Just as Xiao Hechuan was about to leave after meeting the emperor, Eunuch Fu, who was beside the emperor, came in hurriedly.
"Your Majesty, someone outside is beating the drum to file a complaint!"
Dengwen Drum was a drum specially set up outside the court by emperors of all dynasties to show that they would listen to the advice and grievances of their subjects. The emperors allowed their subjects to beat the drum to report their grievances, so it was called Dengwen Drum.
"Who wants to file a complaint?" the emperor asked with a frown.
His drum for reporting to the emperor has only been sounded a few times since he ascended the throne.
"Grandson of the Minister of Rites, and a book boy beside Guo Gan!"
"Oh? What's the matter?"
There have been a lot of things going on in the home of the Minister of Rites recently. During the previous imperial examination, Guo Gan's answers were disappointing, and now the clerk beside him is going to file a complaint to the emperor.
Xiao Hechuan knew that Helian Jing's rebellion was successful, and Mu Qing had reported the matter to the authorities. Guo Gan's dirty deeds could no longer be covered up.
He knew that it was not suitable for him to stay here any longer, so he took the initiative to say goodbye to the emperor.
As a result, the emperor told him to stay and listen.
In this case, Xiao Hechuan would be happy to see for himself what happened to Guo Gan in order to relieve his hatred.
Because it was a drum-beating ceremony, many people came to hear the news, and many ministers came to listen.
The princes could not be absent either, and Mu Qing was taken directly to the hall.
The Minister of Rites hurried into the palace with his grandson. When he saw Mu Qing kneeling in the main hall, he almost fainted.
When Guo Gan saw Mu Qing, he couldn't help but kick him and cursed:
"An ungrateful bastard who eats his own food!"
Mu Qing was kicked to the ground by him, and the Minister of Rites quickly grabbed him.
"Rebellious son, this is the Qinzheng Palace, please don't act so presumptuously."
Guo Gan was so angry that he forgot the occasion. At first glance, he realized that he was in the hall. Fortunately, the emperor had not come yet.
As the eunuchs announced that the Emperor had arrived, everyone stood up respectfully and returned to their respective seats, not daring to look around.
When Guo Gan saw that Xiao Hechuan was actually following the emperor and coming with him, he became jealous and went crazy.
The emperor sat down on the dragon throne, looked at Mu Qing who was kneeling below, and asked:
"Mu Qing, right? You beat the drum to file a complaint with the emperor. What did you file?"
All four princes were present today, but Mu Qing was still very scared and nervous facing this kind of occasion, and his whole body was shaking.
He raised his eyes to look at Helian Jing, who gave him an affirmative look, full of a sense of security.
Thinking back to a few days ago, King Xun met him in person and told him that he would always stand behind him, support him, and give him a way out.
As long as he is willing to stand up and testify against Guo Gan, he will face an extremely bright future. He will no longer need to rely on others. He can break free from slavery, take the imperial examination and become an official in the future, truly turning his life around.
Not only that, his descendants no longer had to be slaves, but were named after scholarly families.
This was too great a temptation for Mu Qing, and no one could refuse it.
In addition, he was hurt by Guo Gan. He had treated him wholeheartedly, but Guo Gan never treated him as a human being and would beat and scold him whenever he was unhappy.
So, after thinking it over, he finally decided to trust His Royal Highness Prince Xun, take a gamble, and bet on a good future for himself.
"I want to sue Guo Gan, the grandson of the Minister of Rites, who is also my master, for forcing me to cheat for him in the imperial examinations. I wrote all the answers for his exams myself."
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar and began to look at the Minister of Rites and Guo Gan.
The Minister of Rites closed his eyes, his whole body revealing despair. He knew that this was it.
Guo Gan's face was also pale.
They never suspected that someone knew about their conspiracy. They thought they had kept it secret very well and no one knew about it. Of course, they did not expect there to be a bug involving Xiao Hechuan.
They completely believed that Mu Qing wanted to self-destruct.
There is still a bandage on Mu Qing's forehead.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can you be so arrogant when you are just a book boy? I advise you to think it over before you speak. Your parents have been in the Guo family for so many years and have always been loyal. How could a bastard like you come out?"
Guo Gan was desperate and threatened in his words in front of the emperor.
He moved out his parents, which means your parents are still in my house, so you'd better think carefully before making a decision.
Eunuch Fu immediately noticed the emperor's look, and he flicked his whisk and cleared his throat.
"No noise is allowed in the hall."
Guo Gan was very anxious, but he didn't dare to be anxious. It was impossible to say that he was not panicking. He didn't expect that Mu Qing would actually betray him.
Seeing this, Helian Jing immediately said:
"Mu Qing, if you have any grievances, you can tell me. If your grievances are true, His Majesty will make the decision for you."
"Since you have sounded the drum to report the case, as long as you have a grievance and it has been verified to be true, I will make the decision for you. You don't have to worry about the future!"
Even the emperor said this, and Mu Qing instantly felt confident.
He stiffened his neck and retorted:
"Your Majesty, I have been with you since I was a child and I am loyal to you, but you don't appreciate the friendship we grew up together and never treat me as a human being. Whenever he is unhappy, he will beat or scold me. The Minister asked you to concentrate on the imperial examination, but you don't have the talent for it. I have been following you in and out of school since I was a child, and I have a lot of ideas about studying. Once I have free time, I concentrate on studying books and learning by myself, which is quite effective.
The Minister discovered by chance that I had a talent for reading. Two generations of the Guo family had entered officialdom through imperial examinations and were a family of scholars. But when it came to the young master's generation, his talent was not obvious. He played with cats and dogs every day. The Minister was very anxious, so he thought of a way to let the servant cheat for the young master. From then on, whenever the young master attended any poetry or tea party, he would bring the servant with him and let the servant answer for him. After that, the child examination and the prefectural examination were taken by the servant himself. The subsequent provincial examinations, academy examinations, and joint examinations were not allowed to be taken on behalf of others because of the strict management. So the Minister took advantage of his position to know the examination questions in advance, let the servant write the answers in advance, and let the young master recite them in order to cheat. Over the years, all the talents that the young master showed outside had nothing to do with him.
Therefore, in this palace examination, because he guessed the wrong questions, the answers he prepared at the beginning were useless, so the young master made a fool of himself in the palace examination and could not write anything. If you don't believe it, I can confront you and tell you that I can recite and write out all his answers, and all the poems in those poetry meetings were written by me alone. ”
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