A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 186 Imperial Envoy
Is Song Xuan capable?

Have!
It is recognized by everyone.

However, he was a lazy person and thought that as long as he could pass the exam, it would be fine.

Little did he know that this was due to the habit that Song Xuan had developed during his four years at university, that a score of 60 would be enough.

But Yan Shu felt that Song Xuan's bad habit must be corrected, at least in terms of the imperial examination.

The treatment for a random Jinshi is very different from the treatment for winning three top honors in a row.

Among those who were admitted to the Jinshi degree with Wang Zeng, how many wore purple robes?

Now, more than 20 years have passed. Among Han Yi, Zhang Dexiang, Zhang Shangzu, Ouyang Mian, etc., who has surpassed Wang Zeng?
None of them held an official position higher than the fifth rank.

"Song Xuan is extremely talented, but his edge is too obvious. He needs to be honed before he can become a great talent!"

"Minister Cao, can you understand my good intentions?"

"I am a rough man and I don't understand your good intentions."

Cao Liyong was naturally angry. After all, he was an inspector sent by the central court. He was treated so harshly by Yan Shu, and the person he valued was also dismissed by him.

Even a clay figure can get angry, let alone him!

Cao Liyong was very unhappy, but Yan Shu smiled.

"Use it. I know what you mean."

Yan Shu walked over and said:

"By then, you, Minister Cao, will have snatched a son-in-law who has won three prizes in the imperial examinations. Who wouldn't be envious?"

"What's more, if Song Xuan makes it to the list in the future, even if someone competes with you for the position, Song Xuan will still choose you!"

"Don't tell him about this. Let's see how he performs next year. I'll talk to him after the exam is over."

Cao Liyong listened to the pie that Yan Shu painted.

A son-in-law who won three prizes in a row!
He was a little hesitant to think about it.

Because he only wanted Song Xuan to become the top scorer in the imperial examination, which would be very impressive and enough for Cao Liyong to stand up straight in front of others.

By then, my son-in-law Cao will also win three prizes in a row!
Wang Zeng, why are you still so proud?
Yan Shu observed Cao Liyong's expression and said:

"If it weren't for the fact that Han Qi's poems and fu were more in line with the rules of the imperial examination than Song Xuan's, I would have chosen Song Xuan as the top scorer this time."

"Ah."

Cao Liyong also noticed that the poems and essays written by Song Xuan were not in antithesis.

Even if he wrote an excellent policy paper, so what?
The subjects with the greatest weight in today's imperial examinations are poetry and prose.

"But I did this to motivate him to go further. Even if Song Xuan is deposed, so what? He's only sixteen. If all goes well, when he reaches the age of twenty, he'll take the palace examination. You, Cao Yongzhi, will have someone to brag about in the future."

"Humph, I don't understand the imperial examination as well as you do."

Cao Liyong immediately waved his hand and said, "It's up to you. You are the chief examiner anyway. It's up to you to decide whether to admit or dismiss me."

After seeing Cao Liyong's tacit agreement, Yan Shu spoke:

"You must keep this matter secret. Otherwise, not only will it fail to motivate him, but it will only make him more arrogant!"

"I understand, I understand."

Yan Shu's practice is very common.

For example, in order to suppress his student Zeng Gong, Ouyang Xiu ended up putting Su Shi at the back.

Zhang Juzheng was known as a child prodigy. When he took part in the provincial examination for the first time, the chief examiner admired him very much, so he deliberately dismissed him in order to temper his character!
……

As Dou Yuanbin's eldest son, Dou Wen has been traveling around Tokyo.

I received a letter from Gu Zimo today, saying that the four killers have been arranged and are waiting to do the job on the night when Song Xuan takes the test.

Dou Han's brother Dou Wen was a little confused when he saw the reply.

"Why are there only four killers? I only found three!"

"How come there is one more? Did he find it?"

"wrong!"

"The third killer I finally found is on his way. How can I get there before Zimo replies?"

"By this calculation, there are obviously two more killers!"

"Something's wrong."

"What's wrong?"

Ding Jian is Ding Wei's younger brother and also Dou Yuanbin's son-in-law.

Now that Ding Wei has fallen, he was demoted. He never expected that he relied on the Dou family to rise, but in the end the Dou family was also brought down.

The head of the Hanlin academicians can become a prime minister in the next step.

"The two extra killers were not hired by me or Gu Zimo, so who could have hired them?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Ding Jian was stunned.

But it is so.

"All I can say is that our plan was leaked, and someone wants to get involved. Who do you think it is?"

Faced with his brother-in-law's question, Ding Jian stared for a long time but couldn't figure it out.

Ding Wei played political games and failed in the political struggle.

A lot of people have been offended, and many of them are eager to step on them again.

Otherwise, Ding Wei would not have been demoted again and again and went directly to Yazhou.

"If you can't figure it out, just assume it was done by the enemy."

Dou Wen shook his head: "I think we've been plotted against. Someone wants to take advantage of this opportunity to achieve their own goals!"

"Could it be Song Xuan?"

As soon as Ding Jian heard the enemy, he knew it was him.

"Absolutely impossible!" Dou Wen said firmly:
"He is just an ordinary student. If he hadn't been protected by Yan Shu, how could he have escaped unscathed?"

"It must have been done by the political enemies of the Ding or Dou families!"

This is what an imaginary enemy is.

It's because their two families have either retaliated against others or blocked the way for others to make progress!

If we don't take this opportunity to kick the man down, when will we?
Ding Jian also fully agreed with Dou Wen's words:

"It's over! The news that we were looking for a killer in the Ghost Fan Building in Tokyo must have leaked out!"

"A hundred secrets and a sparse, a hundred secrets and a sparse!"

As the two were sighing, Ding Jian's nephew Ding Yan ran in breathlessly:
"Oh no, something happened!"

"What happened? Tell me quickly."

Ding Yun then reported that the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture, Gu Zimo, was assassinated in the street by a villain called Huoyan Suanni and almost died.

Fortunately, the story of being saved by Doctor Wang was told, and the court has sent people to Yingtian Prefecture to investigate the case.

"It's over, it's over."

This made even the usually calm Dou Wen tremble with fear.

The Fire-Eyed Suanni was the killer he had high hopes for.

Not only did he not kill Song Xuan, but he assassinated Gu Zimo in the street!
This is going to poke a hole in the sky!

They have all served as officials, so they naturally know how the court will react if something like this happens.

If we don't strike hard to punish this Fire-Eyed Suanni, can the officials of the Song Dynasty still work wholeheartedly for the court?
Is the Song Dynasty going to return to the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms?
How is killing officials in the street different from rebellion?

From the ninth-rank minor official to the prime minister, everyone will be united in demanding that the murderer be punished.

This head cannot be opened.

It must not be opened!

"Gu Zimo is my father's favorite disciple, I will never tell anyone about it so easily."

Dou Wen first consoled himself for a while, then clapped his hands anxiously:

"Not good. Gu Zimo must be unaware of the existence of other political enemies. He thinks I sent this Fiery Eyed Suanni to kill him and silence him. Once someone from the imperial court arrives, he will surely be filled with hatred and tell everything."

When the uncle and nephew of the Ding family heard this, they were very scared.

After all, only Ding Wei went to Yazhou, and none of the other children suffered with him. Only one of Ding Wei's sons was exiled to Hebei to do hard labor because he had an affair with a female Taoist priest.

"What should I do?"

"Write to Gu Zimo immediately and explain everything."

"No."

Dou Wen felt that when the news got out, the court's special envoys all rushed to Yingtian Prefecture, and no matter how they delivered the letters, they would not be faster than the envoys.

Instead, all the new evidence fell into the hands of the court.

"We can still be saved. We can still be saved."

Dou Wen kept talking, running around in a panic.

The uncle and nephew of the Ding family really didn't want to go to Yazhou. They were still young and hadn't lived enough.

I haven’t enjoyed the prosperity of Tokyo enough!
Anyway, Ding Wei is an old man now, so it’s okay for him to retire in Yazhou.

At least the imperial court will not take his life. If he can live well in Yazhou, he is lucky!
Dou Wen suddenly stopped and said, "Every time I discuss this with Gu Zimo, I ask him to burn all the letters."

"If he does what I say, we can deny this matter!"

After hearing Dou Wen's words, the uncle and nephew of the Ding family all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah."

"Gu Zimo is the student who listens to his mentor the most. He will definitely follow his brother-in-law's instructions and burn all the letters."

"In this case, even if he accuses us, we won't have any evidence. Instead, we can say that Gu Zimo did it himself."

"inappropriate."

Dou Wen doesn't think so.

His father still has some remaining influence and quite a few students.

If we don’t admit that Gu Zimo works all for the Dou family, what will others think?

Dou Wen kept thinking about it, and his hair became wet and smoking.

"By the way, let's find someone to take the blame!"

The uncle and nephew of the Ding family took a step back together. They couldn't bear the blame! "I'm not asking you to bear it!"

Dou Wen understood their thoughts and sighed:

"I mean to put the blame on that student Song Xuan."

"What do you mean?"

"Song Xuan was afraid of retaliation, so he took the initiative. The extra assassins were his!"

Dou Wen turned the situation around directly. Song Xuan staged the show himself. In order to divert suspicion, he deliberately hired someone to assassinate him and then put the blame on our Dou family.

When the uncle and nephew of the Ding family heard this, they nodded repeatedly.

"That's it!"

It was not until Dou Wen came up with the idea that he realized he was soaked all over.

Fortunately, we came up with this excuse to save the Dou family's future.

No matter what, the Dou family is right in the matter of his father being forced to death!

The hatred of nine generations can still be avenged!
"To be on the safe side, should we also be assassinated?"

"Don't do something superfluous like this."

Dou Wen flatly refused, believing that if he acted rashly again, he would reveal more flaws.

……

"Song Xuan?"

"Correct."

Pang Ji and Han Yi went to find Gu Zimo.

Gu Zimo naturally told the Dou family everything about his murder.

After all, it was the Dou family who were unkind and unjust first and wanted to kill him to silence him.

Since he had saved his life, the key reason was that he was saved by Song Xuan. He really couldn't say it out loud!
Previously, his mentor had passed away, so he had no intention of asking whether it was right or wrong.

Now that the son of my mentor has seen that his plan has failed and wants him to die, we have to ask whether this is right or wrong!

Because it is really not easy to escape from the gates of hell.

Although Doctor Wang said that he had saved his life, his vitality was seriously damaged and it was unknown how long he would have to lie down.

Especially in the hot summer, wounds are prone to festering.

The other foot hasn't completely escaped death yet.

"How much do you know about the Dou family hiring someone to kill you?"

"It happened suddenly, I'm not very clear about it."

Song Xuan sat on the chair, watching Han Yi recording their conversation, and said calmly:

"I didn't expect them to have such vicious intentions. If Judge Gu hadn't revealed the truth, I wouldn't have known what was going on!"

"is it?"

Pang Ji picked up someone else's confession from the side:

"I understand that you contacted the fire squad ahead of time to prevent anyone from starting a fire. How do you explain that?"

"I wonder if Pang Sicheng has any knowledge of this shop of mine?"

“Yes, I have.”

Pang Ji had rich local experience and was resourceful, so he was recommended by his superiors. Finally, with the recommendation and help of Xia Song, he was appointed as an official in Kaifeng Prefecture, and step by step he worked his way up to the position of fifth-rank Dali Temple Secretary.

"President Zhao of the city's Silk Guild wanted a piece of the action, but I rejected him. So, how could these greedy merchants not take advantage of me while I'm taking the test and cause trouble? It's always wise for me to take precautions!"

Pang Ji could tell that Song Xuan's words were flawless.

But the more flawless his words were, the more it proved that he had thought about them carefully before saying them.

That's where the problem lies.

"You seem to think too badly of people."

"I'm afraid Pang Sicheng thinks too highly of people."

Song Xuan snorted and laughed: "Since ancient times, money has always moved people's hearts. There have always been many people who have done evil things for money, right?"

"Besides, many people think that I've just arrived in Songcheng and I'm already doing such a booming business. Isn't it said that a child with gold is more likely to be targeted?"

Han Yi felt that what Song Xuan said made sense.

He also has rich experience in local governance and is well-known for his administration.

County Magistrate Huangfu Xuan let Han Yi handle all the cases that could not be decided by litigation in other states and counties.

"Impeccable."

Pang Ji couldn't help but clap his hands and praise: "Song Twelve's reputation for intelligence is well-founded."

"Thank you for the compliment, Temple Secretary." Song Xuan nodded slightly and said, "I am just speaking the truth."

"What a truthful person."

Pang Ji didn't believe that things could be so simple by coincidence:
"I heard from Judge Gu that three assassins came to kill you that night. The Fire-Eyed Suanni escaped. Did the Blazing Eagle and the Black Wind Evil Star also run away?"

"Ran."

Song Xuan pointed to the backyard:
"I guessed their plan was to have the Fire-Eyed Suanni set fire to my backyard to cause chaos, but little did they know that my buddy Wang Gui had extraordinary hearing, and with the help of the dog barking, he went out and disrupted the thieves' plan."

"The fire didn't start, and the assassin who wanted to kill me in the chaos ran away."

Pang Ji nodded, it really made perfect sense.

He could feel that everything Song Xuan said was true!
But some truths did not happen as he said.

Unless the imperial court can capture the Fire-Eyed Suanni, the whole matter can be restored to its original state.

Pang Ji didn't know what Song Xuan was hiding.

Why not tell the whole truth to the court?

"Pang Sicheng, when will you catch the murderer?"

Song Xuan immediately put pressure on Pang Ji:

"After all, the assassin escaped, and I live in fear every day. I'm really scared. I don't know when the court will be able to capture him and bring him to justice."

Pang Ji glanced at Song Xuan's strong body, as well as the bow and arrows and bone flowers placed in the study.

It was hard for him to imagine.

Song Xuan would say something that was scary.

"Shi Er Lang, did you kill those two assassins?"

"Pang Sicheng, I don't agree with your speculation."

Song Xuan poured himself some cold water and said, "I've never killed a chicken since I was a child!"

"Hahaha."

Pang Ji laughed out loud.

He thought Song Xuan's joke was very funny. After laughing for a while, Han Yi looked puzzled, and then he said:

"I was just joking!"

"Hehehe."

Song Xuan also smiled in agreement:
"Pang Sicheng's jokes are really good, but their level is a bit lacking."

A smile appeared on Pang Ji's lips.

This guy is really brave and cruel, mocking a court official who came to investigate him in this way.

Assassinating an official in the street is something that only someone like Song Xuan would do in accordance with common sense!
Han Yi on the side also felt that Song Xuan was not a tough guy, and he actually didn't understand Pang Ji.

Song Xuan is clearly the victim, so why do you insist on treating him as the perpetrator?

Even if he fought back and killed the other two assassins, that would be understandable.

Han Yi thought that Song Xuan was going to take the imperial examination, and he didn't want to be branded as a murderer.

That's why something was concealed.

The weapons displayed in Song Xuan's yard were enough to show that all of his men were skilled in martial arts.

Pang Ji served as an official for many years and handled many cases.

But I never expected that Song Xuan, a victim, would have the same mentality as the perpetrator!

Pang Ji picked up the cold drink and took a sip.

What is the secret behind this?
Is it Song Xuan who is hiding?
If it were in the past, Pang Ji would not have bothered to investigate further.

But this was a mission sent by the imperial court, and he absolutely could not let go of any clue.

In particular, it involved such a serious and vicious case of killing an official in the street, and the Dou family was involved behind the scenes.

No matter what, Song Xuan's testimony did not satisfy him.

"Zong Wei, I've almost finished asking. Do you have anything else to ask?"

Han Yi handed the pen and booklet to Pang Ji, asking him to first look at what he had recorded to see if there were any mistakes or omissions, and then he would ask more questions.

Song Xuan put down the cold paste in his hand and waited quietly for Han Yi's question.

"Song Twelve, how did you do in this exam?"

"not good."

Song Xuan shook his head and let out a long sigh in a mock manner:

"My teacher set a goal for me to pass the Yingtianfu exam, but things like this happened one after another at night, which made me exhausted. I didn't perform to my full potential in the exam hall."

Before going to Song Xuan to find out the situation, Pang Ji and Han Yi both investigated Song Xuan's recent life.

It can be said that Song Xuan has talent and he also achieved good results in the entrance examination.

He also made friends with many outstanding students in the academy, and was praised by everyone.

He was always generous, and he even distributed the profits from his shop to support the teaching at Yingtian Academy.

For such a student with a good reputation to remain calm when being assassinated by a high-ranking official of the imperial court is indeed extraordinary.

It's not the mentality he should have at his age.

"It's a pity."

Han Yi also has a son studying in the academy, and he learned some of these things from his son:
"But it has already happened. I hope you can adjust your mindset in the future. The court will certainly give you an explanation."

(End of this chapter)