To the First Emperor of Qin: The state has decreed this!

Chapter 345 What? There's a prostitute?

That shout was powerful and heavy, instantly drowning out the noise of the entire venue.

Upon hearing this, the people were filled with questions. All the grievances and doubts they had accumulated were ignited. They all looked up and stared at Yu Miaoyan on the high platform.

"Yes! Your Excellency, why would there be cheating?"

"Is it possible that even His Majesty's decrees cannot govern the affairs of Jiangnan?!"

Sitting on the high platform, Yu Miaoyan heard that familiar, annoying voice. Her gaze swept across the crowd and instantly locked onto the masked man who was cowering in the crowd.

At that moment, Yu Miaoyan's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably twice, and her back teeth clenched so hard they made a grinding sound; she was practically bursting with anger!

That bastard Zhang Fan!

You dumped all the mess on me and ran away, and now you even dare to mingle in the crowd as a shill, deliberately stirring up trouble and fueling the flames?

Suppressing the urge to rush down from the platform and draw her sword to kill someone, Yu Miaoyan took a deep breath and slammed the gavel down again!

"quiet!"

With a cold face, she sternly explained to the people outside the hall: "His Majesty is benevolent and has implemented the imperial examination system in order to recruit talented people from all over the country!"

However, the officialdom in Jiangnan was corrupt. Some corrupt officials, seeking to line their own pockets, secretly colluded with local powerful figures to leak the exam questions in advance, openly setting prices for their services, turning this talent selection ceremony into a tool for their own enrichment!

"Guards! Bring all the officials involved in the leaked exam questions, along with all the candidates who participated in the cheating, into the courtroom!"

At a command, the armored soldiers on both sides charged into the backyard like wolves and tigers.

Soon, accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of chains dragging on the ground, dozens of disheveled men were kicked violently to the ground in front of the hall.

Among them were both wealthy students who were usually arrogant and haughty, and officials at all levels who were invigilating and grading exams.

When the crowd's gaze fell upon the elderly man who was slumped on the ground, trembling all over, at the very front, the entire scene fell silent for a moment, followed by an even more horrified gasp.

"That's...that's Prefect Fang Zhenge, isn't it?!"

"Good heavens! Even the capital of a prefecture is involved? No wonder the imperial examinations were so disastrous; he's the biggest mole among them!"

The people were shocked. No one expected that the imperial envoy's sword would actually dare to strike the highest-ranking official in Jiangnan!

In the crowd, Zhang Fan saw that the time was almost right, and immediately used his elbow to push the eldest son Fusu, who was also covering his face with a burlap sack, next to him.

Fusu, the eldest son of the Qin Dynasty, received a traditional Confucian education from a young age. How could he have ever engaged in such behavior as inciting the people?

He looked embarrassed and shook his head repeatedly, about to refuse.

"Young master, the people's hearts are at stake! Hurry up and shout!" Zhang Fan lowered his voice and pinched him hard on the waist.

Fusu, in pain and with no other choice, could only grit his teeth and shout at the top of his lungs, filled with grief and indignation:

"Fellow villagers! It is these corrupt officials who have traded our futures for their own wealth and ruined the path to success for us poor scholars through the imperial examinations! These traitors deserve to die!"

This sudden roar instantly ignited the anger of everyone present.

Those students who had failed their exams and the ordinary people who had spent their entire fortunes to send their children to school instantly had tears in their eyes.

"Kill! Kill these corrupt officials!"

"Kill them! Kill them!"

"Give us justice! Give the scholars of Jiangnan justice!"

In an instant, tens of thousands of people raised their arms and shouted, and a thunderous roar rose into the sky, shaking the roof tiles.

The officials involved in the case and the cheating candidates who had initially harbored a glimmer of hope were utterly terrified by the deafening roar of public anger and swearing on the ground, begging for mercy.

In the high hall, Yu Miaoyan coldly watched the group of terrified officials and students, and once again slammed the gavel, silencing the commotion outside the hall.

Her gaze was sharp as lightning, coldly sweeping over the crowd that had been brought forward, and she said in a deep voice:

"Now that the evidence of cheating in the imperial examinations is irrefutable! Do you all have anything else to say?"

The hall was deathly silent.

Those examiners who usually spouted lofty ideals and the scions of wealthy families who cheated were now trembling like leaves, their faces ashen, and not one of them dared to utter a single word in response.

Only the prefect Fang Zhengge, who was kneeling at the very front, was desperately twisting his body on the ground.

"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"

His eyes were bloodshot, the veins on his neck were bulging, and he was making a whimpering sound.

But his mouth was already stuffed with a large wad of tattered burlap, so tightly that he couldn't utter a single word.

At this moment, Fang Zhengge's heart was bleeding, and he was extremely angry.

Zhang Fan!

Zhang Fan, you despicable and shameless opportunist!

You clearly accepted a generous gift from the Xiang family, and you also sided with them!

You deserve to die more than I do!

Let me speak! I want to report this!

I'm going to drag that damned imperial envoy down with me!

However, Yu Miaoyan merely glanced down casually, completely ignoring Fang Zhengge.

Then he slammed the gavel down and said calmly:

"Very well! Since none of you have anything to say, then I will take it as a confession and acceptance of the law!"

"According to the laws of the Qin Dynasty, those who disrupt the laws of the state will not be tolerated! Those involved should be executed or imprisoned! They should be detained immediately and executed in the autumn!"

Upon hearing this, the examiners and candidates involved in the case screamed in terror, their faces turning deathly pale. Some even rolled their eyes back, wet their pants, and fainted on the spot.

Fang Zhengge, kneeling at the front, shuddered upon hearing the swift and decisive verdict, and two streams of pent-up tears of despair shot down his cheeks.

I freaking...

I haven't said anything yet!!

You've gagged me like this, I'll talk with my ass!

As soon as the verdict was announced, a deafening roar of cheers erupted outside the government office.

"Well done! Well done!"

"Your Honor! Heaven has finally opened its eyes!"

The people were so excited that their eyes turned red, and many of them, who had suffered from oppression, even knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to Yu Miaoyan in the hall.

However, just as everyone was celebrating, a discordant voice suddenly rang out from the other side of the crowd.

Zhang Fan had somehow slipped to the west side of the crowd and changed his position, even deliberately twisting the burlap covering his face a little crooked.

He strained his voice and let out another hoarse roar:

"Your Excellency is indeed wise! But... the county and prefectural examinations have already been completed!"

"All the spots have been taken by these parasites and children of powerful families. What are we poor students who should have been on the list supposed to do? Have all our three months of hard study been for nothing?"

Upon hearing this, the cheering crowd fell silent for a moment, and then began to discuss the matter even more intensely.

"Yeah, that's not fair!"

"The list is finalized. The cheaters have been caught, but what about the kids who were replaced?"

"Does this mean that our chance to become an official in the imperial court this year is completely gone? Do we have to wait another three years?"

The students looked desperate, as anxious as ants on a hot plate, and the crowd was once again filled with fear and commotion.