Pei Xuanyun was a health-conscious old man who would take a short nap every afternoon.
He was woken up by his subordinates and, still half-asleep, saw the memorial.
"Prime Minister Pei, the Third Prince is so capable that he solved the problem in just one day."
Throughout the court and among the people, everyone knew that the Shuofeng Dynasty was up to no good.
Unless there is excessive external pressure, it would be impossible to temporarily modify the imperial examination rules and increase the number of candidates for the provincial examination.
Solve it? Pei Xuanyun scoffed inwardly.
How could that be? Even His Majesty himself might not be able to accomplish that.
Upon close inspection of the names on the memorial, one can see that the strokes, depth, and structure of the characters are all different, making it seem as if each person has signed their own name.
Hmm? Old Pei has spotted the key point.
Logically speaking, the eldest daughter of the Zheng family should also be included.
I quickly scanned it again from beginning to end, and there was nothing I missed.
If you say it's true, it's definitely incomplete; if you say it's complete... who would believe that!
"Prime Minister Pei, should we immediately send the imperial seal to the palace?"
The memorials underwent three rounds of screening by the Fengge Terrace and were delivered daily.
In case of emergency, the prime minister may decide whether to submit a report separately.
The official felt it was urgent after reading the memorial, which is why he pulled the old man out of his afternoon nap.
Pei Xuanyun nodded. "Yes, send it immediately, but no need to print it."
Huh? The official looked bewildered; there had never been such a precedent before.
Before I could ask a question, the old man lay down again, turning his back as if he didn't want to talk to anyone.
Having no other choice, he could only do as instructed and send someone to the palace to run errands.
Pei Xuanyun, with his back turned, mumbled something, but it was impossible to hear what he was saying.
Young and old alike, they all use him as a raft, right? Bah!
In public, he's a prime minister; in private, he's an old man who never dies. He's under immense pressure right now, having endured it for almost fourteen years.
Do you think he has it easy? You think he's already hated enough?
No way! Let her mother and daughter deal with it themselves.
And so, the freshly written memorial was sent into the palace and went directly to Qin Minghuang's desk.
The content had been prepared in advance; it was a request to be added to the list of candidates for the preliminary examination in the provincial examination.
Qin Minghuang's gaze swept quickly over the names; she knew who was included when the third brother drafted the list.
Without her tacit approval, the Xuanji Guard would not have cooperated in finding these women's handwriting to copy.
Soon, Qin Minghuang summoned Dou Zhan, the pale-masked Xuanji Guard who had imitated the handwriting.
He was a centurion directly under Yin Zhe, but he was actually more skilled in torture and interrogation.
Dou Zhan explained the process in a few words, just as Qin Minghuang had predicted.
Regardless of the method or whether it was deliberately omitting the Zheng family girl, it was all Xiao Liu's doing.
"Heh." Qin Minghuang snorted coldly.
That girl is incredibly shrewd; she gleaned some of her intentions from the slightest clues.
This sharp thinking is perhaps only matched by the fourth son, but unfortunately, neither of her two daughters is easy to deal with.
A person who is taciturn, never stands out in anything, only performs at an above-average level, and seeks no merit but no fault.
A mere frivolous game, which ruined his reputation, and he had no desire to participate in politics whatsoever.
The third brother was quite shrewd, but his two younger sisters used him as a shield.
Why……
"Let it be so."
"yes!"
Dou Zhan left the imperial study, still pondering to himself.
His Majesty actually granted the Sixth Princess's wish, regardless of the girl from the Duke of Zheng's mansion.
He shook his head; this matter was not his responsibility, and he should just obediently return to the prison.
The Sixth Princess was right; it's best to keep your skills hidden and avoid writing too much.
People gradually woke up in Liuyuan Garden.
Since they were all of noble status, the sleeping potion used by Yin Zhe naturally had no side effects.
No antidote is needed; the person will wake up on their own after sleeping for about half an hour.
Some looked confused, while others looked extremely grim. Seeing that those around them were in the same boat, they began to have their own guesses.
Two princesses sat upright in front of them, and for a moment no one dared to ask any questions.
Once all forty-one people had awakened, Qin Zhaowan, who was at the head of the table, bowed respectfully.
"Thank you all for your understanding and assistance in our time of crisis. The Empress and the court will never forget your contributions."
After the provincial examinations, we will petition His Majesty to request official titles for you all.
Zheng Huiyin's face was ashen. She had only been guessing before, but after hearing what the Third Prince said, she was now completely certain that something had happened.
"Your Highnesses, this is not appropriate."
Qin Zhaowan thought to herself that there was nothing wrong with it, since your name wasn't on it anyway, so she remained expressionless and ignored her words.
"The memorials from all those who volunteered have been submitted to the Imperial Palace. Please go home and study hard, lest you tarnish the reputation of my talented woman."
Without waiting for a response, he stood up and left, leaving the talented women in the room looking at each other in bewilderment.
"What...what should we do?"
A woman seated towards the back was almost in tears. She came from a distinguished family with a long tradition of scholarship and poetry.
Yesterday, my father and grandfather repeatedly instructed me that attending the literary gathering was just a formality, and that I should not agree to anything His Highness said.
Now that she's been forced to "volunteer," how can she explain this to her family when she goes home?
A mournful sound filled the hall. Zheng Huiyin suddenly slammed her hand on the desk.
"Alright, what's the use of crying!"
So what if we use methods to write down our names? Does that force us to take the exam?
Even if they're forced into the exam hall, can they really write the exam for us?
Zheng Huiyin suddenly stood up and walked straight out.
Despite the unexpected setback, she has achieved her goal for this trip.
His dazzling reappearance at the literary gathering, coupled with the absence of any open conflict with the Sixth Princess, was enough to salvage his reputation.
As for the implication in the Third Princess's words today, Zheng Huiyin needs to return home as soon as possible to inform her father.
Since the memorial has been sent to the palace, it means that His Majesty has given his tacit approval.
If they can force them to sign up using such a disgraceful method, who knows what other tricks they might be up to?
Whether through coercion or manipulation of public opinion, it is impossible to stop at this point.
However, how to deal with it was not up to her to decide; her father, brothers, and elders would make the decision.
The sobbing in the hall subsided, and the talented women, one after another, came to their senses and hurriedly left.
Meanwhile, Qin Zhaoyue had already returned to her residence.
I saw my elder sister off, earned 14,000 taels of silver, strolled around Fengjing City, had a free meal, and thus initially completed His Majesty's mission.
Half a day was far too fulfilling; I was exhausted and collapsed as soon as I got back to the backyard.
After changing into outer garments, washing their faces, and removing their hairpins and jewelry, they moved an ice chest to cool off. Tao Yao and Ying Nuo massaged each other's shoulders and legs, while Mo Yi fanned them from the side.
Yin Zhe revealed himself, standing coldly and alone to the side.
She crossed her arms and glanced at Qin Zhaoyue, who lay on the bamboo couch looking boneless, her eyes full of disdain.
If the officials saw this, who would be able to associate her with the crown prince?
You have some cultivation, after being out for half a day, why are you so tired?
Furthermore, if someone else obtained a Divine Martial Realm level cultivation technique from the Imperial Martial Armory, they would definitely cultivate it day and night.
But what about Qin Zhaoyue? She didn't seem to remember this at all!
When Suimo arrived, this was the scene that greeted him.
"How is it?"
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