Ji Mu did not find the brocade pouch beneath the pillow; instead, his fingers groped out another unfamiliar object. The very moment he pulled it out, he keenly sensed that his Princess’s breathing and composure had grown chaotic as she hurriedly tried to steady her breath.
He opened the brocade box and retrieved a smooth, round pill from within. This box was meant for storing medicine, so he was neither surprised nor curious, yet… “What kind of medicine is this? Are you ill?”
Shen Lizhuang’s mind spun quickly. Knowing that such medicine certainly did not exist within the Prince’s Manor, she had to invoke the Shen family regarding its origin if she wanted to win the trust of the suspicious Prince of Jing. She said, “Your Highness, my constitution is weak; this is used by my mother to nourish my body, given to me by my mother the last time I returned home with Your Highness.”
Ji Mu pinched the medicinal pill between his fingertips and brought it to the tip of his nose to sniff. The pill was odorless, revealing no clues upon being smelled.
“Your constitution is delicate, so you do need nourishment,” Ji Mu said, placing the pill back into the palm of her hand. “However, every medicine has a poison. From today onward, this Prince will have the manor’s kitchen prepare medicinal meals that are milder for you. It’s better not to consume these supplementary medicines.”
Shen Lizhuang let out a sigh of relief, remounting her pear dimples. “Thank you, Your Highness! I didn’t want to take this medicine anyway; it was bitter to death!”
Ji Mu smiled faintly, seemingly believing her words, as two words slowly slipped past his lips: “Delicate.”
Shen Lizhuang lowered her gaze to place the pill back into the brocade box, naturally failing to notice the facial expression right above her, where his deep phoenix eyes suppressed and smoothed away a hint of a smile that hadn’t quite reached the depths of his eyes.
Once she had hidden the pill away again and safely replaced it right under his very nose to prevent him from growing suspicious once more, she picked up on the matter that truly mattered and asked Ji Mu, “Your Highness, is there any progress on the Tribute Hall exam fraud case?”
Ji Mu replied, “The three inner-treasury doctors and the two outer-treasury inspectors involved have all been thrown into prison.”
This was something Shen Lizhuang had not anticipated. “So fast?”
Ji Mu let out a low chuckle, his dense, raven-black, long eyelashes drooping downward as if deliberately pausing to wait.
Shen Lizhuang finally realized what he was waiting for. She immediately raised her thumb, and remembering that he couldn’t see it at all, she hurriedly squeezed out a string of praises: “Your Highness is brilliant and capable, swift and decisive, discerning of the finest details, and upright in upholding justice!”
Ji Mu laughed aloud. “Enough.”
At a loss for how to respond to his laughter, Shen Lizhuang had no choice but to bite her tongue and stare at him blankly.
“How did Your Highness manage to capture these people?”
“Do you really want to know?”
Pinned in his embrace without the freedom to move about on a large scale, Shen Lizhuang could only twist her soft waist slightly, part her pink, vibrant lips, and nod her head like a chick pecking at rice a few times. “I want to know. Tell me about it, Your Highness.”
Though his eyes could not perceive things, nor could a single ray of light fall into his pupils to form even a fraction of an image, within the pitch-black depths of his mind, an endearing oval face seemed to light up. Her cheeks were like fresh lychees, her lips like they had been brushed with vermilion, and her bright, expressive face was dotted with a pair of pear-blossom eyes as brilliant as autumn water, which were gently and softly overflowing with clear ripples.
Ji Mu gave a light cough and recounted his measures at the Tribute Hall.
First, he ordered both Li Zhao and Xu Tangdi to be summoned to the Tribute Hall. Right before the eyes of all the examiners, he posed a prompt on the spot and commanded the two of them to write a new essay each.
Once the essays were written, which was superior and which was inferior became clear at a single glance.
Xu Tangdi’s handwriting and essay-writing style matched the text bearing the name “Li Zhao” on the examination script.
Meanwhile, the essay dashed off by Li Zhao casually—not to mention every word being a gem, but at least considered a top-tier piece of work—corresponded with the examination script that bore the name “Xu Tangdi” during the examination.
The truth lay right before their eyes, self-evident. The examination scripts taken by these two individuals had been swapped by an unknown person.
Instantly, Xu Tangdi’s complexion turned alternately pale and ashen, and she hurriedly protested that she had no knowledge of the matter, suggesting that perhaps some mishap had occurred during the examination. She confessed that the examination script signed with the name “Li Zhao” was actually her own answer sheet, while the script bearing her own name was something she knew nothing about.
Ji Mu did not allow them to gloss over it with pretense and evasion. Instead, holding up the two answer sheets with radically different foundations, he interrogated all the officials present.
Grading examination papers required masking the names. Since this candidate claimed ignorance of the inside story, the person who did know must be among those present. It was only necessary to compare the handwriting on these two examination scripts to ferret out whose hand had left the names on the papers, and who had been covering up the cheating.
Sure enough, the moment the Prince of Jing made this statement, someone with weak legs immediately fell to their knees before His Highness, pleading and begging for mercy.
Yet his defense was precisely what Ji Mu had anticipated beforehand. The other party was only willing to admit that he had accidentally stained the two candidates’ examination papers out of momentary carelessness, and when he wanted to remedy the mistake, he had inadvertently written the two names in reverse.
“Inadvertently? Carelessly? Your momentary lack of vigilance could ruin and affect a scholar’s lifelong opportunities. Moreover, whether it truly was carelessness or not, this Prince knows full well.”
With that, the inner-treasury official was struck with supreme terror, his face turning an ashen white in an instant.
Since Ji Mu had decided to investigate, how could he not have set up an ambush beforehand?
“Do not assume that because this Prince is visually impaired, you can manipulate things right under my nose. The Emperor has decreed that the women’s academy examinations are equivalent to the imperial civil service examinations. Exam fraud in the imperial examinations carries a punishment of exile at the lightest, and decapitation at the heaviest. If you still wish to continue concealing the truth and refuse to confess, you shall be dealt with at the maximum penalty. The Xu family, imperial merchants of Yangzhou, have operated quite successfully over the years—the records of which officials in Yujing they have secretly interacted with are all right here. Does this Prince need to read them out on the spot?”
Long Zhou immediately lifted up a thick, bound volume of memorials.
Although it hadn’t been unfolded, that heavy weight caused everyone present to hold their breath in loss of color.
Was the Prince of Jing firmly resolved to investigate corruption and bribery, or was he merely seeking to uphold justice for Li Zhao alone? If it was the former, pulling up the radish would bring out the mud along with it, and the impact would be massive, extending far beyond the mere bribery maneuvers confined to the Tribute Hall. If it was the latter, and His Highness merely intended to uphold justice for Li Zhao right before him, investigate the loopholes in the duties of the women’s academy Chief Examiner, and complete the task assigned by the Emperor, then simply sacrificing these small fry who disregarded the threat of death for meager profits would suffice.
At the same time, the imperial merchant family had to be preserved to prevent the Xu family from being implicated and turning rabid like a dog pushed into a corner, biting wildly at everyone.
Those in the city of Yujing who had past dealings with the Xu family naturally harbored wishful thinking at this moment, hoping to test the truth and reality of the memorial volume held by the Prince of Jing.
“Read it.”
At a single command from Ji Mu, Long Zhou moved immediately to read.
Once read, there would be no turning back.
Naturally, those who were cowardly and afraid of trouble, daring not offend the Prince of Jing, immediately fabricated an excuse about a sudden abdominal discomfort requiring an urgent change of clothes, signaling the Prince of Jing.
Ji Mu let out a cold, mocking laugh, ordered Long Zhou to close the memorial volume, and after vindicating Li Zhao’s top-tier ranking, dismissed the gathered officials.
Li Zhao never expected that her grievance would truly have a day of being washed clean and vindicated. Convinced and submitting wholeheartedly, she thumped to her knees forward: “Many thanks for Your Highness’s immense grace! Li Zhao’s greatest demand was to reclaim the authorship of her article. For Your Highness to bestow a top-tier rank upon me, Li Zhao would not be thanking you enough even if she died ten thousand deaths!”
Ji Mu said, “Treating each matter on its own merits, if your article were substandard, this Prince would not have rated it top-tier. As for who to thank, there is someone else you must thank.”
Unaware of who His Highness was referring to, a look of surprise flashed across the depths of Li Zhao’s eyes.
As for the official who had given the hint, he used the pretext of changing clothes to secretly confess what he knew to the Prince of Jing. With a human witness in hand, thoroughly investigating the various residences gave them a legitimate and proper basis. The treasures presented by Xu Tangdi were rare items—they hadn’t even been played with long enough to warm up and were not deeply hidden. In a mere day’s work, the inner details of the officials involved in the fraud case had all fallen onto Ji Mu’s desk. Naturally, this process could not do without the attention and behind-the-scenes push of the Emperor Changle.
For the sovereign, there was a need to make an example of the corrupt little worms to deter potential corrupt officials who harbored thoughts of engaging in sordid dealings again, while at the same time avoiding shaking the foundations of the imperial court. The sudden appearance of these front-line pawns at this very moment happened to match Emperor Changle’s expectations. Therefore, the bribery and fraud case progressed much faster than ordinary cases; in just two days, the Emperor had already imprisoned the corrupt officials who engaged in illicit exchanges within the Ministry of Punishments.
Shen Lizhuang was also amazed by the efficiency of the Prince of Jing. She had originally thought it would require careful scheming over many days. But upon reflection, it made sense: an imperial prince overseeing subordinate officials involved in the case—rather than commoners sounding the grievance drum at the palace gates to clear their names—had its own inherent conveniences when handling the case from the top down.
“Your Highness, has Li Zhao’s article truly been rated top-tier?”
A faint, weak question suddenly came from within his embrace, causing Ji Mu to lower his face in surprise.
Shen Lizhuang bit her lip and said, “Does Your Highness think her article is good or not?”
Actually, it wasn’t that Shen Lizhuang wanted to be presumptuous; she had also read Li Zhao’s article and it was indeed excellent—finding the pearl within the abyss. Yet Shen Lizhuang fancied that her own article wasn’t necessarily inferior to Li Zhao’s by much. If Li Zhao’s article could earn a top-tier ranking in the examination, then perhaps she too…
At this thought, an overwhelming wave of heat surged suddenly within Shen Lizhuang’s chest.
“Fair,” Ji Mu evaluated impartially. “It still falls short compared to essays for the imperial examinations, but since this is the first year of opening grace examinations, such an article is already a rare, high-quality piece of work within the women’s academy.”
The delicate body in his embrace pressed softly against his chest seemed to quicken its breathing slightly because of this, trembling with gentle excitement.
Ji Mu finally perceived her inner state. Smiling faintly, his broad, warm palm brushed across her powdered cheek, yet he struck a gentle yet firm blow to dampen her enthusiasm: “However, you shouldn’t assume next year will be just as easy. This year’s metropolitan examinations were rushed, and candidates were insufficiently prepared. Once Li Zhao and the others are selected this year, they will be transferred to local posts to serve as weaving supervisors. By then, the world will clearly see that the women’s academy imperial examinations are a policy the Emperor is firmly resolved to push forward. Next year’s metropolitan examinations will be even more like the great waves washing away the sand, a bit more difficult than this year.”
Shen Lizhuang’s excitement paused in her chest and instantly cooled down significantly.
That was indeed the case. The Prince of Jing was entirely correct: if the imperial court held the women’s academy metropolitan examinations again next year, the candidates who were previously sitting on the fence would never hesitate again, and the candidates intending to take the women’s academy exams would study even more diligently this year. With an entire year ahead of them, the changes brought by a year of diligent study were immeasurable.
She couldn’t allow herself to show weakness and fall behind either. Shen Lizhuang resolved in her heart: excellence comes from diligence, and studying so hard as to forget to eat. “Then will this junior wife still have a chance next year?”
The corners of Ji Mu’s lips curled down slightly, the outer corners of his eyes lifting marginally. “Hard to say.”
Catching a trace of extremely faint teasing in his tone, Shen Lizhuang hastily raised her eyes, running straight into that pair of deep-set eyes like abyssal pools. Though devoid of luster, they still possessed a shallow current of ink-like color flowing within them.
“Your Highness, may I borrow your study?”
The palm with which Ji Mu was stroking her cheek paused slightly. Was she showing him closeness? She actually dared to make a request of him—just like a wife making a reasonable and appropriate request of her husband.
No woman had ever treated him like this before. This thought caused the blood in Ji Mu’s chest to burn for some unknown reason, scorching somewhat hot.
Forcibly suppressing his wildly racing heartbeat, Ji Mu lowered his gaze and said in a low voice, “Most of the books in this Prince’s room are in Braille. If you want to use a study, have Mother Consort’s collection of books moved from Wangjiang Courtyard over here to read.”
Pausing for a moment, he twirled the plain, chiseled silver ancient-patterned ring on his finger joint and slowly added, “As long as you remain within the Prince’s Manor, you may ask me for whatever you desire, and this Prince will grant it to you. Reading books, after all—what difficulty is there in that?”
As for Madam Shen, she would not be coming back. Ji Mu’s phoenix eyes pressed dark, flashing a trace of deep, obscure, and unfathomable emotion.