The Thirteenth Prince smiled meaningfully, and the Fourth Prince asked curiously, "Who wrote this? It must be from the top list..."
The Thirteenth Prince chuckled, "Brother, do you really think so? Don't you find the handwriting familiar?"
The Fourth Prince was taken aback. After examining it carefully, he looked up and asked, "Could this be... Hongli and Hongzhou's?"
The Thirteenth Prince nodded: "Your Majesty, these are indeed Hongli and Hongzhou's exam papers... That day, they both wanted to take the exam and came to me for help. I dared to secretly copy two exam papers and send them to the palace. After they obediently finished writing them, they sent them back to the Imperial Academy to be graded along with the other candidates. I thought they were just joking around, but I didn't expect them to take the exam so seriously. The examiners didn't know the origin of these two exam papers, so these are Hongli and Hongzhou's real scores..."
Fourth Master picked up the exam paper again with satisfaction and read it carefully, his eyes filled with pride. After a long while, he put the exam paper down and instructed Thirteenth Master: "Their exam papers should still be taken out. If there are not enough people on the first-class list, we will draw more from other exam papers."
The Thirteenth Prince smiled and nodded. He hadn't originally planned for Hongli and Hongzhou to actually participate in the imperial examinations, so it was only natural that they weren't on the list.
At this moment, Su Peisheng entered with people carrying wine and dishes. The Fourth Prince put away Hongli and Hongzhou's examination papers and called the Thirteenth Prince to sit down: "Come... I'm in a good mood today, let's drink until we drop..."
It's unclear how much the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince drank, but they chatted and laughed heartily. Su Peisheng hadn't seen the Fourth Prince so happy in a long time and couldn't bear to stop them, so he let them drink as much as they wanted. As darkness fell, the two were completely drunk and unconscious. The Emperor specially ordered someone to send the Thirteenth Prince back to his residence.
Su Peisheng cautiously asked the Fourth Prince, who was resting with his eyes closed, "Where will Your Majesty rest today?"
The Fourth Prince, half-asleep and with his eyes half-open, waved his hand and said, "Changchun Palace... I need to go find Qin'er..."
Su Peisheng was taken aback. Consort Xi had been at the Yuanmingyuan for over ten days; there was no Qin'er at Changchun Palace. Perhaps the Fourth Prince was drunk and confused, unable to remember anything. The eunuchs stood to the side, looking at Su Peisheng with suspicion. Su Peisheng had no choice but to bend down again and whisper in the Fourth Prince's ear, "Consort Xi is resting; Your Majesty, perhaps you should choose another palace..."
The Fourth Prince suddenly opened his eyes, sat up straight, and angrily said at the mahjong table, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going to Changchun Palace to find Qin'er... If she's asleep, I'll just sleep next to her..." After saying that, he slumped back onto the table, swaying precariously.
Su Peisheng sighed helplessly, "Alas... His Majesty is drunk..."
The eunuchs looked at each other, not daring to ask any more questions. Su Peisheng had no choice but to roll up his sleeves and call out to the eunuchs to lend a hand: "Come on... carry the Emperor to the inner chamber. Let him rest in the Hall of Mental Cultivation tonight..." The eunuchs breathed a sigh of relief and helped the Fourth Prince to bed.
The next day was a recess, with no morning court session. Perhaps because of this, the Fourth Prince had drunk too much with the Thirteenth Prince the day before. When he woke up, his head still felt extremely heavy. He propped himself up and realized he was sleeping in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince was awake, Su Peisheng trotted over to call the palace maids in to help him change and wash. The Fourth Prince asked in confusion, "Why were you resting here last night?"
As Su Peisheng tidied the Fourth Prince's clothes, he said, "Last night, His Majesty and the Thirteenth Prince had a pleasant chat and forgot to drink a few extra cups. This servant saw that the Fourth Prince was drunk and asked him where he was going, but the Fourth Prince kept... kept saying he was going to Changchun Palace..."
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