When I woke up, the sky had changed.
"Sorry, Li Zhen, did you inadvertently offend someone?"
"Don't sleep Li Zhen, get up quickly, Zhongzhou is going through hell."
“…”
In a daze, Li Zhen was woken up by Ming Kang and Qi Lengzi.
Sitting up, he found that Prince Xun Shifei was also in the room, with a gloomy expression on his face.
Li Zhen's heart suddenly felt, and he had a premonition of something bad: "What's wrong?"
Mingkang looked anxious: "There is someone behind this. Rumors spread all over Zhongzhou overnight. Rumors about you."
"My rumor? What rumor of mine?"
Mingkang had a look of surprise and uncertainty in his eyes, and murmured: "People say that your No. 1 Scholar has been mixed with water. I'm afraid that for hundreds of years, the No. 1 Scholar in the world has been mixed with water. Some say you cheated, some say you are tricking, and some even say that you are cheating. You are lucky and have won the favor of the examiner, so you are first. Their basis is... Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, in the three test papers, you were wrong in five of the questions, but because of the five wrong questions, you became He became the number one scholar in Kyushu."
Li Zhen stood up suddenly: "How could this be? All my test papers have been verified."
"Yes, it's verification. The people don't believe it. Some people are leading public opinion and spreading rumors, saying that you are the only number one scholar in a century who has cheated openly. They say that you have no real talent and learning, and all kinds of remarks are endless. Overnight, just overnight. Room."
The prince remained silent, not knowing what he was thinking.
Li Zhen quickly got up and put on his clothes. He didn't even bother to wash his disheveled hair, and strode outside the prince's residence.
'squeak'
When I opened the door, I saw that the front door of the prince's house was already crowded, and many people gathered around and pointed. Seeing Li Zhen coming out, the people exploded:
"Fake No. 1 Scholar, you lied to us so badly."
"Tell me, are you an opportunistic number one pick?"
"Li Zhen, please explain why you have wrong answers to all five questions, but someone still says that your wrong answers are right?"
"No wonder you got a score of 530 when the perfect score was 480. It turns out you are just opportunistic."
"The number one scholar was originally Xun Shitian, who had perfect scores in the same period. You are so shameless."
“…”
Listening to these words, Li Zhen's face was expressionless, but he understood something in his heart.
He only heard one keyword—Xun Shitian!
A person of Xun family. A royal person.
Did he get perfect marks this year
No wonder then.
If there is someone behind this who is manipulating public opinion, no need to think twice, it must be Xun Shitian. I got a few standard answers and gained 50 extra points, becoming the number one in Kyushu. And he, who originally had perfect scores and was supposed to be the top pick, fell to second place because of himself. According to common sense, if it were him, he wouldn't be convinced.
Prince Xun Shifei walked out quietly and shouted: "Everyone who has nothing to do with me should leave!"
Then he grabbed Li Zhen in without any explanation, closed the door and remained silent.
Li Zhen smiled bitterly: "Brother..."
"You don't have to say anything, I know what's going on."
Li Zhen sighed, not knowing what to say. In fact, we are not afraid of the verification of the truth, but we are afraid of rumors on the streets.
The common people don't understand your formulas, nor your correct answers or standard answers. As long as someone leads public opinion and rumors, they will only recognize that your answers to the five questions clearly do not match the standard answers. But I won't listen to your explanation of why it doesn't match. They don't understand either.
After a long time, Xun Shifei sighed and said: "Junior, don't have any knots. The people said, let them talk. You are the number one scholar in Kyushu recognized by the imperial court, so you don't need to worry about any rumors. Now, just enter Balong City Meet with the Holy Emperor. Then follow the arrangements of the court and report to the university. This rumor will be proven to be self-defeating with the verification of time. The lifespan of this rumor is only a few days."
"I understand. I'm not afraid of any rumors, I just..."
"You don't need to worry about my imperial brother."
As he said that, a look of solemnity flashed in Xun Shifei's eyes: "You are the number one scholar recognized and respected by this palace. Any conspiracy and tricks will disappear under the awe-inspiring righteousness. I will protect you. Except for the emperor in this world, No one dares to harm you, as long as you don’t forget, the current crown prince is me!”
This passage shocked Li Zhen's heart.
With a high political IQ, he understood the meaning of the prince's words. This is... it's time to take sides. This is to recruit himself as a princeling.
There are factions among officials among the government and the opposition. There are also various parties in the royal family. The royal parties can be classified into two categories, one is the princeling party and the other is the royal party.
Princeling literally means people who gather around the prince. Help him ascend the throne, and on the day he ascends the throne, you will be the Minister of Humerus.
The princelings and princelings have similar meanings. They are people formed by ambitious and potential princes. This is also the characteristic of Kyushu in the 10,000 years of the New Calendar.
Because the Kyushu Empire's choice of a prince does not establish a direct lineage, but is full of endless variables. Establish virtuous and virtuous people. In other words, as long as the emperor does not die, any prince who is better than the prince may be replaced by the prince.
And this resulted in the battle for the crown prince being extremely cruel.
This is the royal family's unique way of raising gu. They always turn a blind eye to the competition between princes. In the end, the one who is chosen to stay will be the best heir.
This is cruel cannibalism for flesh and blood relatives, but there is a group of people who hold the view that if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Being born into an emperor's family means shouldering the lifeblood of the Nine Provinces. If you can exchange for the wisest person in power with the country's most powerful weapons at the cost of cruelty to a few people, it is worth it.
Li Zhen believed that this policy of changing the prince at any time, which was full of variables, was full of unscientific principles. But... this has been the tradition for thousands of years, and no one can change it.
Li Zhen was not stupid. He saw clearly that Xun Shifei's position as the Prince of the East Palace did not seem to be as indestructible as he thought. This time, the eighth prince Xun Shitian appeared, and Xun Shifei's status was in crisis.
But it’s none of your business. It was such a coincidence that he was a candidate at the same time as the eighth prince Xun Shitian. He was the top candidate, but he was the second.
Perhaps, this exam is related to Xun Shitian's plan to seize the reserve. But a self appeared out of nowhere, ruining everything for him.
If I guessed correctly, I seemed to have been involved in a whirlpool unknowingly, right
well.
"There is a hierarchy of learning, and the elder is respected. Junior Li Zhen will naturally obey the instructions of his senior."
Li Zhen clasped his fists and bowed to the prince.
Xun Shifei's eyes flashed with relief, and he was happy that Li Zhen was on the road. He couldn't help but smile, and he quickly clasped his fists and bowed to Li Zhen. It looks like bowing to each other, and this is returning the favor.
"Junior, your words are serious. From today on, as long as my brother is the prince, he will not let you be harmed in any way."
The two of them bowed to each other. After the prince finished speaking, he helped Li Zhen up. The two looked at each other and smiled.
Li Zhen smiled bitterly.
How can I choose
Besides becoming a princeling, do I have another option
Li Zhen felt bitter in his heart. Now he was done. Before he entered the capital, the eighth prince had completely become his mortal enemy.
Is a mortal enemy. An enemy that will never stop fighting, a sworn enemy that I have never met before and I don’t know what he looks like.
"Prepare wine! I want to have a drink with my junior and see him off to Balong City."
“…”
The prince's bedroom. Small room, small table, two plates of side dishes, and a pot of sake. The room was filled with sandalwood, and it was quiet and cold with only two people sitting opposite each other.
"Here you go to Balong City. You can do whatever you want. You don't have to worry about any consequences. If anyone bullies you, you can find them. If you can't find them, I will help you find them. My juniors should be domineering."
The prince looked slightly drunk, smiled and said something that made people shiver behind him.
Li Zhen was just Nuonuo, but he didn't answer. He wouldn't do anything like using chicken feathers as arrows. Just listen to the prince's promise.
He was just frightened by the prince's dual nature. When dealing with maids, the prince was obedient and pampered her to no end. Treating his own brother, he was murderous in words and words without any emotion at all. This made Li Zhen feel chilled and lamented the cold-bloodedness of being born in an emperor's family.
"Perhaps you have said too much, and it is enough if the meaning is conveyed properly. If I don't accompany you back to Balong City, I will be two days late for you. Relax, you are the top pick, then no one can do anything to you. Not even the prince."
Is it so straightforward? Li Zhen carefully pondered every word of the prince and did not dare to take it lightly.
The prince patted him on the shoulder again: "Why be hesitant? Have you ever heard that the Xun family has a history of self-pruning? You made me impressed by your talk last night. Your structure is far from being as simple as the world thinks. And I can give you your dream, because we have the same dream, which is to make this country a better place. We share the same goals, so we work together."
Li Zhen smiled bitterly: "I'm leaving."
The prince stood up to see Li Zhen off. He looked at Li Zhen's back and called out leisurely: "Tell me what you need, my junior. When you fulfill the five-year agreement, I will give you more than just a Southeast State."
Li Zhen was shocked, but he didn't dare to turn around to answer the question and strode away.
What are they all about? When I woke up, I had become the enemy of the eighth prince for no reason, and had joined the princeling party for no reason.
Mingkang and others also realized the seriousness of the matter and did not dare to say anything. A group of people left Jinzhou County in a depressed atmosphere and quickly headed towards Balong City.
PS: I will update it today, there will be two more chapters in the afternoon. There are three updates today
(End of chapter)