Chapter 168 Palace Examination

This time, Shi Jiarui was imprisoned in a cell in the Dali Temple, so it was much more convenient to interrogate him.

As usual, Xie came back for interrogation. Shen Yuan watched from the side. Seeing Shen Yuan, a person like Shi Jiarui could not help but say a few foul words, but Shen Yuan did not take it to heart. She just wanted to find evidence as soon as possible and give justice to the young lady.

"You were in the capital the whole last month, right? Do you think that your denial can prove that you were not there?"

"Do you have evidence? What do you have to say that I am here? Just based on the words of a few prostitutes? Sir, don't you know yourself? They are the most shameless people in the world. Can you believe their words?"

Xie Hui sneered, "Prostitutes are shameless, do you think you have any shame when you go to a brothel?"

He wanted to deliberately provoke Shi Jiarui. When people are angry, they may reveal more things.

"What a joke! You're comparing me to a prostitute? My Lord, you're not one of them's lovers, are you?"

[What a joke! She is just a greedy prostitute, but she deserves to be investigated by the Dali Temple. No wonder my father said that the capital is not a good place.]

"You didn't want to kill Qianqian at first, did you? You paid for half a year's rent for that yard. Do you want her to be your mistress?"

"I've said before, I've never rented a yard. Besides, I have all the women I want, even a concubine, not a prostitute."

[This greedy woman, being my mistress is not enough, she even wants me to take her home. She really thinks she is a goddess. ]

Xie Hui glanced at what Shen Yuan had written on the paper, and continued along the lines of Shi Jiarui: "So she was the one who asked you to take her back home. She wanted to marry you, and you got tired of her, so you just killed her."

"You people from the Dali Temple are quite good at making up stories."

Xie Hui noticed the change in his eyes, and it was obvious that he looked like someone had hit the nail on the head.

He continued, "If you don't want to marry her, why don't you just abandon her? Why do you have to kill her? She's just a prostitute. Even if you abandon her, she can't do anything to you."

"I told you, I didn't kill anyone!"

[She's dead, so what? Why are you still holding on to her? It's so annoying. What reason do you need to kill someone? I've been to so many brothels, but I've never seen anyone so crazy. She almost made me exterminate my descendants. Killing her is a good thing for her.]

Shen Yuan recalled that the last time he heard Shi Jiarui "say" that Qianqian had bitten him, could it be that the one who was bitten was... ?

This can be considered a clue. Shen Yuan slowly wrote the two words "medical clinic" on the paper.

If it really comes to the point where you are about to lose your offspring, you must consult a doctor.

"You were very careful. The jewelry you gave me was all old, and there was nothing left in the yard. You thought you would never be found."

Shi Jiarui seemed to know that the Dali Temple could not find any evidence and could not do anything to him. He had changed from strongly denying and keeping silent at the beginning to being calm and peaceful now. He was even in the mood to make a few jokes.

"About a month ago, you told Qianqian that you wanted to marry her and redeem her. Qianqian believed you and went out with you. She even thought that she could marry you in the future, but you had no intention of marrying her. You rented a yard for her to live in, thinking that you were good enough. But Qianqian didn't want that. She wanted to marry you, and you had a conflict. You got tired of it, so you simply lied to her and said you would take her home. As a result, you killed her at a fork in the road ten miles south of the city and pushed her body into the woods."

Everyone knows that this is the truth, including Shi Jiarui himself.

But he still said the same thing, "You people from the Dali Temple can only make up stories."

But his evasive eyes still exposed him.

Then Xie Hui changed his tone and said slowly, "You Shi family are really powerful. You were able to stop the arrest warrant from reaching Yanzhou. The emperor is very angry. He has long disliked you Shi family. If the emperor makes a fuss about this, I don't know whether the Shi family will save you or kill you for the sake of justice."

[He must be lying to me. Yes, they have no evidence, so they are lying to me. It must be like this. It must be like this.]

"Let's go. It doesn't matter whether he says it or not."

What Xie Hui said was not completely deceiving Shi Jiarui. Now the prefect of Yanzhou, Liu Mingchong, has already entered the capital under the escort of the imperial guards. He has something in his hands that is hard to reveal, but it is definitely not nothing.

It seems that the emperor really wants to take this opportunity to overthrow the Shi family and no longer allow them to abuse their power in Yanzhou.

After coming out, Shen Yuan also told Xie Hui about his guess, "If he wasn't exaggerating, he would have definitely sought medical attention at that time if the case was so serious. He couldn't have waited until he returned to Yanzhou to see a doctor. It would be better to check the clinic near the courtyard where he lives to see if he has found anything."

"You're right. I'll have someone check it out."

"Well, I'll go tell my dad that I'm going home first. The palace exam will be tomorrow, and I have to go home to cheer my brother up."

"Okay, if I find out the result, I'll have someone tell you. Say it for me, I wish Brother Shen good luck in high school."

The Dali Temple has been very busy with this case recently, and Shen Yun has no time to ask about his son's palace examination. However, Shen Su doesn't care. He is the one to take the examination, and it is useless for his father to accompany him.

On May 18, one month after the announcement of the results of the joint examination, the palace examination was officially held, with Emperor Zhaoming personally setting the questions.

Today was the day for He Ying to enter the palace, and Shen Su said that his family didn't need to see him off, so the family just saw him off to the door. Today was the day for He Ying to leave her confinement, and now that the weather was warm, her family didn't restrict her from going out.

After the palace examination papers are completed, the chief examiner and other ministers will immediately review them and mark them. However, only the top three will be decided by the emperor.

Shen Su originally thought he would be nervous, but when he actually sat in the hall, he just felt calm.

The topic posed by the emperor was: Discuss the pros and cons of the current official selection system.

This is a big question, easy to answer but difficult to answer. Fortunately, anyone can say something about this question, but it is difficult to say it well.

While everyone was answering, the emperor also looked around with his hands behind his back. When he saw Shen Su, he became interested and looked at him a few more times.

But what he was thinking in his heart was that his nephew looked like his uncle, so would the child they had in the future grow up to be like Shen Su?

Shen Su noticed that the emperor had been listening to him for a long time, but he was prepared and did not react too much, and continued to answer calmly.

It was just a pity for the person next to Shen Su, who had to keep looking at the emperor's dragon buttocks with the rest of his eyes, and was so frightened that he could hardly write.

“Stop writing——”

The ringing of the bell means the end of the exam.

Shen Xu let out a sigh of relief. He had done everything he could and left the rest to fate.

The results of the top three in the first class will be known tomorrow. The Ministry of Rites will organize ceremonial guards for the top three and send them to their residences. They will then be paraded through the streets, and after the parade they will enter the palace to meet the emperor.

The results of the second and third place will also be announced by the Ministry of Rites on the third day after the palace examination.

The emperor had paid special attention to the top few candidates in previous examinations, and when he was reading the papers, he would take their papers first.

"This Li Ping... Humph, this is the first time I've seen someone who disdains the imperial examination and officialdom."