Chapter 54.4

Chapter 54.4

There was another war on the border, but it was unusually cold last winter. And even the spring came slowly, so the food couldnt keep up with the armys consumption, and the battle was tough. I heard that they were going to make peace with the Huns and that the Hun envoys would arrive at the capital before long.

When I was drinking with a few friends in private, everyone said that the Huns would send their Prince to discuss peace between the two countries, so His Majesty would surely send a Prince to greet them. Although none of the princes have been nominated to become the Crown Prince, when the time comes, Im sure that the Crown Prince would be the one whom His Majesty chooses to send down.

Lin Shiheng, who had always been calm, gently took a step slightly to the side. Where did this news come from?

I dont know, in any case, according to what was said, right now almost all the courtiers are saying the same thing, so I guess it must be so. After all, although we have fought with the Huns several times and their country is also considered our enemy, this time its to discuss a peace treaty, so the necessary etiquette must not be done carelessly. Since the Huns have sent a prince, our country will naturally also send a prince to welcome them.

Or so Zhao He said, but he still felt a bit uneasy, so he went to his friend and asked, Brother Lin, do you see anything wrong?

Not really.

Lin Shiheng smiled. I just think the rumors started too fast.

Sigh, Brother Lin always calls in sick, so naturally you wouldnt know. When I hadnt been elected yet, I thought that all the ministers of the court were serious people, but when I finally entered the Hanlin Academy, I realized that we are all the same.

Zhao He had always known that Lin Shiheng was meticulous, so he was relieved when the other had said there was nothing wrong with it. Zhao He then continued, By the way, I also met Hu Chuan last time. It was really strange that he didnt go back to his hometown even though he didnt pass the exam. Instead, he bought a mansion in the capital city, and when he saw me, he even looked quite smug. It is obvious that Im an official now while he is only a citizen, so what did he have to be so proud of?

Lin Shiheng naturally knew why Hu Chuan was proud.

The prince he followed was the Third Prince, and now the First and Second Princes have been successively removed from the race, it is the Third Prince who now has the greatest chance of ascending the throne.

Compared with a small official who had only just joined the Imperial Academy, if the Prince he followed became the Crown Prince or even the Emperor, well, how could Hu Chuan not become excited or proud?

As soon as the First Prince and the Second Prince fell from power and influence, many people, who wanted to make contributions to the new dragon, started to set their eyes on the remaining three Princes. However, the Third Prince has a lot of talented people by his side, while Hu Chuan was a mere Juren So how much exactly could he help the Third Prince?

It depends. But it wont be long before he would become forgotten by the Third Prince.

With his temper though, he may not be willing.

Unwilling to be forgotten and abandoned, then he may do something Hoping to help the Third Prince.

But he was just a small Juren, what could he do?

Naturally, it would be necessary to start with the people around him.

Take the bait.

It turned out to be a slip of the tongue.

He only hated that it was too late for him to discover the truth. And now, even regret couldnt bring Huyang directly back to the palace.

Fortunately, the fuma was in poor health, and he would die before long. When that time comes, he would definitely welcome Huyang back to the palace in style, and then carefully choose a new husband for her!

In the Emperors imagination, everything was beautiful, but he didnt expect that even before he could wait until the fuma could die, the news of his cheating in the imperial examination has already come to light.

He was instantly furious and stared at the impeaching ministers with gloomy eyes for several moments, taking down names and faces before asking, What evidence do you have for this?

Since the man stood up, he had certainly prepared evidence.

He immediately presented Lin Shihengs ranking and articles when the other was a scholar and Juren.

It could be said that Fumas previous writing style was not bad, but it was only average, so how could he write such a good essay like the one on the exam?

Moreover, he really did find that there was a leak of the questions before the exam, and even caught the names of the officials who were involved and the students who bought the questions.

On the list, Fumas name, Lin Shiheng, was written impressively.

Shen Huan, who was allowed to go to court, frowned as early as when the official who reported this stood up. So when he saw that the man was eloquent and even said that Lin Shiheng should be deprived of the Fumas official position and exiled thousands of miles according to the law, Shen Huan couldnt help but stand up.

Emperor Father, I was taught by the Fuma, he is very talented and a good man, he definitely wouldnt do such dirty things. Begging Emperor Father to please make a thorough investigation.

Contrary to what one might expect from the Emperors anger, he simply read it and tossed it aside, This matter should indeed be treated with caution. It will be discussed later.

He had to first find out whether Fuma really cheated or not, and if he did, at least for now he was still Huyangs Fuma, so he had to suppress this matter. Otherwise, it would definitely affect Huyang and thus affect his plan to make Shen Huan the Crown Prince.

Others might not know what was in the Emperors thoughts, but some of the veteran officials who have been in court for a long time would know that the Emperor was going to stand on the side of Princess Huyangs Fuma and suddenly became silent.

But though they did not speak up, the impeacher, however, refused to let up and insisted on the Emperor immediately disposing of the cheaters, otherwise, it would be unfair to those who had been suppressed, who were obviously gifted with real talent.

This group of old ministers was almost on their knees.

Everyone knew that this kind of thing must be investigated, but the Emperor has made it clear that he wanted to discuss it later, yet this man was still questioning like this. Didnt this mean he simply wanted to annoy the Emperor?

Whats more, it also involved the fuma, which was a royal household affair, especially since Princess Huyang was the elder sister of the Fifth Prince! The Fifth Prince had recently become favored! These other ministered didnt know where this rookie came from, so they rushed up.