TGCFNM -Chapter 336 This Was Done Deliberately

“Click—”

The jailer unlocked the chains of the cell across from them and turned with a chilling smile. “My lord, since you two know each other, we’ll place you opposite each other.”

Chu Ling pulled Wan Sanjin along as they entered.

The jailer glanced at them, locked the chains, pocketed the other key, gave a small bow, and withdrew.

Wan Sanjin leaned against the door, looking pitiful. “My lord, there’s only one bed… how are we supposed to sleep?”

“You still plan to spend the night here?” Chu Ling rolled her eyes. “Someone will come to get you. Just wait.”

Wan Sanjin let out an “Oh,” then immediately pressed against the cell door, worriedly looking at Fu Qingyu. “Qingyu, how did you end up here? We were planning to come find you after delivering the message today.”

Fu Qingyu looked helpless. “This time the court suddenly arranged a major exam to let students assess their own level, so next spring’s imperial exam would be more predictable. But unexpectedly, someone leaked the questions—forty-two essays turned out remarkably similar.”

Wan Sanjin scowled. “What does that have to do with you?”

Sun Yang pressed against the door, speaking to Wan Sanjin: “Master Wan, this means that some officials supervising the exam may have been bribed. If they could buy the questions now, they could do so again in next year’s spring exam.”

Chu Ling leaned against the door. “It’s just a preliminary exam. What’s the point of buying the questions? It doesn’t even count as extra credit.”

Shangguan Cheng was startled. “How does my lord know this?” What kind of supernatural insight does he possess?

Chu Ling furrowed her brow deeply. “So, the results of this exam… are considered extra credit?”

Fu Qingyu nodded. “Yes. Moreover, the scores should have been determined by the supervising officials. But unexpectedly, the emperor specially summoned my maternal grandfather and Grand Tutor Sun to the palace to review the essays. That’s how they discovered the forty-two similar compositions.”

“Forty-two…” Chu Ling’s eyes narrowed. She asked in a low voice, “Were the authors of these forty-two essays from poor families? Were there both commoner students and children of established families?”

Fu Qingyu’s expression turned serious. “Indeed.”

Wan Sanjin turned to Chu Ling. “Doesn’t this mean someone deliberately stirred the pot?”

“Did someone know in advance that the emperor would personally review the essays?” Chu Ling asked.

The students in the opposite cell shook their heads. There was no way they could have known.

Fu Qingyu spoke up: “Clearly, my grandfather was unaware. He only entered the palace after receiving the imperial decree.”

Chu Ling understood. Perhaps this was just the emperor acting on a whim.

But at that moment, Ghost Scholar tapped Chu Ling on the shoulder. “Not on a whim. Otherwise, there would never have been forty-two similar essays, nor would it have affected so many students, including those from poor families.”

“This was done deliberately.”

Chu Ling leaned against the cell door, facing Ghost Scholar.

Seeing the questioning look on her face, he didn’t answer immediately, but instead asked two questions: “Why is there a major exam this year? Why is it counted as extra credit?”

Chu Ling murmured softly, “Only the emperor can decide to hold a major exam this year. Only with the emperor’s approval could this extra credit exist.”

So, the emperor did this on purpose?

Even specially summoning the former Grand Tutor and the current Grand Tutor to review the essays together—was that deliberate too?

Ghost Scholar’s voice deepened: “In past spring exams, someone might try to game the system, but never on the actual papers. Usually, a supervising official would manipulate the scoring to improve certain students’ results. If discovered later, they could claim it was their personal preference. That’s the safest approach. Otherwise, this would be a capital crime punishable by execution of the entire family.”

“My lord, please think carefully… why would the emperor do this?”

Chu Ling fell into deep thought.

Wan Sanjin shouted from the side: “My lord, what were you mumbling just now?”

Chu Ling looked up at him. “I’m saying, wouldn’t all those exam proctors be risking their lives?”

“Not at all,” Shangguan Shi said. “They’re just under house arrest.”

Chu Ling curved her lips into a smile. “Well… that’s… interesting.”

Wait a minute!

Just house arrest?

House arrest doesn’t cost lives, which means the Emperor trusts them.

And if the Emperor trusts the exam proctors, how could they possibly leak the exam questions?

Sun Yang sighed. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have taken this damn big exam. Zhou Liang didn’t take it and is peacefully studying now, unlike me—stuck here, with an uncertain future…” Coming from Sishui County to the capital, living so frugally every day, and before even touching the Spring Examination, he’s already landed in prison.

Hearing this, Chu Ling suddenly walked over to Wan Sanjin, pulled him slightly aside, then reached into her waist and took out a silver needle. She held it out and inserted it into the keyhole.

Click—

The lock opened.

Wan Sanjin exclaimed, “I say, every time after you stick someone, you take the silver needles out one by one and keep them? They’re really that powerful?”

Chu Ling put the needle back and opened the prison door, walking across the room.

Shangguan Cheng jumped up in shock. “Lord Chu, this is the Dali Temple’s prison! Y-you—you’re picking the lock, are you… planning to escape?”

Even Shangguan Shi’s tense face showed a crack. “Lord, you… you really should go back quickly.”

Lu Anming tugged on Yang Huaishan and whispered, “Lord Chu acts so… so… uninhibitedly, doesn’t he?”

Yang Huaishan: “…I don’t see anything wrong with it at all.”

Nangong Yuankang nodded vigorously beside them, feeling that whatever Lord Chu did was completely normal.

Next to Lu Zheng, a student couldn’t help but lean in and whisper, “Is this the good official you said pulled you out of the mud?”

Lu Zheng nodded seriously. “Lord Chu really is a good official.”

Ye Bisi recalled his first encounter with Lord Chu. What did he do then?

Ah, right—exorcising ghosts and setting fires.

Chu Ling walked over, half-squatted, and looked at Sun Yang.

Sun Yang instinctively tried to run.

Chu Ling reached out, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back, pressing him tightly against the prison door. “Some people didn’t take the exam, right?”

Sun Yang could only cry without tears. “Y-yes… yes.” All his trouble was because he opened his mouth too much.

Fu Qingyu also half-squatted and asked, “Lord, have you figured something out?”

Chu Ling then beckoned Lu Zhen. “Lu Zhen, come here. I want to ask you, how did you manage to take the big exam?”

Lu Zhen cupped his hands and said respectfully, “Reporting to Lord Chu, I was recommended by a master, the same one as Student Sun.”

Sun Yang could only helplessly explain, “We definitely couldn’t get into the Canglan Academy, but Master Du of Canglan set up a temporary school. People like us could attend classes there, and it didn’t cost anything.”

“Why couldn’t some students take the exam?” Chu Ling asked again.

Sun Yang shook his head desperately. He really didn’t know.

Fu Qingyu, however, knew. “Even though the big exam was held this time, the exam locations were limited, so naturally the number of students who could take it was also restricted.”