The Prince of Yanping and his entourage have done a good job in catching cheaters, and the Emperor has already rewarded them, hasn't he?
Moreover, this merit is not enough to promote them all by one rank.
Just as Shen Wan was wondering what was going on, Yin Shuang asked, "What kind of merit did they achieve?"
The maidservant said, "It was the newly appointed top scholar who asked for credit for them. The pastries he brought into the examination hall were stolen and tasted bad. He couldn't bear to eat them and ended up vomiting and having diarrhea in the examination hall. Prince Yanping and the others gave him some antidiarrheal medicine and shared their food with him. If it weren't for Prince Yanping and the others helping him, he probably wouldn't have even made it out of the examination hall, let alone become the top scholar."
The examination hall was sealed off, and no one was allowed to leave until the appointed time.
Um.
The Prince of Yanping and his entourage felt as if they were dreaming about this promotion.
They were already the envy of others because of Xie Jingyan's recommendation, but after only a few months in the Patrol Division, they were promoted again. It's infuriating to compare yourself to others.
It's not a big deal for them to do a good deed at the examination hall and help a student. Grand Secretary Han mentioned it to the Emperor before, but the Emperor didn't take it seriously. However, the person they helped was the newly appointed top scholar. After the Emperor personally appointed him as the top scholar, the new top scholar expressed his gratitude to them in front of the Emperor. The Emperor couldn't help but reward them.
They were happy to help others, and the newly appointed top scholar was grateful for their kindness, which made this a win-win situation.
To explain this in detail, we have to start with the Prince of Yanping and his accomplices' sudden urge to catch cheaters. They were very interested in catching cheaters and even went to catch them themselves.
While inspecting the students' meals, Lu Cheng asked, "These students are only eating pastries during the three days of the examination hall?"
The Crown Prince of Yanping said, "Otherwise, how can we afford to feast on fish and meat?"
Lu Cheng asked, "It's still quite hot today. Can we still eat the pastries after three days?"
Young masters from prominent families like theirs enjoy the finest food, clothing, and daily necessities. It's almost impossible for leftover pastries to be served to them unless they were bought overnight and the servants didn't know. It's even less likely that they would eat leftovers. If you want to make a fuss, you can't even eat well. That's just too miserable.
Lu Cheng felt sorry for them, and Tang Ze patted him on the shoulder, "It's not just these students who want to eat pastries, we want to too."
“…No way?” Lu Cheng’s forehead trembled.
The Prince of Yanping said, "The examination hall will not open for another three days. It will be guarded by soldiers, and not even a bird can fly over it."
Lu Cheng asked, "What if we get an upset stomach?"
Tang Ze said, "It seems there have been cases of students getting food poisoning, but it's rare."
The Prince of Yanping said, "If you're worried, you can bring some antidiarrheal medicine with you."
Lu Cheng said, "We should bring some."
"Then you'd better hurry, the examination hall will be closing soon."
Lu Cheng quickly sent a constable to the nearest pharmacy to buy antidiarrheal medicine. He wasn't very confident about his pampered stomach, and he was just afraid of the worst-case scenario.
However, Lu Cheng didn't use the antidiarrheal medicine himself, but gave it to Zhou Yuanzhi.
Food does risk spoiling if left for three days, so to ensure the safety of the food, the students brought freshly baked pastries that were not prone to spoilage.
Zhou Yuanzhi brought his favorite osmanthus cake, which his pageboy bought early that morning. It would definitely last for three days.
The pastries he bought were all in good condition when they were packed, but they tasted a bit sour when he ate them. Zhou Yuanzhi didn't think they had gone bad, so he ate two pieces. He felt that if he didn't eat enough, his mind wouldn't work and he wouldn't be able to write anything.
However, after being poisoned by a few pieces of pastry, his stomach began to churn violently within half an hour. He became very irritable and in unbearable pain, repeatedly running to the toilet.
The frequent trips to the exam room disturbed the examiners. To provide a quiet environment for the students, they were generally instructed to relieve themselves in the exam room for minor urination and only go to the outhouse for major urination.
Zhou Yuanzhi went five times in half an hour. The last time he came back, he had to be helped back, and his steps were so weak that he could barely stand.
He was no longer able to answer the questions, and the assistant examiner, citing his disruption of other candidates, decided to send him to a side room and prevent him from continuing the exam.
Zhou Yuanzhi disagreed. He had participated in the imperial examination and believed he had done well. He thought he would at least be among the top-ranked candidates, if not the top scholar. However, he didn't even make the list and returned to Meizhou dejectedly. He disappointed everyone who had placed high hopes on him.
That feeling was awful.
Just when he was feeling dejected and disheartened, news came that there had been cheating in the imperial examinations and that the court was going to reopen the special examinations. Only then did he cheer up and continue to prepare for the exams.
He got into the exam room, but had to give up because of an upset stomach, which he couldn't accept.
He wants to continue taking the exam!
However, the deputy examiner disagreed. Just as Zhou Yuanzhi was being dragged away, the Prince of Yanping and Tang Ze came over after patrolling the examination room and asked what had happened.
They were merely proctors, only responsible for patrolling the examination hall to prevent cheating. They had no say in anything, big or small, in the examination hall, and were not even allowed to inquire about it. However, being a proctor was just their most insignificant position. They hadn't developed this sense of self-awareness, so they asked directly, and no one dared not to answer.
Upon hearing that they had eaten something bad, both Prince Yanping and Tang Ze's lips twitched.
It's one thing to get sick on the last day, but it's only the first day! Can't you be a little more careful about what you eat?
Upon hearing Zhou Yuanzhi say that the pastries were bought that morning, Prince Yanping and Tang Ze suspected something was wrong. They ordered someone to bring over Zhou Yuanzhi's pastries. Du Cheng'an smelled them and said, "These pastries have already gone bad; they've been sitting out for at least three or four days."
Zhou Yuanzhi said, "How could it have gone bad? The pastries were still warm when the page boy bought them."
The pastries were bought from Yongfangzhai, which was so busy that there were no pastries left to sell.
This clearly shows that someone stole Zhou Yuanzhi's pastries.
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