Chapter 262 The Queen Mother and the Regent Who Became a Cat 24
Within a few days, the news that the little emperor was poisoned due to his greed and lust spread throughout the court and outside.
While the people laughed at his stupidity, they also felt sympathy for Lady Lian's tragic fate and lamented that the emperor was unkind and incompetent.
The emperor's prestige among court officials and the people began to gradually weaken.
At the same time, a case of official manipulation in the imperial examinations broke out.
After the results were announced, all the talented young men from poor families failed to be selected. Those who were selected were all playboys who wrote mediocre articles on weekdays and even stammered when faced with questions from the teacher.
These people have something in common, that is, they are rich and close to the Lin family.
One of the unsuccessful candidates was dissatisfied, so he went to the government office and asked to see the essays of those who were selected. As a result, he was beaten half to death and thrown at the gate of the government office to show his anger.
Men of letters have character.
This move was intended to humiliate and provoke those failed candidates who had studied hard but had no background. They united in anger and applied for the publication of their articles, seeking a fair and transparent result.
This matter caused a lot of uproar, and at least half of the memorials submitted so far were requests for a thorough investigation of the imperial examination fraud and a fair and transparent result for the candidates.
To protect himself and Duke Lin, the young emperor forcibly suppressed the matter, which only aroused further dissatisfaction among the children of poor families and the noble families.
Worried, he hurried to Yongning Palace and asked Cha Jiu to clean up his mess again.
Cha Jiu sat on a chair, scraping the foam off the hot tea unhurriedly, and said slowly: "If Your Majesty wants to stop the gossip, the only way is to thoroughly investigate the matter, kill the officials involved, remove the reputation of the cheaters, and re-examine the examination papers and select candidates."
"No!" The little emperor's face turned pale.
Cha Jiu glanced at him with a half-smile: "Why not?"
The little emperor didn't dare to speak.
He allowed this to happen. If they want to investigate, they will definitely find him.
If the emperor colluded with officials to commit imperial examination fraud, he would be infamous in history books forever!
"Duke Lin has come up with a good idea." After hesitating for a long time, the little emperor finally spoke, "The rumors among the people now are all spread by those poor people who are jealous of others' success. As long as we shut their mouths, this matter can be settled."
After saying this, a ruthless look flashed in his eyes: "So I order that all those failed candidates who gossip and make trouble be thrown into jail."
"Cough, cough..." Cha Jiu was drinking tea and almost choked to death by the tea in his mouth.
She looked at the little emperor in disbelief: "You locked up all these candidates."
Cha Jiu was so shocked that he didn't even bother to use honorifics.
"Yes, let them be so talkative!" The little emperor seemed very satisfied with this approach.
In fact, the prisons in the capital were already overcrowded at that time.
It was full of people seeking justice for their crimes who were petitioning for a thorough investigation of the case. Even the most heinous murderers had no place to be put in there.
The order in the capital was in chaos, everyone was in danger, but the rumors of dissatisfaction with the emperor were getting more and more intense.
Cha Jiu held his forehead and sighed.
Angry is not enough to describe the complex emotions she is feeling at this moment.
She was mostly speechless.
The little emperor glanced at her secretly, and after making sure that there was no danger of being scolded, he continued, "Stopping the rumors is the first step. The second step is to restore my prestige in the hearts of the people. So I plan to go to Dongzhou to inspect the disaster relief work and show my love for the people."
Cha Jiu lowered his eyes, hiding his impatience: "Since Your Majesty has already made the decision, why are you still asking me?"
The little emperor curled his lips and said, "The journey from the capital to Dongzhou is long, and I am a little scared and uneasy, so I would like to ask the empress dowager to accompany me."
Cha Jiu: “…”
This emperor is not worth getting along with. When something happens, he really treats her as his mother.
The young emperor thought for a moment, then quickly said, "We must let the Regent accompany me on the ride, so that if he sends someone to assassinate me, he will be cautious."
Cha Jiu was speechless.
A tour to the east, moving the whole family.
When the little emperor stood up to leave, he happened to see a double dragon-patterned crabapple jade ring on the tray in Cha Jiu's hand. It was also decorated with silver-gray tassels and looked dignified and reserved.
This is a men's jade pendant, which should have been given to the mysterious male favorite.
The little emperor's eyes flashed with disdain, but his face was full of smiles. He flattered her, "If the Queen Mother feels lonely on the journey to Dongzhou, you can bring those little toys for entertainment, but don't be too ostentatious."
Cha Jiu frowned and looked at him, not knowing what nonsense he was talking about.
As soon as the little emperor stepped out of Yongning Palace, Zong Yue came back.
He took off his cloak, and the layer of snow covering it fell off and flew away, his black hair was damp and cold, and his face was frozen with a few tiny cracks.
It looked like he had been running around outside and had even forgotten to hold an umbrella to keep out the snow.
Zong Yue opened his mouth and said, "Don't worry, I will go and negotiate today to release all the detained candidates."
Many candidates came from poor families. They studied hard for several years and sold their family property just to go to Beijing to take the imperial examination and try their luck for a bright future.
Who would have thought that we would encounter such an unfortunate fraud case.
The Regent's Palace paid out of its own pocket to provide temporary accommodation for these homeless candidates.
Cha Jiu stared at the frostbite on his face and asked the palace maid to go to the bedroom to get the Bixue cream for nourishing the skin.
It was a cold winter day, and the paste in the small white porcelain bottle had solidified.
Cha Jiu covered the porcelain bottle with his hands, moved closer and blew hot air gently. It finally melted a little. He touched some with his fingertips and tried to wipe it on the cracks on Zong Yue's face.
But Zong Yue was nearly 1.98 meters tall, which was too tall, and Cha Jiu could not see the location of the crack clearly.
"Lower your head." She reminded him gently.
Zong Yue did as he was told.
"A little lower." Cha Jiu still couldn't see clearly.
Zong Yue lowered his head again.
Cha Jiu's exquisite and beautiful face was within reach. Her face was as white and delicate as mutton-fat jade, without a single pore visible. Her almond-shaped eyes reflected his face, and her cherry lips were gorgeous, exuding an alluring sweetness.
Zong Yue's eyes turned dark and thick, and his throat started to churn.
The tall figure of Cha Jiu, who was seriously painting his face, loomed over him.
The next second, her waist was brought into a strong embrace, her chin was lifted up by a big hand, and she accepted Zong Yue's grabbing and giving from bottom to top.
After a cup of tea, the two separated.
Cha Jiu's lips were so swollen that they were unbearable to look at. They were extremely red, with a faint pink edge that was slightly swollen and blurry.
There was a smile in Zong Yue's eyes, and his rough fingertips continued to massage her lips ambiguously, as if he was not satisfied yet.
Cha Jiu, whose lips were numb, glared at him, stuffed the Bixue cream into his hand, and said unhappily, "Apply the rest yourself!"
Zong Yue didn't bother, he picked up a fingerful of ointment and smeared it on his face.
This little frostbite is nothing to him.
But my wife said she wanted to apply it.
Then you have to apply it.
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