mesbooks Chapter 279 You Become a Prisoner, He Becomes a Top Scholar
Chapter 279 You Become a Prisoner, He Becomes a Top Scholar
Qiao Jingyuan's hand holding the pen trembled slightly.
"What? Can't you do it?" Jun Ce's cold voice came from above.
Qiao Jingyuan's pen trembled, and a large blot of ink instantly splattered on the paper. He hurriedly knelt down.
"Your Highness, spare me! I was just a little nervous..."
He lowered his eyes, his gaze unfocused.
Because he knew the exam questions in advance, he hadn't paid attention to his studies and had forgotten many of the knowledge points.
The Duke of Wei took a deep breath and gave a threatening smile.
"Young friend Qiao, it's alright. Just do your job well and show your strength."
"Please don't let this prince down..."
Qiao Jingyuan paused, then sat back down in her chair and began working on the problems.
time flies.
The candidates ahead of me have already finished their exams.
Jun Ce received the examination paper presented by Qiao Jingyuan, flicked two fingers, and instructed Zhiying, "Pass it down to all the officials for them to see."
The people in the hall took turns reviewing the papers, and most of them shook their heads.
Upon seeing this, the Duke of Wei's face darkened.
Jun Ce chuckled, "It seems that Qiao Jingyuan is not up to the Duke's protection."
The Duke of Wei knelt down in a panic.
"Your Highness is too kind! I merely have a heart that cherishes talent, and I had absolutely no intention of protecting this person!"
"is it?"
Jun Ce's eyes, as cold as a deep pool, narrowed slightly, and his voice was lazy and indifferent, "I thought that after you two had been communicating for so long, you had already become close friends despite the age difference."
The Duke of Wei broke out in a cold sweat.
The Regent...did he find out something?!
No, it's impossible.
He was always extremely careful when he met with Qiao Jingyuan, so that no one would find out.
The crowd in the hall erupted in uproar.
"The Duke of Wei and Qiao Jingyuan do indeed have a private relationship!"
"No wonder they're protecting him!"
"But Qiao Jingyuan comes from a humble background. What is the Duke after?"
"Naturally, it's to use him to harm someone..."
As for who they want to harm, it's self-evident.
The Duke of Wei's unprovoked mention of Zhai Jiqing earlier has already given him away. His target is undoubtedly the Ministry of Personnel.
The Duke of Wei immediately defended himself.
"Your Majesty, please be wise!"
"This is the first time I have met Qiao Jingyuan. The reason I know so much about him is only through hearsay. Is it a sin for my Duke's mansion to be so well-informed?"
Jun Ce slowly played with the jade pendant with his well-defined knuckles, his thin lips moving slightly.
"Zhiying, tell the Duke what you found out."
"Yes!"
He turned around and threw a stack of documents in front of the Duke of Wei.
"Duke of Wei, this book records exactly when and how you met with Qiao Jingyuan, through whom you contacted him, where you met, and what you did. It's all written down clearly. What excuse do you have?"
The Duke of Wei's expression changed drastically!
He opened the document, and indeed, it was exactly the same!
The Duke of Wei's hand trembled, and the document fell to the ground.
The figure said coldly, "The first time you met, you leaked the imperial examination questions to him. In the subsequent meetings, you made Qiao Jingyuan do the questions repeatedly until he knew them by heart."
"If it weren't for my lord changing the exam paper in time, you would have really fooled us today!"
A word stirred up a thousand waves.
Everyone in the hall was furious!
"Duke of Wei, I never imagined that you, as an examiner, would commit such a despicable act! You have truly brought shame upon us!"
"Exactly! And they even turned the tables and framed Zhai Jiqing. What a vicious mind they have!"
"That Qiao Jingyuan is something else. Looking at this exam paper, he doesn't seem like an ignorant person. How can he be so shameless as to do such a despicable thing!"
……
The murmur of the crowd assaulted my ears.
Qiao Jingyuan was teetering on the brink of collapse.
These people were already numerous officials who dared to speak out and were not afraid of power. Now that they knew that the Duke of Wei had done such a thing, they were even more verbally abusive and almost killed the two of them with their spittle.
Jun Ce raised an eyebrow slightly. "This matter is of great importance. I will report the truth to His Majesty."
"We will deal with the two after the results of the imperial examination are released."
He stood up and walked up to Qiao Jingyuan, his eyes cold and clear, like a hawk in the dark night. "Do you think Zhai Jiqing is only superior to you because of his family connections?"
"It's ridiculous."
Do you know why I don't punish you now?
Qiao Jingyuan looked up, trembling, and asked, "Why?"
Jun Ce smiled lazily, but his eyes were cold and unreadable.
"I want you to see for yourselves what completely different results will come from taking the same exam as the other two of you, in a fair and impartial examination."
He bent down slightly.
"Don't let it come to the point where you're a prisoner while he becomes the top scholar."
"That would be interesting."
He straightened up, his low, husky voice carrying a hint of a smile, but the people in the hall felt a chill run down their spines.
Killing can only be done with a nod of the head.
But the Regent's move was truly a case of killing someone by attacking their spirit...
Qiao Jingyuan lowered his head, knelt on the ground, his eyes trembling and shattered.
A few days passed in a flash.
The results of the imperial examinations are in.
Zhai Jiqing lived up to expectations, passing the imperial examination after passing the first level and becoming the top scholar.
The entire Zhai family was overjoyed.
When the results were announced, Di Chong was very excited and took Wei Wenlong to the Zhai family to express his gratitude.
"Miss Zhai! Thanks to your guidance and your brother's notes, we were able to pass the exam!"
"These items are gifts of gratitude from both our families!"
"Please, Your Excellency, do not refuse!"
Zhai Rongyu looked at the courtyard full of thank-you gifts and smiled, "This matter depends on your own hard work in reviewing; it has nothing to do with me."
"But my second brother deserves your thanks."
Di Chong and Wei Wenlong hurriedly bowed to Zhai Jiqing, almost kowtowing.
Di Chong: "Zhai Jiqing, I used to look down on you and always thought you were arrogant, but after reading your notes, I realized that you are truly talented!"
After reading those notes, he even had his own ideas.
It's very different from the rote memorization of the past.
My mindset has broadened considerably.
Wei Wenlong chimed in, "Exactly! We have offended you in the past, please be magnanimous and don't hold it against us."
Zhai Jiqing was naturally willing to move on.
He plans to become an official in the imperial court in the future, and having more friends means having fewer enemies.
He was naturally aware of the advantages and disadvantages involved.
Di Chong apologized many times for what had happened before he started talking about Qiao Jingyuan.
Have you heard?
"Qiao Jingyuan was originally sentenced to exile, but when he heard the news of Zhai Jiqing's success in the imperial examination while in prison, he was so ashamed and indignant that he wanted to die, and he killed himself by hitting his head against a pillar!"
"Dead?" Zhai Rongyu asked in surprise.
Wei Wenlong nodded, "That's right! He framed the Minister's Mansion like that, and this is the result of his own scheming."
Di Chong added, "I also heard that today the Wen family led troops to search the Wei State Duke's mansion by imperial decree, and found a lot of evidence of buying and selling official positions and private dealings. I'm afraid the Wei family is also going to fall."
After a moment's thought, Zhai Rongyu realized that this was Jun Ce's work.
[Ah Xu ordered the Wen family to search the Duke's mansion, intending to create a complete antagonism between the Sixth Prince and the Fifth Prince.]
They were inherently sworn enemies.
Now, both openly and covertly, the struggle is even more relentless.
[It's likely that the Wen family will also help gather evidence against the Fifth Prince for treason.]