Chapter 48

Chapter 47

"Wenqi..."

Zhao Hongrun looked at the examinee who was also staring at him, somewhat surprised. He found that the other party was really young, only about sixteen or seventeen years old. It was hard to imagine that someone of this age could stand out in the preliminary exams and win a place in the metropolitan exams.

"Really can't underestimate the young talents of our great Wei... But why is he looking at me?"

"Are you looking at something?" Zhao Hongrun asked out of curiosity.

However, the examinee named Wenqi only smiled and shook his head. His calm and composed smile made Zhao Hongrun feel a sense of mystery.

After some thought, Zhao Hongrun tentatively asked, "Are you guessing whether I am the inspector here? Or are you guessing whether I am genuinely trying to catch cheating?"

Wenqi was taken aback by this, a look of surprise appearing in his eyes.

'Seems like I guessed right.'

Zhao Hongrun smiled in understanding and asked in a low voice, "You don't need to guess who I am. You just need to know that I am genuinely determined to catch cheating. ... How about it, do you have any suggestions?"

Wenqi looked Zhao Hongrun up and down, then pointed to his mouth and shook his head slowly.

"Mute?"

Zong Wei Zhou Bo muttered in surprise.

As soon as he said this, Wenqi rolled his eyes silently, pointed to the table in front of him, then pointed to his mouth, and shook his head again.

'So that's it. Examinees are not allowed to whisper to each other in the exam hall...'

Zhao Hongrun suddenly understood. He had been puzzled earlier, wondering why the local government would give a place in the metropolitan exams to a mute. According to the regulations of the Wei dynasty, people with physical disabilities were not allowed to serve as officials, probably to avoid affecting the image.

This examinee named Wenqi, judging by his attire, did not seem to be from a noble family. His clothes were neither particularly good nor bad, suggesting he was from a middle-class background.

Seeing that the examinee could not speak, Zhao Hongrun decided not to press further. He glanced at him briefly and was about to turn and leave.

However, unexpectedly, after observing him for a moment, Wenqi suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the bowl next to him.

"Huh?"

Zhao Hongrun followed the direction of Wenqi's finger and saw a bowl used to hold candles. After all, lit candles would melt and could cause fires, so each examination room in the Confucian temple had a bowl for holding candles.

'A bowl? Or... a candle?'

Zhao Hongrun looked at Wenqi with surprise and doubt. Wenqi smiled at him, a smile that seemed to hint at the answer and believed he could guess it.

'A candle...?'

Zhao Hongrun looked deeply at the examinee and left with an uncertain expression.

Not long after, Zong Wei Gao Kuo, whom he had sent to the Ministry of Personnel to obtain the household registration information of the examinees, returned with an unhappy expression.

"Your Highness, those officials refused to provide the household registration information of the examinees, saying that your actions are not in accordance with the regulations and are overstepping your authority," Gao Kuo reported, somewhat aggrieved.

"Refused to provide?" Zhao Hongrun was taken aback, not quite understanding: "Who did you talk to?"

Zong Wei replied, "I talked to the co-examiners, and not just one, but none of them were willing to hand over the household registration information."

The co-examiners he referred to were the sixteen examiners appointed by the Ministry of Personnel.

"Is this really happening?"

Zhao Hongrun was somewhat surprised. After all, after he had used Luo Rong to set an example the previous day, the sixteen examiners had been quite respectful and compliant, and soon after, they had provided him with the financial report of the examination. He didn't expect their attitude to change so quickly.

'Could it be because of the Crown Prince?'

With a thought, Zhao Hongrun guessed the reason: "I see, they've found their backing. Hmph!"

The other Zong Wei looked at each other, unsure if they understood Zhao Hongrun's words.

"Your Highness, if the Ministry of Personnel won't give us the household registration information of the examinees, how can we investigate?"

"Refuse... If they refuse, then so be it."

When he said this, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but feel a bit helpless. After all, the officials of the Ministry of Personnel were right; he, Zhao Hongrun, was just a prince and did not hold a position in the Ministry of Personnel, so he had no right to request such information.

If he insisted, it would be overstepping his authority, and both the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and Luo Wenzhong could use this to accuse him, which would not be worth it.

'In that case, I'll have to start from the candles that Wenqi hinted at...'

"Gao Kuo, get a small notebook and ask for the names of the sixteen officials from the Ministry of Personnel, and write them all down. The rest of you, continue to patrol the examination hall with me."

"Yes." Gao Kuo bowed.

The 'Eighth Prince's Little Notebook,' which would later make the entire court and even other countries tremble, was finally mentioned today, and many people would be frightened when they found out their names were on it.

In the following time, Zhao Hongrun seemed to forget his fatigue and quietly patrolled the rows of examination rooms, paying close attention to the candles and candle bowls on the desks of the examinees.

He gradually noticed that the number of candles on the desks of the examinees in the examination rooms was different, and the thickness of the melted wax in the bowls was also different.

It seemed that some examinees were very frugal with candles, using only one or half a candle, while others were not concerned about the one-tael-per-candle white wax and lit them freely.

Speaking of the price of white wax, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but feel a bit angry.

What kind of white wax costs one tael per candle?

But when he asked the servants in the examination hall about this, they replied that it was to prevent examinees from staying up all night and affecting their performance the next day, or to prevent them from wasting candles.

It turned out that the examination staff in the Confucian temple would provide each examinee with three white candles. In most cases, these three candles were enough, but it was not guaranteed that some examinees would be willing to answer questions at night or suddenly have inspiration to revise their answers during the day.

Regardless of the reason, the Ministry of Personnel only provided three white candles to each examinee, and any additional ones would cost one tael each.

For this answer, Zhao Hongrun had nothing to say, as he couldn't find any fault with it.

For example, if an examinee had money and lit one candle after another at night, what could you say? They valued the examination and were willing to review their answers repeatedly. What could you say?

Zhao Hongrun couldn't figure it out, and at that moment, he saw a minor official nearby carrying a basket full of white candles.

"Go, call him over."

"Yes." Zong Wei He Miao nodded and immediately called the minor official over.

Zhao Hongrun curiously took a white candle from the minor official's basket and examined it carefully but found nothing unusual.

It was just an ordinary white candle.

'Could the examinee named Wenqi be playing a trick on me?'

Zhao Hongrun was a bit unhappy and waved for the minor official to go on his way, seeing if any examinees needed candles. He himself watched the minor official's back, deep in thought, suspecting that the examinee named Wenqi was playing a trick on him.

Suddenly, Zhao Hongrun caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.

It was the second examination room from his left. The desk inside clearly had no candles left, but the examinee ignored the minor official selling candles and waved him away.

'...'

Zhao Hongrun stared for a moment, a hint of suspicion appearing in his eyes.

He quietly approached and discreetly observed the examinee. The examinee was wearing a silk robe with a blue border, with a refined appearance, clearly from a wealthy family and rarely experienced hardship.

"Why don't you buy some candles for your desk?" Zhao Hongrun asked tentatively.

The examinee looked Zhao Hongrun up and down. Although Zhao Hongrun was wearing a mask, his luxurious attire and the five armored Zong Wei behind him clearly indicated he was not an ordinary person.

"Are you... the inspector?" The examinee seemed to disregard the rule against talking in the examination hall and asked Zhao Hongrun.

Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun lowered his voice and spoke in a slightly hoarse tone, "You don't need to care whether I am the inspector. Just answer my question."

"Seems like you are the inspector..." The examinee smiled and shrugged, "But there's no rule that examinees must answer the inspector's questions. I can choose not to."

'This accent... a local? From a powerful family in this capital, Daliang?'

Zhao Hongrun thought for a moment and said calmly, "Indeed, but I can also choose to watch you more strictly. ... Zhong Zhao, Zhu Gui, go get a stool and watch this young man's every move from now on."

"Yes!" Zhong Zhao and Zhu Gui bowed and left.

At that moment, Zhao Hongrun saw a hint of panic in the examinee's eyes.

"Inspector... What are you doing, Inspector?" The examinee stammered, "I was just joking with you, Inspector. Why are you so angry?"

'This guy... something's off!'

Zhao Hongrun sneered inwardly and said calmly, "Then answer me, why didn't you buy any candles just now? Can you guarantee you won't need them at night?"

"I... I thought, since it's daytime now, buying candles would be useless. I'll wait until night to buy them."

'Night? Is there someone selling candles at night?'

"..." Zhao Hongrun looked at the examinee, about to ask but suddenly felt it was inappropriate, so he nodded and said, "I see."

With that, he quickly left with the Zong Wei and caught up with the minor official selling candles, leading him to a secluded place.

"Will you still sell candles here after dark?"

The minor official looked at Zhao Hongrun, confused, and shook his head, "After dark, it's another shift. We are responsible for the day, and they are responsible for the night."

"Alright, you can go."

"Yes."

The minor official left, and Zhao Hongrun watched his back, a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

'If Wenqi wasn't playing a trick on me, the secret must be in the candles sold at night... Are they different candles? Interesting, let's see.'

---

End of Chapter 47

---