The imperial court treated Shen Qingchen and his fellow probationary officials quite well. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices provided them with meals, the Directorate of Ceremonial provided them with writing materials, and the Ministry of Rites gave them three taels of silver every month. They could also rest for one day every five days, which was considered a very good treatment.
However, she was still dirt poor. She had to pay for her father's medical treatment and daily expenses, and renting that small room in the capital cost her one tael of silver every month.
After parting ways with Gu Shaoheng, Shen Qingchen went to the Guanglu Temple to pack dinner into a food box and took the food box home.
Qingchen pushed open the door and entered the room, where he saw an old man standing blankly in front of the wooden table, holding a tinderbox in his hand, his whole body trembling.
"Dad, didn't I tell you not to light a fire? Why are you disobeying me? You can't touch this fire." She quickly took the tinder from the old man's hand.
"Madam, it's getting dark. You should go home now."
Shen Qingchen placed the food box on the table, took a pair of chopsticks for him, and helped him sit down. "Father, I am your daughter, not your wife. Let's eat first, the food is getting cold. Today we have your favorite fish."
The old man picked up his chopsticks and poked at the fish, saying, "Carp."
"This isn't a carp, it's a crucian carp," Shen Qingchen said, picking out the fish bones for him before putting the fish meat into his bowl. "Crucian carp have a lot of bones, so please eat slowly."
The old man stared at the bowl, muttering, "The carp leaps over the dragon gate."
“Yes, leaping over the dragon gate.” Shen Qingchen said as she poured some water for the two of them. She took a sip herself and found the water too cold, so she went to the stove next to her and started a fire.
They were very poor, and the house they rented was small and dilapidated, with only two small rooms. The father and daughter ate and slept in this small room. Although the house was dilapidated, the rent was not cheap because it was in the capital.
Shen Qingchen's original owner was an ordinary citizen in the Ming Dynasty. Her birth mother passed away when she was five years old, leaving only her father and her in the family. Her father later developed hysteria, commonly known as mental illness. Fortunately, she was able to grow up safely thanks to the help of her only relative and neighbors.
She was raised as a boy from a young age, and this didn't change as she grew up. She was stubborn and taciturn, and only knew how to focus on her studies. For many years, she disguised herself as a boy and even passed the imperial examinations, becoming a student, a scholar, and a graduate.
"Like a carp leaping over the dragon gate, my son is the top scholar in the imperial examination and will become a high-ranking official!" The old man pointed to the sky with his chopsticks and suddenly said this in a loud voice, which was unusually clear and full of energy.
Shen Qingchen patted his back, "Father, eat quickly. I didn't become the top scholar, I'm just a Jinshi."
Five years ago, when she first transmigrated, Shen Qingchen faced a choice—to maintain her identity as a man or to revert to her female identity. After much deliberation, she chose the former.
Because her father suffered from hysteria, his medical treatment and living expenses required significant financial support. The Ming Dynasty was very strict about women appearing in public, and as a teenager, she could do almost nothing. If she took the imperial examinations, she might obtain an official position, which would provide her with a salary to support two people and pay for her father's medical treatment. Moreover, she didn't know where the original owner of this body had gone; this wasn't her life to begin with. To arbitrarily change the course of her life would be to erase over a decade of hard work and effort.
Having made her choice, Shen Qingchen began to study.
Unable to afford the county school, she had to learn on her own. Fortunately, she inherited the original owner's memories and was a scholar of ancient politics and economics, having memorized the political views and reform policies of countless people, so she was not without strategy in dealing with the imperial examinations.
The Ming Dynasty only tested the Four Books and Five Classics. The original owner of this body had memorized these books perfectly, but how to apply them was up to Shen Qingchen herself. She carefully read these books several times, trying to understand them little by little by comparing them with her memory. The original owner had also written some articles before, so she wrote them down one by one from memory, and then combined them with her understanding of historical facts to slowly comprehend and study them.
A year ago, Qingchen passed the imperial examination and became the top scholar in the second class. She was fortunate enough to meet the emperor in the Golden Palace, and her name was announced by the Court of State Ceremonial. After being named on the list of successful candidates, she rode through the streets with the top scholar. When the Hanlin Academy was being selected, she was the first to be chosen and was known as the "heir apparent".
"Top scholar! My son is the top scholar!" The old man's sudden shout brought Shen Qingchen back to his senses.
She glanced at the food box; her father had made a complete mess of the rice inside. She picked up the spoon from the floor, washed it, scooped up a spoonful, and held it to his lips. "Dad, eat first."
After serving his father his meal and putting him to bed, Shen Qingchen went to the back of the house and wiped himself down in the dim moonlight. Then he returned to the house and began practicing calligraphy by candlelight.
This is something she does every day since she transmigrated. As a modern person, writing with a brush is a major challenge for her. After several years of practice, she has finally achieved a passable level. However, the ancients valued "the spirit of metal and stone in calligraphy," a level she has not yet reached; her writing only resembles the form but not the spirit.
After finishing her calligraphy practice, she reviewed her notes from class for a while. Learning without thinking is futile; although she retained the original owner's memories, she still needed to digest what she learned on her own. Back in university, Shen Qingchen attended evening self-study sessions every day; here, she was simply changing the subject matter, but she was still continuing her habit.
After reading for about an hour, she closed the book, neatly draped her blue robe over the long table, then turned off the light and went to bed.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were no alarm clocks, so Shen Qingchen relied entirely on the crowing of the rooster next door to get up. This rooster next door seemed to have trouble sleeping, always waking up earlier than the other roosters, which meant Shen Qingchen also had to get up early.
After getting up, she rinsed her mouth, prepared breakfast and medicine for her father as usual, and then took a small mirror and began to style her hair.
After tying her hair up, Shen Qingchen looked at her clean and refreshing reflection in the mirror. The person in the mirror was both strange and familiar, looking exactly like her in modern times. Her cheeks were fair, her eyes were dark, and she looked somewhat aloof when she wasn't smiling.
The difference is that the hairstyle has changed; the ponytail has been replaced with neat sideburns and a tied-up style.
After putting down the mirror, she put on her blue robe, tied the belt, smoothed out the slight wrinkles on the robe with her palm, and prepared to go out.
Shen Qingchen was not from a prominent family and had no carriage to ride in, so she had to walk to the Hanlin Academy every day. It took her more than half an hour to walk from her rented house to the Hanlin Academy.
When she pushed open the door, her heart sank instantly; it was raining. The sky was overcast, and a light drizzle was falling.
She went back inside to get an oil-paper umbrella, hesitated at the door for a moment, then opened the umbrella, lifted her robe, and ran into the rain.
As she approached the Daming Gate, a carriage sped past Shen Qingchen. The wheels quickly rolled over puddles, and before she could dodge, she was splashed with mud and water all over her body and face.
Qingchen sighed softly, and when she looked up again, she found that the carriage was stopped not far ahead. The carriage had a flat roof made of boxwood and was covered in luxurious black silk, clearly belonging to a very wealthy family.
Soon, the person in the car lifted the curtain, got out, and walked towards her with an umbrella.
In the hazy rain and mist, the man could be seen wearing a crimson official robe, his figure appearing remarkably upright. Under a pale yellow oil-paper umbrella, only his sharply defined sideburns and half of his distinctly shaped face were visible.
The moment he raised his umbrella, Shen Qingchen suddenly recalled a phrase from historical records describing a person: "Handsome eyebrows and bright eyes, radiant complexion, exquisite appearance, and charming demeanor." This man truly possessed unparalleled beauty.
His face was expressionless, yet his eyes exuded an air of refined elegance, and his gaze was somewhat indifferent.
Coming to his senses, Qingchen noticed that the embroidered patch on his clothes was a golden pheasant pattern, indicating that he was a high-ranking official of the second rank!
She immediately cupped her hands and bowed, saying, "I greet you, sir."
"I'm sorry I accidentally soiled your robe earlier." His tone was indifferent, and although it was an apology, it still carried a hint of coldness.
Qingchen was taken aback, not expecting that he had come specifically to apologize to him. In the Ming Dynasty, with its two capitals and thirteen provinces, he was a second-rank official, while he was merely a low-ranking official without any official title. There was at least a fifty-rank governor between them.
“You’re too kind, sir. The road is already difficult to travel on rainy days, with puddles everywhere. The horse is ignorant; what wrong have you done?” Qingchen said, bowing his head.
He listened without saying a word, only stared at her for a moment, nodded, and turned to leave.
Shen Qingchen stared blankly at his retreating figure as the crimson-clad man boarded the carriage, which then drove into the Daming Gate in the distance.
At this time, the sky was just beginning to brighten, with three parts white and seven parts black.
Shen Qingchen was once again the first person to arrive at the Hanlin Academy today.
She closed her oil-paper umbrella, took out the books wrapped in kraft paper, wiped off the few water droplets, and laid them flat on the desk. Then she went out to the corridor and shook the rainwater off her sleeves.
The Hanlin Academy was quieter than usual in the early morning, with only the sound of dripping water in the empty courtyard. The grass and trees, watered by the rain, looked very green, and the water droplets hanging under the eaves reflected a little white light, adding a touch of vitality to this solemn and ancient courtyard.
Her new teacher arrived today, but she looked so disheveled. Shen Qingchen looked at the mud stains on her clothes, sighed softly, and bent down to wipe them off.
Just then, a pair of black boots came to a steady stop in front of her.
She looked up, following the black boots upwards, her gaze pausing slightly.
It's him. The second-rank official outside the Great Ming Gate.
"Greetings, Your Excellency." She bowed somewhat flusteredly. "I thought no one would come so early... I was very rude."
“It’s you.”
The newcomer sized up Shen Qingchen. He hadn't seen her clearly in the rain and mist. This junior scholar was quite handsome, with some mud on her face, her hair wet from the rain, water droplets sliding down her cheeks, and her damp blue robe clinging to her thin frame. She looked somewhat disheveled, but her eyes were clear and bright…
He took half a step toward her, then casually lifted her damp sleeve and wrung it out a couple of times.
Rainwater dripped onto the ground with a loud patter.
Author's Note: Many readers have questions about the female lead's poverty, so I'd like to clarify.
It's true that there's a saying, "Only scholars die of poverty, not those who pass the imperial examinations," and those who pass the highest level of the imperial examinations do indeed have the privilege of being exempt from land rent, receiving financial assistance and land donations. The protagonist can use this privilege to make money. However, all of this only illustrates that passing the imperial examinations opens up more opportunities to make money, just like we're more likely to find money on the street every day. An increased probability of finding money doesn't guarantee wealth, because it also depends on one's values and beliefs. Whether you hand the money over to the police or keep it will obviously lead to different outcomes.
The same applied to Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations). They had the privilege of being exempt from land rent. When others offered them land as tribute, some Jinshi chose to accept, while others chose not to. Everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty's taxes were heavy, yet the annual tax revenue collected by the national treasury was still very small. Besides corruption at all levels, a tax evasion network had formed, with Jinshi and Juren (successful candidates in the provincial and imperial examinations) using their privileges to help others evade taxes for profit being particularly common. To put it bluntly, accepting land offered by others was exploiting loopholes in the national system, which is called tax evasion. Everyone has their own ambitions, just like whether or not to pay taxes if you find money. The female protagonist in this story doesn't choose to evade taxes, which is related to her values. As a Shujishi (a junior official in the Hanlin Academy), the only money the female protagonist could obtain with a clear conscience was her salary from the court, and the salaries in the Ming Dynasty were notoriously low. Moreover, her father needed to take medicine. Therefore, she was poor.
The so-called acceptance of land was an unspoken rule, and many successful candidates in the imperial examinations did so, but this does not mean that it was necessarily the right thing to do. There was actually a vicious cycle hidden in this: because there were many people who evaded taxes, the state received less tax revenue, so the state would increase the taxes on the people, and the heavier the taxes, the more people would try to escape... As it turns out, the demise of the Ming Dynasty was closely related to its tax system.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
