Shen Qingqiu jumped down from the chair. It was not appropriate to ask someone to come in and serve in this situation. She personally poured tea for the two of them and trimmed the flickering candlelight to make it brighter.
As the candle flame flickered, Shen Qingqiu suddenly stood up, not knowing what he had thought of.
The two people who were talking looked at her, and Gu Yong asked, "What's wrong?"
"At first, I thought this Princess Changping was a little simple... But now it seems that she is not only very resourceful, but also very decisive." Because she competed with Wang Qingluo for the prince's favor, she was inevitably thought to be just an ordinary little girl in love. But now, all these things have proved that this Princess Changping is not simple.
Everyone knows that the current emperor is wary of his brothers, but she is the daughter of a prince, a delicate woman, yet she can be so successful in the capital and even catch the eye of Empress Pei, which shows how many tricks she has.
"If it was Lord Gu, with a sword hanging over your head, how would you deal with it?" Shen Qingqiu asked.
After hearing this, Gu Yong frowned and immediately stood up, "I'll send someone to the Princess's Mansion..." If they went any later, the maid named Biyu might have died.
"Why are you going there? Going there with such fanfare, so that the woman can go to the palace to file a complaint again?" Shen Qingqiu asked back.
He added: "You don't need to go to this kind of occasion openly. You can just snatch the person away." Shen Qingqiu curled his lips slightly, "I'll go."
"You go, but how are you going?" Gu Yong frowned. No matter how talented she was, she was still a child. What else could he do?
"Since I have the ability to get her, I also have the ability to get Jasper." Shen Qingqiu slightly curled his lips, "You really think that I got these weaver girls just to set up a textile factory for charity for your court, right?"
"What?"
Shen Qingqiu smiled, but her eyes were cold. "If anyone dares to attack my mother, I will chop off her hands." Shen Qingqiu never said that it is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. She has power, connections, and money, so why can't she do it now?
——
"Who are you?" The guard pointed a knife at the people who rushed over .
"Are you blind? Can't you see that this is Marquis Gu?!" The servants around Gu Yong drew their swords and shouted, and the runners retreated one after another. "Please forgive me, my Lord Marquis. It was too dark and I couldn't see clearly..." After confessing his guilt, he quickly opened the door of the cell.
Originally, the Emperor had handed this case over to Lord Gu for interrogation, so it wouldn't be surprising if he wanted to interrogate the prisoner in the middle of the night.
Gu Yong shook his robe and strode in.
After all, he was a popular eunuch who had served the emperor. Since he could climb to this position, his means and character must be good. He was about to be beheaded, but he had the leisure to write and draw in prison with his pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
"It seems that Eunuch Xu is quite capable. He can even clear things up in a place like the inner court prison?" Gu Yong curled his lips and said, no emotion could be heard in his tone.
Eunuch Xu smiled when he heard this, "My Lord, you are embarrassing me. After all, I am an old man serving in the inner court for more than ten years. It is not that I can't even get a pen, ink, paper and inkstone to write a suicide note."
Gu Yong smiled, his expression gradually turned cold, "It seems that Eunuch Xu has made a plan. He would rather die than reveal who is behind him."
"Didn't I confess?" He looked at Gu Yong with a smile, "Speaking of which, besides you, is there anyone in the entire inner court who has the ability to make me, who is second only to the emperor, work so hard for him?"
Gu Yong's expression became colder and colder, but he was not angry. He said, "Eunuch Xu is very scheming, but even if you provoke me to kill you, and think that you are dead, can you save the people you want to save?"
"I think this man is really ridiculous. He couldn't even protect himself when he was alive, so how could he think he could protect himself after he died? Eunuch Xu, you have seen the private lives of the harem. At your age, you are still so sincere and willing to listen to what others say?"
"What do you mean?" Eunuch Xu's expression changed at this moment.
Gu Yong looked behind him and saw Shen Qingqiu approaching with a woman who was a head taller than her under the dim light in the prison. Both of them were wearing black cloaks. Shen Qingqiu was dressed in men's clothes. She looked pretty but cold, and looked like an ordinary rich young master.
The woman next to him entered the prison, took off her cloak, and knelt down, crying, "Eunuch Xu, it's not worth it, it's really not worth it..."
"Biyu, why are you here?" Eunuch Xu, who was originally calm and composed, immediately went forward to help Biyu up, "Hurry up, it's cold in this cell, how can you kneel down?"
After finally helping Biyu up, he asked again, "Shouldn't you be back home in Jiangnan by now? Why are you here? Is someone threatening you?" As he spoke, he glanced at Shen Qingqiu and Gu Yong who were standing beside him.
Shen Qingqiu smiled coldly, "Don't try to be a traitor, eunuch. If I hadn't gone to find her, I'm afraid this crying Miss Biyu would be facing the King of Hell right now."
Eunuch Xu was stunned for a moment, then he immediately understood the reason.
He was immediately distraught, "I was thinking wrong... The best way for a superior to deal with things is of course to cut the grass and root it out, why would she let you live and get in her way?" Thinking of this, he hurriedly said to Shen Qingqiu and Gu Yong: "My Lord, this young master, I will never forget your kindness in saving my sister even if I go to hell, but I beg you to give Biyu a chance to live!"
"Eunuch Xu, it has never been that I didn't want to give her a chance to live. Don't you understand even now?" Gu Yong said.
Eunuch Xu knelt on the ground for a long time and said, "My Lord, I have no choice but to give Biyu a chance to survive."
Biyu kept crying beside him, Shen Qingqiu sighed, "You are a bit confused, but your feelings are not. Well, since I saved her once, I don't mind saving her a second time." He looked around and said, "In order to avoid more trouble, you should write down the truth tonight, and the truth will be revealed in the morning court tomorrow."
Eunuch Xu nodded. At this point, he naturally would not refuse.
There was ready-made paper and pen inside, and he had written down everything that needed to be written in just a quarter of an hour. Gu Yong put away the complaint paper and took Shen Qingqiu and Biyu away. Before leaving, he instructed the jailer to take good care of him.
Shen Qingqiu and Gu Yong left together. On the way, she said, "No matter how powerful Changping is, he must be injured after this trip, right?"
Gu Yong nodded, "If we get hold of her evidence this time, even Queen Pei won't be able to protect her."
Shen Qingqiu curled his lips slightly and was about to get on the carriage, but a scream suddenly came from the prison behind him, and then the jailer guarding the gate suddenly ran over and knelt down in front of Gu Yong's carriage with a bang, "My Lord, Eunuch Xu died suddenly in prison!!"
——
When Eunuch Xu died suddenly, there was a [blood letter] beside him, which stated that he had committed suicide out of fear of punishment. In it, he admitted that he had sold official positions for power, and he also accused several ministers of being involved. Although his death could not be the end of everything, it did not solve the problem. However, it was precisely because of his death that a recent problem of the emperor's was solved.
"Since Xu Hanbi has been executed, all the officials he betrayed have been dismissed and investigated. This case is now solved."
“Your Majesty!” Before Gu Yong could say anything, Grand Tutor Lin started, “There must be something hidden in this case. How can we just let it go so hastily? Your Majesty——”
"Okay, Grand Tutor, everyone has confessed, what else is there to hide?" The emperor now knew what the secret was.
He is not really incompetent. The inner court is his place. How could he not know how Xu Hanbi died?
"The most important thing right now is the imperial examination. A cheating case has occurred, and now people are in a panic. The imperial examination is the foundation of talent for the court, and there must be no problems. I intend to restart this imperial examination." The emperor thought for a moment, and was afraid that letting officials supervise the examination would make the imperial examination lose credibility, so he said: "Yuelu Academy has always been known as the best academy in our dynasty. When I was young, I also studied under the dean. I know him and trust his character. He will be the chief examiner this time."
No court officials objected, and no civil official dared to disrespect the president of Yuelu Academy. As for the military commanders, they had no right to speak in the imperial examinations.
The matter was settled, and this was the only thing the emperor had done in recent days that was popular with the people. The fact that cheating had occurred every other day in the imperial examinations had already made most people dissatisfied with the court. If officials were still in charge of the second imperial examination, the top three candidates would probably be controversial.
But if the name of Yuelu Academy comes out, it will be different. As a century-old academy that educates people with morality, it can be said to be the best for students all over the world.
The imperial examination was just around the corner. Although Yang Zhengwen had been removed by the emperor earlier, the examination was now restarted. He had the dean of Yuelu Academy as a guarantor, so no one dared to stop him from taking the exam. In addition, the emperor was already in the wrong for this matter, so he let it go.
He didn't take Yang Zhengwen seriously. He was just a student from the countryside. Even if he had some real talent, could he be the top scorer? The emperor was a little annoyed. He shouldn't have used this matter to suppress Gu Yong. What use could an ordinary Yang Zhengwen be?
However, his thoughts like this did not last long.
The imperial examination was over in a dozen days. Because of the last imperial examination, this time the examination was particularly strict. It would have taken some scholars half a month to grade the papers, but it was finished in just three days.
Today is the last hurdle, the palace examination.
When the emperor saw Yang Zhengwen wearing a bright red robe and standing at the head of the ten students taking the palace examination, he was silent... Red robes were only worn by the top candidate. And normally, if there were no surprises, the number one scholar chosen by the emperor would naturally be the top candidate.
Yang Zhengwen was not ugly to begin with, and although he did not have an overly strong aura, he had the air of a scholar. Now, wearing a red robe and a crown, his appearance also looked a bit brighter, a true young talent.
At the foot of the hall, Yang Zhengwen lifted the corner of his robe, knelt forward to worship the emperor with dignity, and then shouted "Long live the emperor!"
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