Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 46 He has the demeanor of an emperor

Kunning Palace.

Zhu Qizhen came in and looked up to see the dowager sitting back on a chair. Her long hair fell to her waist, and a palace skirt outlined her elegant figure. Her temperament was dignified and luxurious, and there was a hint of smile between her eyebrows, which revealed the temperament and charm of a mature woman to the extreme.

The queen stood respectfully aside, her face beautiful and gentle. Her pair of bright peach blossom eyes were wide open. She blinked at Zhu Qizhen, seeming very happy.

"Youth pays respects to your mother!" Zhu Qizhen bowed respectfully.

"Sit down." The queen mother's beautiful face revealed a cold charm, "You don't have to secretly call the queen over in the future. Since she is the queen, it is her duty to sleep with you. However, the other concubines have to copy scriptures and pray for the soldiers, so they can't go."

Zhu Qizhen was secretly shocked, but on the surface he bowed and said, "My son will obey my mother."

The queen happily came behind him and exclaimed softly, "Your Majesty, your mother is open-minded. We have wronged her before."

Zhu Qizhen groaned in his heart.

This silly queen didn't know that she had become the queen mother's abandoned child. How could the queen mother allow the queen to sleep with the emperor when she knew that the emperor was a fake?

However, the queen and the fake emperor were already in collusion, so she just went with the flow and pushed the queen over. Then, the queen was abandoned and her life might even be in danger.

Zhu Qizhen only wanted temporary pleasure from the queen and had no deep feelings for her.

"Your Majesty, I heard that something went wrong in the Spring Examination?" the Queen Mother asked calmly.

"There are indeed some problems." Zhu Qizhen smiled slightly, "But my son is confident that he can solve them."

"Very good!" The Queen Mother nodded. "I look forward to hearing good news from your Majesty. The Spring Examination is a major event for the court. You should be aware of its importance. If your Majesty does something wrong, you will have to bear the consequences."

A smile flashed across Zhu Qizhen's lips.

Is the Queen Mother making this clear? Threatening me? The worst that can happen is that I won't be able to rule the country. I am not afraid of those who wear shoes even if I am barefoot.

……

In front of the Ministry of Rites Examination Hall.

The examinees gathered because His Majesty summoned them to give everyone an explanation about the matter of Minister Hu selling the exam questions. Zhu Qizhen, wearing a yellow dragon robe, walked out of the Imperial Examination Hall, and everyone bowed in unison: "Your Majesty!"

Zhu Qizhen looked friendly and raised his hand: "Sit down, I will have a good chat with you today."

He sat down on a chair above the steps, waved his hand, and the students sat on the ground. He glanced around and shouted, "Bring the people up."

The Jinyiwei brought Wang Qizhi to the bottom of the stairs. Wang Qizhi was terrified. When he saw the emperor, he immediately knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, help me, please save my family."

All the candidates were shocked. Who wanted to kill Wang Qi's family? Could it be Hu Yi? But wasn't he already imprisoned in the Jinyiwei prison?
"Wang Qizhi, tell the truth in front of all the candidates." Zhu Qizhen said coldly. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" Wang Qizhi turned around and said loudly to the candidates, "I didn't buy the test questions from Minister Hu. It was the housekeeper of the Chengguo Mansion who gave me the test questions. But I didn't expect that after I passed the exam, he asked me to frame Minister Hu. If I didn't do what he said, he would kill my whole family. I did what they said, but he still didn't let me go. If the Jinyiwei hadn't arrived in time, my whole family would have been killed by them last night... I..."

He described in detail how he framed Hu Yi, and all the candidates were shocked. However, some still did not believe it, thinking that Wang Qizhi must have been coerced.

"Everyone, this matter is actually very easy to distinguish." Zhu Qizhen said loudly, "Selling exam questions in the imperial examination is punishable by death. To do so, there must be a huge profit motive. But Hu Yi is almost eighty years old. What does he want? He has fame, wealth and power!"

"But what does the steward of the Duke Cheng's Mansion want?" someone asked.

"That's a good question!" Zhu Qizhen spread his hands, "I want to know too. There have been a lot of rumors recently, and I'm already doing my best to investigate."

He sighed appropriately, looking very embarrassed. All the examinees understood instantly, why did His Majesty arrest and kill Shen Gu before the Spring Examination?
As for the granary case, there was a rumor at that time that the official grain stolen by Shen Gu went into the three major rice shops in the capital, and behind the three major rice shops were Duke Chengguo and the empress dowager's brother Sun Xianzhong.

"I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. You may all think that I am omnipotent." Zhu Qizhen smiled bitterly and shook his head. "That's not the case. Forget it. Let's not talk about it."

……

The candidates believed what Wang Qizhi said, but another candidate stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the exam is unfair. The old Hanlin also said that even if we are lucky enough to pass the exam, we will only be able to copy and write, and there will be no way out."

The candidates present all thought so and agreed. At this time, Yu Qian and four of his disciples came over, as they were worried about His Majesty.

They were about to go forward, but they saw Zhu Qizhen stand up from his chair, walk to the steps and sit down, appearing closer to the examinees. He spread his hands and said, "Let me tell you a story. There was a family whose ancestors had never produced a scholar. In this generation, the father decided to let his two sons study and take the imperial examination..."

Finally, it was the spring examination time, and the two brothers went to take the exam at the same time. The two daughters-in-law followed their mother-in-law at home to steam wine and boil sugar, cook dishes, and wait for them to pass the exam. Then they would hold a banquet and entertain relatives and friends. The mother-in-law and daughters-in-law were so busy that they were sweating profusely.

Suddenly, the good news came that the eldest son passed the imperial examination. The mother-in-law said to the eldest daughter-in-law with joy, "Good daughter-in-law, your husband passed the imperial examination. Go out and cool off." The eldest daughter-in-law took off her apron and went outside to cool off. But the younger daughter-in-law couldn't rest. She was busy and crying. After a while, another good news came that the younger son also passed the imperial examination.

"The young daughter-in-law didn't wait for her mother-in-law to call her, she threw down the spatula, took off her apron, and shouted, 'I'm going outside to cool down, too.'" Zhu Qizhen said with a smile, "It's getting hot, I think your daughters-in-law are all at home, waiting to cool down, right?"

After hearing this, all the candidates burst into laughter.

Yu Qian, who was standing not far away, was surprised to see that His Majesty had easily solved the problem of the candidates boycotting the exam with just one story. His Majesty did not preach to the candidates. The story contained eight words: parents' expectations and wives' waiting.

After hearing this story, the students' resentment naturally disappeared. Zhu Qizhen sighed and said, "After ten years of studying hard, you finally get admitted. How great it is! I believe you will not give up!"

He paused and said in a deep voice: "As for the problems you mentioned about the imperial examinations and the future of poor students, I tell you that I am also working hard! I hope that you will enter the court in the future and work hard with me!"

After hearing these words, the candidates' eyes were filled with tears.

Yu Qian looked at Zhu Qizhen sitting on the steps and whispered to himself, "He actually has the demeanor of an emperor!"

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(End of this chapter)