Lucky husband

Originally, Li Mingjin planned to take the clothes to take apart the hem. He was worried that there would be ash from the amulet inside, but after shaking it a few more times, he found that the ash from the amulet had basically been removed. come out.

Therefore, Li Mingjin put the clothes aside, and washed them directly in the morning without taking them apart. He quietly opened the window and poured the ashes out of the window, blown away by the wind.

After one night, many people knew what happened on the last night of the third round of the test. Everyone would dare not say anything publicly, but they couldn't control it in private.

The acquaintances of the students will spread the word, and the neighbors in the same alley will tell each other what they say, and soon everyone in the capital knows that the test shed is on fire.

At this time, there are still courageous people who dare to go quietly to the outside of the Gongyuan to have a look, that is, those who are far away to have a look and dare not approach, for fear of being arrested as a troublemaker.

Because since the end of the examination, the Gongyuan has been guarded by heavy soldiers. If you pass by at night, you can still hear the sound of uniform footsteps. It is soldiers patrolling outside the Gongyuan.

When there were heavy soldiers patrolling outside the tribute courtyard, in order to investigate the fire in the tribute courtyard, the chief examiner and six deputy examiners went to another courtyard that was more tightly guarded.

Normally, the examiners read the answer papers in the tribute courtyard and would not go outside, but this time something went wrong in the test, so they all took them to another place, and no one knew where they went.

Ten days have passed, and there is no news about the fire in the Gongyuan. There are still heavy soldiers guarding it, making it hard to guess whether they found out whether it was an accident or not.

There is no news from the Ministry of Punishment in the Tribute Court, but the list for the examination has already come out.

Like previous years' exams, the rankings will be released on April [-]th. This season is when the apricot blossoms are blooming in the capital, so this list is also called the apricot list.

A group of official servants ushered in outside the busiest bazaar in the capital. What they guarded was a wooden sign covered with light yellow cloth. On this wooden sign was the list of students who became tributes in the general examination.

Normally, today would be the busiest time in the capital, and there were not many people waiting to see the list at the market, and the positions near the list were almost close to each other.

Because there are so many people, the people present have to speak very loudly to ensure that the people with them can hear what they are saying.

But this time, the market where the rankings were released was much quieter than usual. Everyone stared at the signs carried by the officials and whispered with their lips covered, as if they were worried that someone would guess what they said by seeing the shape of their mouths. if.

Bai Zhiwen, Li Mingde and their group of six naturally also arrived at the market, because they had already reserved a private room on the second floor of the teahouse, which is not very centrally located, and they didn't have to squeeze in the crowd below, so they came later.

Seeing some weird scenes in the market, they didn't understand the habits of ordinary people in the capital.

After the exam was over, Bai Zhiwen and Li Mingjin discussed in private whether they should follow along to watch the rankings.

If there hadn't been a fire in the examination room, they would definitely have come, but Bai Zhiwen hadn't finished answering the third round, so he could figure out with his toes that he would definitely not be on the list, Li Mingjin thought about it, or just Do not come to see.

But Bai Zhiwen thought it would take three years to do it once. Even if he wasn't on the list, it's good to come and see the excitement, he wouldn't feel resentful about it just because he wasn't on the list.

Let Bai Zhiwen tell the truth, he did not have the chance to pass the exam due to that reason, and he was really unwilling. This kind of unwillingness only lasted for a day or two, and then he thought about it.

Therefore, when the two of them were discussing, Bai Zhiwen saw that Li Mingjin meant not to watch the announcement, so he asked Li Mingjin, "Ajin, have you noticed that when senior brother and Rong Tong were talking to me during this period, Are they all careful? They are very careful when they talk to me, so that they are tired, and I am actually tired."

Recalling the atmosphere at home since the exam, Li Mingjin felt that it was a bit like what Bai Zhiwen said, everyone was a little too cautious and didn't talk much to Bai Zhiwen, maybe because he was worried that he would think too much.

Li Mingjin probably understood what Bai Zhiwen meant: "You mean, if we say we don't want to watch the list, it will make eldest brother and Mr. Wan even more worried?"

Their refusal to watch the announcement could easily be interpreted as Bai Zhiwen feeling uncomfortable, and Li Mingjin did have some such concerns, so he suggested not to watch it.

In fact, no matter whether Bai Zhiwen went to see it or not, Li Mingde and the others would have concerns because of him. If they went, they would be worried that Bai Zhiwen was forcing a smile, and if they didn't, they would wonder if he minded very much.

Bai Zhiwen wanted to watch the list, not only because he wanted to show that he didn't mind, but also because he wanted to see who had won the exam immediately, because when he suddenly woke up that night, he had a strange premonition , he always felt that this test might not be that simple.

So after some discussion, Bai Zhiwen and Li Mingjin also went out to the market to watch the rankings.

As soon as they sat down in the private room on the second floor of the teahouse, they heard the people below whispering about the release of the list. The person who spoke vowed that he had heard inside information, and that everyone he mentioned would definitely be on the list. .

It stands to reason that no one would know the results of the test before the rankings were released. Whether the person downstairs was bragging or really had some inside information, Li Mingde thought it was bragging, but Bai Zhiwen suspected it was true.

During this period of time, because they were worried about Bai Zhiwen, Li Mingde and Wan Rongtong didn't go out much, and they didn't listen to outsiders discussing the results of this test. Today was their first time in a crowded place.

Bai Zhiwen thought for a while, then asked Wan Rongtong in a low voice: "Rong Tong, has your servant heard about the discussion outside about this test?"

"Will you get the test result?" Wan Rongtong looked at Bai Zhiwen with a puzzled expression.

"Yes." Bai Zhiwen nodded.

"No." Wan Rongtong shook his head. He really didn't let the boy who went out inquire about the news of the test, because he was worried that he would leak something in Bai Zhiwen's ear after hearing it, which would make Bai Zhiwen feel uncomfortable.

Because that person spoke with a very determined expression, all the people from the tables on the first floor near their private room gathered together to listen to the person's analysis of the results of this test. His voice was not very small, enough The people above them heard.

Just when Bai Zhiwen and the others were attracted by the discussion on the first floor, Mrs. Wan suddenly pointed out the window and exclaimed in a low voice, "Look!"

Because she was seated by the window as soon as she came here, her attention was always outside the window, and her gaze followed the sign posting the list to the center of the market.

Suddenly, an open space appeared in the previously crowded market, or it could not be called an open space, because there were more than two dozen students sitting cross-legged on the ground in that small open space.

Following Mrs. Wan's exclamation, the eyes of Li Mingjin and Bai Ting were also attracted. From his angle, it could be vaguely seen that those students were holding a piece of paper, and he couldn't see what was written on the paper. .

What Bai Ting saw was similar to what Li Mingjin saw. She blinked, and said casually, "Hey, why do you feel so much like those students who made trouble after Xianggong and the others released their results in the township examination?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the officials uncover the cloth on the list, revealing the list in black and gold on a red background.

Then, those students sitting cross-legged on the ground suddenly stood up, raised the papers in their hands, and shouted a word in unison.

From Li Mingjin's point of view, they could only see that there was only one word written on the paper in each of their hands, and the words were reversed and somewhat blurred. They couldn't hear what they shouted because they were too far away.

But it doesn't matter, the content on the paper and their shouting have been quickly spread from the innermost to the outside through the mouths of the onlookers, probably the meaning is really related to Bai Ting's casual sentence just now-students make trouble, they will try to be tricky, They demanded a thorough investigation.

The crowd at the market was just whispering, but after the students took the lead in making a fuss, the discussion became louder.

"This..." Li Mingde and Wan Rongtong, who were in the private room on the second floor, widened their eyes at the same time, looking at the students in the middle of the market in amazement.

Just now they heard the crowd outside saying that people from the Ministry of Punishment found oil on the examination shed of the Gong Yuan last night.

The roof of the test shed in the Gongyuan is made of wood and straw. Once it catches fire, it is easy to burn. If there is oil on it, it will burn faster. From this point, it can almost be concluded that the fire in the Gongyuan was not an accident, but someone deliberately planned it.

Bai Zhiwen was not as surprised as Li Mingde and Wan Rongtong. He felt something was wrong as early as that night, and it seemed that his premonition was correct.

The students making trouble in the middle at this time were the students who were implicated and failed to answer the test papers that day. After hearing from people outside that they did not know where they got the latest news from the Ministry of Criminal Justice this morning, they gathered a group of people to the market.

Not only did they know the news, but some other ordinary people who were not students rushing to take the exam also knew about it, which is why the atmosphere in the market today is so strange.

After hearing what was said outside, Wan Rongtong frowned and said, "Is it possible that someone behind the scenes incited them to deliberately make trouble like in Fucheng?"

"It's possible." Li Mingde nodded, and quickly shook his head again, "But this is the capital, whoever dares to talk nonsense will not be afraid of being found out?"

If there is a problem with the fire in the Gongyuan, it means that there is a high possibility of someone cheating in this test.

The fraud in the imperial examination and the fire in the Tribute Court of the Examination are not at the same level. In the Dayu Dynasty, there has been no fraud in the imperial examination for a hundred years.

As long as the monarch is not a fool to the end, he will not tolerate the fraud in the imperial examination. According to the records, after the fraud broke out last time, blood flowed in the capital, a large number of officials and family members died, and many more were exiled.

Today's Holy Majesty is even less likely to allow fraud. How courageous and powerful are the people who dare to plan imperial examination fraud.

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