Chapter 417

He was burdened with worries, with Ying Su's figure filling his mind.

This rebellious son has done many things since forcing him to abdicate.

Every matter was incomprehensible at the start, yet felt utterly correct by the end.

He said he would destroy the Xiongnu, and indeed he destroyed them; he said he would resolve the noble families' issues, and indeed he resolved them.

Now he has concocted this imperial examination; what is he trying to do?

Ying Zheng was very curious.

If it were before, he would absolutely have considered the imperial examination unfeasible.

The reason was simple: those qualified to take the exam were people with money and leisure, their composition basically consisting of scholars, officials, and nobles.

And there were only so many nobles and officials; among them, any particularly outstanding individuals would have been discovered long ago and recommended directly—was an exam even necessary?

203. The Pingyang City Murder Case

In the past, how many generations of Great Qin Emperors selected talent not by recommendation?

People like Li Si and Shang Yang never underwent an exam.

Furthermore, take the people under Ying Su himself; starting from Li Yuanba, there were also Zhuge Liang and Xiao He and others. Which of these fierce generals was discovered through an exam?

So there was absolutely no need for an exam!

However, Ying Zheng's thoughts had changed now.

Although he could not fathom the use of the imperial examination, he believed Ying Su must have his reasons for doing so.

There was no other reason; it was simply because every decision Ying Su had made previously had ultimately been proven correct!

In the palace, three people stood before Ying Su.

One wore white robes like snow, one was thin and small, and the other had a medium build with a slightly round face, his two mustache hairs above his mouth exactly matching his eyebrows.

These three were fierce generals Ying Su had just drawn from the system.

Lu Xiaofeng, Ximen Chuixue, and Sikong Zhai Xing!

The appearance of these three made Ying Su both surprised and delighted.

Last time he had drawn Lu Zhishen and Qiao Feng as personal bodyguards; unexpectedly, this time he had drawn martial arts experts again.

Looking at these people before him, Ying Su very much wanted Ximen Chuixue to strike Lu Xiaofeng with a sword, to see if Lu Xiaofeng's Spirit Finger could catch the Sword God's blade!

But in the end, he suppressed this thought.

He would feel heartache if either of these two got hurt.

"You stay in the palace for now; I will arrange work for you in a few days," Ying Su said.

"Yes!"

Lu Xiaofeng and the others replied in unison.

Ying Su already had two great experts, Qiao Feng and Lu Zhishen, as bodyguards.

Besides, Lu Xiaofeng and the other three were not suitable to be bodyguards.

Sending them to serve in the army also seemed inappropriate.

So Ying Su planned to arrange tasks for them after some time.

After all, for him, the more talent the better.

No matter what kind of talent, it would eventually be useful.

Pingyang City, night.

Although it was not late night, there were hardly any people on the streets at this hour.

Lanterns hung at the entrances of some shops along the street, their dim light shining on the bluestone pavement.

It had just rained a little; the ground was somewhat slippery, and the air was extremely fresh.

A Young Master, supported by his steward, staggered toward the carriage by the roadside.

If the shop owners had not been closing up, he would not have been willing to go home.

Arriving by the carriage, the steward lifted the carriage curtain and was about to help the Young Master aboard.

At that moment, a flash of cold light appeared, and the Young Master's body shuddered.

Then a black shadow was seen darting out from the carriage, quickly vanishing into the night.

The steward froze.

He felt the Young Master falling to the ground and only then realized a life had been taken.

He reached out to touch the Young Master's body; it was wet and hot—it was blood!

"Murder... Help!" the steward shouted loudly.

The cries traveled very far through the night.

Many people nearby heard them.

After a while, the tavern door opened.

Several shop assistants approached cautiously to investigate.

But by then the murderer had already left, and the stabbed Young Master was already dead.

After another while, the nearby patrol unit arrived upon hearing the news.

After listening to the steward's account, the patrol unit immediately chased in the direction the black-clad man had fled.

By the next day, the entire Pingyang City knew about the murder.

The murdered Young Master was from a wealthy family; although not top-ranked in Pingyang, he could be called a second-tier family.

The murder of a Young Master from such a family could be called a major incident.

The Pingyang Commandant immediately ordered an investigation.

But more than ten days passed without any valuable leads, and instead, Pingyang was thrown into a state of panic.

Because all sorts of rumors were flying everywhere; some said Young Master Xu's rival killed him, while others claimed it was Xu family enemies coming for revenge.

Some even said Young Master Xu was killed because he was preparing to take the imperial examination!

Because those underground forces opposing Ying Su wanted to sabotage the imperial examination, so whoever dared to participate would be killed!

Precisely because there were so many rumors, the nobles did not know if the assassins would come for them.

Now, in Pingyang City, basically no one dared to go out at night.

Moreover, the number of patrol units on the streets had doubled.

What happened in Pingyang City quickly spread to Xianyang.

A young master being killed was not something the Emperor should personally inquire about, but if it involved the imperial examination, it was different.

The imperial examination was a major initiative championed by Ying Su.

Whoever dared to sabotage the imperial examination was making an enemy of Ying Su, and making an enemy of Great Qin!

In the great hall, Ying Su recounted the Pingyang City incident, then swept his gaze over the ministers: "My dear ministers, the matter in Pingyang City has not yet been solved, and it is currently uncertain whether it is related to the imperial examination."

"However, anything even slightly touching on the imperial examination will not do; it must be investigated thoroughly to the very end!"

"Tell me, how should we go about investigating?"

Ying Su handed the difficult problem over to the ministers.

In fact, he already had a preliminary idea in his mind.

The reason he still asked the ministers to come up with ideas was to see what level they were at.

"Your Majesty, the incident in Pingyang City cannot be separated from the Pingyang Commandant's responsibility; ten days have passed since the incident occurred, yet he has still not solved it. This is his dereliction of duty! I suggest setting a deadline for the Pingyang Commandant to solve the case, otherwise his responsibility must be pursued!"

One minister said.

"Pursuing responsibility is a matter for later; right now, the Pingyang Commandant cannot solve the case himself, so that is why we need to step in," Ying Su said.

"Your Majesty, this matter may not be related to the imperial examination; this subject believes the killer intentionally planted a smokescreen to cover up his true motive!" another minister said.

"Hmm, that is possible!" Ying Su nodded: "But that is only one possibility; how do we verify it?"

"This... this subject does not know!" the minister said.

"It does not matter; if you have any other thoughts, feel free to speak them out; saying something wrong is no problem," Ying Su generously stated.

Seeing Ying Su make such a statement, the great hall immediately became lively.

Many ministers put forward their own ideas.

Some of these ideas sounded quite reliable.

"Two Chancellors, do you have any thoughts?" Ying Su saw that Zhuge Liang and Xiao He had remained silent the whole time, so he asked.

"Your Majesty, this subject is not very familiar with solving cases; this subject can only say please entrust this case to a suitable person to handle."