Chapter 348
The winds in Luoyang City shifted overnight.
Although Shen Jun did not send Duan Huaichuan away, he never came back, and the Crown Prince did the same, making the guest residence suddenly deserted.
Duan Huaichuan wasn't stupid. Noticing the change in the attitude of the people in the Marquis's mansion towards him, he personally went for a walk around the streets.
At that moment, the noise from the street was still deafening.
"I knew it! Even if we don't talk about Luoyang City, we have so many aristocratic families and clans. How could we possibly fail the exam against someone from a remote mountain village? There's definitely something fishy going on!"
"Indeed! I thought that Duan was quite a handsome man, but I never expected him to be such a despicable person!"
"I never would have guessed!"
When Duan Huaichuan returned from his walk outside, he found Yunxi waiting for him in the courtyard of the guest residence.
Seeing that he had returned from outside, Yunxi's face paled slightly: "Brother Huaichuan, you..."
Duan Huaichuan smiled and said, "I know everything."
He entered the courtyard as if nothing had happened: "It's just some rumors, don't take it too seriously."
"How can I not take it to heart!" Yunxi couldn't help but worry for him. "Rumors say you bribed the examiners to leak the questions to you. Wouldn't the better you do on the test, the more dangerous it would be?!"
"To think of this, Xi'er is indeed clever."
Even at this point, Duan Huaichuan still had the leisure to joke with her.
Looking into Huai Chuan's smiling eyes, Yun Xi could only feel helpless: "Brother Huai Chuan, I've seen you come all this way. You've finally made it to Luoyang, you can't let it all go to waste!"
Duan Huaichuan lost his father at a young age, and the few acres of meager property his family owned, along with the last mementos his parents left him, were all taken away by his relatives.
Some members of the Duan family held local official positions, though not high ones, they were still very influential in Qingshui Village.
Duan Huaichuan went to Chen Zongwen's house several times to ask for his belongings back, but he was turned away each time. Even so, he refused to give up until Chen Zongwen stopped him.
Chen Zongwen pointed him to a path for taking the imperial examinations, and he finally agreed to return to the Chen family private school with Chen Zongwen and become Chen Zongwen's student.
From the moment his handwriting became neat, he began to go to town to copy letters for people. Each time he could only earn one or two coins, which was how he managed to scrape together enough money for meals at the private school. The rest he used to buy snacks or other exquisite trinkets for Yunxi.
Yunxi was spoiled by the Chen couple and was ignorant. She always wanted Duan Huaichuan to play with her at all times. Duan Huaichuan always indulged her. The Chen couple never said anything on ordinary days. However, whenever there was an exam, Chen Zongwen would stop her before she could go.
At that time, she knew that the imperial examination was Duan Huaichuan's only way out and his only way to survive.
Only by passing the imperial examination can Duan Huaichuan retrieve his parents' belongings and live with his head held high in the future.
So after that, Yunxi asked Duan Huaichuan to go out and play less often, and spent more time watching Duan Huaichuan read.
Through countless winters and summers, Duan Huaichuan never slacked off, and it wasn't easy for him to get to where he is today.
How could we fall victim to such a conspiracy?
Seeing that Duan Huaichuan had actually sat down, Yunxi sat down as well: "Brother Huaichuan, you're so smart, you must have figured it out, right?"
Duan Huaichuan was silent for a while before saying, "Today, I went to the Censorate."
"The Censorate?"
Duan Huaichuan nodded slightly: "The Censorate has the responsibility of supervision, and cases of cheating in examinations also fall under their jurisdiction."
"And what was the result?"
"In the end..." Duan Huaichuan gave a bitter smile, "In the end, we couldn't even get through the door."
He lingered at the door for a long time, saying that he had been wronged, but the guards at the door refused to let him in no matter what, and not only that, they also said a lot of nasty things.
Yunxi swayed slightly: "How could this be..."
“Cheating in exams happens every year. Some people really did it, and some were wrongly accused. As long as you go to the Censorate, there is at least a glimmer of hope. But now…” Duan Huaichuan stared at Yunxi, “Xi’er, do you know what this means?”
Yunxi was in a state of confusion and shook her head haphazardly: "I don't know."
"This means that a powerful person does not want me to enter officialdom."
Duan Huaichuan spoke slowly and deliberately.
Therefore, he couldn't even get through the gates of the Censorate.
"For now, there's only one thing I can do," Duan Huaichuan said calmly, "wait."
"If I'm lucky, I might catch His Majesty's attention. If I can get to His Majesty's presence, there might still be room for maneuver."
However, such a possibility is extremely small, almost nonexistent.
"Is there any other way besides this?"
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