Fortunately, Li Shu didn’t really intend to let him answer that question. After asking casually, he quickly changed the topic, “What’s going on with these people?”
Qi Mingxuan glanced at the unconscious men in black, and there was a flash of anger in his eyes. “Some people don’t want this cheating case to continue, and you’ve become their breakthrough. You have to be careful these days. I’ll investigate your matter as soon as possible.”
Indeed, they had pushed those people to a dead end, who knew that they would resort to this. He didn’t know that Li Shu was the young man who saved him before, so he could just enjoy the spectacle. But now that he knew, for the young man’s safety, he had to speed up the process.
Judging from today’s events, this place didn’t seem safe. If he hadn’t arrived in time, would he have received news of the young man’s death tomorrow?
“Do you believe I didn’t cheat?” Li Shu was now somewhat curious. Until now, Qi Mingxuan was the first person to say these words to him.
“I believe you.” Qi Mingxuan’s expression was sincere, conveying through both expression and words that he trusted him.
Li Shu was stunned.
Even after Qi Mingxuan left, Li Shu remained immersed in those words. After a while, stifled laughter echoed in the empty cell.
[Host, are you okay?] Why does he seem so stimulated?
[I’m fine, it’s just…] It had been a long time since he heard such a simple phrase like, “I believe you”. Because of his identity as a fox demon, the most common voices he heard were various skeptical tones, except when that person was still around…
Qi Mingxuan said that he would quickly investigate this matter. After returning to the mansion, he arranged for people to investigate, and several men in black were taken away for interrogation. Li Shu had already given them some subtle hints, and the interrogation was a bit more intense, so they confessed everything.
With the testimony of these people, the previously deadlocked situation immediately reversed. Leveraging this lead not only quickly cleared Li Shu of suspicion in the cheating case but also caught the real mastermind.
The cheating case made significant progress.
Although such an incident occurred, the examination papers of the candidates who were not involved in the cheating case still needed to be graded. After a period of grading, the basic rankings were already out.
Grand Academician Zhang Min, who was in charge of grading, had high expectations for Li Shu, while the other two were optimistic about Yu Rongxiu, a candidate from a humble background. The three argued endlessly over who should be ranked first. Later, Li Shu was reported by a candidate from the same examination room, and his answer sheet should have been invalidated, but Zhang Min firmly believed that someone capable of writing such an article wouldn’t cheat and refused to discard the answer sheet.
Two days later, Prince Qin discovered that Li Shu had been falsely accused, and with irrefutable evidence. Zhang Min finally found an opportunity and brought Li Shu’s answer sheet to the palace to seek an audience with the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, Grand Academician Zhang Min requests an audience,” Eunuch An walked into the study room with quick steps, placing a teacup near the emperor’s hand.
The emperor’s outstretched hand paused slightly, and he asked with curiosity. “Zhang Min? Isn’t he always focused on his own matters? Why would he suddenly come to see Us? Have there been any good books received here recently?”
“Grand Academician Zhang may have other matters. The servant heard that he was very fond of a certain paper and even argued with the other two academicians about it.” Eunuch An replied with a smile.
“There’s this matter too?” The Emperor’s curiosity was piqued.
It was well-known that Grand Academician Zhang Min loved books the most. Every time there was a good book in the palace or anywhere else, he would find a way to take a look. What he disliked most was the intrigues and schemes in the officialdom. The Emperor had seen many courtiers engaged in subtle and scheming actions, so he was very tolerant of Zhang Min, who had a unique personality.
Moreover, Zhang Min’s knowledge was definitely among the best in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Apart from his addiction to books, he didn’t need the emperor to worry about anything else. He was a very worry-free minister.
“Summon him in. We want to see what extraordinary article he’s so interested in that it made him come all the way for it.”
“Yes.”
“Summon Grand Academician Zhang Min for an audience!”
A refined man of around forty walked in with steady steps and knelt down. “Minister Zhang Min pays respects to Your Majesty.”
“Rise, Zhang Aiqing. Why have you come to see Us? What matter is it?” The Emperor asked.
*“Aiqing” was a king’s name for his subordinates in Ancient China.
“Your Majesty, I’ve come for this matter.” Zhang Min took out a paper from his sleeve, opened it, and inside was Li Shu’s answer sheet.
Eunuch An presented the answer sheet to the Emperor.
“We want to see how outstanding this article is that Aiqing personally came for it.”
At first, the Emperor read quickly, but his speed slowed down after a while, then it got slower and slower.
After reading, he couldn’t help but admit that this article was indeed outstanding. No wonder Zhang Min went out of his way for it.
“This article was written by the child of the Left Prime Minister’s family, right?” Closing the answer sheet, the Emperor sighed, “It’s true that a tiger father can’t have a dog son.”
Back then, Li Cheng also wrote excellent articles, and now the child he taught even surpassed him. How many such articles could appear every year? After some thought, the Emperor instructed, “Zhang Aiqing, after you return, organize the outstanding essays from this year’s imperial examination and present them to Us.”
He was somewhat curious about how many outstanding talents in Great Zhou had been quietly buried. Like this time, if it weren’t for Prince Qin’s swift action and Zhang Min’s protection of the exam paper, he might have never seen this paper.
After that night, the male protagonist didn’t appear before Li Shu again but several individuals with strong internal strength around him. 1314 said these people were sent by the male protagonist to protect him.
The following days were calm, and two days later, Li Shu was released.
On the day of his departure, Li Cheng personally came to pick him up. Qi Mingxuan was also there, but he stayed in the shadows without revealing himself.
“Master, don’t you want to have a few words with Young Master Li?” An Yu couldn’t understand. Over these days, the master had been busy trying to help Young Master Li Shu clear his name. He clearly came to pick him up from prison, so why hide in the corner after he arrived?
Qi Mingxuan watched as Li Shu boarded the carriage, watched as the curtain was lowered and the coachman rode away, and didn’t look away until the carriage disappeared around the corner.
“No need. This time, he suffered because of this prince.”
If he had acted a bit faster, the young man wouldn’t have endured this prison ordeal.
On the eve of the release of the examination results, the grand cheating case finally came to an end. The implicated officials were dismissed from their posts, investigated and punished based on their involvement. All scholars involved in this case were sent back to their hometowns and permanently barred from official positions.
The biggest loss this time undoubtedly fell on the faction of the fourth prince, Prince Yu. The maternal family of his consort suffered considerable consequences. To ensure self-preservation, Prince Yu divorced his consort, whom he had always favored, and severed all ties with her family.
His consort’s maternal family had considerable power and had done many things for Prince Yu. Abandoning this family undoubtedly caused him great pain. Moreover, this incident implicated not only the consort’s maternal family but also some other forces under him.
A rising tide lifts all boats. After this incident, Prince Qin firmly established his footing in the capital. Prince Yu’s influence declined, and the three eldest princes, Prince Yue, Prince Yu, and Prince Qin, stood in a balanced triangular position.
Zhang Min organized the outstanding answer sheets from this imperial examination and presented them to the Emperor. After flipping through them one by one, the Emperor selected the ten most outstanding ones and requested these ten individuals to enter the palace for an audience.
Among them was Li Shu.
Li Cheng brought back this news. He patted Li Shu’s shoulder, “His Majesty praised your article. As a father, I’m very pleased that my son is appreciated by His Majesty.”
“Perform well. His Majesty should personally appoint the top three this time.”
Since they had to meet the emperor, they naturally had to learn palace etiquette. Most of the ten scholars named by the emperor were from poor families, so the Emperor specifically sent people to teach them etiquette to ensure they wouldn’t offend the royals.
As the legitimate son of the Left Prime Minister, Li Shu had already learned the required etiquette. He just needed to consolidate it.
The day for the audience was set on the third day of April. At that time, the palace would send a carriage to pick them up.
Li Shu rarely went out after coming to this era. He was originally a somewhat reclusive fox, and in his previous world, he spent his days cultivating. Later, technology advanced, and there were more ways to pass the time at home. Besides, there were a bunch of “enemies” outside, making him even less inclined to go out.
In this world, there were no enemies, but he had to follow the life trajectory of the original owner, which required participating in the imperial examination and achieving a good ranking. For this, he could only stay at home and read.
With a few days left before entering the palace for an audience with the emperor, Li Shu planned to go out.
1314 was very supportive of this. It had been worried that the host would become too bored.
Great Zhou had been established for over a hundred years, and the wounds left by wars on this land have been covered by time. Along the way, the people have lived and worked peacefully, and the capital was thriving and prosperous.
Time is the best medicine for healing wounds. With the cheating case concluded, the scholars remaining in the capital, who were once cautious and uneasy, have now become lively and spirited, especially those who passed the exams. They had lively discussions and looked forward to the future.
Li Shu strolled leisurely down the bustling streets. He had a handsome appearance and extraordinary temperament, like a charming young master from a novel, attracting many gazes.
Up ahead, the crowd surged, as if something had happened. Li Shu intended to avoid it when a child rushed through the crowd and collided with him.
Li Shu dodged sideways, and the child brushed against his waist and ran past. Acting swiftly, Li Shu grabbed the child by the collar.
“Huh–Hey! Stop–huh! Give me back—”
A man panting heavily pushed through the crowd. Seeing that the child who stole from him was caught by Li Shu, he hurriedly approached, “Thank you, brother, for catching this child. He took my belongings.”
People around gradually gathered, whispering their thoughts.
“Did the child really steal something?”
“Judging by this young master’s appearance, he doesn’t seem like someone who would trouble a child.”
“But you can’t be sure nowadays…”
Li Shu frowned, “I caught him because he took my money pouch.” With that, he casually hooked out the money pouch hidden in the child’s embrace.
The child was dressed in tattered clothes, and the well-crafted money pouch clearly wasn’t something he could use. Those who were muttering unpleasant things immediately fell silent.
Since the child had indeed stolen someone’s belongings, they couldn’t reproach him further.
“Did he steal something from you too?”
After glancing at the man who was still panting, then at the child he was holding by the collar, Li Shu flipped the child around to face him and asked, “What did you take?”
“I didn’t take anything!” The child frowned and stubbornly held his ground, refusing to admit guilt.
