Chapter 514: Lucky Charm
The noble families went to the palace and begged the emperor to show mercy, but they failed to make the emperor change his mind. Even the empress was rejected by the emperor.
They knew that the emperor was determined this time and there was no way to change his mind, so they could only give up with hatred, but they hated the prince in their hearts.
The next day, dozens of memorials impeaching the prince were presented to the emperor.
The emperor read through the memorials with an expressionless face.
Some said that the prince was autocratic, some said that he was cruel and brutal, and some said that he was arbitrarily seizing power and might be rebellious.
The further he looked, the gloomier the emperor's expression became.
He knew very well that the reason these officials impeached the prince was not because he had done anything unforgivable, but because he had infringed upon the interests of the aristocratic families.
The emperor threw the memorial in his hand onto the desk and sneered.
"These people are really willing to say anything to achieve their goals."
Gan Fu glanced at the contents of the memorial spread out on the desk and immediately understood why the emperor was angry.
He offered the hot tea with both hands and advised respectfully: "Your Majesty, please don't get angry over such a small matter. It would be a waste of time if you get sick from anger."
The emperor took a sip of tea, but he still couldn't suppress the anger in his heart.
He put down his teacup, glanced at the memorials impeaching the prince, and said coldly.
"Propagate my decree. Censor Zhang has been dismissed from his post and given twenty strokes of the cane for trying to sow discord between me and the Crown Prince."
Gan Fu's heart sank.
Censor Zhang was the official who wrote a letter to impeach the crown prince for abusing power and possibly harboring rebellious intentions.
After the emperor issued this decree, Censor Zhang not only lost his official position, but was also pinned to the ground and beaten.
After this matter became public, the number of memorials impeaching the prince suddenly decreased a lot.
But the aristocratic families' resentment towards the prince became even deeper.
Now the prince is like a living target, and the hatred value is particularly stable.
Many people were praying secretly, hoping that the prince would die soon.
The majority of tribute students are now very happy.
Even if they have to retake the test, it doesn’t matter. They would rather retake the test than take the test with those cheating candidates.
The most important thing is that the emperor also held an additional special examination, which meant that even if they failed in the joint examination, they could still continue to take part in the special examination next month. This was equivalent to giving the vast majority of scholars an additional precious opportunity to become officials in the court.
The prince once again served as the chief examiner, in charge of this year's spring examination.
On the day the final exam began, Li Qingyan also came.
He was dressed in clean and tidy Confucian scholar's attire, standing among the candidates with his bag on his back.
Candidates were examined one by one and only those who passed were allowed to enter the Imperial Examination Hall.
While Li Qingyan was queuing for examination, he heard the two candidates in front of him whispering to each other about this year's examination.
"Have you heard about the fact that Mr. Qin was sentenced to beheading?"
"Who wouldn't know this? To be honest, I was really surprised. I used to admire Mr. Qin very much, but I didn't expect him to be so partial and corrupt. When I learned about this, I was so sad that I couldn't sleep the whole night."
"It's not just you. I was also in a low mood that day. I originally thought that Mr. Qin was a man of both virtue and talent, and a role model for our generation. I didn't expect him to be such a villain. It really wasted our admiration for him."
"Fortunately, the prince came out this time to clean up the examination room and catch all those cheaters, giving us scholars justice."
"I remember that the Crown Prince is the chief examiner for this exam. With the Crown Prince here, we can rest assured. We don't have to worry about anyone taking advantage of their position to commit fraud."
"I've heard of the prince's name for a long time, but I wonder what kind of handsome guy he is in person?"
"If I'm lucky, I might be able to meet the prince later."
"I heard that the prince is now in charge of the Ministry of Justice. If I could become an official in the court, I would like to work in the Ministry of Justice. Even if I can only be a low-ranking official, as long as I can follow the prince, I am willing to do so."
"Tsk, the exam hasn't even started yet and you're already dreaming."
…
Li Qingyan heard these discussions clearly, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a relaxed and happy smile.
No one knew what role he played in the investigation of the imperial examination fraud case, nor did anyone know that he had ever worked for the crown prince.
In his heart, there was a secret sense of accomplishment.
The prince summoned him privately yesterday and talked to him a lot.
The prince admired him very much.
"You helped me this time. In return, I can help you get a position in the Ministry of Justice so that you don't have to go through the trouble of taking the exam.
But if you do this, your future prospects may be affected a little, so think it over carefully before making a decision."
Li Qingyan understood what the prince meant.
Being recommended by someone to serve as an official in the court and becoming an official through the imperial examination are two completely different treatments.
Let’s not talk about anything else, just take the cabinet as an example. If you want to enter the cabinet and become a minister, you must first pass the Hanlin Academy.
If you want to enter the Hanlin Academy, you must first achieve excellent results in the imperial examination.
This is also why those children of aristocratic families, who can clearly enter the officialdom through imperial favor, still try their best to compete with students from poor families for the places of Jinshi, because they all want to enter the Hanlin Academy.
If Li Qingyan just wanted to hold an ordinary official position, the prince could immediately satisfy his wish, but if he wanted to realize his ambition and become a high-ranking official, he still had to honestly take the imperial examination.
Li Qingyan studied hard for so many years, of course not just to become a minor official and get by.
He chose to continue to take part in the scientific expedition without hesitation.
He hopes to enter an official position through the imperial examination, hopes to be able to enter the Hanlin Academy, and hopes that he can go higher and further in the future!
The line in front was getting shorter and shorter, getting closer and closer to the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall.
Finally, it was Li Qingyan's turn to be examined.
He brought very little with him, just a quilt, writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and some dry food.
When the official was searching Li Qingyan, he found a brocade bag in his arms.
When he opened the brocade bag, there was a yellow talisman inside, with an incomprehensible pattern drawn on the talisman paper with cinnabar.
The official asked, "What is this?"
Li Qingyan answered truthfully: "This is a lucky charm."
When he said goodbye to the prince yesterday, the prince gave him this lucky charm.
The prince told him that as long as he carried this lucky charm, he would be able to get rid of his bad luck.
Li Qingyan didn't know whether it was true or not, but no matter what, it was a token of the prince's love, so Li Qingyan deliberately carried it close to him.
What he didn't know was that this lucky charm actually came from Xiao Xixi's hand.
Xiao Xixi knew that Li Qingyan had helped the prince, so in return, she specially made a lucky charm and had the prince pass it to Li Qingyan.
The official carefully checked the talisman paper and found nothing unusual, so he returned the lucky talisman to Li Qingyan.
Li Qingyan passed the inspection smoothly.
He carried his bag and walked into the Imperial Examination Hall, and quickly found the examination room with his name written on it.
(End of this chapter)
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