Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

"You not only dug out this cancer for the Great Yan, but you also protected yourself."

He glanced at the list on the table: "The moment this gets into your hands, you'll become a thorn in the side of some people. Handing it over to me was the right choice."

Hearing this, Lin Yue's last worry was relieved.

His Highness the King of Qin has taken all the risks upon himself.

An impulse to die for a true friend surged within him.

He suddenly remembered his younger sister, Lin Qingyan.

I remembered my sister's adoring and longing eyes.

A thought flashed through his mind.

He mustered his courage and said to Lacey, "Your Highness, I have a request."

"explain."

"My younger sister, Lin Qingyan, has long admired Your Highness."

"She...she participated in the early stages of the investigation into Liang Yuan's case. She was the one who discovered the clue about Wu Jinmo."

Lin Yue's face flushed slightly; he rarely took credit for his family like this.

"My younger sister's birthday is in a few days. I would like to ask Your Highness... if you could spare some time to attend and let her meet the hero in her heart?"

He regretted it as soon as he said it.

His Highness the Prince of Qin is extremely busy with state affairs; how could I possibly trouble him with my own family matters?

Unexpectedly, Lacey laughed after hearing this.

His smile instantly eased the heavy atmosphere in the study.

“That’s a good thing,” Lacey said cheerfully.

"We are colleagues in name only, but in reality, we are close friends. How could I not attend your sister's birthday celebration?"

"Don't worry, I will definitely prepare a generous gift and personally visit you to offer my congratulations."

Lin Yue was both surprised and delighted, so excited that he didn't know what to say: "This humble official... this humble official thanks Your Highness for your grace on behalf of my younger sister!"

“No need for formalities.” Lacey waved her hand, gesturing for him to sit down.

“Now is not the time to be happy.” Lacey’s expression turned serious again.

"We have the evidence, but it's not time to reveal it yet."

Lin Yue asked, "What does Your Highness mean?"

Lai Xi said, "If we take action now and imprison half of the court officials, bringing government affairs to a standstill and plunging the country into chaos, that is exactly what Xun Huiming hopes to see."

"He'd love for us to make a big fuss, to the point that Father Emperor can't handle it."

“At that time, he can jump out and, under the pretext of ‘stabilizing the court,’ accuse me of forming cliques and disrupting the government, and put all the blame on me.”

Lin Yue broke out in a cold sweat; he hadn't expected this.

"So, what does Your Highness intend to do?"

Lacey walked to the window and looked at the deep night outside.

"To kill someone, you must first destroy their spirit."

"To convict them directly based on evidence is too lenient on them."

"I will ruin their reputation and let the whole world see their ugly faces."

"First, destroy them completely in terms of public opinion, and turn them into rats that everyone hates."

"At that time, when this list is brought out again, it won't be me forcing Father to deal with them, but the will of the people forcing Father to deal with them!"

Lacey turned around and smiled.

Lin Yue deeply agreed.

……

Wherever the sun and moon reach, it is scorching earth: Chapter 258: The plan to divert water from the Wen Canal enrages the King of Qin.

The next day, before dawn, Lin Yue hurriedly returned to Dali Temple.

He didn't sleep all night, but his spirits were unusually high.

His Highness the King of Qin's plan kept swirling in his mind, making him feel excited.

Murder and kill!

That's right, to deal with those parasites, we can't let them die too easily!

He summoned Wang Wu and Zhao Si and led them into the deepest secret chamber of the Dali Temple.

"Sir, is there a new mission?" Wang Wu asked, rubbing his hands together with anticipation.

Zhao Si, on the other hand, was much calmer. He noticed Lin Yue's expression and knew that what was about to happen was no small matter.

Lin Yue didn't speak, but took out some of the stolen goods seized last night from a locked iron box.

Several replaced exam papers, and a few pages of copied copies of that deadly list.

Er [Qi Lu Jiu 5 Yin Yi San Ba ​​Liu "Look.

Wang Wu and Zhao Si stepped forward, and their expressions changed completely after just one glance.

"This...this is..." Wang Wu stammered, too shocked to speak from the contents of the document.

Zhao Si gasped in shock: "The cheating in the imperial examinations... has actually reached such a level!"

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Lin Yue said coldly.

"Now, I have a task for you."

"This mission is crucial to the success or failure of the entire plan; it can only succeed, failure is not an option!"

"Please give your orders, sir! We will do anything, even die!" the two replied in unison.

Lin Yue pointed to the papers on the table and issued a series of strange orders.

"Wang Wu, go find some muddy water and soak these exam papers in it."

"Remember, soak it until it's very dirty and rotten, but don't completely destroy the writing on it, especially the cinnabar comments and the priceless calligraphy; they should be barely visible."

"Zhao Si, tear these pages of the directory into pieces, then singe the edges with fire to make them look burned."

"After you're done, you'll personally lead a group to secretly slip these things into the dredging area of ​​the Wen Canal in the east of the city before dawn," Lin Yue said in a low voice.

"Remember, you must do it discreetly, as if these things were already at the bottom of the river, covered in silt, and were only dug out today."

Wang Wu and Zhao Si exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

What is this doing?

The hard-won, irrefutable evidence has been destroyed just like that?

Are you going to throw it into the river?

"My lord, this..." Wang Wu couldn't help but ask.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, just follow orders!" Lin Yue interrupted him.

"Yes!" The two dared not ask any more questions and immediately accepted the order and left.

……

The Wenyun River is an important waterway that flows through the Imperial College and the Baizao Academy.

Because of His Highness Prince Qin's water conservancy project, this once somewhat silted-up river has now become one of the busiest construction sites in the capital.

Thousands of craftsmen and laborers are working hard here to dredge the river and widen the waterway.

On the construction site, in addition to the workers sweating profusely, there were also many onlookers and students on their days off.

As they watched the river become clearer and wider day by day, they showered His Highness the King of Qin with endless praise.

"His Highness the King of Qin is truly a living bodhisattva! If it weren't for him, tens of thousands of us would still be starving at home!"

"Indeed! Look how spacious and well-maintained this waterway is!"

"From now on, our capital city will never have to worry about floods again!"

The students, on the other hand, discussed more refined topics.

"May your literary fortunes soar! May your literary fortunes soar!"

"His Highness the King of Qin's actions not only benefit the country and its people, but also bring a new atmosphere to us scholars!"

Amidst the praise, an accident occurred.

"Hey? I dug something up! It looks like a box!"

A worker who was dredging mud at the bottom of the river suddenly shouted.

His shovel struck something hard, making a dull thud.

The shout immediately attracted everyone's attention.

The foreman rushed over and directed several workers to frantically drag the object, which was buried deep in the mud, out.

It was a rotten wooden box that fell apart as soon as it was taken out of the water.

As the rotten wooden planks crumbled, a pile of things covered in black mud rolled out.

"What the hell is this?"

"It looks like a package of paper, it's all rotten."

People gathered around out of curiosity.

A daring worker reached out and picked up a clump of mud, peeled off the outer mud shell, and revealed a stack of papers stuck together inside.

The paper was swollen and tattered from being soaked, but surprisingly, the writing on it in black ink was still faintly discernible.

"Huh? There are words on this!"

A literate student squeezed in and peered over to examine the text closely.

"Strategies...Classical Interpretations..."

"This...this looks like an imperial examination paper!" he exclaimed in surprise.

These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd.

Imperial examination papers?

How could it have sunk to the bottom of the river?

More students gathered around to help clean up the papers.

Soon, more details were discovered.

"Look! There are cinnabar annotations here!"

“‘The writing is brilliant, but…’ The rest is illegible.”

"And here! These words... are 'priceless calligraphy'!"

"A priceless piece of calligraphy?!"

Everyone present was taken aback.

The recent rumors in Beijing about the sky-high price of calligraphy works have caused quite a stir, and everyone knows about them.

Could it be that these things dug out from the riverbed are related to that rumor?

In the crowd, a young student suddenly turned pale, pointed to a large fragment, and said in a trembling voice:

"This...this handwriting on the paper...I recognize it!"

"It's the handwriting of Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of Rites! I was fortunate enough to see his calligraphy once!"

boom!

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Vice Minister of Rites!

Imperial Examination Papers!