Primordial Era: I, Emperor Donghua, establish the Immortal Court

Cheng Minzheng's body trembled slightly. He was very angry because he saw the person who had accused him.

He, a dignified third-rank official, was so angered by a seventh-rank official that he recounted the whole story before Zhu Youcheng could even speak.

Most importantly, Cheng Minzheng's words made a lot of sense, and he wasn't a prisoner, so he knew more.

He knew that his superior, Li Dongyang, had canceled dozens of promising exam papers to avoid criticism, which made him even more confident.

From his time as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice to his current position as the Deputy Examiner, and then to everything that followed, he cast aside everything.

Xu Jing, I remember Tang Yin's exam paper; he never passed!

Moreover, his obscure problems weren't unsolved by anyone!

Xu Jing and Tang Yin both boasted about themselves, saying that they were Grand Secretaries and would definitely pass the imperial examination. What did that have to do with him?

Hua Chang was prepared for this, and only spoke after Cheng Minzheng finished speaking:

"As an imperial censor, I naturally know what happened."

Hua Chang's ability to curse was truly unique, almost making Cheng Minzheng spit out a mouthful of blood.

Xu Jing and Tang Yin also spoke up, both understanding that Zhu Tan and Ma Wensheng would definitely lend a helping hand.

She suffered such severe injuries in the Zhaoyu prison, yet she never blamed Cheng Minzheng.

When Xu Jing was at the Meridian Gate, he immediately changed his story, saying that he and Tang Yin had been treated unfairly by the Eastern Depot. Although he had no wounds, the Eastern Depot used a despicable method, water torture.

He finally couldn't bear the torment any longer, and with a hint from someone in the Eastern Depot, he learned that his master, Cheng Minzheng, had received a large gift and sold him the exam questions.

Tang Yin immediately chimed in, "Although there are no tiger chairs, pepper powder, or branding irons, this water torture is unbearable."

Chu Qingqing, who was standing to the side, suddenly realized something. His understanding of water punishment came from Guantanamo Bay in the United States.

I've heard that this method will make any criminal confess; it's absolutely torture.

Tang Yin and Xu Jing both understood that if the Eastern Depot were involved, Zhu Tan would be in a difficult position, so they returned to the examination scandal.

Xu Jing is very eloquent.

"Tang Yin and I went to the capital to take the imperial examination. Mr. Cheng Minzheng was the examiner for my provincial examination. I greatly admired Mr. Cheng's knowledge, so I donated some money to learn from him. At that time, Mr. Cheng was not yet the Left Vice Minister or the official in charge, so he gave us some hints. Tang Yin and I started from those aspects."

Tang Yin added:

"I didn't expect this news to get out. It just so happens that Lord Cheng is the deputy examiner for this year's exam, and the questions he set are similar to ours. That's why some people questioned whether Mr. Cheng sold the exam questions to us. It's ridiculous. We came here to learn first, and then Mr. Cheng. Moreover, I did not bribe Mr. Cheng. What he said before was nothing but torture. In order to survive, we had no choice but to sacrifice ourselves."

Cheng Minzheng and the other two explained very clearly that Tang Yin and Xu Jing had taken them as disciples first, and they hadn't paid for the questions, so Cheng Minzheng hadn't given any questions at all.

Cheng Minzheng and the others were talking animatedly, but when they were in front of Hua Chang, Hua Chang remained the same.

"I've heard about it. Is there something wrong with this?"

Not to mention Cheng Minzheng and the other two, even Zhu Youcheng felt a stomachache.

Just as the four were discussing the matter, Wang Sui revealed some startling information.

Cheng Minzheng's servant went to Shuntian Palace and confessed that he had been sold to Cheng Minzheng.

He has been temporarily imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's prison and is being interrogated by Peng Shao personally.

This was undoubtedly a decisive blow, something no one had anticipated.

Even Cheng Minzheng couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't be suspected, because this servant was his closest attendant.

Even if he didn't know, he would still be accused of leaking secrets.

When Zhu Youcheng saw that things were not going well, he ordered that the matter at the Meridian Gate be put aside for the time being and that they wait until the interrogation was over before he turned and left.

Zhu Tan didn't have time to say much, he just nodded to Tang Bohu and Xu Jing, and then followed Zhu Youcheng outside.

He felt a sense of pressure from the moment he noticed his brother-in-law was in a bad mood.

Moreover, he slept with Wang Yan last night, so it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous at all!

This time, Zhu Youcheng did not send Zhu Tan again. Instead, after returning to the Qianqing Palace, he seemed to be talking to himself.

"People who are agreeable to you are really hard to use!"

From his tone, Zhu Tan understood that Zhu Youcheng was referring to Cheng Minzheng. It seemed that his high regard for Cheng Minzheng had made Cheng Minzheng the target of public criticism.

Zhu Tan no longer cared about Cheng Minzheng's life or death. He had come for Tang Bohu in the first place, and immediately said, "Brother-in-law, I apologize to you. Before the exam, there were rumors that someone was selling exam papers. I was worried that Tang Bohu would be implicated, so I secretly took a copy of the exam paper and gave it to the Minister of Rites."

Zhu Youcheng waved his hand and turned to look in Zhu Tan's direction.

"Lord Jianchang, you are unaware of the truth. The imperial examination was merely a pretext. My original plan was to appoint Ma Wensheng as Minister of Revenue and Cheng Minzheng as Minister of Rites. However, this change encountered obstacles during the drafting process, which is why Ma Wensheng was pushed into Cheng Minzheng's position, making him the Right Chancellor of Rites. Unexpectedly, this has brought about an undeserved disaster, and Cheng Minzheng will likely be dismissed!"

Zhu Tan was taken aback. Ma Wensheng had just been complaining about not being transferred to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Who knew that this brother-in-law wasn't unwilling, but rather encountered significant obstacles.

"Aren't you in a difficult position? He's the Emperor!"

Zhu Youcheng shook his head with a bitter expression.

"After the Three Yangs came to power, and then the Tumu Crisis, the cabinet's power grew stronger and stronger, and the country was known as the 'Land of Benevolence and Profound Virtue.' However, the monarchy's power was tightly restricted, especially later on, when the situation became even more serious. Even I could not command a hundred responses at will!"

Zhu Tan rarely had the opportunity to discuss state affairs with Zhu Youcheng, but he was also greatly limited. He was not even the head of a county before, but at most the head of a department, so his vision was not broad.

So he told Zhu Youcheng everything he knew.

Zhu Youcheng also knew some things. He was in charge of the East and West departments, not the central government, so his sources of information were quite well-connected.

However, there were some things that Zhu Youcheng was unaware of. Just as Zhu Tan had once guessed, this case in the imperial examination was related to Qi Shaoxi, and even Consort Shao was involved.

Although Zhu Tan admitted that he was a nonsensical person, Zhu Youcheng believed that there was a hole but no wind.

Judging from his purge of the Beijing garrison and his crackdown on nobles, the civil officials appeared calm on the surface, but underneath, a storm was brewing.

Zhu Youcheng did not explain his inner pain to Zhu Tan in detail.

Zhu Youcheng's trust in the eunuch Li Guang was eventually shattered by Li Guang's deception, and he began to restart his career.

However, when he looked back, he found that the favorable situation created in the early years of the Hongzhi reign was beginning to show signs of disintegration.

Not only were the powerful relatives of the emperor difficult to control, but even the ministers in the court seemed to be colluding with each other. The slightest disturbance would cause trouble for the emperor himself, making it difficult to deal with.

"Brother-in-law, what should we do now?"

Zhu Tan's vision wasn't very long-term, but Zhu Youcheng was an important emperor who revived the dynasty. Having reigned for over a decade, he was naturally far superior to someone like Zhu Tan, who had just come from another world.

"Bury time! In the Battle of Meridian Gate, all the blame was directed at Cheng Minzheng. Someone will eventually step in. Once this matter is over, it will all be over."

Zhu Youcheng's words clearly underestimated Cheng Minzheng's abilities and decisiveness.

On this day, the court was abuzz with discussion, and the scholars were also talking about it. It seemed that this matter could not wait until the storm had passed.

Of course, some people helped Cheng Minzheng, such as Wu Kuan, who was from the same village as Tang Bohu, so he sympathized with Tang Bohu.

The memorial stated that Tang Bohu's visit to Cheng Minzheng's residence was met with envy and slander, which was truly inappropriate.

In addition, the chief examiner, Wang Ao, also said that Tang Yin and Xu Jing were both outspoken and loved to boast, but neither of them had done anything seriously wrong.

However, what they said was all about the crimes committed during the imperial examinations, without explaining the reasons behind them, and therefore could not solve the problem at its root.

Chu Tian was somewhat worried. He saw his brother-in-law's embarrassment and the predicament of Cheng Minzheng, Tang Bohu, Xu Jing, and others.

If things were to develop to this point, Cheng Minzheng would be beaten to death, and Tang Bohu and Xu Jing would also die from poverty.

Therefore, Zhu Tan longed to become a small butterfly and try her best to bring some changes to Tang Bohu's life.

This was like a shot of adrenaline for him. If he couldn't change Tang Bohu's fate, then he would also become a ghost under the Jiajing Emperor's command!

We must get to the root of this problem, to the graves of our ancestors.

Zhu Tan knew very well that she was not being targeted because of the examination system, but because her brother-in-law was protecting her.

Perhaps because he had already suffered enough, the other party did not focus their attention on him, but instead focused on Cheng Minzheng and others, planning to deal with him after they had dealt with Cheng Minzheng.

Having witnessed the treacherous intrigue, Zhu Tan felt she had learned a lesson.

After returning home, he took his anger out on those thugs, wanting to kill all the people who took the exam and then dismember them.

Zhang Wei's face was swollen from the beating! She could also tell that Chu Deng was furious.

He couldn't speak up for these thugs, but what he said was a plea for their mercy.

"Second Master, those monkeys deserve to die. I really want to kill them myself, but they know that the Second Master might come in handy. Should I go see you, Second Master?"

Even if it's a nobody, everyone has their own path. Zhu Tan didn't drive away the recruited thugs because he knew that doing so wouldn't stop them.

If he doesn't do this, someone else will naturally take over. From now on, what he needs to do is strengthen his rule.

Zhu Tan nodded; he agreed with Zhang Wei's suggestion.

Soon, four or five people came over. One of them had taken the exam before and wanted to make amends for his mistake. He recounted what he had heard.

"My lord, last night I wanted to go back, but I ran into Yang Jia, the nephew of Yang Peng, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Depot. My lord instructed me to keep an eye on the Eastern Depot, so I followed him. I saw Yang Jia enter the residence of Zhou Yu, the Marquis of Changning, and stay there for more than half an hour. I was so cold."

Zhu Tan frowned. Yang Peng absolutely treated Yang Peng's nephew as his own son, and Yang Jia was still waiting for him to pay his respects!

However, it is not surprising that the Eastern Depot colluded with Zhou Yu!

Before Zhu Tan could ask any questions, the man continued, "I originally thought Yang Jia would go back to his residence, but he didn't. Instead, he ran to an alley outside the Drum Tower. There's a very famous brothel there, and he was being intimate with a courtesan. I happen to know her name; she's called Man Cang'er, and she's the most famous courtesan in the area. So Yang Jia hurriedly took her away and brought her to his residence."

Zhu Tan was completely confused. What did this mean?

However, he also understood that if it wasn't something important, his people wouldn't have waited here for several hours, so he nodded and let him continue.

"When I got home, I found something strange, so I went to the brothel to ask. Sure enough, something had happened. Mancang'er was born to Zhou Yu, the Earl of Changning. Her mother and brother had both come and said that her father had sold her shop and then resold it several times."

Zhu Tan nearly choked. Zhou Yu was dragged into this too? Interesting!

"In the end, the matchmaker sold all the shops to a man named Yuan Lin. Yuan Lin was good at boasting and quickly became very popular in the capital, becoming a famous courtesan."

"Mancang'er's father, Wu Neng, was a low-ranking military officer. Back then, he sold his daughter. His wife, Nie, naturally did not stop him. However, not long after, Wu Neng passed away. Nie then thought of her child and took her son, Wu Yong, to search everywhere. Finally, they found Mancang'er in a brothel, but Mancang'er refused to acknowledge Nie no matter what."

"Mrs. Nie couldn't bear to see her daughter wandering the streets, so she wanted to kidnap Mancang'er. But the tenant named Yuan Lin refused. He had already spent a lot of money on Mancang'er, and out of sympathy for Mrs. Nie, he agreed to take out ten taels to buy her again. But Mrs. Nie refused and insisted on taking Mancang'er away. Yuan Lin was furious and sent Mrs. Nie to the Ministry of Justice."

"The Minister of Justice Ding Zhe and the Minister of Agriculture Wang Jue presided over the trial. Ding Zhe was sentenced to force a woman into prostitution. Yuan Lin argued against this, and was punished on the spot. Unexpectedly, Yuan Lin returned home and died suddenly a few days later. The Censorate's Chen Yu and the Ministry of Justice's principal officer Kong Qi both went to see the body and believed that there was nothing seriously wrong. They then bestowed the Man Cangzi upon the Nie family."

However, Man Cang'er had a lover, Yang Peng's nephew Yang Jia. Yang Peng favored the people in the Ministry of Justice, especially Ding Zhe, and ordered Yang Jia to take his wife to the Eastern Depot to file a complaint.

Zhu Tan stood up abruptly. He finally understood why his subordinates thought this matter would concern him so much; he had sensed something unusual. (End of Chapter)