After giving up being the wife of a powerful official, Ling Yunlu became a concubine

"This is what Yuzhi made, it's called cold noodles. Your Majesty likes it, shall I serve you some more?"

"Have some porridge." Xiao Minshen tried hard to keep his eyes away from the cold face on the table.

Shen Yunjin smiled. What's so good about being a prince? You can't even eat delicious food.

The royal dining etiquette is very strict. As a member of the royal family, one cannot have a special liking for a certain dish, because it is easy for the people below to see one's preference.

Therefore, no matter how delicious the food is, Xiao Minshen would only take a few bites.

After dinner, Xiao Minshen took out a book from his arms.

"Seeing that you like this, it's a gift from someone else, so it's useless for me to keep it."

After saying that, he handed the book to Shen Yunjin and started drinking tea as if nothing had happened.

Shen Yunjin took it and took a look. It was also a book about the miscellaneous talks of strange people.

She curiously turned to the first page, and several pages of paper fell out.

She picked it up hurriedly, glanced through it, and then began to ponder.

Xiao Minshen waited for a long time but didn't hear Shen Yunjin's voice, which made him feel very strange.

He turned his head and saw that the concubine who usually had a smiling face now had a very serious expression.

"What's wrong?" He glanced at the paper in Shen Yunjin's hand.

"Your Highness, do you know what is written here?" Shen Yunjin thought about it and decided to ask about the situation first.

"Isn't this just an ordinary homework?" Xiao Minshen immediately became alert.

When Shen Yunjin heard this, she felt relieved. It turned out that Xiao Minshen was not using this to test her.

After thinking about it, she felt relieved.

"I have loved reading since I was young, and I once discussed the imperial examination questions with my father."

Shen Yunjin organized his words as he spoke.

"Before the imperial examination every year, there are always some people who specialize in selling past years' imperial examination questions to make money."

"There were even some rumors claiming that they were the test questions for the imperial examinations. Many scholars were willing to spend all their money to buy a copy of the test questions."

"What Concubine means is that this is the test paper with predicted topics?" Xiao Minshen's face also turned serious.

Although he had never seen the imperial examination questions, he knew that the emperor attached great importance to the imperial examination.

If a minister leaked the test questions, the imperial examination would lose fairness.

However, truly talented people could not make a name for themselves, let alone contribute to the court.

Xiao Minshen took the pieces of paper, looked at them from left to right, but couldn't figure out what they were.

"Why does it look like ordinary homework to me?" he asked without any shame.

"It's normal that Your Majesty can't see it." Shen Yunjin smiled.

"This is to prevent the manuscript from being lost, so this uses the acrostic and palindrome method."

"Your Highness, look here," Shen Yunjin stretched out his hand and pointed to a section.

"Here, connect the previous paragraph with the next paragraph, and then connect the next paragraph to the previous paragraph..."

Shen Yunjin pointed them out to Xiao Minshen one by one.

"How does a concubine know so much?" A hint of doubt flashed in Xiao Minshen's eyes.

Because Shen's father had also served as the chief examiner several times.

"Because my father's students once brought this kind of test paper to consult me, and later, my father discussed this with me privately."

In fact, Shen Yunjin knew this because in his previous life, Zhao Jingyan bought several copies at a high price.

He also told her specifically how the test paper was leaked and how it was copied and sold at a high price.

Xiao Minshen thought carefully and realized that the courtyard that Hou San had turned over today seemed to be the residence of Gao Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Personnel.

Shen Yunjin saw Xiao Minshen was in deep thought without saying anything. He flipped through the papers in his hand and a thought flashed through his mind.

"Your Highness, how do you plan to deal with this matter?" she asked cautiously.

"This matter is serious. I have decided to report it to my father tomorrow morning."

"I think there is nothing wrong with scholars wanting to buy some exam papers from previous years."

Xiao Minshen said nothing when he heard this, but just looked at Shen Yunjin coldly.

"Didn't I say that leaking the test questions is right?" Shen Yunjin knew at once that Xiao Minshen had misunderstood her.

"What I mean is that we can have someone compile the exam questions from previous years into a book and then put it on the market. This is a huge market, and many scholars are willing to spend all their money just to pass the exam."

Shen Yunjin picked up the tea, took a sip, and continued speaking.

"The students in Beijing are much better than those in other places in terms of the education they receive and the teachers they meet."

"However, the top three students in the capital account for a small proportion each year. They are often from very remote areas and are more likely to pass the exam."

"What does this show? It shows the gap in education and the loss of talent."

"I think if we can compile the test questions into a book, it might help more students succeed. This is a good thing that kills several birds with one stone."

Having said that, Shen Yunjin secretly glanced at Xiao Minshen who was silent.

"Besides, doesn't the emperor always say that the treasury is in deficit? If the emperor takes the lead in doing this, firstly, it can fill the treasury, secondly, it can benefit more students, and thirdly, the emperor can find more pillars of talent, and the students will also be grateful to the emperor for his kindness."

Xiao Minshen, who appeared calm on the surface, also began to agree with what Shen Yunjin said.

"I will go to the palace immediately." Xiao Minshen took the papers and put them in his sleeve pocket.

"Isn't it too late? We can still go tomorrow." Now it was Shen Yunjin's turn to be surprised.

"This kind of thing is only suitable for now." Xiao Minshen gave a rare explanation.

The emperor, who was already preparing to rest, became very impatient when he heard the King of Qi asking for an audience.

Because of several years of war, the national treasury was severely depleted.

Today, the Minister of War burst into tears as he told the soldiers at the border that they were short of food and clothing, and asked the Emperor to allocate funds for their relief.

What can the emperor do? He can't say that he, an emperor, is not as rich as a local official, right?

He discussed the matter with several important ministers for a long time today, but could not find a suitable solution.

Finally, he had no choice but to promise the Minister of War that he would allocate funds within a month, and then he sent the person back.

He thought that the imperial concubine's family was very rich, so he made a special trip to the imperial concubine, prepared to say some soft words to her and see if he could borrow some money from the imperial concubine to deal with the situation.

He had just made the imperial concubine happy and was about to make a request when Eunuch An came in outside the door and said that the fifth prince wanted to see him for something important.

He wanted to kick him immediately. Important matter? Is his matter important?

As an emperor, he finally lowered himself to please his concubine, but he was interrupted at the critical moment!

With a gloomy face, he put on his coat and came to the imperial study.

He wanted to hear what kind of important matter it was that was worth going into the palace in the middle of the night to interrupt his good thing?

He decided that if what the fifth prince said was not important, he would kill all nine generations of his clan!

No, the Fifth Prince is of the same clan as him, and he has made him so mad!