"What do you mean I'm disqualified? There's no evidence whatsoever?" Liu Zijin felt a little flustered when he heard what the officers and soldiers said, but he still pretended to be calm and looked at them.
If the officers and soldiers had no evidence, he would report it directly.
"You have a cheat sheet hidden in your pen cap. Do you really think I didn't notice it?" Yun Zheng stepped forward and took out a brush from Liu Zijin's bamboo basket, then pulled out the cheat sheet and glared at him angrily.
He has been keeping a close eye on it here, but he didn't expect that someone would still dare to commit a crime against the law. Do they really think he is just a decoration?
"Did you arrange this?" Xu Tianze saw Liu Zijin and Yun Zheng arguing, and tilted his head to ask the wise king beside him.
After all, Yun Zheng is their man. Apart from him and the wise king, nothing can happen without each other knowing. But he had no idea about this beforehand.
This is why I asked King Xian just to hear his plan.
"Do you think I would hide it from you if I arranged it?" When the wise king saw this scene, he thought that Aze was deliberately making things difficult to vent his anger, but he didn't expect that the person would ask him directly.
When Xu Tianze heard this, he turned his head and looked at the Xian King. The Xian King rolled his eyes without any concealment. He really disdained to do such a thing.
Seeing the virtuous king's look, Xu Tianze knew that the virtuous king really did not do it. He looked at the prince and others again, and there was doubt in their eyes, which did not seem to be fake.
"It looks like the show is about to begin." Xu Tianze sneered. It wasn't done by just a few people. Either it was Yun Zheng, or someone behind the scenes took action.
However, Xu Tianze guessed it was the latter. After all, Yun Zheng's image of being upright and incorruptible had been deeply rooted in people's hearts over the years. When using him again, Xu Tianze and others had conducted extensive investigations.
It was just to avoid any problems with Yun Zheng, but now it seems that he has been directly taken advantage of.
Xu Tianze took the lead and walked towards the location of Liu Zijin and others. The wise king and others looked at each other, prepared themselves mentally, and followed.
After all, the inspection is suspended now, but everyone is waiting to see what happens on Liu Zijin's side, just to see how it will be handled in the end.
"Your Highnesses, the Duke of Zhenguo, and Supervisor Xu." When Yun Zheng saw Xu Tianze and others coming over, he turned around and saluted them.
Liu Zijin also quickly bowed and said, "Please, sirs, make the decision for me."
"Hmph, you've been caught red-handed, and yet you're still shamelessly asking for help?" Yun Zheng snorted coldly when he heard that Liu Zijin was the first to complain.
He had been an official for many years and rose from humble beginnings, so he naturally looked down on this kind of clever student. It was a pity that he thought this student was a good person at the beginning.
He had been respectful and polite since he came in, so naturally he had some good feelings towards him. He didn't expect that he was also a bad person.
No matter what he said today, he would not allow this kind of student to take the imperial examination. Otherwise, he would be unworthy of his official uniform, and even more unworthy of the trust of the princes, Lord Xu, and the Duke of Zhenguo.
"The student didn't have it. This pen doesn't belong to the student at all." Liu Zijin was also secretly anxious and quickly defended himself.
After years of studying hard, he finally made it here. If he was slandered and missed the imperial examination, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Xu Tianze did not say anything when he saw that Yun Zheng and Liu Zijin each had their own opinions. He first took the pen and notes from Yun Zheng's hand, and after carefully examining them, he handed the two items to the King Xian and others for their inspection.
Then he looked at Liu Zijin: "Liu Zijin, I will give you a chance to prove yourself."
"Liu Zijin? Are you Liu Zijin?" Before Liu Zijin could thank him, Yun Zheng on the side spoke first in shock.
When the students from Shangjing City arrived in Shangjing City, they would naturally hold some tea parties to show off their elegance. Among them, Liu Zijin made a name for himself.
As the Minister of Rites, Yun Zheng naturally paid a lot of attention to this. Although he had never met Liu Zijin in person, he still had some understanding of his talents.
But the more this happened, the angrier Yun Zheng became. With Yun Zheng's talent, if he didn't resort to these little tricks, there was still a great possibility that he would be on the list.
In the end, the shock turned into a sense of regret: "You have such a bright future, but you have to ruin it yourself. How foolish!"
"Sir, this pen is not a student's. A student's pen looks like this." Liu Zijin didn't want to pay attention to Yun Zheng, so he opened his basket and took out his pen.
When the two brushes were taken out, everyone could see Liu Zijin's family situation. The paint on the two brushes had been peeling off due to long-term use. Except for the nibs, which were still well maintained, the pen shafts were no longer in good shape.
The pen tip looks intact, but if you look closely you can see that there are already some stray hairs on it.
The pen that Xu Tianze had just taken had a sandalwood pen holder, the pen cap looked as good as new, and even the nib looked smooth and lustrous.
The comparison between the two is extremely obvious.
It's really like eating meat porridge. Maybe in the eyes of those people, the cheapest brush in the capital is already the worst.
Xu Tianze shook his head in his heart. This kind of vision problem really cannot be made up for at any time.
However, Xu Tianze still admired Liu Zijin. He thought that Liu Zijin would panic because of being framed and would not see any problem. He did not expect it to be so rare.
He was able to remain calm and find the flaws in this situation.
"What do you think of this reason, Your Excellency?" Xu Tianze looked at Yun Zheng and gave the decision to Yun Zheng.
After all, Yun Zheng was the first to discover it. On the surface, they had already torn their relations apart. If he made the decision directly, people would see something.
"This point can indeed be proved, but there is no guarantee that you did it on purpose just to make an excuse for what happened." Yun Zheng nodded secretly in his heart, but he still refused to let Liu Zijin off easily.
This little evidence is still not enough. If other students follow suit and actually bring in cheat sheets, both he and Liu Zijin will be convicted.
However, Yun Zheng did not say everything he wanted to say, and left some words unsaid, waiting for Liu Zijin to refute him again.
Of course, if Liu Zijin didn't say it in the end, then he could only regretfully let Liu Zijin leave. After all, if he could help, he would help, and if he couldn't help, it wouldn't be hard on himself.
"Sir, I can prove it myself." Liu Zijin also understood that if he didn't explain things clearly today, even if he really entered the Imperial Examination Hall, he would probably end up in trouble.
It would be better to clear your name in front of so many adults and students, put a stop to the matter directly, and avoid rumors.
He took a deep breath, lowered his eyes to hide the shame in his eyes, then put down the bamboo basket and began to untie his belt.
"Liu Zijin, there are thousands of ways to prove your truth, but sometimes you don't need to believe in rumors." Xu Tianze reached out and held Liu Zijin's hand, admonishing Liu Zijin.
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