Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power
Chapter 371 Settling the Tempering

Chapter 371: Chapter 371 Settling the Tempering

This point coincided with the Emperor’s intentions. When he first met Lian Bingcai, he thought him timid and pathetic, like a lump of mud that couldn’t be helped up against a wall. Wanting to give this man something to do to prevent him from causing trouble outside, it was just right that this man wanted to learn the skills of the Shadow Guard, so he was thrown into the Shadow Guard Camp.

Like the time someone had grabbed Lian Bingcai before, fortunately, Lian Bingcheng was guarding against it and didn’t mention anything about Lian Hua; otherwise, Lian Bingcai would surely have sold out his Little Concubine completely, and it would have been difficult to manage things afterward.

After all, Lian Bingcai was a relative of his Little Concubine. If he found out where the Little Concubine was, he would surely cause trouble and mess things up under some pretense, implicating his Little Concubine. It would be better to let him train with Hu Miaomiao for a while, not expecting him to achieve greatness, but at least to learn some restraint.

Now, there’s been no further commotion outside the residence involved in the setup and Qiankun Residence, and the group that wanted to capture Lian Bingcheng had disappeared without a trace.

After considering, the Emperor thought it was no solution to continue like this and had Hu Miaomiao relocate Lian Bingcheng and his wife to an ordinary residence, while secretly protecting them.

Lian Bingcheng wanted to come and go as he pleased, to return to his normal life, but fearing unforeseen complications, he adamantly refused to go out again, staying in his home every day just as before.

The Emperor sighed inwardly and put the matter out of his mind, looking down at the minister who was bowing his head below, his face expressionless as he asserted his authority, "My ministers, how can you make arbitrary assertions without knowing the full picture? This is the original exam manuscript of the clubfooted candidate submitted by Taiyuan Prefecture. Take a look at it."

With that, he motioned for the Young Eunuch to hand the manuscript, which he held, down to the officials below to be passed around.

His Majesty seemed to be not intending to blame anyone for the earlier dispute, and the ministers from both the opposing faction and the supportive faction let out a sigh of relief.

The first minister to get the manuscript, who had been somewhat dismissive at first, just a scholar’s essay after all, what good could it possibly be, decided to look at it nonetheless, curious to know the quality of the writing.

He flipped it open and glanced randomly, gradually becoming mesmerized as he read, his expression growing increasingly excited as he exclaimed repeatedly, "Brilliant, brilliant! Can it really be like this?"

Hearing this, the person next to him leaned in to take a look, and after observing, they too began to echo the sentiment, even engaging in discussions about the more ingenious parts.

Thus, the opposing faction and the supportive faction’s ministers all crowded together, craning their necks to look at the exam response.

Two ministers of the opposing faction immediately forgot what they had previously said and praised the candidate loudly, saying such a talent deserved to be at the top.

Someone asked the Minister of Punishment if this person was one of his disciples, to which the minister shook his head to say no, but then he changed his mind and said maybe in the future.

Others mockingly laughed at the Minister of Punishment for lacking shame, but in their hearts, they were also intrigued, all wanting to meet this person. If he truly lived up to his reputation, they too might...

The direct and straightforward minister from the Ministry of War, a robust and tall figure, was curious to see the group of civil officials eagerly vying to get a look at a single answer sheet, so he squeezed his way through, shoving the elderly Minister of Rites aside with his long arms and legs, and directly snatched up the manuscript.

The outraged Minister of Rites cursed the impudent lad for his impoliteness.

After grabbing the manuscript, the Ministry of War official glanced at it and shouted loudly to his colleagues, "This cripple’s handwriting is damn fine; come take a look."

Thus, the examination papers were passed into the hands of the Ministry of War, leaving the other civil officials fuming and cursing, yet powerless to do anything.

As the papers were being reviewed below, the Emperor just opened Grand Tutor’s defense of Chen Bian to read, and after finishing it, he had a clear idea in mind.

Amid this raging storm, the Grand Tutor still dared to vouch for this person. Since that’s the case, let’s proceed as the Grand Tutor suggested.

When those below had almost finished reading, the Emperor spoke up, "Judging from his writing, this person indeed possesses extraordinary talent. The current dispute over Taiyuan Prefecture’s prefectural examination concerns whether he truly has genuine knowledge and talent. Why not summon him to Capital City, set up an examination outside the Imperial Academy under everybody’s watchful eyes, have the Ministry of Rites set the questions, and let this person retake the exam? Do any of you ministers have objections?"

The ministers below unanimously hailed, "His Majesty is wise."

Before seeing the essay, they might have debated, arguing that the exam should be held in Taiyuan Prefecture to settle the scholars’ unrest there.

After reading the essay, however, they simply thought His Majesty’s arrangement was quite ingenious. They were really curious to see what this physically disabled but determined scholar looked like and what kind of essay he could produce when the time came. Of course, it was best to conduct the examination outside the Imperial Academy, where they could see it for themselves. If possible...

With these thoughts, they began to guard against each other. The potential shown by this disabled scholar might bring him great fortune in the future, and whoever could recruit him first as a disciple might make a lasting mark in history through this scholar.

The Grand Tutor almost gained the upper hand; luckily, he now had to avoid suspicion, fortunate indeed.

Seeing no objections from the courtiers, the Emperor continued, "If, after the exam, it is proven that this person indeed has talent, we shall post his examination papers in every provincial capital, declaring that the scholars who jointly petitioned from Taiyuan Prefecture spread rumors and slander without cause; they should be stripped of their academic titles, and banned from participating in imperial examinations for twenty years."

"Your Majesty, this may not be appropriate..." A minister still in his right mind immediately felt this was unfair and began to object.

This punishment would deny the petitioning scholars their most precious twenty years of eligibility for the civil service exams, effectively ending their prospects; it was a devastating blow to any devoted scholar and would discourage others from raising their voices against injustices, which was not in the Imperial Court’s interest.

The Emperor raised his hand to silence the ministers: "If this person’s talent is insufficient and fails to convince the public, then we shall comply with the request of the scholars from Taiyuan Prefecture for a reexamination, strip him of his academic titles, ban him and his family for three generations from taking the imperial examinations, and investigate the Grand Tutor for dereliction of duty and exam fraud. If it is proven that the Grand Tutor was involved in any fraud, he shall be punished according to the law, along with this person."

At these words, a chill ran through everyone, and the hall fell silent.

This was indeed fair. The decisions made by His Majesty did not favor anyone, not even protecting the Emperor’s teacher; it was handled as it should be, and they could say nothing against it.

Moreover, His Majesty’s punishment for the disabled scholar was much harsher than for the scholars who jointly petitioned. If they still complained, it would show a lack of gratitude...

His Majesty’s decision could not be faulted, as it upheld justice of the Imperial Court and broadcasted to the world His Majesty’s stance on the imperial examination. Even the Emperor’s teacher received no special treatment in matters of the imperial examination; from now on, anyone thinking of cheating must weigh their options carefully, as no one could save those found guilty of fraud.

In this affair, it will become evident who is guilty. If those petitioning scholars had solid evidence, they could stand firm; otherwise, they could only hope that the disabled scholar was indeed in collusion with the Grand Tutor, lacking true talent, or that he would underperform during the exam.

The scholars of old were never easy to deal with. In past imperial examinations, there were always some who caused trouble. After this incident, if anyone tried to instigate trouble based on speculation, they would have to consider if they could endure the punishment of ruin and a career with no