After their minds were read, the entire court trembled with fear.

Chapter 92 Someone vomited blood during the palace examination!

【Oh dear, the Lingnan region of Daye is sparsely populated now, with high mountains and treacherous waters, and is often damp and plagued by miasma, so epidemics are rampant. And most importantly, the rats there are probably bigger than cats, the cockroaches are probably bigger than a thumb, and the female mosquitoes are probably as big as spiders. I wonder if there are any rove beetles there?】

The thought of rove beetles made Shen Zhiyi shudder involuntarily; she was clearly terrified.

Cryptoptera?

what is that?

Many court officials were puzzled by this, wondering how a small insect could frighten Shen Zhiyi so much.

However, Shen Zhiyi did not explain to them, but skipped over it directly.

No wonder when I watched period dramas, they were always exiled to Lingnan. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, they probably wouldn't live long.

In short, Lingnan is not a good place to go.

Upon hearing this, the Vice Minister of Agriculture felt his vision go black, sensing that his days were numbered.

But no matter what, the fact that his home wasn't confiscated and he wasn't immediately beheaded is already a great act of imperial grace.

[The Vice Minister of Agriculture must be quite happy to go there. The vegetation is lush. You were lamenting at home before that the north is so barren in winter. Now, your dream has come true!]

The Vice Minister of Agriculture almost vomited blood upon hearing this. What kind of unconventional way of fulfilling a dream was this?

[Furthermore, the steward you brought from your hometown has excellent medical skills. The two of you can travel together to Lingnan; one gets poisoned, the other treats him—perfect.]

Vice Minister of Agriculture: Perfect my foot!

"Oh, right, your brother who doesn't want to be an official wanted to travel all over Da Ye, didn't he? Well, he's never been to Lingnan anyway. Now that he's been exiled, let's go together. Lingnan is a wild and uncivilized place; he'll probably spend his whole life traveling there."

Your brother is quite talented in writing; remember to encourage him to write more poems.

What do you call this? You call it a misfortune for poets, but a great fortune for the literary world!

The Vice Minister of Agriculture stared wide-eyed and looked around. If he hadn't still had a shred of reason left, he would have pointed at Shen Zhiyi's nose and yelled: "Look at this, look at this, is this even human language?"

But what does it mean that his brother is also to be exiled?

Wasn't it just him who was exiled?

Seemingly sensing the doubt of the Vice Minister of Agriculture, the old emperor added "kindly": "Going to Lingnan, you will never return for the rest of your life. If the whole family goes together, there will be no pain of homesickness."

The Vice Minister of Agriculture felt his blood rush to his head, his vision went black, and he fell straight backward, fainting on the spot.

With a wave of his hand, the old emperor sent someone to take the person away.

[Wow, you actually fainted from fright? No, try to think of it on a brighter side. You didn't die, you're just feeling like you're living a life worse than death, but maybe things won't be as bad as you think after you get through it?]

Well, as she talked, Shen Zhiyi herself became embarrassed to say it.

Later, they even praised King Cheng for dying young and for it being a good thing.

[No one would believe it if I told them, but Prince Cheng wasn't killed by the old emperor, but by Consort Zhang.]

Among those who accompanied King Cheng to Lingnan was a maidservant of Consort Zhang. She poisoned King Cheng's food, and he died on the spot.

"puff."

The old emperor spat out the mouthful of tea he had just taken a sip of.

The commotion caught Shen Zhiyi's eye, and she couldn't help but mutter to herself.

[That old emperor is really something. Who would dare to steal his tea? He has bad breath. Even the Empress wouldn't allow it.]

The old emperor slammed the teacup down on the table in annoyance.

His bad breath is the main issue!

No, where did his bad breath come from!

This is slander.

However, the fact that Prince Cheng was actually killed by Consort Zhang himself shocked him greatly.

He thought she couldn't bear to part with the child.

[Alas, Prince Cheng's status means he's destined to die. Consort Zhang knows this too. Even if the old emperor doesn't kill him in front of her, he'll certainly die on the way to Lingnan. So she might as well take matters into her own hands.]

I just can't figure it out.

The old emperor had some suspicions in his mind.

Consort Zhang was worried that he would harbor resentment towards her in the future. She had sown the seeds, so she had to deal with the consequences herself.

After learning the reason, the old emperor stopped worrying about it and began to discuss important matters with the people of the Ministry of Agriculture.

"After the palace examination, I will further examine those successful candidates, focusing on their agricultural skills."

"The officials in charge of a county cannot be ignorant of agricultural matters, so the people in the Ministry of Agriculture should pay more attention to the questions in this regard. After the palace examination tomorrow, show me the questions you have prepared."

"Here."

[Oh my god, these exams are so tough! One after another, what happens if I pass the big exam but fail the small ones?]

The old emperor chuckled mischievously: "Not so great, just dump it wherever construction is needed."

……

[On the 28th day of the month, the Emperor personally supervised the examinations at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.]

All the officials present: Do you think what you wrote is appropriate? It has lowered the old emperor's prestige all at once.

The old emperor waved his hand dismissively; he was the one who set the questions for the palace examination.

Actually, his classical Chinese proficiency was only so-so; in the entire hall, he could only fool Shen Zhiyi.

But at least he can look at it, at least he can set a question!

The questions in the palace examination were generally about current affairs, and the scope of the examination was very broad, possibly covering all aspects of life.

Relying on her monitoring system, Shen Zhiyi boldly watched them answer the questions.

Many court officials were curious about what comments Shen Zhiyi would make.

The old emperor was also curious.

Who wants to...

[The word faint. 】

Everyone remained silent for a moment.

As expected, you can't expect Shen Zhiyi to give a coherent explanation.

Wow, who is that person? They write so fast and steadily!

At my speed, the exam paper would be covered in my chicken-claw-like handwriting, and this is supposed to look like printed text.

The old emperor stroked his beard.

Shen Zhiyi looked on with envy at those who could write in printed font; she had lost count of how many times the word "printed font" had been mentioned.

"puff!"

Old Emperor: Huh? He didn't spit out the tea this time.

He looked sharply into the hall, wanting to see which one it was.

The courtiers present shook their heads frantically.

It wasn't them, it wasn't them. They haven't had any water all morning.

Who is that?

[Holy crap, bro, why are you coughing up blood?!]

So someone vomited blood.

What?! Someone vomited blood!

Despite the magnitude of the event, the hall remained eerily silent.

Nonsense, with the old emperor right above us, who would dare?

The old emperor quickly identified the person vomiting blood as a candidate. He stepped forward and glanced at the handwriting on the exam paper.

He remembered that he was originally the runner-up, but because the champion was demoted, he was moved up.

He was also one that the old emperor valued highly in this palace examination.

However, isn't his physique a bit too weak? He actually vomited blood during the exam.

He's only thirty and he's already vomiting blood; that's unacceptable.

The old emperor wanted someone to be sent down to be treated by the imperial physician, but the emperor refused.

"Your Majesty, I am fine and can continue answering questions."

Have you ever seen anyone in your life risk their life for someone else?

I've seen it!