This rumor spread from the mouth of an unknown old man, and it spread throughout Chang'an within a few days. Everyone knew that the gambler Xie Zhixi had won the second class exam next to the prime minister, and for a while, the doubts continued, and the city was full of turmoil, and I don't know how many people in Beijing were eager to question in front of Xue Ji.

Inside the Imperial Study

Qin Xu looked at the music in his hand, and his face became more and more solemn. After about half a pillar of incense, and I don't know what he saw, he suddenly became angry, raised his hand and slapped it on the table, making a loud noise, shaking the tea cup on the table, the tea was scattered on the ground, and the fine white porcelain was also shattered.

When Xue Ji heard a summons and rushed to the imperial study, he saw this situation when he entered the door.

"Long live Your Majesty."

"Hmm." Qin Xu replied casually, his eyes still stayed on the black and white words in front of him, and he didn't mean to look up at him at all.

After thinking about the gossip that has reached his ears in recent days, he naturally guessed a few points, and Xue Ji knew that there were a stack of sparse music on this royal table, and most of them were criticized by him.

Thinking of this, Xue Ji's heart sank, and his eyes were a little more gloomy, he knew that things were not simple when he saw Xie Zhixi's figure before the exam, but he didn't expect to wait here...... Xie Zhixi is really open-minded, this matter is harmful to others and not beneficial to himself, he is so confident, Chen Shao will pull him after using him?

Now that he is in a passive position, he can't let them kick his nose in the face, if this court is the Jiangling Chen family, he Chen Shao can't say it.

"Your Majesty, the minister has a word."

"Say."

Xue Ji bowed slightly, made a rough draft in his heart, and then opened his mouth and said, "I heard that there have been rumors and rumors in Beijing recently, and it is related to Xie Zhixi, the head of the second class."

Speaking of this, after a slight pause, he saw Qin Xu's gaze move away from the fold and look at him.

"Xie Zhixi was a student who was supported by the minister when he was in Qianzhou, and because he was talented and likable when he was young, he brought him back with him when he returned to Beijing. After many years, the minister thought that he was getting older and didn't need to be stared at all the time, so he didn't ask him often, and he has so far. Chen didn't expect that after so many years, he would not learn or learn any skills, and gamble with others all day long."

Qin Xu's face did not change, and he only said in a deep voice, "How do you prove that you don't often ask? And how can you prove that you didn't help him?"

Xue Ji felt depressed when he asked this, it was obviously a well-known thing, but someone could make them forget everything with a few words of incitement, and they didn't even have a basic judgment ability.

The so-called people are terrible, and this is what they are afraid of.

He laughed at himself, "Everybody knows it."

Qin Xu glanced at him, and suddenly chuckled, "But everyone doesn't say anything."

Hearing this, Xue Ji suddenly calmed down.

It's useless for the world to say anything, only the Son of Heaven can decide his life and death, if Qin Xu doesn't believe a word, those who think they are smart and power-grabbing are just clowns who jump off the beam, what is there to be afraid of?

So he asked, "Do you believe what they say?"

Believe it? Not a word, of course. Qin Xu let out a sneer in his heart, he knew these officials better than anyone else, but whenever he heard the slightest rumor, he wanted to put people to death, only in this way could they climb up. This kind of trick is really not interesting.

"Your people, you take care of yourself, and there will be no more such things in the Imperial Study of Ishinai." As he spoke, Qin Xu casually pointed to the mountains of music piled up on the side.

That is unbelief.

Xue Ji breathed a sigh of relief and bowed respectfully towards him: "Yes."

Qin Xu suddenly remembered something, looked up at him, frowned and asked, "Then Xie Zhixi, why did you pass the exam?"

Xue Ji was silent, he didn't know how to respond, if he said that Xie Zhixi was admitted with his own knowledge, he didn't need to ask His Majesty whether he believed it or not, he couldn't help but laugh ridiculously. In the early years, I studied hard and couldn't get the title of the gold list, how could I have been in the market for a few years but grew up.

Let him say, there must be Chen Shao's handwriting in it, but he only did it to Xie Zhixi and Chen Shao

Explain the speculation, empty talk is unfounded, how can you talk nonsense in front of the emperor? Moreover, His Majesty has valued Chen Shao more and more over the years, and mentioning him at this time will inevitably arouse suspicion that he is intolerant as a prime minister.

He was full of hesitation and didn't dare to speak, Qin Xu didn't miss it at all when he sat on it, he saw it all in his eyes. "To tell you the truth, I don't like to hear the vanity."

Xue Ji's heart sank, and he hesitated for a long time, but finally said truthfully: "Xie Zhixi has been in close contact with Lord Chen, the Shangshu of the Criminal Department, for more than two years."

Qin Xu lowered his eyes slightly, thought in his heart, and when he raised his head again, his eyes were deep, a cold light flashed in them, and his voice was a little solemn: "You mean, Chen Shao?"

"It's just a guess, but I'm not sure." Xue Ji replied.

The words of this sentence fell, and there was silence in the imperial study for a while, Qin Xu at the top just pondered without saying a word, and Xue Ji didn't say anything more, just lowered his head and waited for his next words.

"You have your own grievances to be cleaned up, and I don't want to see this kind of thing disturb the purity of the court again."

"Obey."

11th year of Changning, March

Xue Ji couldn't block people's mouths one by one, but with the connections in his hands, it was easy to find the source of the rumors, he only blocked the old man's mouth, and the rest naturally stopped.

In addition to uprooting, he also had people pretend to be ordinary women, in the same teahouse and wine shop, according to their old method, tooth for tooth and blood for blood. No, the prime minister who made a lot of trouble in the city said that he was shielding the gamblers disappeared, and it was replaced by overwhelming gossip, but this time it was said that Xie Zhixi had a good personal relationship with Chen Shao, the secretary of the Criminal Department......

In recent days, Chen Shao has been very irritable, not for anything else, it is precisely because of the sudden change of public opinion in the direction of the wind in Beijing, this time, he can be said to have experienced what it means to lift a stone and shoot himself in the foot.

In addition to being angry, his first reaction was to ask people to call Xie Zhixi.

When the people below heard this, they hurriedly stopped them, and persuaded hard: "My lord, it is rumored all over the city that you have a very good personal relationship with Xie Zhixi, and if you let him come at this time, wouldn't it confirm all the rumors?"

Chen Shao secretly hated, and for a while he was helpless, he slammed a ruler on the table, and said angrily: "What can I do then, I will raise him for two or three years for nothing?"

"It's not like that, when this period passes, who will remember......

After turning the day, after the early dynasty dispersed, Xue Jigang came out of the Zichen Palace, thinking that there was no voice to impeach him in the past two days, he was naturally in a good mood, and even his steps when walking were much brisker.

However, after walking a few steps, I looked up and saw a familiar figure not far away. It's not someone else, it's Chen Shao, who suffered a loss not long ago.

"Lord Chen, what's wrong?"

Seeing that his face is not good, he must have held a lot of resentment in his heart.

But the more he was like this, the happier Xue Ji's heart became.

Xue Ji has never liked to do such a lack of morality, but this does not mean that he is easy to bully. A younger generation, he dared to calculate him if he didn't know the height of the sky, when he was born early for ten years, he came to listen to the drama and eat tea?

The expression on Chen Shao's face was very stiff, even if he pulled the corners of his mouth, he couldn't see the slightest smile, the hands in front of him were tightly clenched into fists and hidden in his sleeves, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he was full of anger: "Dignified Prime Minister, the means are actually like this."

Xue Ji smiled, looked at him with interest, and asked, "Didn't you learn this?"

didn't wait for Chen Shao to say anything else, after leaving these words, Xue Ji bypassed him and continued to go out, leaving only the people behind him to grit their teeth secretly, their eyes full of hatred.

Inside the Imperial Study

There is a list of exams on the royal table, and there is a detailed information of the candidates next to the list, and on top of these things, there is also an open note, which is all about what Xue Ji has done these days, and what he has done.

Xue Ji naturally reported these things one by one, of course, he didn't think to hide them when he did it, and Qin Xu didn't take it to heart after hearing about it, so he sighed lightly and threw it aside.

These things are just boring, too commonplace. For a person like him, who is accustomed to seeing big storms, it is an easy-to-understand truth that soldiers do not tire of deceit.

Today

, The palace examination has ended, and this spring festival can be said to have come to an end, leaving only these remaining trivial matters to be dealt with......

For Qin Xu, it doesn't matter who Xie Zhixi has a good relationship with, what matters is how to deal with the aftermath.

"Do you want to investigate thoroughly?" When he asked this, Xu Yan frowned slightly.

In his opinion, all aspects of this Spring Festival have been very cautious, and so far apart from Xie Zhixi, there have been no other incidents, if it is for such a small second-class leader to investigate thoroughly...... Some of the gains outweigh the losses....

Moreover, the imperial court was only cleared not long ago, whether it was three provinces and six ministries or prefectures and counties, the officials had already changed a batch, and it was finally eased for a few years, and the officials performed their duties and gradually settled down.

Qin Xu naturally thought of this, if he didn't thoroughly investigate the case and there was no evidence to prove Xie Zhixi's fraud, he couldn't remove his top score...... So how to deal with Xie Zhixi has become a big problem.

He leaned back on the dragon chair and pondered for a long time, inadvertently swept over the information about Xie Zhixi on the table, and his eyes suddenly fixed on the words 'Qianzhou people'. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration made a decision: "No! Xue Ji brought him back from Qianzhou for nearly twenty years. Now that he has gained fame, it is time to go back to Qianzhou to benefit the people."

Speaking of which, Xu Yan understood.

Xie Zhixi has been in the capital for so many years, and he has been idle all day long, even if his results are canceled, it is useless to let him continue to stay in the capital. It just so happens that Qianzhou is remote and poor, and there is an urgent shortage of officials at this time, so he has to go back and forth from where, so it was not in vain that Xue Ji took him for so many years.

Xu Yan secretly sighed in his heart that this move was really wise, and said with a smile on his chin, "Your Majesty Shengming."