The court was in an uproar.

Cases of examination fraud had occurred in every dynasty throughout history. The last one was about forty or fifty years ago, and everyone involved had been executed.

Because so many people were implicated back then—anyone who participated in the case was either executed along with their entire family or exiled—blood flowed like rivers that day, leaving shadows in many people’s hearts. As a result, for all these years, no one had dared to tamper with the imperial examinations.

Everyone in the court was somewhat shocked.

Chu Mo knelt on the ground with his head lowered.

At first, he truly hadn’t dared to tamper with the examinations, because once discovered, his life would be over.

But the temptation was simply too great.

Initially, he only needed to pull some strings and swap seat numbers to easily receive three thousand taels of silver.

Then, some people wanted him to leak examination questions. He went through great trouble to establish this channel—leaking one question earned ten thousand taels of silver.

Finally, he thought, why not use the examinations to plant his own people in the court…

Just like that, step by step, everything went smoothly.

When the court situation became increasingly tense, he gradually began to pull back. For example, this year’s metropolitan examination—he hadn’t participated.

All those who knew about it in the past had been killed by him, dealt with cleanly.

As long as there were no witnesses, as long as he refused to confess, Father Emperor wouldn’t truly punish him.

“This son is truly wronged!” Chu Mo prostrated himself on the ground. “This son absolutely wouldn’t dare covet the Crown Prince’s position. Someone is deliberately framing me, trying to sow discord between father and son, between brothers, Father Emperor… I beg Father Emperor to see clearly!”

“Your Majesty, the evidence is all here!”

The person from the Gongsun family presented a thick stack of letters. Eunuch Gao hurriedly received them and presented them to the Emperor.

The Emperor opened the letters. The first letter actually contained examination questions, signed by Ke Zhong.

The Emperor had an impression of this Ke Zhong—a third-rank scholar at the Hanlin Academy who participated in compiling examination questions over the years.

He said coldly: “Where is Ke Zhong!”

Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy and Chief Minister of the Inner Cabinet, Minister Li, stepped forward: “Reporting to Your Majesty, half a year ago, Ke Zhong died. He drank too much wine and on his way home at night fell into a river and drowned.”

The Emperor’s expression darkened. He picked up another letter, looked directly at the signature, and said coldly: “Where is Bi Checun!”

The Minister of Works stepped forward: “Reporting to Your Majesty, Minister Bi caught a cold half a year ago, took the wrong medicine, and died…”

The Emperor picked up several more letters.

Without exception, all the people in these letters were dead.

“Father Emperor, see clearly!” Chu Mo raised his head. “All these people died at the same time—clearly not by accident but deliberately arranged by someone! If this son truly participated in examination fraud, why wouldn’t I have silenced them immediately after the incident? Why wait until half a year ago? This clearly makes no sense! Obviously someone killed those ministers, fabricated letters, and framed this son. Their intentions are punishable!”

The person from the Gongsun family’s eyes widened: “Your Majesty, these letters are absolutely genuine. If Your Majesty doesn’t believe it, you can have someone compare the handwriting!”

Chu Mo’s uncle, Minister Gui, sneered: “You’re intent on framing others, so naturally you found skilled calligraphy masters to forge the letters. How could ordinary people tell the difference?”

The Crown Prince glared angrily: “What do you mean by ‘intent on framing’? Minister Gui, are you saying that this matter was deliberately arranged by me to frame the Second Prince?”

Chu Mo shook his head: “This subject doesn’t know when he offended Crown Prince Elder Brother, making Crown Prince Elder Brother willing to kill so many court ministers to frame me. If this subject’s existence poses a threat to Crown Prince Elder Brother, then this subject is willing to request to go to his fief. If this still cannot dispel the Eastern Palace’s suspicions, then I ask Father Emperor to strip this son of his princely title and fief. Would that satisfy Crown Prince Elder Brother?”

The Crown Prince pointed at him: “Chu Mo, you, you’re spouting nonsense!”

Chu Yi shook his head.

The Crown Prince was still too simple. A few simple words from Chu Mo provoked his anger and shifted everyone’s attention from the examination matter to the struggle between brothers.

He bowed and stepped forward: “Father Emperor, this son has a matter to report.”

The Emperor waved his hand grandly: “Speak!”

“While this son was investigating cases at the Court of Judicial Review, I discovered a middle-aged man in a village whose hands and feet were all severed and who couldn’t take care of himself. A kind-hearted old woman in the village had saved him and provided him with food and clothing. Yet he kept demanding that the old woman take him to the capital to file an imperial petition, saying he wanted to accuse the current Prince Gongxi!” Chu Yi said slowly. “When this son went to that village to investigate a case, I happened to see this middle-aged man begging the old woman to take him to the capital. The old woman refused, and the scene was somewhat chaotic, so this son went to inquire about the situation. As a result, I recognized that this man was actually Minister Bi Checun of the Ministry of Works.”

Chu Mo froze in shock.

Although Bi Checun was from the Ministry of Works, he had participated in some examination questions related to the Ministry of Works. Each time, questions in this area came from Bi Checun.

Bi Checun was on his death list. How could… how could someone have saved him? How, how could the Third Prince have happened to encounter him… Could there be such a coincidence in the world?

No, impossible!

“Summon Bi Checun to the palace hall!”

At the Emperor’s command, Eunuch Gao hurried to relay the order. Before long, Bi Checun was carried into the hall by two guards.

Chu Mo’s heart sank.

If Bi Checun had been in the village, it would take at least an hour to reach the palace, but now he had arrived so quickly.

This meant that everything today had been prepared in advance by the Crown Prince and Chu Yi.

He was completely unprepared. How could he respond?

For the first time, he felt a heavy sense of crisis enveloping him entirely.

Bi Checun rolled off the stretcher onto the ground, weeping bitterly: “Your Majesty, this subject was foolish! This subject committed a grave error and am unworthy of the imperial favor. This subject shouldn’t be alive… but before this subject dies, I must expose Prince Gongxi’s crimes. Otherwise, who knows how many scholars in this world will have their ten years of cold window study ruined in an instant…”

Through tears, he recounted in meticulous detail how he had been tempted by Prince Gongxi, stolen examination questions, revealed them to Prince Gongxi, and obtained enormous profits.

“Your Majesty, the reason this subject ended up like this is that Prince Gongxi wanted to silence me. He not only tried to kill this subject but also used methods to destroy this subject’s business, forcing this subject’s wife and children to return to their hometown. The residence was also sold. But that residence’s study has a secret chamber underground, containing letters Prince Gongxi wrote to this subject and the ill-gotten gains accumulated over these years…”

The Emperor’s expression was covered with frost: “Someone go retrieve the letters!”

Chu Mo’s body went limp as he collapsed on the ground.

He suddenly realized that when he was silencing witnesses, Chu Yi had already targeted him, which was why Bi Checun could be saved.

Chu Yi seemed to stay far from court struggles, but in reality had been lurking in the shadows all along, biting off a chunk of flesh from his neck when he let down his guard.

He was too passive.

Because he hadn’t prepared in advance, he didn’t even know how to respond.

When all the witness testimony and physical evidence were present, when all the evidence pointed to Chu Mo, he prostrated himself completely on the ground, unable to argue his case.

“This case implicates many. The Court of Judicial Review will continue the thorough investigation!” The Emperor said word by word. “Prince Gongxi Chu Mo has committed such a monstrous crime—strip him of his princely title and fief, confine him to the Prince Gongxi’s estate, and set a date for further trial! This is my decree!”