Shocking! Five men are in love with the same woman!

Lord Sun listened, his face turning deathly pale, as if he were a blank sheet of paper.

His eyes were wide open, filled with terror and fear.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his body trembled slightly, as if he could feel the pain and fear that penetrated to the bone.

Upon hearing her question, Lord Sun took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

But his slightly trembling body and still terrified eyes betrayed just how scared he was.

Her words were like icy blades, each one cutting through his psychological defenses.

He replied in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty...does not want to...try."

Ling Yan's smile deepened upon hearing this, as if she could see into the depths of people's hearts: "Oh? Since you don't want to, you should know what to do next, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lord Sun, as if grasping at a lifeline, hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes, Your Majesty, I will certainly tell you everything I know without reservation, without concealing anything in the slightest."

His tone was filled with urgency and fear, and beads of sweat on his forehead slid down like a drizzle, revealing his inner anxiety and unease.

Lingyan smiled slightly, indicating her satisfaction.

He then gave him a look that indicated he could begin confessing.

Lord Sun was covered in sweat. Upon seeing this, he quickly said, "One of the concubines of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in the capital is my niece. Because we are related, he sent someone to approach me and said that he was on good terms with the Minister of Rites. The Minister of Rites is greedy and lustful, so as long as the money is enough, he will definitely leak the exam questions to that person."

Wiping his sweat, he continued, "Because I have a fondness for beautiful women, I have many concubines to support, as well as their children, and I also have courtesans I keep, etc. All of these require money, but my salary and property are insufficient to support them."

"So when I heard about this, I thought it was an opportunity to make money. I could get those money-grubbing merchants who wanted to change their ways to give me a lot of money. Sure enough, those merchants obediently did as I said. Then I gave some silver to the Minister of Rites, and the rest was all mine."

Lingyan listened quietly to Lord Sun's confession, gradually sketching out the outline of the entire case in her mind.

It's likely that this Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel deliberately approached him, taking advantage of their kinship, just to set a trap.

As for the Minister of Rites, he must be part of the same group.

Moreover, he has access to the exam questions.

Therefore, they took advantage of Lord Sun's greed and lust, and exploited the urgent desire of 65 wealthy merchants to improve their sons' fortunes and change their social standing, and meticulously planned this case.

They also took advantage of Emperor Jingzhao's suspicious nature, knowing he would inevitably send Xiao Muyao out of the capital to investigate the case.

That prince could then seize the opportunity to usurp the throne.

So all of this was ultimately for the sake of the throne.

Those who were manipulated became cannon fodder for the prince, mere pawns.

However, no one was wronged. If these people didn't have their own agendas, how could they have been manipulated and schemed against?

At this time, she had not yet received Xiao Muyao's letter, and news of the matter in the capital had not yet reached Jiangnan.

Therefore, Lingyan was unaware that these officials, including the Minister of Rites and the Vice Minister of Personnel, had already been executed.

Of course, those 65 people were also killed along with them.

Then Lingyan asked, "Besides the Minister of Rites and the Vice Minister of Personnel, which other officials are involved? Including those from various parts of Jiangnan and the capital."

Upon hearing this, Lord Sun shook his head blankly and replied, "I don't know. The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel said he would take care of everything and told me not to worry. As long as I get the money, that's all that matters."

Lingyan was speechless.

So that's all you know? You don't know anything else!

Judging from his demeanor, he didn't dare to lie, which meant that this was indeed all he knew.

I was hoping to learn more from him and speed up the process.

It seems completely impossible now.

So she ordered the jailer to take Lord Sun away to await the final verdict.

Lord Sun frantically kowtowed and begged, "Please, Your Highness, spare my family. I will take full responsibility for my actions. They know nothing! Please, Your Highness, show mercy."

Lingyan laughed sarcastically upon hearing this, "What? You didn't think of your family when you committed the crime, and now that the truth has come out, you regret it and think of your family? Where were you before? You think you can take responsibility for your own actions? Let me tell you, this time, whether it's you or everyone else involved, along with their families, I will not let any of them go!"

Ling Yan's voice was cold and sarcastic, like a gust of winter wind piercing the heart: "Today's consequences are all the result of the causes you sowed in the past."

Upon hearing this, Lord Sun was heartbroken and filled with despair and regret as he was led away by the jailer.

Seeing this, Lingyan felt quite moved.

Everyone has seven emotions and six desires, and desires are the hardest to control.

The desire for money, lust, and power—if one is involved in any one of them, one will be doomed forever; how much more so if they are combined?

That desire will be amplified infinitely, ultimately leading to its own destruction.

When driven by desire to commit crimes, they always harbor a sliver of hope that they will not be discovered.

In reality, it's just an excuse I use to comfort myself.

Greed and desire truly harm both oneself and others.

………………

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

After everyone worked day and night to interrogate and investigate, the case was finally thoroughly investigated.

More than a dozen of these officials voluntarily accepted bribes to facilitate these individuals' access to services.

They colluded with these wealthy businessmen to either leak exam questions in advance or switch exam papers.

Besides those who joined voluntarily, there were also some officials who were forced to join.

Their family members may be threatened, or they may have leverage over them, making them hesitant to act.

In short, by using various methods to get these officials to turn a blind eye, he made it all the way to the imperial examination.

They also found some letters in a secret compartment, which detailed the leak of the exam questions and the amount of bribes received.

Nearly half of the officials in Jiangnan were implicated in this incident.

These pieces of evidence are like sharp daggers, piercing through the hypocritical masks of those officials and revealing their greedy and ugly true colors.

Faced with such serious corruption, Ling Yan did not hesitate or show any leniency.

She showed no mercy and made no attempt to lessen their crimes; instead, she had them all executed.

Of course, those writers who wrote the exams for these 65 people were spared a life.

He was only given fifty strokes of the cane and barred from taking the imperial examinations for life.

Such punishment would probably be worse than death for them.

But they were fully aware of what they were doing while working for these people, and they were not being deceived.

So why let them go?

After learning that Lingyan intended to behead all the officials involved in the case and their families.

Half of the officials who accompanied the group disagreed, feeling that the move was too ruthless and decisive, violating the principles of benevolent governance.

So they all came to Lingyan to ask for an audience and plead for mercy.

At this moment, Lingyan sat upright at the head of the table, her expression indifferent, as if she were detached from the matter.

Listen quietly to their passionate or sorrowful speeches.

Listening to them mutter things like it was too cruel, the family was innocent, it was against the natural order, and they should be forgiven in due course.

They even suggested informing His Majesty before taking any action.

After they finished talking all at once, they finally quieted down.

Lingyan parted her lips slightly and asked in a low voice, "Are you finished?"

Everyone nodded to indicate that they had finished speaking.

Lingyan replied, "You may leave now that you've finished speaking."

This……

Everyone looked at each other, wondering what the Crown Princess meant.

Did they actually heed their advice?

Someone couldn't help but ask, "May I ask, Your Highness, what are your thoughts?"

Upon hearing this, Lingyan leisurely picked up a cup of tea, took a light sip, and then put it down heavily.

The sound of the teacup falling was so clear that it sent a chill down the spines of everyone below.

The atmosphere was extremely stagnant and oppressive.

Everyone held their breath and held their breath.

At this moment, Ling Yan's gaze swept over everyone with piercing intensity, her voice carrying an undeniable authority.

"Have you all considered why this wave of cheating has been so rampant, involving nearly three hundred people, from high-ranking officials to wealthy local merchants? Don't they know that cheating in the imperial examinations is a serious crime? No, they know it perfectly well, yet they still take the risk."

Before they could answer, Ling Yan continued coldly, "That's because they know that even if they are discovered, they will only be dismissed or suffer a few years in prison. That's why they dare to be so audacious. It's because the cost of crime is too low and past punishments have been too lenient that they don't take it seriously and it's difficult to create a sufficient deterrent."

At this point, Ling Yan's tone grew even colder: "If these students and their families hadn't thought that even if they were discovered, it would only be a matter of stripping them of their academic honors, they would have been so fearless. But what if their entire families were to be executed? Perhaps they wouldn't dare to do it then?"

"Just imagine this: in the future, anyone who cheats will be executed along with their entire family. Tell me, who would dare to easily cross this red line?"

Everyone's heart trembled upon hearing this.

Upon careful consideration, the Crown Princess was indeed right.

Because if they were subjected to such severe punishment, they would never dare to commit it, even if they were beaten to death!

Seeing their expressions, Lingyan knew they had figured it out and agreed.

Lingyan concluded with a chillingly murderous voice: "Therefore, this time I intend to kill all of these people one by one, using ruthless methods to deter others and make them a warning to others, so that the world knows that the fairness of the imperial examination cannot be tarnished, and anyone who attempts to undermine it will pay an unbearable price! Let's see who dares to cheat in the future!"

After speaking, Ling Yan smiled faintly and looked around at everyone again, asking, "My lords, do you all understand now?"

Upon hearing this, everyone thought to themselves that although this move was ruthless, it would truly have a deterrent effect.

This would deter those with ill intentions from committing further offenses, and would be an effective way to maintain the integrity and fairness of the court.

They all bowed and said in unison, "Your Highness is wise; we will obey your command."