Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 816: Dissatisfied with the Imperial Examination Fraud
Ningguo Mansion in the capital,
The body was still placed here as it was yesterday, but ice cubes from the cellar had been placed in buckets around the coffin to cool it down and prevent the body from decaying quickly.

Outside the house,

Guests and people who came to pay respects came here one after another.
The eldest son, Li Chaosheng, who came out of the Li family mansion, walked around and first arrived at the intersection of Ningrong Street.
Yuanfu then spoke up;

"Master, we have arrived at Ningrong Street. In front of us is Ningguo Mansion. There are quite a lot of people."

Hearing the voice, Li Chaosheng used the folding fan in his hand to lift the carriage curtain and looked out. Sure enough, he saw people on Ningrong Street. All of them were wearing mourning clothes and going in and out of the gate of Ning Mansion. It seemed that many people came to pay their respects. Thinking of his father's instructions before leaving, to go to Ningguo Mansion first and then to Luoyunhou Mansion, although he was not quite sure what his father meant, he just did as he was told.

He lowered the curtain and said,

"Stop in front of the Ningguo Mansion. I will also pay my respects."

"Yes, sir, please sit tight."

Yuanfu whipped his horse whip and the carriage started to move slowly. After a while, it arrived in front of Ning Mansion.
"Sir, it's here."

"Well, you just wait here."

Li Chaosheng put down his folding fan, straightened his clothes, and then opened the curtain and got off the carriage. Without making any noise, he quietly entered the gate of Ning Mansion. Unfortunately, Li Chaosheng, the son of the Prime Minister and the writer of the cabinet, was known to everyone. Many officials bowed to him when they saw him.
Obviously, he had to return the gift. As a result, Jia Zheng, who was receiving guests in front, saw it and hurried over to greet him.
"Greetings, sir. I am sorry for not coming in person to greet you. I hope you will forgive me."

How could Li Chaosheng let Jia Zheng bow to him? He stretched out his hands and helped Jia Zheng up.
"You are too polite, Doctor Jia. We are both officials in the same court. How can you give me such a big gift? It would be embarrassing for me."

Just like that, the two of them pulled each other for a while before they finished being polite.
"I wonder why the eldest master is here?"

"What else can we do? Of course, we come here to worship."

Without waiting for Jia Zheng to ask again, they went to Huifang Garden inside, burned incense for Jia Jing, and then burned paper money. Then they got up and went back outside. Jia Zheng was always by his side during this process.
"Doctor Jia, I would like to congratulate you again. Your eldest grandson Jia Lan has been ranked third in the first-class list. This is very rare and worth celebrating."

This congratulations were not just polite words, Li Chaosheng was really congratulating him sincerely. After the list of successful candidates in this special examination was submitted to the cabinet, many cabinet elders personally reviewed the answers and found no omissions. In this way, Jia Lan achieved his success based on real ability. Thinking of Jia Zhu in the past, one could not help but sigh.

Jia Zheng was stunned. He was the one who was congratulating Jia Lan, but now that Jia Lan had been crossed out of the family tree and was a member of the Ning Mansion, he couldn't help feeling a little bleak.
"Thank you for your concern, it is Jia Lan's good fortune that he can pass the exam."

"Yes, it's fate. Who knows, this boy will be extraordinary in the future. Doctor Jia, I have important matters to attend to and cannot stay for long. Please stay."

"Well, Sir, take care. I will see you off."

After Li Chaosheng sighed, he said goodbye and left. It seemed that the Jia family had a successor, but he still had some doubts in his heart. It was said that there was a man born with jade in the Rongguo Mansion. What was his name? It seemed to be Jia Baoyu. Why didn't he pass the exam? Was he hiding his incompetence?
When Jia Zheng saw the eldest son leaving, he hurriedly followed him and saw him off until he reached the gate. Then he stopped and said,

Seeing the people boarding the carriage and leaving, Jia Zheng stopped at the door and watched for a long time, thinking back to the eldest son's words and what happened afterwards.
No one could foresee this, except Baoyu. When he thought of his son Baoyu, who had been doing nothing and had achieved nothing, he felt mixed emotions for a moment.

"Sir, should we go directly to Luo Yunhou Mansion or wait a while?"

Yuanfu, who was driving the carriage in front, asked when he was about to reach the street corner:
The eldest son Li Chaosheng in the carriage was still thinking about the affairs of the Jia Mansion. He originally thought that the Jia family had declined after this incident, but when he came today and saw the pomp and ceremony, not only was there no sign of decline, but many of the guests came from aristocratic families.

It can be seen that many people are concerned about this.

"Let's go directly to the Marquis' Mansion. We are guests here. Is there any reason to chase us away?"

The reason why they chose to come at this time was because the cabinet had received memorials from officials in Jiangnan, including one impeaching the county magistrate. In other words, Jiangnan had already started to move, and time was running out, so they needed to fill in the gaps.
"Yes, sir, please sit tight, drive,"

A scolding,
The carriage went a little faster,
After a while, they arrived at the gate of Luo Yunhou Mansion. Li Chaosheng lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked outside. The originally shabby mansion had changed a lot. It was not only magnificent, but also full of people. A team of murderous soldiers was guarding the gate, showing off their power. There was also a group of servants waiting in front of the door.
In addition, I don't know where Luo Yunhou invited the opera troupe, but there are so many people gathered in front of the door, listening to the opera. When I listened attentively, a piece of excellent melody came, the melody was ups and downs, gentle and long, the person singing the melody was not simple,

Marquis Luo Yun must be a wonderful person. He said frankly that the list was published in his own house, which was unheard of. He got off the carriage and looked back at the east wall. The imperial edict was posted on it. The candidates who were watching were still gathered there and were talking about it, but he didn't know what they were saying.

He shook his head. In the imperial examinations of all dynasties, those who passed the exam were respected, while those who failed were humbled. Looking at the list again, there was no one listed. It was useless to discuss it further. Thinking of this, he got off the carriage.

Yuanfu hurriedly and carefully supported him. As Li Chaosheng's feet touched the ground and were about to walk towards the mansion, he did not knock.

The students watching from the east suddenly started to make a noise. No one knew who was making it.
suddenly,

A thunderous roar broke the solemn atmosphere.
"Examination fraud, where is justice?"

The sound was like a stone thrown into a lake, causing ripples.

The faces of the students around suddenly changed, and they rushed towards the speaker like a tide.

"I don't accept it. Why can these people make the list but we can't? The students at the Imperial Academy have already reported that the cheater in the imperial court, the fortune-teller from the West Market, openly sold the provincial examination questions to us for ten taels of silver per bag. Who knows if these people on the list will have other people selling the questions."

After saying this, he raised the test questions in the golden envelope from his bosom. The discussions around him suddenly stopped. Many noble children changed their expressions and quickly hid behind. They knew that disaster was imminent, so how could they dare to stay here?

On the contrary, the students from the academy, especially those from poor families, were filled with resentment. Some clenched their fists, while others gnashed their teeth. They were all looking at the person in the center of the field with high emotions. Obviously, they were unwilling to fail the exam. If this was the case, would they re-mark the papers? If they had the chance,

"If you are not envied, you are a mediocre person. The ancients were right. It seems that either someone has tripped me up, or it is true. If there is news of students making trouble or cheating in the imperial examinations in front of Marquis Luo Yun, it will be enough to make Marquis Luo Yun suffer."

Li Chaosheng stopped and said with a face full of joking, "It is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early."
"My Lord, should we hide for a while? If this matter really gets out of hand, it will definitely not be a small matter. I heard that someone started making a fuss in the Imperial Examination Hall yesterday, but Lord Nan suppressed it for the time being. I don't know what will happen today. What if it's the same as last year, it will bring shame to the court."

Yuan Fu, the confidant of the long-serving family, suddenly stopped talking and dared not say anything. Li Chaosheng shook his head.
"Please park the carriage on the opposite side first and come back soon. We will wait and see how Luo Yunhou handles it."

"Yes, son."

Yuan Fu saw that he could not persuade him, so he quickly got in the carriage, drove the carriage aside, and then ran back.

For a time,

Accusations and doubts came one after another, as if to tear apart the air of injustice.

"Yes, the imperial examination was cheated. We studied hard day and night, how could we be defeated by such despicable means!"

A burly student echoed loudly, his voice revealing the pain and anger of being betrayed.

"We want to let the world know that this imperial examination is unfair and it destroys the foundation of scholars!"

There was another person waving a folding fan in his hand, very excited.

The students' discussions became louder and louder. I don't know if it was because of the youth's momentum or because there were more brave people, but more and more students came after hearing the news.
At this time, Cheng Weijiang from Yunshan Academy's eyes condensed, thinking of his mother at home, who had saved money to support his studies, and now failed the exam, how could he go back? He gritted his teeth and stood up, saying loudly;

"My fellow brothers and sisters, I am Cheng Weijiang from Yunshan Academy and I can testify for him that there is indeed an old Taoist in Xicheng who openly sells provincial examination questions. A bag of gold is ten taels of silver, and a bag with solutions is fifteen taels of silver. This is cheating in the imperial examination. How can we ignore it?"

This person finished speaking.

The students around were all surprised and incredulous. Many of them avoided looking at him and hid behind the crowd, not knowing what to do.
"Well, well said, Brother Cheng, you dare to speak up for justice, you are really rare among us. Now that we are gathered here, we should ask the chief examiner for an explanation, why did he openly leak the test questions? The headmaster once said that everything is inferior except reading. If we scholars don't fight for our own face, who can give it to us? This matter started with me. I am Yu Guangming from Qinglian Academy. I dare to question him."

With a loud shout, the man who had just walked out first had a red face and looked at the people around him with hope.
I don't know how, but almost everyone around raised their hands and shouted in unison;
"There are still us. How can the way of the saints be smeared by those corrupt officials? Count me in." "Count me in,"

"And I,"

The crowd was excited, and more and more students gathered.

Even the people watching the show in the west stretched their necks curiously and looked to the east. At this time, a student in the crowd looked around carefully, took out a piece of white cloth from somewhere, held it up, and shouted loudly,
"Everyone, since this incident happened to more than one person, there must be many people who bought it. We need an explanation. Otherwise, what's the point of reading the book? Qin is not talented, but I am willing to serve as a witness."

Near noon,

The sunlight filtered through the clouds, scattering patches of light onto the vermilion writing, which looked particularly dazzling in full view of the public.

Seeing that the situation was getting worse and worse, the guards of the imperial edict suddenly felt something was wrong and hurried back to the Marquis's mansion to report to the Marquis.
In the house,

Zhang Jinyu was still sitting there quietly waiting for the three people, pinching a piece of cake and putting it into his mouth from time to time, and drinking some tea by the way. He felt very comfortable. In his heart, he was still thinking about the Jia family and wondering how Sister Lin was doing.

suddenly,

The door slammed and a figure rushed in, frightening Zhang Jinyu so much that he almost bit his tongue. When he saw the person coming, he found that it was the doorman. He tripped over the threshold and fell to the ground.

Ning Bian's face darkened. He was about to scold the ignorant man when he saw the Marquis wave his hand.

"What's going on? It's a happy day, why are you so nervous?"

Zhang Jinyu was also a little surprised. How could he have encountered a ghost in broad daylight?

"My Lord, something bad has happened. Students are making trouble outside the mansion. The old butler and his personal soldiers have gone over and blocked the door."

When I heard that the students were making trouble,
Zhang Jinyu's heart skipped a beat. Damn it! Good things haven't come yet, but disasters are coming. Who is so bold as to do this? Doesn't he know that the test questions have been replaced by him? Even if they are true, the court can deny them.
"It is said that scholars have integrity and courage, which is true. I don't know why they change so much after becoming officials."

Seeing that the Marquis still had the leisure to joke, Ning Bian's face became serious and he moved closer to him;

"My Lord, if the students outside start making a fuss, the news of cheating in the Imperial Examination will surely spread. What if something happens to Master Nan in the Imperial Examination Hall as well?"

"Well, I can't do anything about that. Let's go out and meet them. They are a bunch of young people who are being used as guns. I don't know who the Southern Pacification Office is. I don't know if they have found any clues."

"My Lord, Ma Mengquan is currently in charge of the Southern Pacification."

Ning Bian reminded him from behind, and Zhang Jinyu suddenly realized, Captain Ma, no, now he is Deputy Commander Ma, he was promoted very quickly,

This time, the task of following the imperial guards in the capital was handed over to the Southern Pacification Office. They were also responsible for tracking down the Taoist priest. I wonder if the deputy commander Shi has caught the man.

He stood up, dusted off some cake residue on his body, glanced at the doorman kneeling on the ground, and scolded;

"Get up and lead the way,"

"Yes, Lord Marquis,"

The servant quickly stood up, turned around and ran out the door. Zhang Jinyu signaled to Ning Bian and waved his hand. A large group of personal soldiers gathered and followed behind him.

Outside the house,

It was still a mess and noisy. So many people surrounded the gate of the mansion. The common people were just looking at the excitement. There was no one to watch the show. There was nothing the troupe owner could do, so he asked the people on the stage to get off the stage quickly. He looked towards the east nervously.

"Master, what's going on? Why are those students making trouble in front of the Marquis's Mansion?"

A big, burly man, carrying something, also followed and looked.
As soon as he asked this question, he was glared at by the class leader Jiang and scolded;

"You idiot, why are you asking? Why don't you move your things over here?"

Seeing the boss scolding, the strong man smiled bitterly and left with his things. Only Li Ji complained.
"Dad, you look so nervous. They are just a bunch of poor scholars. What are you afraid of?"

"Keep your voice down."

Jiang Banzhu's face changed, and he quickly stretched his head to look around, fearing that others might hear him. Seeing that there was no one around, he whispered;
"My dear daughter, you must not say that. These are all the stars of literature in the sky. If you fail this year, there will be another time. Remember last year's imperial examination, it caused a lot of trouble in the city, and several examiners were even chopped off. Tell me, how could it not be a disaster?"

Seeing that Li Ji wanted to speak more, troupe leader Jiang quickly pulled his daughter to the back of the stage, away from the crowd.

In just half a moment, the onlookers blocked the gate of Marquis Luo Yun's mansion.

Jia Lan's carriage had just made it outside, but there were too many people to squeeze through. The driver saw something was wrong and pulled the reins, and the carriage actually went south along the street.
Inside the car, Jia Lan felt something was wrong, there was a constant noise, he lifted the car curtain and looked out, he saw a crowd of people surging, the noise was loud, he didn't know what was going on,

"Aunt Yun, why are there so many people gathered in front of the Marquis's Mansion? Didn't they say they were here to become disciples today?"

Before Jia Lan understood what was going on, Su Yun stretched her head and looked over. Many people were making noise, with red faces and thick necks. No one knew what was going on.

But Suyun, who has been with the young lady, has also seen the world. Why would they gather there for no reason? Something must have happened.

"Don't worry, Brother Lang. Something must have delayed him. Coachman, please stop the carriage across the street. Let's wait for a while."

"Yes. Miss Suyun."

The coachman, who was also an old man from the mansion, pulled the reins and the carriage turned around at the intersection, then came back and stopped next to a tavern, waiting quietly.

And on the other side,
Xu Changwen and Gao Wen, who had walked for a long time from the Youlai Inn in the south city, also arrived at the same time.
The two men came from poor families and did not have much money. If they had not passed the imperial examination and received a reward from the court, how would they have had the money to buy these gifts? They did not buy expensive gifts, but just two cakes from Yao Ji Store in Nancheng.

The two of them bought two pastries from a stall at the street corner and ate them while walking.

who ever thought,
When they arrived at the gate of the mansion, they hadn't even finished their pastries when they saw so many people gathered there. They were a little surprised and looked around quickly. There were people they knew and some they didn't.
"Brother Xu, what's going on? There are so many people coming to learn from you. I guess we are here too early."

Gawain touched his head and looked at the sun above. It was almost noon and the sun was shining brightly. Shouldn't they be the last two to arrive on this day?

Xu Changwen was also puzzled. He listened carefully and heard intermittent words like cheating, imperial examination, etc. It couldn't be that. He remembered that last night, someone said that students at the Imperial Examination Hall were causing trouble and were driven away by officials and runners. Some people were arrested. Because he was attending the Luming Banquet, he didn't talk to others much. He came late and only heard some gossip.

As it was too late and I was exhausted after a day of work, I went back to my room to rest. I thought that what I felt today was probably similar to what I had discussed last night.

"Brother Gao, it should be about cheating in the imperial examination. Do you remember the old Taoist in the fortune-telling shop in West City who said that we can all pass the imperial examination, but it would cost fifteen taels of silver?"

Gawain was a little confused, and suddenly shouted;
"Remember that old liar!"

(End of this chapter)