Xiao Jingye stood up and said, "Mr. Liu, Shangguan is unhappy with your private affairs, please let me not talk about it for now. Today we are here for the court and the country."

Liu Chaotong's face turned blue with anger, glared at Shangguan with an unhappy look, and then sat down.

Shangguan was unhappy and confused: Come for the imperial court?

Xiao Jingye looked at Shangguan’s unhappy and said calmly: “Shangguan’s unhappy. If you tell me your crimes together, I can also ask Your Majesty to reduce your crimes because of your voluntary confession. If you are stubborn, I will punish your great sins!”

"My crime?" Shangguan Biaoyue thrust his chest and said confidently: "Xiao Xiang, have you made a mistake? In our Great Zhou court, there are absolutely no three people who are more honest and diligent than me Shangguan Biaoyue. Why am I guilty?"

"Of course, Lord Liu's concubine and I were just a small misunderstanding." Shangguan Buyue added.

Hearing this, Liu Chaotong suddenly stood up, picked up a stool and was about to smash it at Shangguan Buyue.

Xiao Jingye, who was standing beside him, quickly stopped him and said, "Do the main business first, do the main business first."

"Shangguan is not happy. As the deputy examiner of this imperial examination, you have been greedy in the name of the imperial examination. In the name of the Ministry of Rites, Cai You, and put talented candidates out of the list and put people without virtue on the list. Is this kind of behavior worthy of the people of the world and the cultivation of your Majesty for you?"

"You are still in vain. Do you know how difficult it is for a scholar to take the imperial examination? I am really ashamed of you!"

Liu Chaotong said angrily, holding the bench.

Xiao Jingye was observing Shangguan’s unjust expression. He still couldn’t believe that Shangguan’s unjust can do such a miserable thing for money.

Shangguan Buyue was stunned when he heard this. He immediately rolled up the sleeves of his arms, stared at Liu Chaotong and said, "Liu Chaotong, you fart!"

"I respect you as the deputy prime minister and have always treated you with courtesy. You dare to swear blood today. I, Shangguan Unhappy, do greedy things in the name of imperial examinations. If you can't produce evidence today, let's go and meet the saint!" Shangguan Unhappy's voice also became louder. When it comes to quarrels, he has never been afraid of anyone in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

Liu Chaotong sighed and said, "It seems that you won't cry until you see the coffin. Today I will let you die and understand."

"Although I am one of the general evaluation officers of the imperial examination papers and do not need to evaluate the candidate's papers, I accidentally saw a candidate's paper, and his poems were very good. After opening his strategy, I found that his writing was also extraordinary and must be very consistent with His Majesty's taste. So I personally reviewed the test paper."

"After reading the top 20 files selected so far, I found that there was no file for the candidate. Based on the results given to him by the official, he was definitely among the top 10, although he handed in the blank papers for his posts."

"If something strange happened in the exam room, who else can do that except you and Cai You?"

When he heard that the scriptures had handed in the blank paper, Shangguan was unhappy and understood it was a bit clearer. It turned out that the test paper that His Majesty secretly had been discovered.

"Is the test paper the number of Tianjia Bingzi? Shangguan asked unhappily.

"Yes, you remember so clearly, are you admitting that you are greedy? Your Majesty has really misread someone, alas!" Liu Chaotong sighed and said.

"Hahahaha..." Shangguan Buyue glanced at the two of them and suddenly burst into laughter.

Xiao Jingye and Liu Chaotong were both startled, then quickly took a few steps and grabbed the object beside them.

They vaguely felt that Shangguan was unhappy and might be silenced later. After all, this was his home.

Shangguan smiled so hard that he covered his stomach, and then asked, "Do you know who the candidate is?"

Before the two of them could speak, Shangguan was unhappy and said, "That's our Emperor, and everything was done by him."

Immediately, Shangguan unhappy told him everything that Zhao Yan had told him, Xiao Jingye and Liu Chaotong.

Xiao Jingye's face turned red and said, "It turns out that it was His Majesty who did it. We misunderstood Lord Shangguan. His Majesty has always been fun and it is not advisable to promote this matter. Just go through it like this, just pretend that I have never been here."

If it were placed on the late emperor, Xiao Jingye and others would definitely force the emperor to apologize on the grounds that the emperor did not respect the law.

Because in the Great Zhou Dynasty, there is another kind of power that is stronger than imperial power, which is the law of the ancestors.

No one can violate the rules set by his ancestors, but Xiao Jingye is unwilling to pursue Zhao Yan in depth.

After all, this emperor is really outstanding, and the prince of the Great Zhou has not been born yet!

"I suddenly remembered that there are still things to do. Just solve your personal affairs by yourself. Remember, don't lose face as the officials of the Great Zhou."

After saying that, Xiao Jingye looked at Liu Chaotong, who was still carrying a stool, and strode out of Shangguan's mansion.

As the saying goes, things are not about yourself, and they are hanging up, and the next thing is their private affairs. Xiao Jingye is unwilling to judge the two.

He was reluctant to participate in such a messy thing.

Shangguan Buyue turned his face and looked at Liu Chaotong, and said with a smile: "Mr. Liu, since you have restored your innocence, can you put down the stool?"

"Hmph, Shangguan is unhappy, come here quickly. What happened to you and my concubine?"

Shangguan Buyue's old face turned slightly red and told him about this.

In fact, this matter is not complicated, and it is even a very clichéd plot.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, Shangguan Buyue drank a few more glasses of wine, and then met Liu Chaotong's beloved concubine Zi Yan on the street.

Zi Yan performed well in a vendor's riddle guessing activity and frustrated several literati, and Shangguan was unhappy and became interested in it.

Of course, in his own words: I just admire Miss Zi Yan's talent and have no unreasonable thoughts.

Then, Shangguan was unrighteous and went forward to find nothing to say to attract Zi Yan's attention.

But Zi Yan didn't pay much attention to him at all. Shangguan was unhappy and insisted on sending Zi Yan home. Zi Yan couldn't persuade him and had to let him follow him. She thought that when she arrived at the Deputy Prime Minister's Mansion, she would be safe. Then she told herself that she was the concubine of Liu Chao's mansion, and the other party would definitely not dare to disturb her anymore.

As Zi Yan wished, Shangguan was unhappy and apologized repeatedly after learning about his true identity, and then went home.

He thought the matter would end like this, but he never thought that someone on the street who knew Shangguan Buyue and Zi Yan's identity would be seen.

This person is very gossipy, and it was reported on the street that the imperial censor and deputy prime minister Liu Chao and his concubine had an improper relationship.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, I could give it to you at will, so the news did not spread far.

But Shangguan didn't always cherish his feathers. After hearing this, he immediately arrested the man and forbidden others from spreading this false news.

Today, when Shangguan Buyue saw Liu Chaotong, the first thing he thought of was this.

After hearing this, Liu Chaotong believed that Shangguan was unhappy and left immediately.

...

March 14th, dusk.

The files of the eighteen candidates appeared on Zhao Yan's Dragon Case.

Among them, Zhao Yan is quite familiar with three of them, namely Shangguan Wantun from Changdan City, Wu Wenyuan from Hangzhou, and Tang Buyi from Quanzhou.

Zhao Yan's mission tomorrow is to conduct palace examinations on these eighteen people, and then select the first three, namely the top scorer, the second scorer, and the third scorer.

As for the following rankings, the examiners of Jixian Academy are determined based on the test scores.

While tasting tea, Zhao Yan thought about what kind of test questions should be put out to stump these eighteen people.

At this moment, the inns in Changdan City are relatively quiet.

All candidates know that tomorrow is the day of the palace examination, and tonight there will be 18 people picked up by people from Jixian Academy in carriages, and they are among the top 18 in the imperial examination.

The candidates all hope that they can get on the carriage. Even if they can't be the top scorer, the second place, and even if they become the 18th place, their career will surely be smooth in the future.

Just then, someone came: "Tang Buyi from Quanzhou was taken away!"

Immediately afterwards.

"Ren Changyue in Yunzhou was taken away!"

"Liu Jingming from Chuzhou was taken away!"

"Shangguan Yunton Changdan was taken away!"

...

As the news came, the hearts of countless scholars kept rising and falling like waves hitting the reefs.

The people who were picked up were extremely excited, while the people who were left were only hoping that they would not lose their reputation.

The next day, it was dawn.

The above officials were unhappy, and Cai You and Liu Chao were both headed by each other, plus more than 20 officials from Jixian Academy, brought eighteen candidates in the palace examination to Daqing Palace.

The Daqing Palace is the highest embodiment of royal etiquette. Being able to stand here is a lifelong glory for some people.

Shangguan Wanton looked at the candidates around him and found that there was no Yan Zhao, so he couldn't help but be surprised.

"Is Mr. Yan's exam abnormal?" Shangguan Yunton was a little depressed. In his heart, the only thing he could compare with was Yan Zhao.

At this moment, Hangzhou Wu Wenyuan looked around with a proud look on his face and murmured in his heart: "I guess I will preside over the court here in the future!"

The other scholars also looked at everything with curiosity, but more were panic and fear.

Just then, a sharp voice came: Your Majesty is here!

Swish!

Suddenly, everyone knelt on the ground, knocking their foreheads on the ground, and did not dare to make any abnormal movements.

Zhao Yan sat on the dragon throne with a smile on his face and said, "Get up!"

Then, Zhao Yan looked straight at Shangguan Wanton.

The only one who really knows Zhao Yan is the eighteen people here.

After the eighteen scholars stood up, the first thing they did was to see the young emperor, who was known as the wise emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Shangguan Yunton raised his head slightly and looked at Zhao Yan sitting on the dragon throne.

When he saw Zhao Yan's face, he screamed in an instant, and then hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I... I have lost my composure. Please punish me!" Shangguan Yuntun said nervously.

He really didn't expect that the goal he had always wanted to surpass would be His Majesty today.
To be continued...