Chapter 99

That Ministry of Rites official reported the matter to the director sitting in the hall.

That Ministry of Rites director was also greatly shocked; now the Grand Secretary and the Left and Right Vice Ministers of the Ministry were all in the morning court, and encountering such a matter, he, the director on duty, could not shirk his responsibility.

Now those students were still gathered at the entrance of the yamen, and if it dragged on, I fear changes would occur.

So this director on duty hurriedly rushed to the entrance of the yamen to negotiate with the leading students and had the official record the names of all the students participating in the petition in a register.

And he declared that the Ministry of Rites would accept the petition and deal with it as appropriate after verification.

In the eyes of these hot-blooded students, other yamen were just fine.

For example, if you go to the Supreme Court to make trouble, it's possible they will pull you in, charge you with the crime of disturbing the yamen hall, not use punishment on you, let you eat a few days of prison food, and you won't be able to pick out any faults.

But in the Ministry of Rites, which takes the promotion of ritual and law as its duty, there was no need to worry about encountering rough treatment.

These reporting students originally wanted to make a clamor to put pressure on the Ministry of Rites yamen, hoping to succeed.

……

Although that Ministry of Rites director on duty handled it properly, the matter of the prefectural examination students gathering at the Ministry of Rites to report had already spread widely, and I fear it wouldn't be long before it spread throughout the Divine Capital.

Waiting until the next morning, a matron outside the second gate came to Qingzhi Studio to deliver a message, saying that a classmate of Third Young Master Cong had come to visit and was now waiting in the Songxuan Hall.

The leading Deqing Prefecture scholar Liu Wenxuan, seeing that the Ministry of Rites had accepted the petition and that the Ministry of Rites director who responded was also shrewd, had his eyes flicker, and not daring to cause more trouble, he left with the students in twos and threes.

Jia Cong saw his dark circles and tired face, with a piece of anxiety between his brows.

Before Jia Cong took the examination, no one had questioned his background, but now that he was named the top rank, such a matter had broken out.

With their names recorded by the Ministry of Rites, these students had more scruples in their hearts.

Jia Cong felt puzzled; why was someone visiting so early in the morning?

When he rushed to the Songxuan Hall, he found it was actually Cai Xiaoyu.

So he had someone transfer Jia Cong's files from the Qinian Prefecture, read them carefully and pondered for a while, then wrote a letter and had a trusted family member send it urgently to Mount Luocang.

Therefore, although these students gathered at the entrance of the Ministry of Rites' South Court yamen, they didn't dare to take extreme actions.

In fact, on the day the results were posted, he, Cui Anzhi, and Liu Xiaoping were all at the scene and heard with their own ears that Jia Cong was named the top rank, and after the event, the three of them rushed to the Jia Prefecture to offer congratulations.

Jia Cong smiled: "Xiaoyu, why did you come so early? There are many miscellaneous matters in the mansion these few days, and I don't have time to go to the Chunhua Tower with you for a banquet."

He had been floating and sinking in the official sea for many years and had seen many storms, knowing that there must be a root cause behind this matter.

Except for the honor of the top rank, the names and rankings of other people who entered school were irrelevant, and the four of them were all overjoyed to enter school in the same year, and they even made an appointment to find a time to have a big meal at the Chunhua Tower.

When Guo Youchang returned to the yamen after the morning court and heard the origin of the matter, his face was stern.

This time, all four of them actually entered school; Cai Xiaoyu ranked 27th in the prefectural examination, Cui Anzhi ranked 79th, and Liu Xiaoping ranked 103rd.

Jia Zheng exchanged his days off with his colleagues in the yamen this day and entertained the relatives who came to offer congratulations at home, while the female relatives like Jia Mu and Lady Wang remained deep in the mansion.

Unexpectedly, that Ministry of Rites director who remained on duty was also an experienced one; he first accepted the petition and rounded off the words, then recorded the names of all the students participating in the petition.

The Ministry of Rites' Left Vice Minister Guo Youchang was the academic official of this Yongzhou prefectural examination; if the students under his seat behaved improperly, he had the power of life and death to revoke their merit.

Jia Cong was also entertaining guests in the mansion, and until the lamps were lit in the evening, no one in the Jia family knew that such a disaster had happened outside.

Cai Xiaoyu asked: "Don't you know what happened at the Ministry of Rites' South Court yesterday?"

Jia Cong's expression was stunned: "Yesterday I was accompanying the Second Master to entertain guests, and I didn't leave the mansion all day; what happened?"

Cai Xiaoyu's father was the Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, Cai Xiang, and the news was very well-informed; after the morning court, he heard about the matter that had broken out at the Ministry of Rites yamen.

That Cai Xiang could become a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat; how could he be an ordinary person? Hearing this, he knew there must be twists and turns; he had long heard his son mention that the top rank of this prefectural examination was his classmate at the Qingshan Academy.

Cai Xiaoyu knew the news when it was already late, and it wasn't convenient for him to go to the Jia Prefecture to report the news at night, so he could only endure the night, sleeping without peace, and got up as soon as it was dawn to go to the Jia Prefecture to find Jia Cong.

He knew that if this matter succeeded and Jia Cong was dismissed from his top rank and merit, his imperial examination path for the rest of his life would be over, which would be no different from total destruction for Jia Cong, who was focused on his studies.

So he told him about the students gathering at the Ministry of Rites yamen to report him as the son of a top courtesan and demanding that the Ministry of Rites dismiss his top rank in the prefectural examination.

Jia Cong's expression changed greatly upon hearing this.

He had been studying hard for these few years just to earn a future through the imperial examinations, so he wouldn't have to suffer the pressure and humiliation in the Jia Prefecture as before.

After much hard work, he finally achieved his wish and took the top rank in the prefectural examination; he was originally full of ambition, but he didn't expect such a disaster to happen in the blink of an eye.

His heart couldn't help but be in chaos, but he forced himself to calm down, pondering the origin of the matter, hoping to find a countermeasure.

"My father mentioned this matter; although you were named the top rank, you are only a mere scholar, insignificant in the eyes of some people.

Now someone has spent such a big battle to deal with you; there must be something tricky about it, and I wonder if you have offended anyone, or if it's a frame-up by an enemy."

Jia Cong was shocked; this Cai Xiang was indeed an old glutton in the officialdom, looking at things clearly and sharply, pointing directly to the key point.

Who had he offended recently? Who would hate him?

Wang Shanbao's wife had long been beheaded, and her family had all been sent to the Jia family's Black Liaoning farm to survive; they absolutely didn't have the ability to cause such a thing.

Jia She and Lady Xing wouldn't do such a thing either; even if they disliked him, they were father and son after all; if they ruined him, would their own faces look good?

Then who else had he offended recently, and who had he made an enemy of? It couldn't be anyone other than Prince Wang Ziteng's wife and son.

One was punished by him at the Rongqing Hall, and the other was scared into incontinence by a slash from him.

But how could they have such great energy to actually mobilize dozens of students to gather at the Ministry of Rites to report him?

This mother and son might not have this ability.

But Prince Wang Ziteng behind them, a Grade 1 official, the dignified Military Governor of the Capital Camp, would have this kind of energy.

Or did they take other paths?

But Prince Wang Ziteng currently needed the Jia family to operate the position of Commander of the Nine Provinces for him; would he destroy his own path like this?

Jia Cong thought for a while but couldn't find a clue, so he stopped thinking about it, patted the little fatty's shoulder gratefully, and said: "Xiaoyu, thank you for telling me about this in time.

Although my biological mother is obscure, I was born and raised in the Jia Prefecture and have been a descendant of the Rongguo family for more than ten years; this point cannot be refuted. Since the Ministry of Rites has accepted the petition, they will definitely investigate carefully before making a decision.

The matter hasn't reached a dead end yet."

He also sneered: "My top rank was named by the Yongzhou academic official; if it is dismissed, the Yongzhou academic official and the relevant people in the Ministry of Rites will all be implicated.

At least on this point, the Yongzhou academic official and the Ministry of Rites will not stand on the opposite side of me; the person who designed this might just want to harm me and didn't seem to think of this layer, otherwise, they wouldn't dare to cause such a big commotion."

Cai Xiaoyu's eyes lit up; Brother Cong's words hit the nail on the head; why hadn't he thought of these things?

He had always been confident in his own knowledge; he didn't study as hard as Jia Cong usually, but he could also steadily stay in the upper-middle range, often thinking that his talent was in the same class as Jia Cong's.

And he felt that Jia Cong's ability to take the top rank had some luck involved.

Now hearing these words, he was truly convinced; this classmate, who was a year younger than him, was quick-witted, observant, and had unique insights, truly possessing extraordinary qualities.

(End of chapter)