Prime Minister

Chapter 88.087 [The Universe is Bright and Clear] (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader "A C_")
Although Sun Yan was extremely anxious at this moment, he had not completely lost his mind. Of course, he knew Yue Zhongming's intentions.

Despite his righteous appearance, if he were to investigate the matter of the smuggled scrolls, Sun Yan could easily guess that he would be implicated in the end, and the next person to be implicated would be the Vice Minister Ouyang Hui.

Yue Zhongming was ambitious and had been suppressed by Ning Hengzhi for many years. If Shen Wang hadn't brought down Xue Minglun, he would never have had the chance to be promoted to Vice Minister of Rites.

Now that he has gained power, how could he possibly let things rest?

However, Sun Yan could not refuse. He had acted too fairly and decisively when Xue Huai pointed out that the five answer sheets were suspected of being obtained through bribery. If he refused Yue Zhongming now, wouldn't that be an obvious sign that he had something to hide?
Although the examiners in the Zhigong Hall are young, their voices should not be ignored. If they were to make a few pronouncements outside, Sun Yan's decades of accumulated reputation would vanish.

In the chilling silence, Sun Yan looked around and found that Gao Tingbi and his confidants all had their heads bowed. Clearly, these people also understood Yue Zhongming's plan, but they did not have the courage to stand up and face the vice president directly. After all, they had already witnessed Yue Zhongming's domineering and powerful manner in the Ministry of Rites.

"Young Master Zong, I have something to say."

At that moment, Sun Yan heard that clear voice that had put him in such a difficult situation again. He couldn't help but look up, and anger began to gather in the depths of his eyes.

Now that things have come to this, how could he not understand that Xue Huai had already reached some kind of secret cooperation with Yue Zhongming?

This man pretended to be persuaded by Gao Tingbi, ostensibly investigating Liu Yu and others' weaknesses, but in reality, he only wanted to gain Gao's trust so that he could enter the copying office to search for those ink scrolls.

In short, Xue Huai's so-called "newly risen nobles," "pure heart," and "irreconcilable enmity with the Ning Party" were all a facade. He had long since become a lackey of the Ning Party, using his reputation for integrity built up over the years to deceive others, and then, at the most crucial moment, delivered a fatal blow to Sun Yan and Ouyang Hui.

Sun Yan was filled with regret. He had lived for nearly sixty years and spent almost forty years in the political arena, yet he had been so blind that he tried to use Xue Huai as a weapon but ended up having his arm cut off!

His feelings were extremely complicated. On the one hand, he felt that this was not his problem. Even the Emperor, Shen Wang, and Ouyang Hui had not seen through Xue Huai's true colors, so what could he do?

On the other hand, he was furious. Although he had been stabbed in the back by Xue Huai, Sun Yan would not act rashly. At least he had made some arrangements in advance. As long as Yue Zhongming was not allowed to interfere, it would be difficult to trace the matter of cutting the scroll back to him.

Sun Yan silently decided that once the imperial examination was over, he would do everything in his power to take revenge on this young scholar.

He stared coldly at Xue Huai, waiting for the other to continue saying things that were detrimental to him.

Although Yue Zhongming disliked Xue Huai interrupting, the cooperation between the two sides was beginning to show results, and he was not so petty as to lack even this much magnanimity. Therefore, he softened his tone and said, "Xue, please speak freely."

Xue Huai calmly said, "Young Master of Ceremonies, according to the regulations of the Imperial Examinations, the matter of cutting up examination papers is unrelated to the inner curtain. The papers sent to the inner curtain are already transcribed. If there really was a case of cutting up examination papers, shouldn't this matter be thoroughly investigated by Chief Censor Fan?"

Yue Zhongming choked, and his face visibly turned ugly.

Fan Dongyang then said, "Xue Shidu is right. If the matter of cutting the scroll is true, then it is my responsibility. I will thoroughly investigate the officials responsible for sealing it."

He was not only the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, but also the supervisor of this year's spring imperial examination, in charge of all matters related to the outer curtain.

Yue Zhongming was immediately speechless.

Xue Huai's reasoning was reasonable; he couldn't very well publicly suspect Fan Dongyang of cheating as well.

Yue Zhongming could confront Sun Yan head-on, even using the pretext of righteousness to corner him, because he knew that Sun Yan's backer was the Second Grand Secretary Ouyang Hui, while his backer was the Grand Secretary Ning Hengzhi. The so-called chief and deputy examiners could not eliminate the gap between the two.

However, Fan Dongyang's backer was in the palace...

Yue Zhongming felt utterly powerless.

He was puzzled and resentful of Xue Huai's interference. Originally, the situation was developing exactly as he wished. As long as he forced Sun Yan to agree in public, he could use the matter of cutting the examination papers to make it impossible for Sun Yan to get away. After all, he did not place all his hopes on Xue Huai. His men were in the examination hall keeping an eye on those strange details.

Otherwise, how would he know that Sun Yan might arrange for someone to switch the ink scroll?
After a moment's thought, even though he was reluctant, Yue Zhongming could only mutter, "Then I'll have to trouble Chief Censor Fan."

"It's just part of my job, why talk about how hard it is?"

Fan Dongyang spoke in a calm tone, then looked at Sun Yan and asked, "What is your opinion, Your Excellency?"

Sun Yan has been on the rise and fall of the tide lately, and he has to admit that he simply cannot understand this young man, Xue Huai.

He had just hated Xue Huai intensely and was thinking about how to deal with this kid in the future, but he didn't expect that Xue Huai would not only not help him, but would instead hold Yue Zhongming back.

For him, the situation has not completely deteriorated yet.

Fan Dongyang was indeed strict in his dealings, but he always considered the overall situation; otherwise, he could not have become a trusted advisor to the emperor.

The so-called "big picture" meant that before the emperor made a decision, the second-in-command, Ouyang Hui, could not fall; otherwise, the cabinet would become a one-man show run by Ning Hengzhi.

Under this premise, even if Fan Dongyang thoroughly investigates the matter of the missing documents, he won't directly implicate Sun Yan. Therefore, Sun Yan nodded slightly and said, "It is only right that Vice Minister Fan should preside over the investigation."

At this moment, his tone calmed down considerably, and his eyes regained their clarity. However, when he glanced at Xue Huai, he felt a complex mix of emotions.

Fan Dongyang made a move to leave his seat, but Xue Huai immediately said, "Chief Censor Fan, we are having a closed-door meeting in the Zhigong Hall today, and no one is allowed to leave without permission. Therefore, the people outside will not know what is happening here. I would like to ask you to stay for a while longer."

Fan Dongyang sat calmly, increasingly approving of the young official.

Although he didn't say much, he was well aware of the undercurrents between Sun Yan and Yue Zhongming, and guessed that Sun Yan was probably involved in the dismantling of the scroll.

In fact, he thought Xue Huai would be straightforward and direct, pointing the finger at Sun Yan. He was also prepared to quell the situation. After all, before entering the examination hall, the emperor had specifically instructed him to resolve minor issues within the examination hall as much as possible, and not to affect the normal progress of the imperial examination unless there was widespread cheating that shook the foundation of the country.

Unexpectedly, Xue Huaiyuan was more astute than he had anticipated. His humble yet assertive words to Yue Zhongming provided the only balance, preventing the situation from spiraling out of control.

Therefore, Fan Dongyang looked at Xue Huai gently and nodded, saying, "Okay."

Xue Huai bowed his head in greeting, then looked again at the stacks of answer sheets on the table.

Upon seeing his action, the other examiners couldn't help but become secretly wary, and some even thought helplessly to themselves, "Here we go again, when will this Xue Jingche stop causing trouble!"

Xue Huai had no time to speculate on these people's thoughts. He took out six or seven answer sheets and said, "Grand Secretary, Junior Minister of the Imperial Academy, because of the previous five answer sheets, I kept a close eye on them. Over the past ten days or so, I and the Compiler Gao have been secretly checking those mediocre recommendation sheets and found that these sheets are also suspicious."

Gao Tingbi didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.

He solemnly assured Sun Yan that he and Xue Huai had already found something to hold against Liu Yu and the others, and were just waiting for Xue Huai to openly make trouble during today's meeting. However, Xue Huai first exposed himself, and then almost made Sun Yan lose face.

Sun Yan, however, was calmer than Gao Tingbi. He glanced coldly at Yue Zhongming, no longer bothering to conceal his true intentions, and then said to Xue Huai, "If there is suspicion, we must investigate! Since so many suspicious points have emerged today, we certainly cannot sit idly by and allow those candidates who have colluded in private to be openly included in the list of successful candidates!"

Xue Huai replied, "I will obey the Grand Secretary's order."

The next moment, he turned to Liu Yu and said, "Editor Liu, can you explain to everyone why you are among those five recommendation papers, and why you left your mark on these recommendation papers? Why were these papers of varying quality able to receive your recommendation? Why are there suspicions of favoritism in these papers?"

A series of not-so-enthusiastic questions pierced Liu Yu's chest like countless sharp arrows, leaving him pale and speechless.

"Xue Shidu!"

Yue Zhongming's authoritative voice suddenly rang out.

Xue Huai turned his head and looked over, saying expressionlessly, "What advice does the Junior Minister have for me?"

Yue Zhongming was solemn. Now he finally understood that Xue Huai had never intended to cooperate with him. This boy treated all those who showed favoritism indiscriminately, including himself!
Even though he had a thousand words in his heart, Yue Zhongming didn't know how to continue. After all, he had been so righteous and awe-inspiring before, which everyone had seen. Did he have to change his attitude now that Xue Huai was pointing at Liu Yu?
If only a few examiners were present, it wouldn't be so bad, but Sun Yan and Fan Dongyang were also there, and the two of them would certainly not allow him to go his own way.

Seeing that Yue Zhongming was speechless, Liu Yu could only say in a trembling voice, "Reader Xue, I really didn't know that these recommendation papers were suspected of being manipulated."

"Then please give your fair judgment."

To Yue Zhongming and Liu Yu's surprise, Xue Huai did not pursue the matter relentlessly. Under everyone's gaze, he gathered together all the answer sheets he had raised as suspicious, and after a moment of silence, said, "I, Xue, am but a humble and inexperienced person, far inferior to you all. However, I believe that the imperial examination is for the court to select talent, and it is also a sacred place in the hearts of scholars throughout the land. As examiners, if we cannot even guarantee the most basic fairness, how can we live up to His Majesty's trust, how can we live up to the expectations of the scholars, how can we... live up to our own conscience?"

"I, Xue, am not talented, but I humbly request the two chief examiners and all colleagues to investigate these answer sheets suspected of being fraudulent and reject them, and select those candidates who truly submitted excellent answers based on their own abilities."

"With the outstanding achievements of the Gengchen examination as a precedent, the Guiwei examination should follow suit!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xue Huai faced the crowd and bowed.

The whole house was silent.

Sun Yan remained silent, while Yue Zhongming looked dejected.

Fan Dongyang stared intently at Xue Huai, and suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes filled with admiration and respect.

……

……

(Three chapters today, plus one extra chapter. Originally 11 chapters owed, now 10 chapters are owed.)
(End of this chapter)