By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Beijing News

Yuan Tianxi arrived at the Beijing Gazette Office very early this morning, even earlier than Wen Zongji.

When Wen Zongji walked into the office yawning, he saw Yuan Tianxi already sitting behind his desk reviewing manuscripts.

"Lord Wen..." Yuan Tianxi's original words turned into a teasing tone after seeing Wen Zongji's expression: "As someone who's been through it all, I'd like to give Lord Wen a piece of advice: exercise restraint."

Although Yuan Tianxi was not married, it does not mean that he had no experience with men and women.

In fact, learned and talented men like Yuan Tianxi are most attractive to women. To put it bluntly, Yuan Tianxi doesn't need to spend money to go to brothels.

Yuan Tianxi also has needs. He knows that he is not capable of taking responsibility for women and is not suitable for marriage, but he is still open to casual affairs.

If his moral standards were any lower, the streets and alleys of the capital would probably be filled with stories of this great scholar's romantic escapades.

Wen Zongji paused, then walked behind the desk and sat down with an unchanged expression: "Mr. Yuan, what brings you here today?"

Yuan Tianxi was not an official of the Beijing Gazette Office, and normally he was not required to be on duty there.

Yuan Tianxi said, "I've finished reading the articles at home. I have nothing to do today, so I might as well come to the Beijing News Office to pick up the manuscript myself."

Seeing that there were no articles by Yuan Tianxi on his desk, Wen Zongji said, "What's wrong? Did you find nothing that would catch Mr. Yuan's eye this time?"

If there was an article that Yuan Tianxi had his eye on, then Wen Zongji's desk should now have Yuan Tianxi's comments and the article he selected.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Tianxi couldn't help but complain: "I advise the Beijing Gazette Bureau not to accept just any article in the future. What kind of writing is this? It's all a mess and it hurts my eyes to read it."

Wen Zongji frowned: "Weren't the ones given to Mr. Yuan screened by officials?"

Yuan Tianxi shrugged: "I don't know, but I feel that the articles selected this time are significantly lower in quality than before."

Wen Zongji said, "I'll check. Changdong, have Maofang come to see me."

Chang Dong immediately turned and left.

A short while later, Yao Maofang returned with Chang Dong.

Yao Maofang stood in front of Wen Zongji's desk: "My lord."

"Maofang, were the articles sent to Mr. Yuan pre-selected?"

Yao Maofang nodded: "Of course. With so many submissions every day, Mr. Yuan would probably have no time to read them all if they weren't selected."

"Then why was the article submitted to the Yuan Mansion last time noticeably inferior to previous ones? Was it because the quality of submitted articles declined, or was someone simply not putting in the effort?"

Yao Maofang looked puzzled: "Is that so? It's always the junior clerk who sends the selected articles to the Yuan residence. I really don't know what's different about it."

Yuan Tianxi picked up the articles in his hand and handed one to each of Wen Zongji and Yao Maofang: "You two can take a look; these are also carefully selected."

Wen Zongji took it, examined it carefully, and soon his expression turned ugly: "This kind of writing is not even worthy of my attention, how could it possibly be of interest to Mr. Yuan? Isn't it a waste of Mr. Yuan's time to read such writing?"

Yao Maofang's expression was also unpleasant: "Please punish me, Your Excellency. It was my negligence in supervision."

Wen Zongji waved his hand: "We can talk about your question later. The most urgent thing is to investigate what happened. If Mr. Yuan hadn't spoken up, I would have been kept in the dark."

His tone was not friendly.

The Beijing Gazette Bureau had only been established for a short time, yet someone dared to falsify documents. Wen Zongji was barely able to contain his anger.

Yao Maofang could tell from the conversation, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly replied, "This humble official will investigate immediately."

After Yao Maofang left, Wen Zongji looked at Yuan Tianxi and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Yuan. Otherwise, I don't know how long I would have been encouraged."

Yuan Tianxi said, "I'm glad you don't mind my indiscretion, sir."

Wen Zongji had already realized that Yuan Tianxi's visit to collect the manuscript today was a pretense; his real intention was to expose the matter.

"Mr. Yuan is too kind. I am grateful to you and would never blame you."

Yuan Tianxi stood up: "In that case, I shall take my leave."

Next came matters within the Beijing Daily.

As the saying goes, "Don't wash your dirty linen in public."

Yuan Tianxi was perceptive and naturally wouldn't stay and get in the way.

Wen Zongji did not try to stop him, but simply said, "I'll invite Mr. Yuan for drinks another day. Changdong, please see Mr. Yuan off for me."

"I await your fine wine, sir."

Yuan Tianxi would never refuse an invitation to drink.

After making a serious agreement with Wen Zongji, he left the office.

Wen Zongji's face turned cold.

He wanted to see who was so audacious as to outwardly comply but inwardly defy him right under his nose.

In fact, this matter is not difficult to investigate.

The Beijing Gazette Office only had a few dozen people, each with their own responsibilities. It was easy to find out who reviewed the batch of articles that had been sent to the Yuan government earlier.

Not long after, Yao Maofang arrived at Wen Zongji's office with several men and said respectfully, "My lord, I have investigated thoroughly. These people were bewitched and accepted money from others to include their own writings in the submissions to the Yuan court. They even cleverly selected a bunch of poorly written articles as filler, hoping that Mr. Yuan would choose theirs."

The men knelt on the ground, begging for mercy: "Please forgive us, Your Excellency. We were bewitched and will never do it again."

"My lord, I was implicated by someone. I didn't want to do this, but they threatened me, and I had no choice."

When the group was sharing the profits, they were as close as brothers, but now that the truth has come out, they're starting to shift the blame onto each other.

Wen Zongji was too lazy to listen to their sophistry: "Expel all officials who accepted bribes from the Capital Gazette Office and take them away."

After these eyesores left, Wen Zongji looked at Yao Maofang: "Has the manuscript for the fourth issue of the Beijing Daily been sent to the printing press?"

Yao Maofang said, "Not yet."

"Perfect. Add a paragraph at the very bottom of the 'Recommended by Great Confucian Scholars' section, listing the names of those who attempt to use underhanded tactics, and the Beijing Daily will no longer publish their articles."

Yao Maofang's expression changed slightly: "Sir, the identities of these people have not yet been investigated."

Those who dared to bribe officials of the Imperial Gazette Office could not simply be wealthy.

Wen Zongji looked at him indifferently: "If you don't dare to do it, I can find someone else."

The Beijing Gazette Bureau was his territory; anyone who tried to interfere would be chopped off.

This is Wen Zongji's Achilles' heel!

Yao Maofang shuddered and dared not hesitate any longer: "This subordinate will do it immediately."

He had already decided to cling to Wen Zongji's coattails; no matter how powerful those people's backgrounds were, none of them were as important as Wen Zongji.

"Go."

Wen Zongji believed that Yao Maofang knew what was in his best interest, and he was confident in that.