Joy of Life: I am Li Chengze, and I have mastered the Eight Wonders

Chapter 19: Internal Treasury
If any problems occur in this spring examination, neither Fan Xian nor His Royal Highness the Second Prince can escape responsibility.

Even though Shangshu Guo would be implicated and dismissed from his post, the Crown Prince and the eldest princess behind him would be safe and sound.

They took this opportunity to make Fan Xian lose power, and even used other means to hinder Fan Xian's engagement with Lin Wan'er, so as to seize the financial power of the inner treasury. On the surface, it seemed to be a matter of the Spring Examination, but in fact it was all a struggle for power...

Li Chengze nodded: "To guard against the Crown Prince, this is the second purpose, you are absolutely right."

Fan Xian was puzzled. On the one hand, he wanted to win over the hearts of scholars all over the world, and on the other hand, he wanted to guard against the schemes of the Crown Prince and the Princess. Could His Highness have other intentions? This was something he failed to detect:

"I really don't understand. Please explain, Your Highness."

Li Chengze reminded:

"You and Lord Lai are presiding over the Spring Examination. Who gave this order?"

"His Majesty."

"Then think about it. Is His Majesty's arrangement just for us to host the Spring Examination?"

Fan Xian was stunned for a moment, then realized that it was the Emperor Qing who wanted to use the Spring Examination to achieve a certain purpose. He had not seen this, but it was the Second Prince who first understood and pointed it out to him: "Your Majesty, do you want us to offend others? Do you want Your Majesty to fight with the Crown Prince?"

Not only that, Emperor Qing intends to depose your father-in-law and take power alone.

"You can guess what your majesty wants to do."

Li Chengze shook his head, stopped talking and said no more.

To privately speculate on the emperor's intentions is a capital crime punishable by beheading for others.

Fan Xian knew this very well, so he did not ask any further questions and continued to think about it on his own.

In the prince's residence.

The prince was honored and thanked by hundreds of students, and respected by the people of Kyoto. When the news reached the prince's ears, his first reaction was surprise. He had never expected that Li Chengze would use such a fierce method:

"Is Li Chengze crazy? He would do anything to gain credit and fame!"

His subordinates in black dared not say a word, because the prince's power meant that His Highness was at a disadvantage. As for the plan of Li Chengqian and the princess, they were only executors and knew very little about the content, so it was difficult for them to understand the subtleties of the prince's game:
"Your Highness, what should we do? We must not let the Second Prince have it so easy! His subordinates are loyal and look like they want to get rid of the Second Prince for the Crown Prince.

Li Chengqian was delighted, but still shook his head and asked:

"Have the things I asked Guo Zheng to prepare at the Ministry of Rites been properly placed? Is Lai Mingcheng still in a coma?"

"No mistake, everything is ready, Master Lai is still unconscious,
There is no possibility of waking up before the Spring Examination begins.

, please rest assured, Your Highness. At this time, the subordinate presented a note: "Your Highness, this is the student who participated in this year's Spring Examination."

Li Chengqian glanced at the names above and was quite hesitant. In previous years, it was customary to cram in people for the Spring Examination. However, this time, Fan Xian was presiding over the Spring Examination. If he cram in more people, it would undoubtedly be like putting his neck in front of others to be chopped and killed. "Not appropriate. Let them rely on their luck in this Spring Examination. Don't give the Second Prince a chance to take advantage of it."

The subordinate asked tentatively: "So we are just going to wait like this?"

Li Chengqian smiled and shook his head, "Then you underestimated me too much." He took out the list that the princess had given him. The officials on it were all those who betrayed the Second Prince and joined his sect. "Go tell these officials to take action and give gifts to the examiners of the Spring Examination, and stuff the list with them. Do whatever you can to make them look bad."

The subordinates looked confused: "Won't this cause trouble for the Second Prince?"

Li Chengqian glanced at him unhappily. This guy has been causing too many problems recently!
"You don't have to feel bad about using these people, and they were all the Second Prince's men before, so you can rest assured. Furthermore, we must maintain the tradition of giving gifts to fill the list in previous years and encourage more officials to participate. Didn't the Second Prince say that he wanted to seek justice for the scholars of the world? I want to see how he ends up."

The man in black took the order but still hesitated before taking action: "But, if we give a gift to the Second Prince, is it inappropriate? What if His Majesty finds out?"

"No one dares to give gifts to the Second Prince, and no one dares to put pressure on him. Then why don't you just give the gifts and the list to Fan Xian? The pressure that Li Chengze can bear as the Second Prince may not be something that Fan Xian can bear."

Everyone nodded in agreement. If Fan Xian had more power and could withstand the resentment of the officials, then the Second Prince would not have to personally deal with the matter of punishing Minister Guo and standing up for the students today. He could just let his subordinate Fan Xian handle it.

The group of men in black flattered, "Your Highness is really far-sighted. As long as we put pressure on Fan Xian, as long as he dares to refuse the list of officials in Kyoto and return their gifts, it will inevitably arouse the anger of the officials. And everyone knows that Fan Xian works for the Second Prince. In this way, the Second Prince will become the target of public criticism!"

"That's right!" Li Chengqian laughed proudly, "The Second Prince also said that he would support scholars all over the world and eliminate the cheating in the Spring Examination. Then let him challenge these deep-rooted inside stories! This is the long-standing rule of the game, and even the Prime Minister is involved in it. Why would he dare to break it?"

"Once they affect everyone's interests, they will be regarded as enemies by all the officials in the court!"

"Hahaha……"

……

A strange scene appeared in Kyoto, and every household went out to watch. The people saw a hundred students escorting the second prince back to the palace, and the people who had eaten melons all the way back from the examination hall had new things to talk about. They told everyone who asked what happened in detail what they saw and heard.

As a result, Li Chengze's actions quickly spread throughout Kyoto. In stark contrast to the rumors of cheating in the Spring Examination that had been circulating on the streets before, this year, with the guarantee of the Second Prince, Lai Mingcheng and Fan Xian took office as examiners. They vowed to eliminate the malpractices in the examination room and create a fair environment for scholars all over the world.

This move has brought unprecedented opportunities to those "small town test-takers" from the bottom of society, greatly boosted people's morale, and created a huge momentum!
Fan Ruoruo stood at the door of the Fan family, looking at the noisy streets and the surging crowds. When she heard the amazing deeds of the Second Prince and her brother being passed on by word of mouth among the people, her inner joy gushed out like a spring: they sneaked into the examination room without encountering any obstacles, and instead made an amazing move that shocked the entire Kyoto!
"Look at how happy you are." Fan Xian appeared in front of her silently.

Fan Ruoruo shouted in surprise: "Brother! It's great that you're back! Let's go back home and have dinner!"

"Are you really okay?" Fan Xian asked jokingly, "You don't look like you're really okay. Why do you look a little depressed?"

"Brother! Humph!" Fan Ruoruo stamped her feet in shame and anger. She wanted to accompany her brother back home, but now she didn't want to pay attention to him. She lifted her blue long skirt and walked quickly, sitting in her seat angrily. She ignored Fan Xian during dinner.

Fan Jian and Aunt Liu couldn't help laughing when they saw this scene between the brother and sister. Ruoruo has really grown up, and she is quarreling with her brother because of feelings. But the problem is that Fan Ruoruo's thinking is too independent and no one can stop her.

Fan Xian had no choice but to tease her in another way: "Hey~ You don't want to talk to me? Then I won't tell you what happened in the Spring Examination Hall today?" Before she finished speaking, Fan Ruoruo put on a sweet smile, picked up the public chopsticks and brought Fan Xian all kinds of delicious dishes, and said in a cloying voice: "Brother~ You've worked hard! Come and eat something delicious! I know that you like braised pork the most, do you want me to feed you?"

(End of this chapter)