Joy of Life: Starting from Teacher Fan Xian

Chapter 54 Accountability
In the study deep in the palace, His Majesty the Emperor sat on a chair with an expressionless face.

On both sides of the hall, there were more than a dozen bewildered court officials, all looking at the majestic emperor's face in the center. They tried to find clues from it, but they could not see through it.

Only Chen Pingping, who knew the truth, sat there calmly.

All the ministers were standing there when they suddenly heard the door open and three people entered the room.

Here it comes... The ministers' hearts moved, and they finally understood some thoughts, but these thoughts made them all terrified.

The three of them kowtowed in unison: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

The Emperor showed no sign of joy or anger, and said, "Get up."

The three of them stood up and stood in the center, awaiting the next accountability.

The room was completely silent, and all the officials were as quiet as a cicada until that deep voice rang out: "Mr. Wei, how many years have you been in charge of the Ministry of Rites?"

Wei An nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I have been in charge of the Ministry of Rites for nearly fifteen years."

"That's how you do things!" His Majesty the Emperor suddenly roared, throwing out a memorial and a letter in his hands.

He said angrily, "Lord Lin accused you of forming a clique for personal gain and cheating in the Spring Examination. I need an explanation."

Wei An looked over and lowered his head: "I am loyal to Your Majesty and will never have second thoughts."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and thought it was really ridiculous. He said, "Then tell me whether the so-called cheating in the Spring Examination is true or false, and whether it is for the country, the people, or for me!"

When the emperor is angry, corpses will be scattered all over the place.

Wei An was silent for a moment. He did not quibble. At this point, there was no room for quibbling. His Majesty had already done everything. He said in a deep voice: "Every word Lord Lin said is true. I have nothing to say."

As His Majesty's voice grew louder and louder, and as Wei An, a veteran minister of three dynasties, confessed his guilt, the room remained in deathly silence.

The ministers were all uneasy for a moment. Cheating in the spring examination was never a one-party affair. Many of them had close ties with Wei An and had some connections with him.

I don’t know how many people in the court were scolded by your Majesty’s rebuke.

A few ministers who were not concerned with the matter, represented by the Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, stepped out and said, "Wei An caused chaos in the Spring Examination. His crime is unforgivable. Please punish him, Your Majesty."

His Majesty the Emperor waved his hand and signaled them to leave. This was not a sign of leniency, but rather that His Majesty had already made up his mind to punish them.

The other ministers turned their eyes to Lin Ruofu, and could not help but feel a lot of strange anger. He broke the implicit order of the court.

After tonight, there will be quite a few people implicated.

"Your Majesty, considering Mr. Wei's hard work and great contributions, I suggest that he be stripped of his official position and sent back to his hometown," said an official.

Although the evidence is there, there are still some procedures missing. The Spring Examination has not yet ended. As long as His Majesty the Emperor makes a wave of his hand, the numerous students who have taken the Spring Examination, including the court officials, will not be able to escape the connection.

But since there was no decision to hold a special court meeting tomorrow morning for the trial, but instead the decision was made to launch the charge tonight, this firstly reflects His Majesty's anger, and secondly, those who have not yet been caught have reason to believe that His Majesty does not want to kill them all.

At this time, the best way is to convict Wei An and give the emperor an answer.

But they all ignored the emperor's character.

His Majesty the Emperor did not say anything, and the guards who had been waiting outside the room took the person away.

……

The news of the cheating in the imperial examination spread throughout Kyoto in just one hour, and officials and students, as well as anyone who thought they had something fishy, ​​were inevitably in a panic.

Outside the peaceful Ministry of Rites Imperial College, a large number of officials from the Supervisory Council filed in, drawing cheers from the students and the public who were watching.

In the huge Imperial Academy, within a short period of time, nearly half of the officials from the Ministry of Rites were taken prisoner and sent to the Heavenly Prison of the Supervisory Council for interrogation. Even several students were picked out from the crowd by the sharp-eyed officials of the Supervisory Council and taken away as participants in the fraud case.

All of these students are from wealthy and powerful families.

The imperial court posted a notice revealing the whole story of the case, and officials from the Ministry of Rites, including the Minister of Rites Wei An, became the targets of insults from the angry students.

At this moment, people inside and outside the court realized that this imperial examination cheating was never an accident. It turned out to be a premeditated and planned action prepared by His Majesty the Emperor in the deep palace.

The participants are just chess pieces on the chessboard, looked down upon and glared at.

As long as His Majesty the Emperor is willing, the ruling class of the empire can undergo a major change.

The students were extremely excited, celebrating the eradication of the cancer of the empire and the bright prospects for the imperial examination. On the other hand, some people realized that the drama seemed not to be over yet.

As the key figure in the Spring Examination cheating case, why has the seventeen-year-old scholar Lin Ruo not left the Ministry of Rites and been thrown into the prison of the Censorate until now?

What is the real story behind cheating in the imperial examination?

It was late at night, and in the study of the imperial palace, the interrogation was still going on.

"Lin Ruofu, do you think you have done a good job?" The ruler of the empire questioned his most valued minister in an extremely majestic and domineering tone.

Lin Ruofu hurriedly said: "I dare not. I will follow your Majesty's orders in everything."

As the whistleblower of cheating in the imperial examinations, Lin Ruofu should not have been treated like this in terms of merit, but at this moment, the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy acted like a criminal with deep guilt.

All the ministers were suspicious and wondered what the emperor was up to.

Until another letter of accusation fell out and landed on the ground silently.

The study was filled with uproar.

The letter of accusation was not directed at Lin Ruofu, the chief examiner of the Spring Examination, otherwise this famous figure in the court should have been dragged out of the room just like the Minister of Rites Wei An just now.

The letter reported another case of cheating in the imperial examination, in which Grand Secretary Shu Wu leaked the test questions before the exam.

His Majesty's implication was that he was blaming Lin Ruofu for not doing his job thoroughly, which resulted in some fish slipping through the net.

The ministers' thoughts were in a mess, and even the honest and upright Grand Secretary Shu was caught in the whirlpool. They didn't know who the Emperor would blame next.

"Shu Wu, I have to ask you for an explanation now." His Majesty the Emperor spoke in a gentle tone, but his majesty remained. However, he still gave too much face to the literary masters of Qing Kingdom.

Shu Wu bowed and knelt down to pay homage: "Your Majesty, I am innocent in this matter."

The emperor shook his head: "I don't want to hear the word 'injustice'."

Shu Wu, who was usually gentle, said in a tough tone, "I am willing to confront the whistleblower face to face. If there is any mistake, I will die to apologize!"

The faces of the court officials were stunned. They did not expect that Shu Daxueshi, a scholar, could be so courageous.

Even the Emperor paused for a moment. The character of the literati in Qing Kingdom is extraordinary.

Chen Pingping immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, even Scholar Lin Ruofu has not figured out the clues, which means there may be something hidden. Let Scholar Shu prove the whole story himself before making a final decision."

His Majesty the Emperor nodded after a long absence.

All the ministers breathed a sigh of relief. In the court, only the president of the Supervisory Council dared to advise the emperor at this time and make him listen.

(End of this chapter)