Infrastructure masters in the red building

"Sir, what are you doing all this for?" The prince's expression finally turned unfriendly, and his tone hardened.

"Don't you know that Guzheng borrowed the garden of Rongguo Mansion, and Taifu Xia held a hairpin banquet for Jinke Yijia?"

The third prince saluted the Prince Jian Guo very earnestly, and said: "His Royal Highness, I have been ordered to investigate the case. If I disturb your highness and Mr. Xia's pleasure, I will apologize to you first, but this is a big matter. , I dare not, and I do not want to delay, lest you be misled by people who deceive the world and steal your name."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and looked at all the people in the banquet, and said loudly: "This time, this king is bringing people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Shuntian Mansion, and Wucheng Bingmasi to investigate the examination room of today's examination." fraud case."

After the third prince finished speaking, everyone's face changed suddenly - cheating in the imperial examination is a felony, once implicated, not only the scholar himself will have no hope of imperial examination for life, but those who violate the criminal law will be sent to prison, or even sentenced to death.

Upon hearing what the third prince said, Xia Xingshen stood up angrily: "Zhou Deyu, you mean, someone cheated in the examination hosted by the old man?"

He is the only one who has the qualifications and courage to call the princes by their first names.

The third prince Zhou Deyu nodded immediately, and said: "One person has been found, it is Feng Yuan, the son of General Shenwu. Someone reported it to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, saying that he had written several articles for Feng Yuan before the examination. This ghostwriter The person did not know that he was a ghostwriter, but thought he was writing two articles for Feng Yuan. Unexpectedly, when he saw the topic of the exam, he knew that this person had already obtained the topic of the exam, and relying on someone else to write, all of a sudden Break into the top ten in the test."

"When the ghostwriter learned about the test questions, he was extremely frightened, so he rushed to the Metropolitan Procuratorate and reported Feng Yuan. The answers on the test paper are exactly the same as those written silently by the ghostwriter.”

Everyone present was shocked, shocked and ashamed by this fraud case.Xia Shengshen showed an expression of disbelief, and murmured, "This...how is this possible? How could the test questions be leaked? How could it be leaked?"

Once the test questions of the general examination are finalized, they will be stored in a secret box and sealed with wax paint. One secret box needs to be sent to the palace for the prince of Jianguo to review, and the other is sent to the Li Palace outside the capital. I will not read it in person, and there is another secret box left in the Ministry of Rites for filing, and the remaining one will be sent to a "copying office" outside the city, where it will be copied by a special scribe to become a "test paper", and then it will be read again. Seal it with wax paint, and on the eve of the examination, it will be escorted by soldiers and horses from the five cities, and sent to the Gongyuan from outside the city, and distributed to the candidates by the Gongyuan the next day.

Apart from Xia Xingshen, the crown prince, and the emperor, only the scribes at the copying place knew about this test question.But those clerks will live in the Zhuangzi until the exam starts, and stay at home until the exam is over-this way, there is no possibility of leaking the exam questions.

"Zhou Deyu, it's such a big deal." Xia Shengshen suddenly stomped his feet, "What are you doing here? Hurry up and interrogate Feng Yuan, and find out how he got the test questions!"

The third prince probably didn't expect that when he rushed in aggressively to grab someone, he first offended the boss Xia Shengshen, and the focus of the incident suddenly changed from cheating in the exam to leaking the exam questions.

At this time, he quickly turned his face, stared at Jia Zheng and said, "Teacher, I have already interrogated Feng Yuan. He explained who he got the test questions from, and he also revealed an accomplice."

At this time, Rong Guogong Jia Daishan probably just returned from the palace. Hearing the news, he also rushed to the Grand View Garden. After seeing the prince and others, he saluted one by one before saying: "I was in the palace just now. The investigation of the fraud case in the Kejin Branch has been in this garden, and the emperor ordered his ministers to come and have a look."

Jia Daishan came in a hurry, his forehead was sweating, and he looked at Jia Zheng worriedly.

"Third Highness, please tell me how this matter has anything to do with the Rongguo Mansion."

The third prince smiled slightly and said: "Since Mr. Rong is back, I'll tell you straight. Feng Yuan has been interrogated earlier, and he told the person who provided the test questions to give him the test questions, and he will go to see him after mentioning it." The second son of the Rongguo Mansion."

"And this king came to this Rongguo Mansion just at the same time that the Second Young Master won the second class this time, and he was following the first three. I asked Lord Xia to give him a hairpin."

not at all! ——Jia Fang almost called out, Jia Zheng didn't ask Xia Shengshen to be his hairpin, it was obvious that Xia Shengshen saw the four peonies and came to make up the number for auspiciousness.

But Shuixian was right in front of him, and the elegant back of the whole building seemed to remind Jia Fang—calm down.

After the third prince finished his accusation against Jia Zheng, all eyes turned to Jia Zheng.

Jia Zheng knelt down with a "plop", very fluently, as if he really felt ashamed.

Jia was placed behind Shui Xian, almost wanting to reach out to pat his forehead—the second brother was honest, extremely honest, even kneeling down to confess the truth, he seemed to have a ghost in his heart.

"The Third Highness of Haojiao learned," Jia Zheng said hastily, "the students have indeed received the test papers for the general examination—"

"But the students didn't open it to watch it, but... they used their own ability to refer to it. The student swears to God that the student never watched any of the test questions in advance, so that... so that after the first test, the student I almost thought that I had completely failed the exam, and I almost didn't have the courage to participate in the second and third rounds..."

"But you won the one hundred and third place in the exam." The third prince obviously did his homework, "This ranking is not too low!"

"This... the student did not know why he got this ranking, but the student did not cheat, and he never knew the test questions in advance!" Jia Zheng protested bitterly.

"Perhaps your skills are better than Feng Yuan's. Feng Yuan accepted all the test questions as soon as he received them, and even hired a ghostwriter to write the essays for you. But you...you deliberately put a few of the most out-of-the-way questions, thinking Anyway, if you can't answer it, others can't answer it, and then you make up the score on other questions..."

The third prince speaks eloquently, and when Jia is next to him, he is going to explode when he listens to it—what is "unfounded", this is called "unfounded", and he just opens his mouth without any evidence. is a disgrace.

At this time, Jia Daishan next to him also took a step forward and said: "Third Highness, it is not a minister who speaks for his son. He passed the first test of the test. When the dog came home, he did cry and complained that the topic was too remote. As for his complete lack of confidence, I can testify for him, my son himself knows that he is not good at lying, and it is absolutely impossible for him to make such a statement when he knows the test questions."

"If the Third Highness can't provide evidence, then I'm sorry, I have no choice but to bring the child into the palace with the Third Highness, and discuss it in front of the emperor."

The third prince probably didn't expect Jia Daishan to come back to the mansion in time, nor did he think that Jia Daishan's attitude was so rigid, he hurriedly took half a step back, and said softly: "This king just speculated... just conjectured, there is no evidence for it. "

"However," he coughed twice, "I would also like to ask Brother Jia... Cunzhou to explain who he got the test questions from, why he didn't read them, and where did the test questions go..."

As soon as Jia Zheng heard it, he immediately opened his mouth and told all he had seen and heard in Wanqinglou that day, from the moment he was told to wait in Wanqinglou, to when he met Gao Shida there and got the box, Until he thought of the sage, he felt guilty, and finally gave up looking through the documents in the box, left the box on the table, and left by himself.

The more Jia put it aside, the more frightened he became: he had a premonition that Jia Zheng's testimony was definitely not good for him.

Sure enough, during Jia Zheng's narration, the third prince interrupted many times: "You mean, Gao Shida Gao Shilang sent you a special message and took the initiative to give you the test paper?"

"He said Master Xia valued you and thought you were a great talent, so he gave you the test paper? Teacher, did you know this Jia Cunzhou before today?"

"He didn't ask for any remuneration? This is almost a joke... There are more than 1000 scholars who participated in the examination. Why should you give this test paper to you and not to others? Mr. Jia, your words are too exhaustive Isn't it true?"

"Well, Duke Dingguo's Mansion, Jinxianghou's Mansion, and General Shenwu's Mansion, you said that Gao Shilang went to these houses before sending you the test papers. What Feng Yuan said is the same as you, but the Metropolitan Procuratorate has verified , Dingguo Duke's Mansion and Jinxiang Hou's Mansion have no children to take the exam, are you colluding with Feng Yuan and want to drag a few more of the Duke's family in Beijing into the water?"

"..."

The more Jia Fang listened, the more anxious he became. He knew that the third prince's repeated interruptions were just to pick out the most absurd and unbelievable parts of Jia Zheng's statement, and emphasize them to make people listen more. I think Jia Zheng's words are not credible.

Sure enough, under the situation where the third prince was commenting and questioning at the same time, both Meng Youde and Kuang Renshan showed surprise, and even moved back quietly, as if they did not want to be with Jia Zheng.Only Lin Ruhai looked at Jia Zheng worriedly, but he showed no suspicion. It should be Xinwujiwu. If he could trust the girl of Jia's family, he could trust his future uncle.

He almost wanted to interrupt again, when Jia Daishan coughed and spoke again: "Dare to ask Your Highness, Minister of Rites Gao Shilang, where are you now?"

When Jia Daishan asked here, Xia Shengshen also jumped up at this moment, almost grabbing the third prince's sleeve, and asked, "Zhou Deyu, where is Gao Shida now?"

The third prince shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"After Feng Yuan confessed, the Shuntian Mansion immediately searched Gao Shilang's house and found a bunch of IOUs."

"IOU?" A group of people asked in unison.

"Yes," the third prince nodded, "he has long been entangled in gambling debts and has nowhere to go. The house where Gao Shilang's family lived has also been mortgaged, and the pawn ticket is about to expire, and the pawn shop is about to pass. Close the yard..."

Xia Shengshen's face was ashamed when he heard it, and he said repeatedly: "I have long thought that there is something wrong with him, who would have thought... who would have thought..."

Who would have thought that this guy was at the end of his rope.

But... this is wrong, since Gao Shida is short of money, he should commit the crime for money.

"Has Gao Shilang been found now? Did he take money from the National People's Congress to sell the test questions, and then ran away with the money?" Jia Daishan asked again hastily.

"I haven't found him," said the third prince Shi Shiran, "Feng Yuan said he paid 200 taels of silver, but Second Young Master Jia..."

As he said that, the Third Prince showed a playful smile, "Second Master Jia said that Gao Shilang was interested in his talent and learning, and he was afraid that the uncommon questions would confuse him, so he gave him the test paper without taking any money? "

This sounds too unbelievable and unreasonable.

"This is the end of the matter," the third prince said, cupping his hands to Jia Daishan, and said, "Mr. Rong, I have a duty to take my son to Shuntian Mansion for interrogation. For the sake of illustrious military exploits, I will take more care of the second young master."

Jia Zheng originally knelt in front of the prince and the third prince to answer, but when he heard what the third prince said, he immediately sat down on the ground softly, staring straight at the peony flower garden in front of him.The peonies in the flower garden were blooming just right, but it was a pity that they were not for him.

Speaking of which, Jia Zheng is also very pitiful. He resisted the temptation of fame and fortune, and took the exam with a single heart. He endured all kinds of setbacks and sufferings, but he never thought that this bad luck would finally befall him. He wanted to take away his hard-won fame, fortune, glory, and even the marriage that was about to be negotiated.

After the third prince finished speaking, the prince was annoyed at the side: "Third son, why are you giving orders here. Today's hairpin feast is hosted by me, you should give me a little face..."

The third prince looked at the prince and smiled: "Second brother, what are you talking about? My brother is busy with state affairs, so how dare he say anything to give orders. It just interrupted the good time that the second brother made friends with his subjects..."

Seeing that the hairpin flower banquet hosted by the crown prince was about to turn yellow, the third prince inevitably got carried away with complacency. He coughed several times before saying solemnly: "Second brother, younger brother is going now."

"Take the prisoner away!" The third prince gave an order, and behind him, those wolf-like servants of Shuntian Mansion came up to Raja Zheng.

"Wait!" Two voices spoke at the same time.

One of them was Jia Daishan, who loudly stopped the guards from moving, and said loudly: "The son of my Jia family, before he was convicted by the court, he was not a criminal. He will leave by himself!" stand up.

The third prince seemed to realize that Jia Zheng still had a great reputation, and he laughed quickly: "Duke Rong said so!"

And the other one who said "Wait a minute" was Shui Xian.

He stretched out his hand to touch his chin, looked at the servants of Shuntian Mansion and said: "Everyone, have you all forgotten something? If you want to send the second son of Rong Mansion to prison, shouldn't you also send me to Shuntian Mansion together?" Go to the prison in Tianfu?"

When Shui Xian said this, not only the servants of Shuntian Mansion, but also the third prince was stunned, looking at Shui Xian and saying: "Ziheng, what's wrong?"

"Have you all forgotten?" Shui Xian suddenly moved his shoulders a little and stretched his waist, indicating that he was a little bored after watching this scene, "What you are talking about leaking test questions and cheating before the test are all It happened on my site—Mr. Jia said just now that he never took the test questions away, and he didn’t even take them apart, so wouldn’t I be the ‘owner’ of the leaked test questions?”

It seems that everyone has overlooked one point: Wanqinglou is the property of Shuixian.

"Don't you really plan to bring me to the lobby of Shuntian Mansion for a trial?"

"This..." The third prince never expected that Shui Xian raised the question from such an "unique" angle that he was at a loss for words for a moment, not knowing how to answer it.

However, Jia Daishan, who had quite a lot of fighting experience, immediately came to his senses, and immediately saluted Shui Xian: "Prince Beijing, may I ask Wanqinglou, if you can still find the box that Xiaoer left in the store at that time?"

If you can find it, you can help Jia Zheng prove his innocence.

Shui Xian thought for a while, and said, "Maybe we can still find the guy who ran the hall that day."

This time, everyone in Jia's mansion was overjoyed, but the third prince's face darkened.But at this moment, he was already riding a tiger, so he had to carefully examine this fraud case in the examination room.Besides, Shui Xian just said so, and in a hurry, it may not be possible to find any evidence.

So he made a decision: "If that's the case, then the king will invite everyone involved to go to the lobby of Shuntian Mansion. Ziheng also please notify Wan Qinglou to find relevant physical evidence and certification... The meeting will start in an hour, everyone how about?"

The prince said hello first, and then left first with Shui Xian on his arm.

Jia Daishan supported the frightened Jia Zheng, gritted his teeth and said to him: "Zheng'er, take it as a test for you. If you can pass this test, nothing can be difficult for you in the future." you."

Jia Fang also stepped forward at this time, held Jia Zheng's hands, and said, "Second brother, we believe you!"

I believe that you are an honest person, I believe that you are a person who has resisted the temptation, so I believe that you will be able to survive this test.

Jia Zheng's eyes, which were already like dead fish, moved slightly at this moment, and a voice came out from the depths of his throat: "Third brother..." Although the voice was miserable and hoarse, gradually, some gratitude and faith could be heard .

At this time, Lin Ruhai greeted Meng Youde and Kuang Renshan from the side: "Let's go, let's go to Shuntian Mansion to see—"

Seeing the faces of the No. [-] Scholar and the No. [-] in the current department showed a little doubt, he said immediately: "However, they are all in the same year. Even if the guilty cannot be let go, the innocent must not be easily wronged, right?"

When Meng Kuang and the others heard it, they both felt that it made sense, so they nodded immediately and followed Lin Ruhai out of the garden.

It's a pity that after a good hairpin banquet, it just disappeared like this.Before Jia Fang left, he stopped to look around the Red Fragrance Garden. He suddenly noticed that the crown prince and Taifu, Xia Xingshen, who also served as Minister of Rites, was still sitting in front of the hairpin banquet in a daze.

Don't let there be any problems with the old man's body.For a while, Jia Fang couldn't care less about protecting the flowers and plants. He jumped across the flowerbed in three steps, came to Xia Sheng, squatted down, and checked the situation of the old man.

I saw Xia Xingshen sitting alone, tears slowly streaming from his cloudy old eyes.

"It's the fault of the old man...it's the fault of the Ministry of Rites!" He said, "I still want to, I still want to write a letter to your majesty, and I still want to dissuade your majesty.

Jia Fang suddenly understood, just now the third prince took Jia Zheng and beat him fiercely, the crown prince fought with mud, and Jia Daishan tried his best to protect his own calf... But maybe everyone thought the wrong target.

The only person in the whole incident who couldn't shirk responsibility at all, and who absolutely couldn't find a way to turn things around in the incident, was actually Xia Shengshen, the stubborn prince and Taifu, and the Ministry of Rites he led.