"Please come in quickly." In the past two days, the father-in-law from the palace has been coming to Prince Bao's mansion like a fleeting sight. Everyone can tell that something is wrong.
Si Xi came in and called Qian'er and said, "I'm going to say hello to Si Elder Brother. I've been ordered by the emperor to send you to the palace to see him."
"Huang Ama wants to see me?" After Si Xi nodded, Hongli didn't ask any more questions, because he knew that even if Si Xi knew something, he wouldn't tell others. He immediately said: "Eunuch Xi, wait a moment, my king.
Go change your clothes."
"No need, the emperor said, please enter the palace immediately without delay. Also, please bring the secret edict with you." Si Xi's urging made Hongli startled, and he subconsciously touched the secret edict hidden in his arms. Is it possible?
Did Huang Ama know about the leaked test questions?
But having said that, this matter is such a big fuss, Huang Ama will know about it sooner or later. He originally wanted to wait until he found out the clues before reporting the matter to Huang Ama. At the moment, it seems that he cannot wait until then.
It doesn't matter, what is supposed to come will eventually come, and you can't avoid it by hiding.
Hurrying outside the Yangxin Hall, Hongli calmed down his hurried breath, then came in and knelt down and said: "My son, please give your regards to the Emperor Ama, the Emperor Ama is auspicious."
Yinzhen raised his hand and said, "Get up. Have you brought the things I asked you to bring?"
Upon hearing this, Hongli quickly took out the secret edict and held it in front of Yinzhen with both hands, "Please ask the emperor to have a look at it."
Yinzhen took the secret edict and looked at it carefully. The fire seal on it was intact and there was no trace of it being broken. In other words, the test questions could not be leaked from this secret edict.
Seeing that Yinzhen didn't speak, Hongli asked tentatively: "Huang Ama, is there something wrong?"
Yinzhen glanced at him and said: "I heard that the test questions for the provincial examination three days later are being circulated in the capital. You are the chief examiner in the capital. How much do you know about this matter?"
Sure enough, it was because of this matter. It seemed that I couldn’t hide it anymore...
Hongli sighed in his heart and said, "I don't dare to hide it from Emperor Ama. I do know something about this matter."
"Since you know, why didn't you report it to me in time? If I hadn't asked you this time, how long would you have kept it secret?" After saying this, Yinzhen's voice was a little harsh.
Hongli said hurriedly: "I don't dare. In fact, I have been secretly investigating this matter, but because there is no substantial evidence, I don't know who leaked the test questions, and I am not sure whether they are the real test questions, so
I don’t dare to disturb the Emperor Ama rashly.”
"Then if you are still unable to find out, are you going to keep it secret from me and prepare to hold the provincial examination when the test questions are leaked? I ask you, can the imperial court rely on the candidates selected by the imperial examination? It is really ridiculous."
Faced with Yinzhen's scolding, Hongli did not dare to say a word. After his anger subsided, he said softly: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Although I am not sensible, I dare not joke about the imperial examination. Even if the emperor
Ama doesn't ask her son. Before the provincial examination begins, her son will definitely tell the truth to the emperor. Ama is hiding it for now because she wants to find out who is stirring up trouble on the test questions without alerting the snake.
"
He did not dare to speak out the names of Yingge and Hongshi rashly. These two people were cunning and cunning. Without sufficient evidence, it was impossible to convict them. Instead, they would be beaten down.
Yinzhen threw a piece of paper in front of Hongli, and what was written on it was exactly the test question Sixi told him before, "I can tell you that this question is indeed the test question I wrote in the secret decree, every bit.
Not bad." After a pause, he said: "I was worried that it would be leaked from you, but it seems that this secret decree has not been opened."
Hongli looked at the words on the paper and thought for a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "Returning to Emperor Ama, something happened to Mingyu the night before. I was anxious for a while and put the secret edict in the study. Later I found that someone had come in and out of the study, and the secret edict was also passive.
Even though the fire seal was intact, I was still suspicious, so I searched the house and listed all the suspicious people.
After checking it out one by one, Erchen found out that before Eunuch Xi went to Erchen's house, Erchen had already caught that person. He had indeed stolen the secret decree. Although the fire seal was intact, Erchen guessed that the other party might have used some special method.
Use this method to see the contents without destroying the fire seal, otherwise I would not know how to explain the leak of the test questions."
Yinzhen frowned and said, "Then did he tell the person behind it?"
Hongli said truthfully: "He didn't know who was in charge. He just accepted other people's money to do things for them, and he didn't know in advance that what he stole was a secret order."
"Foolish thing." After scolding Yinzhen, he stared at Hongli and said: "I pointed you out to be the chief examiner, but you were so careless that people had the opportunity to steal secret instructions and leaked the test questions on a large scale. Tell me about it.
,How should this matter be resolved?"
When he said what he just said, Hongli knew that Yinzhen would ask this question, and he lowered his head and said: "I know I am guilty, so I dare not ask the emperor to forgive me, but I ask the emperor to let me make amends for my fault and find out."
Who is deliberately sabotaging this autumn?"
"What if it can't be found out?" As soon as Yinzhen finished speaking, the latter said: "If it can't be found out, I will leave it to Emperor Ama's disposal."
Yinzhen stood up, walked to Hongli with his hands behind his back, and said in a cold voice: "I remind you that today is the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, and the sixth day of the Lunar New Year is the autumn period. In these short two days, you can definitely find out who is behind the scenes.
?”
Hongli said solemnly: "I dare not promise Huang Ama, but I will definitely do my best."
"Okay, I'll give you two days." After saying that, he stared at the paper that fell on the ground and said, "I will draft the Qiuwei questions again. As for whether you will still be the examiner of this provincial examination, until then
Let’s talk about it then.”
"Thank you, Emperor Ama." After saying this, Hongli left the Yangxin Palace. He did not rush back home, but walked around in various restaurants and teahouses. He found that in just half a day, the test questions had already been solved.
The news spread everywhere, and except for a few noble scholars who disdained it, the rest gathered together to discuss it.
Everything was as he expected. After hearing what he had passed on, Hongshi and Yingge decided to spread the test questions, making it difficult for them to deal with it. Little did they know that in this way, their own flaws were also expanding infinitely.
However, he really didn't expect that Huang Ama would know about this, but it was not a bad thing. Looking at Huang Ama's appearance, he did not doubt him. The trouble now is how to catch Yingge and Hongshi.
and made them unable to find a chance to escape. Thinking of this, Hongli couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. After all, before the imperial examination, strictly speaking, there were less than two days, and he only had a fifth grade in his hand.
The rest is still unclear.
After returning to the palace, I asked Xiao Zhengzi about the surveillance situation and found that those people had some connections with the Duke's palace, but these alone were not enough. There must be more substantial evidence.