Back at the inn, Yin angrily sat down in the armchair and frantically fanned himself, unable to contain his rage.
Before leaving the capital, Kangxi specifically met with the princes and made it clear that the talents selected from this imperial examination were intended to fill the officialdom in Jiangnan.
"Fourth Prince, what you're saying about these people..." Yin was furious. The chief examiner from Jiangnan was a member of the Hesheli faction, and Kangxi was clearly preparing to send the people from Jiangnan into the hands of the Crown Prince.
"Brother, let's wait for news from above. I've already sent over the memorial." Yin's secret memorial was delivered, and by evening, Kangxi's decision should have been made to send it directly.
Qingyan walked in carrying a glass of plum juice. He noticed that the two men looked unwell. The scene he had witnessed in the teahouse was a real embarrassment to the two gentlemen.
Officials protecting each other!
These four words were what the common people, unaware of the truth, murmured in private. They had received money and wouldn't talk about it outside, but they would still say it in their residences.
As evening approached, Erlu brought in a memorial. When Yin and Yin saw the dark, concealed memorial, their hearts tightened, fearing that the review inside meant they were not allowed to interfere.
Yin opened the memorial, which contained Kangxi's hasty comments. It seemed that the contents of the memorial had indeed dealt him a significant blow.
"Brother, here you go." Yin handed the memorial to Yin.
He fell silent. His father was truly determined to govern the southern officialdom. He was nearsighted and only used the geographical advantages of the Yuelai Inn. This was not the purpose behind Qingyan's founding of the Yuelai Inn.
"Fourth brother... the people from the Xishan camp have come along. We'll just have to wait another day. In the next two days, we'll go and find out the inside story of the scholar's suicide. We absolutely cannot let outsiders say anything; we'll believe them all!" Yin believed that Yin wouldn't control the officialdom like that, and he also knew that the talents selected in this way were simply unusable.
The crown prince isn't stupid; would he really want to destroy his own defenses?
Qingyan sat down next to Yin, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that both men were looking in her direction.
"Little Darling, starting tomorrow, can the Yuelai Inn be closed for a few days?" Yin planned to have the people from the Xishan Camp take over the place, and the guests inside would not be allowed to go out at will, as this would damage the reputation of the Yuelai Inn.
"No problem!" Qingyan asked, puzzled.
In preparation for the arrival of Qingyan, the innkeeper did not accept many guests, as they were all people who had stayed here before and had left in the last few days.
call!
The two brothers breathed a sigh of relief. Some of the people from the Xishan camp lived in the area and must have some acquaintances who could gather more information.
"I'll go talk to the shopkeeper and ask him which day to start?" Qingyan stood up and looked at Yin.
"Three days later!" Yin hesitated for a moment before making his decision.
Qingyan left the main courtyard and helped Sulan walk towards the front desk.
"Master, do you need something from me?" The shopkeeper saw Qingyan coming and quickly went to greet her, leading her to the back before she even entered the front hall.
Inside the main hall, people were constantly dining, but Qingyan, being of noble status, could not allow them to see this.
Back in his office, Qingyan sat down and then turned to close the door.
"Manager, can all the guests leave in three days?" Qingyan knew that if the Yuelai Inn closed for even one day, it would suffer a considerable loss.
The shopkeeper glanced at her with a hint of surprise, then quickly nodded.
"Tomorrow is the last wave of guests leaving the inn. Master, should we put up a renovation sign?" Every time Qingyan booked a shop, he would put up a renovation sign. After the guests secretly left, Yuelai Inn would tidy up and reopen.
Therefore, they were satisfied with Qingyan's approach. They were all ambitious, and of course they were happy that their shops could reach new heights.
"Hmm, do you know about the two scholars who hanged themselves in the vicinity?" Qingyan looked at the shopkeeper. He was also a local, and his maternal relatives lived on the same street where the scholars lived, so he must have more information.
The shopkeeper was startled and quickly nodded, saying, "This servant knows a little about this, but Master, I think you should ignore the last digit of the number. Those examiners are all princelings."
Princelings?!
Qingyan was startled by the slightly familiar voice. Back then, when they read novels, the prince's followers were called the "Prince Party".
"Is that all of them?" Qingyan had heard Yin's analysis: only one of the examiners in the south belonged to the Hesheli clan, while the rest belonged to different factions.
The shopkeeper nodded and lowered his voice to report, "Master, those people are all secret members of the Crown Prince's faction. They specifically came to the private room to dine when they came over. I found out when I was sorting out information. However, I suggest that this matter not be publicized."
Qingyan nodded, agreeing with what was said.
"I'll handle it. Stop here. You must secretly destroy all this information. Absolutely nothing can be left behind," Qingyan said to the shopkeeper. "Give me all the original documents related to the information."
Since the shopkeeper was able to recognize the problem, he must have made various preparations in advance.
"This servant understands!" The shopkeeper quickly took out the information in his hand, a thick notebook containing a list of banquets hosted by the examiners in this area. "The children of those families who hosted banquets have basically all passed the exams."
Qingyan nodded, took the information, and left.
When he returned to the study, Yin and Lady Yin had already left. Qingyan dismissed the servants and handed the news in his hand to Yin.
"These are the details about those people. I've already brought them over. Yin, have you made up your mind?" Qingyan spoke to Yin with unusual seriousness.
In the past, she always pretended to be confused and didn't get involved in these matters. Now that Yiken'e is in Kangxi's hands, she doesn't trust Kangxi.
"Hmm, little darling, this time it's not a big problem. Father has already decided to deal with these people recorded above," Yin said directly.
When he and Yinxiang came here, the imperial examination situation in the south was already in chaos. After returning to the capital, Kangxi told Yinxiang that he had encountered a similar situation during his southern tour and had secretly dealt with a group of people as a warning to Yinxiang.
Qingyan pouted, and Kangxi secretly dealt with people. Wouldn't Yinzhi learn from that?
"You see, the innkeeper has none left. If you're going to send them up, make a handwritten copy and don't get involved with Yuelai Inn." Qingyan wanted to protect the innkeeper here; they had sacrificed a lot and were very influential in the area. She didn't want to spend another few years trying to infiltrate the local officialdom.
Yin glanced at her and smiled, "I've already made arrangements. That person is a member of the Crown Prince's faction and can expose him to Father Emperor."
Not all of the princeling's ministers were favored by Songgotu, and their infighting was quite fierce.
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