Princess Huyang had a terrible headache.
She promised her son she would help him propose marriage to the Wang family, and she did go. But now that she's told that her son likes a girl who was raised as a boy, the princess regrets her decision.
What serious illness did it have that required such treatment to raise it to adulthood?
If it's cured, that's fine, but I'm afraid it might leave some aftereffects.
Princess Huyang was deeply worried.
Princess Huyang's concerns left the eldest son-in-law both amused and exasperated. "You ate so many steamed buns and didn't die from being stuffed, yet you're worried that the girl our son has his eye on has a weak constitution?"
Princess Huyang, "..."
There was no rebuttal.
Princess Huyang glanced at the water clock and said, "It's getting late today, so we'll have to go to the Wang family to propose marriage tomorrow."
The Grand Prince Consort was surprised that Princess Huyang had decided to visit the Wang family again tomorrow before he could even offer any advice. He laughed and said, "Why do I feel like you're even more anxious than An'er?"
Princess Huyang said, "The autumn examination is the day after tomorrow. Your son will be the supervisor. If I don't arrange the marriage soon, I'm afraid he'll be too distracted to take on the job."
The eldest son-in-law wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "No one knows a child better than their mother; you understand An'er perfectly."
These words made Princess Huyang even more eager.
Unfortunately, her eagerness was useless. The next day, when Princess Huyang was preparing to leave the palace for the Wang family, the Empress Dowager sent someone to invite her to the palace.
Princess Huyang was worried that the Empress Dowager had something urgent to discuss with her, so she had no choice but to go to the palace first.
Inside, Shen Wan sat on a small couch, pruning flower branches, while Haitang wiped the antique display shelf. Yinshuang brought in tea and said with a smile, "Your Highness, this servant heard an interesting story..."
Shen Wan's gaze remained fixed on him as she casually asked, "What interesting thing happened?"
Yinshuang said, "Princess Huyang and her husband came to propose marriage to the young master yesterday, but they went to the wrong residence."
Shen Wan, "..."
How could this be wrong?
Yinshuang said, "Now everyone in teahouses and taverns is speculating about whose residence Princess Huyang and her husband were originally going to propose marriage to..."
Not to mention Yinshuang, even Chenwan was curious.
Shen Wan was unaware that Du Cheng'an wanted to marry Xu Ji's cousin.
Shen Wan asked in surprise, "How could such an embarrassing thing have spread?"
Princess Huyang was of noble status, so her servants certainly wouldn't dare to say anything, and those who were mistakenly proposed to in marriage would be even less likely to do so.
Yes, this news came from the palace. Princess Huyang and the Wang family had both issued gag orders, but Princess Huyang and her husband went to the Wang family together in such a large carriage that it couldn't be kept secret. The news reached the Empress Dowager's ears. The Empress Dowager happened to have something to discuss with Princess Huyang, so she asked her about it. Princess Huyang didn't hide anything and told the Empress Dowager the truth. At that time, the palace servants didn't dismiss them. They passed the news from one person to another, and it quickly spread throughout the entire palace, and then from the palace to outside the palace.
However, Princess Huyang didn't take it to heart. Once the marriage was settled, the rumors would fall apart on their own.
However, her trip to the palace disrupted Princess Huyang's plan to propose marriage to the Wang family. Princess Huyang had lunch with the Empress Dowager in the palace before leaving. After leaving the palace, she first went to Prince Cheng's residence to visit Prince Cheng and Princess Cheng, and then went to see the eldest prince. By the time she returned to her residence, it was almost evening.
The following day was the day the imperial court reopened the special imperial examination.
Early in the morning, Prince Yanping and Tang Ze arrived at the examination hall. The emperor appointed them as supervisors to oversee the examinations and prevent students from cheating.
Prince Yanping and his entourage believed that preventing cheating should start with preventing students from entering the examination hall. They were also interested in this matter and arrived exceptionally early.
Prince Yanping and Tang Ze arrived first, followed by Lu Cheng, and finally Du Cheng'an.
All four people arrived, and none of them were left behind to guard the city patrol.
Don't worry.
If their subordinates dared to arrest even their four superiors, who else would the city patrol officers not dare to arrest?
Having arrested so many people of high status, ordinary people wouldn't dare to act arrogantly when arrested by the city patrol, not even their own fathers.
Furthermore, if the Emperor is willing to assign them to a few days' assignment, how could they not be at ease?
Students arrived one after another. The examination began by checking the floats to verify the candidates' identities and prevent cheating. Then the bedding and food they brought were checked, since the examination would last for three days and the examination hall did not provide food; candidates had to bring their own.
Prince Yanping and Lu Cheng formed one group, while Tang Ze and Du Cheng'an formed another, responsible for checking for cheating.
The methods used to investigate cheating left even the officials specifically tasked with investigating the matter speechless.
The worst cheating methods are hiding cheat sheets in clothes, shoes, bedding, or even in calligraphy brushes...
However, Prince Yanping and his entourage found cheat sheets hidden in the hairpins used to tie their hair, as well as in the hair ribbons, pastries, and even the carved characters hidden in the bottom compartment of the pastry boxes.
Prince Yanping and his men dared not say that they had investigated everything thoroughly and that no one had escaped, but at least 99% of them were prevented from entering the examination hall.
When the Emperor was arranging the chief examiners, he specifically designated these four as supervisors. The civil and military officials thought that the Emperor valued their impartiality and entrusted them with important responsibilities. Little did they know that they were truly adept at preventing cheating. It must be said that the Emperor had a unique vision.
Prince Yanping and his entourage uncovered many cheating students, fulfilling their duties diligently. The imperial censors submitted memorials praising them, and the emperor also thought they were quite capable, after all, they were favored by his own son. After the exam, the emperor specially summoned them to the court, intending to reward them, but in the end, he almost beat them up.
The Emperor asked, "How did you figure out where they were cheating?"
The princes of Yanping and the others looked at each other, unsure how to answer the emperor.
The Prince of Yanping sternly rebuked, "The Emperor is asking you a question. What are you doing looking around like that?"
The Crown Prince of Yanping said awkwardly, "The Prince of Ling taught us."
The Emperor asked in surprise, "Did Prince Ling teach you this?"
The Crown Prince of Yanping replied, "In order to catch cheaters, we consulted with the eldest son of the Right Prime Minister's residence and the eldest son of the Minister of Rites' residence while we were eating at Deyuelou. Prince Ling was also there at the time, and he said that this little thing wouldn't stop us. The only places where candidates could cheat, besides themselves, were the things they brought with them. He asked us where we would tamper with things if we were candidates. Then the four of us studied it carefully..."
“The places we thought of for cheating, those students thought of too.”
emperor,"……"
The officials were speechless.
It turns out those students who were cheating ran into four masters of cheating; no wonder they got caught.
The Emperor originally intended to reward them for their meritorious service in investigating cheating, but now how can he reward them?
Would they judge others by their own standards?
In the end, the emperor rewarded each of them with a jade pendant because of their honesty.
However, aside from the eldest son-in-law's composure regarding the pretext for this reward, the Prince of Yanping, the Marquis of Xuanping, and Lord Tang all had their lips twitching for half the morning court session.
I wonder which eye of His Majesty saw that their shrewd son was honest? Should we ask His Majesty to find an imperial physician to treat his eye disease?
However, all of that will happen after the exam. Right now, the candidates have entered the examination room, and the exam papers will be distributed when the time comes.
The prince of Yanping, who used to patrol the city, is now patrolling the examination hall.
None of them expected that being a supervising official would not only help prevent fraud, but also bring them merit.
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