After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 665: Prefect Xin

Ma Shangyi has been back in Chang'an for more than four years. Of course, she would not be satisfied with a leisurely retirement life, or just being a housekeeper for Jin Jiashu.

She has been keeping a low profile in Chang'an over the past few years, but has built up a huge network of contacts. Not only does she know all the news in the upper-class circles of dignitaries, but she also knows all the intelligence about the lower classes. If she wants to know, there will always be someone to report it to her.

As for the number of officials' wives and noble ladies she made friends with in Chang'an City through her dual identities as an old member of the Cining Palace and the old aunt of the Ma family, they were countless.

Hai Jiao thought he was good at intelligence work, but he couldn't help but sigh in private that he was not as well-informed as Ma Shangyi. It was true that the old ones were the wisest. In his two lives combined, he had not lived more than two-thirds of the old lady's age. It seemed reasonable that he could not compare to the old lady.

However, Haijiao's network of contacts and intelligence was built by himself in private, so naturally he could not compare to Ma Shangyi who had the support of the Cining Palace, the Emperor and the Zhenguo Mansion. She had an extraordinary status in Chang'an City, and everyone had to respect her. It was not surprising that she was more informed than him.

However, the results of the provincial examination were just announced today. After reading the list, the Hai siblings took a detour to the third branch of the Zhou family and stayed there for a while. When they returned home, their grandmother Ma had already heard from Ma Shangyi that there was a problem with Jin Jiashu's results. The speed of collecting information was a bit too fast.

Haitang was very interested in knowing where Ma Shangyi got the information from and why he came to such a conclusion.
Ma couldn't explain it clearly. She was just chatting with Ma Shangyi at Jin's house when Chunyu suddenly came in and handed a letter to Ma Shangyi, who changed her expression halfway through the letter.

To be honest, Ma had known Ma Shangyi for several years, and she had never seen her look so grim. She didn't know what the letter said, but after reading it, she couldn't help but blurt out, "I knew it! Someone must have tampered with the list of provincial examinations to prevent my brother from passing!"

When Ma heard this, she was also shocked: "What happened? Did something go wrong with Brother Jin's provincial examination?"

Ma Shangyi replied, "The list was wrong. He should have been admitted, but was demoted after the envelope was opened. This was the decision of the prefect. He acted on his own, and the other examiners couldn't stand it, so they asked him to suppress it. If this kind of thing gets out, what good will it do to the reputation of Chang'an Prefecture? It's simply nonsense!"

Ma Shangyi did not say who told her the news, and hurriedly apologized to Ma: "I have to go out and find someone to find out what's going on. You go home first, and come back tomorrow when you're free."

Upon hearing this, Ma had no choice but to go home, but she was still thinking about this matter and discussed it with Aunt Cui in private.

Haitang listened and thought for a moment, "It sounds like someone witnessed the prefect changing the rankings after the names were opened, and felt resentful. After leaving the Imperial Examination Hall, he wrote to Mammy to report the incident. This person is probably either an examiner or an office worker in the Imperial Examination Hall, and he has a high status, otherwise he wouldn't know such a confidential matter."

Ma thought it made sense and whispered, "I heard that Sister Ma has a nephew who married the daughter of a scholar. The one who tipped her off might be a relative of the Ma family!"

Haitang couldn't investigate this matter further. Anyway, Ma Shangyi had a deep network of contacts in Chang'an City and could always find out the news. However, if this news was true, and Jin Jiashu was originally on the list of the provincial examination, but was deliberately removed by the prefect, what was the reason?
The prefect of Chang'an is no longer Mr. Huang. After six years in office, he was promoted to the capital for his outstanding achievements and is now the Minister of the Dali Temple. Captain Huang also followed Prefect Huang to the capital. Although he is still only a captain, the officials of the Dali Temple and the officials of the Chang'an government are naturally different.

He now has a wife and a daughter, someone is taking care of his mentally ill mother, and his wife has given birth to a chubby son. The family lives a happy life, and his career has made new progress. It can be said that he is in high spirits. This year, when he asked someone to send a letter and gifts to his old friends and relatives in Chang'an, he also included Haijiao's share.

After Huang left office, the new prefect was named Xin. He was also a young and powerful confidant of the emperor. He also married a second wife who was born as a maid in the Qianqing Palace. The emperor personally granted the marriage. Mrs. Xin took good care of the children left by Prefect Xin's first wife. Although she had no children, she was respected and trusted by the whole family. After she followed her husband to Chang'an to take office, Ma Shangyi knew that she was also a maid in the palace and tried to get close to her. However, the two sides have only maintained a friendly relationship on the surface so far, and they are not close. Prefect Xin and Mrs. Xin are both qualified to submit secret memorials to the emperor, but they never used the group of people brought by Guard Lin from the capital to deliver letters to the capital.

Ma Shangyi never thought that there was anything wrong with Prefect Xin and his wife. When Prefect Xin met with the young talents in the city, Jin Jiashu and Wu Ke were among them. His attitude was very friendly. He praised their knowledge and talents, and encouraged them to study hard and strive to get good results in the imperial examinations as soon as possible. Where was there any sign that he wanted to suppress them?

Then why did this happen suddenly in this provincial examination? !

Haitang muttered in her heart, and only reminded Ma that when Ma Shangyi came home, she should remember to ask her about the inside story. If Prefect Xin was hostile to Jin Jiashu, but had concealed it well in the past, then Jin Jiashu would have to be more careful. Once Prefect Xin had the intention of suppressing him, as long as Prefect Xin was in Chang'an, Jin Jiashu would not be able to pass the provincial examination, which would delay things too much. He had to find a way to get out of this predicament as soon as possible.

Ma also agreed: "Your uncle and his family probably don't know about this yet, and we don't know if there will be any news about it. If this is true, with Xiao Jin's example, who knows if there will be other examples? Can the candidates who failed the exam really accept this?"

If a scandal of cheating in the provincial examination were to break out, not only would the entire Chang'an officialdom be embarrassed in front of the whole world, but the imperial examination careers of people like Jin Jiashu and Wu Ke who were involved would also be affected. The impact would be enormous!

Ma shook her head and said, "What does Magistrate Xin want? He has been here for two years and has always had a good reputation. Why would he do such a shameful thing..."

Haitang remained silent. When she heard some noise in the yard, she guessed that it was her brother Haijiao who had returned. She got up and left the house, and followed Haijiao into the east wing. "How is your brother doing with your cousin?"

"What else can we do?" Hai Jiao said nonchalantly, "My cousin, Grandpa Cao and Grandpa Lu were all very surprised. They clearly thought that Xiao Jin's essay should be accepted, and at most the ranking would be a little lower. But it's a provincial examination, as long as you are not in the top five, there is not much difference between the first and the last place, as long as the ranking in the metropolitan examination is high, it will be fine. They thought that Xiao Jin might have met an examiner who didn't like his writing style, so they told him not to lose heart and just take the exam next time. Xiao Jin was in a very calm mood, and even asked the elders not to be sad. I just accompanied Xiao Jin home, and I wanted to comfort him a few more words, but he sent me back. I thought he probably wanted to be quiet, so I didn't bother him anymore."

Haitang recalled Jin Jiashu's expression after he knew her result today, and pursed her lips. "We received news from Ma Shangyi that Jin Jiashu was originally selected, but after the envelope was opened and the name was revealed, Prefect Xin deliberately demoted him. I don't know why. Now Ma Shangyi has gone out to find someone to inquire about the news. I suspect... she may have noticed something in advance, and Jin Jiashu probably guessed it a little bit."

"What?!" Hai Jiao was shocked. "Governor Xin? Why? Isn't he the emperor's confidant?!"

(End of this chapter)