Episode 20 recap: Fan Xian filed an accusation against Yang Wanli.
With only three days left before the spring imperial examinations were set to be announced, Fan Xian was unsure of what to do. Emperor Qing had brought out the memorials documenting the cheating that had occurred in the spring examinations over the past five years, implicating many people. To this day, no one had dared to investigate the matter. Fan Xian volunteered to investigate the cheating case.
The proctors took the examinees to the latrines. Concerned that the latrines may have been tampered with, Fan Xian sent Wang Qinian to inspect them. Wang Qinian discovered that the latrines contained flammable oil, and if the examinees used candles while in the latrines, it could easily lead to a fire or even an explosion.
Fan Xian instructed Guo Zheng to have the latrines rebuilt. Guo Zheng was furious, and had the candles and water prepared by the Ministry of Rites replaced. When Fan Xian guessed that Guo Zheng would object, he had Deng Ziyue bring in people from the Judiciary Oversight Bureau to do the work, and instructed Guo Zheng to provide the high-quality materials from the storage. Faced with the pressure from the Judiciary Oversight Bureau, Guo Zheng had no choice but to comply, secretly vowing to find an opportunity to undermine Fan Xian.
Fan Xian made careful arrangements, stationing people from the Judiciary Oversight Bureau at the examination hall to ensure each examinee could complete the three-day examination smoothly. When Li Chengze learned of this, he instructed Xie Bian to tell Guo Zheng to stop, puzzled as to how Fan Xian, a newcomer to the capital, could be so familiar with the taboos surrounding the examination hall.
Fan Xian went to observe the examinees, paying special attention to Shi Chanli, Yang Wanli, Cheng Jialin, and Hou Jichang. He was impressed by Yang Wanli's elegant writing and beautiful calligraphy, feeling inferior in comparison.
After the three-day imperial examinations concluded, the examinees submitted their papers. The next step was to anonymize the papers before sending them to the examiners, to prevent them from identifying the examinees based on handwriting. Fan Xian was concerned that the staff might try to cheat during this final step, and closely supervised their work. Due to the large number of examinees, the staff worked late into the night but still could not finish. Guo Zheng advised Fan Xian to rest, but Fan Xian had learned from Guo Youzhi that in past examinations, people had cheated by making the paper slips used for anonymity different lengths, or by marking the papers during the transcription process.
Pretending ignorance, Guo Zheng had planned to secretly mark the papers of Li Chengze's students, but Fan Xian issued a strict warning, and the staff dared not slack off, completing the anonymization properly.
The paper grading was done in complete isolation. Still unwilling to let his guard down, Fan Xian remained until the grading was finished. Except for Shi Chanli's unfortunate failure, the other three candidates had passed with flying colors, and Fan Xian could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He had not slept for several days and was utterly exhausted. Wang Qinian drove him back home in a carriage, where he promptly fell into a deep sleep.
After the examinations, the examinees were also spent. They all went home to rest.
Cheng Jia Lin slept for a day and a night without waking up, while Yang Wan Li and Shi Chan Li woke up and continued studying. Hou Ji Chang brought them roast chicken and urged them to relax and discuss visiting Fan Xian.
Fan Xian went home and fell asleep immediately without even eating. Wang Qi Nian picked the meat out of the dishes, wanting to take it back for his daughter Wang Ba. Deng Zi Yue came to deliver the exam results list to Fan Xian, and saw Wang Qi Nian picking the meat out. Worried that he might report him, Wang Qi Nian asked Deng Zi Yue to have a bite and a drink.
When Fan Xian later woke up, Deng Zi Yue hurriedly handed him the results list. Fan Xian was surprised to find that the excellent student Yang Wan Li had failed the exam. Feeling something was amiss, he called upon Wang Qi Nian and Deng Zi Yue to go to the Ministry of Rites and investigate the matter. At the ministry, Fan Xian discovered that Yang Wan Li's exam paper had been replaced by an imposter, while the others' papers were normal. Fan Xian clearly remembered the content of Yang Wan Li's essay, and realized that someone had impersonated him, and that it was a student of Li Cheng Qian who had done this.
Fan Xian was unwilling to let this go, and wanted to thoroughly investigate the matter to restore justice for Yang Wan Li. Deng Zi Yue advised him to think it through carefully, as he had already become an enemy of Li Cheng Ze, and now risked offending Li Cheng Qian as well. But Fan Xian was determined to ensure fairness in this spring examination, and ordered Deng Zi Yue to seal the examination bureau, forbidding anyone from releasing the results without his authorization.
Fan Xian directly went to the Eastern Palace to confront Li Cheng Qian, stating his purpose bluntly. Li Cheng Qian showed Fan Xian the clothing he had designed, but Fan Xian was not interested, just curiously asking who he had designed them for. Li Cheng Qian evaded the question, admitting that the impersonator was one of his students, but claimed he had no knowledge of it. Fan Xian guessed that Li Cheng Ze must have orchestrated this to sow discord between them.
Unwilling to let the matter rest, Fan Xian decided to make a big deal out of it, and he and Li Cheng Qian went to the palace to file a complaint to Emperor Qing. Learning that Fan Xian had sealed the examination bureau and gone to the palace with Li Cheng Qian, Li Cheng Qian grew concerned, feeling that he had fallen into Fan Xian's trap.
At the palace, the new head eunuch Hong Zhu, who was grateful to Fan Xian for ousting Dai Gong Gong, guided them and guessed that Fan Xian had come to seek justice for the exam candidates. Chen Ping Ping was reporting to Emperor Qing about past cases of exam fraud, and Li Cheng Qian wasted no time informing the Emperor about the impersonation. Though reluctant to get involved, Emperor Qing agreed to have Fan Xian investigate the matter thoroughly.
As Fan Xian left the palace with the case files, Hong Zhu pulled him aside and tearfully expressed his deep gratitude. It turned out Hong Zhu was originally from Yingzhou, where the corrupt magistrate had killed his whole family. Hong Zhu had escaped by chance and later changed his surname to Hong in the palace, where no one knew his background. The corrupt Yingzhou magistrate was on the list Fan Xian had submitted to the Censorate, and had been executed. Seeing Fan Xian as his savior, Hong Zhu now viewed him as one of his own.
Comments(Episode 20)