The emperor came so quickly and with such a small entourage that even Zhang Shou, who was prepared, was surprised. Those who were unprepared were at a loss, which was considered a good psychological quality. Most people were panic-stricken and frightened, even Ji Jiu and Zhang Dakuai, who were often domineering and overbearing outside.
You know, they had not been selected when the emperor was selecting a son-in-law before. As for whether they beat their chests and stamped their feet after seeing Zhang Wu, Zhang Lu and the unknown boy surnamed Feng being selected, only they themselves knew. But since they had no experience in facing the emperor alone, it meant that when they came to such an occasion, they were so nervous that their calves were trembling.
Because the emperor is visiting the Imperial College in person today, and he is here to investigate the cheating issue!
Zhang Dakua found that his father, Xiangyang Bo Zhang Qiong, had come, and he immediately became even more trembling. Ji Jiu found that it was his father's immediate superior, Zuodu Yushi Zhu Heng, who came, but his father did not come, and the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department Chu Kuan was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was Lu Chan, the attendant whom he had met twice, who came with the emperor. He immediately felt uneasy and was a little unsure about the situation.
Compared to the anxious parties involved, Zhang Shou seemed much more relaxed - he was honest and had nothing to hide, so why should he panic? He glanced at the solemn-looking Zhou Jijiu and Luo Siye of the Imperial College with interest, and counted the other officials present. In fact, there were no others, only Xiangyang Bo Zhang Qiong and Zuodu Yushi Zhu Heng.
There were hundreds of civil and military officials in the court, but he had attended court only a handful of times, so he could only recognize a handful of people with the same names and faces. But at least he still recognized the cabinet ministers, the six ministers and other high-ranking officials. It was not known whether this was because the emperor had said that they did not need to come here, or whether they were expressing silent protest by not showing up.
The emperor sitting in the center nodded slightly and said, "I personally set three questions for the Banshan Hall test, but the results were not right. I heard that someone cheated in the test. Today, all the students of Banshan Hall are here, and on the other side, most of the fathers and elders involved in this have also arrived, so I came to ask about this matter in person."
At this moment, except for those who were sent out on official business, asked for leave, or left, all the remaining students in Banshan Hall gathered in Minglun Hall. Even though there were more than a hundred people, this huge place still looked empty. After all, this largest lecture hall in the Imperial College was once the largest lecture hall in the world, with regulations set by Emperor Taizu himself.
Although the emperor was not here to give a lecture, most people could not help but hold their breath. However, to their surprise, the first person to speak was not Zhang Shou or Zhou Jijiu, but Xu Heizi from the Shengqian Hall!
"Your Majesty, I was the invigilator in the Banshan Hall examination, and I was the only one who reviewed the papers afterwards. So I have something to report about the so-called cheating. Wu Qingzu said that Zhang Wuji cheated because Zhang Wuji secretly brought a handwritten notebook with him. I have checked it and found that this handwritten notebook was purchased by Zhang Wuji and five other people from Ji Qingchen beforehand."
Xu Heida's statement was just like his personality, very serious and his voice was flat without any emotion. "Ji Qingchen's notes were compiled from his daily class notes. There are fifteen volumes in total. The three volumes sold to Zhang Wuji and others were the contents of Dr. Zhang's first lecture at the Banshan Hall at the end of last year, which was about ten days of classes."