The deputy examiner surnamed Cui blocked Kong Yingda, "Kong Saijiu, although you are the chief examiner of the imperial examination room, you can't cheat for personal gain and shield this person." ”

Kong Yingda pushed this person away, walked up to the emperor and bowed, "Sage, Weichen can testify." Candidate Liu Jinyuan did not defile the exam papers, nor did he despise the imperial court and His Majesty, he has been answering the questions seriously. ”

Li Er was curious: "Oh? Can Aiqing testify? How to testify? ”

Kong Yingda turned to everyone and said, "Don't hide it, before the imperial examination, someone sent me a letter asking me to pay attention to this candidate Liu Jinyuan in the imperial examination room. Of course, it is just normal attention and care, not bribery or throwing papers. We didn't know each other before. ”

"Kong Saijiu, as the chief examiner, you should treat every candidate equally, pay attention to and take care of it? Doesn't seem right? Who can prove that you don't harbor favoritism? The other examiners were dissatisfied.

Kong Yingda smiled, his scholarly family, the heirloom of Confucianism, the descendants of the Confucian saints, will be afraid of you? Today, I have to take the blame anyway, so it's better to let it go, and I can give an explanation to the champion Hou, blaming myself for not taking care of this candidate at the beginning.

"The person who asked me to pay attention to this person is not someone else, it is the champion Hou. He said that Liu Jinyuan has eloquence and a desire to serve the country, so he can pay attention to it to prevent him from being cheated and calculated in the imperial examination room. ”

What??? Is there such a thing?

An examiner said with a weak heart: "The champion Hou is rude, the imperial examination is in full view, fair and just, who will dare to calculate and harm a candidate?" ”

Kong Yingda laughed, "It turns out that Master Hou is indeed a last resort, and he really let him calculate accurately." Look at the fate of candidate Liu Jinyuan, who dares to say that he is not calculated? ”

The deputy examiner surnamed Cui panicked, and argued: "Kong sacrificial wine, what do you mean by this?" Do you mean that I slander and calculate him? Present the evidence. Otherwise it is defamation. Don't think that you can deceive everyone by moving out of the champion Hou, the champion Hou is no longer there, even if he is, you can't reverse black and white. ”

Kong Yingda sneered: "Not long after the imperial examination began, I took two examiners to visit Liu Jinyuan, but it was just normal attention and encouragement. The three of us can prove that the candidate Liu Jinyuan has a clean paper, answers questions seriously, and writes good handwriting. ”

The other two escorts also came forward to seconded the certificate.

Kong Yingda continued: "The problem is that I was taken away halfway, and then Liu Jinyuan was accused of being kicked out of the examination room. When I got back to the exam room, I couldn't find out if I wanted to. The test papers were all ruined, and no one could find them. ”

Hearing his helplessness, Li Er also secretly hated in his heart, this group of people is really lawless, and they dare to cover the sky in the imperial examination room?

The deputy examiner surnamed Cui laughed and said mockingly: "Kong Saijiu, after talking about it for a long time, it's just your words." You can only prove that when you went to see him, he didn't stain the papers. It doesn't mean that when the official went to see him, he caught it right. ”

Liu Jinyuan said hatefully: "Damn! I was answering the questions well, you came to talk to me, took the opportunity to pick up my test paper to check, I didn't notice for a while, you calculated, you threw my test paper into the inkstone and stained it, and then charged me and drove me out of the examination room. You, and your two attendants, have seen this. ”

"By the way, even if the candidate next to me didn't see it with his own eyes, he should have heard it."

At this point, someone stepped forward and responded, "That's right, I heard you." ”

"I heard that, too."

Examiner Cui asked, "What did you hear?" ”

"I heard Liu Jinyuan shouting, you soiled his test paper."

"That's right, that's how it was, he shouted why did you stain his test papers?"

……

"Joke! It was he who defaced the test paper and was caught by the official, and in order to deny it, he slandered and said that the official had defiled it. If you want to get away with it, what you hear is that he reversed black and white, and he didn't see it with his own eyes, so he couldn't prove it! He considered himself loyal to the country and had never done anything wrong. ”

This sanctimonious demeanor makes people hate itchy.

At this moment, a taunt came from the crowd, "Bah! Don't you feel sorry? Do you have a heart? ”

Everyone looked back, it was Liu Renliang of Yushitai, and the commander of Chang'an County arrived with two fast catchers, and it was the iron-faced selfless Liu Renliang who scolded people.

Several people came to the emperor and bowed, and Liu Renliang explained: "Your Majesty." Chang'an County received a report from scholar Liu Jinyuan and quickly sent someone to investigate the cause of death of examiners Zhao Ling and Qian Tong. Wechen also cooperated with the visit. ”

"Hard work pays off, after our visit, the examiner Qian Tong's daughter told the truth, Qian Tong did not die of a violent illness, but was coerced by the people of the Qinghe Cui clan to swallow poison and died."

Li Er's face darkened, "Is there such a thing?" ”

Liu Renliang took out the evidence, as well as the fingerprints of the testimony.

"Your Majesty, look, this is the corpse of Qian Tong who was opened for examination, and this is the testimony handprint of Qian Tong's family. Qinghe Cui's family, the family behind Lord Cui, used Qian Tong's daughter as a threat to force him to take medicine and commit suicide. A sizable settling-in fee was given afterwards. Fortunately, Qian Tong's tutor is very good, and his daughter is very backbone, so she would rather not buy the stolen money and starve to death on the streets, but also to avenge her father. That's why we found out the whole story. ”

"With Qian Tong's situation, we took the opportunity to open the coffin for an autopsy, and also found out the situation of the examiner Zhao Ling, which was also poisoned. It's a pity that Zhao Ling's family has fled Chang'an with money and has not been found for a while. ”

Li Er took a closer look, then slapped on the armrest of the dragon chair and shouted, "Cui Junxing? What else do you have to say? ”

At this time, the man finally couldn't stand it anymore, and fell to the ground with a plop, "Your Majesty is gracious, and Weichen is confused for a while......"

"Come on, take it down and torture it severely!" Li Er gave his subordinates a look, meaning that he must not let him die, but dig deeper.

Then he looked at the scholar Liu Jinyuan and sighed: "Candidate Liu Jinyuan, it is my fault that there is such a scum in the imperial court." Delayed your fame in this imperial examination, I ......"

"The grass people don't dare! It is not easy for Your Majesty to govern a country, and it is inevitable that there will be one or two moths in the great cause of the family. Being able to pull out the moths and affirm the grievances, the grass people are already grateful. If you're unlucky this year, you'll have to take the exam again next year. "Liu Jinyuan is very good at talking.

Li Er admired this person very much, and Wei Zheng next to him heard that this was a person recommended by his son-in-law, so he had been paying attention, and stood up at this time and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you ask questions on the spot and test the level of this candidate." If it's really talented, why not hire it out of the ordinary? The imperial court is the time to employ people. ”

"Okay, then I'll come up with an exam question for you to answer. Well answered, I will allow you a county of land for you to govern. Li Er also agrees with this method.

But Liu Jinyuan refused, "Thank you Your Majesty for your kindness, and thank you for Dr. Wei's kindness." Please forgive the grass people for not being able to accept it. The purpose of the selection of materials for the imperial examination is fairness, if I am alone in the question today, how can I thank so many candidates behind the grass people? It's not fair to them. At that time, everyone wants to ask His Majesty to come up with another question, and then the imperial examination will be meaningless. ”

"So please retract your order. The grass people are willing to take the test again next year. ”

Good! Good boy, really backbone, good look. Wei Zheng couldn't help but praise loudly, and even Li Er's eyes couldn't hide the surprise. Ordinary people were overjoyed when they heard about the exceptional hiring, but this kid was able to refuse with reason? It's a good seedling!

Liu Renliang stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, "That's good." It's not in vain that we help you travel for many days. ”

Liu Jinyuan turned his head and said with a smile: "Lord Liu, you are running around to investigate the case, not for my personal sake, but for Datang to clean up the moths and find out the unjust cases, it's a matter of duty." ”

You...... Your boy's mouth is still so poisonous.

Turning around, Liu Renliang pleaded with the emperor: "Your Majesty, there is still a shortage of errand scribes by Weichen's side, it is better to leave Liu Jinyuan by Weichen's side as a scribe, and he usually has a salary for him to live, which can be regarded as making up for his misfortune this year." It is okay to wait for the imperial examination next year. ”

Li Er nodded, knowing that Liu Renliang wanted to stay by his side and cultivate this kid.

"Well, that's fine. Even if this matter is cleared up, you will stand aside. ”

At this moment, a fast horse galloped over and was stopped by the guards of the imperial city, "Oh no, the archives of the Guozijian are on fire, and the imperial examination papers have been burned......"

What? How could an archive room catch fire? Kong Yingda, the country's priest wine, fainted on the spot!