Shen Zhou sat in the moonlight under the porch, in front of him was a lotus pond that had been filled in, and now a rose trellis had been built. In the dead of night, the footsteps of the maids, as light as cats, passed by, and the sunken boat could almost hear the breathing of the roses.

"Why do you always bully people?" Chu Zhixia walked behind him, pinched his earlobe, and asked affectionately and gently.

"He undresses to show you, he's not in order." Shen Zhou snorted angrily and said, "What's so nice about his chest?" Dry and thin, his ribs can be seen clearly. ”

Chu Zhixia couldn't cry or laugh, and pulled Shen Zhou's chin to let him look at himself. Shen Zhou took off his mask, his thick eyelashes flickered, the corners of his mouth twitched, and his indignant expression was obvious, so vivid and vivid that Chu Zhixia was in a trance for a moment.

"Where did you learn the word white chicken?" Chu Zhixia forced him to ask.

Shen Zhou restrained his expression and wanted to turn his head to dodge, but Chu Zhixia pinched his chin. Chu Zhixia approached his eyes and said with a slight threat: "Went to the Qinglou?" ”

"I was there to get information, and I heard them say that by chance." Shen Zhou defended in a low voice, "I didn't take it off for others to see, and I didn't watch others take it off." I'm not as frivolous as that scholar. ”

Chu Zhixia deliberately teased him, "It's okay to watch it......"

Shen Zhou suddenly said loudly: "I won't look at it!" You're going to bully me! ”

Chu Zhixia laughed loudly, Shen Zhou was so angry that his ears were red, and he turned his back in shame.

The moonlight is innocent.

——

In order to prevent favoritism and fraud, the methods of the Ministry of Rites are also changing with each passing day. Up to now, the scientific examination papers should be sealed in a vague name, copied by professional officials and corrected by the chief examiner, and then the scores are published in the open book.

The results of the palace examination have not yet come out, and Xu Yan has already known that the question has been leaked - it can only be the news of the eldest princess.

"If it's spring and autumn, it's fine, but the question of the palace exam is made by His Majesty himself." Pei Zhang pondered for a moment, sniffing out a hint of conspiracy, "This matter is not trivial. ”

"Although the topic was personally written by His Majesty, the person who sent this question to the Ministry of Rites for sealing is not His Majesty." Chu Shixia came to a conclusion cleanly and said contemptuously, "Don't forget, the palace is full of eunuchs. ”

"You mean, Xu Delu voted for Zhuang Shoufu?" Bai Ziche understood what she meant.

The three of them sat around a small table with a list spread out on the table. But the list is not the name of the examiner, but the name of the candidate, and the candidate's hometown, family background, and whereabouts after coming to the imperial capital should be recorded on paper.

The three of them gathered here all morning to guess who got the exam questions in advance. But there are so many suspicious people that three people can't guess.

"Since many Shou was executed, His Majesty has been very cold to Xu Delu." Pei Zhang said, "Xu Delu tried hard to please but had no result, and turned to Zhuang Shoufu to surrender, which is reasonable." ”

"No, no, no," Chu Shixia shook his finger and said, "Only the top three rolls will be given to Your Majesty." Everyone's scrolls are in the hands of the Ministry of Rites, that is, Zhuang Shoufu's own people. Unless His Majesty wants to be the chief examiner on a whim, whose papers he can see is determined by the Ministry of Rites. Why did Shousuke go to great lengths to steal exam questions? Who he wants to promote, that is, the upper lip touches the lower lip. ”

Bai Ziche and Pei Zhang were both a little confused, "Is it the regent?" But why? ”

With the regent's current position of power, there is no need to do such a thankless task. The fraud in the scientific examination is said to be big and big, and it is said to be small and small, but His Majesty has made every effort to clean up the Chen family, and the Chen family will not do such a risky thing - it can be seen from the fact that the examiners of this year's scientific examination are all Zhuang Shoufu's people, and the Chen family does not want to wade into this pool of troubled waters, and there is no need.

No matter how talented the champion is, he has to work hard in the officialdom, consume his talent and spirit, and he may not be able to enter the cabinet; And no matter how mediocre and incompetent the straw bag is, as long as the superior is willing, he can be lifted to a position that ordinary people can't look up to.

No one is worth the Chen family taking such a big risk. If a talent cannot be used by him, then others will not be able to use him.

Don't use an elephant to crack a nut?

"It's good if you think in a different direction." Chu Zhixia said, "How did the news of the eldest princess come from? ”

Bai Ziche pondered for a moment and said, "Someone deliberately wanted the eldest princess to know the news, and used her hand or ours to expose the scientific research fraud case and bring down Shoufu. ”

And the opportunity for the whole thing was that Xu Yan entered the imperial capital, and he became famous. This made people pay attention to the eldest princess who had been silent for many years. The regent may or may not know the eldest princess's ambitions, but he decides to use her - after all, Xu Yan is the most likely person to win the championship.

In this way, it becomes more and more obvious who has obtained the exam questions. It must be a person who has a close relationship with Shousuke, so close that he can't be separated.

Chu Shixia snapped his fingers with relief.

Pei Zhang also reacted and smiled self-deprecatingly, "The eldest princess also knows the other party's intentions, so she threw this problem to us." ”

"It's not difficult to catch this man, but the hard thing is how to use him to bring down Zhuang Shoufu - or the regent." Chu Zhixia said slowly, "It's a big gamble to be small and big." If he is not careful, His Royal Highness's efforts in Jiangnan for three years will be in vain, his reputation will plummet, and his Majesty may be disgusted. ”

The three of them fell silent at the same time, and the birds on the branches chirped.

Pei Zhang smiled reluctantly and said, "If you say that, I almost suspect that the eldest princess is deliberately cheating us, but in fact, she is more interested in King Qin." ”

Chu Zhixia shrugged his shoulders and pretended to be relaxed: "That's impossible." The eldest prince wants to restore the Bai family, how could he choose a prince with Chen blood? In the eyes of the eldest princess, the Chen family is a thief who steals the country. ”

Bai Ziche covered his forehead and sighed.

——

The ninth year of auspicious charm, the end of April.

The palace examination was about to start, and Yu Linwei suddenly received a secret letter, saying that the candidate Shen Ming was rampant after drinking, and threatened that he was the first to be at the top of the palace examination. Shen Ming is a candidate from the Northland, and there are also people in his family who have entered the court as officials, and his family is well-off. Yu Linwei arrested people and sent them to prison, and before they were tortured, rumors were already flying all over the sky.

The Shen family is the Zhuang Party.

The emperor was very dissatisfied with this matter and ordered Yu Linwei to give the result as soon as possible. On that day, Shen Ming was drunk in the room alone, and many people outside the door heard it, and the scholars in the restaurant could testify. Although Shen Ming refused to admit it, it had no effect except to add to the emperor's anger - in the eyes of the emperor, this was ironclad evidence of Zhuang Shoufu's loyalty.

The more Chu Shixia pondered, the more he felt that this matter was a coincidence, and pinched the back of Shen Zhou's neck and asked him, "How do you know that Shen Ming took the exam question?" ”

"Before the palace test, he was looking for someone to catch a knife and write an article in the ghost market, isn't he who?" Shen Zhou snorted lightly and said disdainfully, "I can't understand the article, and I still want to be the champion." ”

Chu Zhixia felt that Shen Zhou had been talking more and more recently, and a smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of his mouth, "Then how could he lose his words after drinking?" ”

Shen Zhou glanced at Chu Shixia a little proudly, cleared his throat, and said in a gentle female voice: "Of course what I said, he was already drunk." ”

Chu Zhixia remembered the Mountain Ghost Clan assassin who imitated Yu Linwei's voice in Binzhou, and was not very surprised, but just pretended to be surprised and said, "It's so powerful, you can teach me too!" ”

Shen Zhou froze for a moment and shook his head.

"It's stingy." Chu Zhixia scratched his nose.

"It's painful to learn this." Shen Zhou said softly, "I didn't learn it from a young age, and I have to drink a lot of medicine. It's bitter. ”

"Ah, I haven't saved the manuscript yet. Wait for me for more. I've been a bit busy lately."