It was just over the end of the day, and the morning sun had not yet had time to bring the first rays of light to the heavy earth. The dew was cool and crystalline, and some of it was faintly white, as if it was about to condense into frost.

Prime Minister Huo Pei'an and Shangshu Tong Yuan of the Criminal Department strode outside the empty and slippery palace gate. In the middle of the night, the emperor's edict reached the two of them without warning, only saying that they would rush to the Qinzheng Palace to discuss the matter, but did not mention what happened. Seeing the anxious appearance of the father-in-law who passed the decree, the two did not dare to delay, only freshened up a little, changed into court clothes and hurried to the palace.

As soon as the two entered the gate of the imperial city, they saw an acquaintance walking in the distance. Although the man is no longer confused, his body is very tough, and his upright posture shows a military demeanor under a military uniform. This person is the commander of the forbidden army in the imperial city, and he is also the father of Concubine Chen's mother in Chenzhi Palace, Yin Zheng.

"Lord Huo, Lord Tong." Yin Zheng bowed his hand.

The two also returned the salute, "Commander Yin." ”

"The two adults can be regarded as here, and Lord Jiang has already entered the Qinzheng Palace." Yin Zheng said in a deep voice, and the Lord Jiang in his mouth is now Jiang Yihong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

The two couldn't help but be stunned, but they didn't expect that even the Ministry of Rites Shangshu was urgently recruited into the palace. Although they didn't know why they entered the palace this time, before dawn, the emperor urgently recruited many officials such as the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Punishment and the Prime Minister to enter the palace to meet them, which shows the severity of the situation.

Tong Yuan said tentatively: "Commander Yin knows what is the matter with the emperor in a hurry to summon us?" ”

"Lord Tong laughed, the lower official is a martial artist, just guarding the imperial city, how can he know about the affairs of the previous dynasty?" Yin Zheng smiled modestly, and then his expression suddenly changed, and his eyebrows were full of worry. "However, just now seeing that Gonggong Yan is anxious, I guess the emperor...."

Hearing Commander Yin's ambiguous answer, Tong Yuan's heart was even more bottomless, and he looked at Huo Pei'an who was expressionless on the side uneasily.

Yin Zheng couldn't help but feel funny when he saw the solemn faces of the two, but his face was very well hidden, and he only said slowly, "The lower officials have said more, two adults, please." ”

When Huo Pei'an and Tong Yuan stepped into the Qinzheng Palace, they saw officials of all sizes such as the Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, the Waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and the Waiter of the Hanlin Academy kneeling on the ground, and the atmosphere was so depressing that people couldn't breathe. The two of them secretly screamed in their hearts, and knelt down together in the pile with their tails between their legs.

Emperor Liang Yinhao's face was gloomy, and he unceremoniously waved his hand and threw a fold in front of everyone. "Look at it, this is the fold handed over by Uncle Mu Huang last night."

This whole thing has to start from yesterday, when the emperor's uncle Mu Wangye was ordered to enter the palace to meet him, but just a few steps out of the mansion, a poor talent appeared out of thin air, holding a bloody letter, and tearfully accusing the examiner of the Ministry of Rites of fraud and private teaching. Xiucai claimed that he had studied hard for decades, just to win fame and serve the country, but unfortunately he repeatedly failed to make the list. Originally, I thought that Xu was not good at learning and his skills were not as good as others, but he never felt resentment. But in a casual conversation with a literati, I accidentally found that the article in Zhuangyuanye's high school was exactly the same as my own!

Zhang Xiucai was puzzled and decided to find out about the matter, and later learned from the little guy who was the examiner at that time that it was the official of the Ministry of Rites who accepted bribes and exchanged his examination papers with the examination papers of today's champions. Zhang Xiucai was indignant, so he sued the examiner of the Ministry of Rites to the Yamen in Beijing. Who knew that what was waiting was not redress of grievances, but a severe beating and detention by the yamen of the Criminal Department, saying that he had falsely accused the court officials and broke one of his legs.

Now Zhang Xiucai is not only disabled, but also ordered to not participate in the imperial examination for life, and in desperation, he can only choose to intercept Mu Wangye's car and seize this last opportunity to avenge himself.

Lord Mu has always saluted the Magi, and he was surprised to hear what happened to him, and saw that he was mourning in his blood handwriting, and cried blood, he was indeed a talented young man, and he felt pity in his heart. So Mu Wangye accepted the blood book and immediately entered the palace to play this qiē to the emperor.

Emperor Liang Yinhao was shocked when he heard this, and sent someone to investigate the matter overnight, and even passed on that Zhang Xiucai to enter the palace for questioning. It's good that this is not investigated, but an investigation actually involved many officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment, including many important ministers of the DPRK and the Central Committee, and the first to bear the brunt was the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment.

As soon as Jiang Yihong saw the excerpt, he immediately kowtowed and cried: "Your Majesty! Wechen has never done anything that harms the society and violates his conscience. This is a false accusation by a person with a heart! ”

"Nothing? Slander framed? Under the dim light, Liang Yinhao's dark and shiny eyes revealed a murderous intent.

Although Wei Ming, the minister of Zhongshu Ling, has always been at odds with Huo Xiang's party, this matter is very involved, and he really can't deal with it at will, so he opened his mouth to persuade him, "Your Majesty, this matter is a serious matter, and you can't just rely on the words of that scholar of the Zhang family." ”

Liang Yinhao took a deep breath, picked up a scroll on the table, and said, "This is what I sent someone to retrieve from the archives of the Ministry of Rites this morning, and it is the answer sheet when Zhang Ting was the top student in high school that year."

When Zhang Ting saw the familiar and unfamiliar test paper, his face immediately turned pale.

"And this is the twist and turn that Zhang Ting presented when he was the attendant of the Hanlin Academy." The emperor looked directly at the young champion master, "I just asked the Taifu to carefully compare the handwriting of the two, it can almost be said that they are completely different, and they are not from the same person at all. Zhang Qing: How do you explain? ”

Zhang Ting had a dense layer of sweat on his forehead at this time, and his lips trembled and replied, "Weichen... Not long after the end of the scientific expedition, he accidentally injured his wrist during a hunting in the suburbs, and his right hand was always unable to exert strength, so the font charm was not as good as before. ”

"Really? So coincidentally? Liang Yinhao sneered, "It seems that you don't hit the south wall and don't die?" ”

"Last night, I not only passed on that Zhang Xiucai's question, but also asked him to write the article on the spot that he answered during the scientific examination that year." The emperor shook the two answer sheets in his hand, "Zhang Qing, can you explain to me why that Zhang Xiucai's handwriting and font are exactly the same as you used to be?" Is it a coincidence, or is someone hiding from the world and stealing beams to change pillars?! ”

The hall was silent, and there was a nervous atmosphere in the air, as if it was about to explode at the slightest touch.

"Why don't you speak? Didn't you just shout out injustice? Liang Yinhao paced in front of Zhang Ting.

Zhang Ting stared blankly at the two answer sheets on the ground, knowing that the general trend had gone, he simply cried and begged for mercy. "The emperor spares his life! Wei Chen just did such a foolish thing for a while, in the final analysis, he just wanted to serve the court too much, although he used the side door, but he did not deliberately deceive the heart of the saint, and hoped that the emperor would go around the life of the guilty minister! . ”

Liang Yinhao turned his head disdainfully, and squinted at the Ministry of Rites Shangshu on the side, "Jiang Yihong, what do you want to say?" ”

The Ministry of Rites Shangshu fell to the ground trembling, trying to find some reason and excuse, but after a long time, he couldn't say a word. "Wechen... Minister, the emperor spares his life! ”

"Okay, you are all courtiers of the six ministries, and you eat the court, but you don't want to raise you into a group of locusts!" Liang Yinhao's eyes swept over the ministers fiercely, "Tong Yuan, I'm afraid that your criminal department is indispensable in this matter, right?" ”

Tong Yuan's legs went weak and he almost collapsed. "Although Wechen doesn't know anything about this matter, Wechen mismanages his subordinates, and if he makes such a mistake, Wechen is guilty!"

"You don't know? The case was tried by the Criminal Department, and the person was also beaten by the Criminal Department, you are the secretary of the Criminal Department, and you actually used the sentence 'I don't know' to send me away? What do I want you to do with your wine bags and rice bags? The emperor was furious and kicked Tong Yuan on the shoulder.

Wei Ming hurriedly stepped forward and said, "The emperor is angry, take care of the dragon's body." The failure of the ministers to share the worries for the emperor is really a dereliction of duty on the part of the ministers, and the ministers ask for the order to investigate the matter thoroughly in person, in order to make up for the fault! ”

Since entering the hall, Huo Xiang has been silent, as if he wants to shirk clean. But at this time, seeing the Chinese book made Wei Ming anxious to take over the entire case, and he was unwilling to do anything. Wei Ming is a tendon, if he is asked to investigate this matter, I don't know how many people will be involved. He has always been at odds with Wei Ming, and his political views are very different, this time Wei Ming will definitely take this opportunity to suppress his strength, but he has no choice but to use the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment to be his own people, in order to avoid suspicion, he has to swallow his anger now.

After the emperor was furious, he not only removed the title of champion of the current champion, but also ordered the suspension of many officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Criminal Affairs for interrogation, saying that they would conduct a strict and thorough investigation to eliminate the bad practices in the officialdom, and the entire investigation was under the sole responsibility of Wei Ming, the minister of the Zhongshu Order.

After returning from the Qinzheng Palace, Tong Yuan did not return to the house immediately, but followed Huo Pei'an to the Prime Minister's Mansion. In the Prime Minister's Mansion, Tong Yuan cried with tears in his eyes, "Prime Minister, the lower officials have done their best to you over the years, and before and after the saddle, sincerity and loyalty are even more evident!" You're going to save the next official this time! ”

Huo Pei'an snorted coldly, "You are doing this kind of hurtful thing behind my back, and now that something has gone wrong, you know that you have come to me for help?" ”

"It's true that the lower officials are greedy, but those silver taels are not swallowed by the lower officials alone. You have a lot of money in your pocket, too! ”

"Nonsense!" Huo Pei'an took the case, "When did I accept the bribe?"

"Although the lord is not really involved in the fraud, some of the silver taels that the lower officials respect the lord on weekdays come from there." Tong Yuan cried more and more aggrieved, "My lord, we are grasshoppers on a rope, you can't ignore the lower officials!" ”

"You!" Huo Pei'an was angry, but after thinking about it, after all, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishment were in his hands, and if he lost these two generals at the same time, it would undoubtedly be a big loss for his power in the court. He thought for a moment before he said: "The fraud is already conclusive, so I'm afraid Jiang Yihong won't be able to save it." You just insist that the whole thing was taught by your subordinates and Jiang Yihong privately, and you don't know anything about it. However, I am afraid that this crime of dereliction of duty will not be able to escape. ”

"It's... Can you get rid of it? Tong Yuan said suspiciously, "Then Wei Ming is just afraid that he will not let us go." ”

Huo Pei'an gradually raised his voice, looking very iron-clad and steel-clad looked. "What else could I do? At the moment, there are only dead horses as live horse doctors, and whether you can save your head depends on your creation! ”