Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine

Chapter 163.1: Jin Wang Dotes on His Concubine Ch 163 Pt. 1

Translated by gingercat

Edited by gingercat

The matter started with a candidate whose tongue loosened from excessive drinking. He said that he had long known the exam questions and it wouldn’t be a problem for him to pass the exam.

At first, everyone thought he was just bragging. After all, if this person had excellent grades, it was one thing, but he had come dead last in the provincial exams. Generally, when people like him came to participate in the imperial exams, it was merely to gain experience for the next time.

Yet, such a person dared to say he will pass the imperial exams! How ridiculous!

There were many candidates present at that time. Most of them were already very drunk. Some people didn’t believe him and only laughed. They also scolded and mocked him for thinking too much of himself. Still, others were astonished, and some even believed, but those who believed kept it a secret. Regardless of this incident, when the exam results were released, this person really made it onto the list of candidates who passed the exam.

As soon as the results came out, he was acknowledged as a jinshi, and his future was set in stone. However, it was surprising that there were many well-known scholars who were not on the name list, and had failed the exam.

What was even more absurd thing was that the name of the person, who came from the same hometown as the previous guy and had won first place in the provincial exam, didn’t appear on the list. Yet, this man who came dead last managed to pass. This made countless people sigh and shake their heads, saying that the world was unfair.

In fact, around the time of the imperial exam, rumours spread that there were a number of under-the-table dealings regarding the exam. Not to mention acknowledging godfathers and making house visits, some people even sold the exam questions in private. Of course, ordinary people weren’t able to buy them. Not everyone believed it at the time. However, now that such a thing happened, it was inevitable that there would be more discussions about it behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, another incident happened. A candidate from Jiangxi kicked up a huge fuss saying that an official had accepted his money yet they didn’t pass him. This matter immediately blew up.

The thirty-third year of Hongjing was destined to be an eventful year.

On the second day of the third lunar month, hundreds of candidates who failed the exam arrived at the temple located on the same street as the Imperial Academy.

When asked what they were doing, they were pouring out their sorrows at the temple.

Throughout the past generations and dynasties, there have been several cases of fraud for the imperial exam. The imperial exam was tied to the lifeline of the court, and it was also related to the interests of countless people. It was inevitable that in the face of money and power, some people would try to seek advantages to benefit themselves.

In the previous dynasty, there was a time when all the candidates cried at the temple, but it was because of a provincial exam. The candidates hadn’t passed and they didn’t earn the eligibility to take the imperial exam. Even so, the imperial examination later that year was heavily scrutinized and countless people were implicated. Many high-ranking officials were sacked, beheaded, and had their homes ransacked.

Now during Emperor Hongjing’s reign, such a shocking scandal happened. When he heard the news, he was furious.

It is also because these candidates’ destructive power was too great. Desperate, they held the mentality of burning all bridges and cutting off all means of retreat.

Crying at the temple? It has only been recorded in the history books. Only when the monarch is a fatuous ruler, the imperial court has no morals, the path to officialdom is dark, and the students have no other authority to appeal to, would they go to the temple to cry.

For the time being, the entire capital was covered with dark clouds. Emperor Hongjing ordered people to remove the list of successful candidates and seal up all their exam papers. He also ordered a thorough investigation to be carried out.

Naturally, this thorough investigation started with those candidates who were kicking up a huge fuss. By pulling up the radish, out came the mud. Countless people were implicated by them.

The first to bear the brunt was the chief examiner, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Xiao Chen.

As for why he was the first to be implicated, this was because, during the investigation of the problematic candidates, it was found that his involvement was present in all these candidates.

Now that this is brought up, it’s time to talk about the system used to evaluate the imperial exams. As mentioned earlier, there have been people throughout history who have tried to tamper with the exam. The measures taken to prevent this have also advanced with time.

What was currently implemented was the cinnabar ink scroll. The so-called cinnabar ink scroll means that after the candidate finishes the exam, someone will collect the paper and white out the name, so the owner of the exam paper is unknown to examiners. Of course, this isn’t all. The paper will then be sent to the office to be copied. Designated scribes will copy it using red ink, then the scroll will be sealed before it is sent to the examiner.

This is to prevent the examiner from recognizing the handwriting and the candidate from making special symbols on the test paper as a way to cheat.

Although the procedures seem to be extremely complicated and seamless, as long as there’s a will, people would inevitably find loopholes. This was why besides the chief examiner, deputy examiner and other co-examiners, there were countless other invigilators in the exam halls. From minor officials to men in charge of odd jobs, there were many people present to invigilate the exam.

As for the method used for this year’s imperial exam to cheat, it involved the usage of specially chosen words.

After the examiner and the candidate makes a deal, before the candidate enters the venue, they decide upon using certain words at certain places on the exam paper. Then when the paper is passed onto the scribes, they would copy everything down before passing it to the examiner. Once the examiner reads the paper with the special words it becomes an automatic pass.

Of course, there were other means of cheating as well. As long as it can be thought of, it can be done.

Xiao Chen vehemently denied his involvement, but after looking at the candidates’ papers, it was found that the candidates were unreliable. They didn’t even bother to try to make the words look like they belonged. There was no need for these candidates to retake the exam to be sure that this was indeed a case of fraud. And the person who organized this system to cheat the imperial exams was the chief examiner.

Xiao Chen could no longer defend himself. His face ashen, he confessed that the person behind this was An Wang.

In fact, using specially chosen words to cheat like this was not uncommon for exams at all levels. It was common knowledge that whenever someone powerful wanted to nurture someone, this was the method they would use. But this doesn’t happen often because it would be too obvious should there be many people.

As for this time, the number of people who passed because of Xiao Chen wasn’t that many, only seven or eight. The problem was that this matter blew up because someone related it to the sale of the exam questions, which would be a higher level of cheating.

But Xiao Chen didn’t admit to that. He said that he didn’t know anything about it.

Naturally, the next person to be investigated was An Wang.

Shortly, a disciple named Wang Datong from An Wang Manor surfaced.

According to the investigation, this person was the one who was selling the exam questions privately.

After taking this person in for interrogation, he confessed that he sold more than 50 copies of a set of 520 exam questions.

Emperor Hongjing was furious and personally asked An Wang some questions. However, An Wang only admitted to the matter of using special words and did not admit that he ordered his men to sell exam questions.

An Wang was likely clear that arguing would be useless, so he admitted very frankly to the matter of using special words. However, as a dignified qinwang, he did not need to rely on his men to sell exam questions to make money. But this Wang Datong was indeed a student sponsored by An Wang. Not to mention there was another layer of relationship between them, Wang Datong has a daughter who is An Wang’s concubine.

Unless An Wang was blinded by lust, resulting in the exam questions slipping through his fingers and committing such a big mistake? But given An Wang’s job, he was only a small manager in the Ministry of Rites. Given the importance of the exam questions, it was impossible for them to pass through his hands.

Therefore, countless officials from the Ministry of Rites were implicated. Not to mention Wang Datong himself was also searched and imprisoned.

When they were searching through homes, something was found in Wang Datong’s house. It was this thing that implicated Qing Wang.

It was a letter that bore Qing Wang’s seal.

Qing Wang was dead drunk at home when someone arrived to invite him into the palace.

His job at the Court of Imperial Entertainment was of little significance. Whether he was there or not, it made no difference, so he hasn’t reported to the Court of Imperial Entertainment for a long time. He spends all day drinking at home to drown his sorrows. Occasionally, he would leave the manor and go to the Xiao Family’s house, but the Xiao Family kept their doors closed and refused to see him.

So when he was escorted into the palace, he was still drunk and unaware of what happened. Emperor Hongjing sneered when he saw him in such a state and ordered someone to sober him up. Once Qing Wang was sober, only then did he realize that something had happened.