The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 454: Discovering the Recording Talisman

The first day of March was a sunny and windy day, suitable for the palace examination.

Well, before Chenghua, the palace examinations of the Ming Dynasty were basically held on the first day of March, two or three days after the announcement of the results of the joint examinations. During the reign of Emperor Chenghua, it was said that he felt sorry for the candidates, so he deliberately extended the time between the palace examinations and the joint examinations to March 15th, so that the candidates would have more time to rest and prepare.

Today is the third day after the announcement of the results of the imperial examination, and the fifth day after they had just experienced nine days of the imperial examination.

Most of the candidates looked haggard, and some even had swollen faces. It was obvious that they had been drinking a lot to celebrate in the past two days.

The energetic young man standing in the first row is very eye-catching.

Not only did the examinees look at him with envy and jealousy, but the officials on both sides also looked at him, and many of them nodded approvingly.

"Hedong boy, I heard that Xue Jingxuan is his uncle."

"Xue Xuan? Where is he now and what is he doing?"

"What else can he do? He can be a teacher in Hedong. He has devoted half his life to studying Neo-Confucianism and has established a school of thought in Hedong. His achievements are no less than ours."

"He has the demeanor of his uncle. Didn't Xue Jingxuan also pass the imperial examination and become the top scorer?"

"He has already won two first prizes in a row. Your Majesty must also want this dynasty to have an auspicious sign. Winning three first prizes is something worth celebrating. As long as he doesn't end up like Jingxuan, he will have a bright future."

Xu Yun, who was standing behind the officials, looked up at Xue Shao and raised his lips slightly. He lowered his eyes, fearing that these officials would be disappointed. Xue Shao was not only like Xue Xuan, but even worse than him. His official career could not be said to be smooth.

When the time was up, the candidates entered the hall in an orderly manner.

The seats were arranged according to ranking, and Xue Shao sat in the middle of the first row.

He lifted up his robe and sat down, and the candidates behind him sat down one after another. They waited silently for the emperor to arrive.

The emperor was stuck in Kunning Palace at this time.

He should have set out from Kunning Palace to the main hall a quarter of an hour ago, but when he walked out of the room and went down the stairs, his legs suddenly went weak, his ankle twisted, and he fell in front of the flower bed.

When he looked up, he met the eyes of a tattered purse that had been pressed under the branches by the wind and rain.

The little emperor was stunned for a moment, and his hand reached into the flowers faster than his brain and took out the half-burnt purse.

Wang Zhen panicked and reached out to help him. Seeing him take out such an unknown object from the flowers, his heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously slapped his purse and dropped it: "Your Majesty, be careful, it's poisonous!"

Zhu Qizhen frowned and picked up the purse that had fallen to the ground again. "It's just a purse, how could it be poisonous?"

Wang Zhen: "How could such a forbidden item appear in the palace?"

Zhu Qizhen: "It's just an ordinary purse, how can it be prohibited?"

He simply opened the purse and closed it at a glance.

Wang Zhen curiously leaned over to look, but he was too fast to see clearly. Seeing that the emperor had no expression on his face, he asked, "Your Majesty, what's inside?"

The emperor stuffed his purse into his sleeve and said nonchalantly, "Nothing, sir. Go check if the examinees have come to the palace. Ask Yang Pu and other examiners to come to the upper study."

The biggest event today is the palace examination. Wang Zhen knows that the champion this time is Xue Xuan's nephew. It's a pity that he let Pan Yun attract attention before and didn't notice that he was among the candidates.

Now that things have come to this, all he can do is to stop the person from taking the palace examination, and at least his ranking in the examination must not be too high.

Xue Xuan has a mortal enemy with him.

Wang Zhen withdrew and went to watch the palace examination.

As soon as Wang Zhen left, the emperor took out a purse from his sleeve, opened it, and took out a yellow talisman from it.

The Queen leaned over to see it was another talisman. She couldn't help but frown, "Your Majesty, you can't trust the talk of gods and ghosts. What's more, this talisman has an unknown origin. You should throw it away."

Zhu Qizhen was very confident and didn't think the talisman could hurt him at all. He threw the purse to Cao Jixiang and took apart the folded talisman. As he did so, a familiar voice came out from the talisman, "I'm so scared..."

Zhu Qizhen was stunned, and the queen was startled. Her knees went weak and she almost fell down. Zhu Qizhen caught her. "This, this, this... this talisman paper can speak!"

The next moment, Wang Zhen's voice came out from the talisman paper: "Just try and see if I can do it."

The Queen's eyes widened, and Zhu Qizhen was no less frightened.

Cao Jixiang reacted and immediately ordered, "Everyone turn your back and cover your ears!"

Fortunately, there were not many people in the yard, and they were all servants of the emperor and empress. They were trembling in their hearts, curious and afraid of death, and obediently turned their backs and covered their ears.

Zhu Qizhen said angrily: "You are trying to cover your ears and steal the bell. Are you stupid or am I stupid?"

"Everyone put your hands down and listen. I want to see who dares to spread what happened today," he said, "If anyone reveals even a little bit, everyone present today, except the Queen, will be executed!"

Cao Jixiang took the lead and knelt on the ground with a fluttering sound, and replied tremblingly, "Yes!"

The eunuchs and palace maids knelt on the ground and were forced to listen to a recorded broadcast of a prison scene.

The sound only came when Wang Zhen was about to drag Pan Yun away for torture. After that, no matter how the emperor shook the yellow talisman, it no longer made any sound.

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The Queen came back to her senses and realized that it was already late. She grabbed the Emperor's arm and said, "Your Majesty, nothing is more important today than the palace examination. All the officials and candidates are still waiting for you in the palace."

Zhu Qizhen finally came back to his senses, and with a sullen look on his face, he stuffed the yellow talisman into his pouch, and tossed his sleeves, "Go to the study!"

Yang Pu and his men had been waiting for a long time, and when they saw that the emperor was not coming, they became anxious.

As soon as the emperor arrived, they immediately took out the prepared questions and said, "Your Majesty, please choose one."

There was no time to even exchange pleasantries; it was obvious that time was running out.

The emperor glanced at them, then remained silent. He stretched out his hand and pushed away the three pieces of paper in front of him. He turned around and said, "'Everything has its root and its end, and everything has its end and its beginning. If you know what comes first and what comes later, you will be close to the truth.' This is the topic of the palace examination."

Yang Pu and other examiners were shocked and looked at each other.

Why did the emperor suddenly change the topic and start a new one?
We are not fools and we can see that the emperor came up with this topic on the spur of the moment.

It's impossible that you suspect they cheated and leaked the questions, right?

But they had just agreed on these three questions last night, and then they had remained in the palace. Today the emperor had to choose one of the three.

The examiners were uneasy and unhappy.

However, the experienced Yang Pulue had a guess after a little thought and thought of the two imperial edicts issued by the emperor last year.

He paused and then bowed and replied, "Yes, I will write it down right away."

Seeing that the chief examiner Yang Pu had responded, the other examiners had no choice but to follow suit.

but……

Some honest people asked on the spot: "Your Majesty has not told anyone else about this question, right?"

The emperor said, "I came up with this idea after entering the study, and I have not told anyone except you."

Everyone felt relieved when they heard this. They immediately wrote down the topic and took it to the main hall. "Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived. Please enter the hall quickly."

The candidates waited for the emperor for a long time but saw no sign of him coming. They could not help but move their bodies, and the quiet hall was filled with rustling sounds.

Xue Shao raised his head and looked upwards. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure in a yellow robe coming out from behind a large screen. He immediately lowered his eyes. The next moment, he heard the eunuch announce that the emperor had arrived and shouted, "All the ministers, please stand up..."

Xue Shao stood up and walked to the side of the table, then knelt down and saluted along with the civil and military officials on both sides.

(End of this chapter)