"I really didn't expect that the person chosen to accompany the prince would be the eighth prince."
"Eighth Prince Hongrun? Your Highness is not yet fifteen years old, right? Isn't it said that princes who have not left the government are not allowed to participate in any affairs in the court?"
"Why is it the Eighth Prince? Didn't it mean that the Eighth Prince, who has always been so stubborn, has never been taken seriously by His Majesty in the palace? Why did Your Majesty allow this Highness to come and supervise the examination?"
The sixteen invigilators looked at each other.
It's no wonder, after all, the news in the palace is very strictly controlled. Without special channels, it is absolutely impossible for the government and the public to know what happened in the palace recently. This has always been a means to maintain the mystery and majesty of imperial power.
Therefore, not only Luo Wenzhong, but also the sixteen officials of the Ministry of Personnel had no way of knowing that the eighth prince Zhao Hongrun's status in the heart of the Emperor of Wei had greatly increased in this month, and he was repeatedly praised as a thousand-mile horse. Otherwise,
Come to think of it, Luo Wenzhong would never dare to do anything to frame this prince.
What shocked the sixteen officials even more was that when they saw His Highness the Eighth Prince, Luo Wenzhong's face gradually turned ugly.
"What on earth...is going on? Is there any grudge between Mr. Luo and His Highness the Eighth Prince?"
The sixteen invigilators of the Ministry of Civil Affairs were completely unable to understand.
At Zhao Hongrun's signal, everyone sat down in the front hall.
Originally, Luo Wenzhong, who was the chief invigilator this time, should take the main seat, but Zhao Hongrun did not mention it and sat on the main seat in a grand manner.
This made the invigilators a little uncomfortable, but after thinking about it, the other party was a prince after all, so there was nothing wrong with sitting on the main seat.
Around Si Shi, Confucius Temple began to let scholars enter the temple for examinations, so Zhao Hongrun got up and went to inspect with the seventeen invigilators.
After all, while the students were being let in one after another, the chief officers, clerks, and servants had to search one by one to see if the scholars were "entrained" with them, which in layman's terms meant whether they had any cheat sheets or the like.
During the inspection, Zhao Hongrun put on his funny mask again. After all, proctoring a scientific examination is a relatively offending job. For future considerations, he felt that he should try to avoid appearing in front of the public.
Furthermore, there is no doubt that there are some young masters among the students who come from wealthy families. They may also be regular visitors to Yifang Waterside Pavilion. If this group of people sees his true appearance, wouldn't it be more troublesome for Zhao Hongrun to go to Yifang Waterside Pavilion for a private meeting with Miss Su in the future?
Because of these considerations, Zhao Hongrun asked Mu Qing to get a mask at random. It was not a valuable thing. The thing that cost more than ten cents in the market in Nancheng was purely a child's thing.
"It's strange. The intensity of the search is quite strict. Why did fraud incidents occur frequently in previous years? Are officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs involved?"
During the inspection, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but feel a little surprised, because he found that those at the entrance of the Confucius Temple would conduct a very rigorous search before letting the scholars in.
How rigorous is it? So rigorous that even the food that the scholars carry with them must be inspected.
No, Zhao Hongrun saw with his own eyes that a servant broke open all the dried steamed buns brought by a scholar to see if there were any inclusions inside.
"How can anyone eat this?" Zhao Hongrun muttered in a low voice. Anyway, he didn't want to eat the kind of steamed buns that were pinched again and again.
"Let's go to 'Room' and have a look."
Zhao Hongrun said to the invigilators around him.
When the prince opens his mouth, how dare the invigilators disobey him, even if there is an invigilator to lead the way.
The so-called "number room", also known as the examination room, refers to the examination center where scholars take the examination. It is an independent and very small single room, five feet long, four feet wide and eight feet high, with walls on three sides.
, one side is the entrance and exit.
When the scholars who took the exam arrived here, they had to go through a body search before being allowed to enter the room.
Moreover, when a student enters the corresponding room, the person in charge of the place will lock half of the door panel with a lock. This means that during the examination, the student can only be in this room.
Whether it's taking an exam, taking a break, or eating, drinking, and having diarrhea.
"I've long heard that the environment in the examination room is extremely crude and harsh, but I didn't expect it to be so crude..."
Zhao Hongrun looked into a room and took a few glances.
There was only one bed in the entire room, which was like a bed but not a bed at all. It was made of bricks and covered with a simple straw mat.
On the bed, there was a thin bedding thrown haphazardly.
Zhao Hongrun was very doubtful about how much cotton wadding could be in this quilt.
In addition, there are two wooden barrels in the room, one is filled with clean water, and the other is empty.
Zhao Hongrun thought for a moment and no longer wanted to investigate why there was an empty bucket here.
Apart from the above, there is only a wooden board at the empty door that cannot even be called a table. This is probably the table where the scholars take exams, and there is a bench at the lower level.
"Isn't this too simple? It's like a toilet... It's really hard to imagine that national scholars and sages like Lin Yuyang and Yu Ziqi took the first step towards their official careers here..."
Zhao Hongrun shook his head with emotion, because he knew that Lin Yuyang and Yu Ziqi, who are currently serving as Zuocheng and Youcheng in the Chui Gong Hall, were both from poor families. In other words, they had also experienced such cruel scientific examinations.
In fact, at this moment, there was already a scholar in the room. When Zhao Hongrun poked his head around, he was also looking at Zhao Hongrun.
After all, Zhao Hongrun was not wearing the three-clawed python robe that represented the prince today. He was just wearing a rather fancy red purple embroidered brocade suit, with a ridiculous mask on his face that did not match his luxurious clothes at all.
Therefore, the scholar was also wondering about Zhao Hongrun's identity.
It's no wonder that Zhao Hongrun is only fourteen years old and is much shorter than an adult man. However, at this moment, he is surrounded by ten clan guards and seventeen invigilators for this round of examinations.
Even a fool would be able to guess his identity.
"How will the scholars be provided with food these days?" Zhao Hongrun asked for the first time.
An invigilator stood up and replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, students can bring their own food."
"Your Highness?"
The student's eyes widened in surprise. Of course he knew what His Highness was referring to.
At this moment, Zhao Hongrun pointed at the student and asked, "Are you ready to eat?"
"Yes, yes..."
The student stammered in reply.
Zhao Hongrun glanced at the package that the student placed on the table and the dried steamed buns scattered in the package, and couldn't help but frown.
"In the Tangtang examination, the facilities and environment are so crude and poor!"
Frowning, Zhao Hongrun turned around and asked, "How much did your Ministry of Personnel report to the Ministry of Household Affairs for this year's general examination?"
"..."
The expressions of the invigilators from the Ministry of Civil Affairs suddenly looked a little unnatural.
"Ha!" Zhao Hongrun snorted noncommittally and said lightly: "Before dusk today, give me a detailed list of the money spent on this scientific examination so far. I will go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to check."
All the invigilators looked at each other. At this time, Luo Wenzhong said in a deep voice: "Your Highness's actions are against the rules... As far as I know, Your Highness is only accompanying the inmates and has no right to interfere with our staff."
"..." Zhao Hongrun glanced at Luo Wenzhong coldly, suddenly laughed, and walked forward on his own.
"It turns out that the Eighth Prince is just a paper tiger?"
Luo Wenzhong was relieved in his heart. You must know that he had just risked his life to reject Zhao Hongrun's words. After all, what Zhao Hongrun said was quite involved.
The other officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Zhao Hongrun, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and turned around and said, "As far as my Highness knows, the son of Mr. Luo, the examiner, also participated in the examination this time, right?"
Luo Wenzhong's heart skipped a beat, and he said bravely: "To tell you your highness, Quanzi did participate in this examination."
"Lead the way!" Zhao Hongrun said calmly: "My highness, go down and take a look."
Luo Wenzhong had no choice but to lead Zhao Hongrun to the room where his son Luo Rong lived.
At this time, Luo Rong was resting against the wall on the stone couch in the cell, wrapped in quilts, when he suddenly saw his father and his entourage approaching, and he quickly stood up.
"Dad, why are you here?"
Luo Wenzhong's face darkened a bit, and he said in a deep voice: "In the examination room, there are only supervisors, not father and son. I respect you."
Luo Rong didn't know what happened, so he had to obediently bow his hands and praise him: "Sir Luo Rong, I have met Mr. Luo."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a burst of applause not far away.
"Hehehe, Mr. Luo is really selfless. Okay, okay, he is worthy of being an invigilator and leads by example... Think about it, if Mr. Luo, as the examiner, cannot distinguish between public and private matters, wouldn't everyone below be in chaos?
Set up?"
"Who is this person? Why does his voice sound so familiar?"
Luo Rong was stunned for a moment, and was about to ask when he suddenly found three people staring at him fiercely. When he took a closer look, his expression suddenly changed.
It turned out that those who stared at him fiercely were none other than Zong Wei Shen Yu, Lu Mu, and Mu Qing.
The three people today are no longer dressed like ordinary people a few days ago. They are all wearing armor and carrying swords at their waists. They are full of heroic spirit, and their faces suddenly turned pale.
"He...he...could he be..."
Luo Rong looked at the guy in gorgeous clothes but wearing a mask next to his father with fear.
"Your Highness is serious. As the chief proctor, I naturally have to be strict with myself."
"Well said!" Zhao Hongrun clapped his hands and praised him for a few words, then suddenly changed his subject and said with a smile: "In that case, Mr. Luo must not introduce His Highness to invigilate the examination more rigorously, Mr. Ling, right?" As he said, he pointed.
Pointing to Luo Rong, he said unceremoniously: "You, come out! His Highness will search you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zongwei Shen Yu had already obtained the key from the nearby chief, opened the lock of the cell, and pulled Luo Rong out.
"You...what are you going to do?" Luo Rong suddenly panicked.
After all, he was not a fool, so he naturally guessed that Zhao Hongrun wanted to take revenge on him.
At this time, Luo Wenzhong stood in front of Luo Rong and said solemnly, "Your Highness, my son has been searched."
"Oh? Really? But your Highness didn't see it... Didn't Mr. Luo just say that he should be strict with himself? Why did he stop His Highness from searching for Young Master Ling? Could it be said that there is really something hidden in Young Master Ling? Tsk, tsk, tsk, this is not possible Okay... Let’s meet the examiner..."
"..." Luo Wenzhong was speechless. He knew clearly that Zhao Hongrun was targeting him deliberately, but he couldn't refute it. After all, if it was confirmed that his son was being concealed, then not only his son Luo Rong would be in trouble, but also him. I'm afraid I will also be stripped of my official uniform.
"Okay, Your Highness, let's search."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yu and others began to roughly search Luo Rong, not even leaving the room.
But unfortunately, there was no trace of anything hidden either on Luo Rong's body or in the room.
"Is His Highness satisfied?" Luo Wenzhong asked with a straight face.
"Humph!" Zhao Hongrun chuckled, walked slowly to Luo Rong, and whispered in his ear: "That day you ordered someone to take off my clothes, and I asked you to get this account back first. .”
As he said that, he raised his hand and pointed at Luo Rong, and said with a chuckle: "Tear off his clothes for me! ... God knows if Mr. Ling copied the Four Books of Scripture under his clothes."
"In...here?"
Glancing at the nearby scholars who were coming in one after another, Luo Rong suddenly turned pale.