A League of Nobleman 君子盟 Episode 18

Even though Lan Jue resigned as the chief examiner and handed over the chief examiner to other officials of the Ministry of Rites, the examinees still worried that the officials of the Ministry of Rites would be instructed by Lan Jue to cheat on their behalf. Candidates suggested that in order to ensure the fairness of the examination, the person who draws the questions must be absolutely fair. After discussing with Liu Taifu and others, the candidates were asked to choose one person to draw questions, but the candidates actually chose Liu Bolai, an old man who sweeps the courtyard blindfolded, to draw questions.

In the end, Liu Bo won the exam question "Determining the country with virtue" given by Liu Taifu, and the three-day scientific examination officially began. After one day, Zhang Ping completed the examination paper and handed in the paper ahead of time, and the examinee Ma Lian also handed in the paper before him.

Zhang Ping believed that Mr. Jinghu's two prophecies pointed directly at the imperial examination, and that Lan Jue was also involved in this matter. To find Mr. Jinghu as soon as possible, Zhang Ping planned to investigate Chen Zishang. But Zhang Ping found Chen Zishang's home and found that he was dead.

Zhang Ping was imprisoned in Dali Temple. At this time, he and Lan Jue were in the same room, but Lan Jue did not want to contact Zhang Ping and ignored him. The jailer brought the prison meal, and Zhang Ping invited Lan Jue to enjoy the meal. After repeated invitations, Lan Jue was willing to share the meal with him. Lan Jue said that she asked to be imprisoned to stabilize the scientific research situation, and asked why Zhang Ping was imprisoned in Dali Temple? Zhang Ping said that he always felt that it was strange that Chen Zishang did not come for the exam. He handed in the papers in advance and found Chen Zishang's home, and found that Chen Zishang had been dead for a long time beside the well. It seems that Chen Zishang fell to his death while bathing, but he checked that Chen Zishang had lost his ability to respond when he fell. Therefore, it is speculated that the murderer killed him first and then forged the scene of the stumble and fall.

Zhang Ping found from Chen Zishang's house that he had packed his luggage for the long journey, and the draft in his bookcase was exactly the same as Ma Lian's examination paper. From Zhang Ping's mouth, Lan Jue confirmed that the test question was Taifu Liu's "Serve the country with virtue". In the past two days, he was thinking about Mr. Jinghu's prophecy poems in prison, and he also came up with this test question from his analysis.

Zhang Ping once heard from Chen Zi that Chen Zishang often made money by writing for others, so he guessed that Ma Lian had learned about the imperial examination questions in advance and asked Chen Zishang to write the answer sheet, and the manuscript he found was Ma Lian's cheating in the imperial examination. evidence. This matter involves the imperial examination, and it is inseparable from Mr. Jinghu. Whether it is public or private, Zhang Ping hopes to hand over the evidence to Lan Jue. For this reason, he talked back to the officers and soldiers and was thrown into prison.

Lan Jue is very grateful to Zhang Ping for everything he has done, but his father's case is always related to Zhang Ping's mother, and the two have different positions. It is difficult for him to get along with Zhang Ping as a friend. Hearing this, Zhang Ping said that he would investigate the case alone.

Lan Jue was summoned by the queen mother to tell the story of Chen Zishang's murder on the eve of the imperial examination in the court hall, and also presented Chen Zishang's manuscript, and Ma Lian's examination paper brought from the tribute court was the same as Chen Zishang's. Shang's article is exactly the same. Lan Jue said that Mr. Jinghu's prophecy poem that he dismantled also implied the question of "repaying the country with virtue", which shows that there is indeed such a thing as fraud in the imperial examination.

Lan Jue was not guilty of this matter, and Lan Jue was acquitted by the Queen Mother. The Holy Majesty wanted to send someone to take the opportunity to investigate the case, but the Empress Dowager wanted to make the big issue into a small one, and to save the face of the court first, and then investigate the case after the turmoil subsided. The Holy Majesty directly pointed out that Ma Lian was the son-in-law of the uncle Guo, and the future niece-in-law of the Empress Dowager. If he really participated in fraudulent killings, where would the royal family's face be? What's more, they will think that the royal family deliberately shields and damages the majesty of the Queen Mother. Seeing that the Holy Majesty insisted on investigating the case, the Empress Dowager had no choice but to order all relevant suspect officials to be temporarily confined at home, and the case was handed over to Dali Temple for trial.

Zhang Ping was released after two days of imprisonment. Dali Temple Minister Tao Zhoufeng was in charge of the case. Although Ma Lian was quickly imprisoned, he did not want to offend him and tried to provide him with superior and comfortable prison treatment. Lan Jue knew that it would be difficult to find out the case by relying on Tao Zhoufeng, so he decided to go out of the house secretly to investigate the case at the Gong Yuan.

Zhang Ping wanted to enter Chen Zishang's house to look for clues, but he had no official connections and could not let the officers and soldiers of Dali Temple guarding the Gongyuan let him go. In the end, he took out only his money and was let in. Through a series of observations, Zhang Ping discovered the first death scene of Chen Zishang, and found a piece of gold that fell from the scene. With many pieces of gold.

Lan Jue suspected that someone had tampered with the lottery drawing on the day of the imperial examination to ensure that Chen Zishang won the Guiyou lottery and the examination questions given by Taifu Liu on the day of the imperial examination. Now that the people involved in the case are all confined at home, Lan Jue plans to investigate the case first with physical evidence. He took Xudong to the Gongyuan to investigate secretly, and accidentally found mold spots on the examination paper.