CH 33.3

The Emperor nodded: “My dear Minister’s proposal is the best. In that case, the Palace Examination will be put in advance. Eunuch Li, send my decree down that the Palace Examination will be held four hours later. All the affairs of the Palace Examination——”

He looked towards all his ministers below and said: “Will be handled by my dear Minister Feng on my behalf. What do you all think?”

The Emperor used a negotiating tone, but who dares to say no?

Even the Emperor didn’t need to ask Duke Jiang and all the old scholars whether they were willing to give questions in the Palace Examination. Anyway, once the imperial decree is sent out, it must be obeyed by everyone.

Feng Qishi hurriedly responded, glanced at Ji Mingxi very covertly, and a light of glory flashed in his eyes.

All of this is going according to their arrangement. He wanted to see what the Ji family could do next with the suddenly advanced Palace Examination, and also with the completely unknown questions!

Matters related to the imperial examinations have always been the responsibility of the Ministry of Civil Officials in the Dayu Dynasty.

The meaning of the Emperor’s arrangement this time is just like rendering the authority of the Ministry of Civil Officials unfeasible.

Generally speaking, when the power in hand is suddenly taken away, normal people will feel lost and uncomfortable.

But Ji Mingxi still didn’t have much fluctuation. Instead, he thought that he could finally have a good rest.

He had worked hard for several months for the Spring Imperial Examination, and he could not even copy the Buddhist scriptures properly.

To tell the truth, Ji Mingxi felt that the Ministry of Civil Officials was already busy enough in arranging the appointment, appointing and removing, even promoting, assessing and transferring of officials. This Imperial Examination’s responsibility should not be placed in the Ministry of Civil Official.

How great it would be if it won’t be returned to him again.

–

Ji Yunxi soon learned about the imperial decree in which the Palace Examination will be held ahead of time.

Although Ji Mingxi was no longer in charge of this matter, the Emperor did not let Ji Mingxi go back to his house and let him stay in the palace for the time being instead.

Ji Mingyan is a very optimistic person. When he heard the news, his first reaction was that he was going to tell his Brother-in-law. After all, his Brother-in-law’s family is quite ill-informed, so they may not know about it so quickly. If his Brother-in-law is delayed, what will happen to his Palace Examination then? So he immediately ran to the Wu’s family.

Ji Mingshuang frowned.

Since the Emperor suddenly summoned their Eldest Brother to the palace, he became aware that there’s something wrong with this matter. This sudden advance of the Palace Examination proved this point even more.

According to the usual practice, the ranking of Dayu Dynasty’s Spring Imperial Examination was always announced in mid March, and the Palace Examination would not begin until mid April. The one month between the two examinations is for the candidates’ preparation time.

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But now, the ranking of the Spring Imperial Examination has just been announced in the morning, and the ending result is, the Palace Exam will be held soon!

This was so sudden that it caught everyone off guard!

Ji Mingshuang asked Ji Yunxi, “What do you think about this matter?”

Ji Yunxi was also a little surprised.

Since she knew Wu Wei’an’s ranking in the morning, she knew that there would be many variables in the future. Although Ji Yunxi was mentally prepared from the beginning, she did not expect this Palace Examination to start so soon either. In her imagination, it would take a few days at the earliest.

After all, the Palace Examination is extremely important and it needs a lot of preparation time.

Therefore, this matter proves that the current Emperor is not a simple person either.

Ji Yunxi sipped her tea and said: “I guess, the Emperor suspects that Eldest Brother is leaking the questions.”

Ji Mingshuang thought so too, but when this really came out of his younger sister’s mouth, his heart skipped a beat and he got up from the couch in a hurry: “I’m afraid that something will happen to Eldest Brother.”

Ji Yunxi sat cross legged on the beauty couch, with some information about the gambling house on her knees. Hearing this, she said with relief: “Seventh Brother, you don’t have to worry about this. As long as Eldest Brother didn’t give you any of the Spring Imperial Examination’s questions, Eldest Brother will be fine.”

“How could Eldest Brother give me the questions?!” Ji Mingshuang said, “Instead, I’m worried that Eldest Brother gave your husband-to-be the questions! In case Wu Wei’an performed extremely poorly in the Palace Examination, do you know what will happen to Eldest Brother?!”