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Everyone can basically guess what Ji Mingxi will say - it's all fine, everything is possible, and so on.
But the prince is different.
The Crown Prince was always serious about his work, always wanting to get to the bottom of everything. Take, for example, the incident at the end of last year where a kind-hearted individual swept most of the alleyways in the capital. The Crown Prince still frequently went to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion to ask if the kind-hearted individual had been found. So much so that the Yin Mansion officials now avoided the Crown Prince whenever they saw him from a distance.
Not to mention that this matter concerned his best friend, the prince was very concerned and had a quarrel with several adults with red faces, looking like he was protecting his cub.
Ji Mingxi, whom he was protecting, stood next to him, listening as if it had nothing to do with him.
Only once or twice would his eyes fall on the teacup in the emperor's hand, and then he would look away.
Finally, the officials from the Ministry of Justice came up with a good idea: "Your Majesty, Crown Prince, as far as I know, Mr. Jiang came to Shangjing from Lifeng not long ago and is still in the city."
Emperor: "Mr. Jiang is here? How come I didn't know about this?"
The Minister of Justice said, "Mr. Jiang's most beloved disciple fell seriously ill a few years ago, but fortunately recovered and has been recuperating in the city. Mr. Jiang said he missed his disciple and came to the capital on a whim. However, Mr. Jiang kept a low profile and didn't mention it to anyone. It was only when my son mentioned this matter that I learned about it."
The youngest son of the Minister of Justice was a student of Chiang Kai-shek's eldest disciple.
Mr. Chiang is now eighty-eight years old. He is highly respected and knowledgeable, and is the most admired old gentleman by scholars all over the world.
Not only that, he was also the teacher of the late emperor. After the late emperor passed away, Mr. Jiang resigned from his official position and returned to Lifeng to open a private school.
Speaking of which, the current emperor's tutor was also a student of Chiang Kai-shek.
The Minister of Justice continued, "Since Chiang Kai-shek has arrived, many senior scholars have rushed here from all over the country just to see him. Therefore, in my opinion, this year's palace examination should be conducted by these scholars to set the questions and screen the candidates. The authenticity of the candidates' knowledge will be revealed in the final examination, and scholars all over the world will no longer have any doubts."
The emperor nodded and said, "My dear minister, this is the best suggestion. In that case, the palace examination will be moved up. Eunuch Li, pass on my decree that the palace examination will be held in two hours. All matters concerning the palace examination——"
He looked down and said, "How about letting Lord Feng handle everything?"
The emperor used a negotiating tone, but who would dare to say no?
The emperor didn't even need to ask Chiang Kai-shek and the other old gentlemen whether they were willing to set questions for the palace examination. Once the imperial edict was issued, everyone had to obey.
Feng Qishi quickly agreed and glanced at Ji Mingxi secretly, with a gleam in his eyes.
Everything was going according to their plan. He wanted to see what the Ji family could do next with the sudden and early palace examination and completely unknown topics!
During the reign of Emperor Yu, matters related to the imperial examinations were always handled by the Ministry of Personnel.
The emperor's arrangement undermined the authority of the Ministry of Personnel.
Generally speaking, if the power in one's hands is suddenly taken away, a normal person will feel lost and upset.
But Ji Mingxi still didn't feel too upset. Instead, he thought that he could finally have a good rest.
He worked so hard for several months for the Spring Examination that he didn't even have time to copy the Buddhist scriptures properly.
Honestly, Ji Mingxi felt that the Ministry of Personnel was already busy enough arranging official appointments, dismissals, promotions, and assessments. The imperial examinations shouldn't be placed in his Ministry of Personnel.
It would be nice if it didn't come back to him later.
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Ji Yunxi soon found out about the imperial decree to advance the palace examination.
Although Ji Mingxi was no longer responsible for this matter, the emperor did not let Ji Mingxi return home and asked Ji Mingxi to stay in the palace for the time being.
Ji Mingyan was a very optimistic person. When he heard the news, his first reaction was to tell his brother-in-law. After all, his brother-in-law's family was not well-informed, so he might not know about it so quickly. What if he was late and delayed his brother-in-law's imperial examination? So he immediately ran to the Wu family.
Ji Mingshuang frowned.
From the moment the emperor suddenly summoned his brother to the palace, he sensed something was amiss. The sudden advance of the palace examination further confirmed this.
According to tradition, the results of the Spring Examination were announced in mid-March during the Dayu Dynasty, and the Palace Examination began in mid-April. The month in between was for candidates to prepare.
But now, the rankings of the Spring Examination were just announced this morning, and the Palace Examination is about to take place!
This was so sudden that it caught everyone off guard!
Ji Mingshuang asked Ji Yunxi: "What do you think about this?"
Ji Yunxi was also a little surprised.
Ever since she learned Wu Wei'an's ranking that morning, she knew there would be many twists and turns. Even though Ji Yunxi was mentally prepared, she hadn't expected the palace examination to begin so soon. She had assumed it would take at least a few days.
After all, the palace examination is so important that it takes a lot of time to prepare.
So, the current emperor is not a simple person either.
Ji Yunxi took a sip of tea and said, "I guess His Majesty suspects that my brother leaked the test."
Ji Mingshuang thought so too, but when his sister said this, his heart still skipped a beat. He quickly got up from the couch and said, "I'm afraid something's happened to my brother."
Ji Yunxi sat cross-legged on the beauty couch, with some gambling house information on her knees. Hearing this, she comforted him, "Don't worry, Seventh Brother. As long as I didn't leak the questions to you, I'll be fine."
"How could you possibly leak the exam questions to me, brother?!" Ji Mingshuang asked, "I'm actually worried that you might leak the exam questions to your husband! What if Wu Wei'an performs extremely poorly in the palace exam? Do you know what you'll do then?!"
Ji Yunxi glanced at him and said, "Seventh Brother, you know what kind of person my brother is."
Ji Mingshuang was indeed panicked. After all, this matter concerned the safety of his elder brother, so it was impossible for him not to be panicked.
Moreover, he really didn't have much confidence in Wu Weian, even though he really felt for a moment in the morning that Wu Weian really got the third place based on his own strength.
But what the third sister said was right. His eldest brother would never do such a thing as leaking the exam questions. He rubbed his eyebrows, calmed himself down, and asked Ji Yunxi seriously: "Is Wu Weian really okay?"
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