Reborn: The First Rank "Madam"

C125 – Student Not Know

The student whose head was smashed was carried in by two Janissary Guard. His forehead was wrapped in thick gauze, revealing some dark red blood stains. His skin was as white as a piece of paper due to the excessive blood loss.

With much difficulty, he crawled back up, lay prone on the ground, and sobbed with his head lowered, “Long live the Emperor, your student deserves to die a thousand times for his crimes!”

Zhan Yuanfeng’s good mood was completely ruined by this student who suddenly popped out of nowhere. Naturally, he wouldn’t be too courteous towards him, “What crime have you committed?” He should have found a quiet place to die after committing a heinous crime. Wasn’t this the reason why he deliberately sought his own death right under his nose?

“Reporting to the emperor, it is impossible for a student to know that someone has turned a blind eye to the imperial court’s principles, yet refuses to step forward. The student would rather die than announce this matter to the world, so the scholars will have justice for him.”

Zhan Yuanfeng laughed in anger, but his tone became more gentle as he asked: “Who are you referring to by ‘someone’? If there is evidence that is out of the ordinary, I promise I will give you all an explanation.”

Li Tong cried with joy, and with an angry expression, he brought out one of his schoolmates, claiming that his classmate’s aptitude was mediocre, whether it was in poetry, poetry or righteousness, but this time, his Conference Test was actually in the top tier.

Not only that, in the first half a month before the exam, this classmate of his appeared to be extremely anxious. He had been immersed in studying hard all day, and was only missing a tiny bit of money. However, five days before the exam, he suddenly became relaxed and didn’t even read anymore.

The Minister of Rites was the first to retort, “Maybe this classmate of yours broke all ties and gave up halfway? As for his words about definitely getting on the list, it’s just a matter of face.”

“Impossible, this student values Conference Test more than his life, how can he give up halfway?”

“Then tell me, where did he get the exam questions from? Could it be that this old man sold it to him?” The Minister of Rites was so angry that his beard was sticking out.

The Conference Test’s topic was chosen by the Emperor, and was only handed over to the Ministry of Rites five days before the exam. Only the Minister of Rites and the chief examiner of the Conference Test were able to come in contact with this question before the exam.

Zhan Yuanfeng couldn’t wait to listen to these guesses, so he immediately ordered people to find Li Tong and his classmate on the test paper.

The fraud of the examination examination is not necessarily a question before the examination, but also may be the official after the examination receives bribes deliberately.

After all, after the completion of the Conference Test, only the top thirty would be placed on the imperial examinations. It wouldn’t be difficult to get one or two people to be ranked at the end of the list.

Although there was a person who had sealed the papers after the papers had been collected and the name could not be seen, there was always a loophole when one wanted to cheat.

Seeing Zhan Yuanfeng staring at the two papers with dark clouds curling around his brows, the Minister of Rites stepped forward and said: “Your majesty, just one exam alone is not enough to explain the problem. You can also perform exceptionally on the spot.”

Zhan Yuanfeng got someone to pass the two exam papers to him, and then ordered in a deep voice, “This matter shall be handled by the head judge of Ministry of Justice, with the assistance of imperial court officials and the justice court officials. We will only give you three days’ time!”

After Zhan Yuanfeng said this, he stood up and walked off the dragon throne without waiting for a reaction.

“This…” The Minister of Rites didn’t expect that the situation would get even worse and worse, to the point that there would be a hearing by the Third Division.

He hurriedly took the paper from the attendant and started to read it seriously. At first, he did not see any problems with it. The student who had been struck by the paper was evidently much better than Li Tong.

Just as he was about to mock that unscrupulous student, his eyes suddenly focused. Before he could take a closer look at the paper, it was pulled out from his hands.

Minister of Justice folded the papers and said with a smile, “Sir Chen, these two papers are important evidence in this case, so I’ll take them first.”

“Humph!” The Minister of Rites threw him a sideways glance, then walked out of the hall with his hands behind his back.

Minister of Justice twitched his lips, then got someone to carry the student who was still lying on the ground away, ready to send someone to take care of him.

After the news of the Sansi Conference spread to the Imperial City, the first people to take action were the students kneeling outside the Imperial City. They all loudly praised Zhan Yuanfeng’s performance before returning with a glimmer of hope to await the news.

In a courtyard near the imperial city, a young man with a face as white as jade was painting while listening to a subordinate’s report. He tapped his red lips on the beauty in the painting before putting down his brush and taking a wet towel from the attendant.

“Three Divisions Trial? It looks like royal brother really values this year’s Imperial Examinations…” With a smile on his face, the youth muttered to himself before instructing, “Continue to carry out the plan. The more mixed the water, the better.”

“Yes.”

Before the case had even begun, another person had already knocked on the big drum outside the Ministry of Justice yamen, and the person who had come to sue was unexpectedly the current Conference Test’s Core Disciple, Zuo Shaoqing.

Minister of Justice was studying the current round of Conference Test’s exam papers one by one. After hearing this news, his face immediately turned serious.

He did not dare to be careless and immediately got someone to raise him into the hall. The person standing below the hall was also a failed student. Not only did he hand over a sheet of paper, he even brought over a piece of evidence.

After Minister of Justice finished reading the text, he took out the paper he had just read. After comparing it seriously, he immediately ordered his people to get the Zuo’s Mansion, “Go and ask for the left behind!”

With the same topic, the same content, and the same handwriting, the evidence was almost certain that Zuo Shaoqing was suspicious.

The emperor had only set a date of three days. Minister of Justice felt that he had found the key clue, so he called for Yu Zhitong and the justice court officials to come as well, in preparation for the promotion to the throne room.

Within the Zuo’s Mansion, Zuo Yunwen sat there and sighed for a long time after hearing the news that the ranking was invalid. Seeing that the cooked duck just flew away like that, his heart felt like it was stabbed by a knife, and it hurt.

But after half a day, he slowly began to think things through. In any case, his son was talented, so even if he took the exam again, he wouldn’t be afraid.

However, just as he finished comforting himself, he saw a few bailiffs barging in with serious faces. Even the butler couldn’t stop them, causing Zuo Yunwen’s mind to go blank. “Sir Rong, please!”

“Lord Rong? Which Master Rong?” Zuo Yunwen asked in shock.

The leading yamen runner looked impatient, but in the end, he did not have a verdict, and did not dare to offend the family members of this session, “Naturally, it’s the Ministry of Justice’s Lord Rong!”

Zuo Yunwen’s legs were weak. He held onto the table on the side so that he could not slip to the ground. He stammered, “Rong…” Lord Rong, please ask the child to… “What are you doing?”

“Lord Rong has invited Lord Zuo to interrogate him on suspicion of fraud in the Imperial examinations!” The bailiff glared at him, “Where is he? Hurry up and invite me in!”

attendant went to Zuo Shaoqing’s room to look for someone, but Zuo Shaoqing received the news before him. On the surface, he was not nervous, but instead joked with Yinyi, “Yinyi, why do you bring me all the bad news?”

Yinyi replied expressionlessly, “San Ye has no other choice.”

Hearing the shout from outside the door, Zuo Shaoqing got up and changed his clothes. He straightened his sleeves and walked out of the room with big strides.

Yinyi watched his back worriedly and kicked Luo Xiaoliu, who was standing aside in a daze. He waited for Luo Xiaoliu to chase after him, then his body flashed and disappeared from the room.

In the lobby, Zuo Yunwen was sitting on a chair with his hands covering his face. He couldn’t understand how things had gotten to this point. He was obviously enjoying the news of his son’s high school, but now he felt like he was falling from the clouds.

Zuo Shaoqing walked in the sunlight. He wasn’t afraid even when he saw the vicious constables. On the contrary, he puffed out his chest and said, “What business do you guys have with me?”

The few bailiffs who had come to grab her obviously did not expect that not only was she so young but she was also so handsome. Her small face that was as big as a palm slightly smiled. Her exquisite facial features could not help but give people a good impression.

Moreover, the other party’s temperament was calm, and his gaze was clear, not at all like someone who was committing a crime.

Therefore, the constables’ expressions unconsciously softened as they repeated what they had said, “Sorry for offending you. Please let me go with you.”

Zuo Shaoqing waved his hand, “Brothers, it’s because I’m following orders. Since someone is suing me, I’ll go ask around.”

As he followed the few tall bailiffs into the Ministry of Justice Hall, the citizens who received the news along the way were all pointing their fingers at him, and some of them even sneered, “Didn’t I say it before? How can a child who hasn’t grown any hair be so powerful?”

Some people saw that Zuo Shaoqing didn’t seem like a scoundrel who was trying to cheat and tried to defend him: “That’s not necessarily true. Zuo Huayuan was born with a Top Scorer background, he must have some true skills. Otherwise, would he be able to cheat all the way?”

Everyone had their own thoughts. Before the yamen had even started a fight, the people on the street had already started talking amongst themselves.

“Let’s go, let’s see what Lord Rong has to say. There’s always a conclusion as to whether it’s right or wrong!”

When Zuo Shaoqing arrived, he found that there were already three presiding judges sitting in the main hall. Presumably, the one sitting in the middle was Minister of Justice Rong.

Zuo Shaoqing knew that he was the third place in Conference Test, the second place was Jiung Hengzhou, the fourth place was Cao Zongguan, and Qu Changqing had also won the competition, but was only second to the middle rank.

Zuo Shaoqing and Hee Zhicheng exchanged a friendly look and then looked at the other three people. A youth with a head injury must be the culprit and a youth who had his head lowered, afraid, and had no idea whether he was the defendant’s classmate.

Last… Zuo Shaoqing narrowed his eyes. He had asked clearly along the way. He knew that someone handed him a piece of paper and he had the evidence. As for what it was, the bailiff didn’t say anything.

He looked through the memories of two lifetimes, but he couldn’t recognize the man, so he just waited.

“Pah!” Minister of Justice slapped the table in shock, “Alright, I’ve invited everyone here today. Everyone knows what it is for. Since you’re all pillars of the country, and you’re the wise one, I won’t beat around the bush…”

He turned his gaze towards the youth who had his head lowered, “Zhang Hao, how can you defend yourself against Li Tong’s accusation?”

Zhang Hao was usually timid. Now that he was facing three senior officials of the imperial court, his legs were shaking violently. He could not speak very quickly. He could only repeat, “This student was wrongly accused…”

“Then tell me, how did you write this article with your usual talent?” Minister of Justice threw his paper in front of him.

Logically speaking, it was very hard to find a problem in an article, and the reason why Zhan Yuanfeng was able to confirm that there was a hidden trick to Conference Test was because this article was actually very similar to the article in third place.

There were thousands upon thousands of examinees, so it wasn’t strange for their arguments to be similar. However, if there was an entire sentence with exactly one sentence, then there was definitely a problem.

Zuo Shaoqing was puzzled, could it be that the Conference Test had really dropped the subject? That was definitely not a good thing for him.

“I… Student…”

Without waiting for him to speak, Minister of Justice fiercely asked, “Then tell me, why is your essay similar to Hee Zhicheng’s?”

Hee Zhicheng raised his head in surprise and looked at Zhang Hao on the left. Before he was brought here by the bailiff, he didn’t know why he was caught up in this case. He didn’t expect it to be like this.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his expression was innocent.

It was unknown where Zhang Hao got his courage from, but he answered with his neck up: “I don’t know… Maybe he copied the students.”

Zuo Shaoqing held back his laughter. He felt that it was really unfair for such a student to be on the list. No wonder his classmate would rather die than come forward.

“The two of you have been separated by thousands of miles. Could he have had a clairvoyant eye?” Moreover, if plagiarism could copy out a third place, then wouldn’t Zhang Hao get first place?

“I don’t know…”

“Since you’re all scholars, I don’t want to embarrass you. If you don’t answer truthfully, you’ll be punished!”