Chapter 16 This terrifying face actually has two faces...
The next day, Ye Jianshan woke up around noon. He washed up thoroughly and finally made sure he was clean.
Yesterday, when he was sick, his third uncle wiped him down and changed his clothes, but he didn't take a proper bath himself. Today, he took a bath for half an hour, and Ye Jianshan felt like he had finally come back to life.
He really suffered a lot; after taking the exam, he felt like he had lost five pounds.
Seeing that he had gotten up, Ye Lei asked with concern, "Are you still feeling unwell?"
Ye Jianshan had already had enough sleep. He was self-disciplined and never slept in. He slept for several hours yesterday and had made up for the sleep he had missed.
"The Empress sent someone to deliver breakfast early this morning. Please have some first."
When Ye Lei opened the door this morning, he was almost scared to death by the people blocking the entrance. He had no idea how long they had been waiting there.
Moreover, he also realized that it was the Emperor and Empress who had made the neighbors move away before, and now the people living around are all their people.
He used to worry about how to explain things if his neighbors noticed something was wrong, but now he doesn't have that worry at all.
The real neighbors have all moved away, and he doesn't want to deal with the fake neighbors either.
Ye Jianshan nodded to indicate that he understood, then suddenly remembered something and asked with concern, "How are Brother Luo and Brother Tan?"
He was most familiar with the fellow villagers from Qingyang Guild Hall.
Ye Lei sighed: "Tan Jingshan is fine, he just has a cough. Luo Shaohui is more seriously ill than you. He fainted as soon as he left the examination hall. Everyone else is fine, so don't worry. Doctor Xiao Man has examined them and they are all stable now, so there's nothing serious."
Ye Jianshan was still a little worried, but he felt much more at ease after hearing what his third uncle said: "I still have to thank Physician Zhao and Doctor Xiao Man."
"Yes, he is an imperial physician."
After learning that Physician Zhao was an imperial physician, Ye Lei respected him much more, after all, he was truly skilled.
There might be times in the future when I need their help.
After finishing his brunch, Ye Jianshan went back to sleep. When he woke up, he planned to visit the Qingyang Guild Hall. During his nap, the guild hall manager sent someone to deliver medicine to check on him, and he also wanted to visit the fellow villagers staying at the guild hall.
Ye Jianshan's morning passed just like that, while the emperor felt that the ministers were all looking at him hesitantly, as if they had something to say but couldn't say it.
The Crown Prince also came to court today.
The usually dull and boring morning court session became interesting, with everyone looking at either the Crown Prince or the Emperor.
They were all waiting for the first person to speak.
Let's see who dares to be the first to bring up what happened in the examination hall. Actually, the deputy examiners present were the easiest to speak up because they were eyewitnesses and had personally witnessed the scene where the Crown Prince and the top scholar from Qingyang faced each other as if they were looking in a mirror.
All three princes are pretending to be dead. Prince Duan went to see Chief Minister Cui yesterday, but the old man was nowhere to be found.
He didn't believe that Chief Minister Cui hadn't received the news. If he remembered correctly, Chief Minister Cui's grandson, Cui Jianbing, and Ye Jianshan were competitors in this year's imperial examination, both wanting to win the top prize and strive for the prestigious title of "Six Top Scholars".
He didn't believe that Chief Minister Cui, that old fox, wouldn't do something.
Chief Minister Cui was the most composed. He only figured out yesterday why the Emperor had mentioned the candidates at the Imperial Examination Hall during the morning court session. His concern for the candidates' health was not the real reason; his real concern was that Ye Jianshan would catch a cold.
He even took the initiative to speak out, and these days many of his mortal enemies have said that he abused his power for personal gain and to seek benefits for his grandson.
The test takers all benefited, but he ended up taking the blame.
Many people want him to step forward and bring up the fact that Ye Jianshan and the Crown Prince look alike, but Chief Minister Cui has decided to pretend he's blind and won't get involved.
The emperor has grown increasingly displeased with him in recent years, and for the sake of his grandson's future career in officialdom, he cannot step forward at this time.
If Ye Jianshan really becomes the Crown Prince, they will have offended him to death and have no way out.
It wasn't just Chief Minister Choi who thought this way; all the ministers present who had any sense shared this view.
The crux of the matter is that the Crown Prince is truly all alone, without even a child. Previously, they had been openly and secretly urging the Crown Prince to remarry and have children, but who would have thought that a sixteen-year-old grandson of the Emperor would actually appear now.
It's true that this is a good thing, but they can't be happy about it.
That young imperial grandson was the top scorer all the way to the capital; only those who participated in the imperial examinations know how remarkable he was.
Although he was only the top scholar in a prefecture, he had already surpassed most of the candidates. There were only a handful of top scholars in the entire country, and the young prince had one of them.
That person must be very smart.
The ministers disliked having a clever person as the crown prince the most, because they were too cunning and couldn't be fooled.
This is a psychological state of fear of the unknown and powerful.
Despite their dislike for him, the ministers still respected the young prince and even felt a touch of nostalgia and admiration for him, which reminded them of their own days studying for the imperial examinations.
I heard he comes from a poor family, and his family makes a living by slaughtering pigs. It must have been really tough for him.
The Emperor was waiting for people to speak, but they all just looked and didn't say anything. He had no choice but to call on the Crown Prince himself: "Your Highness has worked hard in presiding over the imperial examination. How did it go this year?"
The Crown Prince was overjoyed at the thought that his Crown Princess was still alive and that he had a sixteen-year-old son. His previously world-weary face returned to a smile as he said, "Reporting to Father, the imperial examination went smoothly this time."
The Emperor nodded in satisfaction: "Not bad, it seems that everyone made the right choice in selecting this chief examiner."
The previous examiners were all from the Cui family, after all, they were a scholarly family with many disciples and quite a few in the court. This time, however, the examiner was the grandson of the chief minister Cui. In order to avoid suspicion, a group of people pushed the crown prince to take the exam instead.
Who knew that this would directly lead to the crown prince meeting his own son?
The father and son look very alike; I've heard they look exactly alike.
If they didn't look like them, they could loudly accuse them of being scammers, but the fact that their faces are right there leaves no room for doubt.
The ministers told the truth that none of their children resembled them; a five-tenths resemblance was already quite high, while the Crown Prince and Ye Jianshan looked exactly alike.
No verification is needed; they are biological children.
The Emperor continued, "Did anything interesting happen during this time?"
The Crown Prince glanced at the deputy examiner, Lord Yu Liang, behind him.
Yu Liang: ...
He was unlucky; he thought assisting the Crown Prince in supervising the examinations was a good thing, but who knew that such a thing would happen right at the beginning.
He genuinely didn't want to get involved in these messy royal affairs.
But there was no other way; he had to step forward and say, "Your Majesty, I have something to say."
The Emperor sat up straight; he was coming.
The ministers straightened their backs and pricked up their ears.
Here it comes, so you're planning to go public, right?
Although the Emperor and the Crown Prince said they wanted to see Ye Jianshan's attitude, Ye Jianshan's expression was impossible to hide.
If we keep it a secret now, it will cause trouble again when he comes to participate in the palace examination. It's better to be upfront now so that everyone will be more wary and put away their thoughts of taking action against Ye Jianshan.
So the Emperor and the Crown Prince discussed it and decided that since they couldn't hide it any longer, they should just make it public now and say the unpleasant things upfront.
Chief Minister Cui sighed. He should have given Cui Jianbing another three years to reflect on his actions; unfortunately, he ran into the young prince.
The spotlight will belong to the young prince for the next few years.
The path that Chief Minister Choi was paving for Choi Gyeongbyung would have to be put on hold for a while before it could be implemented.
Otherwise, blindly popping up now will only annoy people.
Yu Liang said, "Your Majesty, I have discovered that one of the candidates in this imperial examination bears a striking resemblance to the Crown Prince. He is Ye Jianshan, the top scholar from Qingyang, who looks remarkably like the Crown Prince when he was young. I wonder if he is His Highness's long-lost son?"
The Crown Prince remained calm, but the Emperor feigned surprise, stepping down from his throne and approaching Yu Liang. He said excitedly, "Tell me the details quickly. Crown Prince, how could you not tell me about such an important matter? Is he really my little grandson?"
The emperor's face nearly twisted with a smile whenever the words "little imperial grandson" were mentioned.
The ministers were speechless. Let them continue acting. They didn't even know who had gone to the Fourteenth Street with the Empress yesterday.
Don't think they don't know; everyone knows now that a big shot lives on 14th Street.
Everyone was asking who it was. After learning it was the top scholar from Qingyang, they were a little confused. It was just a minor scholar; they didn't know why there was such a commotion.
But some people understand, after all, everyone says that this top scholar was able to achieve the highest rank in the imperial examination, and now everyone is buying stocks in his company.
Now that the six scholars have achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations, their Fourteenth Street is going to become famous, and everyone wants to ride on the coattails of the Wenquxing (a legendary scholar).
In the back row of the Golden Palace, the Gao family patriarch, Lord Gao, was also startled.
Gao Han had told him about this before. The Gao family had intended to win him over, but they had gone too far and offended Ye Jieyuan, so they decided to postpone it and wait until he finished the exam before meeting him. They didn't expect that the Emperor had already received the news.
Minister Feng, Lord Yan, and Marquis Weiyuan exchanged glances, realizing that they would likely be making their appearance soon.
Sure enough, after Yu Liang finished speaking, the Emperor glanced at them.
Three people stepped forward one by one and said that they had also seen Ye Jieyuan before, and that he looked just like His Highness the Crown Prince.
Seeing this, Lord Gao stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, my cousin traveled with Ye Jieyuan on the ship back to the capital in September. He also said that he looks like the Crown Prince, but Ye Jieyuan was preparing for the exam and was nowhere to be seen, so I had no way to verify it with my own eyes, and it has been delayed until now..."
The people around Gao Daren were all taken aback, not expecting him to jump out and agree.
Even the Emperor was a little surprised: "He came to the capital last September and has been preparing for the exams ever since, but we haven't seen him. This kid didn't even attend any poetry or literary gatherings. Don't young people love to join in the fun?"
Lord Gao glanced at Chief Minister Cui, sensing that the Emperor was referring to him, and said with a forced smile, "My cousin said that although Ye Jieyuan is young, he came to the capital alone to prepare for the imperial examination, which is commendable. He has always ranked first in the examinations and has his own plans. This time, Ye Jieyuan will definitely achieve good results as well. I just didn't expect that what my cousin said was true. Ye Jieyuan really does look just like the Crown Prince. If only I had gone to verify it back then..."
The Emperor waved his hand: "Don't blame Minister Gao. The imperial examination is important. He has his own plans. He is a good boy who understands the bigger picture and has foresight."
"In that case, let's not make a fuss about this for now. I'll go out of the palace to see him when I have some free time."
With the performance nearly over, the emperor went along with it, justifying his departure from the palace that afternoon.
Everyone: ...
You've gone out of the palace with the Empress several times already, and you're still acting.
But they also wanted to go and see!
I really want to see how similar they are.
Ye Jianshan, having had a good sleep, went outside to stretch and saw several people climbing on the wall next door. When they saw him come out, they immediately shrank back and muttered, "Oh my god, they look exactly the same. I thought I saw the Second Imperial Uncle."
"Come down quickly, he's spotted you."
"It scared me to death! Why are there two faces like that?"
Ye Jianshan: ...
No, who are you guys?
Crickets chirping at him right in front of him while perched on the wall?
A note from the author:
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I'm posting early, see you tomorrow! [pat on the head][pat on the head]
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