Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 753: Something Happened to the Students of the Imperial Academy
After the night rain,

Spring is rising,

It's another sunny day.

Gongyuan of Beijing,

The students in the examination room had already stood up, put on their tattered jackets, drank some tea, ate some naan bread, cleaned up, and started to write with their brushes. Many candidates scratched their heads and didn't even finish the poem for the first question, wasting a whole day.

Especially the group of candidates who entered later, who just came here to cheat for the two taels of silver, wearing a few tattered jackets, holding the four treasures of the study that were almost discarded by the academy, and bought pickled vegetable naan bread on the roadside, and drank water in earthenware jars. When the exam started yesterday, the officials of the Imperial Examination Hall braved the heavy rain and did not deliberately make things difficult for them during the inspection. It was obvious that they were used to it. There were also many people who, under the name of imperial examinations, cheated food and drink in the clan.

Now the court has shown mercy, and those who hold the examination ticket can receive two taels of silver as travel expenses. Not only the examinees, but even the yamen runners are anxious. Who wouldn't take two taels of silver for free?
These yamen runners only received two taels of silver a month as salary, and they were all working in low-paying yamens. So when they happened to meet this kind of examinee, they were so upset that they looked down on him.

It rained all night.
The bluestone pavement in the Imperial Academy was a little slippery, and the cold wind blew, making me feel wet and uncomfortable.
In the morning,
As soon as the gentlemen came out, they scattered and began to patrol the route marked out in the examination hall. Not too many, not too few, and they searched far and near. It took more than half an hour to search once.

At this time, Mr. Nan, along with several examiners, called Pei Shaoqing along with him, and began to patrol along the east examination room. When he came to a candidate's seat, he just glanced at it and shook his head.
Pei Shaoqing followed behind without seeing clearly. He just waited until he got closer. He stretched his head to take a look into the examination room, and saw that the candidate in front of him was still snoring. The toilet next to him smelled very bad. The key point was that the food was placed on the partition above. It was disgusting.

The group walked around and found that the candidates were in almost the same state. Master Nan frowned and sighed;
"Hey, after walking around, you all have seen that everyone thought that the children of poor families would cherish the opportunity of the imperial examination, but I didn't expect that there would be so many people who were just filling in the numbers, wasting the court's good intentions in vain. Alas..."

With a sigh, Lord Nan suddenly felt something strange in his heart. Could it be that Marquis Luo Yun had already thought of this?

Ji Mingping, who was standing behind him, could not hide his ugly expression and looked quite indignant.
"Master Nan, these students should not be allowed in. They are so ugly that they can't even answer the questions. I just walked around and saw that some people didn't write a single word on the rice paper on the table. It's one thing to say that the test questions are difficult, but if they can't even write a poem from the capital, how can they be called scholars?"

"Haha, Master Ji, don't be angry. This situation is not new. We can remember many situations in the past. Once you get used to it, it will be fine. We can't ask them how to write. Otherwise, what's the point of the imperial examination?"

"Yes, Master Ji, don't be angry. It's just an ordinary thing, don't worry about it."

The old officials from the Hanlin Academy nearby tried to comfort the students. They had been invigilating for so many years that they were used to it. With so many people every year, there were so many different kinds of people.

"That being said, they consider themselves scholars, but they waste their time like this. They are extremely foolish and even destroy the character of scholars."

Ji Mingping was still a little indignant, and wanted to scold but didn't know how to start. Nan Zixian shook his head, obviously not thinking about it anymore, and instead warned;

"Everyone, today is the second day of the Imperial Examination, which is particularly important. Some candidates can't sit still and will make some noise, so please pay more attention when patrolling the examination halls. Report any situation immediately. Lord Ji, you should also lead the Imperial Examination Hall officials to look around more."

"Yes, my lord."

All the officials responded, even Lord Ji nodded in agreement, only with a look of indignation on his face. If his disciples did the same, they would definitely sever ties with him and expel him from the sect!

With a wave of his hand,

He took a few officers to another place and continued his inspection.

Only Pei Shaoqing stayed with Lord Nan and did not leave. It was as if he had become Lord Nan's follower.

Nan Zixian smiled, turned around and asked;
"Why, Master Pei, do you have anything else to say to me?"

Pei Shaoqing stood there, bowed, and replied;

"My Lord, I have nothing else to do except looking around. In addition to yesterday, I changed the scope of my inspection twice. There are quite a few people like this. Not to mention that they are just filling in the numbers, some of them may not even be able to recognize all the words. I guess that those who are truly knowledgeable are mostly in the Hanyuan Hall in the palace."

I was just being stupid. When encountering such a situation, it was obviously not something that could be fooled by previous examples. It was because in an examination room at a corner, there was a student writing a poem. Not to mention how it was written, the words were all wrong. How could a scholar who had passed the imperial examination make such a mistake? It was not right.

"Oh, Master Pei, do you have any basis for saying this?"

Pei Shaoqing pursed his lips and glanced at Lord Nan's face from the corner of his eye. He couldn't tell whether he was happy or unhappy. He continued to speak and pursed his lips and replied,

"My Lord Nan, I have inspected three areas and found about 1,500 people. Less than 10% of them can answer the questions properly. I think they are all here to earn the two taels of silver. Another point is that there are very few people who can answer the eight-part essay. So I thought that the students of the academy, the students of the Imperial College, and the sons of the official families are all in Hanyuan Hall, so the results will naturally be different."

Nan Zixian narrowed his eyes and stared at Pei Shaoqing in front of him. He was considered a man with a rare vision among the civil servants. How could he not know this? He also knew that all the examination papers for this year's exams would be sent to the palace for review, and the cabinet would also decide on the official positions to be given to the top three. These matters were discussed by the cabinet chief and several ministers before the special examination began, in order to clear up some rumors in the court and inspire the scholars of the world. When the matter was reported to the emperor, his majesty also agreed, so the rest of the people did not know about it. Lord Nan did not tell them before the exam began.

After thinking for a while, he continued to ask;
"so what?"

This rhetorical question made Pei Shaoqing stunned, as if his words were redundant. However, when it comes to marking the papers, they may not be redundant.

"Sir Nan, I don't have any other intentions. I just feel that if everyone answers like this when marking the papers, the number of people in the A and B lists will definitely be much smaller, and the number of people in the Hanyuan Hall will likely be much larger. So I think, should we be a little more relaxed when marking the papers?"

This is what Pei Shaoqing wanted to say. There are about 4,120 candidates entering the Imperial Examination Hall. If the number of those who can be included in the A and B lists is less than the number of people in Hanyuan Hall, then the number of students from poor families is obviously less than that in the palace. In this way, the deviation in the number of people inside and outside is so large that if someone makes a fuss, the imperial examination will have to be repeated like last year.

Nan Zixian paused, obviously understanding the meaning of Pei Shaoqing's words. It is not the lack of wealth that is worrying, but the inequality. With the lessons learned from last year, he was afraid that someone would repeat the same trick this year.

Unfortunately, this time is different.

"Master Pei is indeed talented, and you have indeed seen this. But Master Pei, there is one thing you have not thought about. Those who are just filling in the numbers are ultimately a pile of mud and cannot be helped. This year's examination papers must be more strict. If there is one person on the list, write one person, and if there are two people on the list, write two people. This year's imperial examination has the killer Luo Yunhou. How many people do you think are brave enough to cause trouble?"

This is also what Lord Nan is worried about. If someone is blinded by money and takes the money to make trouble, it will inevitably alarm the court. His Majesty will be furious and appoint Marquis Luo Yun to investigate the case. There is no telling how many people will be involved. Examination fraud has always been controlled by people within the civil service. Although no one knows who is so bold and presumptuous, as long as there is someone, it will implicate a large number of people. It will not be possible to push out a few people as scapegoats as last year.

"That's not what I meant, Lord Nan. I just took a tour and felt something. The examination papers must be strictly reviewed. I wonder how many places are given to the list this year?"

Pei Shaoqing sighed in his heart and cursed himself for his bad mouth again, but the words were out and he couldn't take them back.

"Master Pei is too enthusiastic about this. If you do your own thing, you won't be implicated. Some things are better left unknown."

Nan Zixian also smiled out of concern, and walked back to the attic, leaving Pei Shaoqing alone, wiping his sweat nervously.
At this moment, a student in an examination room not far behind him cried out, and a nearby officer walked over and asked;
"what happened?"

"Sir, I have a stomachache."

"What, bear with it,"

"I can't bear it, it hurts so much, ouch."

The examinee held his stomach, and beads of sweat flowed down his face. It didn't seem like he was pretending. The officer had no choice but to look at the inspector nearby and run over to report.

"Master Pei, a candidate has a stomachache. What should we do?"

"What, my stomach hurts, what's going on?"

Pei Shaoqing frowned and asked impatiently, thinking back to the past, when they were taking the imperial examination, there were no such trivial matters.
"Go over and have a look."

"Yes, sir, this way please."

Pei Shaoqing, under the guidance of the police, walked to Area A, the first-class seat, and saw the students in the examination room curled up with their hands on their stomachs, their faces pale and their teeth clenched. At this moment, his heart skipped a beat. It was poisoning.
"Come on, all of you, go in and see how the person is doing." "Yes, sir."

Several nearby police officers ran over decisively, first took down the board and put it on the ground, and then lifted the person onto the board. At this time, the candidate was breathing less and more, and was about to die. Pei Shaoqing was very anxious and bent down and pressed hard on the philtrum.

Unfortunately, after a while, the man's face turned pale, blood came out of the corner of his mouth, and he died. An officer swallowed his saliva and reached out to touch the man's neck.

"Sir, the man is dead,"

Pei Shaoqing, who was still pressing, suddenly changed his expression. He thought about many things in an instant. Was it an accident or someone was interfering? He immediately ordered,
"Quick, the two of you, follow me and carry the man to the courtyard. The rest of you, stay here and keep an eye on all his things. Don't touch them. Let's go."

"Well,"

Afterwards, two people were left to guard the examination room of this candidate, and the remaining few people carried the board and walked towards the official building of the Imperial Examination Hall. When passing by many examination rooms of candidates, many candidates stretched their heads to look over here, and Pei Shaoqing opened his mouth and cursed;

"Just concentrate on the exam. Anyone who dares to speak out will be arrested immediately and disqualified from the exam."

This sound frightened the candidate who was still writing, and he immediately retracted his head.

After a while,
The group arrived in the yard, and after putting the person down, Pei Shaoqing shouted;

"You, go call the side palace doctor to see how the man died and whether he can be saved. I'm going to look for Lord Nan."

I don't know if it's bad luck to stay here for a year, but the chief steward feels that since he entered the Imperial Examination Hall, everything has gone wrong.

He got up and went up to the attic. There were many officials resting in the flower hall in the house. Pei Shaoqing saw Lord Nan drinking tea in the partition on the first floor, and he shouted in a rush;
"Master Nan, a candidate has died. I have carried him to the courtyard and asked the doctor to take a look. It seems he was poisoned!"

After this shout, the originally buzzing hall suddenly became quiet. All officials looked over here. Even Nan Zixian, who had just entered the room, stood up and turned back, looking a little grim.
"what did you just say?"

Pei Shaoqing opened his mouth and replied in a low voice;

"My Lord, just after you left, a candidate suddenly complained of stomachache. When I and the officers took people to check on him, he was breathing weakly. Before we could find a doctor, he died."

"how can that be possible?"

"No way, a candidate died?"

"No, they were all full of energy when we checked yesterday."

"You just said it was poisoned?"

in the hall,
Many officials were suddenly in an uproar, whispering to each other and discussing.
"Be quiet, follow me over and take a look."

Nan Zixian shouted, and everyone in the room fell silent. All the officials stood up and followed Lord Nan out of the attic. They saw a circle of people gathered in the courtyard. A doctor was holding a silver needle and continuously treating the examinee lying on the ground.

Nan Zixian looked carefully and saw that the man on the ground was obviously dead, his face was blue, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. Could he have died of poisoning? He asked anxiously;

"What happened? Can you find out how he died?"

The old doctor wiped the sweat off his face and kept inserting silver needles into various parts of the deceased. After a while, he pulled them out, only to see the silver needles turned black. The officials were stunned and a little scared.
"Your Excellency, the deceased died of a severe poison. We don't know what the poison was, but it was very strong and could kill people in a short time. I also heard from the officers that the deceased candidate had severe stomach pain before he died. I think it should be arsenic or other highly toxic substances. What exactly is it? We need to check it carefully."

"What are you waiting for? Go to the examination room and get your things out."

An official had already spoken out tremblingly, but was stopped by Pei Shaoqing.
"Absolutely not. The place where the incident occurred cannot be disturbed. Someone needs to check it carefully. In addition, we need to find out the identity of this person immediately and where he is from."

"you,"

An old official in the Hanlin Academy was embarrassed and wanted to speak again, but Nan Zixian said:
"Do as Lord Pei said. Investigate immediately. Lord Pei, you will follow up on this matter and make sure to investigate thoroughly. As for the dead, put them in the warehouse and wait until the Dragon Gate is opened tomorrow to send them to the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen. I will write a memorial and submit it. The rest of you can go back and continue the inspection."

"Yes, Master Nan."

Nan Zixian arranged everything and asked all the officials to go back. After all, they still had to inspect the examination. Once they left, the place became much brighter. Nan Zixian was worried, so he took the head of the sergeant and led everyone to the examination room of the candidate, the first-class area of ​​the A-type, number 14.

"Master Pei, go and take a look,"

"Yes,"

After receiving the order, Pei Shaoqing went in alone, borrowing the doctor's medicine box and wearing his hand clothes. He saw a foul smell in the examination room, vomit in the toilet under the wooden board, and the package on the wooden board had been opened, which contained water bags, naan bread, pickle jars, and other things. In addition, there were pens, ink, paper and inkstone.
There were no other prohibited items. He reached in and searched around. Apart from a fox fur coat and an oil lamp, he found nothing else. He then looked around the examination room walls and surroundings. They were all clean bluestone slabs, just like usual.

I didn't find anything, so I looked for the exam slip and number, took out my things, and walked out.
"How is it, have you found anything?"

Pei Shaoqing's every move after he went in was watched by the people outside. When he saw someone come out, Nan Zixian asked with a frown.

"My Lord, there is something strange. This is extremely inappropriate. This person brought very few things with him, all of which are common things. The only unusual thing is the fox fur coat. A poor family student would not have such a thing. Oh, and also took out the examination papers."

After saying that, Pei Shaoqing handed over the examination slips. He glanced at him and found that the man was actually the eldest son of the Li family in Zhongshan County. He seemed to remember that there was another legitimate son of the Li family who also came to take part in the special examination. What a coincidence?

"Li Feng, the eldest son of the Li family in Zhongshan County, is here with me by chance?"

Nan Zixian muttered to himself, mumbling something, Pei Shaoqing didn't understand what he meant, so he asked;

"Sir Nan, I remember this Li Feng. When he was inspected in the Imperial Academy, I happened to be on patrol. The person he was inspecting was still full of energy. So he died of poisoning. There must be something fishy going on."

"Yes, it takes someone to investigate whether there are ghosts. I still remember that there are some noble families who hold blank signatures, but they are not many. The Li family is one of them. After your majesty ascended the throne, no one in the Li family took office. There were two people who came to refer to him. One is this person, the eldest son of the illegitimate family, Li Feng, and the other is the second son of the legitimate family, Li Changning. The eldest son of the illegitimate family died, but the legitimate son is safe and sound. The Li family is becoming more and more hopeless as long as they are alive."

Obviously, the only things that can be poisoned are food and water. These were prepared by the clan members. The Li family is considered a large clan. The eldest son of a concubine could be easily poisoned and die, but the legitimate son was fine. Anyone would have doubts.
By chance, a messenger came to report;

"Reporting, Mr. Nan, No. 15, Section 2, A, candidate Li Changning is safe and sound!"

Pei Shaoqing was shocked. Could it be that someone within the Li family was attacking their own people because of the fight for the throne? This was the Imperial Examination Hall. What were they thinking?

Nan Zixian had a gloomy face, and had long realized this. After all, all officials drank the same water as the examinees. If there was any poisoning, there would have been trouble long ago. Why wait for another day? That meant that the things Li Feng brought must contain highly toxic substances, and it was unknown where they were. He ordered;
"Someone, come here, collect all of Li Feng's belongings, pack them up and put them in the warehouse, and assign two people to guard them. No one can go there. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir, I understand."

The squad leader immediately received the order and sent someone to clean up. Pei Shaoqing hesitated. This matter involved...
"Master Pei, go back and rest first. We will need your help in the night patrol!"

Seeing that Lord Nan had spoken, he did not want to investigate further at this time, so he had to agree.

(End of this chapter)