been almost a month since the results of the palace examination were announced, and because of this matter, the Qionglin Banquet was not held.
So the two things happened very close to each other.
On the eve of the execution, Prince Jing saw that the food brought by the officers was much more sumptuous than that of the previous days, and he immediately understood something.
He refused to eat and knocked over the food, but was slapped twice in the face by the officers.
"How many people can't eat such good food? You can just overturn it if you want."
The officer did not prepare any new food for him. He just swept the food into the slop bucket and left.
Prince Jing clamored to see Pei Xuan, and the officer said, "This matter has been closed long ago. How can Lord Pei have the time to come and see you?"
Prince Jing wanted to say something else, but suddenly remembered something and swallowed his words back.
After nearly a month of interrogation, Prince Jing no longer dared to say anything crazy about him being Pei Xuan's husband.
As soon as he said something, Pei Xuan sent someone to slap him in the face, causing his cheek to swell up.
Now when he thought of this sentence, his cheeks still felt burning.
Two officers were eating, drinking and chatting outside.
"Tomorrow is the banquet. Lord Pei will leave after the trial, leaving the two of us here to watch him. It's really unlucky."
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Come on, do it."
The two were drinking happily when they heard footsteps outside.
The two raised their heads and saluted quickly: "Master Pei."
Pei Xuan walked up to them and said, "I am here to see Prince Jing on the orders of His Majesty. You can go outside and rest for a while."
"Yes." The officer kindly reminded him, "This man is very crazy now, sir, be careful."
Pei Xuan said: "No need to open the door for me, I will stand outside and talk."
"good."
The two officers retreated outside. Pei Xuan turned around and looked at King Jing through the cell door.
Prince Jing no longer dared to shout in front of him, and now that Pei Xuan turned around to look at him, he just shrank back.
Pei Xuan took out a secret decree from his sleeve: "I am here to announce the decree on behalf of His Majesty. Fu Wenzhou will be beheaded tomorrow. After beheading, his body will be cut into pieces and sent to the crematorium." This time it was a real crematorium.
We've talked about "crematorium" so many times, it's time to see it for real, right?
King Jing's face turned pale and he fell to the ground.
In ancient times, cremation meant grinding bones to dust and scattering ashes, with no hope of reincarnation.
He wanted to ask how the emperor dared to treat him like this, but then he remembered that he had treated the emperor like this in his previous life.
He couldn't ask.
Pei Xuan ignored him and turned away.
There will be a double happiness at the Qionglin Banquet tomorrow, and he will go to try on clothes with his senior brother.
When he left, Prince Jing's shrill scream came from the cell: "No! I am the emperor! Pei Xuan, come back!"
Pei Xuan walked out of the cell without looking back, with the bright moonlight shining all over his body.
*
The next morning.
Before dawn, Prince Jing was taken to the execution ground and beheaded.
Zhu Qingchen hadn't had breakfast yet and was afraid he wouldn't be able to eat, so he went over to take a look and left.
It’s strange that the sky was gloomy and about to rain, but after the execution, the sun came out.
Today is also the students’ banquet.
The students who passed the imperial examination wore blue official uniforms and went to the palace for a banquet.
The sun is shining brightly, and the peonies in the garden are in full bloom.
Zhu Qingchen was wearing his usual bright red official uniform, and a huge, beautiful peony flower was pinned on his black official hat.
He had already drunk two glasses of wine before the banquet began. His cheeks were now flushed. He held his head up and watched the students come over one by one to greet him and toast him.
The old school officials were also wearing official uniforms, with flowers in their hair, and talking happily to the students.
Zhu Qingchen did not avoid drinking this time. He accepted all the drinks and drank all the drinks when the students toasted him.
Senior student Gao nudged him and said, "Take it easy."
Zhu Qingchen replied with a smile: "I know."
After drinking, Zhu Qingchen took a pair of small scissors, cut the flowers and pinned them on the students' heads.
One for each student.
And give each one a warning.
"Xuan, do whatever you want to do boldly without any scruples."
"An'er, it's good like this now. The master trusts you the most."
"Song Feng, your master has asked the government to move you out of slavery. Take your time. It's okay."
…
When they were about to take part in the palace examination that day, Zhu Qingchen did the same thing, giving each of them some advice.
Today is different from then.
Zhu Qingchen looked at them with drunken eyes, feeling really reluctant to leave.
The party lasted until evening.
The palace servants held candles and placed them into the stone lamps in the garden.
The palace lanterns were as bright as day, making the peony flowers on Zhu Qingchen's official hat even more brilliant.
Zhu Qingchen drank too much and was already drunk, so he asked the students to leave him alone to rest for a while.
He propped up his head and looked down.
The students were chatting and laughing, looking relaxed and comfortable.
Pei Xuan was also drunk. His family clearly owned a winery, but he couldn't drink as much as the others.
He was drunk and noisy, and insisted on pulling Liu'an to his knees on the ground and becoming sworn brothers with him.
"Brother Liu, you have been so kind to me, I have no way to repay you! From today on, you and I will become brothers with different surnames!"
Pei Xuan poured two glasses of wine, took one for himself and handed one to Liu An.
Liu An followed him and knelt on the ground, holding his forehead, turning his head away, with a look of despair on his face.
It's so embarrassing, everyone else is looking at them.
Pei Xuan chattered non-stop: "From today on, Senior Brother Liu and I will become brothers with different surnames! We don't ask to be born on the same day of the same month of the same year, but we only ask to die on the same day of the same month of the same year!"
Liu An covered his ears.
This is too unlucky. It's a good day, why would anyone want to die?
Liu An reached out his hand and pinched him hard.
Pei Xuan understood: "I know Senior Brother Liu doesn't want to be a younger brother, so I will be the younger brother! I am the younger brother!"
Liu An choked: "..."
"I treat my brother with all my heart. I...I will protect my brother!"
The top scholar was at a loss for words, so he held the wine glass with both hands, raised his head, and drank it all in one gulp.
Pei Xuan finished his drink, turned around, and looked at Liu An with sparkling eyes.
Liu An had no choice but to raise his cup and drink it as well: "Me too."
Pei Xuan laughed foolishly and burped towards Liu An, which made Liu An feel choked.
Liu An frowned and pushed him away.
Zhu Qingchen smiled, turned around, and waved to the musician next to him: "Excuse me, can you lend me your Yueqin?"
Zhu Qingchen sat cross-legged among the old school officials in a dejected manner, with drunken eyes. He held a pipa and swept the strings with his fingertips.
The sound of the piano is gentle, like drizzling rain.
The students all quieted down and turned to look at him.
Zhu Qingchen closed his eyes, plucked the strings of the zither, and sang softly with a clear voice.
"The name is written high on the list of honor, and it is clear that I have plucked a branch of spring."
"Peng Ying suddenly met the immortal couple, and the rivers and seas returned to think of the farmers and fishermen."
"Ninety thousand steps to spread wings, ten years of hard work to weather the wind and dust."
"In times of peace and prosperity, justice is bestowed upon us, and we do not realize that the Dragon Gate is a steep ford."①
A poem that fits the occasion.
There was a tall tower near the garden, and the emperor stood on the tower and watched Zhu Qingchen play the moon guitar.
Zhu Qingchen did not open his eyes, but plucked the strings of the zither for the last time.
"System, let's go."
*
Another feather of light fell between Zhu Qingchen's eyebrows.
Zhu Qingchen opened his eyes again.
He was still lying on the bed, surrounded by darkness. There was no candle, and he could vaguely see the outlines of the furniture, but it looked a little strange.
Zhu Qingchen reached out and pressed under his body and found that the bed was much softer this time. He wondered what material it was made of.
The light feather shattered, and a familiar voice came into his ears.
[The plot is being transmitted...]
[Title: Wet Rose]
[Era: Alternative Modern Times]
[Tags: Mistakenly, Flowery Season, Reunion]
Then there was that familiar sinking of the head.
The protagonist of this book is called Chen Hesong.
Chen Hesong lost his father at a young age. When he was eight years old, his mother remarried and took him to the wealthy He family.
The He family has a younger brother who is one year younger than him, named He Yu.
At the beginning, Chen Hesong and He Yu got along quite well. He told stories to He Yu, cooked delicious food for him, and took care of him when he was sick.
But for some reason, everything changed soon after.
He Yu messed up his room, tore up his textbooks, and smeared crushed frogs on his bed.
At first, Chen Hesong thought that the child was just being naughty, so he tried to discipline him and also tried to tell his mother.
But his mother told him again and again that he was the older brother and should give way to his younger brother.
For the sake of his mother's happiness, Chen Hesong could only endure it silently.
Who knew that this endurance would last for ten years.
Chen Hesong obviously lives in a wealthy family, but his life is not even as good as that of the housekeeper's son.
He had to get up early every day, make breakfast for He Yu, bring it to his bed, and help him get up.
After He Yu finished his breakfast, he threw his schoolbag and was taken to school by the driver.
By the time Chen Hesong finished washing the dishes, the exhaust gas from the car had disappeared, so he could only walk out of the villa area and take the bus to school.
No one at school knew they were brothers from a blended family.
Because He Yu's family is rich, he has many followers. These followers know that Master He hates Chen Hesong. In order to make Master He happy, they try their best to tease and bully Chen Hesong.
For Chen Hesong, textbooks being soaked in water and even being surrounded and beaten outside school were common occurrences.
He also tried to complain to his mother, but his mother just said that it was just a fight between boys and every boy would fight, so she ignored him.
When he complained for the second time, his mother told him directly that they could have such a good life now, thanks to He's father and He Yu, so what if he was bullied? He must please He Yu.
So he gave up the complaint.
He also tried to apply for living on campus, but before he filled out the application form, He Yu told his mother that he liked to eat the breakfast cooked by his brother and he didn't want his brother to live on campus.
The mother was flattered by her stepson's sudden closeness and told Chen Hesong directly that living in the school dormitory was impossible.
Chen Hesong returned to the room and found He Yu sitting on his bed with his legs crossed and a nonchalant look on his face, with fragments of his boarding application form scattered around him, smiling innocently and viciously.
In such a harsh environment, Chen Hesong was able to study hard and maintain excellent academic performance, ranking first in his grade for two consecutive years.
He thought that as long as he could get into college, he could escape from this home.
This continued until Chen Hesong and He Yu were in their second year of high school.
That day, the family was having dinner.
He Yu suddenly announced that he was going to start studying hard.
His grades were originally at the bottom of the class, and when they heard him say this, Uncle He and his mother were very surprised.
Uncle He said he wanted to hire a tutor for him, but He Yu bit his chopsticks and looked at Chen Hesong with an unfriendly look.
He said, "Isn't my brother a good student? It would definitely be better for him to be my tutor than those tutors out there."
Chen Hesong suddenly raised his head, his heart seemed to sink into a bottomless pit.
Because of He Yu's words, Chen Hesong failed a grade.
The teacher who had originally had high hopes for him could not understand his decision at all. Moreover, he was repeating a grade, which was different from ordinary repeaters.
Chen Hesong lowered his head and dared only say that he was sick and in a bad mental state. He wanted to adjust for a year before taking the college entrance examination.
Chen Hesong repeated his second year of high school and diligently helped He Yu organize his notes and tutored him in his studies.
But He Yu was still the same as before, careless and doing his own thing. When his father asked him about it, he said that it was Chen Hesong who did not teach him well and that Chen Hesong deliberately did not teach him. Chen Hesong was only concerned with his own studies and did not care about him at all.
No matter how carefully Chen Hesong took notes or how clearly he wrote his answers, He Yu never looked at them and threw them away as soon as he got them.
He just wanted to play a trick on Chen Hesong.
Chen Hesong accompanied his child to study for two years.
The night before the college entrance examination, he put his admission ticket into a small transparent bag, prepared all the examination supplies, and put them into his schoolbag, thinking that he would finally be free.
He was in a good mood that night. Even though his mother kept nagging him to take good care of He Yu in the examination room, she didn't say how to do it. He didn't care.
He was full of hope and went to bed early to get enough rest.
But in the middle of the night, he turned over in a daze and suddenly saw He Yu standing at the head of his bed, holding his schoolbag in his hand.
Chen Hesong immediately came to his senses and wanted to snatch the schoolbag back.
Seeing that Chen Hesong, who had always been submissive, actually resisted, He Yu became furious and pushed him to the ground, took out his admission ticket, and tore it into pieces in front of him.
Chen Hesong climbed forward like crazy, trying to pick up the admission ticket and put it back together.
He Yu punched him hard, grabbed his collar with one hand, grabbed the broken pieces of admission ticket with the other hand, and flushed the pieces into the toilet.
During this period, Chen Hesong's mother stood outside the door wearing a luxurious shawl from beginning to end.
She hesitated, but when she saw He's father, she no longer hesitated.
She said, "Hesong, Xiaoyu is used to eating the breakfast you make. If you also take the college entrance examination and get admitted to a university, what will Xiaoyu do? It is better to let Xiaoyu take the college entrance examination alone. You can go to school with Xiaoyu and attend the classes."
He Yu looked at Chen Hesong sinisterly and whispered, "Don't ever think about escaping from me."
Chen Hesong was locked up at home for two days before the college entrance examination.
He refused to eat or drink, and after He Yu was admitted to university, he continued to be his nanny, pushing his suitcase, carrying his luggage, and going with him...
Go to university.
He met his former teacher at the station, who asked him with a smile, "Have you adjusted well? What university have you been admitted to now?"
Chen Hesong lowered his head and did not dare to answer until He Yu came out of the bathroom, smiled and put his arm around his shoulders and said to the teacher: "Teacher, I was the one who got into university, and my brother did not." The teacher was shocked, and Chen Hesong was taken away like a puppet.
Chen Hesong followed He Yu and rented a house outside the university. She did laundry and cooking every day and served as He Yu's nanny.
He took a year off and picked himself up again. He proposed to He Yu that he wanted to take a cooking class so that he could cook for him better.
He Yu was very happy, thinking that he had finally been tamed, and allowed him to go to New Oriental to attend interest classes.
But not long after, He Yu discovered that Chen Hesong had registered for a bachelor's degree in a culinary school.
It turns out that he never gave up and he has always been pursuing freedom.
He Yu was furious. On a rainy night, in front of Chen Hesong, he tore up all the information he had collected with great difficulty, just like he had torn up his admission ticket that year. He tore it into pieces and threw it in his face.
Chen Hesong tried to pick up the pieces, but He Yu pressed on him, pulled his hair, and forced him to raise his head.
He ran away and wanted to call the police, but was brought back by He Yu.
He Yu said that he was his brother who suffered from mental illness, and took out a certificate from a second-class Class A hospital. Everyone sympathized with him and thought he was a good brother.
From that night on, Chen Hesong was not only He Yu's nanny, but also his bed partner.
When his mother found out about this, she said he had no shame.
He remained in this state of confusion for several years.
Until the high school anniversary.
He Yu, who had taken over the family business and had already achieved success, took him to attend the school anniversary.
Everyone was flattering He Yu, saying that Chen Hesong had such good grades back then, but now he has ended up in such a mess that he doesn’t even have a formal job.
The classmates who were bullied by He Yu together with him looked at him with disappointment, asking how he had the nerve to do the laundry and cooking for the bully.
The elderly teacher looked at Chen Hesong and sighed heavily, as if he was extremely regretful and disappointed.
At this time, Chen Hesong was already severely depressed. He walked up to the teaching building in a daze, walked to his former classroom, sat in the seat he had sat before, took out his students' books, and wanted to read and study.
But he found that he couldn't understand anything.
Those words, those formulas, were like countless demons with bloody mouths, flying in front of him.
He Yu brought his classmates to find him, and seeing him reading a book, they laughed at him unscrupulously.
"Does Chen Hesong still want to take the adult college entrance examination?"
"Don't take up students' seats. Your hands are covered in oil. Don't dirty their textbooks."
He Yu put his hands in his pockets, and waited until they had laughed enough before he stretched out his hand to Chen Hesong and waved, "Brother, come here."
Chen Hesong closed his textbook, slowly stood up, and jumped out of the window of the teaching building.
The moment he jumped, he saw a flash of astonishment in He Yu's eyes.
——《Wet Rose》
Zhu Qingchen: ???
What is this?
[Host Mission: Become Chen Hesong's homeroom teacher and ensure that Chen Hesong can successfully take the college entrance examination]
[World Difficulty: C Level]
[Task Reward: 5 HP]
Zhu Qingchen had a complicated expression.
"System, you're not going to tell me that this He Yu is the 'protagonist top'?"
"Yes, he is the protagonist."
Zhu Qingchen covered his chest and said, "Stop talking. I know."
Since He Yu is the protagonist, the subsequent development of this story will definitely be that the protagonist is extremely regretful and squats down to apologize to Chen Hesong.
After a short "crematorium", Chen Hesong forgave him, and the two of them lived together sweetly and became an enviable couple.
As for the reason why the protagonist does this, it is probably because "he doesn't understand love".
Zhu Qingchen struggled, crawled to the bedside, and stuck his head out: "Hmm..."
The little ball of light bounced on his back, like a pat on the back.
"I can't do it anymore..." Zhu Qingchen was barely breathing, "I'm going to die again."
The system quickly turned on the light for him: "How is it? The bathroom is on the left side of the door, do you want to..."
Zhu Qingchen raised his head and stared blankly at the bright chandelier on the ceiling: "What is this? Is it dawn?"
"This is a light. We are now in the modern world. The first world is the novice world, which is similar to the environment you lived in before. Now we have officially entered the mission world. Modern technology is advanced, and there are many high-tech things. You have to adapt while completing the mission."
Zhu Qingchen covered his head, looking very weak: "No, this light is too bright, it makes me dizzy, and I want to vomit again."
"Hurry, hurry, the bathroom is next door, go to the bathroom and vomit."
"good."
Zhu Qingchen got out of bed barefoot and spent a long time figuring out how to open the door.
After opening the bedroom door, he immediately followed the system's instructions and ran into the bathroom, ready to vomit.
But the next second, he ran back in panic.
"Ah! What kind of monster is this? Why is it chasing me? Help!"
Zhu Qingchen ran out of the afterimage, jumped onto the bed, wrapped himself in the quilt, and crawled all over the bed: "Don't come over here! Where's my sword?!"
A sweeping robot followed in unsteadily: "At work..."!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
