Chapter 509: Collusion
"With your intelligence, you must have suspected that there was something wrong with the Book of Changes. Li Ji's death the next day further confirmed your suspicion.
Later, you managed to get the same "Book of Changes" from somewhere else, and took it to complain to your father.
The emperor was furious and reprimanded me and Qin Lie in public. You took the opportunity to suggest changing the examination questions, and the emperor let you take over the position of chief examiner.
I was very confused at first. If you were just trying to take advantage of the situation, you wouldn't have to kill people to silence them.
After all, the person who actually leaked the questions was Qin Lie, and it has nothing to do with you. At most, you just went with the flow. Even if the matter is revealed, you will not be blamed too much.
As a result, you were invigilating in the Imperial Examination Hall, yet you took the risk of letting someone kill you. What does this mean?"
Luo Yunxuan's face turned pale and he said nothing.
Luo Qinghan stared into his eyes and spoke word by word.
"This shows that you are anxious. You are afraid that people will know about your relationship with Donglailou, and you are even more afraid that people will know that you have had private contact with Qin Lie.
Not only did you go along with it, you also got involved in the exam question leak.
You colluded with them and together you destroyed the foundation of the Great Sheng Dynasty!"
Luo Yunxuan clenched his fists and retorted loudly.
"I didn't! You're talking nonsense! These are all your conjectures, you're just making up stories!"
Luo Qinghan: "You want evidence? Wait, there will be evidence soon."
The two of them spoke loudly, and all the examiners standing nearby heard it.
Everyone looked at the two brothers in surprise and confusion, not knowing who was telling the truth and who was lying.
The time of one stick of incense goes by quickly.
It was almost dawn and the three-day deadline was about to end.
Zhao Xian ran back quickly and said loudly.
"Your Highness, I have ordered the search of all the examinees, and found fifteen examinees who smuggled answers!"
When these words were spoken, everyone present was stunned.
On the first day of the examination, the examinees were strictly searched when entering the Imperial College. It stands to reason that no examinee should be able to sneak in with cheating answers.
Luo Qinghan did not ask how those candidates had passed the inspection and entered the Imperial Examination Hall. He sheathed his sword and spoke calmly.
"Bring the answers they brought with them."
The candidates used all kinds of tricks to sneak answers in. Some carved words on rice grains, some stuffed notes into pen barrels, and some stuffed pieces of paper into the interlayer of shoe insoles...
Zhao Xian collected all the answers and handed them over to the prince.
Luo Qinghan checked them one by one and found that the contents of these answers were similar.
He looked at Luo Yunxuan who was standing next to him and asked coldly.
"Second brother, do you want to see what these answers are?"
Luo Yunxuan stood there stiffly, motionless, with big beads of cold sweat on his forehead.
Seeing that he didn't move, Luo Qinghan didn't force him and asked other examiners to come over and take a look.
The examiners immediately gathered around and carefully checked the answers.
When they found that the answers were similar, their expressions changed drastically.
Before the exam, no one knows what the questions will be. Even if the candidates bring their own answers, the contents of their answers will definitely be different.
But now the answers are all similar, which means that they may have known the test questions in advance, so they prepared the answers to be used in the test in advance.
As for whether this speculation is true, just look at the questions in the next few exams to find out.
The test questions have always been sealed, and there is only one key, which is kept on the chief examiner Luo Yunxuan.
Everyone looked at Luo Yunxuan.
Luo Yunxuan was almost unable to stand.
He spoke with difficulty: "According to the rules, I can only take out the corresponding test questions when the exam starts. Now it's not the time for the next exam, so I can't take out the test questions in advance."
Luo Qinghan asked coldly: "Are you stalling for time?"
Luo Yunxuan pursed his lips and said nothing.
Luo Qinghan: "I have informed my father of this matter in advance, and he has allowed me to act at my own discretion. This is the token my father gave me."
He took out a metal token from his arms.
When everyone looked carefully, they found that it was indeed a gift from the emperor.
Luo Yunxuan was now completely out of ideas and could only hand over the key with a grim face.
After Luo Qinghan got the key, he personally opened the room where the test questions were stored, took out the test questions, and unfolded them one by one.
All the examiners came over to watch.
After seeing this, everyone fell silent.
These test questions perfectly match the answers that the candidates brought with them!
Those candidates must have known the test questions long ago, prepared the answers in advance, and sneaked them into the Imperial Examination Hall.
So here comes the question.
How do they know the test questions?
Because the test questions previously listed by the Crown Prince and Qin had been leaked, the Emperor and the Second Prince temporarily changed the test questions.
Logically speaking, only the emperor and the second prince knew the new test questions.
The emperor himself could not have leaked the test questions, so the only suspect left is the second prince?
Thinking of this, everyone looked at the Second Prince Luo Yunxuan again, their eyes full of suspicion.
With the irrefutable evidence before him, Luo Yunxuan knew that he had no way to escape this time, and he smiled grimly.
"Whether you believe it or not, I did not leak the test questions."
Luo Qinghan had all the evidence put away and said coldly: "No matter who leaked the test questions, you have to take responsibility for this matter."
Luo Yunxuan had nothing to say.
He was the chief examiner, and now that such a big mistake had been found in the exam, no matter how eloquent he was, he could not find an excuse to justify himself.
All the cheating candidates were taken away, and the remaining candidates stayed in their respective examination rooms, waiting for the next instructions from the court.
When Luo Yunxuan was led out of the Imperial Examination Hall by the Yulin Guards, the first bright white light appeared on the horizon.
He couldn't help but glance at the sky which was gradually brightening.
He still underestimated the prince.
Arrived at the Ministry of Justice.
Luo Yunxuan was held in solitary confinement.
Luo Qinghan had no plans to interrogate him for the time being.
The fifteen cheating candidates were interrogated one by one.
They all came from wealthy families and lived a life of luxury. Now that they were put in shackles, they felt a little frightened.
Many of them were clamoring to see their families.
They were born into aristocratic families, and more or less had several relatives serving as officials in the court. As long as their family members were willing to help, they could escape smoothly.
But the prince didn't even give them the chance to pass the message to the outside world.
The prince only gave them two options:
Or take the initiative to plead guilty and accept punishment.
Or they could confess their guilt and be punished after being tortured severely.
These spoiled sons of wealthy families had never suffered such hardship before. After the first punishment, they could not bear it any longer and cried and shouted that they were willing to plead guilty.
In the blink of an eye, fifteen confessions with bright red fingerprints were produced.
(End of this chapter)
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