Chapter 10 Who painted the portrait?
Ye Jianshan was stunned when he caught a glimpse of the prince's shoes out of the corner of his eye while looking down.
It would be a lie to say he doesn't care.
The two are so alike that he doesn't even know how to start making excuses.
Let's see what this person is going to say. If he opens his mouth and asks me to call him "Dad," then I'll just go to the side.
He already had official rank and titles; even without the status of being the son of the crown prince, he would have achieved great things.
Once the fact that the crown prince was his father was confirmed, it actually became an obstacle for him to climb the social ladder.
Of course, as the only son of the Crown Prince, he would become the Imperial Grandson, standing above all others without any effort, but this was not what Ye Jianshan wanted.
Ye Jianshan pinched himself. Tsk, he was putting on an act too. He didn't even want the Crown Prince; he wanted to work hard for himself.
In reality, he knew absolutely nothing about the Crown Prince, had no father-son relationship with him, and was not worthy of such a prestigious status.
Moreover, he still didn't know the true situation between the Crown Prince and his mother.
Everyone says the Crown Prince is infatuated, but if he really treated his mother well, would she have taken him away and not even wanted to come back to the capital for more than ten years?
Ye Jianshan finally understood why his mother wouldn't let him go to the capital; it turned out it was because of his past relationship with the Crown Prince.
Could it be that his mother wasn't actually the Crown Princess, and he came about by accident?
Hmm, that's possible.
But all of this was just his guess; he would have to hear the truth from his mother herself.
The Crown Prince had also gone through countless twists and turns in his mind. He calmed down and realized that what he couldn't do now was to acknowledge his son as a relative. If he ruined his son's imperial examination, the two would become enemies before they could even recognize each other.
"Didn't you think this drawing didn't look right when the artist drew it for you?"
It's all the portrait's fault!
Otherwise, he would have investigated the matter thoroughly long ago, instead of being blocked at every turn and trapped in this examination hall for nine days.
I hope my father outside the examination hall can lend a hand; once he gets out, he'll know everything about Ye Jianshan.
It's no wonder the Crown Prince thinks this way; everything that happens in the examination hall will be presented to the Emperor in written form.
His father was already worried about not having any descendants and who would inherit the throne. Now that such a promising grandson has appeared, he must be grinning from ear to ear.
Ye Jianshan looked up at the Crown Prince standing before him and held his breath. Good heavens, looking at him so closely, it was like looking in a mirror.
His mother is thirty-three years old this year, but she looks very young, like she's in her twenties. But I didn't expect his father to look so young too. If the two of them don't have any conflicts, they're quite a good match.
Ye Jianshan felt this way from the bottom of his heart.
The only thing Ye Jianshan is still wondering about is the hidden story behind his mother running away with the baby.
Ye Jianshan's gaze shifted downwards and fell upon the portrait the Crown Prince was holding. He was somewhat puzzled as to why the Crown Prince was angry about the painting: "What's wrong with this painting? I've always looked like this."
Yes, it's that ugly.
Ye Jianshan's previous drawings were even uglier than this one; this one is much better.
The crown prince was taken aback. His aesthetic sense was truly something else; he inherited it from his mother, who had terrible taste.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen me in the first place.
The fact that he could speak with Ye Jianshan was already a pleasant surprise for the Crown Prince.
His voice was so pleasant, neither arrogant nor impatient, but it had a hint of him deliberately being sullen; he was clearly speaking to him on purpose.
But the crown prince wasn't angry. He looked at the things on his seat and saw that everything was prepared perfectly.
Ye Jianshan felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, and politely said, "Examiner, I don't think there's anything wrong with what I'm saying, do I?"
Don't stand there and disturb his exam later.
He wasn't afraid when the prince was sitting on the throne, but when the prince actually came to stand in front of him, Ye Jianshan was a little nervous.
He knew from a young age that he didn't have a father, but he had three uncles and a maternal grandfather, so he was not lacking in fatherly love.
The sudden appearance of a powerful father, a prince second only to the emperor, was something Ye Jianshan couldn't quite handle.
He is only a minor scholar now, and the two of them are meeting inside the examination hall, so they can't say anything now and have to keep it to themselves for at least nine days.
Everything will have to wait until he finishes his exams.
He left his hometown and came to the capital for the past few months just for these nine days, and he doesn't know if it will affect his condition today.
It's a lie to say he didn't care about the title of "six top scholars in the imperial examination." Which scholar wouldn't want to achieve the highest rank in all six examinations?
The crown prince leaned down and whispered, "I won't do anything, just focus on your exam."
The Crown Prince was all alone and indifferent to everything. Now, he suddenly learned that the Crown Princess was still alive and had given birth to a son for him, and that this son was so promising. As a father, this was the first time he had faced the situation of his child taking an exam, and he was nervous.
I was really scared, afraid that I would affect him.
He should have avoided suspicion, but the examination hall gates were already closed, and it was clearly too late to change the chief examiner now.
Ye Jianshan lowered his head and scratched his palm, understanding the Crown Prince's meaning; it was the same as what he had thought.
Now is not the time to acknowledge each other; ruining his exam will really make him angry.
After the prince finished speaking, he returned to his seat. To ensure fairness, he took the picture book and checked each of the candidates in that section, almost scaring the candidates around him to death.
After the checks were completed, it was almost time for the exam to start.
Not long after the prince returned to his seat, he began to ring the bell.
The imperial examinations of the fifteenth year of the Jin Dynasty began.
The invigilators began distributing the exam papers. The exam was divided into three sessions, covering topics such as the interpretation of classics, policy essays, and current affairs.
The examiners are different every year, and the focus of their emphasis also varies.
This year's examiner is the Crown Prince, and no one knows what aspect he will favor.
However, Ye Jianshan had reviewed more about current affairs during his previous review, and the Crown Prince would certainly prefer candidates to have solutions or opinions on major court events such as the recent snow disaster in the north, water conservancy and border defense development, and taxation.
Although Ye Jianshan had never been in power, he grew up in the countryside and, even though he had moved to the county, he was still quite knowledgeable.
Moreover, he has had a deep emotional connection to this kind of thing since childhood. He is not good at writing poetry, but he is quite skilled at writing policy essays and defending current affairs.
After the exam started, Ye Jianshan focused his attention on the exam paper.
The candidates around him were somewhat disappointed. The Crown Prince had only said one sentence to Ye Jianshan and hadn't done anything else. He had even personally come down to check whether each candidate in their area matched the portrait.
This was originally the job of the deputy examiners, but the crown prince checked them one by one, making the candidates extremely excited.
They were also able to speak with the Crown Prince.
Only the two candidates sitting next to Ye Jianshan knew the reason; they were just a bonus. The prince really wanted to ask Ye Jianshan.
Moreover, the Crown Prince and Ye Jianshan only exchanged one sentence before it ended?
Are you really not going to do anything anymore?
That's it? You're not recognizing me anymore?
The candidates who were watching the spectacle were somewhat disappointed, as were some of the invigilators. They hadn't expected that the only fun part was the Crown Prince and Ye Jianshan staring at each other at the beginning.
And then that was it.
But they had no time for that; the imperial examinations had already begun.
The first test was very simple; Ye Jianshan had memorized everything, so he already had a good grasp of the material when he checked the papers.
Three days passed quickly. Ye Jianshan wrote all the answers on the draft paper on the first day and copied them onto the test paper on the second day. He finished copying them in one morning and spent the next day and a half checking them and resting to prepare for the upcoming exam.
Cui Jianbing was also full of confidence this time. He was quite surprised that he was able to speak with the Crown Prince before the exam. After the Crown Prince left, he reviewed his conversation and felt that he had been well-behaved and made no mistakes.
This greatly boosted his confidence.
What he did was to catch the Crown Prince's eye so that when the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he could follow in his grandfather's footsteps and become the next Chief Minister Cui.
Therefore, he decided to accept the title of the top scholar.
It would be difficult to avoid the Crown Prince's attention if one achieved the highest score in the provincial examination, where the Crown Prince was the chief examiner.
Moreover, he inquired and found out that Ye Jianshan had also arrived and had been assigned to the first row facing the chief examiner. For someone with average mental fortitude, sitting in that position meant that the imperial examination was already over.
That's not a good position. After all, who wouldn't be nervous when facing the Crown Prince? It's impossible to concentrate on the exam.
His location was excellent, with good lighting, and he wasn't assigned a bad spot, which already put him ahead of Ye Jianshan.
Ye Jianshan, true to his rural roots, has never participated in a single literary or poetry gathering; he's a complete coward.
This made it impossible for Cui Jianbing to find out the truth.
He sent people to the Qingyang Guild Hall several times, but they never saw anyone there. Later, he simply said that Ye Jianshan had moved away and was no longer living at the guild hall.
Cui Jianbing felt that Ye Jianshan was aloof and unsociable, and he wasn't the only one who said so; everyone's impression of the Qingyang Jieyuan was that he was aloof and mysterious.
This wasn't a good impression, but Choi Gyeong-byung didn't mind giving him another chance to promote it.
After all, that's the truth.
Cui Jianbing couldn't stop thinking about Ye Jianshan until he heard the clock striking to remind him to check his exam paper.
The first match is about to end.
Soon the proctors came to collect the first exam papers, and Ye Jianshan was able to take the opportunity to stand up and stretch.
When the prince saw that Ye Jianshan was no longer lying down and was moving around, he felt a little more at ease. He was worried that the child would get cold if he slept lying down. Fortunately, he had been observing him and found that the charcoal brazier in Ye Jianshan's cell was still burning and that he was wearing thick clothes, so he did not seem to be in any discomfort.
Seeing him stretch like a cat, the Crown Prince couldn't help but smile. He was in such good health.
At only sixteen, she was the youngest here. She looked so confident during the exam that the Crown Prince couldn't get enough of looking at her.
It's obvious he knows everything; his arrogance is written all over his face.
Not to mention he slept for a day and a half straight, so it seems there were no problems that stumped him.
He's arrogant, but his son can be arrogant, and his son has the right to be arrogant.
After Ye Jianshan handed in his paper, he waited for the second exam on the fourth day to begin.
Meanwhile, the emperor outside, shortly after locking the gates of the examination hall, received news that Ye Jianshan looked exactly like the crown prince.
The emperor's first impression was still disbelief.
Marquis Weiyuan had told him this rumor in a secret letter three months ago.
The visitor paused, then continued to emphasize, "His Highness the Crown Prince believes it, as if he were looking in a mirror."
The Emperor, who had just finished court and hadn't even changed his clothes yet, paused: "Really? Does the Crown Prince really think so? Did the two of them see each other?"
"Your Majesty, not only did we see it, but the examination cubicle for the top scholar in Qingyang was also directly opposite the seat of His Highness the Crown Prince's chief examiner..."
Maybe this is fate?
The emperor wavered and became agitated: "Quickly show me the portrait of the top scholar from Qingyang, let me see how much he resembles him."
"Forehead……"
The guard paused, realizing that he didn't actually need to look at the portrait.
The emperor had initially believed it, but upon seeing the portrait, he began to think it was just a rumor.
Who painted that picture?
The technology is really bad!
A note from the author:
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