When the two men saw the emperor looking at them, they were so scared that they lowered their heads even lower.
They were forced here by the eldest prince.
The eldest prince said that if they took part in the palace examination seriously, their lives would be safe.
In order to save their own lives and those of their families, the two had to come.
The crime they committed is punishable by death.
When they woke up and found out that they had fallen into the hands of the eldest prince, they felt hopeless and wished they had fallen to their death. However, nothing can go as planned in this world.
On that day, it was the eldest prince who sent people to send them into the palace.
The emperor glanced at the two of them and didn't ask any more questions. Now was an important moment in the palace examination, so he said some encouraging words and started drawing questions from the paper.
The emperor picked a scroll at random after choosing from three options.
There is no need to cover up your name for this exam.
The emperor walked slowly among the tribute scholars, looking at this and that.
Sometimes he nodded, sometimes he smiled.
When he walked to Yu Qingsheng, he stopped for half a quarter of an hour.
But Yu Qingsheng was thinking as if no one was around, which made the emperor nod with satisfaction, and then walked to the next candidate.
After two hours of furious writing, some students put down their pens early, while others stopped writing only when the examiner shouted that the time was up.
The results of the palace examination would be announced on the second day and the notice would be posted on the third day, so time was very tight.
Marking will begin as soon as the test papers are collected.
But the next day, when the results came out, all the officials involved in the marking were shocked.
Especially Mr. Lin, the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy.
"This is impossible, there must be something wrong." Lord Lin said directly that there was a problem.
Prime Minister Zhao was also among those reviewing the papers, and he also looked at the ranking list in disbelief.
Compare with the ranking in the imperial examination.
The last person in the imperial examination was unexpectedly ranked third by all ten examiners.
䀴If there are two in the top fifty and one falls to the last place, he will still try for fifth place.
"Mr. Prime Minister, what is going on? Such a thing has never happened in all these years. Is it possible that this person could improve by 147 places in just 20 days? What kind of genius is this?" Lord Lin asked several questions in a row.
"What do you think, my Lords?"
Prime Minister Zhao glanced at the ten people.
"Submit both lists to the Emperor and let him make the final decision."
"How did the Ministry of Rites do its job? How could such a big mistake happen?"
All ten of them were smart people and they knew at a glance that there was a problem with the test.
The Prime Minister and nine examiners went to the Imperial Study.
He didn't let anyone leave to prevent the matter from spreading.
But as soon as they arrived at the door of the imperial study, they heard the emperor getting angry inside.
"What is the Ministry of Rites for? The Examination Room is so hot, and the Palace Examination has just ended. Go, bring the Minister of Rites to me."
Hai Xixi hurried out of the imperial study and saw ten adults waiting outside the door.
"We have met all the adults."
"Hai Xixi, what happened?" asked Prime Minister Zhao.
"Hey, I just received a report that there was a fire in the examination room of the Imperial Academy. The patrolling city guards were passing by there and rescued them in time, so no major damage was caused."
The ten adults connected the dots as soon as they heard it.
This is because they knew the truth had been exposed, and they wanted to destroy the examination papers directly so that there would be no evidence.
Hai Jiji sent his apprentice to ask the Minister of Rites, and then brought ten adults in.
"Your Majesty, we are honored to see you," said Prime Minister Zhao.
"My dear ministers, is the result out?" the emperor asked, controlling his emotions.
"After ten of us carefully reviewed and evaluated the papers, we ranked them. The top fifty papers are here. Your Majesty, please take a look." Prime Minister Zhao respectfully placed the list on the dragon table.
Lord Lin also presented the test papers of fifty people.
The two of them stepped back and lowered their heads. It was obvious that they were behaving differently than usual.
He did not suggest leaving so as not to disturb the emperor from reviewing the papers.
"Anything else?" the emperor asked calmly.
"Your Majesty, there is something strange about this palace examination." Prime Minister Zhao said with a stiff face.
He was really afraid that if the emperor knew about it, he would be so angry that he would do something vicious.
"oh?"
"We ranked 150th in the imperial examination. In this palace examination, the ten of us were unanimously ranked third."
"What?" The emperor was also quite surprised.
"The fifth place fell to the last one." Prime Minister Zhao continued to report.
The emperor's eyes widened when he heard this.
"What a joke." The emperor said, flipping through the list and checking.
It is true.
He took out the third place test paper and looked at it first.
The more I read, the more satisfied I am. The article is really well written.
He picked up the test papers of the first and second place winners and looked at them.
Each one of them deserves the title.
The examiners were not biased.
After the emperor read all three test papers, he took another look at the list.
What else do you not know? Someone cheated in the scientific exams.
"This is really outrageous, someone come here." The emperor shouted angrily.
"Your Majesty." Hai Xixi hurried in again.
"In addition to the Minister of Rites, call the Vice Minister, as well as the Minister of Punishment and the Vice Minister. Notify the city defense to surround the Imperial Examination Hall. No one is allowed to leave."
Hai Xixi took the order and hurried out to make arrangements.
The Second Prince was so frightened by the Emperor's action that he collapsed on his chair.
"It's over, it's over. How did Mr. Zhuang do things? Why did it happen like this?"
When he saw the two of them going to the palace examination on crutches, he knew that everything was over. However, he still had a glimmer of hope that the two of them would perform exceptionally well under pressure and would not be much worse than in the imperial examination, so he could still get away with it.
He also kept an eye on the imperial study at all times.
When he learned that the emperor had summoned several ministers and vice ministers, he knew that the matter could no longer be covered up.
He hurried into the palace to find Concubine Yun and told her everything.
When Concubine Yun heard this, she became furious and slapped him in the face.
"You useless guy, do you think you can touch scientific research? You are courting death.
I have taught you many times that you should be down-to-earth. Even if you are not able to do things, you can still be a stable prince.
Now that you've made such a big mistake, how can I help you with your meal?" Concubine Yun's dignified image was completely gone.
"Princess Li, I know I was wrong, but what should I do now? The Emperor knows everything now." The Second Prince covered his face with his hands, extremely anxious.
“Why didn’t you discuss this with me before you did anything?” Concubine Yun was really furious.
"My concubine, I have no money and it is very difficult to do things, but I am unwilling to be outdone by my eldest brother and third brother. I want you to be the most noble woman in the world. I want to give you the best."
At this time, the Second Prince knew that only Concubine Lu could help him. He used filial piety as an excuse.
He was also moved by the 200,000 taels of silver promised by the two merchants, so he made the decision privately.
It was originally a very careful plan, but I don't know where the mistake went and it developed like this.
Nothing is hidden.
When Concubine Yun saw that every word her son said was out of filial piety to her, her heart softened a little.
"Yes, you leave the palace immediately and discuss this with Mr. Zhuang. Let him take responsibility for this matter. Just tell him that I promise to keep his family safe, and when the storm has passed, I will give his son a future.
If he couldn't do it, his whole family would die.
Only by getting you out of here can his family be kept safe.
You are a prince, even if your emperor dislikes you, at most he will send you to a fiefdom and demote you to my concubine, but he will not kill you." Concubine Yun made up her mind quickly.
The second prince hurried out of the palace and returned home.
While the emperor was waiting for several others to enter the palace, the eldest prince brought four people into the palace to ask to see the emperor.
Among them were the two men on crutches.
"Your son pays homage to the Emperor." The eldest prince went into the imperial study first.
Four people remained outside the study, escorted by his guards.
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