Could it be that she was the one who tampered with it?
Feng Er knew about this in advance, could it be that he leaked it?
Otherwise, Su Cheng didn't understand why he would do this.
"Did you find the original scrolls?"
"We found them, they are all piled up here."
Xu Lin nodded, and as he recorded the names of those on the current list, he said as he walked to the pile of scrolls that was as high as a small mountain.
"Let's start verifying."
Their mission today was twofold: first, to find out how Wen Jingsong had switched the goods, and second, to find out which sons of impoverished families had been impersonated!
The former was difficult to discover, while the latter was difficult to verify.
However, all three were bold and meticulous, and within the time it took for an incense stick to burn, they had verified more than half of them.
The speed at which they did it surprised even themselves, and this was thanks to Su Cheng's quick thinking.
He guessed that the scrolls of the impoverished scholars who were impersonated would not be kept, so they would either be buried in corners prone to damage, or some medicine that could be easily gnawed by insects would be applied to them.
With this idea, the three of them searched in this direction and indeed found the first one very quickly.
The impoverished scholar who was impersonated was from Cangzhou, and the one who replaced him was the young son of an official from the Censorate.
Su Cheng sneered when he saw the name, "This kid hangs around the Haitang Courtyard all day, and with just a few drops of ink, he can pass the exam. It's no wonder it was bought with money!"
No wonder his family had spread rumors half a year ago that he had settled down to study and was diligently writing at home every day.
Su Cheng had thought at the time that he had been struck by lightning and had woken up, but now it seemed that he was creating momentum for today's actions!
Comparing the two, it was indeed the original scroll of the impoverished scholar that was identical to the transcribed one, but the name was that of the son of the Censorate official.
One by one, the three of them quickly verified all the scrolls.
They recorded all the impoverished scholars who had been unjustly replaced.
The more Su Cheng read, the angrier he became, and he cursed fiercely!
"The common people only have this one path to move forward, and they are still being trampled on like this. They are truly scum!"
Xu Lin, on the other hand, remained silent. He took Wen Mengsheng's scroll and Yin Canwen's scroll.
With a stroke of his brush, he changed the names of the two with the ink he had brought!
The scroll that originally belonged to Yin Canwen, the top-ranked one, now belonged to Wen Mengsheng.
And the scroll that originally belonged to Wen Mengsheng was now replaced by someone else.
Su Cheng was shocked. Although Xu Lin was his superior, he couldn't help but question such an action.
"What are you doing?"
Was he trying to go along with the corruption?
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Xu Lin calmly reply.
"The Prince ordered that no matter who came first, their name would be directly replaced with that of young Master Wen. This way, the matter will be blown up to the greatest extent!"
After hearing this, Su Cheng couldn't help but swallow. This was indeed the Prince's style: cutting the weeds and removing the roots, swift and ruthless.
But this was also the retribution they deserved!
It was just a pity that Yin Canwen would have to suffer some grievances for the time being.
After the three of them had moved everything, they restored the place to its original state and locked the copper lock before leaving.
The sky was already faintly bright.
The antidote was waved under the noses of the two guards, and then they quietly left.
Rubbing their sleepy eyes, the two gradually woke up.
"Hey, how did we fall asleep?"
"Who says we didn't? I don't know what happened yesterday, but we suddenly felt sleepy. We mustn't let the higher-ups know about this, or it will cause trouble again."
"Right, right!" They looked back at the copper lock, which was still intact, and after stretching, they pretended to be calm and continued to guard the door.
As dawn broke, the Prince Ke's mansion became lively.
The sweeping and decorating had been arranged in the previous two days, and the busiest place now was probably the kitchen.
A dozen cooks and maids were busy washing, scrubbing, trimming vegetables, chopping, steaming, and stewing, all in an orderly fashion.
The earliest arrivals today were the maternal relatives of the Princess Ke.
They had arrived early to perform the ritual of adding a basin for the Imperial Grandson.
According to custom, these things should have been done when he was a month old, but at that time, the Princess Ke was in the palace, and many things were not properly prepared. Moreover, it was the Imperial Grandson's ritual of adding a basin, so it could not be taken lightly.
Thus, it was postponed to today.
Princess Li, born into a large and distinguished family of meritorious officials, was already extremely honored.
Today, she was here for the Imperial Grandson, so she naturally could not be outdone.
A top-quality Hetian jade bi carved with a very auspicious "Hundred Blessings" motif was now hung in the basin in the inner hall.
The basin contained fragrant soup that had been prepared long ago, and several dried fruits with auspicious sayings.
On the side lay a brocade quilt made of expensive gold silk, embroidered with auspicious clouds in colored silk threads.
The wooden basin was wrapped with colored silk threads in several layers, looking festive and auspicious.
Several women whose children had been born and raised well took their hairpins and stirred the water inside, while muttering auspicious words.
This amused the Imperial Grandson in the wet nurse's arms, who looked over curiously.
He was now fed to be fair and plump, and very cute.
His round eyes, which resembled Emperor Qi's, were not only bright but also exceptionally clear.
The Li clan, led by the Princess's sister-in-law, did not stop speaking pleasantries.
"The Imperial Grandson can now enter the water, Your Highness."
One of the women stirring the fragrant soup said cheerfully.
"Mm, put Cong'er in."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Soon, the plump little Imperial Grandson was placed in the basin, wearing only a bellyband embroidered with a qilin. He was now being held by the wet nurse, patting the water and playing.
"Look, our Imperial Grandson is naturally intelligent. Look at how much bigger the splashes he makes are compared to other children."
The speaker was the wife of an uncle from the Li clan, whom the Princess had to call "Second Aunt" when she was at her maternal home.
As she spoke, she threw copper coins into the basin, muttering as she did so.
"The basin is round and round, the Imperial Grandson's life is long and blessed."
Following this, many people also threw copper coins into the basin. The sound of the coins hitting the basin startled the Imperial Grandson, and he immediately started crying.
"Good! The Imperial Grandson's voice is very loud. He will surely have good fortune in the future!"
The louder he cried, the happier the ladies surrounding him were.
After playing for a while, the wet nurse picked him up.
The dates standing in the basin were quickly picked up by those with quick hands and happily put into bags.
There is a folk custom that if the dates in the basin stand upright, eating them will result in having sons. Therefore, these dates are also called "son-bearing dates."
Those who did not manage to grab them could only blame their bad luck.
After being wrapped in the thin brocade quilt that had been prepared in advance, the ritual of adding a basin was completed.