Qin Hui hurried back to the government office and hurriedly ordered his servants: "Come, bring the brazier!"
Wang Guixiang ran into the living room and asked, "What are you doing in the brazier on such a hot day?"
Qin Hui pulled out a file from his pocket and said, "Burn it!"
Wang Guixiang still didn't quite understand: "What is that?"
"Your life and my life." Qin Hui said in a deep voice.
Wang Guixiang was shocked: "This, this is a test question?"
Wang Guixiang knew about the cheating in the imperial examination. It was he who assisted Qin Hui in leaking the examination questions to Wang Zhongkui.
Qin Hui nodded. "Fortunately, I acted in time. My father-in-law was taken away by the Hu Yasi this morning. The first thing I did after leaving court was to go to his house and frantically retrieve this test paper. I didn't dare to rest all the way. I guess the Hu Yasi has already searched your Wang family by now. If this test paper is found, you and I will be dead."
Wang Guixiang hurriedly called out to the servants: "Quick, quick, quick! Bring the charcoal brazier!"
Where could they find a charcoal brazier in such a hot day? The charcoal brazier used for heating in winter had already been stored in the warehouse. The servants hurriedly went to the warehouse to search, but Qin Hui could no longer wait. He took out a fire starter, lit it, and placed the test paper on the fire starter.
With a whoosh, a hidden weapon flew towards him. Qin Hui felt a pain in his wrist, and the fire stick fell to the ground.
Two men from the Tiger Yasi flew down from the roof. They were the men sent by Zheng Xian to follow Qin Hui. When Qin Hui saw their attire, he was terrified.
Wang Guixiang had just taken the charcoal brazier from the servant when it fell to the ground with a loud bang. She trembled with fear.
At this moment, with a loud bang, the gate was thrown open and a large group of people from the Tiger Yasi rushed in.
The man from the Tiger Court pulled out a document: "Qin Hui! By His Majesty's decree, all members of the Qin Mansion are brought to the Tiger Court for trial!"
Zhao Huan was in charge of the Tiger Court, and the case was quickly concluded. Qin Hui's wife, Wang Guixiang, supported Qin Hui and Wang Zhongkui in stealing the exam questions. Although they had a plan in place, the questions were not easy to obtain, so Wang Zhongkui made some arrangements to remove the body of a chef from the Imperial College.
Normally, even a strand of hair, let alone a corpse, would have been subject to multiple rounds of inspection if you tried to remove it from the Imperial College. However, Wang Zhongkui bribed officials from various ministries, particularly those in the Secretariat. Some of these officials were unaware of the situation. Wang Zhongkui, under the pretext that he was in charge of the Imperial College's eunuchs and feared the spread of the plague, pressured the officials to release the body.
These officials were drawn to Wang Zhongkui's considerable influence within the court. Zheng Juzhong, a member of the Zheng family, served as prime minister to Emperor Huizong and had numerous connections with officials. Furthermore, the Zheng family was related to Wang Zhongkui, and his connections within the court were powerful. Many officials, seeking to curry favor with Wang Zhongkui, exerted pressure on the guards guarding the Imperial College. Thus, the chef's body was removed from the Imperial College after only a brief interrogation, leading to the leak of the exam questions.
The next day, in Zichen Palace.
Zhao Huan stared at the list on the table. "This imperial examination cheating case has been closed. I have always ruled the country with benevolence. But this time, I will not let any officials involved go unpunished! Wang Zhongkui, Qin Hui, and Wang Guixiang will be taken to the execution ground and skinned and stuffed with straw! All other officials implicated will be beheaded, and their families exiled!"
Skinning and stuffing with straw is an extremely cruel punishment. According to Buddhist legend, "skinning and stuffing with straw" is a torture inflicted on the souls of the most heinous sins in hell. The skin is peeled off alive, stuffed with straw, and then displayed to the public.
It's said that after being skinned alive, a person wouldn't die immediately, but would groan in agony for days before finally expiring. This punishment was comparable to lingchi (a form of torture). Of course, Zhao Huan wasn't so cruel as to skin a person alive. Instead, he ordered Qin Hui and others to be poisoned before being skinned. The skins and straw were then placed at the city gates as a warning to others.
To make matters worse, the imperial examination cheating case had just been concluded, and the case of the disaster relief grain was still unresolved. The next step Zhao Huan would focus on was the case of the embezzlement of the disaster relief grain.
The third-day examination went quite smoothly, with no disturbances or complaints. There were only about 700 fewer candidates than the previous one, and the total number of participants was still 10,000.
After layers of screening, the top three in the palace examination were finally revealed. Zhao Huan waited impatiently for the results in the Wende Hall.
Meng Gurao walked in excitedly, holding the test papers. "Your Majesty, great joy! This time, many talented people have emerged from the examination. The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Privy Council are all vying for candidates, hoping to select some useful talents. Li Gang and I have already discussed and will assign these talents to different positions based on their individual abilities. Here is the list of personnel from each department, please review it, Your Majesty."
Zhao Huan didn't even glance at it: "These are matters that you, the regents, will decide. What I want to know is the list of names for the palace examination."
Regents Li Gang, Meng Gurao, He Li, and Duan Xiaorong. He Li's Secretariat, in particular, was most implicated in the imperial examination fraud scandal. Remarkably, Zhao Huan didn't pursue He Li's responsibility, merely fining him half a year's salary. He was demoted to acting regent to see how things would turn out.
Meng Gurao pointed at the list of three people and said, "Your Majesty, as expected, the one named Du Yuntai is among the top three in the palace examination this time. However, these three people have different views on policy essays and their own unique theories. From my perspective, the selection of the top three candidates is really a matter of decision among these three."
Zhao Huan took the list and saw that the top three candidates for the palace examination were Du Yuntai, Shi Gaojie, and Tian Caiying. As Meng Gurao had said, the essays of these three had their own strengths and weaknesses, making it difficult to tell who was better.
"Cao Dongsheng, summon these three people to the Zichen Palace!" Zhao Huan waved his hand.
The palace examination had to be held in the main hall of the Purple Palace to appear solemn, and not in the Wende Hall. When Du Yuntai, Shi Gaojie, and Tian Caiying arrived at the Purple Palace, Zhao Huan was sitting on the dragon throne, looking at the three people's test papers.
Du Yuntai was the most surprised among them. He looked up and saw that Zhao Huan was actually the young master Zhao whom he had met in Shangjing, the capital of the Jin Kingdom.
Du Yuntai knelt hurriedly: "When I came to the capital, I didn't know that Your Majesty was in my presence. I have offended you, Your Majesty, and I beg your forgiveness!"
Shi Gaojie and Tian Caiying were shocked. It was over. This Du Yuntai actually knew His Majesty. He must be the top scholar.
Zhao Huan smiled faintly. "Du Yuntai, you wrote a letter to me directly about the imperial examination cheating case, scolding me harshly. Now you're asking me to forgive you. Aren't you being too demanding?"
Du Yuntai knelt down and said, "I was confused and misunderstood Your Majesty. Now that Your Majesty has dealt with the fraud case, the whole country is excited and the scholars of the world are rejoicing. It was I who misunderstood Your Majesty."
Zhao Huan took the cup of tea Cao Dongsheng had sent him and took a sip. "Well, I'll tell you this tomorrow. Du Yuntai, you're full of sour airs. I've always disliked sour-minded scholars, so I wouldn't want to make you the top scholar! But someone told me I should be a wise ruler who listens to everyone's opinions. A wise ruler can only use talented people. So I'll let you go for now. The three of you answer one question for me, and whoever answers correctly will be the top scholar in this imperial examination!"
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