Chapter 123 The Newly Appointed Third-Rank Scholar, Uncle and Nephew of the Wei Family of Jingzhou...
Xiao Yu's return to the capital caused quite a stir among officials and commoners. However, it was common for Imperial Censor Xiao to be promoted or demoted. This year was also the year of the imperial examinations, and the topic of conversation on the streets and alleys quickly turned to when the results of the provincial examinations would be announced, and which candidates had a better chance of passing the palace examinations.
Every year when the imperial court held the Spring Examinations, Luo Fu liked to visit her sister. Her brother-in-law, Pei Xingshu, was a famous scholar in Guangling and even the whole of Yangzhou when he was young. As her brother-in-law rose rapidly in the officialdom, his reputation among Yangzhou students also increased year by year. As a result, Yangzhou students who were going to the capital to take the exams often came to visit her brother-in-law under various pretexts. Among them were her brother-in-law's former classmates, the sons, nephews and sons-in-law of her brother-in-law's classmates, the younger generation of her brother-in-law's classmates from the academy where he studied, and even distant relatives whose relationships with her brother-in-law were unclear.
My brother-in-law, who was serving as the Minister of Revenue, was very busy with official duties. He would see the candidates who came to visit whenever he could, and only asked my sister to help entertain them when he was really too busy. He was approachable in terms of etiquette, but he would never make any promises.
Luo Fu loved listening to her sister comment on the candidates—this one was handsome, that one was tall, this one was polite, that one was frivolous, and so on. These were meaningless but very interesting idle chatter.
Roland took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and said, "It's not just your brother-in-law's side that's like this. Recently, many officials from other places in the capital have had fellow candidates from their hometowns visiting their homes. The more confident a candidate is in passing the imperial examination, the more they like this. They are after the palace examination and the official appointments. Newly appointed Jinshi with connections always have a better chance of staying in the capital."
Luo Fu laughed and said, "It's not just about staying in the capital; you might even become the son-in-law of some important official."
Roland pinched her younger sister's cheek: "Stop talking nonsense. Wu Xiang is truly talented and earned his place in the capital on his own merit. It was only later that your brother-in-law took a liking to him and brought him and Zhi'er together."
Of course, Rosé knew that her brother-in-law wasn't that kind of person.
A few days later, the results of the imperial examination were announced. Since Luo Fu had no relatives or friends to refer to, she didn't pay attention to it. Unexpectedly, on the evening of the day the results were announced, Xiao Yu brought back a successful candidate. He was of average height and appearance, and his smile was even a bit simple and honest.
Upon seeing Luo Fu appear outside the main hall, the scholar jumped up from his chair and bowed to Luo Fu, saying, "This student greets Madam."
Luo Fu smiled and dismissed his formalities. After giving him a quick look, she walked towards the head seat while glancing at Xiao Yu.
Approaching forty, the increasingly refined and dignified Doctor Xiao revealed a hint of pride as he introduced Peng Yi to his wife, saying, "This is Peng Yi, courtesy name Yuntai, a candidate from Loujiang County, Jianping Prefecture, Yizhou this year."
Leaking into the river?
Upon hearing the familiar place name, Luo Fu immediately understood why Xiao Yu was so proud. Judging from Peng Yi's age of twenty-six or twenty-seven, he must have been taught by Xiao Yu, the county magistrate who often taught at Loujiang Academy.
Because of Xiao Yu, Luo Fu felt a greater sense of hometown affection for Loujiang, and she was much closer to Peng Yi. She asked Peng Yi to sit down and then gently inquired about his studies in Loujiang and whether his journey to the capital was smooth.
Peng Yi answered each question one by one. He was quite nervous at first, but he relaxed later and said excitedly, "Before me, our county had hardly produced any scholars, so children in and out of the city were not enthusiastic about studying. It wasn't until the adults built us a new schoolhouse and tirelessly traveled around to encourage education that we were able to continue. They even hired a scholar who had passed the imperial examination to teach us. Not only were poor children exempt from tuition fees, but students who ranked at the top in every major examination also received silver rewards... While the adults were alive, they forbade us from erecting a monument for them, but after they passed away, the people spontaneously built a statue of them in the schoolhouse. The year I passed the imperial examination, the teacher led all of us students to bow three times in front of the statue of the adults, telling us to be grateful for their kindness."
Xiao Yu: "..."
Luo Fu glanced at his ears, which were red from the praise, and said to Peng Yi, "The master leads you to the door, but the cultivation is up to you. The fact that you were able to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi is mostly due to your intelligence and diligence in studying."
Those who passed the imperial examination were already considered quasi-imperial scholars; the palace examination was merely a matter of re-ranking them.
Peng Yi didn't dare to look directly at the beautiful lady, and he also hardly recognized the official in purple robes sitting there like a god. After all, in his memory, Lord Xiao always wore plain clothes, and it was common for him to work in the fields, fish in the river, and bring sheep home. His skin was also much darker than it is now.
At this moment, Qingchuan was called over by Xiao Yu. Qingchuan had a pretty good memory. After staring at Peng Yi for a while, he suddenly clapped his hands and said, "You, you are that Peng Sanzhuang who disobeyed the master's discipline and tried to ambush the master from behind, and was caught and tied to the pillar by the master, right?"
Peng Yi blushed. Ever since he was given the name Peng Yi by the adults, apart from his family, very few people called him San Zhuang anymore.
Xiao Yu's face flushed slightly. He had written to his wife to show off his victory over a group of students in order to please her. But when Qingchuan revealed to his wife how he punished the students, Xiao Yu felt rather uncomfortable.
After sitting for a while, Luo Fu made an excuse to leave, leaving the three old acquaintances to catch up.
As darkness fell, Luo Fu could still smell the faint scent of alcohol on Xiao Yu after he had thoroughly washed up when he came from the front yard.
"You're so happy that you've taught such a good student?" Luo Fu teased him.
Xiao Yu: "Not only that, after hearing Peng Yi talk about the current situation of many people from Loujiang, I felt a joy like meeting an old friend in a foreign land."
He had been keeping a close eye on Pang Xin's career advancement and knew that Pang Xin had risen to the position of prefect of Jianping County. Pang Xin was forty-three years old this year and did not come from a civil service examination background. If he was able to become the magistrate of Loujiang County entirely due to Xiao Yu's recommendation and the late emperor's exceptional promotion, then his subsequent rise to the rank of prefect of the fifth grade was entirely due to his talent and political achievements.
Besides Pang Xin, with whom he had the closest friendship, there were also some people in Loujiang that Xiao Yu was always concerned about, including the barbarians in that area.
Luo Fu listened to him talk about the leaky river for a long time until she felt sleepy and the couple fell asleep in each other's arms.
.
The palace examination was held shortly after the results of the provincial examination were announced. Although Xiao Yu was not selected as an examiner, Emperor Xianping specially summoned Xiao Yu, Pei Xingshu and other favorites of the emperor when selecting three first-class Jinshi from ten examination papers. Among them were Chen Ruliang, who was promoted to Minister of Works, and Yan Zhuang, who was promoted to the fourth-rank Zhongshu Sheren based on his poetic talent.
Emperor Xianping skillfully selected the top-ranked scholars in his mind and then handed them over to Xiao Yu and a few others for review.
The humiliation of last year's Northern Expedition left Emperor Xianping depressed for a while, and he even took his anger out on Xiao Yu. However, as everything settled down, as he sat high on the dragon throne and was revered by the court officials for several months, and as his relationship with Xiao Yu was restored to normal, Emperor Xianping was able to calmly mention the Northern Expedition. He even personally set the questions for this year's palace examination, asking the candidates how they would govern Liaozhou after the Great Zhou unified it.
The three examination papers selected by Emperor Xianping were all answered very well, with only slight differences in emphasis and literary style, and were approved by several important ministers.
With no objections from the crowd, Emperor Xianping checked the names and hometowns of the three candidates and discovered that this year's top-ranking scholars were all quite young: the top scholar was thirty, the second-ranking scholar was twenty-four, and the third-ranking scholar was twenty-seven.
The top scholar will not be changed. Emperor Xianping asked Guo Shouzhi, the Minister of Rites who was in charge of this year's spring imperial examination, "What do you think of the appearances of these two candidates?"
Guo Shouzhi recalled briefly, his gaze sweeping over Xiao Yu and Pei Xingshu, and said with a smile, "Wei Ling is a man of outstanding appearance, which reminds me of the Minister Xiao and Minister Pei riding horses through the streets back then."
The third-ranking scholar must be a handsome scholar, so Emperor Xianping changed Wei Ling, who had been temporarily designated as the second-ranking scholar, to the third-ranking scholar. Looking at Wei Ling's hometown, Emperor Xianping stroked his beard and said with some pride, "This Wei Ling actually comes from Jiangling in Jingzhou, which is the Empress's hometown. It can be seen that Jiangling is also a place with outstanding people and beautiful scenery."
Chen Ruliang glanced at Yan Zhuang secretly.
Following Emperor Xianping's words, Yan Zhuang praised several talented scholars from Jiangling that he knew, and finally brought up the topic again with the newly promoted third-ranked scholar, Wei Ling: "Wei Ling has the talent of a third-ranked scholar, but he is too young. In terms of talent and reputation in Jingzhou, his uncle Wei Heng is far superior to Wei Ling. It is a pity that Wei Heng is indifferent to fame and fortune, like a free spirit who often indulges in the beauty of nature, so I have never had the chance to meet him."
Yan Zhuang was fond of poetry and enjoyed associating with the literati of the dynasty, which was well-known in the capital.
Emperor Xianping asked curiously, "Has Wei Heng produced any elegant works that have reached the capital?"
Empress Xie enjoyed collecting poems by famous scholars of the dynasty. If Wei Heng was truly that famous, she should have seen his poems in Empress Xie's collection.
Yan Zhuang said, "Wei Heng dislikes social engagements, so his fame is not widely known in the capital. I only heard of him because I live near Jingzhou." He then recited two of Wei Heng's poems, one depicting the beauty of Dongting Lake and the other appreciating the moon. The poems were ethereal and truly transcendent.
Emperor Xianping knew immediately that Empress Xie would like both poems, so he specially kept Yan Zhuang behind and asked him to write down the two poems.
In the afternoon, when he had some free time, Emperor Xianping went to Empress Xie to present the treasure, first falsely claiming that it was a new work by Yan Zhuang.
Empress Xie pondered for a moment and said, "Unless Yan Zhuang has suffered setbacks in his official career and his personality has changed drastically, he could not have written such a poem."
The character of a poet can be seen in his writing. Yan Zhuang was greedy for fame and fortune and was obsequious, which is why he lacked the calm and tranquility found in his two poems.
Emperor Xianping was somewhat displeased that his favored ministers did not speak highly of Empress Xie. Fortunately, Empress Xie was known for her sharp tongue when discussing poetry, clearly stating what was good and what was bad. So Emperor Xianping did not think much of it and even praised Empress Xie for her keen insight before revealing the true owner of the two excellent poems: "Wei Heng from Jingzhou is from the same hometown as you."
Empress Xie, who was gazing down at the poem, trembled slightly with her long eyelashes, offered a few more words of praise, and said nothing more.
"Could these two poems also be included in your poetry collection?" Emperor Xianping asked with a smile.
Empress Xie nodded.
Emperor Xianping grasped her hand: "I have given you two fine gifts. How will you thank me?"
Empress Xie: "..."
.
That evening, Luo Fu also read two of Wei Heng's fine poems through Xiao Yu. Because of this connection, when Luo Fu took Cheng Jie'er and her sisters-in-law to watch the top-ranking scholar riding horses through the streets, Luo Fu became more interested in the third-ranking scholar, Wei Ling. When she discovered that the top two scholars were far less handsome than the third-ranking scholar, she, like the other women, only looked at Wei Ling.
"Mother, is the third-ranked scholar the most handsome among the successful candidates in the imperial examinations?" Cheng'er asked, puzzled, after the three of them had ridden past.
Luo Fu: "Not necessarily, sometimes the top scorer is also very handsome."
Roland, who was also sitting in the private room, teased his sister, saying, "Just say that when your brother-in-law was the top scholar in the imperial examination, he was much better looking than your brother-in-law, who was the third-ranked scholar. I won't argue with you."
Yang Yanzhen and Li Huaiyun both looked at Luo Fu and smiled.
Luo Fu's cheeks flushed, and she casually tugged at her daughter's little ear.
Cheng'er thought to herself, "My uncle has a beard, but he's not as handsome as my father!"
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Author's note: Oh, everyone, thank you for waiting!
100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow!
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