Chapter 129: Palace Examination (II) Palace Examination (II)
The palace examination only lasted one day, but it lasted for a long time. Naturally, the emperor would not stay in the hall to watch the tribute students all the time.
In fact, the emperor just walked around the hall and didn't pay any attention to the tribute students outside. He just turned around and left. As soon as the emperor left, the prince and others also left one after another, leaving only the officials in charge of the palace examination.
A group of important figures left one after another, and the tribute students who participated in the palace examination breathed a sigh of relief. Their originally tense bodies relaxed a little, and some even dared to secretly wipe the cold sweat from their palms.
During the one-day palace examination, the court would even provide two cups of tea and one lunch. The tea was still hot, but the lunch was ice cold when it was delivered to them, but no one complained.
No one even dared to eat as much as they wanted. After all, people would have urgent needs after eating and drinking, and this was not the case in the palace.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Su Fengzhang naturally had no chance to use the spiritual spring water, so he simply did not drink it.
The palace examination was not over until dusk. The answer papers were collected by the officials who received, managed and sealed the papers, and the tribute students once again left through the south gate.
When Su Fengzhang walked out of the palace gate, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was not because he was so in awe of the imperial court, but because there was an atmosphere of restraint within the palace walls that made people dare not act recklessly.
"Erlang!" Su Arong waved his hands and shouted not far away, but he didn't dare to speak too loudly so as not to disturb others.
He reached out his hand to support Su Fengzhang, who smiled helplessly and said, "It's not necessary. Let's go back first."
Su Arong said, "If you feel uncomfortable, you must tell me. Just now, several young masters collapsed as soon as they came out."
Su Fengzhang nodded, but he didn't have the energy to say anything. He didn't feel anything just now, but now that he had relaxed, he felt a little drowsy, probably because he had overused his brain.
Back in the Scholars' Building, no one was in the mood for socializing and went back to their rooms to lie down and sleep. Although the palace examination was not long, after a trip to the palace, these scholars felt a little more yearning and desire for the court.
On the other side, all the papers were sealed. They would not be unsealed until the day of marking, and would be distributed to eight examiners, including Chi Liangjun.
At this time, each of the eight of them was at a table, and without any distinction between the main and the secondary, they took turns to read the papers and marked different options according to their own ideas. The circle represented the best, and the cross represented the unacceptable.
Inside the palace, there was no sound except for the sound of a few people flipping through the pages. The examiners did not discuss or negotiate with each other, and they did not even glance at each other to avoid suspicion.
The number of people taking the palace examination was not large, and it was incomparable to the metropolitan examination. One day later, eight examiners selected the ten papers with the most circles and presented them to the emperor.
As the ruler of a country, it is naturally impossible for the emperor to look at all the papers. It is even more impossible for His Majesty to do so. He has neither the heart nor the energy. Every three years, he only looks at the ten excellent papers.
Now he was sitting leisurely on the dragon throne, looking very interested. Before he even opened the paper, he asked with a smile: "Are there two Su among these ten people?"
Chi Liangjun quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the two young masters Su are extremely talented and are among the best, ranking among the ten."
The emperor smiled and nodded: "Yes, you are quite fair."
Chi Liangjun lowered his head, wondering what the Emperor meant by this. Was he implying that they had been unfairly biased towards Su Kui during the trial? He secretly glanced at the Emperor, but saw that his expression was calm, without any change of expression.
While he was daydreaming, the emperor had already started flipping through the ten papers, and no one else dared to say anything at this time.
After flipping through them, the emperor suddenly said, "Prince, Heng'er, please take a look at these ten papers and give your comments. I will hear your thoughts."
As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of everyone present changed slightly. When the emperor brought the crown prince and the fourth prince in just now, these people already had guesses in their hearts. Now that they saw that the emperor had the fourth prince and the crown prince review the papers together without any hesitation, they had a thousand thoughts in their minds, especially the people from the crown prince's lineage, whose expressions were solemn.
The Crown Prince's expression was particularly ugly, but he did not intend to disobey the Emperor. He just glanced at the Fourth Prince beside him, hoping that he would still remember the distinction between the monarch and his subjects and that he would refuse such a thing.
Unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince just smiled and said, "Father, this is what you said. If I don't say it well later, please don't scold me."
The warmth and intimacy in the tone was clearly evident. In contrast, the relationship between the prince and the emperor was extremely cold and hard.
The emperor was not angry when he heard this. Instead, he said cheerfully, "If you say something nonsense, I won't agree."
The Fourth Prince walked to the table, glanced at his eldest brother, and said with a smile, "Brother Crown Prince, please go first."
It’s a pity that in the eyes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, his every move was not at all friendly, but clearly a provocation.
In front of the emperor, the two men suppressed the undercurrent tacitly, and there seemed to be no gap between the brothers. Each of them read half of the paper, and then exchanged it after reading it.
Putting down the last paper in his hand, the Fourth Prince glanced at the Crown Prince and said with a smile, "Father, I am young and unlearned. Why don't you let my eldest brother speak first?"
"Who told you not to study hard?" the emperor scolded with a smile, then turned to look at the prince. "Since that's the case, let the prince speak first. Do you have any promising tribute students?"
The prince hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke incessantly according to his own wishes. In front of the emperor, he knew how to conceal his words. He praised Su Juan in every way and also mentioned Su Fengzhang briefly.
The emperor remained silent on this, but instead asked, "This Su Qun is the top scorer in the Shandong provincial examination, and was previously selected as the top scorer in the imperial examination by the crown prince. If he can win the top prize, it would be an auspicious event, one of the three highest rankings in the imperial examination."
The prince's eyes twitched slightly, and he smiled and said, "Your Majesty, what you said is absolutely right. Su Qun comes from a family of scholars, with a profound family background and outstanding knowledge. He is indeed a rare talent."
The emperor nodded and said, "Just looking at his papers, he seems to have no interest in government affairs, but is only interested in admiring the famous hermits."
Upon hearing this, the prince secretly thought that something was wrong. He was also a little confused about the emperor's thoughts. Aren't you the one who admires celebrities and enjoys seclusion? Why don't you seem to like them now?
At that moment, the prince could only bite the bullet and say, "Young people from scholarly families also have noble aspirations."
This statement also took the opportunity to flatter the emperor. After all, this was an emperor who built a thatched hut in the imperial garden to escape from the world.
"That's true. Su Qun's reputation is well-deserved, and his writing adds brilliance to the work." The emperor nodded.
He turned around and asked, "Heng'er, what do you think?"
The Fourth Prince smiled slightly. When he smiled, the dimples on his face made him look a little childish. He was only three years younger than the Crown Prince, but now he acted like a spoiled child. "Father, I'll do as I please."
The emperor was very fond of this and patted his forehead with a smile: "Go ahead and tell me. I won't blame you if you are wrong."
The Fourth Prince then said, "Any paper recommended by the eight gentlemen must be good. Otherwise, they wouldn't have ranked among the top in the palace examination. However, as for the top three, I prefer the other one of the two Sus."
"Oh, do you have a different opinion from the prince?" asked the emperor with a smile.
The Fourth Prince did not hesitate and said directly, "It is indeed different. Perhaps it is because I have been accompanying my father on official business these days and have seen too much. Instead, I feel that the sight of all the splendor is boring. If a scholar does not care about the country, then why should he serve as an official? It is better to retire."
This was said directly, and apart from the Fourth Prince, no one would dare to say this in front of the emperor.
The emperor's face turned cold, and he squinted at him: "Why, are you finding fault with my father's question?"
The Crown Prince standing beside him showed a hint of smugness, thinking that the Fourth Prince was courting death by going against the Emperor. He secretly hoped that the Fourth Prince would directly anger his father.
The Fourth Prince quickly apologized, "Father, how could I have thought this? I simply feel sorry for you. There are so many tribute students in the Great Zhou, and so many adults present, yet surprisingly few of them understand the deep meaning in your heart."
The emperor just looked at him coldly. After a while, when everyone thought that the emperor was really angry, he heard him laugh heartily. He patted the fourth prince on the shoulder and said, "Not bad, you are worthy of being my son."
After these words were spoken, the Crown Prince and other examiners all looked unhappy. Could it be that they really had wronged the emperor? Did the examination question he had created out of nowhere not encourage the emperor to retire but to enter the world?
The Fourth Prince glanced at the Crown Prince's expression, snorted inwardly, and continued, "Father, does Su Fengzhang's name sound familiar to you?"
The emperor nodded and said, "It does sound familiar. I seem to have heard it somewhere before. Could it be that Eunuch Li mentioned the two Su brothers?"
Eunuch Li had been standing nearby, acting as a wall lamp. Unexpectedly, the emperor called out his name, so he stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, you've forgotten that the popular 'Annual Flower Poem' a year ago was written by Su Fengzhang, Young Master Su."
The Crown Prince thought to himself that something was amiss and changed the subject, "Father, how about we decide the rankings first?"
The Fourth Prince spoke first, "That's right. A year ago, Su Fengzhang was able to create a masterpiece like 'Song of the Year Flower' that will be praised through the ages. A year later, he also performed unexpectedly well in the Imperial Examination and repeatedly shone brightly."
"When my uncle brought back 'Song of the Flower of the Year' and Yonglefang sang about the strange case in Hushan County, my father even considered summoning Su Fengzhang. Unexpectedly, a year later, Su Fengzhang would rise to the Diligent Administration Palace on his own."
"Year after year the flowers are the same, year after year the people are different. Life goes on from generation to generation, yet the moon over the river remains the same year after year." The emperor actually no longer remembered Su Fengzhang, but this wonderful poem was in his heart. "So it was him! No wonder he looked so familiar."
The prince quickly explained, "Father, this poem was not written by Su Fengzhang, but by the scholar who was murdered."
The Fourth Prince laughed and said, "Father, Su Fengzhang originally wrote a different poem: 'Living in a small town, I rely on a sharp knife, daubing my fingers with shameless talk of fat and cream. A butcher slaughters a full pig in broad daylight. There is no need to distinguish between the noble and the humble."
"Even Grand Tutor Zhang had praised this poem before, saying that although Su Fengzhang was young, he had a deep understanding of the people's livelihood and was a promising talent. Now, this has come true."
The butcher's poem was actually quite good, but compared to the other one, it obviously did not conform to the emperor's aesthetic taste. However, after hearing what the Fourth Prince said, he remembered that Grand Tutor Zhang and others had indeed praised Su Fengzhang.
He nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, yes, that's right."
The Crown Prince opened his mouth to speak when he heard the Emperor's cheerful final word: "Since he is a talent that even Grand Tutor Zhang is satisfied with, and with the precedent of the "Sui Hua Yin" case and the results of the imperial examinations, Su Fengzhang is worthy of being the number one scholar!"
"Su Que is slightly inferior, and can be regarded as the second place. Meng Ting is outstandingly talented, beautiful and free-spirited, and should be the third place."
The prince cried out in shock: "Father, this..."
The emperor looked up at the prince and asked, "Why, does your prince think there is something wrong?"
The prince's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he repeatedly explained: "That's not what I meant."
The emperor then asked the other examiners, "Do you have any objections?"
Several examiners looked at each other in confusion, some of them confused about the emperor's thoughts. He let the prince preside over the joint examination, and then set aside the champion he selected. He set the topic of seclusion in the palace examination, but did not like to praise the tribute students who had retired.
But under the emperor's gaze, they all bowed and replied, "I have no objection."
The Fourth Prince even smiled and said, "Father is wise. The duel between the two Sus was full of twists and turns. I am sure this event will be passed down through the ages and leave a good story for our Great Zhou."
The emperor smiled and said, "That's very good."
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