The examination proctor who had been imprisoned early on had changed his testimony.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review found the matter exceedingly strange and reported it to Duan Ziqian.
For the proctor had told the minister something.
It was precisely this revelation that made the minister dare not suppress the matter himself. He could only hurry to the spring hunting grounds overnight to seek an audience with Duan Ziqian.
Even this secret matter had been uncovered by Northern Hawk, who came to report it to Yang Qing.
"The proctor confessed that the mastermind behind this was the reigning emperor?"
As Yang Qing listened to Northern Hawk's report, his brows knotted tightly together.
His gaze fell on Jiang Zhizhou beside him, only to see him shaking his head urgently. "Impossible. His Majesty thirsts for worthy talent. Why would he issue such an unreasonable decree?"
Yet the Northern Hawk agent delivering the report said, "But the proctor insisted his account was true. He claimed he had acted only because he received an order written in His Majesty's own hand."
Yang Qing paced around the room. What had been such a straightforward case of dereliction of duty and malicious framing had now taken an unexpected turn, leaving him with a persistent feeling that something was wrong.
"An order in His Majesty's own hand? That is even more impossible."
Jiang Zhizhou still had some confidence in his understanding of Duan Ziqian's conduct.
Yang Qing looked at him and said, "Wind from a hollow must have somewhere to come from. Since the proctor has made this claim, he must have some way to prove he isn't lying."
At Yang Qing's words, Jiang Zhizhou abruptly raised his head. "You mean the proctor really has this supposed handwritten order from His Majesty?"
"We'll know