The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

After the rankings of the re-examination were announced, the original papers of the candidates were posted outside the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall as usual, which completely cleared up the suspicion of cheating in this examination. At the same time, Lin Qiao, who had taken the examination for the second time and won the first place for the second time, was placed in a position that ordinary scholars had to look up to for the rest of their lives.

I'm afraid there won't be anyone else who can do this kind of feat again.

Even the most stubborn old scholar had to bow his head in front of such dazzling results, and could only say something behind her back without any confidence - the palace examination was the time to decide the winner, and it might not be possible for her to become the first female number one in the imperial examination.

However, such sour words could only be said behind people's backs. After all, anyone with a discerning eye could see how excellent Lin Qiao was. Empress Xie, who had always supported Lin Qiao, reappeared in the court the day after the results came out. It was conceivable that on the day of the palace examination, even if she kept her promise not to interfere, she would definitely have to be in the court.

She just needed to sit there. Even if there were opponents who wanted to cause trouble, they would have to consider whether their family was worthy of a slap from Queen Xie.

Her mere presence there was already a strong guarantee for Lin Qiao, the first female champion in history.

The news that Lin Qiao, a woman, had won the imperial examination for the second time spread quickly through the efforts of Xie Yuzhen's tentacles that spread throughout the capital and even gradually extended into the prefectures.

However, within just a few days, the news had spread throughout the capital and several important prefectures - the top winner of this year's imperial examination was a woman!

Not only did she win the title of Huiyuan, but she also took the exam twice, and both times she was at the top of all the candidates. If nothing unexpected happens, this year's top scholar will become the top scholar's wife!

"Since when can women take the imperial examinations?" → This is the first subconscious reaction of most people.

"It's really ridiculous. What do the candidates of this subject do for a living? Why do they have to let a woman put pressure on them?" In a roadside tea stall, an obese merchant in silk clothes was so depressed that he looked like he had taken the exam himself. "Could it be that this woman used some kind of charm..."

"Keep your mouth clean!" The sound of a sharp weapon frightened the fat merchant.

He turned around to look, and saw a woman in short Hu costume. It was she who stopped the merchant and threw the long knife in her hand on the table: "Lin Huiyuan took the exam twice to prove that she did not cheat. She came first both times. Her papers were posted outside the Imperial Examination Hall. After so many days, many people wanted to find fault with her. But in the end, who didn't come with high morale, but left in disgrace?"

This woman was none other than Hua Changchun, who had once been to the southwest as Jun Yuexin's personal soldier. Although she was young, she had seen blood before, and her words were sharp: "You have no ability, but you slander others for having achieved their results by taking unorthodox methods..."

She smiled contemptuously: "Take out your travel permits and household registrations. I want to check if there are any prohibited items in your caravan!"

"You..." The fat merchant stood up suddenly, raised a hand and was about to point at Hua Changchun and say something, but he saw several other people behind the woman also stood up, both men and women, dressed like ordinary warriors, but upon closer inspection, they all carried swords.

This is the only way to the capital. Although it is in the suburbs, there are many tea stalls for passers-by to rest. Of course, the court will not relax supervision just because this place is too small. The Jinwu Guards guard the imperial city, and the Yulin Guards guard the imperial palace. This suburb of the capital was naturally assigned to the Xiaoqi Guard, one of the three guards of the imperial capital.

And Hua Changchun, after the Southwest Campaign, was transferred to the Cavalry Guard as a squad leader for her military achievements. She was not on duty today, she was just strolling around and happened to encounter this incident. How could she ignore it?

The fat merchant completely lost his fighting spirit after she took out the official badge. He originally wanted to run away, but unfortunately, neither he nor several of his men could escape. In addition, a lot of smuggled goods were indeed found among their goods.

"Oh, you are indeed a dishonest person, that's why you think of all kinds of things as wrong." Hua Changchun kicked the fat merchant who was tied up. "Those scholars who gathered their cliques to attack the Imperial Examination Hall and slandered Lin Huiyuan for cheating have now been stripped of their honors and imprisoned in Jingzhao Prison. Let's go faster. Who knows, you might be able to keep them company."

.................................................. ......................................

In the capital city.

The second imperial examination came to an end, and the trial of the group of scholars who had previously protested outside the Imperial Examination Hall had also begun.

This group of people were just a mob of rotten-brained people. The only one who could be considered the leader, Yao San, had already been dragged away by General He. Mr. Yuan did not last long after being imprisoned and gave up Huang Ming, which then implicated Old Man Huang who was working behind the scenes for his unlucky grandson. Old Man Huang did not have much integrity after being imprisoned, but after a few beatings with the stick, he gave up all the families who were secretly connected with him.

So while the court was busy preparing for the palace examination, several officials of high status were successively brought down. Cheating has always been a major case with countless deaths. Although it was a false accusation this time, how could falsely accusing innocent people of cheating not be considered a major case as the former?

Xie Yuzhen insisted on a thorough investigation and secretly included the names of several families that she had written down in her little notebook of grudges. This time, several powerful families who had long been on her side, as well as the upright officials who saw the benefits of the imperial examination reform, cheered her on. The opposition did not even say a word and tacitly agreed to Queen Xie's proposal to expand the battlefield.

However, when the confessions of the people in prison became more and more involved, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice, which were in charge of trying the case, discovered a problem - it seemed that not all of these convicted scholars were juren, so how come there was an official among them?

Moreover, he was selected as a filial and incorruptible official just this year. Although he was not officially appointed to the position, his name, household registration, and deeds were indeed recorded in the list of filial and incorruptible officials.

This person was Zeng Fu, who hoped to observe the development of events by chance, but ended up sending himself to jail.

At this moment, he was extremely regretting that he had not listened to his mother's advice and left earlier. However, because he used the excuse of reviewing his lessons and seldom participated in the actions of Huang Ming and others in the later period, at the beginning, it was not discovered that he was actually one of the main culprits.

Most of the scholars who were not the main culprits were only stripped of their official titles and then sentenced based on their confessions. Zeng Fu just wanted to reduce his presence as much as possible and get through this ordeal first.

However, his wish was not fulfilled. His good brother Huang Ming, unable to bear the punishment in prison, directly shouted out that Zeng Fu was already an official and could not be tortured at will.

Zeng Fu:......? You should figure it out. What else can you do by saying this now except kicking your brother?