Since I met you, people are dying every day

"What? What's going on?" the emperor asked, looking at the autopsy list again as he asked.

Ye Sirui knelt on the ground, his knees were gradually sore, but his expression remained motionless. "The room is too tidy. The boy has never been summoned. Wan Chengtiao died before lunch, and the shop waiter didn't go in to clean up. The room, including the clothes on Wan Chengtiao's body, are all in order, which means that he died when he hanged himself. There was a guy who was watching and tidying up the room after he died."

"Wait," interrupted the emperor, "why is he tidying up the room?"

"To find something." Ye Sirui took out Wan Chengtiao's family letter again, "It's such a coincidence that such an important letter escaped the search of Shuntian Mansion and fell into my hands."

Eunuch Feng handed over the letter, the emperor looked at it, his face became gloomy, Ye Sirui knew he had seen the clue. "Knowing that Wan Chengtiao is a protégé by appointment, on the one hand, we can boldly guess that the reason why he didn't come out behind closed doors was to secretly meet someone in the house. The rumor of cheating suddenly arose, and he was helpless and didn't know what to do. On the one hand, what this person rummaged in the house after his death must be evidence that they had contacted."

The emperor's fist fell heavily on the imperial case.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, Rong Chen will tell you one by one." Ye Sirui's knee felt sore and sore as if it had been bitten by ten thousand bugs.He bit the tip of his tongue and continued: "Wan Chengtiao hanged himself because he had no other way out. If this person was willing to help him cheat, why did he force him to die? The reason is simple. He leaked the news, so he has to be responsible for it. Wan Chengtiao When Cheng Tiao came to Beijing to take the exam, he was accompanied by his brother Wan Chengyu and Li Xinghuan, an examiner from his hometown. Li Xinghuan came from a poor family, but Wan Chengtiao was a rich man, but he had a rare kindness. However, Li Xinghuan was not selected and disappeared after Wan Chengtiao's death. After repeated urging by the officials, Li Xinghuan's body was found in a hotel on the official road in Huipu County. The body was disguised as He tried to hang himself, but Master Zhu Quan personally told the subordinates that he was strangled to death and then hung up."

Ye Sirui paused again to take a breath, his knees were already gradually losing feeling. "The autopsy report was not brought by the official, but His Majesty knew that Li Xinghuan was silenced after asking, and the method was rough, and he had no patience with Wan Chengtiao, because he was an exception, and Wan Chengtiao's death was also because of him—— He learned the truth about Wan Cheng Tiao Zhongju."

He took out Wan Chengyu's statement and asked Eunuch Feng to submit it.The emperor said: "Feng Daban, are you blind? Hurry up and help Lord Ye sit down." Eunuch Feng immediately stepped forward to help.Thanks to his support, Ye Sirui's legs were completely numb below the knees, and he had to rely on him to barely move and sit down. "I violated the law and tortured the Juren Wan Chengyu to get this confession. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

"Well, what are you in a hurry for, just keep talking." The emperor focused on the confession.Wan Chengyu confessed that Wan Chengtiao had secretly contacted the examiner, and was exposed and promised to win the exam. He was also honored. Later, Li Xinghuan learned about it by accident. Li Xinghuan, who failed, was angry and afraid of being silenced, so he immediately replied with an excuse. Township is leaving.

"Your Majesty must understand why Wan Chengtiao was chosen as the promised student. I have seen the papers of Wan Chengtiao and Wan Chengyu." He picked up the paper. "Qi Wenshao's question is extremely simple. What the two of them did can only be said to be quite satisfactory. I have read all the papers of the candidates, and there is nothing wrong with them. However, there are very few outstanding ones. It is indeed the same as Nanfang Shizi. Far away, a small county in Yipu County won the election of 11 people, whether there is fraud or not, His Majesty must be well aware."

The emperor's face was gloomy, and his voice was heavy, "According to what you say, there is no evidence?" He suddenly remembered something, and asked again: "What's the matter with the punishment and the fire of the procurator?"

"Your Majesty is about to explain." Ye Sirui cleared his throat, "I just said that there are three problems in this case, the first problem has been solved, and the second problem, His Majesty has already figured it out, so the third problem, the leaked problem is again. What's the matter?"

His Majesty the Emperor, and the eunuch Feng who was waiting on him with his head bowed, all listened to him intently, and only Ye Sirui's voice echoed in the warm pavilion. "In fact, as long as you think about the purpose of the perpetrators of this case, the third problem will be solved. There is no doubt that many Zhili candidates in this provincial examination relied on leaking questions, or the examiners took care of them, so why? Let these people win the election?"

There was a dead silence in the warm pavilion again.

"Of course it's because some people are dissatisfied that most of the candidates in the middle school examination are from the south, and they want to get a share of this provincial examination." Ye Sirui was fearless and awe-inspiring. "What kind of question did Mr. Zhao Rong ask? Ziyu is not a key, and Yi is not a shooter. If this question is replaced, can those Zhili examiners who have won the exam still answer such a well-regulated article? No. And Mr. Zhao did it. The main examiner, those people's goals can't be achieved, so Mr. Zhao must be replaced. If you want to replace the main examiner, there is no more suitable method than making rumors about leaking questions. Mr. Zhao avoids suspicion and gives up. Examiner, who can logically take over the burden of the chief examiner? Naturally..."

"shut up!"

The emperor roared.Ye Sirui swallowed the four characters of the Minister of Rites, and immediately got off the stool to apologize.

Eunuch Feng poured a bowl of tea in a hurry, and patted the emperor on the back to help him calm down.The emperor took a few deep breaths, "You still didn't say anything about the firing of the Prosecutor's Office."

Ye Sirui still knelt on the ground and lowered his head, "Your Majesty doesn't want to let me go on. In fact, this is enough. The generations of loyal and good people in Shuntian Mansion, the pillars of the country, must share the worries of His Majesty. I copied and corrected it from the Ministry of Rites. The paper was left in the yamen, and the procurator caught fire when he was sentenced. The Shuntian Mansion checked and found out that a butcher was drunk and lit a pipe, which set the yamen on fire. Who sold the question? Question, who bought it again, checked and checked, and there is no result today."

"Enough." The emperor said wearily, his heroic face seemed to have become that of a middle-aged man, dull and exhausted.

Ye Sirui didn't intend to continue talking.The atmosphere in the room froze for a moment. "Your Majesty, I only found out this result, and at the same time committed the crime of dereliction of duty and disrespect. Please handle it with Your Majesty." He kowtowed heavily.

The emperor looked at his drooping head and body, with vague eyes, "Get up." Ye Sirui slowly got up. "You have made such a great contribution, how do you want me to reward you?"

"I do have one thing to ask for your Majesty's permission. Ye Fu, the county magistrate of Helin County, is loyal to the emperor and loves the people, meticulous, and has served for many years. I would like to recommend him as the county magistrate of Helin County."

"Sure. Don't you want anything yourself?"

"I have been away from home for a long time, and I am concerned about my family. I implore your majesty to take leave and return home."

Hearing his words, the emperor's eyes became more complicated. "Yes."

"Thank you, Your Majesty Ron!"

Eunuch Feng helped Ye Sirui out.Ye Sirui's legs and feet have regained consciousness, but his feet are still a little numb.Eunuch Feng pointed to a little eunuch. "Send Master Ye out of the palace."

"Thank you, father-in-law."

Eunuch Feng smiled slightly, "Master Ye, take care."

The sky became more gloomy, and the clouds were so thick that they almost piled on the ground.As soon as Ye Sirui came out of the palace gate, he saw a person waiting for him standing at the base of the wall.

"How is it?" The little eunuch thoughtfully hired a carriage and a coachman, and told them to take the carriage back.As soon as he got in the car, Xia Shu asked him with concern.

Ye Sirui simply told him what he had said back to the emperor. Xia Shu listened very carefully, and after listening, he asked equally seriously: "So, Your Majesty didn't say how he will deal with it?"

Ye Sirui smiled and shook his head, stretching his body in the spacious carriage, "You don't understand, there will be no more truth in this case."

"What do you mean?" Xia Shu was extremely sensitive. "Just let those people do whatever they want?"

"This case involves a group of court officials, not to mention the tangled family behind them. The emperor can't do whatever he wants." Ye Sirui sighed softly, recalling the tired face of the emperor after hearing the truth. Tone, "Unless he is fully prepared, he must not rashly attack the family. What's more, this case is definitely not a good time. There is no evidence for many things in this case. No matter how reasonable my guess is, it will not be able to block Youyou. mouth, to give the world's scholars an answer."

Xia Shu was thoughtful, frowning.Ye Sirui reached out to rub his brows, slowly rubbing them away. "What's more, it's true that the Northern Party manipulated the imperial examinations to cheat, but you are a bunch of good people when you think of the Southern Party? If it weren't for their students and disciples all over the court, controlling all ministries and departments, why did the people in the Northern Party come up with such a method? The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the imperial examination, which is a battleground for military strategists. The Northern Party barely squeezed in half of the people, let alone the others. Only the Yamen that lead troops like Shuntian Mansion and Wucheng Bingma Commander Si are still firmly in control. In their hands, it is of very limited use in government affairs. Besides, the group of people from the Southern Party came to power through the power of King Xiang, whom you hate the most. Controlling the government and doing whatever they want, those scholars dare not say anything." Seeing Xia Shu's frown tightened, he smiled and sighed and hugged him, "I know you are unwilling, and I am also unwilling. There is no victim in this case. Or, it’s just a game between two groups of people, and one group is worse than the other.”

He hugged Xia Shu, and suddenly held his breath, "No, there are still victims." He pressed his cold face against Xia Shu's, "A helpless scholar like Li Xinghuan is the biggest victim. "

Xia Shu gently wrapped his arms around his waist, giving him silent comfort.

The carriage stopped, and the coachman yelled: "Masters, it's snowing, be careful when getting out of the carriage!"

"It's snowing!?" Ye Sirui lifted the curtain, and sure enough, the sky seemed to be ripped open, and large flakes of snow kept falling, swirled by the wind, forming a layer of white on the ground.Ye Sirui jumped to the ground, and the soles of his feet creaked.Looking around happily, Xia Shu followed him out of the car and looked at him with a smile.

This is the first snow in Beijing this year.

As the carriage drove away, Ye Sirui held out his hand to him. "Brother Tianshu, I have asked His Majesty for leave, let's go home together."

Xia Shu held his hand, flakes of snow fell on their shoulders. "Okay, let's go home together."