eurekapd Chapter 111 This sudden attack caught me off guard
Chapter 111 This sudden attack caught me off guard
The man knelt on the ground, and seeing that Shen Sangwan hadn't spoken for a long time, he couldn't help but look up at her.
"Shuyun, release the man."
Shuyun was reluctant to let him go, but in the end she compromised, fed him the medicine to relieve muscle weakness, and then called the imperial guards in the mansion to let him leave.
"Although Your Highness was not injured this time, it was still dangerous. Why did you actually release the person?"
Shuyun, who had just returned, was somewhat puzzled by Shen Sangwan's actions.
“I’ve put a Soul-Chasing Incense on him. Give him half an hour to find a doctor to detoxify him. If he’s only focused on escaping, then he can’t blame me.”
"By the way, go and inform the military police to take all the people in the secret room away. Tell them that you can't find out who's behind this, and ask them to help you out quickly so that no one dies in the mansion."
Shuyun held her breath, her expression faltering. She had previously thought Shen Sangwan was too kind, but now it seemed that she had underestimated her.
"Subordinate, go right away."
Having received his orders, he hurried back to the dark room.
Shen Sangwan went to the East Garden to find Shuyan.
Xingde Hall
Shen Yuchen was buried in his work desk, frowning as he pondered something.
Fu'an entered and served tea. "Your Majesty, the Minister of Personnel has come to report."
His tone was somewhat impatient as he put down his pen. "Speak."
Lin Qu bowed his head and knelt on the ground, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."
"Flat body."
"Your Majesty, I have completed all the tasks assigned to me and have come to report back."
"What was the reaction of the Left and Right Chancellors?"
"After the decree was issued, the two prime ministers did not say anything, but only instructed their subjects to do a good job."
Shen Yuchen didn't quite believe what Lin Qu said. Although he wasn't a member of either the left or right party, his thoughts had never been entirely upright.
Assigning him this task was a last resort, and I felt inexplicably annoyed.
He secretly hoped to find a new, capable person as soon as possible to replace the Minister.
"The provincial examination is on the 18th of next month. Time is of the essence. Lord Lin has gone to great lengths to ensure that all prefectures receive the imperial decree as soon as possible."
Lin Qu knelt down again, speaking with great respect, "It is all my duty."
Shen Yuchen looked coldly at the person bowing on the ground, inwardly scoffing.
"If Lord Lin has nothing else to attend to, you may leave."
"Wei Chen retire."
Lin Qu bowed and withdrew.
Returning his gaze to the desk, Shen Yuchen felt a headache coming on. The question was really difficult for him, making him think that Wen Yunhe and Cen Zhouyuan were deliberately making things difficult for him so that he would give up.
But this was an opportunity he had fought hard for.
How could he give up so easily? Sometimes he really wanted to summon Shen Sangwan to the palace to find out more, but then he thought that he was always relying on her and felt that it was inappropriate.
After pondering for four days, and after reviewing many historical records and cases of how the late emperor handled state affairs, and considering the current situation in Nanjing, he came up with a very tricky test question, starting from aspects such as agriculture and people's livelihood, housing construction, and land resources.
The provincial examination was meant to select talent for the metropolitan examination. Overly tricky questions might backfire, but Shen Yuchen wanted to take a risk. If he could get a satisfactory answer, he would have the best chance of being trained into a good official who would benefit the people.
After the test questions were finalized, he summoned Shen Sangwan to the palace for final confirmation.
At first, Shen Sangwan hesitated, after all, the risk was too great, but after thinking about it carefully, she realized that what Nanjing needed most at this time was a strong medicine to cure her chronic illness, and that using a good prescription would probably not achieve the desired effect.
Two days before entering the palace, Wen Yuening wrote to Shen Sangwan, saying that she had found a craftsman to make the scroll box and spent a day making a sample box. Today, she brought it into the palace and handed it to Shen Yuchen for inspection.
"Where did my sister find such a skilled craftsman? With this book box, there's no need to worry about anyone leaking the questions."
Shen Yuchen looked at it several times, his words of praise never ceasing.
This put Shen Sangwan in an awkward position for a while. If it weren't for the fact that the timing wasn't right and it wasn't appropriate to expose the Empress.
Being praised for no reason and having someone else's credit stolen made me feel a little embarrassed.
He just kept smiling and didn't respond.
"If Ah Chen thinks it's acceptable, I'll have people work through the night to finish preparing the rolls to be sent to various prefectures before the end of the month."
"Then I'll have to trouble you with your help, sister."
Even the counties and prefectures furthest from Zhongdu would take half a month by fast horse. The provincial examination would begin on the 18th of September. The examination papers could be sealed and stored by the end of the month, allowing the inspectors and imperial guards to arrive three days in advance and rest from their long journey.
After all, the provincial examinations last for several days, and if there are problems with the supervision, the examination venue may easily get out of control.
The previous message from the Minister of Personnel was that all prefectures and counties needed to have a unified examination time, but it did not say that the examination questions would also be set by the capital.
Although the two prime ministers in the court had previously agreed to let Shen Yuchen set the questions, he pretended that he couldn't and made excuses in front of them to delay until the end of the month.
This made Wen Yunhe and Cen Zhouyuan lower their guard, so they secretly gave the order to continue as before, with the state government setting the questions.
Shen Yuchen had only shown the real test questions to Shen Sangwan. On the first day of the ninth month, before all the inspectors set out, they were suddenly stopped by the Imperial Guards. Fu'an came out from behind and stepped forward to loudly proclaim the imperial decree.
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The imperial examination is indeed the selection of talent for the court and the foundation of the nation. Due to the numerous leaks of exam questions in previous years, I have newly ascended the throne and am holding additional provincial examinations. To ensure the fairness and impartiality of this examination, I will personally set the questions. The questions are now secretly stored in a box, to be opened by someone specially appointed by me on the 18th of September, in front of the students at the examination hall. Respectfully yours."
The inspectors from various regions, kneeling on the ground, looked at each other, still somewhat bewildered, after hearing what Fu'an read out.
Didn't the Left and Right Chancellors say that the questions would be set by the local prefectures and counties?
How did it suddenly become His Majesty setting the questions?
"My lords, please accept the decree."
Although there have been rumors that the provincial examinations held this year would no longer be set by the prefectural government, they did not take it seriously since there was no imperial edict to announce it to the world.
Shen Yuchen's sudden counterattack caught Wen Yunhe and Cen Zhouyuan off guard.
Local inspectors were filled with fear, but dared not make a mistake, and bowed their heads and kowtowed to receive the imperial decree.
The Imperial Guards were divided into several small teams, each with fifteen men, and no one knew who held the key to opening the scroll box.
By the time Wen Yunhe and Cen Zhouyuan received the news, the inspectors from various prefectures had already set off.
Enraged, Cen Zhouyuan couldn't resist overturning the chessboard in his study.
“Very good, very good. Now this little emperor has also learned to play tricks.”
The advisor sitting opposite him didn't dare to say a word. He silently picked up the scattered chess pieces, all made of fine jade, and he was truly sorry to see them lying there.
"Go and deliver a letter to Prime Minister Wen, and arrange to meet at the usual place."
"I'll go right away."
The guard who reported bowed and disappeared as quickly as possible, fearing that the Prime Minister would transfer his anger to him.
"Since the young emperor doesn't want to be a puppet in peace, then I don't need to give him any more face."