The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 489

Zhou Chu put three of the silver notes into his pocket, leaving the remaining two untouched.

"Keep these."

Upon hearing this, Lu Wanshan's face lit up with joy, and he put away the remaining two silver notes.

"Your subordinate thanks you for your reward, sir."

It must be said that Lu Wanshan is a shrewd person when it comes to being an official, especially one who can rise to the position of Commander of the Northern Garrison.

He knew exactly what to do and what to say, and never overstepped his bounds.

Not all of the two thousand taels belonged to him; he would later use a portion to treat his men to drinks and entertainment. Only in this way would his men remain loyal to him.

"Your subordinate takes his leave."

After bowing, Lu Wanshan left the Zhou residence.

Meanwhile, in Shuntian Prefecture, the imperial examination cheating case was officially exposed through Xu Fan.

Calling it a case of cheating in the imperial examinations is not entirely accurate, since there was still about a month before the examinations began. It wouldn't be accurate to call it cheating, but the fact that so many scholars went through the connections of Yang Lian, the Vice Minister of Rites, and gave him so much money could be classified as a case of cheating in the imperial examinations.

Anyone who gets involved in cheating on the imperial examinations will certainly not fare well.

After hearing Lu Wanshan's words, Xu Fan was like an old tree sprouting new buds. He was incredibly excited, as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He showed no mercy when interrogating these scholars, and even chose to conduct public interrogations in order to create a sufficient deterrent effect on the other scholars.

As soon as the news broke, countless scholars flocked to the Shuntian Prefecture government office, eager to witness the trial process of this imperial examination fraud case.

This includes Wang Mu and his son.

Although Wang Mu and his son were safe and sound, they still felt extremely frightened when they saw the dozen or so officials who had been arrested.

Xu Fan did not disappoint Zhou Chu. He dealt with these scholars severely, basically sentencing them to exile and banning them from taking the imperial examinations for life.

This result sent chills down the spines of all the officials watching, especially those who had also used connections but hadn't been caught. They were all incredibly relieved that they hadn't given away enough money, otherwise they would have suffered the same fate as these dozen or so people.

Before the results of the arrests of Yang Lian and other officials were even released, the imperial examination fraud case ignited the entire capital.

The common people in the capital talked about nothing but the imperial examination cheating scandal during their leisure time, who got caught, and how unlucky they were.

“Madam, I am so grateful that you stopped me earlier, otherwise I would have also gone to Yang Lian’s residence to pull strings.”

Sun Jiaojiao's husband looked at her with lingering fear.

"What connections are you going to use? I told you long ago, this Vice Minister of Rites doesn't respect the imperial weights and measures, he's going to be finished sooner or later."

Sun Jiaojiao snorted coldly.

Sun Jiaojiao stopped her husband not because she saw anything, but because of her superstition about Zhou Chu. In Sun Jiaojiao's eyes, Zhou Chu was now omnipotent.

What good can come of someone who doesn't respect Zhou Chu?

"Yes, Madam has a much longer-term vision; I was too short-sighted."

Sun Jiaojiao's husband sighed.

When the imperial examination cheating scandal broke out, Emperor Jiajing was naturally furious. So he ordered all officials to resume the court session the next day to discuss the imperial examination cheating scandal.

The court assembly on the second day was much less crowded, but Mao Ji and Xia Yan were both there. Xia Yan simply closed his eyes to rest and acted as if he were invisible, afraid that he would be noticed, especially by Zhou Chu, who also held a position in the court.

Although Xia Yan knew that Zhou Chu, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had been up to no good from beginning to end, Zhou Chu's methods this time still opened his eyes.

Zhou Chu could be said to have done nothing at all, but merely stirred things up in the shadows. Zhou Chu seemed to know everyone's thoughts, able to conceal his shortcomings and deceive Mao Ji and Yang Lian, while also guiding and utilizing Yang Yiqing, the Grand Secretary.

Xia Yan didn't even dare to think about it too much; the more she thought about it, the more terrifying Zhou Chu seemed.

If Xia Yan was afraid of Zhou Chu a year ago because she was afraid he would do something reckless, then Xia Yan's fear of Zhou Chu now is of a different kind.

How could there be such a terrifying person in this world? And yet, he was just a teenager. Xia Yan couldn't outlast him, which made her feel an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

Xia Yan wanted to feign death, but Jiajing wouldn't let him have his way.

"Gongjin, tell me, what happened? As the Vice Minister of Rites, you, the Minister of Rites, couldn't possibly be completely unaware of what Yang Fangzhen has been doing, could you?"

Jiajing looked at Xia Yan, his face as cold as frost.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent! For the past two weeks, I have not been feeling well. The doctor said that I have been having sex with my wife too frequently, which has caused my health to deteriorate. During this time, I have been resting at home and have not gone out or seen any guests."

Left with no other choice, Xia Yan fabricated a reason to smear himself. He knew very well that only in this way could he make the emperor and his officials laugh and extricate himself from this whole affair unscathed.

Otherwise, as the Vice Minister of Rites, Yang Lian's actions were so outrageous that no one would believe he was unaware of them.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, all the officials in the court secretly looked at Xia Yan with expressions that suggested they wanted to laugh but dared not.

Xia Yan was going all out, turning her face away and completely ignoring everyone's teasing looks.

Jiajing hadn't expected Xia Yan to be so ruthless to him, pulling such a stunt, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

"Mao Weizhi, what do you have to say? Yang Lian is your student, and I've heard that he's doing all this under your name."

Jiajing remained silent for a while, then looked at Mao Jidao beside him.

Mao Ji hadn't slept well for several days, and he stood up looking extremely tired.

"Your Majesty, Yang Fangzhen is indeed my student. I only learned in the last two days that he had committed such heinous acts under my name, which are utterly unforgivable!"

Mao Jiyi said indignantly.