“Come here, arrest this scoundrel!”
Qin Hui took the crib sheet, then triumphantly shouted to his confidants.
“Hold on a moment!”
Although this matter was sudden, how could Zhong Yanchong believe that Han Mo would cheat?
“You sit down! This is the Imperial Academy, you have no right to speak!”
What is real is real, and what is fake is fake. The fake can never be made real. This kind of thing cannot withstand investigation.
Qin Hui did not want to give him time to overturn the verdict, so he naturally would not give them enough time to mess around.
Therefore, he directly used his privilege as an instructor to forcefully establish this matter as an ironclad case.
“Instructor Qin, we all acknowledge Brother Han’s character and talent. There must be something strange about this matter. I beg the instructor to investigate thoroughly! Zhong Yanchong, though untalented, is willing to stake his life for Brother Han!”
Han Mo was also moved. Zhong Yanchong was truly a good friend. This young man was worth keeping!
“That’s right, with Brother Han’s talent, how could he possibly cheat?”
“I am also willing to vouch for Brother Han!”
After last night’s events, these students almost implicitly regarded Han Mo as their leader.
At this moment, since someone had taken the lead, the dozens of students in the upper dormitory who had gone to Fan Lou the previous night immediately stood up in a single motion.
“What do you want to do? All of you sit down!”
Even Qin Hui was starting to panic.
This matter was originally not meant to be brought to light. If they made such a fuss, the matter would quickly escalate.
If he could not control the situation within the Imperial Academy, he would likely be the one to suffer in the end.
Even though these students were all commoners, not even qualified candidates yet.
But the problem was, who among those admitted to the upper dormitory of the Imperial Academy did not have relatives and friends behind them?
The vast majority of people here had a background. With dozens of students standing here, their families might represent nearly a hundred officials.
They might not dare to impeach Cai Jing directly, but if they were to collectively submit a memorial impeaching Qin Hui, it would be as easy as clapping their hands.
After all, even if Qin Hui were beaten to death, he would not dare to directly expose Cai Jing, otherwise, he would only die a more miserable death.
“Instructor Qin, we merely seek justice!”
Seeing so many people standing by his side, Zhong Yanchong’s voice gained more confidence as he spoke.
“Justice? Is being caught red-handed not justice? What other justice do you want?”
Although Qin Hui spoke fiercely, his mind was already calculating how to deal with the remaining matters.
At this moment, he couldn’t help but secretly lament.
This fellow Han Mo, when he was in the inner dormitory, his popularity wasn’t even that great.
How could it be that after only being transferred to the upper dormitory for a short time, he had so many students coming forward to support him?
However, with the matter having escalated to this point, it was impossible for him to back down now. He could only push forward.
It seemed that these people were all very young, and he still wanted to scare them away with the rules of the Imperial Academy.
“Instructor Qin, given Brother Han’s character and talent, why would he need to cheat? Moreover, if he were to cheat, would he be so conspicuous? Since the instructor claims he cheated, may we be allowed to see his examination paper?”
Zhong Yanchong’s words immediately resonated with the other students.
More than a dozen students immediately started to jeer. For a moment, the entire study hall became noisy.
“All of you, shut up! Look carefully, this is Han Mo’s examination paper! Complete it within the time it takes for one stick of incense. If any of you can do it, tell me!”
Qin Hui gritted his teeth and finally unrolled Han Mo’s examination paper.
Anyway, everyone’s examination papers were different for this test, so Zhong Yanchong was not afraid of the suspicion of impropriety. He strode forward and carefully examined Han Mo’s paper.
However, after looking at the paper, Zhong Yanchong’s expression became peculiar.
Were the questions on it truly the exam questions for them?
Although the students of the Imperial Academy had already begun to study mathematics due to the Emperor’s decree, they were not like those in the Directorate of Education who specialized in mathematics.
The difficulty of these questions was simply too high for them.
If this paper were given to him, let alone one stick of incense, he might not be able to complete it even in two hours.
“How is it? If any one of you here can answer this paper within half an hour, I will consider him innocent of cheating!”
Qin Hui said triumphantly.
“Instructor Qin, I don’t like what you’re saying. If others cannot do something, does that mean I, Han, cannot do it either? Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Although Han Mo is not a great figure, are the things on your paper worth me cheating for?”
Han Mo now understood that this was clearly a scheme orchestrated by this fellow. His words were naturally less polite.
“What? Do you really think that because you’ve written a few poems, no one dares to question you now? I’m telling you, this is the Imperial Academy, not your Han family’s backyard! Arrest him! Whoever wants to be expelled from the Imperial Academy with him can just try to stop me!”
Qin Hui was somewhat enraged and was preparing to suppress these students by force.
“Excuse me, who is Han Mo, young official Han?”
However, at this moment, a middle-aged man dressed as a steward walked in from outside.
The scene immediately quieted down. It was important that someone was looking for Han Mo at this time. Moreover, when Qin Hui saw this person, he felt that the person seemed a bit familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen him.
“Who are you?”
Han Mo was also taken aback. He truly found this person somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite remember where he had seen him.
“Do you not remember, young official? From Fan Lou last night!”
The man smiled and spoke again.
“You are!”
Han Mo suddenly remembered. No wonder he looked so familiar. It turned out he was the steward of Liang Shicheng, who had won a lot of money last night.
“Young official, you remember? I am Zou Qi, steward of Grand Commandant Liang’s mansion! These are the documents and the token for withdrawing money and grain that Grand Commandant Liang sent for me to deliver. Please accept them, young official!”
As Zou Qi spoke, he took out a document and a token from his sleeve.
After his identity was introduced, even Qin Hui was stunned. What was going on?