Jade from the mountains, loved by humankind
When the spring examination ended, the candidates' strategies were all in the hands of the examiners. As in previous years, the process of anonymizing names, transcribing, and proofreading was carried out without missing a single step.
After the examiners reviewed the collected papers in their respective rooms, a preliminary selection was conducted. Then, Zhu You, the chief examiner of the spring imperial examination that year, reviewed the papers and drafted a list. The draft list was then submitted to the Ministry of Rites, which did not fill in the list but instead submitted it to Yang Changshi for review.
The Ministry of Rites should have filled in the list of successful candidates before posting it at a later time and place. However, in the late emperor's later years, there were constant scandals involving cheating in the imperial examinations. Due to the large difference in the number of successful candidates between the north and the south, the late emperor filed complaints against the emperor. Therefore, the late emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to review the papers himself before posting the results.
However, he was in poor health, so the task of reading the examination papers was left to the eunuchs around him. In the current emperor's reign, after Yang Fujin became the eunuch, the task of reading the examination papers fell entirely into his hands.
Inside the imperial study, Yang Fujin was flipping through the candidates' exam papers one by one, while the emperor sat in the main seat, pulling Consort Dong aside to watch two crickets fighting on the imperial table.
After reading through it, Yang Fujin respectfully handed it to the Emperor, asking him to read it carefully again.
The emperor's eyes were fixed on the crickets, and he had no time to read the policy essays. He waved his hand and said, "Father, you can read them yourself. My eyes are not good, and my eyes get blurry if I read too many words."
Yang Fujin bowed, took the draft list sent by the Ministry of Rites, and said, "Among the three candidates in the first rank, I'm afraid one still needs His Majesty's decision."
"Lu Chang's strategy is ornate but lacks grandeur. The writing appears fluent, but it is mostly fabricated for the sake of rhyme. Upon closer examination, the content is empty and devoid of inspiration. Compared with Qin Gang and the other two, it is far inferior. Such an exam paper should not be rated as first-class."
After he finished speaking, he presented the examination paper to the emperor for review.
The emperor glanced at the densely packed examination papers and felt a headache coming on. Since his father said it shouldn't be done, then it shouldn't be done!
He took a pen and crossed out Lu Chang's name with a stroke of red.
In this way, a scholar's years of learning were wiped out in the blink of an eye by a eunuch who only knew a few characters.
The late emperor, who once sought to promote fairness in the imperial examinations, could never have imagined that one day, a rootless eunuch would determine the standards for selecting officials and change the fate of the Great Wei dynasty.
The emperor had long forgotten about the incident. The name he had crossed out in his imperial edict was less memorable than the two crickets that had fought that day. Therefore, when Li Muyun mentioned Lu Chang in court, he had no recollection of him at all.
Yang Fujin whispered in his ear, "Why not bestow an official position upon Lu Chang, so that the people of the Northwest will know that His Majesty still favors the Lu family?"
The emperor nodded. There were already quite a few people in the court, so one more wouldn't matter. He just didn't know what official position to bestow upon him.
Yang Fujin then said, "Secretary of the Imperial Library."
The emperor nodded and agreed to do as Yang Fujin had said, instructing the Gao family to find the person within half a month, and that Lu Chang be assigned to the Secretariat upon the completion of the half-month.
The first to raise objections was Li Muyun, whose tone remained as steady as ever: "I'm afraid that won't do. Although the position of proofreader in the Secretariat is of low rank, only those who have passed the imperial examinations are qualified to hold it. What qualifications does Lu Chang, a failed candidate, have?"
Tang Fuqian, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel standing behind Yang Fujin, stepped forward to refute Yang Fujin's argument that Lu Chang was a descendant of a meritorious official and could be appointed as a proofreader according to the principle of hereditary privilege.
Li Muyun nodded helplessly: "Alright, I can't find anything wrong with it either."
Lu Chang had expected that he would not pass the imperial examination, but he did not expect that three years later the court would invite him back to serve as an official, wanting the people of the Northwest to see that the Li imperial family still favored this loyal minister's orphan.
This was naturally good news for the Gao family. When Gao Yun returned home and told everyone the good news, the Duchess of the State held her handkerchief tightly and wept with joy: "I knew His Majesty would not mistreat the Lu family. Now it's all good. Chang'er has become an official. My sister and brother-in-law can rest in peace in the afterlife."
The old lady, being more shrewd, was happy for her grandson but also suspected there was more to the story. Upon questioning Gao Yun, she learned that he was merely using Lu Chang as a mascot to appease the people.
That's fine, at least he's become an official. We can use this as an excuse to get him back to Pingdu and stop him from wandering around.
Lu Chang has been away from home for three years. Where can he find him? He will be taking office in half a month. How can he explain to the emperor if he can't find him?
The Duchess smiled broadly and said, "He wrote to me last month saying he was in Jiang'an and would be back in a few days." She was a little embarrassed as she said this, "I was still angry at the time, so I didn't tell everyone."
The old lady glanced at her daughter-in-law with some surprise, clearly unaware of the situation.
There was only one official road from Pingdu to Jiang'an. Gao Yun hurriedly called people to follow the official road to find Lu Chang. The once-prosperous family finally saw a slight improvement today.
Jingwan learned from Bojun that Lu Chang was coming back, and compared to others, she genuinely missed her cousin.
She paused for a moment, then replied in response, "Oh, my cousin is coming back?"
Three years have passed, and she can't even remember the last time she thought of this person. If she hadn't listened to Lu Chang's promise, if she and he were just simple cousins, she would be as happy as Bo Jun to see her family members return today.
Jingwan didn't take the matter to heart. After saying goodbye to Bojun, she went back to Hefeng Courtyard and picked and chose from the few dresses available. Finally, she chose a blue woven satin dress and carefully applied makeup to her eyebrows and lips in front of the bronze mirror. She was very serious about it.
Dongxia, who was tending to the flowers and leaves nearby, watched this scene of women dressing up for their lovers, and thought about the letter Lu Chang had sent a few days ago, in which he would arrive in Pingdu in ten days.
She shook her head; she was probably too late.
Jingwan was focused on her appearance and didn't notice the sigh that slipped away quietly. She turned around in front of Dongxia and asked her, "Does it look good?"
Dongxia nodded: "Are you going out, young lady?"
Jingwan nodded shyly, two blushes already creeping onto her cheeks without her needing to apply rouge.
When Gao Yun returned from Yu Ying Pavilion last time, she said that she didn't have to stay at home every day and could go out for some fresh air occasionally, as long as she had a maid with her.
The surprise came unexpectedly. After telling Qin Ziyou about it, the young man immediately asked her to go out and play.
Outside the city, there is an orchard exclusively run by the people of Pingdu, with a thousand fruit trees. Once the fruit is ripe, visitors can enter and buy it. If the fruit is not yet ripe, visitors can also come in to admire the flowers when they bloom.
The orchard is very large, with a wide variety of fruit trees, including pear, pomegranate, and peach trees, and even Persian dates and pistachios that are unique to the Western Regions.
Jingwan was very excited. Dongxia offered to come along, but she waved her hand and wouldn't allow her to.
The Dongqiao Night Market was deserted during the day. She spotted Qin Ziyou at a glance. As on every day they met, she patted his left shoulder and then suddenly appeared on his right.
Qin Ziyou was happy to play along with her; he never disappointed her, always ending up being the one who got tricked.
He took Jingwan's hand and got into the carriage. Inside the carriage were some pastries and fruit wine, all freshly made and delivered by Zuixianlou.
Qin Ziyou is very meticulous, unlike Azhiqi.
He specifically chose an orchard this time. It was a large place, and the further in you went, the fewer tourists there were, so that too many outsiders wouldn't see them. He didn't care, but he had to consider Jingwan's feelings.
Inside the carriage, Jingwan leaned on Qin Ziyou's shoulder, chattering away. She was saying that when she was in the Northwest, she had heard people say that there were many kinds of fruits in the South. She had eaten peaches, plums, and other fruits, as well as pomegranates and grapes from the Western Regions, but she had never eaten lychees or bayberries. She wondered if she would be able to eat them this time.
Lost in her reverie, she suddenly felt a chill on her wrists. Looking down, she saw a slender jade bracelet on each wrist.
These bracelets are truly beautiful, solely because of the precious jade. Even in the Northwest, it is extremely rare to see jadeite of this quality. Several shades of green, some light and some dark, are distributed among the crystal-clear jade, like seaweed in the water. This green is extremely lively, as if the thin clouds on the horizon, blown by the wind, would float in the bracelets.
Only the finest tribute items possess such high quality; for ordinary people to own them would require an exorbitant price, let alone a pair.
She instinctively tried to take them off, but Qin Ziyou stopped her.
He held her wrist, preventing her from taking it off.
"It's too expensive, I can't accept it!"
Qin Ziyou always loved to laugh, and when he laughed, his boyishness would show. But this time, he suppressed his smile and looked at her seriously.
“I bought these bracelets two years ago. The seller was a woman from Bagan who came to Pingdu to sell jade. She only used these bracelets as a way to attract customers and had no intention of selling them. When I first saw them, I thought, what kind of girl is worthy of wearing such beautiful bracelets?”
"Later, I met you."
He recalled that experience: the shopkeeper, speaking broken Mandarin, told him that the bracelet wasn't for sale unless…
"Unless you give me a reason to sell it to you." The proprietress was quite thin, but she spoke with the boldness of a swordsman.
He said, "This is the betrothal gift I will give to my future bride."
He also remembered that the landlady laughed very loudly, so loudly that the whole dock could hear it.
He kept the bracelet, but never found the right person for it.
“Awan, no matter how precious it is, it’s just a stone in the mountains. But you are different. To me, you are the most precious thing.”
"If you don't want it, you're not allowed to give it back to me. If you do, I'll throw it away too."
You are the most precious... She had heard this before. Back in the Northwest, the soldier had said the same thing to his mother. He did not break his promise; he took good care of his mother and himself until he fell on the battlefield.
Jingwan couldn't help but wipe away her tears. She sniffed and said, "You're not allowed to lie to me."
Qin Ziyou understood what she meant and wanted to hug her tightly, but he suppressed his excitement and held her hands with both of his: "I only let you lie to me, I won't lie to you."
This was the only time she felt happy since coming to Pingdu. When she returned, Qin Ziyou packed two baskets full of pomegranates and pears for her.
After entering the city, Jingwan asked him to stop the car. She wanted to deliver some fruit to several neighbors at the Dongqiao Night Market, as well as Uncle Gong.
Qin Ziyou was originally going to accompany her, but then someone from the Qin family came and said there was an emergency at home, and the master told him to return home immediately.
Jingwan slung a large basket over her shoulder and said with a smile, "You go home, I can deliver it myself."
She left with her belongings, not wanting him to waste any more time. Qin Ziyou shook his head and returned to his residence with the servants.
But after walking only a few steps, the peaceful street was suddenly disturbed. Several men in black were chasing something, the roadside stalls were overturned, and masked people appeared with knives in their hands. Passersby were so frightened that they scattered and fled.
Jingwan was terrified and found a small path to take; as long as she passed through it, she could reach Uncle Gong's house.
Just then, a large hand covered her mouth, pulled her to a corner, and the strong smell of blood filled her nostrils. Two baskets of fruit fell to the ground.
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