Chapter 932: Quibbling
After Yue Jian left, a commotion was heard below the restaurant in just a moment. It seemed as if someone was leading troops and rushing towards the street behind the restaurant. After a while, a special whistle was heard from there, and someone directly shot down the two birds circling in the air opposite.
Cao Dejiang and Liang Guangyi personally supervised the exam, and there were several court officials beside them.
When the bird fell, it landed right in the examination room, startling the people who were answering questions in the room below.
"Quiet!"
Cao Dejiang shouted, "No whispering or noise in the examination room, otherwise you will be charged with cheating!"
The startled candidates instantly quieted down. Liang Guangyi turned and saw Wu Kui, leading a group of people outside, followed by a line of black-armored guards. Liang Guangyi stood up and walked to the crescent archway, frowning, "Commander Wu, what happened? Why all this commotion?"
Wu Kui glanced at the students taking the exam in the middle, then approached Liang Guangyi and whispered a few words.
Liang Guangyi was stunned. He suddenly looked at the two birds that had landed in the examination room, his face darkening. "Is this true?"
Wu Kui said, "It's absolutely true. The person collaborating with him in the cheating has been captured by the Empress. We have been ordered to apprehend the person in the examination room." He paused and said, "The Empress is extremely angry about this matter. I beg Prime Minister Liang to grant you an accommodating favor."
Liang Guangyi's brows were stern: "They are so brave!"
He turned and walked back. Wu Kui and the black-armored guards also rushed into the cell. Cao Dejiang saw that Liang Guangyi looked a little unhappy, his eyes full of a storm. He couldn't help but frown and asked, "What's wrong? Why do you look so unhappy?"
Liang Guangyi said coldly, "Someone is using birds to commit fraud."
"What did you say?!"
His voice was not blocked. Not only did Cao Dejiang's face change and he cried out in shock, but even the students taking the exam could not help but be in an uproar.
"fraud?"
“Someone is cheating?”
Liang Guangyi walked to the middle and said loudly to everyone:
"The imperial court prepares for the imperial examinations to select talented individuals for the court and to provide students across the country with a fair and just opportunity to excel based on their abilities. We have repeatedly warned that favoritism and cheating in the examinations are strictly prohibited and will be severely punished. However, I never expected that someone would dare to take such a risk and use this bird to cheat."
"Who among you is the one who raised this pearl-beaked bird? Come forward."
The crowd below instantly fell silent, and everyone kept silent.
Cao Dejiang walked up to the stage and said, "Cheating in the imperial examination is a serious crime. Don't think you can get away with it by keeping quiet. The fact that someone outside was able to find us means we have evidence. And since these two pearl-beaked birds can be used for cheating, there must be some special means to control them."
Wu Kui stood nearby and said coldly, "The only thing that can control birds these days is sound or special spices. This matter has already alerted the nobles above. Even if they escape now, we can find them by searching everyone in the examination room. The person who colluded with these two birds to cheat has already been captured."
"I'll say this once. If the cheater comes forward, it's just one person's fault. But if they delay the exam, and I personally lead the Black Armor Guards to apprehend them, it will be a disaster for the entire clan."
Bang.
As soon as Wu Kui finished speaking, a slight sound suddenly came from the last room, like the sound of something falling to the ground.
He turned his head to look at the people around him, and saw several black-armored guards walking over quickly. They started fighting inside in a moment. After a scream, the black-armored guards grabbed a young man with a pale face and weak legs and dragged him over.
There was blood on the man's arm and he was howling miserably. One of the black-armored guards came forward and handed Wu Kui a black jade paperweight.
The paperweight was black all over and had the shape of an animal button, which was a common feature among scholars. It looked very small.
Wu Kui shook the paperweight in his hand and found something wrong. He turned it over to face the light and found something hidden inside. The beast's open mouth at the edge was hollow, and there was a passage leading directly to the beast's tail, which looked very strange.
The black-armored guard said, "Boss, we found this in his cell. He was trying to hide it when we got there."
Hiding one's head and showing one's tail is sneaky in itself, and when he saw that he could no longer hide, the man even wanted to destroy the paperweight, so he was directly stabbed.
"My Lord, my Lord, I am innocent. This is a paperweight that my mother prepared for me. It is not a cheating item..."
"Then what are you hiding?"
"I, I didn't hide it. I just heard that someone cheated and was scared."
"Yeah?"
Wu Kui narrowed his eyes and looked at the man who was making sophistry, then lowered his head to look at the paperweight in his hand.
He suddenly brought the paperweight close to his mouth, and saw the man's pupils shrink and his face full of fear. He sneered, curled his fingers and scooped up a handful of wind, which passed through the paperweight. Although no sound came out of it, the two pearl-beaked birds that were originally held in their hands after their wings were injured by their men seemed to have heard something and suddenly fluttered in their hands.
Wu Kui raised an eyebrow: "Explain?"
The color drained from the candidate's face. Seeing this, he no longer had any hope and knelt on the ground with a thud.
"Sir... please spare my life. I was wrong. I was confused for a moment. Please spare my life..."
Wu Kui said coldly: "Shut up his mouth and drag him out!"
"Sir, please spare my life, sir, please spare... um..."
The man screamed as he was hit on the mouth by the handle of a knife by the Black Armor Guard. He cried out in pain, and fell to the ground crying, wanting to kowtow and beg for mercy, but his mouth was blocked in an instant, and he was dragged out by the arm.
He struggled frantically, and even left a puddle of water where he was dragged away.
Wu Kui turned his head and said: "Now that we have caught him, I will leave first."
Cao Dejiang and the other man nodded, and the black-armored guards filed out.
After everyone had left, Cao Dejiang snorted coldly when he saw the candidates inside were all looking out. The students were startled and quickly looked away.
Seeing this, Cao Dejiang said in a deep voice, "This exam is both an opportunity and a test. You all have reason to want to excel, but if you try to take shortcuts, you'll ruin your future. You've seen what happened to him. Don't let a little cleverness bring disaster upon yourself and your friends. Do you understand?"
The students quickly said in unison: "Students understand."
Cao Dejiang said, "There's still an hour left before the exam ends. Keep answering the questions. No whispering or talking." He turned to the guards and said, "You guys, clean this place up. Increase patrols and surveillance of the exam room. Don't let anything go wrong again."
"Yes, Lord."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com