CH 38

Everyone looked towards where the voice was coming from, then immediately lined up and then finally they all dropped down to their knees.

“Good evening Your Majesty!”

“You may all rise.”

Jiajing had his hair untied and messy as usual, wearing Daoist robe. It seemed he had just come out of the meditation room and had just taken his immortality elixir, he needed to disperse his internal heat so he hadn’t tied up his hair. 

Last year’s court examination honours list had been completely decided by the Grand Secretariat, the Emperor did not even bother taking a look so no one would have guessed that the Emperor would have run over here this time.

The two people who were bickering just before were feeling particularly anxious.

“I saw that the ambiance was so lively over here that I had to come over to take a look.” Jiajing looked like he was in a good mood, and didn’t ask what happened before, strolling leisurely over to the table and picking up a couple of examination papers. “Has the honours list been decided?”

“Yes, it’s here.” Yuan Wei quickly handed the Emperor the list of names. 

“The selection of the Beijing Army is inconsistent, we must eliminate the old and the weak who are wasting provisions, in order to form a capable Battalion. This is what the officials do not dare to say, and they are afraid to stand up for what is right …… ah. this person is straightforward.”

Jiajing laughed, it was not clear whether he was pleased or angered but he picked up the honours list again and glanced over it. “Wang Xijue?”

Yuan Wei replied: “Yes, although this person’s paper is not bad but his arguments are too forthright, so he has been placed in sixth place of the second rank.”

Jiajing raised an eyebrow: “Young people should have ambition, I’ve read the papers ranked ahead and they do not compare to this one, put him in second place of the first rank.”

Yuan Wei and Guo Po quickly nodded their heads in acquiescence. Who knew that it didn’t stop there, the Emperor was apparently in high spirits, he successively looked through a few more papers and changed a few more of the rankings.

But amongst these people, a few of them were people that had been recommended by the Yan family. There were a few others as well who had already tried to go around the back door and contacted Yuan Wei before the exam for a higher ranking, but as a result of the Emperor’s meddling, these were now back down to the lower rankings, and all had been lost just like that.

Yuan Wei secretly complained incessantly in his heart, but this was originally the power of the Emperor. Naturally, no one dared to question him, not to mention this Emperor was such a particularly difficult master to please.

“Fifteenth place of the second rank…. who decided this one?”

They had been praying silently that the Emperor would finish and then immediately leave but all of a sudden Jiajing’s voice piped up again. Accompanied by his voice, the Emperor looked at them with an inexplicable look. Yuan Wei came back to his senses, frightened to the point of bursting in a cold sweat: “In response to your Majesty, this was decided by the Officials in the previous stage.”

When things came to head, he was not willing to take the responsibility.

Jiajing didn’t comment: “From your point of view, what ranking is the most appropriate?”

Guo Pu didn’t expect the Emperor to consult him. After a moment, he said: “In the opinion of this official, he could be moved forward by two places.”

Jiajing laughed: “Why is Zhifu being so conservative?”

After he finished talking, he picked up the ranking list and wrote down another ranking. Yuan Wei was shocked: “Your Majesty, this, isn’t this a bit….”

“In order to select the best talents to serve the country, when you must take initiative, you should take initiative rather than acting coyly, riddled in needless fears. Shouldn’t this be the manner of the Grand Secretariat?” Jiajing sneered, put the pen down and then turned and left.

He didn’t look at any of the remaining papers, everyone had no other alternative but to respectfully see out the Emperor who had worked for a total of three minutes and came in and out like the wind.

On the way back, Huang Jin was following the Emperor closely, he couldn’t hold back any longer and asked: “This humble servant is curious….”

“You’re curious as to why I didn’t give Zhao Su first place?” Jiajing cut in.

Over the hundreds of years, throughout the two dynasties of the Ming and Qing, Jiajing emperor could be ranked at least amongst the top three in terms of intelligence. In the eyes of others, he had sat moodily on the throne for decades, a harsh and merciless Emperor who was not amenable to reason.

But for Huang Jin who had served the Emperor for decades, the Emperor was nothing more than a man of flesh and blood, with emotions, sorrows and joys. When he was in a good mood and good temper, he was no different from any ordinary wise Emperor.

Huang Jin smiled and said: “This servant’s thoughts cannot be hidden from your Majesty’s brilliant mind.”

The sky was high with billowing clouds, the fresh breeze was coming, the weather would probably be good today. Jiajing took a deep breath whilst he held onto the white jade railing, it had been a long time since he had been out in the daylight, seeing this sight, it immediately made him feel nostalgic.

“I have not met this person yet so I can not be sure of his character. The Prince of Yu and my grandson have been singing high praises, but this is just one side of the story so it cannot be accepted without verification.”

He added slowly, “Plus, if he really is a talented individual then this ranking is just right. He has room for improvement but it is also an exceptional ranking.”

Huang Jin’s jaw dropped, he didn’t understand why for just an insignificant Zhao Su, the Emperor would put in so much effort.

He could only smile: “This Zhao Su is indeed lucky, for even your Majesty to care about him!”

Jiajing looked at him and understood what he was thinking in his mind.

He really was a little piglet.

Zhao Su helped put his quilt over him, got up and freshen up, only to discover that Feng Bao was already awake. He was in the courtyard talking to Yuan Shu.

“Yongting-xiong, little shixiong.”

“You’re finally awake, last night I saw that the little princely heir was asleep, so I didn’t want to disturb you, so didn’t ask you to change beds.”

Zhao Su replied: “I also wanted to go to the next room to sleep, who knew I’d be so tired, I accidentally fell asleep with the little princely heir. This was incredibly disrespectful.”

Feng Bao snapped a smile: “The rules of the Prince of Yu Manor are not so strict. Besides, it’s your blessing that the little princely heir likes you.”

Yuan Shu stood beside him without speaking, just looking at him with a smile.

There were no restrictions in the Prince of Yu Manor, but it was already a great overstep to allow the little princely heir to spend the night outside. The Prince of Yu would return to the manor soon. Naturally, Feng Bao needed to take Zhu Yijun back quickly, so the little piglet Zhu had to be woken up, taken onto the carriage by Feng Bao, not being able to have a lie-in.

Yuan Shu looked at the back of the carriage leaving, and said: “You must be the only one who can treat the Emperor’s grandson like his own son.” Zhao Su was originally a bit tired, but after hearing him say that, his heart was agitated, and he was more alert.

At present, the Prince of Yu was not taken seriously, but one day, he will be the heir to the throne. Zhu Yijun being his sole heir, his status will naturally rise with the tide. By then, he will not have the freedom that he enjoys now. Zhao Su had the soul of a modern man from a few hundred years later than this era. After getting along with Zhu Yijun for such a long time, it was inevitable to treat him like an ordinary child, but in the eyes of other people, it was a handle that could be used against him.

Yuan Shu saw his mood changed and could guess approximately what he had on his mind, and tried to comfort him: “You don’t need to think too much. Now the Prince of Yu looks kindly on you, although you do not officially have the title of the little princely heir’s tutor, but the people of the Prince of Yu Manor have already acknowledged this fact, including the little princely heir. This is very important for the advancement of your future career.”

Ever since the two of them had reunited in the Capital, they had never really had a very serious chat about the future. Seeing that the results of the court examination were about to be released, and Yuan Shu was about to be appointed to a remote position somewhere, the two were naturally nervous, so it was just the right time to have a sit down and have a serious chat about it.

Zhao Su rubbed his eyebrows: “Thank you, little shixiong for reminding me that I have indeed… forgotten myself a little recently.”

Yuan Shu curled his lips: “At your age, you are already cautious enough, but as I’m a bystander I can seize this opportunity to say a few words to you.”

Zhao Su laughed when he saw his expression, “You’ve been straining yourself for several days now. Are you finally willing to relax a little bit after going out early in the morning and returning late every evening?”

Thinking of the concerns he had just said, every word was reasonable, and Zhao Su couldn’t help but nod: “I’ll be careful.”

Yuan Shu hummed slightly: “Teacher asked me to take care of you more, but don’t be cheated out of your black hat2 before I even return to the Capital.”

Zhao Su knew that the other was cold on the outside and warm on the inside and he was speaking insincerely, so Zhao Su smiled and said, “That’s not easy. If that happens, I’ll have to rely on you completely. By then, if you have already married a wife and have children, then I can be a teacher for your son. I mean I have even taught the little princely heir after all.”

“Who doesn’t know that you’re a brat that looks pure on the outside but inside you’re full of bad tricks, I don’t think I could afford you!”

“Then I’ll become your teacher instead and come up with all the bad plans. Isn’t that what I’m qualified for?”

“No way, it’s annoying to just see your face!”

“Little shixiong, why do you always like to say the opposite of what you mean? I know you like me very much in your heart. I still remember the first day I went to the teacher’s house, I went to the study to pay my respects and I saw you pretending to read a book whilst you were actually secretly looking at me….”

“Get lost!”

“Oh, it hurts to become angry when someone guesses right?… Ow… It hurts, let go!”

“……”

The day of the Court Examination results.

To scholars, this day could be considered the most glorious moment of their lives. The moment everyone entered the Imperial Palace Hall, the tension and excitement reached a boiling point.

This was not only in awe of the imperial power, but more importantly, it represents the glory and honour of a group as a whole, and this group was the Civil Officials.

Once you passed the court examination and earned the title of jinshi, it meant that you had the permission to enter into the Civil Officials group.

In this group, there was the all powerful Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, there were also little-known 7th-rank officials, there were men with strong bones like Yang Jisheng, there were also greedy and arrogant villains like Yan Maoqing. There was light as well as darkness, but it was exactly those people who had propped up the sky above the Ming Dynasty for over two hundred and seventy six years.

The civil and military officials were divided into two rows standing left and right, with the newly appointed jinshi standing in the middle, and the Emperor sitting high up on his dragon throne, distant and fuzzy, they were unable to see his face, but this did not affect the solemnity and serenity of the ceremony.

Today, not only Xu Jie, who had not been seen for a long time, was present, even the old and grieving Yan Song was also present. As the representatives of the Grand Secretariat, they naturally had to attend this kind of grand event.

Then Yan Song stepped forward and began to read out loud the names.

This announcement ceremony was to read out the top four names of the honours list. The fourth place was also known as the first place of the second rank, fourth place was bestowed the title of Chuanlu. So the announcement ceremony of the top four names was also called “Chuanlu Changming”4.

If you ranked in fifth place, you would not have this honour. The honours list was posted outside the East Chang An Gate so that you could see for yourself. At that time, not only the new jinshi, but also the gentry and common people and the candidates who had failed the list would all come to see. And then the names on the top of the list will become influential figures, they became famous overnight.

“First place of the first rank……” Yan Song was old so he spoke slowly even when saying the two words “first place” he had to pause for a while, making the people listening want to go up and grab the honours list from his hands. “Xu Shixing!”

Because it was before the imperial court, no one dared to make trouble, but still they couldn’t help but let out a small ahhh, all eyes were on Xu Shixing.

Xu Shixing was incredibly surprised himself, he stood there with his mouth open in disbelief. Zhao Su who was standing next to him elbowed him and then he finally reacted and quickly stood out to accept. “You are Xu Shixing?” asked Jiajing.

“Yes.” He looked evidently nervous.

“Well, your paper was ranked first. It is the only one among the top few that was not controversial. It was also well received by everyone. You must work hard and be loyal to your country.”

“This official will do my utmost best to live up to Your Majesty’s expectations!” Xu Shixing was full of joy at the moment, but finally did not forget etiquette and quickly bowed to show his gratitude.

“Second place of the first rank, Wang Xijue!”

Wang Xijue, who had been called out, quickly went out to accept.

“Your paper was very good. I still remember that there was a sentence in your paper that said, this is what the officials do not dare to say, and they are afraid to stand up for what is right. I hope that you will be able to do as you have written and become the pillar for this country.” The Emperor eagerly advised, with a gentle voice.

“This official will do my utmost best to live up to Your Majesty’s expectations!” Wang Xijue didn’t expect the Emperor to remember and read what he had written in the court examination. He was so overjoyed he could hardly contain himself and his voice trembled a little.

Today was also the first time that Zhao Su saw Emperor Jiajing. He only felt that the descriptions of the Emperor’s muddle-headed incompetence that he had read in the history books were very one-sided and thin. This person could rule the empire for decades and battle against countless powerful officials so he naturally had his own uniqueness, and what Jiajing Emperor showed to everyone in this moment was that this Emperor knew how to win the heart of his people. Just by offering those two words to the new jinshi, it was clear to see that they were all incredibly delighted and grateful, whether it was those who had received his praise or those who were just listening in.

Zhao Su sighed as they were just about to announce third place. He thought to himself that maybe he was in the second rank, but whether he could enter the Hanlin Academy was very much hanging in the balance, but this was also normal.

“Third place of the first rank…”

This is the last place in the first rank. Everyone listened carefully, for fear of missing their name. Although they were all conferred the title of jinshi, there were also distinctions between jinshi and fellow jinshi. Water flows downhill, whereas man struggles upwards, who wouldn’t want to receive a higher glory.

“Zhao Su!”