Give you a spring

Xie Lianzheng was in the mansion discussing the matter of the imperial examination with all the staff. The Ministry of Rites had prepared most of the matters. He only needed to think about the last political question. One of the most important things is to pay attention to make sure nothing goes wrong.

He officially started the palace examination three days ago, but what puzzled him was that although there were a lot of documents submitted by the Ministry of Rites, they were all irrelevant.

Lian Zheng still remembers the last few words Chongdi said to him in the main hall that day. The other party was obviously implying that Xie Shi had done something in this test, but he didn't make it clear, but he wanted Xie Lianzhen to find out by himself.

And the series of actions by the Ministry of Rites in the past few days also made him confirm this point even more. However, after looking through the documents, he couldn't find any abnormalities. Just because of this, someone came in and announced that the fifth prince Xie Xu had arrived.

"About this year's topic of political discussion, do you have any other suggestions?" Lian Zheng nodded, and then looked at the people in front of him—they had already discussed a topic.

An aide under the seat said, "At present, that topic will be more suitable for this year's palace examination."

"Okay," Xie Lianzheng put the piece of paper on which they decided on the topic into his pocket, "I still have something to do, everyone, please step back first, we will talk later."

After he finished speaking, he turned and went to the side hall.

This is the first time for Ping Wei to visit Xie Lianzheng's house. Although the interior layout is simple, it is luxurious everywhere. The best wood is used to build each room. There are small bridges and flowing water in the courtyard, and a few koi slowly swim past.

He stood in the side hall, staring at the painting in front of him, fascinated.

"Pingwei," Xie Lianzheng walked in.

"Second brother," Ping Wei bowed to him.

"Do you like this painting?" Lian Zheng stood beside him and asked.

"The painting is very good," Ping Wei praised, but did not say whether he liked it or not.On the wall is a peony picture, a peacock standing gracefully and luxuriously beside several colorful peonies.The entire painting is brightly colored, which doesn't quite match the style of Xie Lianzheng's other courtyard.

"This is sent by the queen," Lian Zheng said.

Hearing this, Ping Wei turned his eyes to the bottom right of the painting, and the pen was written by Jiang Yunzhi - this is the queen's name.

He was a little surprised, and asked sideways, "Is this painted by the queen?"

"Yes," Xie Lianzheng nodded slightly, "Come to see me today, what's the matter?"

"That's it. I know that the second brother is busy with the palace examination recently. I want to come here and ask if I found anything... unusual?" Ping Wei and him sat on the wooden chair in the hall, and said warmly.

"No," Lian Zheng said without hesitation, he knew that the other party had arrested Shi Qianlin a few days ago, and seemed to want to touch Xie Shi, but he had only seen Ping Wei for the second time until today, so he couldn't figure out what the other party was thinking. For a moment, he couldn't decide whether he only wanted to touch Xie Shi alone, or he wanted to get rid of him as well. Although the latter was unlikely, it was better to be cautious.

However, if he answered too quickly, the traces of suspiciousness would become heavier, Ping Wei's face remained unchanged, he motioned for the other party to come over, and whispered a few words beside him.

After Lian Zheng listened, he looked up in surprise, "There is such a thing..."

"Second brother didn't make such a guess before."

"Yes, but I didn't expect my elder brother to be able to do this for two years." To be honest, Xie Lianzheng always felt that it was a bit stupid for his elder brother to always stay behind closed doors in his mansion, and he even felt proud of it, after all He is notoriously sociable.However, he didn't want the other party to keep his face and do such things behind his back.

Lian Zheng looked at Ping Wei with a calm face on the opposite side, "You want to invite me to join you to expose this matter?"

"Yes," Ping Wei said softly, "this should be what His Majesty wishes."

Lian Zheng recalled the words Chongdi said in the hall that day, so it was the meaning, he looked at Pingwei, "Did he say anything to you?"

"Huh?" The other party was stunned for a moment, and turned helpless, "No, I haven't seen His Majesty since the day of the Shangyuan banquet."

Lian Zheng thought for a while, "What do you want me to do?"

"Second brother, do you have the list of examiners for the previous two years' palace examination? I want to see and compare it with this year's list of examiners. If there are duplicates, assuming there is still cheating this year, then there is a high chance that this person will be involved. .In addition, I also need the list of officials who have entered the court in the past two years. I am not familiar with the people in the court. Please ask the second brother to see who is more familiar with the eldest prince."

"I understand," the Ministry of Rites sent a lot of documents, maybe there will be a list in it, Lian Zheng stood up and said, "You wait here, I'll get someone to find it."

"Trouble second brother."

Pingwei watched the other party leave, and after the meeting, He Zhou slowly walked in from the outside, while Pingwei walked into the hall in front, and saw that there was no servant inside, in case Xie Lianzheng felt that it was inappropriate for a guard to be present, he went outside by himself wait.

By the way, I visited this house.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Pingwei turned to look at him, "What do you think of this house?"

"It's not as good-looking as ours," He Zhou commented, "It's not flashy."

Ping smiled, "Xie Lianzheng went to get the list."

"Did he believe it?"

"It looks like it is. I think Emperor Chong should have said something to him, or he himself noticed something was wrong, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to us so quickly." Ping Wei had just finished talking, and Xie Lianzheng asked him if he was right. To help, he originally thought that he would have to talk for a while before the other party agreed.

"Do you think it is within Emperor Chong's expectation that you are asking Xie Lianzheng for help now?" He Zhou asked.

Pingwei smiled lightly, "It's possible."

"Don't you think it's scary? It seems that everything we encountered since we entered the city is under his control," He Zhou said calmly.

"I don't think so," Ping Wei said, "as an emperor, you have to go farther than ordinary people think, so that you can sit on it more stably and for a longer time. And at present, what Emperor Chong wants me to do is exactly what I want to do. What I want to do. Sometimes he intervenes and I don't have so many obstacles."

He Zhou raised his eyebrows, "What should I say, I suddenly feel your father-son relationship?"

Ping smiled slightly, "I don't have any relationship with him."

The two chatted for a while, but He Zhou didn't sit down, and walked out slowly after hearing voices from outside.

Xie Lianzheng came over with a pile of documents.

Ping Wei got up to help him, and the two put two stacks of documents on the table.

"This is all the materials related to the palace examination in the past two years. I brought them here." Xie Lianzheng stood in front of the table and patted the two stacks of things on it. "There are a lot of materials. Are you sure there will be cheating in this year's palace examination as well?" behavior?"

"Well," Ping Wei said, "Although Xie Shi is not here, the examiner and the way of leaking the question have not been discovered, and they are likely to take another risk."

"So we only have two days left to find those people," Lian Zheng said after some time was running out of time, "I'll find some more people to come over and read these documents together."

"Wait, did you find the list of examiners and the name of the new official?" Ping Wei stopped.

"Here," Xie Lianzheng handed him the top few sheets of paper, "I have just asked someone to sort out the newly appointed officials, and they will be delivered after a meeting. This is the list of examiners from the previous year and last year."

Ping Wei lowered his head and glanced, "Do you have a pen?"

Lian Zheng went outside to have someone deliver it.

Taking advantage of this short time, Pingwei has already found out the officials who appeared repeatedly for two years, quickly circled them, and said, "Look, these six people have been the examiners of the palace examination for two consecutive years. I looked at the examiners of the palace examination every year for about There are ten of them, and each person seems to ask two questions, so there are twenty questions in total, right?"

"Yes, basically as long as you answer the twelve questions correctly, and there are no mistakes in the final political article, you can enter six."

"So if you bribe these six people, the examinee can answer twelve questions correctly, and Xie Shi is responsible for the political topic..." Ping Wei paused, looked at Lian Zheng, and the two looked at each other, "Just so you can be selected For an official."

Lian Zheng took the list in his hand and looked down seriously.

"Is there anyone who has a good relationship with the second brother?" Ping Wei asked.

Xie Lianzheng shook his head, "It seems that those people really have a lot to do with Xie Shi."

"Have these people participated in this year's palace examination?"

"Yes," Lian Zheng said, "except for this Zhou Mu, everyone else participated."

"Can the second brother enter the house where the examiners live at will?"

"You mean the one on Qinghe Street?" Lian Zheng asked, "Yes, you want me to go in and see how they leaked the title?"

"Yes," Ping Wei said, "Chendi actually went there this morning, but the guards are heavily guarded and the gate is closed, so I still have no clue as to how they leaked their questions."

Lian Zheng's eyelids twitched, "Did you go there this morning? When did you realize something was wrong."

"It's also morning," Ping smiled, and deliberately softened his voice, "As soon as my younger brother felt something was wrong, he immediately came over to ask second brother for help."

"..." I have to say that Pingwei's bright face, coupled with his soft tone, sounds really like a younger brother who is acting like a baby with his elder brother. Xie Lianzheng really felt that Pingwei was himself at that moment The younger brother, the two are just brothers of ordinary people.It's a pity that this thought passed by in a flash, and he quickly came back to his senses, and said, "After finishing the matter today, I will go to that house."

"Evening?"

"Isn't it right?" Lian Zheng looked at him.

"No, but as the person in charge, do you need to avoid suspicion when you go to the place where the examiners live at night?"

What he said sounded a bit concerned, and Lian Zheng said, "It should be in the evening, which happens to be when they are having dinner. I will go over there to inquire about the progress, and by the way, ask people to search around for anything suspicious. place, don't worry."

"Okay, then I'll go to Zhou Mu and ask."

"Do you know his home address?" Lian Zheng looked at him.

Ping Wei was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "Please second brother give me the address of that person."

"Someone will find it for you later," Lian Zheng raised his eyes and looked at Ping Wei intently, "If you find out a way for them to vent their problems, what are you going to do?"

"Naturally, take advantage of the trend to find candidates who want to cheat this year."

"What next? Do you want to explain this to His Majesty?"

"Otherwise?" Ping smiled, probably taking his question as a matter of course, "What's the use of our investigation if we don't explain to His Majesty."

I heard that Shi Qianlin's case was committed on the night of Shangyuan Festival. After being bumped into by Ping Wei, he went to find Mr. Fu Yin Qi that night, and then arrested him very efficiently at midnight the next day, and did not give Shi Zongxi any trouble. And Xie Shi had the opportunity to respond.

With such a method, Xie Lianzheng was a little surprised when he heard the news.

"Are you trying to use this to completely disappoint His Majesty with Xie Shi?" He asked.

Ping Wei smiled, and said warmly, "Second brother, if His Majesty wanted to abandon him, we would just add fuel to the flames by doing these things, not to mention that he would have known the price for doing these things."

For two consecutive years, the candidates selected in the palace examination were replaced by people from his own side. This is serious, but it has the taste of treason.

While talking, an aide came in and handed Xie Lianzheng a few pieces of paper, "Your Highness, this is the new official who you asked me to find in the past two years."

"So fast," Ping Wei's eyes lit up, and he raised his eyes and smiled at the man, "Thanks for your hard work."

The other party looked up at him and said nothing.

Lian Zheng: "Back off."

"Yes."

Xie Lianzheng put the few pieces of paper between the two of them, and Pingwei looked carefully, there were about 40 people, and it was clearly written which department they belonged to, even their addresses.

He pondered for a while, then asked, "Is there a way to get their test papers back then? Or does Second Brother have any impression of these people, how do they usually do things?"

"The test papers are available and should be kept in the Ministry of Rites. I can go and have a look when I enter the palace tomorrow morning. As for my impression of those people..." Lian Zheng smiled, "You can see me They are so powerful, there are so many people in the palace, I don't have the impression of everyone, besides... they are all petty officials."

Ping nodded slightly, and said again, "Among these people, most of them have entered the Ministry of Industry. Does Second Brother not have so many acquaintances in the Ministry of Industry?"

He looked sideways at Xie Lianzheng, Lianzheng was taken aback, and said awkwardly, "It seems to be like this..."

"Second brother is familiar with which department among the six departments?"

Ping Wei asked in a warm voice, seeing Xie Lianzheng's troubled face, he smiled again, "Can you tell me this?"

"It's not impossible..." Lian Zheng said, but didn't speak again.

Ping Wei understood, and asked again, "Is it up to the examinees to decide which department they enter, or should the examiners and His Majesty decide?"

"Generally, the examiners will assign them according to their answers to the questions, and it also depends on the manpower situation of each department at that time. If there is a shortage of people, there will be many candidates who are ranked in that year to go to that department."

"But the high probability is determined by the examiners?"

"That's it."

Then it seems that Xie Shi can decide how many people he will place in the various departments of the court. Go talk to them."

"Okay," Lian Zheng said, "as long as we find out that one person has a problem, we can torture the others." This way the progress will be much faster.

"Well," Ping Wei nodded, he turned around and looked at the darkened sky outside, got up and said, "I'm going to find Zhou Mu now, hoping he can tell the way of venting the problem and the people involved."

"Do you need to bring Master Qi?" Lian Zheng asked, "He is better at interrogation."

Hearing this, Ping Wei smiled lightly, "No, I'm quite good at it."