"You... who are you!"

Sheng Mingcheng spoke in a trembling voice, his legs almost as soft as cotton.

"Don't move!"

The voice behind my ear was low and cold, and could not be resisted.

Then a big hand reached into Sheng Mingcheng's arms and took out a stack of silver bills and a tightly wrapped envelope.

When Sheng Mingcheng saw this, he immediately struggled violently.

No matter how stupid he was, he could now see that this group of people had been waiting here for the list in his arms!

Who is it!

Who knew that the Duke Qing’s Mansion would be destroyed, so he waited here for the opportunity.

Who knew that the Qingguo Mansion had such a list?

"Your Highness is indeed very smart! We found the list!"

The man in black lowered his voice and said solemnly.

When Sheng Mingcheng heard this, he felt dizzy!

The second prince!

It’s indeed the second prince!

Apart from him, who else could know about the cheating in the Spring Examination, and who wanted this list so urgently!

Grandpa regarded the Second Prince as the last savior, but who could have imagined that the Second Prince was the real death warrant for their Duke Qing’s Mansion!

"Master——"

Sheng Mingcheng opened his mouth in despair and grief, but before he could shout out, he was knocked unconscious by a palm strike!

The two men in black looked at the Sheng brothers and sisters who had fainted on the ground, and suddenly smiled at each other, grinning under the black cloth.

According to the eldest young master's instructions, these two people need to be moved to another place to prevent them from being easily found by the court or people sent by the second prince.

That’s right, the true identities of these two people are actually Qiao family’s secret guards!

According to Tan Hanchi's guess, Duke Qing knows that he cannot protect himself, so he will definitely do his best to protect the bloodline of the Duke's Mansion.

However, both Sheng Mingcheng and Sheng Xiuran were unable to handle the task, so they had no choice but to place their bets on the Second Prince.

The only thing that could make the Second Prince excited was the list that General Qiao mentioned!

Taking all these into consideration, Tan Hanchi was certain that Duke Qing would let Sheng Mingcheng escape with the list before the palace issued an order, and then find an opportunity to look for the second prince.

The Qiao family only needs to arrange people to wait at various exits of the Duke of Qing’s Mansion. Anyone who sees Sheng Mingcheng and Sheng Xiuran sneaking away without their servants must be carrying the list!

They are powerless and can just grab the list.

At this moment, Qiao Tianjing had a flash of inspiration and thought of a plan within a plan.

Regarding the Spring Examination, Dad will definitely stand up for Brother Tan in the Golden Palace. This move may arouse the suspicion of the Second Prince and make him target the Qiao family in advance, so we must make trouble for him.

For example, when snatching the list, he put the blame on the second prince and saved Sheng Mingcheng and Sheng Xiuran.

If Sheng Mingcheng survives, he will definitely hate the Second Prince for taking away his last support.

A brainless playboy like Sheng Mingcheng, who is used to a life of luxury, will become even crazier once he is cornered.

By then, we can just use him to spread the news that the Second Prince had known about the cheating in the Spring Examination for a long time, but deliberately covered it up in order to gain benefits from it.

If a few more people are sent to fan the flames and make things worse, it will be enough to make the Second Prince extremely anxious!

In the study that night, when Qiao Zhongguo and the others heard Qiao Tianjing's words, they all gave a thumbs up.

Tan Hanchi said bluntly, "Brother Qiao, it's you who has to kill people and destroy their hearts!"

Qiao Diyi looked apprehensive, "You scholars are so terribly roundabout!"

Qiao Zhongguo smiled pretentiously, "Boss is indeed half as good as I was back then!"

Qiao Tianjing narrowed his eyes and smiled modestly, "Thank you for the compliment. I am good at giving people trouble."

——————

After Tan Hanchi was brought into the palace, Qiao Diyi took Qiao Jiaojiao back to the Qiao Mansion.

He took a special leave today and was currently sitting in Qiao Zhongguo's study, anxiously waiting for news from the secret guards.

About half an hour later, two figures appeared outside the study window.

Qiao Diyi was an expert in martial arts. He stood up immediately upon hearing the noise, only to see two masked men in black jumping in.

"How is it?" Qiao Diyi asked straight to the point.

"Replying to Second Young Master, I have accomplished my mission!"

The man in black handed an envelope, a thick stack of banknotes and two sachets to Qiao Diyi.

"Did you get the sachet back too?" There was finally a slight smile on Qiao Diyi's face.

The man in black in front of him chuckled.

"I followed the eldest young master's instructions and made sure they were left penniless, so I even took off Miss Sheng's jewelry and put it all in the sachet."

"Good brother, thank you for your hard work. I will report the truth to my father when I come back!"

Qiao Diyi deals with everyone in this carefree way.

The secret guard smiled and waved his hand quickly, then disappeared into the darkness again, and retired after accomplishing his mission.

————

You could hear a pin drop in the Golden Throne Hall.

Emperor Yong gripped the dragon throne tightly with both hands, squeezing it so hard that veins popped!

Just now, when Tan Hanchi entered the palace, Emperor Yong asked him about his grievances. Tan Hanchi was neither humble nor arrogant, and bluntly said that the Spring Examination was unfair, which made everyone gasp!

Emperor Yong asked him again what evidence he had, and Tan Hanchi shamelessly said that his article was the evidence!

At this point, everyone thought that Tan Hanchi had become mentally ill and hysterical after failing the exam, which was why he fearlessly struck the drum to report his mistakes.

But since the person had already arrived, Emperor Yong asked him to recite the article again, so that so many great scholars and knowledgeable people in the hall could judge for him.

As a result, as soon as Tan Hanchi opened his mouth, Emperor Yong was stunned.

Because he had just read the article that Tan Hanchi recited two days ago, and even praised it in front of the prince!

The Minister of Rites Xin Ruizhi originally still had some luck in his heart. No matter how Tan Hanchi argued, he would just insist that the Spring Examination was absolutely fair and just.

But who could have thought that Tan Hanchi could actually recite the entire work written for the Spring Examination word for word!

What happens is that this article is one of the top three articles, and it was just presented to His Majesty two days ago!

Hearing this, Xin Ruizhi's face turned pale, his legs trembled, and he knew that his death was approaching.

"Yes—yes—yes—"

Emperor Yong said "yes" three times in a row, and the next moment he pulled off the beads on his wrist and smashed them to the ground!

"The Spring Examination was originally held to select talented and knowledgeable people for the imperial court and the Yong Dynasty. Now, it has been used by those with ulterior motives to abuse their power for personal gain and deceive their superiors and subordinates!"

Everyone in the hall was still a little confused when they heard this.

This boy's article is indeed good, but is it too early for His Majesty to make such a conclusion?...

It's not impossible that this person's article started well but ended badly, which is why it was rejected.

Seeing everyone's bewildered faces, Emperor Yong suddenly stood up and said angrily: "Xin Ruizhi, why don't you get out of here!"

"This is one of the top three essays you submitted to me. You can't fail to hear it!"

When Xin Ruizhi heard this, his face turned pale. He crawled to the hall on his knees and begged Emperor Yong for mercy.

All the court officials suddenly realized what was going on.

This student's work in the spring imperial examination actually ranked first!

Xin Ruizhi is so bold that he even dares to tamper with the Spring Examination!

He's finished!