Venison is a delicacy.
Too bad Gu Yan Chen had no appetite for it at the moment. By the time he explained his purpose, Emperor Chang Wu also lost his appetite for venison. "Someone deliberately leaked the exam questions? Is this true?"
"Your Majesty, I am merely speculating. I should have found evidence before reporting to you. But time waits for no one. I want my second aunt to be the bait, and naturally, she needs to be officially acknowledged by Your Majesty. Otherwise, a mere woman would fear implicating her family, wouldn't she?"
Gu Yan Chen was cunning and did not mention that Madam Qin had almost been fooled. Instead, he painted her in a better light, saying that upon receiving the letter, she sensed something was amiss and came to him.
Emperor Chang Wu waved his hand. "Granted. You have full authority in this case. If the mastermind is found, I will reward you handsomely."
"Your Majesty, the reward is secondary. Regarding the imperial examination questions, whether this case is true or not, I believe you should change them. This way, even if someone did sell the questions, it won't affect the examination. At most, those duped scholars can go find the sellers to get their money back."
"Hmph. As scholars, they learn benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness from a young age. Yet, at the time of the examination, they resort to such methods for a shortcut. I am ashamed for them. I doubt they would dare to make a fuss even if they discovered they bought fake questions."
Gu Yan Chen felt that Emperor Chang Wu's words were very true.
Although cheating in the imperial examinations still existed, the problem had been addressed at its root. Emperor Chang Wu's appetite returned, and he invited Gu Yan Chen to stay for lunch.
Gu Yan Chen had dined with Emperor Chang Wu many times and was no longer as reserved. Coupled with his craving for venison, he readily accepted. After lunch, Emperor Chang Wu, seeing how much he enjoyed the food, even bestowed a venison leg upon him, making him beam with joy.
Emperor Chang Wu felt a pang of sadness. If his little seventh child had grown up by his side, would he have been so eager for a piece of venison?
Thus, in addition to venison, Gu Yan Chen also carried home a large bottle of tiger bone wine.
The case hadn't even been investigated, yet the rewards were already given. The Emperor was truly generous. Gu Yan Chen happily took his rewards home and, in turn, sent invitations to Ouyang Wen and Ji Jin for dinner at number 133 Hulu Street.
He also instructed the messenger to specifically mention that there was good news.
Gu Li had taken leave to stay at home and accompany Madam Qin while they waited for the results. Madam Qin was even more distraught. "My lord, if it comes to it, just give me a divorce letter. Eldest sister-in-law is right. We cannot drag the entire family down because of my foolishness."
"What are you saying? It's not that bad yet." Gu Li was a typical scholar, but no matter how well he wrote, it couldn't compensate for his lack of social skills, which was why he remained stagnant in the Hanlin Academy.
However, his strengths were his scholarly integrity and uprightness.
Even though Madam Qin's family had fallen on hard times, he still treated his wife with great respect. Over the years, he had only taken one concubine, who was a maidservant Madam Qin brought with her. This concubine had only one daughter, Gu Yan Yun, who was a year younger than the legitimate daughter, Yan Shu.
Compared to the catfights among the women in other households, Madam Qin truly felt her life was heaven-sent. Although money was tight, at least there were no such vexing matters.
She rested her face on Gu Li's lap. "My lord, please listen to me and move up the date of the divorce letter..."
"Stop talking nonsense. The younger ones are at the age for marriage. If you are divorced, where will they find good families? Wait patiently. If all else fails, we still have eldest nephew."
"In the early years, when eldest nephew was going through a difficult time, we didn't help him. Now, we have to bother him when something happens, and I feel truly uneasy about it."
Gu Li smiled. "That boy is clever and mischievous. He only acts tough within the mansion. Outside, what kind of difficult times could he be having? When his aunt passed away, my brother and I, worried about him being sad, specifically asked his tutor at school to look after him. Do you know what the tutor said? He said it would be good if the boy didn't bully others."
Madam Qin: ......
Gu Li continued, "My brother is like that, always muddled. He's like that even regarding his own son's matters, so it's inevitable that he might overlook us. Don't blame him for the division of the family. He must be heartbroken by what has come out today."
Madam Qin's expression was hard to describe. "...So, you've been elaborating all this time to speak on behalf of eldest brother?"
"How is that speaking on his behalf? Ignorance is not a crime." Gu Li had absolute trust in his elder brother. Madam Qin sighed softly. "Let's hope so. But the most important thing right now is the imperial examination."