Stirring the Dragon's Servants to Rage, Throwing the Confucian Scene into Turmoil

"Some people were dissatisfied with the rankings and accused the organizers of cheating, which led to the disturbance?"

Upon hearing the report in the Imperial Palace, Li Kun's brows furrowed immediately, and the joy on his face faded considerably.

The white-faced, beardless old man noticed the change in Li Kun's expression and immediately felt a surge of anger welling up inside him!

"Your Majesty works tirelessly day and night, yet there is no progress in national affairs. The situation in the north has changed again in the past few days, which is a time of great worry. Fortunately, Qiu Yan Literary Staining of Examination Papers and just now caused an unusual phenomenon, which pleased Your Majesty. At such a time, someone actually wants to cause trouble! Those so-called loyal ministers are far too disrespectful to the imperial family!"

The old man was furious. Just now, an unusual phenomenon occurred at the examination hall. A radiant light shot into the sky, breaking through the clouds and connecting with the dragon's aura. As the emperor, the central figure of the Great Auspiciousness, he sensed it immediately, got up to see it, and was overjoyed to see it.

Boom!

Outside the palace, a wind rose from the flat ground, and the surging air currents caused the surrounding guards and eunuchs to sway precariously, unable to stand.

However, the wind came suddenly and went quickly, and the people guarding outside showed no surprise, continuing to perform their duties diligently.

Inside the palace, the old man came before Li Kun and reported all the intelligence he had gathered.

"Oh? You mean, this was the work of the New Party? Tian Youqing was the main culprit, and Pan Xiang was also involved?" Li Kun's brows furrowed even more deeply. "It seems we've been too lenient with them, to the point that they've become somewhat arrogant."

"Your Majesty is so benevolent, yet they show no gratitude, taking your favors for granted," a cold glint flashed in the old man's eyes. "However, this old servant cannot comment on the ministers' affairs; Your Majesty must make the decision."

Li Kun nodded, raised his hands, rubbed his temples, and the joy on his face completely vanished. "Send someone over first to handle the matter at the Imperial Academy. We must protect Qiu Yan's reputation; it concerns the dignity of the Great Rui. We absolutely cannot let this joyous occasion be diminished."

"Yes!" The old man nodded respectfully, then asked, "What about Tian Youqing?"

"Minister Tian is a capable man, but he went too far this time. Send someone to invite him here so I can have a proper talk with him. Don't make a big fuss; we still need to maintain the dignity of the officials. Besides, some things are better left unsaid." At this point, Li Kun sighed. "Actually, if it hadn't affected the auspicious omens, given Minister Tian's achievements, things might not have turned out this way."

"The Emperor is too benevolent." The old man praised him with a kind look in his eyes, and then left as ordered. The moment he stepped out of the palace, his aura changed abruptly. Gone was the previous peacefulness; he was like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath.

The temperature around them suddenly dropped, and a thin layer of frost appeared on the white jade steps!

"Father-in-law..."

Along the way, the soldiers and eunuchs remained silent, bowing respectfully to the old man.

The old man nodded slightly. With a crisp sound under his feet, he shot off like an arrow, leaving a long, thin afterimage, and vanished in the blink of an eye from the plaza in front of the main hall, disappearing into a corner of the palace complex with a chilling wind.

It was quite dark here.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several dark figures flashed by, and three men, dressed in dark-colored close-fitting clothes, came from three directions. They knelt on one knee in front of the old man, bowing their heads and appearing subservient.

"Stand by the Imperial Academy and do not let anyone interfere with the announcement of the results. The reputation of the Metropolitan Laureate must not be damaged in the slightest. This is something that will be recorded in history; there cannot be any flaws, lest the Emperor become a laughingstock for future generations!"

"Understood!"

The three nodded, then with a sway, each left.

Then, the old man strode forward, his movements as swift as lightning. In no time, he traversed most of the Imperial City and entered a mansion. Above the main gate hung a plaque with three large characters inscribed on it—

Imperial City Bureau!

These three characters have straight strokes, yet they evoke a sense of eeriness and unpredictability.

"Tian Youqing is, after all, an official appointed by the imperial court. If the emperor wants to take him down, he has to go through some procedures, which is why he entrusted the matter to me. We cannot be careless."

At the same time, outside the Imperial Academy, chaos had broken out.

"Let us in!"

We demand an explanation!

"Crack down on those who commit fraud!"

Amidst the chaos and noise, the crowds would occasionally gather and disperse.

Many of the successful candidates dared not make a sound, because those who failed the exam seemed to have gone mad. Whenever they saw someone laughing, they would swarm and attack. Although most of those who attacked were scholars who had not learned martial arts, those who had passed the exam were mostly lazy and not strong enough to withstand the attack.

Fortunately, there were many merchants present who mobilized their men and servants to protect them; otherwise, there might have been fatalities.

Even so, the situation was still far from optimistic. Due to the surge of examinees, the officials gathered at the gate of the Imperial Academy had long since scattered like birds and beasts, hiding to the side. However, some were still trying their best to maintain Order, but as officials from the Ministry of Ministry of Rites, they had never experienced such a situation before, so how could they command it properly?

Someone did send a messenger to the Patrol Inspectorate to report, and after about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a patrol officer arrived hurriedly with his soldiers.

These soldiers, armed and strong, quickly divided the crowd and managed to control the situation, after which the Imperial City's garrison arrived.

These soldiers were originally waiting by the side because of the Imperial Examinations, but they did not arrive in time because the situation was difficult to discern.

It should be noted that even those who failed the exam still held the status of a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). The Patrol Inspectorate and ordinary soldiers dared not use excessive force, much less injure anyone, and were thus restrained.

Candidates were Confucian scholars, belonging to the same family as court officials. Even if they caused trouble, there would always be a solution. Candidates causing trouble has happened before in history. In many cases, in order to appease public anger and set an example for the world, the court had to make a show of spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones and pardon their crimes to prevent it from affecting the Scholar Forest.

Conversely, the soldiers responsible for the suppression often end up taking the blame. After all, it's fine for scholars to scheme against each other, but once military officers get involved, the situation changes immediately. In the eyes of civil officials, the suppression of scholars by military officers is tantamount to rebellion and is simply intolerable!

With such considerations in mind, the patrol officer dared not act on his own initiative, and many soldiers followed suit, their minds preoccupied with their own concerns. How could they possibly maintain order in the situation?

Before long, the separated groups began to break through the barriers, and because of this delay, many of the unsuccessful candidates noticed the list again and discovered many unusual things.

"How could someone as talented as Young Master Wen, who was so confident before the exam, actually only come in third place?"

"Indeed, although Ye Yun has a minor reputation, he has never done anything remarkable, and his literary reputation is even less prominent. What merit or ability does he have to be ranked second?"

"The Metropolitan Laureate is Qiu Yan? Although he is famous, he has not accomplished anything in Prosperity Capital. He mostly gained fame by being compared to Young Master Wen at the Upper Origin Lantern Festival. How could he be at the top of the list?"

"And that seventh-ranked Li Le, a martial arts practitioner from the Jianghu, is in the top ten? It's simply outrageous!"

"Thirteenth place, seventy-seventh place, eighty-sixth place..."

As each sentence was spoken, the crowd became increasingly agitated. In their eyes, all the names on the list were undeserved, and anyone with a discerning eye could find a reason to believe that each one had been obtained through cheating!

"Oh? Someone's manipulating people's hearts again! How interesting! Two sides are interfering, one strong and one weak, practically touching the dynasty's sore spot! But why isn't there any Dragon Qi to suppress this behavior?"

In the crowd, Qiu Yan's eyes flickered as he watched the changing dark clouds above, lost in thought.

"He's now manipulating people's wishes, seemingly targeting me. Since that's the case, I can't wait any longer, lest I be surrounded by ignorant people and subjected to verbal attacks, which is really troublesome. I should establish my reputation now! Besides, the current entanglement of Karma is enough; we should be able to trace the source and find the origin of the person behind it all!"

As Qiu Yan pondered, a thought suddenly arose in his mind, and his suppressed thoughts suddenly took flight, transforming into Literary Thought of literary inspiration that radiated outwards and outwards!

Outside, the Prosperity Capital Will permeated every corner. Qiu Yan's consciousness and will merged, and through this connection, he incorporated his Literary Thought into it!

Call!

Then, the City Will surged, carrying Literary Thought upwards!

Above the sky, the clouds shimmered with light, resembling blooming flowers. Above those clouds, a strange sight appeared out of thin air: a mirage containing the characters of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, with a policy essay suspended in mid-air at its core!

Surrounding the mirage were wisps of bright Yellow Dragon energy, containing a trace of intent that was instinctively suppressed by the Dragon Qi!

The two appear independent yet subtly intertwined, their combined light creating a halo around the clouds.

Suddenly, the Literary Thought and the City Will surged forth. With a movement, the Literary Thought merged with the mirage, and then the light and shadow of the mirage expanded, instantly covering those few Dragon Qi.

The thoughts within the Dragon Qi began to surge, merging with those inside and outside the mirage, and it was none other than Qiu Yan's thoughts!

The next moment, a strange feeling welled up in Qiu Yan's heart.

"With the inner and outer workings combined, and the Dragon Qi permeating through, from this moment on, I have truly come into contact with the Dragon Qi and completed the third step!" Below, Qiu Yan took a deep breath. Opposite him, several failed candidates gathered around, their faces extremely gloomy, their eyes flashing with madness, and black mist pulsating deep within their pupils.

"It's him! Why did Qiu Yan get the Metropolitan Laureate, while we failed?"

In the distance, a group of people were walking over, banging drums and gongs, looking very happy.

They were the messenger team delivering the good news. They followed the list of Metropolitan Laureate as it was released at the Examination Hall, and having learned the name of the top scholar in advance, they searched the entire city for Qiu Yan. Along the way, the leader kept calling out Qiu Yan's name to bring good luck. According to custom, all candidates would prepare some reward money, which would be distributed to the messenger once they were on the list.

However, as the group walked happily towards the Imperial Academy, they saw the chaos in front of the gate and the sound of gongs and drums abruptly stopped.

However, the news of congratulating Qiu Yan on winning the top Metropolitan Laureate in the imperial examination actually spurred many of the candidates who had failed the exam!

Immediately, people who recognized Qiu Yan gathered around, their aggressive demeanor creating a tense atmosphere. Even Zhou Guan and Luo Jiayun, who were standing next to Qiu Yan, realized that something was wrong.

In contrast, Qiu Yan remained calm, looking up at the sky.

In the sky, the clouds move.

ps:

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