"Your Majesty, I, a humble citizen, risk my life to petition you! Please uphold justice for us poor scholars!"

"Our quotas in the imperial examinations are being taken by the sons of nobles, and our essays are being plagiarized! Powerful aristocratic families are manipulating the examinations! We beg Your Majesty to be the master and grant all poor scholars in the land a fair chance!"

Several scholars dressed in cloth, holding "The Great Wei Laws" in their hands, and wearing lunjin (a type of hat), stepped out from the crowd.

Their eyes were filled with grief, despair, unwillingness, and helplessness.

Jiang Chen could even sense a determination to die from their footsteps, a resistance of the weak against the powerful. This madness of risking everything instantly turned his face cold and stern.

And not only Jiang Chen.

At this moment, the thousands of commoners on the entire street were also in an uproar, their expressions changing, and their eyes towards the officials became complicated, vaguely revealing hostility.

The subtle changes in the emperor and the people caused the officials to break out in cold sweat. The smiles on their faces became stiff, almost unable to hold on.

Those who could attend such an occasion were all powerful bureaucrats of the Great Wei, fully involved in the construction of the imperial examination system, and well aware of how much importance the emperor himself attached to this matter.

Now such a big mistake, no, scandal!

They could hardly imagine how furious His Majesty would be, and what kind of storm would sweep through the court afterward.

Malicious gazes swept towards the scholars. Although they wanted to arrest and execute these lowly people immediately, the bloody purges of the past few days had taught them what 'awe' meant.

Before Jiang Chen spoke, no matter how resentful or angry they were, they would not rashly speak out or do anything excessive.

"Your Majesty, this matter, this matter is my dereliction of duty, not the fault of the other officials…" An official from the Ministry of Rites stepped out from the back of the line, taking the initiative to plead guilty.

He seemed to have received a signal from someone, coming out as a scapegoat to gloss over the matter.

But how could Jiang Chen let those corrupt officials and powerful ministers get away with it?

He immediately sneered, raised his leg, and kicked the official, not even waiting for him to finish speaking.

"Bang!"

Along with a muffled sound, the official who was kneeling on the ground to plead guilty was immediately sent flying, his head spinning from the kick.

This shocking scene made the officials secretly watching widen their eyes.

They couldn't believe that Jiang Chen would disregard the dignity of his subjects and take action in front of everyone!

Just as they were stunned.

Jiang Chen strode forward, walked down the dragon palanquin with an astonishing aura, and said coldly:

"You bastards, daring to play these tricks under my very nose!"

"Only a few days of peace have passed, and you can't even recognize your own position anymore? If you want to die, I can grant you your wish right now!"

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the ministers.

The killing intent in his dark pupils made everyone who met his gaze subconsciously lower their heads, not daring to confront him.

But this concession did not extinguish Jiang Chen's anger.

He knew too well the nature of these guys. They were one thing to his face and another behind his back. Their current compromise was just a temporary measure. If he didn't show enough strength, these guys would take an inch and want a mile, secretly sabotaging him!

Just as Jiang Chen was intimidating the officials, Shi Ping had already brought the scholars who had filed the complaint to the front of the imperial carriage without making a sound.

After floating in the officialdom for more than ten years, he knew what to do now. It was not to shirk responsibility, but to quell this scandal as soon as possible.

After bringing the people to the place, Shi Ping bowed to Jiang Chen and retreated respectfully.

But at this time, Jiang Chen's attention was no longer on him, but on the dozen or so scholars in front of him.

They were still very young, dressed plainly, and some even had patches on their clothes, but their backs were straight, neither humble nor arrogant, with the arrogance of scholars.

Jiang Chen admired these young people very much.

These were the talents he needed, unafraid of the powerful, daring to resist, able to travel thousands of miles for their beliefs, and even risk their lives.

Such execution was much better than those corrupt old stubborns in the court!

Jiang Chen softened his expression and walked towards the group of poor scholars under everyone's gaze.

The majestic dragon robe made everyone on the way dare not look directly at him, and they all lowered their heads, showing their respect.

"I am here. If you have any grievances, you can tell them all, without any worries," Jiang Chen said directly.

His peaceful voice and tough attitude greatly soothed the scholars, allowing the tension in their hearts to relax.

Although these people were very bold, even daring to make trouble on the day of the imperial examination, embarrassing the entire court.

But when truly facing Jiang Chen, facing the current Son of Heaven, they would inevitably be conquered by this imperial aura, and give birth to awe, not daring to speak out.

After a while, under Jiang Chen's encouraging gaze, a young man with a handsome face slowly stepped out, and said with shame:

"Your Majesty, I am ashamed. I have made a scene at this time and blocked the palace examination, causing you to lose face in front of the people."

"However, we are not barbaric troublemakers, but the officials in the prefectures are too corrupt, cutting off the path for us poor scholars. That's why we risked our lives to come to the capital to petition you and file a lawsuit!"

As he spoke, the young man's tone gradually became impassioned: "When I participated in the provincial examination, I found that wealthy and powerful families could buy quotas with silver. Even if they didn't understand literature, they could still be selected, but we poor scholars were repeatedly rejected, and the essays we worked so hard to create were taken by others!"

"Your Majesty, we are not willing!"

After a pause, the young man knelt straight down and said resolutely: "After this matter, I am willing to use my life to wash away the shame for Your Majesty, and I also implore Your Majesty to handle it impartially and support a piece of the sky for us poor scholars. Even if I die nine times, I will have no regrets!"

As the words fell, Jiang Chen's face was completely gloomy.

These officials were really audacious!

In order to expand the number of poor scholars admitted, he had already separated the lists and admitted them separately, expressing his meaning so clearly. These officials actually dared to intercept the quotas for poor scholars?!

This was completely disregarding him, the emperor!

Jiang Chen raised his eyes, and his cold gaze swept across the officials.

That kind of gaze, as if looking at dead objects, made everyone's legs tremble, and they were covered in cold sweat, not daring to meet Jiang Chen's eyes at all.

When the Son of Heaven is angry, millions of corpses will be laid down.

Under Jiang Chen's imperial pressure, the noisy street suddenly became so quiet that a pin could be heard.

At this moment, the scholars who had been silent suddenly made a sound, carrying the anger that had been suppressed for a long time, and it entered everyone's ears.

"Your Majesty, I beg you to give all the poor scholars in the world a fair chance to compete!"

"Your Majesty, I second that! Please uphold justice for us, and we will definitely do our best to serve you!"

"Your Majesty…"

One heartfelt shout after another was deafening, making the onlookers' blood surge, and also causing some slight ripples in Jiang Chen's heart.

He retracted his gaze, looked at the young man who had spoken first and was still kneeling on the ground, and said in a deep voice:

"Raise your head and tell me your name!"