Lin Zikui heard from others that the regent's name was Xiao Fu, the son of the Duke of Changguo. A few days ago in Prince Shuo's mansion, in addition to the Minister of Revenue asking him about marriage, Lin Zikui also saw an earl asking about his son Xiao Fu's marriage.
Duke Changguo waved his hand and said, "His mother and I cannot decide on his marriage. Why don't you go to court tomorrow to make a request? Ask him directly?"
The person was so shocked that he dared not say a word.
The relationship between Lin Zikui and the Regent only existed for a few brief sentences at that time and space.
The Regent's surname is also Xiao, and he has been on the battlefield and made great achievements. Lin Zikui thought of this question belatedly and glanced at the other's boots.
But the Regent said nothing. He just sat there calmly, emitting an aura of oppression.
But the first person to speak was the eunuch.
"During today's palace examination, you are not allowed to make loud noises, whisper to each other, or cheat for personal gain. Otherwise, you will be expelled from the Fengtian Hall, punished with thirty strokes of the cane, and will never be employed by the court again! Gongsheng, do you understand?"
The tribute students said in unison: "I understand."
The little emperor's voice was too childish. He sat on the raised dragon throne and asked, "Today is the palace examination. I will ask you two questions."
Lin Zikui thought the voice sounded familiar, but most children's voices were like this. He had never thought that the child had been sent to him for examination.
Lin Zikui was standing in the second row with his head lowered, and the little emperor did not recognize him.
"Teachers, please listen to the question." Yuwen Xuan said, "Mencius said that the people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important. What does this mean to the students? Speak freely without any scruples."
As soon as these words were spoken, the huge Fengtian Hall became empty and silent. If you don’t answer this question well, your career will be over.
Who would have known that an emperor who was only eight years old would ask such a question in the palace examination.
But soon, a student with extraordinary courage answered: "I think that the king should protect the people, love the people, win the people, care for the people, help the people, comfort the people, and benefit the people. If there is no year, how can there be people? If there is no people, how can there be a king?"
The little emperor nodded secretly. Xiao Fu put his fingers on the armrest, said nothing, and swept his eyes over Lin Zikui - if he was told not to look up, he really wouldn't. If Lin Zikui raised his head, he would be able to see that Xiao Fu was wearing a crown that was lower than the emperor's standard, and the pearl curtain on the crown covered most of his face.
There are many talented new scholars this year, and Your Majesty has read the examination papers. As soon as he nodded, Liang Hong circled the candidate's name with a pen.
Someone else said: "The king should be merciless and implement merciless policies. Governing the world can be done in the palm of your hand!"
"Heaven sees as the people see, and Heaven hears as the people hear. Heaven is the people, and the people are Heaven. The king is the Son of Heaven, and the king is therefore the son of the people of the world."
"If the emperor is not benevolent, he cannot protect the four seas; if the princes are not benevolent, they cannot protect the country; if the ministers are not benevolent, they cannot protect the ancestral temple; if the scholars and common people are not benevolent, they cannot protect their bodies."
Amidst these numerous voices that shared roughly the same idea and repeated what Mencius said, a gentle yet overly calm statement suddenly came.
"Students think that the people are the most important, and that refers to the educated people."
The Fengtian Hall was completely silent, and everyone looked carefully towards the source of the sound.
It's a candidate in the second row.
How dare he!
Eunuch Liang squinted his eyes, counted the positions, and then found the name on the list.
The new champion is Lin Zikui.
He whispered something in the regent's ear, and the regent coughed lightly: "I know."
The sound was very soft. Lin Zikui vaguely felt that he heard a familiar voice and his ears moved.
Sitting on the dragon throne, the little emperor turned his head and glanced at his father, and found that the expression on his father's face was a smile of "approval", but it was not exactly the kind he was familiar with, and it was elusive.
The young emperor asked: "What does the tribute student mean?"
Lin Zikui never raised his head, but bowed and said, "To reply to your Majesty, what the second sage said is that the root is the people, and the end is the king. This is not wrong, but since ancient times, the lower cannot offend the upper. Confucius once said, 'Perfection is perfect, but not perfect', 'The king treats his ministers with courtesy, and the ministers serve the king with loyalty'. The power of the king is inviolable. If the people are the most important, then they are not the people who are governed and educated? How should the 'lowly people' deal with themselves in the world?"
The little emperor stared at him in silence.
How many people dare not give such thought-provoking advice?
Xiao Fu looked at Lin Zikui with his head lowered and his back slightly bent, and knew that he must be extremely scared. However, Lin Zikui was always outspoken. If he met an emperor like Emperor Wen Tai, he would have been in trouble by now.
Lin Zikui added: "I thought, 'If the king likes music, he shares it with the people; if the king likes sex, he shares it with the people; if the king likes goods, he shares it with the people; if the king likes profit, he shares it with the people...' If the king can really do "do not impose on others what you do not want others to do to you", and share the joys and sorrows with the people, he can realize the 'kingly way', and the people are more important than the king, and it will no longer be empty talk."
This gave His Majesty an opportunity to back down. He asked in a voice that made it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry, "Does the tribute student have any objection?"
The candidates were cursing in their hearts. How could they refute this? Since he had said this, any rebuttal would be nonsense. Fortunately, Lin Zikui spoke at the end, otherwise no one would have to speak.
After looking around, the little emperor asked the second question of the palace examination.
"Why do all the tribute students take the imperial examinations?"
The Fengtian Hall fell into silence again. Your Majesty seemed to be asking a nonsense question. You have studied poetry and books for ten years just for that black gauze hat, that golden house, to wear an official robe, and to be loved by the people.
It is not easy to answer this question beautifully.
One candidate said: "If you are poor, you can take care of yourself; if you are rich, you can help the world. Only when you are rich and famous can you help the people of the world."
"I will be loyal to the emperor, earn my living and serve him faithfully!"
"When you are alive, you should be kind and at peace with your family. You should be kind to the people of the world, to your parents and relatives."
Another candidate said: "I wish I had thousands of mansions, and I could make all the poor people in the world happy, and I could be as stable as a mountain even in the wind and rain."
Lin Zikui stood in the second row and didn't say a word.
He didn't know whether his answer just now made the emperor angry, but from his voice, he didn't seem angry. He loved to tell the truth and never lied. He could not control himself every time, and this had hurt himself.
But Lin Zikui could also feel that the emperor and the regent sitting on the high seats seemed to be looking at him.
A vague sight, someone unknown was looking down from a great height, shining clearly on the top of his head.
So Lin Zikui answered out loud: "The world is unfair, and the bureaucracy is corrupt. Students take exams to gain fame and establish their hearts for the world and for the people, but the world is unfair, the people are sad, and the world will never be fair!"
Lin Zikui knew that if he did not cry out loudly, the torrent would drown him. He spoke honestly and with a voice as loud as a bell.
There are few people who tell the truth in this palace.
Only these newly recruited tribute students still have some sincerity.
The little emperor turned his head and asked Liang Hong: "Eunuch Liang, what is the candidate's name?"
Eunuch Liang said, "The new champion is Lin Zikui."
"Lin Zikui," the little emperor lowered his head and looked down, "Do you have any basis for what you said? Do you have any grievances to redress? How is it unfair?"
“…Yes.” Lin Zikui thought of the beheaded Xu Ge Lao, who was said to have been made into a human pig, Xu Zhuojun who was beheaded at the Meridian Gate, and Tang Mengyang who was missing, and the Xu party who was deposed and exiled…
These people all deserved it.
But if a few bad guys die, will the bureaucrats become better?
Lin Zikui lowered his eyebrows and stood straight. "I have grievances to redress. In the fourth year of Wentai's imperial examination, my classmate Huang Cong, a Suzhou native, was wrongly imprisoned for reciting poems in the street and was poisoned to death in Shuntian Prefecture. In the same year, dozens or even hundreds of students disappeared and their whereabouts have not been found to this day."
The little emperor slammed the table and said, "Who is so bold?"
"Nephew Xu Hui, Xu Zhuojun."
Yuwen Xuan's expression changed on the spot, and his eyes unconsciously glanced at his father.
The emperor's father looked gloomy.
Everyone in the world knew that the young emperor was Xu Hui's grandson. The Empress Dowager and the Regent believed that he was capable of taking on such a heavy responsibility, so they issued an edict to let him sit on the throne.
The real person in power in Ye Dynasty now is still Regent Xiao Fu!
And Lin Zikui actually said something during the palace examination that the young emperor dared not mention again and wanted to forget the most in his heart. Yuwen Xuan didn't know how regretful he was and asked Lin Zikui about the injustice.
In the Fengtian Hall, the atmosphere was stagnant and strange for a moment. It was only when the Regent coughed lightly that the dying silence was broken.
Lin Zikui's ears moved again.
The coughing sounded extremely familiar, so familiar that he couldn't help but want to look up.
Yuwen Xuan withdrew his gaze from his father and could only speak with difficulty: "You accused Xu Zhuojun of colluding with the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. Is there any lie in your words?"
"Students never say a word of falsehood."
The young emperor said, "If that is the case, Xu Zhuojun, Xu Dang, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture back then, might have been beheaded and removed from office. Now you are standing in the palace for the examination, what injustice do you have?"
"The students have no grievances, it is the souls in the underworld who are wronged. The students have spoken up for them, and would rather die with a voice than live in silence. How can the heavens be so unkind to me?"
A long silence prevailed.
"Regarding your impeachment, I will order the Dali Temple to investigate the truth. Which tribute student would like to answer my questions?"
A candidate spoke.
The atmosphere turned back.
Then, Eunuch Liang's voice spread throughout the hall: "The palace examination is over, candidates are dismissed——"
All the tribute students saluted again: "Long live the emperor! Long live the regent!"
Lin Zikui just felt dry mouth and tongue. The palace examination just now made his steps unsteady and he had used up all his strength!
Thinking of the cough that never revealed its true identity, Lin Zikui couldn't help but look up quietly.
Through the thin veil, under the pearl and jade crown, a clear and handsome profile came into view.
Lin Zikui was pushed out of the Fengtian Hall in the crowd. He couldn't believe it and forgot about etiquette. He turned back to confirm. Xiao Zhaoling looked at him, and his eyelids, as if outlined by ink lines, seemed to hook at him.
He stood in the supreme, cold and solemn hall, so high and mighty that he could not be offended. She is completely different from the "wife" in front of Lin Zikui who loves underwear, washes feet and sleeps with him, and loves to eat what he feeds!
But that face, that face...
How could there be two people in the world who look so alike! It is impossible, unless Xiao Zhaoling is...
——Regent Xiao Fu!
Xiao Fu...
Xiao Zhaoling...
His lips moved slightly, and two names were whispered between his lips.
Unrealistically ridiculous.
Lin Zikui was surrounded by more than 300 tribute students and staggered out of the Fengtian Hall. It was noon, and the bright sunlight fell before his eyes. The sun was shining high in his sight, making Lin Zikui's brain go blank. He felt dizzy and fell down.
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