In front of the main gate of Zheng's mansion, a large string of firecrackers had already been hung high, but they were never lit.

In that extravagant and luxurious mansion, at this moment, the birds were silent, and Zheng An, the doctor of Jin Ziguanglu and the secretary of the ministry, frowned tightly, looking at the three law divisions and yamen who were in and out of his mansion.

Last night, his daughter-in-law Cheng Yasi disappeared out of thin air and disappeared, although she had already reported to the official, it was natural for the government to come to investigate. However, at this moment, there is a certain uneasiness in his heart, just because, with his identity, the Criminal Department should have directly sent someone to inquire, but at this moment, the person who came to investigate the case turned out to be the Detailed Inspection Division, the Inspection Division, and the Inspection Division.

And his eldest son, Zheng Xian, who was a student of the country, was called to interrogate, as a student of Zheng Xiantai, if it was the Criminal Department or the Imperial History Tower, it would be okay, these headhunters in the Yamen of the Three Law Divisions were fast, and it stands to reason that they were not qualified to find him, at the beginning, he was also angry about this, but soon, the head catcher who came to investigate the case actually took out the secret purpose.

What the hell is going on? Zheng Anxin was confused for a while.

In the secret room on the other side, Zheng Xian slapped the table angrily: "Are you treating me as a prisoner?" ”

"No, no, Master Zheng misunderstood!"

Sitting across the desk in front of him was an old head of the Inspectorate Division.

Different from the detailed inspection department or the inspection department, the direct boss of the inspection department is the imperial history platform, and the investigation is basically an important case of collusion between officials and bandits, such as the murder and dismemberment case a few days ago, the arson case of Guozixue, the Beijing monster case, etc., although the city is full of turmoil, but basically it has nothing to do with the inspection department, at most it is to help the other two divisions, no matter what the final outcome of the case is, anyway, it is not within their purview, and naturally they do not bear any responsibility.

But early this morning, the Son of Heaven suddenly summoned and urgently transferred the Patrol Department to handle the case, and the disappearance of Zheng An's daughter-in-law Cheng Yasi last night was also one of the matters to be investigated. This kind of thing should be handed over to the Criminal Department, and what does it have to do with the Patrol Division? As the old catcher of the patrol department, he was confused at first, but as some clues were dug up, he soon began to realize in his heart...... Is this going to be a big deal?

"Calm down, I'm just a small head catcher, how dare I treat the eldest prince as a prisoner?" The old catcher said unhurriedly, "It's just a duty, and there are some things that have to be asked." As long as the eldest prince talks about these problems, the eldest prince will get rid of the relationship, and we will be able to make a difference......"

"Dissociation?" Zheng Xian was furious, "I am a scholar, and I am worthy of the sky, what relationship do I want to get rid of?" ”

"Master Zheng, it's useless for you to tell me, an old man, about this? You also know that I am not from the Detailed Inspection Division, and I am not from the Inspection Division, our Inspection Division is only under the management of the Imperial Historical Observatory, and the Imperial Historical Observatory is only responsible for the Holy Lord, why do you ask these questions, I don't know this old man? "The old catcher is not in a hurry, "How did the eldest prince and the Ling Room meet, Ling Zun is the secretary of the ministry, the secrets of the court he is involved in, how much does the Ling Room know, what kind of people she interacts with on weekdays, what kind of places she often goes, and how much do you know about her......

Zheng Xian said angrily: "My wife was kidnapped, you don't go to track down the murderer who kidnapped her......"

"Was he kidnapped by a traitor, or was his identity revealed and absconded in fear of crime...... We're still investigating! ”

"What are you...... What do you mean? Zheng Xian, who had realized that something was wrong, looked at the old catcher in surprise and suspicion.

"Let's put it this way, why don't the eldest husband have no wife, and the room will leave when he leaves. Zheng Dagongzi, you are too a student, don't miss your future for a woman, Dagongzi...... Do you say yes? The old catcher said slowly.

Zheng Xian hesitated for a moment and sat down slowly: "Do you want to ...... Know what? ”

The questioning in the secret room continued. In the back garden on the other side, Zheng Xiuxiu, the girl of the Zheng Mansion, and Lu Xifu, the concubine of Zheng Xiang, the second son of the Zheng family, were in the attic, also looking in disbelief at the fast catches coming in and out in the distance. Today is the day when the gold list is released, Zheng Xian, who is a student of the country and has a deep family background, has almost no possibility of falling off the list, but at this moment, a certain tense atmosphere is suppressing the entire Zheng Mansion.

Although they know that the matter has a lot to do with Cheng Yasi, who suddenly disappeared yesterday, what happened? They were completely confused.

I don't know if what happened will affect them, and at this moment, their hearts are also extremely nervous.

Someone ran to the hall on the other side, and then the house became quieter and quieter. A maid came from that direction, Zheng Xiuxiu called her up, asked a few questions, and then, she and Lu Xifu were silent together. After a while, Lu Xifu asked in a low voice, "Do you know who the Sanding Armor is this time?" ”

The maid replied: "Tanhua is the master of Sun Shansun, a student of Guozi Academy, and the eye of the list is Master Zhou Yuanzhou of Weizhou, as for the champion, the girl and Mrs. Ru know each other, it is the master Ning Jiangning, who was invited by the eldest young master last time, and made everyone unhappy. ”

Lu Xifu was silent again. Ningjiang, it turned out to be Ningjiang again......

About a quarter of an hour later, the questioning in the secret room was over, the old catcher opened the door, paced out, and after a few words with the others, he quickly left with the crowd, and when he arrived outside the house, he looked at the big string of big red firecrackers hanging high by the door, thought about it, and asked the people around him, "Have you released the list?" ”

A person next to him said: "The gold list has been released, and there is no name on the list of Zheng Dagongzi." ”

The old catcher nodded, and glanced back at the solemn and gorgeous Zheng Mansion, Zheng Xian's father, the rank to the Golden Purple Guanglu Doctor, the official seal of the Ministry of Shangshu, and the official of the second grade, it stands to reason that even if he did not perform well in the palace examination, he should be gracious, but the result was that the gold list was nameless.

It's not a small matter...... He shook his head and led the team away!

***

In the palace, Song Shao, the son of heaven, stood on the steps, with an angry face.

Cen Feihu, the guard with a sword in front of the emperor, tied his hands at the bottom of the stairs and said: "In the discovery secret room of Lord Hetaihe, every time the edict and tiger talisman are transferred in the imperial court, he is actually privately stored at home for the record. Judging from the situation of Hetai's fight with the bat boy this morning, Hetai not only has a deep foundation in martial arts, but is also proficient in some kind of unknowable evil art. The leaked information secretly handed over by the Zhengqi Alliance is probably really leaked by Hetai. ”

The Son of Heaven said: "Hetai has entered the palace when he was young, and has always won the trust of his father and me, although the Privy Council has no real power, but after all, it is the document that manages the military registration and the transfer of soldiers and horses, if it is not for the old eunuch who has been in the palace for many years and has never made mistakes, it is impossible to enter the Privy Council, when did he become a spy of Zoroastrianism?" ”

Cen Feihu said: "I'm afraid, before he entered the palace, he was already developed by Zoroastrianism and became a faithful believer of Zoroastrianism." ”

The Son of Heaven said angrily: "Zoroastrianism has such energy, focusing on my capital, laying this heavy eyeliner, leaking a large amount of my Huaxia military information, and never being discovered?" How does the Criminal Department do things? How do you do things? ”

Cen Feihu hurriedly knelt down and said, "The ministers are incompetent. ”

Although the Son of Heaven was angry in his heart, he also knew that it was useless to blame the detailed prosecutor and even the Criminal Department for this matter, in order to disperse the military power, the employment of the Privy Council has always been not interfered by the six departments. If it weren't for the fact that Hetai was forced by the bat boy to show amazing martial arts this morning, even if the Yamen of the Three Law Divisions suspected him, they would never dare to investigate privately.

Those Confucian generals in the court have long wanted to cancel the Privy Council, and take back the military power and military registration back to the military department, and Tai turned out to be a spy of foreign countries, and they will definitely talk about this in the future, this matter must be pressed as much as possible, the Privy Council was originally set up to divide the military power of the military department, and it must not be canceled...... Song Shao thought in his heart.

He said, "Get up! ”

After Cen Feihu got up, Song Shao continued to ask, "Situ Lei, Fang Wanqing, and Wu Yuqiu, who were killed by that bat boy, are really all Zoroastrian disciples?" But they grew up in the capital since they were children, and their parents were also famous scholars, how could Zoroastrianism develop them and make them die? ”

Cen Feihu said: "Come to think of it, the Zoroastrian Sect must have some kind of secret technique, but the minister can't master it yet. However, Yichen thinks about it, this method of Zoroastrianism must also have its limitations, there will never be many secret believers like this kind of development, Zoroastrianism has a history of hundreds of years in the wilderness, if it can really develop believers so wantonly, wouldn't the whole world already be full of Zoroastrian believers? Therefore, in the opinion of the ministers, those who were killed by the bat boy and disappeared overnight last night were all Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism doesn't know what kind of grudge there is with the bat boy, the night before the palace test, they took the monster to attack the bat boy, and then they were bloodily retaliated by the bat boy, and those missing girls were afraid of being found by the bat boy, and absconded overnight. In addition to these, there should not be too many Zoroastrians left in the capital. ”

Song Shao pondered for a while and said, "Although your judgment is reasonable, this matter must be further investigated, and there must be no fish that slip through the net after all." As for Zoroastrianism...... "gritted his teeth and said: "Back then, Zoroastrianism was in Beiluo, Bai Boliang bloody suppression, almost killed all Zoroastrians in Beiluo, the court forcibly recalled him, the three divisions were tried, did not reward his merits, and convicted him first, but made Zoroastrianism further grow in Beiluo, and now he is even more bold and stretches his hand to the capital." ”

Cen Feihu said: "No matter how many generals kill a hundred generals, they will only die the people who have been bewitched by Zoroastrianism, and after all, they will not be able to shake the foundation of Zoroastrianism." Zoroastrianism is like a cult and has always been extremely hidden, and if we want to exterminate Zoroastrianism, I am afraid that we still need to use the means of the rivers and lakes. ”

Song Shao said: "This is also reasonable, after today, I will ask the Criminal Department to come up with the charter and give you more power, Zoroastrianism will do this, there must be a deeper attempt behind it, you should not uproot it, so as to prevent future troubles." ”

Cen Feihu said: "Yes! ”

Song Shao said: "Investigate the remnants of the Zoroastrian religion in the capital, don't be secret, don't kill in vain, but don't let it go, if it involves people in the court, hand it over to the inspection department, I have given them a secret decree, you go down first!" ”

After Cen Feihu retreated, Tan Song, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, entered the palace and said, "Your Majesty! The newly promoted scholars are already waiting for the banquet in the upper garden, please move your majesty to the upper garden. ”

Song Shao said: "Order Baowen Pavilion Bachelor, go to Baowen Pavilion and take out the Nine Dragons Cup." ”

Tan Song, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, responded: "Obey!" ”

……

***

At the same time, among the upper gardens, the champion Ning Jiang, Bangyan Zhou Yuan, and Tanhua Sun Shan led the new jinshi to wait in a corner of the upper garden.

At this time, the sun has moved up to the middle of the sky, and the weather is hot, but all the new jinshi are arranged in a shady place, surrounded by water pavilions, green ponds, lakes and mountains, beautiful. Although it was in the imperial city, and there were officials from the Ministry of Rites watching, on this good day when the gold list was released, they didn't ask too much of them as new jinshi.

It was the first time for many people to enter the upper garden and enjoy the surrounding scenery while chatting with each other. After determining the title of their gold list, their mood naturally relaxed, although they didn't dare to make a loud noise, they were also talking and laughing in a low voice.

Zhou Yuan, about forty years old, at this age, it is actually not too big among all the tribute students, he is not too student, Ning Jiang did not have any impression of him before, but more than a hundred tribute students, it is impossible to be familiar with all of them. At this moment, because they are all at the forefront of the team, the three of them in the first class naturally can't help chatting.

Sun Shan thanked Ning Jiang again, this time, he was able to enter the first class, of course, because he performed very well in the written test of the palace examination, but if it wasn't for Ning Jiang to help him cure his stuttering, Jun Qianlu was afraid that he would still be brushed down. Ning Jiang smiled and said, "Brother Sun Shan doesn't need to care, I'm just doing my best." ”

In his opinion, Sun Shan was able to kill from thousands of troops twice in a row, enter the palace test, and this time he directly entered the Sanding Jia, which itself has proved his strength.

Zhou Yuan asked, only to know that Ning Jiang cured Sun Shan's tongue syndrome, and said, "It turns out that Zhuang Yuanlang still has such a ability?" ”

While speaking, a celebrant eunuch sang a promise: "The Holy Lord has arrived!" ”

Soon, Song Shao, the son of heaven, has led a hundred officials to come, standing on a high place, encouraging all the new jinshi, and ordered the first three people to step forward, give "Jinshi and the first", into the Hanlin Academy, among them, the champion is the fourth product, the list is from the fourth product, and the flower is the fifth product. Thirty people in the second class are given "Jinshi origin", and more than 60 people in the third class are given "same Jinshi background".

Immediately afterwards, according to the convention, the Son of Heaven gave a banquet, that is, the "Qionglin Banquet" often mentioned in various operas, but in fact the "Qionglin Banquet" is not an official title, but after the palace test list, the Son of Heaven gave the banquet is a convention, and the earliest banquet was in the Qionglin Garden as the garden of the Son of Heaven.

In addition, because at the Qionglin feast, there must be venison, it also has a name, called "deer feast". The reason why venison is the main preserved meat at the Qionglin banquet is because there is a sentence in the Book of Songs, "Yo you deer, eat wild apples", which symbolizes the thirst of the Son of Heaven.

The Son of Heaven gave a banquet, and under the arrangement of the Ministry of Rites, the Jinshi took their seats one after another.

At this time, for some reason, there was a rapid running sound in the distance, but the Son of Heaven didn't care, raised his hand, and said loudly from a high place: "Give wine!" (To be continued.) )