Chapter 245: Did You Accept Bribes?
The people shouted, "The county magistrate is the chief examiner today, busy catching cheaters in the examination hall. Doesn't the prefect know about this?"
The prefect brushed his official robes. "There are people cheating in the examination hall. This has been inevitable since ancient times! Why don't you condemn the cheaters, but come here to make a scene? What's your reason?"
Everyone said, "Because someone cheated and claimed to have bribed the examiners for the provincial and imperial examinations! He's guaranteed to take first place!"
"Impossible!" The prefect's face turned pale. "Who is so reckless?"
"It's Wang Zude! We just wanted to ask, what exactly is this year's Tongshi exam about? Is it a test of the student's knowledge, or a test of the family's wealth?"
"Stop making up stories and believing everything you hear!" the prefect shouted. "How could the academician and I be so corrupt? People who cheat are inherently immoral. How can we trust what they say?"
People spoke one after another.
"We don't want to believe it either! But Wang Zude doesn't seem to be lying!"
"As long as there's even a shred of suspicion, we can't let it go! We can't joke with our family's future!"
"Could you please explain to us why Wang Zude said that?"
The governor of education, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up, "If that's the case, bring Wang Zude here for trial and we'll know. Where is Wang Zude now?"
"In the prison." Everyone answered.
The Superintendent of Education took off the fish talisman from his body and handed it to a servant. "Go to the prison immediately and bring him back. I want to interrogate Wang Zude personally!"
The servant took the order and left.
The governor of education had a chair brought and sat in front of the posthouse.
"Everyone, please be patient. I am just as curious as you all are. How did Wang Zude bribe the chief examiner? And how did he bribe me and the prefect?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
The prefect seized the opportunity to flatter him, "The academician is the one who has the solution. He can convince everyone with just one move!"
After a stick of incense, Wang Zude was brought in.
"Wang Zude, I heard that you boasted in public today, saying that as long as you passed the county exam, you would definitely be the top candidate. Is that true or not?"
"No... I didn't say such a thing..." Wang Zude knelt on the ground and trembled.
The crowd shouted, "Wang Zude, you're lying! You clearly said it! We all heard it!"
"That might have been nonsense I said in a fit of rage!" Wang Zude cried. "I was caught cheating and was so upset I don't even remember what I said! I didn't expect you to take it seriously!"
The Superintendent of Education said, "Wang Zude, if you want to return home as soon as possible, you should tell the truth. Let me ask you, did your family bribe the chief examiner during this Tongshi exam?"
"No!" Wang Zude said firmly.
The academic governor sighed and looked at everyone, "Everyone, it seems this matter will not lead to any conclusion. Perhaps everyone has really been deceived by his nonsense."
Everyone looked at each other, speechless.
Wang Zude gritted his teeth and refused to admit it. Even if the gods came, there was nothing he could do.
"The academician is taking us for fools!" Zhao Xingjian sneered. "The academician himself is suspected of bribing the chief examiner. How could he personally try Wang Zude?"
This remark awakened everyone, and they all said, "That's right! How could we have forgotten about this?"
"If Wang Zude had offered bribes, he wouldn't have dared to admit it in front of them!"
"The academician just ordered Wang Zude to be interrogated. He might have threatened Wang Zude during the interrogation to prevent him from telling the truth!"
…
"Silence!" the prefect raised his voice. "You keep saying that the academician and I have accepted bribes, but you can't produce a single shred of evidence! I've seen that one of you is deliberately instigating trouble! Come, arrest the man who just questioned the academician. I will charge him with falsely accusing an official of the imperial court!"
There was a commotion among the crowd.
Zhao Xingjian calmly stepped forward and said, "Excuse me, what is a false accusation? Frame-up means to falsely accuse someone, to make something happen that didn't happen. Your interrogation of Wang Zude is not in compliance with our laws. Therefore, what Wang Zude said cannot be used as evidence that you didn't accept bribes. Therefore, for now, you can't accuse me of a false accusation!"
"What a sharp-tongued and unruly commoner!" the prefect was furious. "Alright! I won't punish you for false accusations, but I think it's fair to charge you with contempt for an official appointed by the imperial court. Come, arrest this man!"
"Get out of the way!" Several guards came over with knives in their hands and looked ferocious.
Ye Yanping stood in front of Zhao Xingjian, "Master, don't be afraid. If you come one at a time, I'll beat you one at a time. If you come two at a time, I'll beat you two at a time!"
Just then, Zhou Huaining's voice came from a distance.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, I am late!"
“Clatter…”
More than a hundred of Zhou Huaining's guards rushed forward and dispersed the crowd.
He also knocked away those who were trying to capture Zhao Xingjian.
Zhou Huaining walked over angrily, staring at the crowd and yelling, "You're going to die! What are you all doing here? You're so disrespectful to me, but how can you treat the prefect and the academician like this? Do you know how high their rank is? They can crush you to death more easily than an ant! Get out of here!"
The people obeyed no one but Magistrate Zhou.
Although everyone was unwilling, they did not dare to disobey Zhou Huaining, so everyone left in a rush.
"Hey hey hey...that troublemaker can't leave..."
The prefect pointed at Zhao Xingjian as he left, and was about to say something when Zhou Huaining ran over and grabbed the prefect's hand. "Prefect, isn't that a coincidence? I received a letter from my father today, and he asked me to give you his regards!"
The prefect was flattered and laughed immediately, "Oh my! How can I do that? This is really embarrassing!"
"Cough cough!" The Governor of Education coughed twice and stood up from his chair.
"I actually forgot to mention the academic governor to my father!" Zhou Huaining looked annoyed. "But it's okay. Now that I've met the academic governor, I'll remember it!"
The Governor of Education coughed twice and pretended to sit down again.
"My Lords, I heard that Wang Zude was brought to trial, and I was immediately overwhelmed with emotion! You must punish this man severely, because he is truly abominable!"
The prefect was stunned. "What do you mean?"
Zhou Huaining glanced at Wang Zude and lowered his voice, "You two may not know this, but before the exam, this man's family tried to bribe me with a large sum of money, but I flatly refused!"
The prefect praised him, "Huaining is very honest and self-disciplined. I have heard of him for a long time! But I wonder how much this huge amount of silver is?"
"Five thousand taels!" Zhou Huaining whispered.
"Five thousand taels?!"
The academician and the prefect both widened their eyes...
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