Chapter 222 - A Golden Opportunity

General Yuan mansion 

"your highness! Please get justice for my child's father. He has already lost his father unjustly, must his father's murderers also not get punished!" 

Everyone gasped when the pregnant young madam fell on her knees and grabbed Xia Ying's sleeve. Su Liya glanced at the young madam's bulging tummy and sighed, she looked away immediately catching Zhu Fengyin's eyes. Zhu Fengyin was seated next to madam Lu who thanks to her relationship with the Yuan family was among the small group of madams seated closer to old madam Yuan.

The two exchanged concerned gazes but quickly wiped their concerns off their face and looked away. In these situations, it was best not to show any emotion which can be taken out of context. Su Liya glanced at Rong Rong, signalling for her to send word to Lu Yaozhu.

The man has entertained a short distance away and hence we're yet to be alerted of this. Su Liya frowned slightly as she caught the fifth Princess consort and second madam Yuan exchanging knowing gaze. She quickly worked out how both women came into the equation, "looks like the fight for the throne is getting more heated," she muttered sighing.

Acting quickly to reduce the level of damage this would make on the Yuan family. Old madam Yuan stood from her seat, she glared briefly at her eldest daughter-in-law. She looked over her shoulder to her lady's maid standing behind her,

"Call some Guards to escort madam Ning and the young madam back to their carriage", minutes later a group of guards rushed in, pulling both women up from their knees and dragging them away. The woman cried out at the top of their voices, preventing the two women from calling out to Xia Ying. 

Eldest madam Yuan rushed to appease Xia Ying, issues like this could lead to Misunderstanding which would put the Yuan family at odds with the future Empress. Xia Ying balled her fist as she tried to control her nearly exploding temper. However, like a seasoned socialite, she controlled her expression. Maintaining a calm expression as she stopped eldest madam Yuan from apologizing.

The fifth Prince's camp had put a lot of attention on this plan, no matter how hard The Yuan family and the sixth prince's side tried to suppress the news. The News of the disturbances spread around, even reaching the palace before the banquet ended. The Crown Prince didn't stay long, thirty minutes later, he departed for the Yuan family mansion. The other guest left not long after the Crown Prince and Crown Princess consort departed.

Any attempt at damage control by Zhongshan Ling failed, public opinion was more difficult to control due to the current influx of citizens for the Imperial Examination. The damage to the Crown Prince's reputation was irreversible as it fueled the demand for the dethroning of the crown prince.

Things were more heighted with the upcoming imperial Examination which was only three days away. Scholars from all over the province came in masses for the examination. Guesthouses and inns were filled due to the crowd, to ensure that no mischief occurred security around the capital was increased. The daily curfew was increased and the crime rates were significantly lower. 

Two days to the Imperial examination the scholars taking part in the examination were admitted into the examination camp. Among the aspirants admitted was Lu Yong, the scholars were thoroughly searched to prevent malpractice. Those found with contraband were dismissed and banned for taking the examination. The disqualification of a candidate caused a stare in the capital as both the candidate and their families bore the brunt of any attack from the public.

The Imperial Exam was a three days event with the candidate tested for three subjects. The Lu family were on edge throughout three days exam, previous experiences troubled them. Especially Madam Lu who had gone into three days prayers from the first day of the examination to the third day. On the third day, madam Lu stood in front of her marriage with the rest of the crowd waiting for the candidates to be released. She ran up to her he walked out of the venue.

Days after the examination, everyone was on edge waiting expectantly for the results the capital was on-hand still until the result was released four days later.

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Three days before the result was released at the Examination office located within the palace. Emperor Zhong was seated on a high seat at the office of the Examination supervisor, Councillor Zhang. Emperor Zhong held up Lu Yong's unmarked answer sheet for the final paper of the examination. He had heard a lot of teachers at the academy praise, Lu Yong, for his intelligence and was curious how the young scholar would answer the question he had set personally. 

Emperor Zhong's lips tugged up as he read through the three papers long answer, counsellor Zhang on the other hand his legs shake. Although the supervisor maintained a calm expression, the back of his blue official uniform was soaked in sweat. He was slowly on the verge of collapsing, he had been since the Emperor appeared at the door of his office. 

The Emperor had never made such a visit n in the ten years he had overseen the examination. Usually, whenever the Emperor wished to see him on any issue, he was called over to the Emperor's study. He already had Lu Yong's answer sheet kept aside, it had become a usual practice whenever the Imperial was held after he had been instructed multiple times to cancel the young scholar's answer sheet. Councillor Zhang as a scholar himself did not like to manipulate these results but was forced to do so at the Emperor's request.

His dislike for that did nothing to stop the Emperor from giving those instructions and after some time he just went on with whatever was requested of him. He watches silently as the Emperor read through the sheet before returning it to the tray at the table opposite him. He shivered as the Emperor glanced up, "your your Majesty, how do I? should I cancel the answers as usual?" He asked eyes locked in the answer sheet.

Emperor Zhong glanced down at the sheer shook his head, "no need, give him the full mark. He got all his answer right, what an insightful young man", he pushed back his seat and stood. 

"Yes, your Majesty!" He said bowing deeply.