fall in love with one arrow

Gu Xian sat in front of the window, facing an empty memorial on the table and sighed.

As Zhongshu Shengyou Supplements, although he is only a small official who lives under the eighth rank, he does not need to attend the court every day, but because of his special official position, he needs to go to the court regularly, and sometimes he even has to go on a pilgrimage with ministers above the fifth rank to discuss matters.

Seeing that the morning passed, Gu Xian still couldn't think of anything to play.After all, it's not Xiao Chengyu himself, such literary work is simply exhausting and exhausting for him.

Thinking of this, Gu Xian closed the empty booklet.Instead of thinking about it and writing nothing, it is better to study the bow and arrow drawing that Mo Ran sent a while ago.

When he opened the door and was about to step out, he saw Wang Feng leading a person coming.

"Master, Han Juren from the Hanlin Academy is here to visit." After finishing speaking, Wang Feng stepped aside.

Han Juren immediately stepped forward, gave a little salute, and said, "Master Xiao, the student came here thanks to Mr. Mo, please come to the courtyard to explain."

Moran?That guy has always been thick-skinned, and usually comes uninvited, why would he think of inviting him this time?Although he was puzzled, Gu Xian still complied, sorted things out a bit, and went out with Han Juren.

Every autumn, as soon as the provincial examination is over, candidates from all over the country will go to Beijing one after another to prepare for the spring general examination.Therefore, whenever the spring is approaching, the Hanlin Academy is full of people, and the examiners gather here to read the classics and discuss knowledge in order to go to high school.If it is appreciated by some gentleman and accepted as a disciple, it is more likely to be the first.

Han Juren led Gu Xian into the courtyard, and left with an excuse.

Gu Xianbai wandered around bored, but did not see Mo Ran.He randomly grabbed a scholar-like person to ask, but he couldn't find out where Mo Ran was.

All around his ears, he could hear Gu Xian's head buzzing.Recalling that Mo Ran once said that Tengxiang Pavilion stored the classics and materials that Xiao Chengyu asked him to collect, since there is nothing to do now, he asked a student to take him there.

Tengxiang Pavilion is one of the book collection pavilions of the Hanlin Academy, with a collection of more than ten thousand volumes, most of which are historical materials of past dynasties and newly compiled annals of the year.The sorted books piled up into a dozen and were neatly stacked on Mo Ran's usual desk.Gu Xian thanked the students who led the way, sat down on the floor in front of the table, picked up the top one, and began to study.

It was about a cup of tea time, until Gu Xian was dazzled by the densely packed words, and the door creaked and was pushed open.

It's not involuntary to come.

She was dressed in a shabby white robe, her long hair was scrawled, and she looked surprised, as if she didn't know anyone was in the room.After a while, he bowed to Gu and offered a gift, and said: "Student Luo Qin didn't know Master Xiao was here, and he didn't intend to disturb Master's business, please forgive me."

Gu Xian was taken aback, got up and straightened his clothes, waved his hands and said, "Luo Ju is a man of words, I was just looking around casually, not doing anything important."

Luo Qin still lowered his head, and said in a deep voice: "My lord, you don't have to be humble. Students know that adults care about the world, and they never do it for themselves. No matter how much gossip is said outside, their determination to solve problems for the Holy One is really a great fortune. Waiting for a model of scholars."

"Luo Juren has won the award, and I'm just doing my job in his position. If you really want to say, that's because the emperor is wise and discerns talents. Otherwise, even if he has unique skills, he will have nowhere to use them."

Gu Xian was secretly applauding himself for being so smooth, when footsteps could be heard outside the door.

Passing Luo Qin, Gu Xian saw two people standing at the door.One is unfamiliar, but the other has seen it somewhere.

Ah, the last time I bumped into him at a banquet and was stared at, I vaguely remembered that it was Fang Hao, Gu Xian recalled.Seeing that this person still has a bad face now, could it be that he has some blood feud?

Luo Qin took a step forward, saluted respectfully, and said, "The student has met Mr. Shen and Mr. Fang."

Shen Di nodded slightly, looked at Gu Xian who was standing holding the book, and asked, "What case brought Mr. Xiao here again?"

Gu Xiandao: "Master Mo invited me here today, but now he is nowhere to be seen, so I made my own decisions and wandered around."

"Master Mo, as one of the main topics of this year's examination, has just been called away by the lord of the bachelor, and retreated with other topics to prepare the test paper. Presumably he forgot about it and let Master Xiao go for nothing."

After Shen Di explained, he continued: "Master Xiao, Master Fang and I still need to discuss the inspection tour, so I will not accompany you." Without waiting for anyone's reaction, they left in a hurry with Fang Hao.Fang Hao didn't say a word from the beginning to the end, he just stared at Gu Xian until the two figures were hidden by the door.

As soon as Fang and Chen left, Luo Qin turned to Gu Xian and said, "If the students have something to do, don't bother the adults." His eyes seemed to be dodging, and before Gu Xian could respond, he hurriedly exited the Tengxiang Pavilion.

"..." One or two saw themselves as if they had seen something, and they left in such a hurry.Gu Xian sighed softly, since Mo Ran is not here, it seems that he has nothing important to stay here.Simply put down the book and left the Hanlin Academy.

On the day of the examination, there was a long queue outside the examination room.Candidates handed over their name tags one by one, exchanged for their test number after undergoing the inspection, walked into the test room, and waited for the sound of the gong to start the test.

Shen Di, who was in charge of the inspection tour, glanced at Luo Qin during the inspection interval. The man lowered his head, moved with the team, stepped up the steps, and approached the gate step by step.

"Ouch!"

Gu Xian was stringing the bow, he didn't know what he was playing in his mind, when he lost his mind, the string broke, and a hole opened in his index finger.

"Master, this is too careless!" Seeing this, Ah Ning hurriedly ran to search for medicine.

"A little injury, it's fine." Gu Xian didn't want to cause trouble, but Aning moved quickly and disappeared long ago.

After staring at the wound for a while, Wang Feng hurried in, looking anxious, followed by two guards.The two clasped their fists in salute, and one of them said: "Master Xiao, please trouble the Imperial Academy to go." His tone was strong and could not be resisted.

It is the Hanlin Academy again.A trace of suspicion flashed across Gu Xian's eyes, he vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he could only accept it.

When Ah Ning came back with the medicine box, she learned from Wang Feng that Gu Xian had been taken away.

"Don't worry girl, the hole is not big or serious, and it won't hinder the young master." Seeing that Aning didn't speak, Wang Feng thought she was blaming herself, so he hurried to comfort her.

Ah Ning still pursed her lips and said nothing, a trace of uneasiness flashed in her bright black eyes.

Many people surrounded the gate of the Imperial Academy. The guards led Gu Xian through the crowd, and saw Fang Hao and Shen Di standing in the center, and Luo Qin, who had talked with him that day, was kneeling on the ground, only wearing inner lining.

Fang Hao pointed to the light-colored cloud-patterned toga that was thrown aside, and asked coldly, "Does this robe, Master Xiao, look familiar?"

Gu Xian took a closer look, and found that it was a robe that he wanted to wear these days but couldn't find it.Although it has only been a few months in Xiao Chengyu's body, I have only worn this outer suit once, but it is quite a favorite, why did it suddenly appear here?

"Luo Qin, Lord Xiao has arrived now, you have to think about it before you talk." Shen Di said, looking at the people on the ground.

"Responding to your lord's words, students dare not lie. This robe is indeed Mr. Xiao's. Mr. Xiao is kind-hearted and kind. Seeing that the student's family is poor and cannot afford a decent dress, he gave this robe to the student. The students should be grateful to Dade, but they didn't realize that the inside of the clothes was sewn three times, and the cheating note was hidden!" Luo Qin lowered her body, and at the end she was full of resentment, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

After Gu Xian listened, he looked at the densely packed square-shaped note in Fang Hao's hand, feeling baffled in his heart, and immediately turned cold: "Luo Juren, you and I just met once, and it's too late for me to like this dress. How could you easily give it to someone you don't know?" Feeling that his words were too sharp and direct, he slowed down and continued, "What's more, this robe disappeared a few days ago, and now you are wearing it, is there some misunderstanding?"

"Master Xiao means that Luo Qin stole the robe and put in a note to frame him?" Shen Di said.

"No student! Master Xiao, how can you slander me like that!" Luo Qin struggled to get up, and threw herself in front of Gu Xian regardless of her appearance.

"Speaking of which, Lord Xiao and Luo Juren had a very happy conversation in Tengxiang Pavilion a few days ago. I don't know what they were talking about?" Fang Hao suddenly said, staring at Gu Xian.

"It's just a few pleasantries." Gu Xian replied, his tone still cold.

"Oh? I see that you are behaving intimately. It's not like a relationship where you just said a few words."

"I was also there at that time, Master Xiao, did you have any impression?" Shen Di said with a half-hearted smile.

"The lower officials were also in the courtyard that day, and when they saw Lord Xiao and Luo Juren walking together, they thought they had known each other for a long time."

"Students can also testify!"

"Students also..."

A few more people responded to Shen Di.When Gu Xian looked around, there were all unfamiliar faces he had never seen before.

The current situation made Gu Xian somewhat understand.These people can blatantly tell nonsense without blushing, and they are clearly colluding and deliberately putting themselves at a disadvantage.Just as he was thinking about how to deal with it, he saw a passage made out of the crowd, and a sedan chair just landed at the other end of the passage.

It was the Prime Minister Wei Jikun who stepped out of the sedan chair.Fang Hao and others immediately bowed to greet them.

"The emperor attaches great importance to this exam, so he asked me to inspect the situation." Wei Jikun glanced around, paused on Gu Xian for a moment, then looked at Fang Hao, "Why is the exam room so noisy?"

"Reporting to the prime minister, this Luo Qin's clothes contained a cheating note, which was found on the spot. I didn't think it was Xiao Chengyu's Mr. Xiao's property." Fang Hao said concisely, and then presented the note.

Wei Jikun just glanced at it, and said: "I'm afraid I have to ask Mr. Wang to read the contents."

The sudden roll call made Wang Mingqian, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy who was waiting nearby, startled.He took the note tremblingly, scanned it hastily, a look of disbelief flashed in his eyes, and read it carefully again, before saying, "This...isn't this the answer to the test question three years ago!?"

Three years ago, that is, the fifth year of Chengxuan, it was the time when Xiao Chengyu became a Jinshi and entered the court as an official.

There were whispers all around.

"Master Wang, this matter is of great importance, you have to be optimistic about it before discussing it."

"This topic was drafted by the old minister himself, and there is absolutely no mistake."

Wei Jikun asked again: "Does the Imperial Academy still have the answer sheets of the candidates who participated in the examination?"

"Yes, yes, of course there is! Your Excellency will be later, and the old minister will order someone to fetch it."

Not long after, the two wooden boxes for storing the answer sheets were carried out, and Wang Mingqian tore off the seals to look through them himself.

After reading more than ten volumes, nothing abnormal was found.Picking up another roll, Wang Mingqian's face suddenly sank.He picked up the note and compared it repeatedly, finally shook his head secretly, and presented the paper in his hand to Wei Jikun.

Wei Jikun didn't take the answer sheet, just glanced at it and stopped looking at it.From Gu Xian's perspective, it can be vaguely seen that the words "Xiao Chengyu" were written vigorously on the front of the opened volume.Looking at the contents of the scroll again, it was actually the same as that contained in the note.

Wang Mingqian handed the answer sheet to Fang Hao.Seeing Fang Hao pick it up, Wei Jikun said: "Master Fang, here is the evidence, what should be the verdict?"

Fang Hao bowed and replied: "My lord, as the censor on the censor's platform, I perform the duty of supervision, and it is my duty to impeach illegal activities. Favoritism and fraud in scientific examinations are evil behaviors that cannot be tolerated in all dynasties. This little boy A small piece of paper may seem trivial, but it is actually a bad act of deceiving the emperor and destroying the ancestors. According to my Dayuan law, even if he is spared the death penalty, he will still be alive."

Wei Jikun nodded slightly, seemingly quite satisfied, and then turned to Gu Xian: "Master Xiao, there are all the witnesses and evidence, do you have anything to say?"

Gu Xian, who had been silent at the side all this time, took a step forward, with no emotion on his brows: "Master Prime Minister, there are still many strange things about this matter. The next official has already said that this dress is my favorite thing, but it was in the It disappeared a few days ago, how can we now convict an official with just one person's words and a piece of paper? Besides..." His eyes turned and he looked at Fang Hao, "If someone sincerely wants to punish me, what will happen? What evidence can't be produced?"

"You—!" Hearing Gu Xian's intention, Fang Hao's anger seemed to burst out, but was extinguished by Wei Jikun's wink.

"Wait a minute, my lord." It was Wang Mingqian who spoke, and he no longer panicked earlier, his expression returned to normal, and his voice was calm and powerful, "This case not only concerns the fairness of the imperial examination, but also involves Lord Xiao, so it must not be sloppy. The old minister thought It should be reported to the emperor immediately, and then a decision will be made."

You must know that the current Holy Majesty attaches great importance to Xiao Chengyu, if Liang Jingsheng is alarmed by this, it will be harmful to Fang Hao's plan.Just as he was secretly scolding Wang Mingqian for this pedantic thing, which pot should not be opened and which pot should be lifted, a loud drink interrupted his thoughts, and the surroundings were suddenly silent.

"The Emperor is here—"

Liang Jingsheng walked quickly through the worshiping crowd, frowning.Behind him was a young gentleman, Gu Xian raised his head, and met Mo Ran's hearty smiling face.

Liang Jingsheng sat down at the main seat in the middle of the Yuqing Pavilion, looked around at everyone in the hall, and said, "Scholar Wang, I heard that today's inspections in the general examination found favoritism and fraud. Is this really the case?"

Wang Mingqian saluted respectfully and explained the whole story.

After Liang Jingsheng heard this, his brows became more and more tight, and he slightly turned his head to look at Eunuch Gao beside him, who immediately said loudly, "Master Wang, please present the note and paper."

After taking the things in Wang Mingqian's hands, Liang Jingsheng compared them carefully.In terms of content alone, the similarity is almost [-]%, but the handwriting is too small to tell whether it is written by the same person.

Liang Jingsheng was still thinking, Fang Hao took a step forward, and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Xiao committed a serious crime of fraud, which should have been unforgivable, but the original intention was to donate clothes to help the poor, and he showed kindness, so he should be given a lighter sentence. deal with."

"Lord Fang, the matter has not yet been settled, so don't be in a hurry to punish the subordinate." Gu Xian also stepped forward, bowed to Liang Jingsheng, with a calm expression, "Your Majesty, I have some questions about this case. I don't know whether to speak or not?"

"Speak." Liang Jingsheng waved his hand.

"When all the coincidences point to the same thing, then there must be a reason for this thing to happen. Either someone helped you or someone hurt you." Gu Xian paused and continued, "Before the test, I happened to meet During the medical examination, the inspector happened to find a note in Luo Juren's clothes, and that coat happened to be the one that I lost; The answers to the articles are exactly the same. With Yichen's understanding of the spring examination, he was able to figure out the question path from thousands of papers and prepare the only answer in advance. I am afraid that even the adults in the Imperial Academy can hardly guess so accurately? Is there really such a thing in the world? Is it a coincidence, or was someone doing it on purpose?" Gu Xian looked indifferent, as if what he said had nothing to do with him.

"Brother Chengyu is right." Mo Ran, who was observing the situation, said at this moment, "Ten different papers are usually drafted for the spring examination questions, all of which are written by different people in the Imperial Academy. Under the supervision of the inspector, the masters will be selected and distributed on the spot. If you want to guess word for word, the difficulty can be imagined."

Gu Xian nodded and continued: "Besides, the ink on the note is still fresh. If it was really written two years ago, it should have lost its color by now."

"So, not only was the note not disposed of, but it was well preserved. Could it be that the robe was hidden after being worn only once, or that it was never cleaned after being worn for three years?" After finishing speaking, Mo Ran sneered. Looking at Fang Hao.Fang Hao's face turned pale immediately.

"Huh?" It seemed that he had discovered something, Mo Ran pointed to the robe held by Eunuch Gao, "Your Majesty, can I take a closer look at this robe?"

Liang Jingsheng motioned to Eunuch Gao with his eyes, and Eunuch Gao handed over the robe.

"What did Ai Qing discover?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, this outer garment was bought by the minister at the time of the early spring of last year when I accompanied Mr. Xiao to Changqingfang, Luodu. The fabric and moiré patterns are all popular last year." I am very sure, "If you have any doubts, you can go to the shopkeeper there to identify it. You have to leave a written record when ordering in their shop. Presumably it can also be used as evidence to prove Brother Cheng Yu's innocence."

Gu Xian still stood aside, his eyes were as calm as water, and he didn't speak.

Liang Jingsheng was already used to the scenes of the two singing and going to court, but he was surprised by Xiao Chengyu's performance. It was quite unexpected that this unabashed and prickly person could calmly deal with other people's false accusations and accusations.

In a few words, the situation came to a big reversal.Fang Hao panicked, and hurriedly looked at Wei Jikun. Seeing that his expression was calm, he didn't seem to intend to speak.

Although not reconciled, now can only follow the trend.Fang Hao clenched his fists in his sleeves, and bowed his hands: "Your Majesty, the matter has come to light now. This Luo Qin is harming others for himself. It is really terrible. Please deal with it according to the law!"

Liang Jingsheng's indifferent eyes swept over, and Fang Hao felt a bucket of cold water drenched him thoroughly from head to toe.

After contemplating for a moment, Liang Jingsheng slowly said: "Juren Luo Qin, who framed the imperial court and ordered officials to be unjust, from now on, the title of Juren will be removed, and he will be exiled for two thousand miles, and he will not be allowed to participate in the scientific examination from now on."

Luo Qin, who had been kneeling all the time, seemed to have been drained of strength, lost all consciousness, and collapsed to the ground.Suddenly, he opened his eyes wide and was about to speak when two strong guards covered his mouth and dragged him out.