Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 45: Does the Queen Mother know about the affair between me and the Queen?
Zhu Qizhen did not take Yu Qian out for a drink this time, but went up to the Deshengmen Tower. Standing on the tower, he could see the capital city in and out of blooming flowers.

"It won't be long before people forget that we fought a bloody battle in front of Deshengmen." Zhu Qizhen sighed softly.

"But at least the soldiers will not forget." Yu Qian responded solemnly.

The two leaned on the railing and looked into the distance, each with his own thoughts. Zhu Qizhen did not come here specifically for nostalgia, but just wanted to find a high place to feel the breeze and clear his mind.

Yu Qian was silent for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, Wang Qi's report on Hu Yi's selling of exam questions may be manipulated by someone behind the scenes."

Zhu Qizhen was shocked when he heard this: "You actually knew about this?"

Yu Qian waved to the imperial guards in the distance, and two men came out in response, both wearing armor. Zhu Qizhen took a closer look and recognized one of them as Ding Xiu.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" The two men stepped forward and saluted.

Yu Qian pointed to another young man with a heroic appearance and introduced him: "Your Majesty, this is Zhang Lun, the grandson of the Duke of Ying."

"So it's you. Yu Shaobao once mentioned to me that the grandson of Duke Ying is a young talent who has mastered the swordsmanship." Zhu Qizhen said with a smile, "I am also good at swordsmanship. Why not learn from him someday?"

Zhang Lun was eager to try after hearing this: "Your Majesty, why wait until another day...ah..."

Yu Qian slapped him on the back of the head and glared at him angrily: "How dare you say that? You dare to compete with His Majesty with swords?"

Zhang Lun curled his lips and said nothing. Yu Qian glanced at him and reported to Zhu Qizhen: "Your Majesty, Wang Qizhi, Ding Xiu and Zhang Lun once happened to meet."

Ding Xiu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, when Zhang Lun and I were drinking that day, we ran into the housekeeper of the Duke of Cheng's mansion. He was acting mysteriously, so we followed him. We found him meeting a middle-aged scholar in the alley. The housekeeper was aggressive, slapped the scholar in the face, and threatened him, saying that if he didn't do what he said, his whole family would suffer."

"That middle-aged scholar is Wang Qizhi." Zhang Lun continued, "He is originally from Shuntian Prefecture in the capital. He failed the exams many times, so this year he spent a lot of money to become a disciple of Duke Chengguo."

That's it!

A cold light flashed in Zhu Qizhen's eyes.

The one behind the scenes is Duke Cheng, so his target is not Hu Yi, but me! He wants to mess up this imperial examination so that I can't rule the country.

……

"Your Majesty, the clues in this case are clear and it is not difficult to investigate." Yu Qian frowned slightly, "But it may be difficult to convince the candidates."

Zhu Qizhen thought to himself, how could this be such a coincidence? Yu Qian must have been paying close attention to the Spring Examination, so he was able to quickly find out about Wang Qizhi's affairs. This was very good, as it showed that Yu Qian was gradually moving closer to him.

"Your Excellency Shangshu." At this time, two people came up from downstairs.

It turned out to be Li Bing and Yang Guifang. When they saw Zhu Qizhen, they were startled at first, and then they hurried forward to salute: "Your Majesty."

Zhu Qizhen glanced at the two and thought to himself: You are so good, Yu Qian. You have already known the people you plan to use. Yang Guifang won the first place in this spring exam, and Li Bing ranked fifth. They are all talented.

There is also Zhang Lun, the grandson of Duke Ying, who comes from a family of military commanders and has the potential to become a famous general. And Ding Xiu, who came from the Jinyiwei, is meticulous and will definitely become Yu Qian's right-hand man.

"Your Majesty, something has happened." Yang Guifang frowned, "Some poor students are organizing to boycott the exam to protest against the unfairness of the exam."

"Cancel the exam?" Zhu Qizhen was shocked when he heard this.

"Yes, the leak of the exam questions made them furious." Li Bing added, "At this time, another old Hanlin stood up and claimed that he was the third place winner during the previous emperor's time. Because he had no connections, he had been copying in the Hanlin Academy for more than ten years and never got promoted. Now, those poor students are even more angry and they all said they would boycott the exam!"

Ding Xiu, who was standing by, snorted coldly upon hearing this: "It's obvious that someone is manipulating this behind the scenes again."

Yang Guifang was puzzled: "Again?" Zhang Lun, who was quick-witted, told the story of Wang Qizhi again. After listening, Yang Guifang pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, in fact, this matter is not difficult to solve. We can set up a trap and let Wang Qizhi tell the story himself. This will be the most convincing."

"Oh? How to set up the trap?" Zhu Qizhen asked with a smile.

Yang Guifang then elaborated on his plan, and everyone praised it highly. Zhu Qizhen glanced at Yu Qian and said with a smile, "Yu Shaobao, you are really good at selecting people. The four young masters of the Yu family will surely be pillars of the court in the future."

When Yang Guifang, Li Bing, Zhang Lun and Ding Xiu heard the emperor mention "the Four Young Masters of the Yu Family" in person, their hearts were filled with fiery ambitions.

……

In the mansion of Duke Chengguo.

Sun Xianzhong came to visit Duke Cheng. He was in a good mood and laughed loudly, "Duke, I'm afraid His Majesty is too busy to take care of himself this time. The whole court has witnessed his enthusiasm for this spring exam, but it ended up being a mess. Haha."

"This is just the beginning!" A cold light flashed in Duke Cheng's eyes, "Our goal is to prevent him from ruling the country! In this way, the Queen Mother will naturally stand on our side."

Sun Xianzhong nodded in agreement: "Yes! Yesterday my elder brother hinted to me that as long as this matter is settled, the granary case can be reduced to a small matter or a big matter to nothing."

"Just wait, your majesty is in even bigger trouble." Duke Cheng sneered, "Does he think that killing a minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Shen Gu, can intimidate us? If he messes up the imperial examination, he will be accused of being incompetent, cold-blooded and murderous, and he may even be called a tyrant. This is the most fatal thing. He can forget about ruling the country himself!"

Sun Xianzhong laughed even more heartily: "Hahaha, Your Majesty is still too young."

"However, we cannot let our guard down." Duke Chengguo reminded, "Have everyone below keep a close eye on it, and don't let anything slip through the cracks."

"Don't worry, that old Hanlin is a loyal lackey of our Sun family and he is very obedient." Sun Xianzhong waved his hand, appearing confident.

"Wang Qizhi is also completely under my control." Duke Chengguo looked proud.

The two looked at each other and laughed, with a cunning gleam in their eyes.

……

Qianqing Palace.

After Zhu Qizhen came back, he immediately summoned Shi Biao, the commander of the Jinyiwei. He told Shi Biao about Yang Guifang's suggestion, and Shi Biao praised him: "Your Majesty, it's you who came up with the idea. It's amazing! I'll do it now!"

"Be careful and don't let anyone catch you." Zhu Qizhen advised.

"We, the Jinyiwei, are good at this kind of thing." Shi Biao nodded and left after accepting the order.

Zhu Qizhen raised his lips slightly. He was very optimistic about Yang Guifang. Although she was young, she had good ideas and would definitely be a great talent in the future. She also had a good family background, being the youngest son of Yang Rong.

"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother asks you to come over." The eunuch chief Jin Ying came to the palace.

"My mother finally remembered me." Zhu Qizhen laughed at himself, stood up and walked out of the hall.

Jinying followed him in small steps and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Queen is here too."

Zhu Qizhen was shocked.

Could it be that the Queen Mother knew about the affair with the Queen?
Please give me a vote!

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(End of this chapter)