The wind was howling and the whole yard was filled with thunder and rain.
Xu Jiang returned in the wind and rain and quickly led the donkey into the shed.
Liang Mo asked Xu Jiang to change clothes quickly, while he unloaded the baggage and saddle from the donkey, and then found a clean cloth to wipe it dry.
Xu Jiang came out after changing her clothes. Seeing this, she smiled and said, "It's not that delicate."
"The rain is cold and heavy, so you'd better be careful." Liang Mo covered the donkey's head tightly with cloth and rubbed it.
The stubborn donkey stopped moving when its eyes were blinded, and was surprisingly obedient.
Xu Jiang curled her lips and snorted, then went into the kitchen to make herself a bowl of ginger tea.
Liang Mo packed up the donkey and carried the bag into the bookstore. However, he didn't want to open it privately, so he waited for Xu Jiang to come in with tea and asked eagerly, "Boss, have you got the approval document?"
"I got it." Xu Jiang couldn't wait to drink half a cup of tea, then pointed to the tightly tied small bundle and motioned him to open it.
Liang Mo opened the package, and inside was a stack of neat approval documents. He opened them one by one and the more he looked, the higher the corners of his mouth curled up. Now he had a lot of work to do.
Xu Jiang picked out two sets of documents from the collection and said to him, "These two sets, which have not been engraved, are given to you. I will prepare the printing paper for you tomorrow, and you can try engraving them."
"Okay!" Liang Mo was full of energy.
After drinking tea, the two of them cleaned out all the stereotypes, sorted the intact and damaged ones into sets, and after the damaged stereotypes were replaced and repaired, they could start printing.
Just as they finished tidying up, they heard hurried footsteps outside the door. They looked up and saw Zeng Zhui appear at the door, soaking wet.
Both of them were shocked.
Xu Jiang put aside his composure and asked, "Wen Feng? It's raining so hard, why don't you hold an umbrella?"
Zeng Zhui's face turned pale, and he practically crawled into the room, shouting in panic, "Manager Xu! Something's happened!"
Liang Mo quickly stepped forward to support him.
Xu Jiang's heart skipped a beat, and he hurried forward to ask, "What happened?"
"The teacher has been dismissed and is under investigation. The officials have already come to seal off the mansion." Zeng Zhui's face was pale and he was shivering all over. He didn't know if it was from the cold or panic. "I, I ran out through the back door."
"How could this happen!" A chill rose from Xu Jiang's feet. She hurriedly grabbed Zeng and asked, "Hurry up and tell me what happened!"
Zeng Zhui gasped and stuttered, "He said he was involved in, suspected of cheating in the imperial examinations, and leaked the exam questions to the candidates."
Xu Jiang's mind buzzed. "Cheating? The imperial examinations have been over for so long, and the results are out, why are they investigating cheating now? And why would Mr. Du be involved for no apparent reason?"
In panic, Xu Jiang grabbed a name from her mind, "Is it Zhao Xiu? Is he the one behind this?"
"It's him!" Zeng Zhui's eyes burned red with hatred at the mention of Zhao Xiu, his tongue lashing out as he gritted his teeth as he recounted the entire story. "During this Ministry of Rites exam, he deliberately handed in a blank paper. When the examiner collected the papers and questioned him, he feigned stupidity and tremblingly said he couldn't answer the questions. The Minister of State noticed his behavior was suspicious, so he was brought in for questioning. During the first trial, he actually claimed to be untalented and unethical, and falsely accused his teacher of leaking the exam questions to him, which was how he managed to pass the exam and get the third place."
"Absurd!" Xu Jiang was shocked and furious. "Based solely on his one-sided account, he wants to accuse the master of cheating and missing questions. Does he really think the sage and the civil and military officials are fools?"
"Even this one-sided account is shocking. We naturally believe that the teacher would not do such a thing, but from the perspective of outsiders, who would use fame and official career to tarnish someone's innocence?"
Zeng Zhui wished he could chew Zhao Xiu to pieces.
"Before the imperial examination, Zhao Xiu frequently visited me. After passing, he went on to proclaim that I was his benefactor, praising him to the skies. Now, he's accused me of leaking questions, and I've been left with no defense. Furthermore, with those with ulterior motives, the matter has become a major uproar not only within the court but also among the other candidates, sparking widespread outrage. The Sage, hampered by public outcry, has ordered me imprisoned in Wutai and dismissed from my post pending investigation."
Xu Jiang was startled. "Wutai? Isn't it Dali Temple?"
Wutai is the Censorate, which is the prison where officials who have committed crimes are detained. Its Supervisory Office has the power to torture and examine the prisoners.
Zeng Zhui's lips turned pale. "They had planned this long ago. As soon as this happened, the Censorate submitted a memorial requesting an imperial decree to investigate the case. The Saint... granted it."
Xu Jiang's heart sank. If this matter were handed over to the Dali Temple for investigation, such a fabricated story would be uncovered sooner or later, and Du would be cleared of all charges. But if it were handed over to the Censorate, given their aggressive approach, the outcome would be unpredictable.
Moreover, with Lou Yunchun in the Dali Temple, they would not tolerate false accusations from others...
No! It was precisely because Lou Yunchun was in the Dali Temple that the case was handed over to the Censorate. The so-called "avoiding suspicion" means "being suspected". I'm afraid this conspiracy is not only targeting Du Hui.
Xu Jiang felt a tightness in his chest and hurriedly asked, "Where are Mr. Yuan and Mr. Lou?"
Zeng Zhui shuddered. "Examination cheating is a serious matter. All officials, big and small, from the Ministry of Rites are now detained in the Imperial Examination Hall for investigation. They will only be released home after all suspicion has been cleared. And because of Mr. Yuan's association with Zhao Xiu and his close ties with his teacher, he has been confined to the mansion and is under guard, isolated, and under observation until he is summoned for trial."
"Master Yuan was also dismissed from his post?"
"No."
Xu Jiang felt a little relieved, then asked, "How many days has it been since the incident?"
"On the second day of the examination, the teacher was detained. Today, the emperor officially ordered a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College. My elder brother and everyone in the Du family are under house arrest and are not allowed to leave without permission. Since I'm not a member of the Du family, my elder brother sent me out through the back door. I didn't know where to go, so I had to come find you."
The elder brother Zeng Zhui mentioned was Du Hui's eldest son Du Feizhang, who currently served as the chief secretary of the Secretariat in the court.
According to Zeng Zhui, it had been five days since the incident, and she was still completely unaware of it. No wonder Lou Yunchun hadn't come in the past few days. She had simply thought he was busy, never realizing it was because of something so serious.
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