The Concubine in the Palace_The Feast of Masks【Complete】(214)

The chūnwei exams were held on February 9th, 12th, and 15th, with three days for each exam, for a total of nine days. As the saying goes, entering the imperial examination hall is like shedding a layer of skin, which is obvious.

However, after ten years of hard study, one can become famous all over the world. After studying for a lifetime, some people even take the exam until they are old and gray, but they still do not give up, just for this day. So even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, countless people are scrambling to get in.

However, all this has nothing to do with the Jin Wang Mansion. The Jin Wang still goes to the Ministry of Works as usual every day to report for duty, and when the time comes, he will go off duty.

In late February, the chūnwei ended.

But the longcháo in the capital has not yet dispersed, and it is even more lively than before. The results of the joint examination will be announced in March. The candidates gathered in the capital will have to wait until the results are announced before they can decide whether to leave or stay.

Now that the chūnwei has ended, what this subject is tested on and what the topic is, naturally, is widely known, and it is inevitable that some people will copy their own articles as they are, verify each other, and circulate them widely. Many candidates gathered in various restaurants and bars to discuss and study various articles.

In fact, after such a long time, most candidates had some idea of ​​who would pass the exam. Even if they could not guess 100%, they would have no problem guessing 70% to 80%.

But at this time, something happened.

And the matter went around and around, and it was found that it was related to King Qing in the end, which was beyond everyone's expectation.

Chapter 163

In fact, at the beginning of the matter, it was just a candidate who said something wrong after drinking, saying that he had known the test questions of this subject for a long time, and he would definitely pass the exam.

At first, everyone just thought he was arrogant. After all, if this person had excellent grades, it would be fine, but he just failed the last place in the provincial examination. Generally, people like this come to participate in the joint examination, and they all assume that they have taken a year in vain, but they just come to gain some experience for the next time.

Such a person dared to say that he would definitely pass the exam, which was simply ridiculous!

There were many candidates present at the time, most of them were drunk. Some people did not believe it, laughed and called him a jerk, mocking him. Some people were in doubt, and some believed it, but those who believed it kept it a secret. Regardless of these, on the day when the results of the joint examination were announced, this person was indeed on the list and passed the examination.

Once he passed the examination, he would be a Jinshi after the palace examination in April, and his future was set. On the contrary, many recognized scholars were not on the list and failed.

The most ridiculous thing is that the person who was selected as the first place in the provincial examination with this person failed, but this person who was at the bottom of the list passed. It was really unfair.

In fact, as early as before and after the Spring Festival, there were rumors that there were many connections in the examination room, not to mention worshipping the father and the disciples, and even some people sold the test questions privately, which could not be bought by ordinary people. But no one believed it, and such a thing happened again, so it was inevitable that more and more people would discuss it privately.

At the same time, another incident occurred. A candidate from Jiangxi Province made a scene, saying that an official had accepted his money but did not select him. This incident became a big deal.

The 33rd year of Hongjing was destined to be an eventful year.

On the second day of March, hundreds of candidates who failed the exam went to the Confucius Temple located on the main street of the Imperial Academy in Dongcheng.

Asked what they did, they were crying in the Confucius Temple.

There have been many cases of cheating in the imperial examinations in all dynasties. The imperial examinations were related to the lifeblood of the court and the interests of countless people. It was inevitable that some people would lose their composure in front of the white things and do something convenient for him.

There was also an incident in the previous dynasty where many students cried in the Confucius Temple, but that was the provincial examination, and only the candidates were selected. Even so, the imperial examination cheating case also implicated countless people, and many high-ranking officials were dismissed, beheaded, and their homes were confiscated.

Now, when he was in power, such a horrifying scandal had occurred. When Emperor Hongjing heard the news, he was furious.

It was also because these candidates were too mean, and they were probably determined to make a desperate effort.

Crying in the Confucian Temple? That would be recorded in history books. Only when the monarch was incompetent, the court was unjust, and the examination hall was dark, so that the students had nowhere to appeal, they could only go to Confucius to cry.

For a time, the whole capital was covered with dark clouds. Emperor Hongjing ordered people to remove the Xingbang, seal the test papers of all candidates, and at the same time ordered a thorough investigation.

This thorough investigation naturally had to start with the candidates who made trouble. After a while, pulling out the radish brought up the mud, and countless people were implicated.

The first to bear the brunt was the chief examiner, the Minister of Rites, Xiao Cheng.

Why is he the first to bear the brunt? Because the several problematic candidates who have been interrogated so far were all pointed out by him personally.

When it comes to this, we have to talk about the examination marking system. As mentioned earlier, there have always been people who have tampered with the imperial examinations in every dynasty, so this preventive measure is also advancing with the times.

Daqian implemented this red and black roll. The so-called red and black roll means that after the examinee finishes the test, there will be a special person to collect the roll and cover the name. The name on the roll is covered, so the owner of the test paper is naturally unknown to outsiders. Of course, this step is not over yet. It needs to be sent to the record office for record, and a special clerk will rewrite it with a red pen. The black roll is sealed, and the red roll will be sent to the examiner.

This is done to prevent the examiner from recognizing the handwriting, or the examinee from making marks on the test paper, to eliminate the possibility of cheating.

It seems that the procedures are extremely complicated and impenetrable, but in fact, as long as you are determined, there will always be loopholes to exploit. After all, in addition to the two chief examiners and other co-examiners, there are countless examiners and numerous petty officials in the Imperial Academy, and even the soldiers and servants who are responsible for invigilating the examination.

Just like one of the cheating methods found this time, the joint note.

It is that the examiners and the candidates communicate with each other and agree to use specific words in certain places in the test paper before the candidates enter the venue. Most of them are empty words. And the person who passes the level only needs to hand the note with the joint words to the chief examiner, and the examiner will "record it according to the note, and there will be no mistake."

Not to mention that there are other methods, only you can't think of it, no one can't do it.

Xiao Cheng tried his best to deny it, but after checking the files, he really found that the people he selected were not good at writing and writing, and there were many typos. It is almost impossible to retake the exam to be sure that this is indeed a case of imperial examination cheating, and it is a big case headed by the chief examiner.

Xiao Cheng had no way to defend himself, and his face turned pale as he revealed one person, who was Prince An.

In fact, such connections are not uncommon in every examination. The powerful and the nobles would use this method if they wanted to promote a disciple, and the teachers and colleagues would promote a few juniors. It was a convention. But everyone knew that too much is as bad as too little, so there were only a few people in each examination.

And this time, not many people were found to have passed through Xiao Cheng's hands, only seven or eight. The problem is that the matter has become a big deal, and it is related to the sale of examination questions, which is a large-scale imperial examination fraud.

But Xiao Cheng did not admit this matter, and only said that he did not know.

Then it can only be traced to Prince An.

At the same time, a disciple named Wang Datong of Prince An's mansion surfaced.

According to verification, this person was the one who sold the examination questions privately.

He was arrested for interrogation, and he sold more than fifty sets of examination questions at 500 taels.

Emperor Hongjing was furious and personally questioned Prince An. However, Prince An only admitted to passing the note, but did not admit to ordering his followers to sell the test questions.

Perhaps Prince An also knew that it was useless to refute, and he said very frankly that passing the note was a convention, and he, as a prince, would never rely on his followers to sell the test questions to make money. But it is true that Wang Datong is indeed Prince An's follower. Not to mention this relationship, Wang Datong also has a daughter who is Prince An's concubine.

Could it be that women misled people, so the test questions leaked from Prince An, and thus made a big mistake? Not to mention Prince An's identity as a prince, he was just a small person in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and the test questions were of utmost importance, and it was impossible for them to pass through his hands.

Therefore, countless officials in the Ministry of Rites were implicated, and Wang Datong himself was also confiscated and imprisoned.

During the house search, something was seized from Wang Datong's home, and it was this thing that implicated Prince Qing.

A letter with the seal of Prince Qing.

When Prince Qing was drunk at home, he was taken to the palace.

His job in Guanglu Temple was insignificant, and it didn't matter whether he was there or not, so he hadn't been to Guanglu Temple for a long time. He drank at home all day to relieve his sorrow, and occasionally went to Xiao's house, but Xiao's family always closed the door to him.

So when he was taken to the palace, he was still drunk and didn't know anything. Emperor Hongjing sneered and ordered someone to sober him up. After he sobered up, Prince Qing knew what had happened.

His face changed immediately, and he was covered in cold sweat. He kept defending himself and asked to see Emperor Hongjing, but no one paid attention to him.

At the same time, in Prince Qing's mansion, the prince was taken away by people from the palace. Everyone was panicked, so no one noticed that someone in the mansion was missing.

On a deserted path outside the city, a very ordinary carriage was running at this time.

In addition to the driver, there were only two women sitting in the carriage.

Concubine Han sat in the carriage, her hands clenched into fists under her sleeves. At this time, she had taken off her gorgeous clothes and jewelry, and only wore a simple cotton jacket and skirt. If it weren't for her fair skin, it would be hard to recognize that she was Concubine Han, who was like an orchid in the valley.

No one spoke in the car, and the maid next to her was also nervous.

She said a few words with difficult syllables, and Concubine Han glanced at her: "I have told you many times not to speak Korean. It's okay once or twice, but if it becomes a habit, what if you let it slip in front of others?"

The maid opened her lips and said a little aggrievedly: "We are Koreans, everyone knows it."

Yes, so what is she worrying about? She has already left the mansion.

"My queen, are we going to Tongzhou?"

Concubine Han nodded.

As long as we get to Tongzhou and get on the boat, there is a lot of places in the world to go. She always has a sense of crisis in her heart, thinking that she must go to Tongzhou and stay away from here to be safe.