inspire-indiana Chapter 105 Discovering the Secret, Re-examining the Exam Papers
Chapter 105 Discovering the Secret, Re-examining the Exam Papers
Chanyi looked at the blood-stained knife lying in front of her, then stared blankly at the prince consort.
The prince consort said, "Although you have betrayed me, out of consideration for our time together, I will treat your family well after your death."
He was looking at the servant on the ground when he spoke, so everyone assumed he was talking to the servant.
The prince consort's name was Wei Chuanbai. Before marrying ***, he was a renowned scholar in the capital, a gentleman as refined and elegant as jade.
Now, more than ten years after his marriage to ***, his refined and scholarly air remains unchanged.
Even though he had just swiftly killed someone with a knife, or uttered ruthless words afterward, his face showed no sign of harshness; he remained gentle and refined.
While everyone was still reeling from Wei Chuanbai's arrogant and ruthless act of silencing her in public, Chanyi swiftly grabbed the knife from the ground and slashed it across her own neck. Instantly, a spurt of blood gushed out, splattering everywhere.
"Cicada skin!"
Guo Shouyi rushed over and hugged Chanyi, "Why?"
At this moment, he was in a complicated mood, unsure whether to ask Chanyi why she approached him or why she committed suicide.
No matter what he asked, Chanyi could not give him an answer.
"Sir... thank you so much for being so kind to me..."
Chanyi finished speaking a few words in fits and starts, then her hand suddenly fell down, and she breathed her last.
Guo Shouyi's kindness to her was one of the few moments of warmth she experienced in her short life.
"Cicada Robe! Cicada Robe!"
Guo Shouyi shouted several times, but Chanyi did not respond.
He dropped the cicada-cloth and rushed to the prince consort, demanding, "Prince Consort, why did you instruct the cicada-cloth to approach me? What was your purpose?"
Wei Chuanbai asked gently, "What evidence does Lord Guo have to prove that I instructed Chanyi to approach you?"
“I have your correspondence here.” Guo Shouyi showed the letters to Wei Chuanbai.
Wei Chuanbai glanced at it casually, not angry at all. "Lord Guo, this letter doesn't have my signature or mention my name. Why are you so sure it's related to me?"
Guo Shouyi was speechless when asked the question, so he changed his approach, "Your people asked Chanyi for the exam questions, saying they were acting on your orders. This shows that you and Chanyi must have a relationship."
"What you said is just your inference and cannot be used as evidence. Also, let me correct you on one point. It wasn't that the servant was on my orders to get the exam questions; it was that the servant acted on his own. I was also deceived," Wei Chuanbai explained to Guo Shouyi with good temper.
Guo Shouyi then realized that Chanyi was Wei Chuanbai's man, but he had no further evidence.
So he turned his gaze to Song Siyao, "Miss Song, you tell me, you must have evidence to prove that Chanyi was sent by the Prince Consort to deliberately get close to me."
Song Siyao replied, "I didn't."
She didn't.
All she has right now are those letters. Of course, if Chanyi and the servant are still alive, she has a way to get them to talk.
But now the person is dead, and the trail has gone cold.
Guo Shouyi didn't believe Song Siyao and continued, "Miss Song, are you angry because I misunderstood you and thought you were deliberately causing trouble? I can apologize to you..."
“Lord Guo!” Song Siyao interrupted him, “You can handle your personal matters yourself. Now, we need to conduct official business.”
Guo Shouyi was angry, resentful, and didn't know what to do.
He wanted to cause trouble for Wei Chuanbai, but he had no evidence.
He wanted Song Siyao's help, but he had just offended her, and she wouldn't help him now.
However, what he didn't know was that Song Siyao had something much bigger to do.
Song Siyao looked at Chen Jiang and continued, "Lord Chen, Princess Hongjin cheated, the evidence is conclusive, what should be done?"
Chen Jiang remained silent. When Song Siyao asked Cang Yue to produce the evidence, he knew that Song Siyao had been prepared.
This courtroom today is nothing more than a stage for Song Siyao to put on a show.
All he needs to do is cooperate.
“According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Princess Hongjin’s assessment results are invalidated, she will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane, and she will be barred from participating in any form of examination for three years,” Chen Jiang said.
"Why are my results invalidated? I passed the exam on my own merit!" Wei Hongjin's voice was very loud, almost collapsing.
She knew that people didn't like her mother, and by extension, they didn't like her either.
Everyone says that Princess Hongjin is a good-for-nothing, all talk and no action, and that she has a bad personality and is arrogant and domineering.
She came in first place in this assessment, proving to everyone that she, Wei Hongjin, was not a good-for-nothing, but also talented.
But now that Song Siyao has exposed her cheating and ruined her plans, how can she be willing to accept it?
The worst part is that if Huo Ye finds out she cheated, he will probably hate her even more and never like her again.
The thought of it drove her crazy.
"Father, Mother, please help your daughter! I want this first place! This first place is more important than my life!" Wei Hongjin pleaded, holding her mother's hand.
*** reassured Wei Hongjin, "Jin'er, it's just being a teacher at the academy. We don't care. Even if you don't have to do anything, you'll still enjoy endless wealth and honor in this life."
After she finished speaking, she sarcastically remarked to Song Siyao, "Unlike some people who desperately try to get in, only to hand in a blank paper, that's truly shameful."
Wei Chuanbai chimed in, "Jin'er, your mother is right. Listen to your mother."
"Father, Mother, I don't want to be a teacher at the academy, I want to be number one."
Wei Hongjin's tone was exactly like that of a child who would ask her parents to buy her any toy she wanted.
“Princess Hongjin, still daydreaming? Look around at how many people are there. They all know you cheated. Do you think your parents will still help you?” Song Siyao said sarcastically.
"Song Siyao, you handed in a blank paper, what right do you have to laugh at me?"
Wei Hongjin looked around and saw everyone pointing and whispering about her, their faces full of mockery.
"How shameful! The grass in one's belly will always remain grass; it can never become ink and paper."
"Shameless! The evidence is conclusive, yet you still try to argue that you passed the exam based on your own ability."
"If someone like her can get first place, then everyone in the world can take the exam."
"Just because she's a princess doesn't mean she can act so lawlessly! She cheated and she's still so arrogant!"
"It would be an outrage to let such people go unpunished. How can they face those who have worked so hard to study and take the exams?"
"Get out of here!"
……
The insults came from all directions, like a suffocating ocean. Wei Hongjin's face turned red, and she wished she could dig a hole in the ground and disappear.
She hated Song Siyao to death, wishing she could tear her to pieces.
"Song Siyao, what right do you have to laugh at me when you handed in a blank exam paper?"
Wei Hongjin's eyes were bloodshot, sparks of hatred flashing from them as she hysterically questioned him.
"Your cheating has been discovered in this assessment, and there might be even bigger irregularities."
Song Siyao looked at Yan Wei and asked, "Young Master Yan, when you passed by me in the examination hall, did you see that I had already finished my exam paper?"
Yan Wei replied, "Yes, Miss Song, but when the papers were being graded, your exam paper was indeed completely blank."
Song Siyao's voice was cold, "I finished everything in the exam room, so how come it became a blank page when it came to grading? There must be something fishy about this. I want to review the exam paper again!"