The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 306: Court minister
Chapter 306: Imperial Court Officials
On the next morning, after Bai Qingyan finished practicing the Red Tassel Silver Spear in Qinghui Courtyard, Nanny Tong, who was working for Bai Qingyan, came back and brought two lists to Bai Qingyan.
“This is a list of candidates who have been waiting for the exams and staying at various inns. The talented candidates who were not selected… and the candidates who are dissatisfied. Those circled are those who have already left Dadu, and those who are not circled are still in Dadu. They probably want to wait until the list is posted to see who has passed the exam.”
Tong Mama unfolded another list: “This list is the purchase situation of each company that Lupin personally checked…”
Bai Qingyan took the towel handed to him by Chuntao, wiped the sweat from his face and neck, and told Chuntao to prepare some water.
Chuntao handed the warm tea to Bai Qingyan and turned to ask the kitchen to prepare water.
“What a coincidence! Lupin went to the largest rice shop in the capital this morning. Before he could ask, the clerk recognized Lupin. He thought Lupin was sent by the Second Madam to buy for the Second Son-in-law. The clerk smiled and said, ‘The Second Young Lady in our mansion is too cautious. The Lu Xiangfu, Chen Taifu, Wu Shilang, and Zhang Fujun Dajiangjun’s mansion all sent people to buy large quantities of red paper and firecrackers after the imperial examinations, and stored rice to prepare for the porridge after the palace examination results were announced!”
“But our Second Miss has not made any move. We finally sent someone to deliver rice for porridge to your house, but the amount is not even half of what is in the residences of Prime Minister Lu and Grand Tutor Chen! She even asked Lupin with a smile whether Second Madam, as the elder, knew about it… and sent Lupin to buy more.”
Those involved… are all important officials of the court.
Did Zhang Duanrui’s house also purchase the goods in advance?
Bai Qingyan handed the teacup to Nanny Tong and took a look at the list. Zhang Duanrui’s eldest son was only eleven years old. He also participated in the palace examination? Didn’t Zhang Duanrui say that…
When Tong Ma saw Bai Qingyan’s eyes fall on the residence of the General of the Fu Army, she hurriedly said, “The General of the Fu Army’s elder brother died early, and his widow brought her eldest son to the capital to take the exam and live in the General’s residence. The General of the Fu Army’s nephew is also on the list for the palace exam. The rest of the people on the list are all officials’ children who came from all over the country and bought houses in the capital, or live in the homes of their uncles or maternal grandfathers.”
Calculating the time carefully, the examiner had not yet started discussing the rankings with the emperor.
Bai Qingyan handed the list of the mansions that had purchased food in advance to celebrate the free porridge to Tong Ma: “Have someone spread this list quietly, saying that these officials and nobles have bribed the examiner, so they will definitely guarantee… these people will be among the top ten!”
“Send someone else to pretend to be a merchant or a student… and spread the news in the capital!” She pointed at the first list, “Make sure it reaches the ears of those failed candidates, and quickly! Ask Uncle Ping to arrange for someone to encourage these candidates… to beat the drum before the announcement of the gold medal list, and ask the emperor to do justice!”
Bai Qingyan thought as he said, “Once the drum for reporting the case sounds, the emperor will definitely investigate the cheating in the exam. But if these people’s names are really in the top ten before the list is released, the emperor will pay more attention to it and investigate it more thoroughly! It all depends on whether these scholars dare to risk their lives to earn justice for their decades of hard study, or kneel before the powerful.”
“Yes!” Nanny Tong responded, turned around and hurried to find Lupin to do something.
Nanny Tong never asked what the eldest girl wanted to do.
Although Nanny Tong always wanted to persuade Bai Qingyan to be a good girl, but now that the Bai family has encountered a sudden change, Nanny Tong also knows that the Bai family has to rely on the eldest daughter, because the eldest daughter is the eldest sister… the eldest daughter, and this burden can only be carried by the eldest daughter.
After the emperor’s birthday banquet, the focus of attention in the capital city is now on the palace examination. Will the top scorer go to the residence of Taifu Chen, the residence of Prime Minister Lu, or some poor boy?
Gambling games have even started in the gambling house.
Someone leaked the list of the top ten seven people, saying that Lu Yuanqing, Lu Yuanbao, Chen Zhaolu, Wu Anbang, Zhang Ruohuai, Lin Chaodong and Wang Chengyu were all sons of noble officials. The families of these seven people had already greeted and sent gifts to the chief examiner, Hanlin Academician Wen Zhenkang.
Some people also mentioned that Zhang Ruohuai, a juren, had failed the exam several times, but this time he suddenly became a gongsheng and was going to take the palace examination.
Wang Chengyu’s fellow townsmen said that Wang Chengyu, the son of the Yingzhou governor, was foul-mouthed and illiterate. When he was in Yingzhou… every time there was a poetry gathering among scholars and talented people, he always made people laugh. If such a person was in the top ten of the palace examination, it would be a huge joke.
Except for the two grandsons of Prime Minister Lu and the grandson of Master Chen in the capital city, the secrets of the other four people were exposed.
In Kuishou Inn, Xue Renyi, who was very famous among the students, was extremely dissatisfied with the fact that he failed the exam. He kept drinking and insisted on waiting here for the results of the exam.
He thought that even if he didn’t get the first place in the imperial examination, he would definitely be in the top ten, and there was no way he would fail! After hearing about the top ten list, he was denouncing that there was indeed something fishy about this imperial examination: “Who is Wang Chengyu… He is a fool! I, Xue Renyi, failed the exam, but he got in… Who would believe it?!”
Xue Renyi’s classmates were all comforting him.
The man sitting next to the inn took a sip of wine and said, “What’s the point of you just yelling here? If you have the ability, you can learn from the princess who guards the country and go and beat the drum to seek justice for yourself! When the princess beat the drum, His Majesty even demoted Prince Xin, the legitimate son, to a commoner and exiled him to Yongzhou!”
The scholar who was trying to comfort his classmate turned around, a little annoyed that the man was adding fuel to the fire: “The Princess Zhenguo was holding the bamboo slips with the march records, and we don’t have any evidence…”
“How can there be no evidence? This list is the evidence… If you dare to risk your life to seek justice for yourself, then you should beat the drum! If someone risked his life to beat the drum, then your majesty would definitely consider it and investigate! If these seven people were really in the top ten before the golden list was released, wouldn’t your majesty be panicked after hearing it?” The man picked up the food with chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. “Even a rough man like me can figure it out, but you scholars can’t figure it out?”
The man smiled and raised his wine glass, already looking drunk: “Only before the golden list is released, and even before the chief examiners and deputy examiners leave the palace, you beat the drum to meet the emperor, so that the list leaked early can play the greatest role!”
Several failed candidates looked at each other and actually thought that what the drunk man said made sense.
“I think… you are afraid of offending the rich and powerful, so you don’t dare!” The man put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with his hand, “I also come from a poor family, and I hate those officials who bully others by taking advantage of their power!”
Post it first, haven’t found the bug yet…