Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Across the capital, some spent the night bribing the new examiners’ servants and family members with large sums of money; others leveraged connections to glean insights into the officials’ preferences and grading procedures; still others had already concealed their cheat sheets—annotated classics—within the soles of their shoes, the linings of their sleeves, or even the hidden compartments of inkstones.

Some noble scions, having initially sought assistance from officials but been rebuffed due to the anti-corruption purge, now found themselves at their wits’ end and could only piece together fragmented leads from idle gossip.

With the spring examination drawing near, many of these scions were willing to believe anything. “Is this information reliable?”

“Absolutely reliable. That man is a servant of one of the examiners. He claims the examiner let it slip after drinking—no one else knows.” An old retainer from a noble household declared. “This matter has been handled carefully. After we obtained the information from the servant, we’ve already taken care of him—”

He made a throat-slitting gesture. “Only the young master knows of this.”

The noble scion applauded loudly, then recalled something else: “The court will enforce strict penalties for cheating this time. To be safe, go find a substitute writer for me…”

The replacement of examiners for the spring examination stirred anxiety among the capital’s noble scions planning to cheat, generating undercurrents of unrest.

Before they knew it, the examination day arrived. Because the emperor had ordered a stringent crackdown on cheating, additional officials were dispatched to the Ministry of Rites office to conduct rigorous inspections. Candidates caught with cheat sheets were immediately required to remove their outer garments and footwear, while their brushes and ink were meticulously examined. Within just one hour, numerous cheat sheets had been confiscated.

Candidates panicked. A few, overwhelmed by nerves, fainted on the spot upon being caught.

“Those candidates are from the Imperial Academy. They normally excel academically—why would they resort to such shortcuts?”

“You don’t understand. So many people bring cheat sheets that these candidates feel they’ll fall behind if they don’t.” Having said this, the inspecting official shouted again, “Who else has brought anything? Don’t waste time—hand them over now!”

Startled by his shout, several students honestly surrendered their cheat sheets.

Chen Yuanli appeared gentle and approachable. Many passing candidates bowed and greeted him respectfully. He nodded in acknowledgment, observing the confiscation of cheat sheets one by one, and permitted the searched candidates to proceed. His strict yet fair demeanor won widespread favor among students, who silently praised Lord Chen—the chief examiner for this spring examination—for his impartiality.

More and more candidates streamed into the examination hall, and among them, those who had bought their way in slipped through undetected.

Chen Yuanli’s gaze lingered on a few specific candidates. Hailing from different regions, they had been secretly promoted by the Crown Prince Faction, the Eldest Prince Faction, and other factions. He needed to do nothing special for them—these covert agents he had planted within various forces would, aided by others, effortlessly secure government posts.

That powerful figure had been planning for years—all for this spring examination.

“Have the other arrangements been finalized?” he murmured to his confidant. “This examination must not fail.”

The confidant understood: “Everything you instructed has been executed. It is guaranteed to be foolproof.”

So what if the Imperial Academy gathering had been exposed? He was merely an incorruptible examiner. Others would carry out his bidding.

In time, these men would rise to become key officials in the court—ready to serve that great figure…

Chen Yuanli maintained the façade of an honest and upright official, ordering thorough inspections to prevent cheating, then declared, “Everyone is assembled. Let us not delay further—begin!”

Inside the examination hall, officials sprang into action.

Outside, in a carriage parked nearby, Ye Xuanjiu watched candidates coming and going as the hall’s gate neared closure.

He couldn’t help but recall his young general’s instructions. Glancing at the Sixth Prince, who rested beside him with eyes closed, he murmured, “Your Highness, isn’t your plan rather reckless?”

Ying Fusheng opened his eyes slightly.

Ye Xuanjiu was about to continue—but before he could speak, Ying Fusheng said, “Do you see those temporary officials outside the hall? Over the past month, the examiners and every official inside—from top to bottom—have been repeatedly replaced. Even today’s inspectors were temporarily assigned.”

Ye Xuanjiu’s expression froze. Noting this, Ying Fusheng looked at the younger Ye Xuanjiu beside him, recalling his past life, and continued, “Everyone is exercising extreme caution. And precisely because they are cautious, we need recklessness—the more absurd, the better.”

Sometimes, the simplest approach was necessary. And up to this point, Qi Hanzhou had not intervened—so he would go along with it.

Because the sovereign on the throne, ever since launching the anti-corruption purge, had intended to crack down decisively on examination cheating.

…

The spring examination proceeded on schedule, spanning three sessions over nearly ten days.

On the day the exams concluded, all test papers were removed from the hall and transferred to the Ministry of Rites for name-sealing and transcription. Several examiners sat in the room alongside supervising officials—a critical stage for factional maneuvering.

Dozens of Ministry of Rites clerks handled the transcription. When a newly assigned clerk encountered two particular papers, his eyes flickered. Sensing something amiss, he quickly glanced at the colleague beside him: “These two papers…”

The senior clerk immediately interjected, “Don’t stir up trouble! Just transcribe the papers as instructed. Can’t you see all the officials are present?”

What happened to the papers was none of their concern. If problems arose, the officials would handle them.

If he raised an issue now and disrupted the plans of the powerful, it could cost him his life.

Hearing this, the new clerk looked around at his silent colleagues, all diligently transcribing. No one spoke. He had no choice but to stay silent and continue.

Their sole task was transcription. As for who cheated and who passed—that was for the high-ranking officials to decide.

Transcription proceeded in silence. Once all papers were copied, they were submitted to the responsible Ministry of Rites officials for processing. Which papers required special attention, which needed strategic placement—each of the several Ministry of Rites officials in the room pursued their own agenda as names were sealed and covered. Amid this delicate balancing act, the problematic papers, hidden among the multitude, slipped through undetected.

The papers were escorted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the Imperial Academy for grading. Chief examiner Chen Yuanli presided, and all graders remained on high alert. After the papers were shuffled and distributed, supervising Guard officers positioned themselves inside the room. Seeing the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a few examiners suppressed their unease. They had been meticulous at every step. Everything would be fine—it *had* to be fine.

Several Guard officers stood outside the grading room, closely observing the graders.

“Look at this argument! A true talent for governance! Taxation and public welfare—solved exactly like this!”

“I saw this same point on another paper.”

“So did I… Wait—how is this policy essay on taxation *identical*!”

The graders pulled out papers and laid them side by side.

Several eminent scholars looked puzzled. Chief examiner Chen Yuanli hurried over.

On the paper was a flawlessly composed, near-perfect policy essay. The candidate’s views on taxing to nourish the people and strictly punishing corrupt officials were refreshingly original… Even Chen Yuanli, upon reading it, couldn’t help but marvel.

If genuine, it would rank among the top three!

Yet here were five papers—written in different styles—but when it came to the core argument, the eight characters “役归于地、量地计丁” (“assign corvée based on land and allocate according to adult males”) appeared *exactly* the same. Citations and allusions matched identically.

Chen Yuanli’s fingertips trembled. His Adam’s apple bobbed. Before he could set these papers aside,

the emperor-appointed supervising official had already pulled out three of them, sweeping a sharp, piercing gaze over all present examiners. The guilty graders felt their hearts lurch. They heard only the supervisor’s cold voice: “Gentlemen, you will all remain here tonight.”

By nightfall, an urgent report from the Imperial Academy reached the palace.

All graders were detained on the spot. The Embroidered Uniform Guard acted immediately. The suspiciously identical papers were retrieved by the supervisor. Some had already been graded. When the selected papers were laid before the examiners, two turned ashen on the spot. One or two such cases might be dismissed as coincidental policy views—but multiple instances? No coincidence…

“Deputy Commander, an urgent report from the Imperial Academy.” A Guard officer whispered.

Qi Hanzhou listened to the report, then glanced back toward the palace complex, gesturing for the officer to enter and deliver the message.

He turned back.

It was a major incident, not a factional maneuver, but a leak of the exam questions!

Five selected exam papers shared identical viewpoints. Later, the supervising officials reviewed the papers of those who failed and found over a dozen more—as if these candidates had known the policy essay topic in advance and had produced identical solutions. How could this be? The only possibility was a deliberate leak of the questions.

"Corruption investigations are underway, and even the Shuntian Prefect has fallen. What fool would cheat in this way!" Inside the Grand Prince's mansion, the advisors were incredulous, and the Grand Prince himself roared angrily.

In all the years of the imperial examinations, such an absurd cheating method had never appeared. A large group of candidates had bought the questions in advance and hired ghostwriters, but the ghostwriter sold the same answer to multiple people, resulting in a flood of identical policy essays in the exam hall. How did these candidates buy the exam questions? Who was behind the answer? At which stage was the topic leaked?!

At the Xu mansion, Grand Secretary Xu listened to the imperial spy's report with a furrowed brow: "The answer was bought and sold—who authored it?"

"They say it's a civilian scholar; no one knows his name or background."

In the run-up to the Spring Examination, news always circulated in the black market, and many unscrupulous merchants would trick students into buying fake questions. They had heard such rumors before, but if it were truly that easy to obtain the real questions, who would need to pull strings? Everyone dismissed it—until now, when it turned out to be true.

"Those noble scions were ruthless too—after buying the questions, they killed the man. But who knew they'd been set up?" said the spy. "Each of them thought killing him solved everything, but when I inquired, I learned that they said they killed him and dumped his body in the moat. Yet I've searched everywhere in the capital and haven't heard any rumors of a corpse in the moat."

These candidates who bought the questions each believed they had covered their tracks, so they boldly submitted the essay that showcased such talent. But it was precisely because no one dared to speak out and everyone thought they were safe that the situation unfolded as it did.

Grand Secretary Xu's face turned grim. Such an unexpected scheme played on human nature—bold and blatant, yet it sent chills down one's spine.

"Recall the men following Chen Yuanli," said Grand Secretary Xu.

His confidant was startled by these words. "Your Excellency, are you, ..."

"Don't let anyone else come to the Xu mansion. Let the Spring Examination proceed as is."

What he needed to consider was how to minimize losses in this situation and how to calm the emperor's wrath.