Give you a spring

After more than half an hour, they appeared in a small hut to the east.

It is very small, only as big as the front hall in Pingwei Bieyuan by visual inspection. There is only a bed and a desk. There is a small package on the floor. It probably contains the clothes that need to be changed every day. There are some palms on the four walls. of smudges.

He Zhou frowned, the environment was a bit harsh, he concentrated on paying attention to Ping Wei, for fear that the other party might get some dirt on his body.

Ping Wei didn't care too much, Zhang Lingsi's house only had one chair, so he left that chair to the other party, stood by the wall and said, "Why did Brother Zhang appear on Qinghe Street today?"

Zhang Lingsi didn't have the nerve to sit down, and said to him face to face, "I felt that someone cheated in the palace examination a long time ago. To be honest, this is the third time I have participated in the palace examination. I didn't live here before. My hometown is in the north." In a remote town, the 33rd year of Chongli was the first time I went to the capital city to take part in the imperial examination, and I have great confidence in myself, more than 100 people participate in the imperial examination every year, and only 20 people are required by the imperial court, but I know I can definitely do it."

Ping raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't speak.

Zhang Lingsi took his reaction into his eyes, turned around and walked to the desk, and handed the other party a stack of paper, "This is the poem and political theory I wrote in the past three years. You can read it, Brother Xie."

Ping Wei took it, bowed his head and turned over.Palace examinations generally test decrees, literary talent, calligraphy, arithmetic and political theory, among which political theory and literary talent are the most important. Emperor Chong liked courtiers with unique insights, such as being able to think of something different from others, or being able to see things The courtiers on the other side are the most in his heart.

In the past, the emperor would personally ask a question in the palace test, most of which were thorny questions involving multiple interests, and asked candidates to write down their thoughts.However, Emperor Chong may be a little lazy, and the matter of setting the questions is handed over to the person in charge of holding the palace examination, and he only looks at the results in the palace examination.

Zhang Lingsi has investigated all the major events that have happened in Daqi in recent years, and wrote down his views and solutions in detail.

Ping Wei took a general look at his arguments—the speech was very comprehensive, and the font was sharp and angular, and the writing was steady. He simply said "hmm", "It's really good."

Hearing his words, the corners of Zhang Lingsi's mouth turned up slightly, and he said, "I was a little surprised that I failed the first palace exam, but I didn't think in the direction of someone cheating, because the palace exam is a collection of talents from all over the country, and my failure may be because of my strength." Not enough, so I decided to stay in Linjing as soon as the palace examination was over that year, and seriously prepare for the exam for a year, but after being selected for the palace examination in the second year, I failed again, and I began to think about the possibility of cheating or leaking the questions."

Just because he failed the ranking, he felt that someone was cheating. This logic seemed wrong. Ping Wei thought for a moment, "Have you heard, or heard something?"

"Yes," Zhang Lingsi said in a low voice, "the next year I went to take the imperial examination, and the exam started at [-]:[-] pm. Many candidates were waiting outside the palace gate at [-]:[-] pm. I was not as nervous as they were, so I found a food stall nearby. I was going to have something to eat, and the seat I didn’t want to sit in was facing an alley, and I happened to see two candidates doing something sneakily inside.”

"How can you tell at a glance that they are two candidates?" He Zhou asked.

Zhang Lingsi glanced at him, "We have to wear the prescribed clothes to enter the palace," he said, turning around and taking out a set of clothes from the package, "Here, we must wear this uniform to go."

He Zhou looked at Ping Wei, is it so troublesome?

Ping Wei smiled at him, yes.

"What next?" He asked Zhang Lingsi.

"In fact, I usually see two candidates hiding in the alley, even if they are doing something shameful, I won't be nosy. It's just...the two had some conflicts with me before, so I went over to see gone."

Ping Wei interrupted him, "Conflict?"

"Didn't I participate once but failed? Those two people heard about it, made fun of me, and vowed that I would not be selected this time either." Originally, Zhang Lingsi was not so mean, but the two It's really arrogant, the meaning in the words is that they will definitely become officials in the court, but Zhang Lingsi will definitely not.

It is inevitable to be angry.

Zhang Lingsi continued, "I went to the entrance of the alley to peep at them, and the two men took out a few pieces of paper from their pockets and bowed their heads to memorize them. I was very surprised, although the paper was crumpled, I could see it at a glance. , It should be used by someone like you."

——The paper used in the imperial palace is generally Chengxintang paper, which is very thin and soft, while the paper used by the people is generally rough-edged paper, which is yellowish in color and rough in quality.What Zhang Lingsi said meant that the paper the two candidates were looking at was brought out of the palace.

Ping Wei raised doubts, "If the examinee is a descendant of a dignitary in the palace, shouldn't he be able to get access to this kind of paper?"

Zhang Lingsi shook his head, "They held the paper like a treasure, and looked left and right, as if they really didn't want others to discover the existence of this paper, and the paper was so tattered, I was even more surprised, so I simply walked over and planned to grab it. "

He Zhou raised his eyebrows, so straightforward.

"Although I was alone, they valued the piece of paper in their hands and didn't dare to fight back too hard, so I managed to snatch the paper from one of them later. Guess... what did I see? "

"What," Ping Wei said, "is that the question for the imperial examination that day?"

"Yes!" Zhang Lingsi raised his voice, "Although it's only half a sheet, I memorized the above content, and then went into the palace, and found that it was just right for the question in the examination paper."

"You mean...that they not only got the questions, but also the answers?" Ping frowned slightly, and looked up into Zhang Lingsi's eyes. The situation was a bit serious.

"Yes," Zhang Lingsi confirmed, "and I think leaking questions is not the only thing that happens in the palace exam."

"Anything else?" Ping Wei frowned even tighter.

"But I'm not sure about this, it's just a guess."

"Well, you said."

"I suspect that someone has changed the examinee's test paper," Zhang Lingsi said word by word, "If someone spread the answer and the question in advance, because there is only one answer, even if the examinee rewrites it through his own ability, he probably has the same thought. It's the same, if there are quite a few people who know the answer, it means that some of the examinees wrote about the same on topics like political theory that can be played freely, which will inevitably lead to suspicion. A bachelor will come to make corrections, and it will be submitted to the emperor for review. If one accidentally makes that person notice something is wrong, he will risk losing his head.

"So they simply changed the candidates' names on the test papers to achieve their goal?" Ping Wei followed his train of thought and muttered in a low voice, "So Xie Shi really has a candidate for him..."

"Xie Shi?" Zhang Lingsi stood very close to Heping Wei, even though the other party deliberately controlled the volume, he still heard it.This is the name of the First Prince, he opened his eyes wide, "This matter has something to do with the First Prince?"

"Don't worry about it," Ping Wei replied casually, he is now fully focused on the scandal of cheating in the imperial examination, "I ask you, can't candidates get their own papers after the imperial examination?"

"No," Zhang Lingsi said, "This also confirms my thoughts from the side. They can only know the final ranking, and if I am the one who is behind the scenes, I will not easily move the top three papers. Such a risk If it is too high, it will easily arouse suspicion from others, and they will choose to switch the bottom few and the middle ones.”

That's enough... Ping Wei thought, the middle ranks can also enter the six films.

Xie Shi took part in two palace examinations, that is, about 40 candidates entered the imperial court. If he were him, at least half of them would be his own people, right?

Ping Wei was startled inwardly, she never thought that a person who usually doesn't show his face would do such a thing in private.

Opposite Zhang Lingsi observed him, seeing his face was cloudy and cloudy, he couldn't help asking softly, "What is your Highness thinking?"

Ping raised his eyes slightly, and said lightly, "It's nothing, what are you going to do in front of that house on Qinghe Street today?"

Zhang Lingsi froze, and said, "I want to see how they leaked the test questions."

"How long have you been around there?"

"From the day the examiners moved in, three days ago, I squatted there."

"Have you found anything?"

"No..." Zhang Lingsi said angrily, "In the past three days, no one has been in or out except for the food delivery."

"What about tonight?" Ping Wei asked.

"I don't know about that." Zhang Lingsi was startled, and immediately said, "Your Highness thinks that they might secretly take out the test papers in the dead of night?"

"Not sure," Ping Wei said.

He looked at the commoner scholar opposite, "Is there anything else you haven't explained?"

...Confession, Zhang Lingsi whispered in his heart, I am not a prisoner, he raised his eyes and glanced at Pingwei, and from the corner of his eye he glanced at He Zhou who was standing behind the other party expressionlessly, he was a little startled, and said ,"Gone."

"Well," Ping Wei responded, and asked again, "If you didn't meet me, what are you going to do? Are you going to expose them in the palace examination?"

"Almost, the original plan was to follow those people, pretend to collide with them, take the opportunity to find the paper with the answer written in their clothes, and poke it out in front of His Majesty," Zhang Lingsi said.

"Won't this ruin yourself too?" Ping Wei asked, Zhang Lingsi was just an ordinary scholar, and he pointed out such a thing in court, even if he entered the palace as an official in the future, it would be difficult to gain a foothold, because the limelight was too much in the early stage.

"I'm fine. After this incident, I understand how dark the officialdom is. The reason why I participated in the palace examination three times is just because of my heart..."

"A little angry?"

"Yes," Zhang Lingsi felt that his thoughts were a bit naive, and he was embarrassed to say so, and said softly, "I really think that my ability can enter the sixth department, and I am really upset by them doing such a thing behind my back."

Ping Wei nodded, "I understand very well." The Palace Examination was supposed to be the fairest exam, it could give talented young people across the country a chance to enter the court and become an official, and it could even help those from poor families. Get rid of the existing poverty, but there are always some people who want to break this rule and ruin so many scholars who have studied hard for many years.

"I will find someone to help, do you have any good candidates?" Ping Wei asked.

"Hmm... Lord Fu Yin? During the three years I have been in Linjing City, I have heard neighbors praise him many times. This man has solved many cases and is very upright."

Qi Zheng? Thinking of the collapse of the other party who was tortured by Liang Jingzhao for a night a few days ago, Ping Wei smiled lightly, "Okay, I'll go and talk to him."

"Well," Zhang Lingsi saw that the other party was about to leave, so he opened the door and sent them out.

"I live in a courtyard at the end of Linzhi Street, if you have anything to do, you can find me there." Before getting into the carriage, Ping Wei said plainly.

"Okay, got it." Zhang Lingsi stood in front of the door and waved goodbye to them.