I, Jiajing, successfully cultivated immortality

Chapter 105 The first clue

Since Li Chunfang was taken away in front of his colleagues, the group of soldiers escorted him to the nearest prison, waiting to be released.

In the prison, perhaps due to the lack of sunlight for a long time, the straw on the bed has long been moldy, and there are dark red blood stains that cannot be washed clean in the cracks between the stone bricks on the ground. There is a wooden barrel in the corner, which is unknown. There was a foul smell coming from the excrement of some kind of creature.

And just when Li Chunfang wanted to lie on the bed and rest for a while, she suddenly realized that the bed had become a paradise for mice!As soon as he lifted the quilt, the mice seemed to be frightened, made a 'squeak' sound, and quickly ran to the corner and disappeared.

"What's going on here?" Li Chunfang sat on the ground dejectedly, thinking about what she might have committed.

"Could it be that I offended someone? Someone wrote a memorial to impeach me!" Li Chunfang suddenly had this thought in his mind.

But soon, this idea was vetoed by himself: "But I've been in charge of writing questions for the imperial examination recently, and I can't even meet a few people, let alone offend anyone!"

But soon, Li Chunfang's doubts were answered.

……

"Li Chunfang, do you plead guilty?" Zhang Runde, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, asked.

"Confess? What crime? What crime have I committed?" Li Chunfang tilted her head, her face full of doubts.

"Hmph, how dare you argue! Tell me, how much money did you collect from those candidates? Who did you sell the test questions to?" Zhang Runde seemed dissatisfied with Li Chunfang's answer, and angrily scolded.

"What, you said that I took the candidates' money and leaked the exam questions!" Hearing Zhang Runde's question, Li Chunfang couldn't help being surprised.

Accepting bribes and divulging imperial examination questions are all serious crimes!Maybe they want to ransack the family and exterminate the family, but Li Chunfang doesn't think she has the guts to do so.

"Do you still want to quibble? An impeachment memorial was handed over to the Procuratorate early this morning. It said that you had collected money from the examinees, and behind that memorial was the topic of the imperial examination. Curious, how should you explain this!" Seeing that Li Chunfang still wanted to deny it, Zhang Runde couldn't help resorting to his trump card.

"Hmph, the adults kept saying that the officials leaked the exam questions. How dare you ask what the exam questions were written behind the memorial?" Li Chunfang still did not give up, and continued to ask Zhang Runde.

"Hmph, don't cry if you don't see the coffin! Listen to me, honesty is the foundation of virtue and the source of holiness. Scholars are the heads of the four peoples. Scholars learn to..." Zhang Runde glanced at Li Chunfang, Chanted lightly.

"My lord, you don't need to recite any more. What you recited just now is indeed the question given by the official." As early as Zhang Runde recited the first sentence, Li Chunfang understood that what the minister of the Ministry of Punishment said was true, and the exam questions really leaked up!
"Oh, do you have anything else to say?" Zhang Runde asked, pointing to the little official who was in charge of recording the statement.

"My lord, I don't know how the exam questions were leaked. It's just that I really didn't accept bribes from the examinees! These days, I have been locked in a dark room and won't be free until the exam papers are out."

"Besides, in this process, whoever the official has contacted and talked with is monitored by someone! Besides, the lessons learned from the past are there. How can the official commit crimes against the wind? Wrong!"

Li Chunfang turned his gaze to the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, and there was a little pleading in his words.

"Well, you can rest assured that after the investigation is clear, the court will give you an explanation! Tell me, who have you been in contact with in recent days?"

After hearing what Li Chunfang said, Zhang Runde, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, also softened his attitude, and then he nodded to the subordinate who was in charge of recording the confession, indicating that he would record everything that followed.

"It happened like this, that day..."

Immediately afterwards, Li Chunfang began to recall the people or things she had interacted with in recent days.

……

Capital, Yan Mansion.

After Yan Shifan got Li Chunfang's exact statement from Zhang Runde, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, he rushed back home without stopping, and knocked on the door of his father Yan Song.

"Why, did you recruit?" Yan Song opened the door and asked.

"No, father, then Li Chunfang claimed that she did not accept bribes from candidates! Here is a detailed statement."

After Yan Shifan finished speaking, he handed over the exact confession to Yan Song.

"Well, come in! Also, open the door of the study." Yan Song took the confession, turned around, and slowly sat on the desk, not forgetting to ask.

"Yes, father." After Yan Shifan said, he came to serve Yan Song.

Yan Song put on reading glasses unhurriedly, read Li Chunfang's confession back and forth several times, took off the reading glasses, and sighed: "This is so difficult! Everything Li Chunfang explained should be true. No problem, but if this is the case, how did the test questions get leaked?"

Yan Song frowned tightly, but he kept thinking about possible answers in his mind.

"By the way, did you find anything from that Li Chunfang's house?" Yan Song suddenly recovered and asked Yan Shifan.

"No, we sent people to search Li Chunfang's house upside down, but we didn't find the stolen money he received!"

Yan Shifan shook his head when he heard his father's question, and responded.

……

On the other side, everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion was also devastated by this matter.

"Have you read Li Chunfang's statement?" Xu Jie asked, sweeping his eyes across the crowd.

"Old Xu Ge, we have read the statement several times, but we still can't find any problems! And we have sent people to search Li Chunfang's house, but found nothing." Gao Gong shook his head and responded.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng was still looking through Li Chunfang's confession carefully, trying to find some clues.

Seeing this, Xu Jie couldn't help but comfort him: "Master Zhang, let's rest for a while! Don't be so tense."

"You said, did we go in the wrong direction at the beginning?" Zhang Juzheng raised his head suddenly, his eyes were shining brightly, and said slowly.

"What do you mean?" After listening to Zhang Juzheng's words, Gao Gong was a little confused.

"I mean, is it possible that after Li Chunfang finished the test questions in the black room (note: the place where the chief examiner gives the test questions, it is called the black room), the test questions will be leaked! As far as I know, he has a draft habits." Zhang Juzheng looked at Gao Gong and explained aloud.

"According to your point of view, it was the hands and feet of the little officials in charge of daily life in the dark room? They secretly collected the draft paper typed by Li Chunfang, and then read it from related books." Xu Jie also said at the moment. After understanding what Zhang Juzheng meant, he said in a deep voice.

"Well, this possibility cannot be ruled out!" Zhang Juzheng nodded, agreeing with Xu Jie's opinion.

"But since the test questions have already been obtained, why do you still have to report them to the Inspectorate? Can't you sell them secretly? No matter how high the price is, some candidates want to buy it!" doubts.

"Could it be that someone wanted to use this method to attack Taichang Shaoqing Li Chunfang after learning this news, but they couldn't be sure whether the leaked exam questions were true, so they made such a bad plan." Gao Gong was also timely. put forward his own views.

"Well, it's very possible! I'll send someone to follow this line and check it out." After Xu Jie finished speaking, he called his subordinates and gave instructions on the matter.

(End of this chapter)