Chapter 239: Impersonation (2 in 1 chapter supplement)
"Later..." Shen Mozhu's hoarse voice suddenly surged with hatred. "Later, we met the prince of Yongchang Marquis Mansion by chance. Shen Qingshan said that the inn we stayed in was noisy and it was not easy to concentrate on reading. So he suggested moving to the other courtyard of Yongchang Marquis Mansion for a short stay."
"Shen Qingshan proposed it?!" Song Qingci obviously didn't believe it. Shen Qingshan, like him, was a student who went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. Even if he got to know the Yongchang Marquis' Mansion, he couldn't control the Marquis's heir.
Shen Mozhu understood what Song Qingci had not said. "Now that I think about it, Shen Qingshan must have reached some agreement with the prince of Yongchang Marquis's Mansion when I didn't know about it. It was the prince's idea to stay in the other courtyard for a while, but it was Shen Qingshan who said it."
"I didn't think much about it at the time, I just felt that what Shen Qingshan said made sense. Since we didn't have much money, the inn we stayed in was relatively simple and the environment was indeed quite noisy. Being able to move to a quiet place to live would also be beneficial for the imperial examination, so I didn't object."
"Now that I think about it, it was all caused by greed. Because of my greed, I ended up in such a disaster." Shen Mozhu sneered when he said this.
Song Qingci probably guessed something, she asked, "You are the one who is going to take the exam, right?!"
Shen Mozhu nodded, "It's me."
Then he shook his head again, "It was me at first, but I was not the one who took part in the palace examination."
Song Qingci has also made some inquiries about Dachen's imperial examination recently. After all, there is a candidate in his family, and as a relative, he should know something about it.
Generally speaking, it is not much different from what Song Qingci originally knew.
From the Tongsheng Examination to the Provincial Examination, to the Metropolitan Examination and finally to the Palace Examination, after round of examinations, many people are eliminated in each round, and only a few can successfully enter the next stage of the examination.
Especially the imperial examination, which is equivalent to the last round of examinations. The competition is extremely fierce. After all, those who can stay until now are all outstanding.
It's a real pick of the best.
Basically, the ranking of those who passed the exam depends on their results in the joint examination.
The palace examination was considered an additional test, with the emperor personally setting the questions and selecting the first, second and third place.
The first place was awarded the title of Zhuangyuan, the second place was awarded the title of Bangyan, and the third place was awarded the title of Tanhua.
These one, two, and three are the true disciples of the emperor.
''······''This question made Song Qingci speechless. She originally thought that someone had impersonated him after he had taken the exam, but she didn't expect that he didn't even take the exam at all.
"Please tell me more about it."
Song Qingci also wanted to know how this idiot was made to be like this.
It turned out that after Shen Mozhu and Shen Qingshan moved to the villa of Yongchang Marquis Mansion, they really started to review their studies seriously and prepare for the exam.
For this purpose, the prince of Yongchang Marquis's Mansion specially sent maids and servants to take care of their food and daily life.
Not only that, the prince also found some policy essays written by famous scholars and test questions that had been tested before.
Let them practice on it.
Before this, Shen Mozhu was very grateful to the prince of Yongchang Marquis's Mansion. He felt that he had met a noble person.
He didn't know what Shen Qingshan was thinking, but he himself wrote all the policy essays and test questions and compared them carefully.
When Shen Mozhu really sat in the examination room, he discovered that many of the things he had written before actually matched the test paper in his hand.
At that time, only he himself knew the ecstasy in his heart.
===
After finishing the last exam and coming out of the Imperial Examination Hall, Shen Mozhu was very confident about his answers and knew that he would be on the list.
After returning to the villa of Yongchang Marquis Mansion, he also discussed the test questions with Shen Qingshan.
Shen Qingshan did not show any abnormality at the time and even invited him to drink.
"You drank the wine without any precautions?" Song Qingci really thought that Shen Mozhu had become stupid from reading too much.
Harmfulness is not allowed, and defensiveness is indispensable.
He really took these words to heart.
When you go out alone, can you just drink alcohol?
Although his face was ruined, Song Qingci still felt Shen Mozhu's embarrassment from his subtle movements.
"Shen Qingshan and I have always been friends. There was nothing wrong with him, so I was not on guard against him," Shen Mozhu explained.
But this explanation is actually quite pale and powerless.
"What happened next?" His gossipy heart was burning.
"I drank the wine that Shen Qingshan poured for me, and then I passed out. When I woke up again, I was already in a dungeon."
"My face was destroyed at that time. I was the only one in the dungeon. I didn't know where I was. But every day someone came to give me a bowl of water and a steamed bun. It was these things that kept me from starving to death."
"Then how did you escape from the dungeon?" Shan Li was more interested in this part.
This Shen Mozhu is a weak scholar at first glance, powerless and has been locked up for so long.
According to what he said, he was thrown into the dungeon on the day of the last examination, and almost twenty days passed until the results were announced yesterday.
During this long period of time, he not only survived, but also had the ability to escape.
This is indeed quite intriguing.
Shen Mozhu glanced at Shan Li. This man gave him a strong sense of oppression, so at the beginning, he deliberately ignored him.
"I didn't know where I was imprisoned at first, but later I heard some clues from the man who brought me food and drinks every day. He often cursed me. He said that if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have been sent to such a place. I was the bitch who delayed his future. He made him miss the reward from the prince. At that time, I realized that I was harmed by the prince of Yongchang Marquis's Mansion. "
"There are more than just Yongchang Marquis's family in the capital. How can you be sure it's him?" Song Qingci asked deliberately.
"I am not from the capital. I have been in the capital for a short time, and the only person I have met and known is the prince of Yongchang Marquis's Mansion. Moreover, my accident happened in the other courtyard of Yongchang Marquis's Mansion. Is it possible that the prince of another family could get his hands into Yongchang Marquis's Mansion?"
Not bad, not completely stupid, Song Qingci complained in his heart.
"Now that I know who did it to me, I thought carefully about everything that happened in the Yongchang Marquis Mansion. Then I remembered that on the eve of the big exam, the prince of Yongchang Marquis Mansion once asked me if I wanted to work for the mansion. I declined the prince's request because I was thinking about my hometown. At that time, the prince behaved very normally and said that it was very precious that I did not forget my roots. But now I think that the misfortune I encountered was caused by my unwillingness to work for the mansion. "
"After thinking this through, I thought about escaping from this place. I don't know why the prince didn't kill me right away, but just destroyed my face and locked me up. But since I'm not dead, I must escape."
"I ate everything I ate every day, even the bugs in the cell. I also tried to move as little as possible, conserving my energy and waiting for the right time."
"I could feel the sunrise and sunset through the air vents in the dungeon. Every day, I would scratch a mark on the wall. I calculated the time in my mind and knew the approximate date of the announcement of the results. I guessed that the day of the announcement would be my chance."
"Sure enough, the person who brought me food and drinks today did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at me and said to me in a teasing tone, 'Shen Mozhu was personally awarded the title of Tanhua Lang by His Majesty the Emperor. What a pity, that Shen Mozhu is not you. You have worked so hard for so many years, but in the end you have made wedding clothes for others. You can't blame others, because you are an ungrateful person.' Only then did I realize that I had been impersonated."
"While he was just venting his emotions, I broke the porcelain bowl of water, cut his wrist with the sharp broken pieces, and pressed the broken pieces against his throat. I threatened him like this and walked out of the dungeon."
"After I got out, I found out that the dungeon where I was imprisoned was in the other courtyard of the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion. I have lived here for some time, and I know the way inside. So I knocked the man unconscious and prepared to leave by myself."
"You are too kind!" Song Qingci said disdainfully, "If you had not knocked that man unconscious but had directly cut his neck, you would have been able to escape smoothly tonight."
How much physical strength could a scholar who had been locked up for a long time have? I'm afraid that person was just fainted for a short time and then woke up.
Soon after, his escape became known, and the subsequent pursuit followed.
Maybe they had briefly caught up with him during the maneuver, otherwise how could he have received all these new injuries.
Shen Mozhu was rebuked by Song Qingci, but he still insisted on his principles, "How can human life be wiped out at will! According to Dachen law, killing people at will will result in beheading!"
Okay, she took back her previous thought. This guy is stupid because of reading too much!
When it comes to your own life, why bother with the Dachen Law?
Even in modern times, there are concepts such as self-defense and emergency avoidance.
The brain is a good thing, but unfortunately, some people become stupid because of reading too much.
There is no need for him to say more about what happened afterwards.
He almost ran out of energy and collapsed in front of their carriage. He probably ran towards the carriage with the intention of asking for help. However, his physical strength did not support his thoughts.
Song Qingci thought that if those who were chasing him didn't intend to kill everyone who had contact with him, he probably wouldn't care about such trivial matters.
Hey, how come she has a bit of Conan's physique after traveling through time?
"Then do you know who impersonated you?" Song Qingci felt that he probably knew the answer.
"I'm not sure, but there's a high probability that it's him." Shen Mozhu wasn't really stupid from studying, he just had his own principles.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have actually escaped from the dungeon by himself.
"Shen Qingshan!"
"Shen Qingshan."
"Shen Qingshan."
Shan Li, Song Qingci and Shen Mozhu said in unison.
It is actually not very easy for a complete stranger to replace another person.
However, Shen Qingshan and Shen Mozhu are from the same hometown, have the same surname, and are both candidates for this special examination.
They have many similarities, such as accents and habits.
As long as they don't go back to their hometowns and don't see their loved ones, the chances of being exposed are probably very small.
Shen Qingshan can be said to be the best candidate to replace Shen Mozhu.
Anyway, in the capital, there are only a handful of people who know both of these people.
After saying these things, Shen Mozhu was already very tired.
Song Qingci was not some devilish doctor who would insist on having people answer in this state. She pulled Shan Li out and told Feng Si to take good care of him.
Shan Li and Song Qingci did not return to Chixiao Courtyard, but went to the back garden.
The two sat down in the pavilion in the middle of the lake and looked at each other.
''you···''
''I···''
They both spoke at the same time, but when they realized that the other was about to speak, they shut up at the same time.
"You speak first!"
"You speak first!"
He spoke at the same time and said the same words.
Song Qingci couldn't bear it any longer, so she covered Shan Li's mouth with her hand.
"Shut up and listen to me."
Shan Li nodded, and Song Qingci put his hand down.
"After what happened yesterday, we have become enemies with the Yongchang Marquisate. I don't like such dangerous relationships, so I want to strike first."
"I think so too." Shan Li nodded.
Yongchang Marquis Mansion was also involved in the affairs of Yicheng. I was originally thinking about finding an opportunity. I didn't expect that this opportunity would come right before my eyes.
Cheating in the imperial examination and impersonation.
This Yongchang Marquis Li Xingguan is really brave.
"The most urgent task is to find those people who went to Beijing with Shen Mozhu and Shen Qingshan to take the exam. Including the students and other people on the boat. These people are all strong witnesses."
"As for their families, Shen Qingshan's family is fine and probably won't be in any danger for the time being, but Shen Mozhu's family may not be."
"Hurry up. I guess they have just realized what is happening and are going to send someone to deal with these people."
If Shen Mozhu's life was spared before, they would not touch those insiders for the time being to avoid any complications caused by the commotion.
However, now that Shen Mozhu has escaped from their control, those who know the truth are in great danger.
As long as those who knew the truth were gone, no one would be able to prove Shen Qingshan's identity.