"I have a petition to report. If nothing else, please adjourn the court!" The eunuch's shrill voice echoed throughout the hall.
The ministers standing below were silent for a moment, then said in unison: "Farewell, Your Majesty!"
Several Grand Secretaries of the Wenyuan Pavilion were stopped outside the palace by the eunuchs in front of the emperor.
"My Lords, please stay. The Emperor has requested that you follow me."
Several people exchanged glances, and one of the most experienced ones asked with a smile: "Excuse me, sir, why did the emperor come to see us?"
"Of course it's a good thing. My Lord, don't panic. Just follow me."
As expected of someone serving the emperor, he was tight-lipped and refused to reveal any information. The others had no choice but to follow him obediently.
Everyone walked into the imperial study and bowed according to the rules.
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Your Majesty."
"My dear ministers, please stand up."
Several university scholars were standing below, and after waiting for a long time, there was no new instruction from the emperor, so they all raised their heads quietly and glanced upward, only to see the emperor holding the red ink in his hand and carefully annotating the memorials. It was not easy to ask questions for the moment, so they could only stand stiffly below, lower their eyes and stare at their toes, and wait.
After a while, Liang Jiugong came up to the emperor with a cup of hot tea and said softly, "Your Majesty, it's time to go to the study to check on the princes' homework. What do you think?"
Everyone knows that although the emperor is very busy, he personally oversees the education of the princes, not missing a single day, even when he is fighting a war.
Kangxi placed the red brush on the pen holder, took the cup of tea, skimmed off the foam, and glanced at the people standing below.
"Oh? You are still standing? Sit down, you ignorant servants, you don't even know how to serve tea."
Kangxi pretended to be angry, and Liang Jiugong immediately fell to the ground and pleaded guilty.
"It's all my fault. I'll ask them to serve tea to you all!"
"Why don't you go quickly?" After Kangxi scolded calmly, he took a sip of the tea in his hand, looking leisurely.
The grand secretaries below no longer dared to feel the slightest bit of resentment in their hearts.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"You are all learned men and pillars of the country, so I intend to let you be the chief examiners for this year's Spring Examination. Each of you should go back and draft a suitable topic to present to me, so as not to delay this year's Spring Examination."
"We obey your order! We will ensure that the Spring Examination will be held as scheduled!"
After briefly explaining the rules of the Spring Examination, Kangxi put down the teacup in his hand and stood up.
"I still have to go next door to inspect the studies of my brothers. Since you are responsible for selecting talents for me, you can go and see how my brothers are doing."
Everyone quickly put down their teacups and stood up.
"Hmm!"
The upper study was located in the south wing of the Qianqing Palace, five rooms east of the Qianqing Gate. Kangxi led several university secretaries there.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
At this moment, all the princes gathered in the middle room to study. After hearing the announcement, the sound of reading aloud inside suddenly stopped. All the princes stood up, turned around, saluted and greeted Kangxi.
"Greetings to the Emperor."
"Everyone, get up."
Kangxi smiled and waved his hand, then walked to the front seat. He pointed to the bookshelf by the wall and said, "You can pick any book from here and recite it to any of the princes. They can all recite it."
The grand secretaries looked at each other in disbelief, but since the emperor had said so, they had to give him face.
One of them stood up and bowed, saying, "Then I will dare to give it a try."
"Go ahead." Kangxi looked very confident.
Kangxi's arrival was sudden and no one was prepared. Everyone was inevitably nervous because they had to be questioned in front of the ministers. Yinzuo was no exception. Normally, the questions from the masters were okay, and since he was familiar with them, he could always get away with it by acting coquettishly and saying nice things. But he didn't know any of these adults, and most of them had a stern face and looked very fierce.
The university scholar picked up a book from the shelf at random. On the cover was written "Zizhi Tongjian". He breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. This book was naturally well-read by the princes, so it would not be easy to make mistakes and offend the emperor.
"Then I'll have to trouble His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to answer."
When he heard that it was not him who was called, Yinzuo breathed a sigh of relief. The Crown Prince was so knowledgeable, he thought he would not make a mistake.
At this time, the prince smiled, took the initiative to stand up, raised his right hand and said: "Please!"
The adult casually turned a page and read the beginning.
The prince continued to recite it slowly, without missing a word.
"Your Highness is indeed a very talented and intelligent person, and I admire him."
"Your Excellency is too kind." The prince responded modestly.
Then another adult picked the eldest prince, as those who are older are less likely to make mistakes.
The eldest prince had a loud voice, was confident and youthful, and passed the test smoothly.
Everyone thought that the questions would be asked in order, but unexpectedly, the third minister skipped the third prince.
"Please answer, Fourth Prince."
There was something malicious in this man's eyes. Yinzuo was a little worried about his brother and wished he could answer for him.
Yinzhen stood up expressionlessly, his tone as cold as usual.
"please."
The man was holding "Strategies of the Warring States" and his questions were rather biased, with only half a sentence given as a hint. Yinzuo had flipped through the book, but even with a person like him who had an extraordinary memory, it took him a while to think before he could answer.
Yinzhen thought quietly for a while. The person who asked the question showed a little pride on his face. Kangxi stared at Yinzhen with narrowed eyes. If Yinzuo had not been afraid of being punished by his father, he would have almost opened his mouth to give a hint.
He cleared his throat, and then calmly began to recite word by word. Yinzuo's heart finally returned to its original position and he was not so nervous anymore.
Later, the Third Prince and the Seventh Prince were questioned in turn, and the Crown Prince was even questioned a second time.
Civil officials are more or less proud. Some are willing to please, while others are rebellious. Look, the last one is a proud and arrogant person.
He saw that Yinzuo was absent-minded and distracted most of the time, so he specifically called on him to ask a question.
"I ask Sixth Prince to answer."
Yinzuo was still staring at the little man he had drawn on the paper.
"Sixth Prince, are you unwilling to answer my questions? It seems that my position is low and I am not worthy to ask questions to Sixth Prince!" The man lost face and his face turned red with anger.
"Xiaoliu!" Yinqi, who was sitting next to Yinzuo, rolled up a paper ball and threw it at him.
Yinzuo subconsciously turned his head to look at him.
Yinqi took advantage of the table to point forward.
Yinzuo looked up following his gaze and saw that everyone was looking at him. He was not stupid, so he immediately stood up and blinked his eyes.
"I thought this gentleman looked familiar and maybe I had seen him somewhere before, so I thought about it for a while, but I didn't expect that this gentleman would be angry. It's all my fault. I thought this gentleman was a broad-minded person who wouldn't mind these trivial matters. I'm really sorry."
As soon as these words were spoken, the other princes all laughed out loud, and even the other ministers standing above were looking at the person who asked the question as if they were laughing at a joke.
He is also a fool. Why would he bother these princes? They were all spoiled and pampered. Do you really think he is an ordinary child? None of them are easy to deal with. Among them, the Sixth Prince is of noble status. His biological mother is the Empress Defei who is favored by the emperor, and his adoptive mother is the Imperial Noble Consort, the first person in the harem. This person is really tactless.
"Okay, Xiaoliu has been to the Palace of Heavenly Purity before, and may have seen him. Don't worry about it. Continue asking questions."
Kangxi didn't like the person who asked the question very much. He wanted to show off his sons, not let these ministers accuse his sons from a high position.
"yes!"
The minister held his breath and deliberately picked up a thicker book from the bookshelf and opened it, and asked a question bluntly, so tricky that he only said two words: Confucius said.
As soon as this question was asked, several university scholars who were stroking their beards paused and looked at their colleague with a look of "Is this guy looking for death?"
The princes below also frowned, feeling indignant for Yinzuo.
Lao Wu stood up and spoke up for Xiao Liu: "Sir, aren't you deliberately trying to embarrass Xiao Liu? Confucius said so many things, who knows which one you are asking about?"
"I am asking about the Sixth Prince. Why is the Fifth Prince so excited? The Emperor has already said that any of the books here can be memorized by the princes. Could it be false?"
Yin Zuo curled his lips, bit his lower lip, and said timidly: "Don't be like this, I don't want my fifth brother and this adult to quarrel over me, it's all my fault, fifth brother, don't worry, it's okay, although this adult is deliberately making things difficult for me, but I can do it!"
The minister's face turned pale. Although he was indeed deliberately making things difficult for others, no one would point it out in public. This really made him lose face.
"Then please let Sixth Prince answer!"
Yinzuo rolled his eyes, smiled and opened his mouth.
He recited all the parts of the book that Confucius said, and Kangxi sat in his seat and listened, and even had a refill of tea during the time.
The ministers' feet were sore from standing so long, and many of them could not help wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads with their sleeves. They were physically tired and mentally frightened, and under the double stimulation, everyone felt uncomfortable.
The minister who asked the question turned pale and looked dazed, as if he was completely frightened by Yinzuo's performance.
At this moment, Yinzuo suddenly stopped.
"Father Emperor, can you give me a sip of your tea?" Yinzuo felt his mouth was dry and he was almost dying of thirst.
Kangxi quickly ordered: "Go quickly! Send a cup of tea to the Sixth Prince."
Yinzuo drank the whole cup of tea, and continued to recite with his throat asphalt, because Confucius had said so many wise sayings.
In the end, it was the minister who asked the question who couldn't hold on any longer. His legs went weak and he fell to the ground with a bang.
Yinzuo covered his mouth and exclaimed.
"Oh my! That stingy adult made himself faint from anger!"
The minister couldn't breathe and actually fainted.
The matter came to an end, and the name of the Sixth Prince as a "child prodigy" instantly spread throughout the court and the country.
After this incident, Kangxi developed a new hobby. After court, he would take his ministers to the study and examine his sons' homework in front of everyone, especially the sixth prince Yinzuo.
As for the ministers, they had also developed a foolproof strategy for dealing with the situation, which was to be the first to praise the princes, praising them one by one to the utmost, and preferably writing poems and some flattering words. In this way, the emperor would be happy, and they could also get some benefits.
The author has something to say:
This is yesterday’s update. I just wrote it and it only has 3,000 words. I’m running away with the lid on my head!
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