EXAMINATION HALL
NUMBER 10, CLASS A
CANDIDATE, XU YUXIN
Be honest.
How did you bring the cheat sheet into the Examination Hall?
I did not bring the cheat sheet.
You were caught red-handed. How dare you deny this?
When I entered the Examination Hall,
I didn't bring any cheat sheets.
Do you know the punishment for bringing a cheat sheet?
I'll give you a second chance.
If you tell us the truth,
I'll write a request to the Ministry of Justice
to ask for a pardon.
Actually, the cheat sheet
has always been in the Examination Hall.
You must come clean about it.
My name is Xu Yuxin
and I'm from Jiannan City.
Just like the other scholars who came to the capital for the exam,
I stayed in Luming Inn.
I met
a broker that day.
Who are you?
Is there anything I can help you with?
I'm a mere broker.
I'm not interested in your business.
You've misunderstood, sir.
I'm not here for business.
I'm here to help you.
Help?
I can provide you
with the cheat sheet for this royal examination.
Moreover,
you don't need to bring the cheat sheet into the hall.
The broker told me that
as long as I give him my examination number plate,
he'll leave the cheat sheet
on the wall of the examination cell
of the same number.
I just wanted to give it a try.
So I paid him a deposit of half of the total cost.
I didn't expect that
there was really a cheat sheet on the wall.
I'm telling the truth.
I don't dare to lie.
Take him away.
Come on.
If he speaks the truth,
this would be the biggest cheating case in Yongzhou's history.
The interests behind this case
would involve people from the palace.
I'm afraid that
the situation might be
far worse than you expected.
This is the cheat sheet
for your review, sir.
How is this possible?
You are the chief examiner of this examination.
What are your plans, sir?
EXAMINATION ANSWER
Stop the examination immediately.
Gather all candidates on the forecourt.
Examine each examination room.
Also,
send someone to the palace
to inform His Lordship.
There was a cheating incident during the examination.
This examination
was supposed to be your stepping-stone to success.
Sir.
We've examined all the examination cells.
We found six cheat sheets in total.
When I call upon your number,
please take a step forward.
Number 15, Class A.
Sir, I did not cheat.
I am innocent, sir!
Your innocence will be proven after we conduct the investigations.
Number 17, Class A.
I'm wrongly accused, sir. I did not cheat.
Please clear my name.
Number 6, Class B.
I, Feng Shiying, did not cheat. I'm innocent!
Number 15, Class B.
I, Liu Jiannan, did not cheat.
-I did not cheat, Mentor! -Number 1, Class C.
I didn't cheat.
-Number 9, Class C. -I didn't do it.
Mentor Pei, I'm wronged.
I'm wrongly accused!
Miss, this is bad. Something happened.
What happened?
According to the news from the palace,
someone cheated in the Examination Hall.
Young Master Feng's name is on the list.
Shiying?
But he wouldn't bring a cheat sheet.
Not only did he bring a cheat sheet,
but the cheat sheet
also contained the answer for the examination.
What?
-Get the horses ready. -Yes.
Greetings, Your Highness.
I've heard about the incident at the Examination Hall.
They can no longer hold back their desire.
Seven candidates are involved in the cheating case.
Four of them are my mentor's disciples.
My mentor is in charge of the examination too.
In that case,
my mentor is highly suspicious of leaking the questions.
Baili has given me a tough challenge.
If I choose to protect Official Pei,
she'll accuse me of pursuing my personal interests
and dismissing the law through the officials.
If I give up on Official Pei,
many would be disappointed in me.
What are your plans then,
Your Highness?
Father will certainly send someone to investigate this
during the morning court tomorrow.
I will make the necessary arrangements.
-Meanwhile-- -I hope you can help me
to get the job, Minister Feng.
But didn't you say that if you save Official Pei,
you'll get involved in this controversy?
Even if you managed to save him, His Lordship wouldn't be happy about this
and might be displeased with you.
Indeed, they have set me in a splendid trap.
But must I
fall into this trap as they wish?
I've ordered Pei Youshuo,
Yan Shizhang, and Wang Liangde to supervise the examination
to prevent such incidents.
However, the biggest cheating case
in Yongzhou's history has happened.
This is unbelievable.
The Royal Army has surrounded the Examination Hall.
The three examiners are held in confinement there.
The candidates involved in the cheating case are taken into custody.
The truth will be revealed under interrogation.
Do you really think that this is just a simple cheating case?
Spill the beans.
You won't be punished.
All right.
I've read the answer sheets of the candidates involved.
Their answers didn't match the answers on the cheat sheet.
Especially for Feng Shiying and Song Sihan.
In my opinion,
their answers
are even better than the answers on the cheat sheet.
Why are you here?
Did you lose contact with my father?
I didn't tell her.
It doesn't matter.
Listen, did you lose contact with my father?
Yes.
After arriving at the capital of Yongzhou,
I sent Master a letter with his carrier pigeon thrice,
but to no avail.
-What happened to my father? -No worries.
Master is cautious.
He will be all right.
That's easy for you to say.
Why would my father lose contact out of the blue?
I've asked for Hei Fengxi's help.
He has sent someone to look for him.
Let's calm down
and wait for his news.
Wait? How much longer will we have to wait?
You simply didn't want to look for Master.
You wanted Master to die so badly
so that you can be the next Leader.
Is this your conspiracy?
We all know who's behind the conspiracy.
You knew that we'd lost contact with him, but you hid it from us.
What are you trying to do?
I hid the news from you?
What can you do then if I inform you about it?
Are you going to worry about it together?
You're the one who should be worrying about this.
They say women are cruel.
You can do anything
just to be the leader.
What's wrong?
Are you feeling ashamed now?
Gu Yu, I believe that she isn't someone like that.
We all know what Fengxi is like.
-Never judge a book by its cover. -Great.
Very well.
Never judge a book by its cover.
Gu Yu.
My martial brothers and sisters.
Listen to me.
I, Bai Fengxi, never want to be the Sect Leader.
No matter in the past or present
or even the future.
Where are you going?
I'm going to look for my father.
Where are you going to look for him?
It's none of your business.
Take her back to her room to rest.
Yes.
Be careful.
Although I'm not the Sect Leader,
Master has given me the authority.
You must not act recklessly.
Stay here
and wait for his news.
About what happened today,
we'll talk about it after Master has returned.
If you dare to make trouble again,
I'll show you no mercy.
-We'll listen to you. -We'll listen to you.
You can go back now.
-All right. -All right.
Where are you, Master?
MOUNT WU
Who are you?
Bai Jiande of Tianshuang Sect.
You're Master Bai.
Greetings, I'm Wu Rui of Diheng Branch.
Did you happen to meet Wang Shuilong of Wanjian Manor?
Warrior Wang?
He was with us when we entered Mount Wu.
But we went our separate ways then.
He's really in Mount Wu.
Why did you
come to Mount Wu then?
Aren't you here
for Old Taiyin's inheritance as well?
I'm here to look for Wang Shuilong.
We agreed to meet at Wanjian Manor.
But when I arrived at Wanjian Manor,
he departed to Mount Wu instead.
Old Taiyin has sent a notice to all heroes.
He's looking for an heir to his ultimate skill, Sacred Jade Moon.
That's why we're here.
I see.
Thank you.
I shall get going then.
-Goodbye. -Goodbye.
I'm sure that you've heard about the incident
at the Examination Hall.
How could such a thing
happen in Yongzhou?
I would like to ask all of you.
What were you doing?
Why has Yongzhou
turned into this state?
What do you think about this?
Tell me.
You're staying silent.
Do you want me to tell you myself?
-I plead guilty, Your Lordship. -I plead guilty, Your Lordship.
Could you only apologize and do nothing?
You're pleading guilty in court.
Are you asking me
to admit my guilt to the public?
No, Your Lordship.
The cheating case
involved all three ministries,
as well as the Senior Secretary.
We don't dare to jump to a conclusion.
You squabbled about
trivial matters every day.
Now you don't dare to discuss this.
I've appointed you
to solve problems.
Is this your solution?
Please punish me for my incompetence, Your Lordship.
-Please punish us -Please punish us
-for our incompetence, Your Lordship. -for our incompetence, Your Lordship.
Your Lordship.
I have an idea.
Go ahead.
I think that
Prince Yongping can be assigned to investigate the matter.
Why?
The examination intends to appoint capable candidates
to serve the Royal Family and the country.
This matter is complicated
and affects the Royal Family's image.
Hence, it's better to assign a royal member to solve the case.
Prince Chang and Prince Ju haven't gotten a title yet.
Prince Yongping is the most suitable candidate.
I second that.
-I second that. -I second that.
I second that as well.
Prince Yongping,
what do you think about this?
I'm willing to solve the problem for Your Lordship.
Well…
Prince Yongping,
you must work with Ministry of Justice
and Ministry of Personnel
to solve the cheating case in seven days.
Noted, Your Lordship.
Dismiss.
-Long live the Lord. -Long live the Lord.
This incident is obviously
targeted at him.
But he takes the initiative to fall into the trap.
Well,
is he a fool or is he pretending to be one?
Prince Lanxi is smart indeed.
He thinks that he's smart,
but he might be hoisted by his own petard.
Your Lordship, the Minister of Justice, Zhang Zhongge is here.
Let him in.
Greetings, Your Lordship.
Long live the Lord.
Never mind the formalities.
Thank you, Your Lordship.
Zhongge.
We've known each other for the longest time.
I trust you the most.
Do you know
why I assigned you to the Ministry of Justice?
Your Lordship,
the Ministry of Justice is in charge of punishment
and keeping the country in order.
You assigned me to lead the ministry
as you hope that I can maintain Yongzhou's national law.
You're right.
I put the public order of my country in the hands of my most trusted man.
Although I ordered Prince Yongping to lead the investigation,
the cheating case
is still under your charge.
Do keep that in mind.
Noted, Your Lordship.
Prince Yongping has little experience
investigating cases.
When the time is right,
you have to step up
and make the decision.
This investigation
not only represents our national law
and our country,
but it represents me as well.
Noted, Your Lordship.
I shall leave this to you then.
I'm worried about Master too.
If I know about his whereabouts,
no matter where it is, I will bring you to look for him.
But Master's whereabouts are unknown.
We can't simply look for him all over the place.
We should wait for the news from Fountain Abode.
That's easy for you to say.
He isn't your father.
Langhua.
A Master for a day is a father for a lifetime.
Deep down,
I take Master as my father.
Do you know that Master worried a lot about you?
You haven't fully recovered,
yet you're throwing tantrums.
If anything happens to you, Master would be upset when he's back.
Why did you hide the truth from us then?
I didn't hide the truth from you.
I simply didn't want this to happen.
You haven't fully recovered.
I'm afraid that you may be overly emotional
and fall sick again.
Did you really do that for me?
I know that you're worried about Master.
I promise that
I will find him for sure.
Gu Yu tried to drive a wedge between us yesterday
as he detests me.
Langhua.
Master put his heart and soul into Tianshuang Sect.
We must protect it while he's away.
I need you to protect Tianshuang Sect with me.
Can Fountain Abode find my father?
Don't worry.
We'll certainly get news
about Master's whereabouts in a few days.
I'll trust you this time.
All right.
Come on.
Come on, slowly.
Are you hungry?
I'll get you some food.
Don't forget to take your medicine.
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, YONGZHOU
I, Candidate Xu Yuxin, greet you sirs.
The cheating case
has caused a stir.
You must confess truthfully without hiding anything.
I will confess everything I know.
Do you still remember the look of the broker?
I've only seen him once.
I couldn't recall.
You're lying.
I don't dare to lie.
Very well.
Then what is the price of the cheat sheet?
He…
He asked for 100 silver leaves.
The deposit is half the full price.
You're from Juan City.
Your father is a petty official.
Your family isn't wealthy.
You've only brought 100 silver leaves
to the capital of Yongzhou.
You don't seem like a fool.
Why would you believe in a broker?
Because…
-Because-- -Because you knew from the start
that the cheat sheet contained leaked answers for the examination.
So you bought the cheat sheet even if it would cost you a fortune.
You know Yongzhou's law well.
If you cheated,
you'd only be prohibited from the exam for three years.
But if you're involved in the leakage, you'll be sentenced to death.
So you don't dare to admit this.
Please spare my life, Prince Yongping.
I was blinded by greed and acted foolishly.
How did you know that it's the leaked answers?
Because…
The questions that the broker showed me were written on gold foil paper.
Gold foil paper?
Only officials ranked above the third rank are allowed to use it.
How could a mere broker use it?
I don't believe
that you can't remember his look.
I'm assigned by His Lordship to investigate the cheating incident.
Please explain the situation to me.
All right.
I'll go first.
Please have a look, Your Highness.
On the day of the examination,
I took the examination paper out of the cabinet.
They were with me as well.
When I took out the examination paper,
the envelope was sealed.
I checked it
before I took out the examination paper from the envelope.
THIRTY-FIRST YEAR OF CHUNXI'S REIGN
ROYAL EXAMINATION, WAYS TO PROMOTE PEACE
The Royal Seal is valid too.
If that's the case,
before the examination started,
you three were the only ones who knew the questions.
You can say so.
You can be frank with us, Minister Zhang.
One of us
leaked the examination questions.
However, our careers and lives are on the line.
I hope that you can prove
our innocence with evidence.
Rest assured, Duke of Liang.
I will not wrong a good man.
I will also not
let off a bad man.
The Ministry of Personnel should have the usage record
of the gold foil paper.
Please check if anyone involved in the examination
could get their hands
on the gold foil paper.
Check where the gold foil paper goes too.
All right.
Also, check the list of workers and Ministry of Works officials
involved in renovating the Examination Hall.
Pass the list to the Ministry of Justice.
In terms of interrogation, I am no match for Minister Zhang.
I shall leave this to you.
Rest assured, Prince Yongping. I'll do my best.
Minister Zhang.
The artist has sketched the broker's portrait
based on the description provided by Xu Yuxin.
What?
Five silver leaves?
Gu Yu.
Are you out of your mind?
You owe us 20 silver leaves.
Twenty silver leaves?
I only borrowed five silver leaves.
That's the loan.
What about the interest?
Gu Yu.
If you want me to extend the deadline,
that's possible too.
But
you'd need to pay me 30 silver leaves.
Would you be able to afford it?
This is a scam.
So?
Are you trying to repudiate your debt?
Listen, Gu Yu.
You signed your name on the promissory note.
I'm not even afraid if you go to the court.
You…
Do you want to hit me?
Come on then.
Hit me.
However, you must pay
for my medical fee then.
Gu Yu.
What's the matter?
This is none of your business.
None of my business?
Do you have the money to pay him?
You're the head of this place, aren't you?
You seem like a reasonable person.
If he returns my money today,
I'll let him go.
Otherwise,
I'll bring him to the court.
How much does he owe you?
He lost all his money while gambling at Xifeng Casino.
Then he borrowed money from us.
He owes us 20 silver leaves including the interest.
Gu Yu. Have you forgotten about the Sect Rules?
Tell him, Jiurong.
The third Sect Rule.
We should never feast, drink excessively, visit prostitutes, and gamble.
If you carry out any of the actions,
a mild offender will be punished to reflect for ten days in isolation.
The serious offender
will be kicked out of the sect and his martial art will be withdrawn.
Do you remember it now?
Since you're a first offender,
you'll be punished to reflect for ten days.
Bai Fengxi.
You're not the leader yet.
Stop threatening me with Sect Rules.
Even if I am to be punished,
that is Master's right to do so.
You…
Excuse me.
I don't care about the punishment.
All I want is money.
This is none of your business.
Don't worry.
I'll give you the money
by the end of the day.
Good.
Be a man of your words then.
I'll wait for you
at A8 Yangliu Street, West District.
Do you really want to be a gambler?
Gu Yu.
Follow him, Jiurong. Don't let him get into trouble.
All right.
Who is it? Come in.
Aren't you the lady from Gu Yu's place?
This is the capital.
I've cleared the debt.
What about the interest?
I don't have it.
Well, this won't do.
If you don't have enough money,
you can pay with something else.
Well.
What can I pay in place of the interest?
Well, you have a nice figure
and you're good-looking too.
You should be worth some money.
-That hurts! -Yongzhou's Royal Law has stated that
personal loan is prohibited.
Do you know that if I report this to an official,
who will be the unlucky one?
Me.
Bring me the promissory note.
All right.
I'll give it to you.
Run.
Run if you dare.
I'll ask you one last time.
Are you going to give it to me or not?
I don't have the promissory note.
Stop.
Why are you here?
I am going to ask you this.
Why are you here?
Gu Yu borrowed money from him.
I'm here to return him the money and retrieve the promissory note.
Are you asking for the note like this?
Of course.
I'll settle the promissory note for you.
-Where's the promissory note? -You…
It's not with me.
It's with Third Master Wu.
Third Master Wu?
The leader of the local bullies.
He's the boss of Xifeng Casino and a few brothels.
-Take him away. -Yes.
I'll get the promissory note for you.
Thank you so much.
I think I got the flour
on my face earlier.
I've got to go.
Why does he always show up when I'm in trouble?
Is he following me?
He can go anywhere
in the capital of Yongzhou.
Who is he?
Sir.
I know that it's illegal to give personal loans.
But I'm just a mere broker
earning a little commission.
I beg for your mercy.
There's no need to lock you up
in the Ministry of Justice due to personal loans.
What do you mean, sir?
Tell me about how you sell the examination questions.
Examination questions?
I'm innocent, sir.
I am illiterate.
I sold the cheat sheet
under the order of Third Master Wu.
I am innocent, sir.
Chuanyun and Chuanyu.
Bring me Third Master Wu.
-All right. -All right.
Minister Zhang is here.
Minister Zhang.
Greetings, Your Highness.
You must be tired
from the investigation.
I'm doing it for Father.
I'll enter the palace later
to inform His Lordship about the findings of the investigation.
You're frail.
You should go back and rest.
I shall settle the rest of the matter.
Thank you, Minister Zhang.
Goodbye, Your Highness.
Your Highness.
Why did you choose to leave
at such a critical period?
When listening to others,
you must listen to the underlying message.
Minister Zhang said that he would inform Father.
The one who wants me to leave isn't him then.
My father knows about this.
This relates to the struggle for power.
I'm in the middle of the struggle.
Are we going back to the residence then?
Let's go to Pagoda Tree Estate.
All right.
-Come on. -Come on.
Catch it.
Hurry!
Come on, hurry up.
-Here you go. -Here.
She's here.
-Fengxi. -Fengxi is here.
You're really brave.
How dare you sneak up on me!
I'll teach you a lesson today.
Come on.
Pass it on to me.
Your Highness.
You're here at short notice.
We haven't tidied up the estate yet.
It's all right.
Tidy up my bedroom first.
-All right. -Awesome!
-Amazing! Hurry up! -What are they doing?
-Why is it chaotic? -Here!
-Here. Let me… -She's so good at this.
-Me! -Pass it to me.
My turn.
-Watch out. -Stop the ball.
Over here.
You can either kick the ball back at us
or join us.
Are you inviting me to play Cuju with you?
So far,
I haven't met any worthy opponent in Cuju.
This…
Who would believe that?
Don't be too proud.
Let's have a match.
Sure.
But you should know
that I never make a deal with no rewards.
If you want to play Cuju with me,
there must be a reward.
-How ruthless. -All right.
Let's have a best-of-one.
If you score this ball, you win.
If you lose,
you shall cook us dinner.
You little Black Fox.
I've known you for years, yet you've only cooked for me once.
You should reflect on yourself.
But it made you
crave it ever since.
-I heard… -It is so tasty?
If I win,
I can make any request for you.
Deal.
It's Prince Lanxi.
Well…
Your Highness.
-They're not playing Cuju. -They are amazing.
What are they doing then?
They're flirting with each other.
Whenever Young Master sees Ms. Feng,
he's like a different man.
-Bravo! -Bravo!
What does this count as then?
That's right.
-How do we… -It's a tie, of course.
-A tie? -A tie?
-No, we should… -All right. We played Cuju.
Clean up and prepare for dinner.
All right. Let's go.
-Right. -Yes, let's go.
-Come, let's go. -Come on.
I saw that you were in a hurry previously.
Something must have happened.
Did you manage to solve it?
It's just the beginning.
I'm here today to pass you something.
I, GU YU, PROMISE TO PAY BAI LAOQI FIVE SILVER LEAVES IN THREE MONTHS.
Sir.
I'm rather busy.
I shall get going then.
When I'm done with work,
I shall cook you a meal.
All right, I'll wait for it.
I should be happy
seeing that Lanxi is healthy now.
But I still feel down.
Mr. De.
What else is Lanxi hiding from me?
Prince Lanxi
must have
his own reasons.
He has his own reasons.
I first realized that he was hiding something from me
at the Hot Spring Palace.
Although I didn't know where he went,
I wouldn't allow Feng Ju to harm him.
Hence, I backed up his lie.
During the autumn hunt,
he gave me a big surprise.
But seeing that he has gotten capable
and received Father's recognition,
I felt happy for him.
But he shouldn't lie to me about his health.
According to Wu Peng's confession,
who is also known as Third Master Wu,
the one who provided him with the answers
should be the chief butler of Duke of Liang's Residence.
I've sent someone to arrest the chief butler.
Please lead the interrogation, Prince Yongping.
I've also sent my men to the Duke of Liang's Residence
to check on the stock count of the gold foil paper.
Compared to the records, they're short of one piece of gold foil paper.
I questioned Duke of Liang about it at the Examination Hall,
but he said that it happened a long time ago.
So he couldn't remember where the gold foil paper went.
Interrogate the chief butler of Duke of Liang's Residence now.
Besides,
continue to examine the residences of Wu Peng and the others
just in case the missing gold foil paper is with them.
-All right. -All right.
Your Lordship.
We've conducted investigations on the cheating case
and we have some findings.
Through investigation,
the person behind the cheating case
is Duke of Liang.
-This… -Duke of Liang?
Do you have evidence?
According to the investigations,
the butler of Duke of Liang's Residence has admitted
that Duke of Liang leaked the answers to him.
He then passed it to the local bully, Wu Peng,
under the order of Duke of Liang
to pretend to sell the leaked examination questions.
Pretend to sell?
What do you mean?
It is verified by Minister Zhang that only three of the candidates
among the seven candidates involved
had a deal with the broker.
Four other candidates are being framed.
All four of them are disciples of Senior Secretary, Pei Youshuo.
I've found the gold foil paper
at the broker's place.
The handwriting on the paper
matches Duke of Liang's handwriting.
Moreover,
we've examined Duke of Liang's Residence.
We found that
there's a missing gold foil paper at Duke of Liang's Residence.
Since the testimony and evidence are pointing toward him,
well…
Objection, Your Lordship.
What is it, Official Wang?
The evidence
is fake.
The missing gold foil paper in Duke of Liang's Residence
is with me.
Yuan Lu.
The legitimate daughter of Duke of Liang, Ms. Yan,
has been serving the Lady
and grew up with Prince Ju.
Hence, Duke of Liang wrote me a letter.
He hoped that I could propose to Your Lordship
to grant their marriage.
I wanted to inform Your Lordship about this
after the royal court session.
I didn't expect that Prince Yongping
would prove Duke of Liang guilty of this.
So I had to present the letter.
About the handwriting,
Duke of Liang's handwriting isn't that prominent.
It's easy to imitate it.
Prince Yongping.
What is this?
I have no idea.
Prince Yongping said that
an official is falsely accused.
Who is the one
accusing people falsely now?
Pei Youshuo is Minister Feng's mentor.
Prince Yongping is close with Minister Feng.
In order to protect Official Pei,
they accuse Duke of Liang falsely.
What a brilliant scheme, Prince Yongping.
Please order a retrial, Your Lordship.
I second that.