Chapter 60
The late spring wind carried the fragrance of locust flowers over the vermilion lacquer gate of Shuntian Prefecture's Imperial Examination Hall.
The long street paved with bluestone was crowded with people. The scholars carrying bookcases had sweat on their foreheads, and the hems of their blue cloth gowns were rustling in the wind created by the passing sedan chairs.
The patrolling soldiers held the swords at their waists, their boots rolling over the scattered waste paper, and the iron rings and armor plates gleamed coldly in the sun.
Young Master Zheng was still a little confused when he was sitting in the examination room.
The melodious and solemn bell rang slowly, and the imperial examination officially began.
Young Master Zheng sat upright in the examination room, his eyes falling on the question on the test paper: "Whose country is Xia Anguo?"
Young Master Zheng couldn't help but be slightly startled. He frowned slightly and was about to start answering the questions when he inadvertently saw the person in the front row taking out cheat sheets from his boots.
Young Master Zheng was about to raise his hand to report to the examiner. Just as the syllable "Sir..." came out, he found that the examiner's gaze passed by him, pretending not to see it and looking away.
Young Master Zheng muttered and complained. Although he had little chance of getting into high school, his opponent's success made him even more upset.
Suddenly, a voice said, "Your Highness has arrived——"
All the candidates looked up, including Young Master Zheng, and found that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not the same as they had imagined.
He has an upright posture, an imposing bearing, a handsome face, and sword-like eyebrows slanting into his temples. He wears a bright yellow robe with intricate embroidery and gold thread outlining the posture of a auspicious dragon soaring in the clouds. With every light step he takes, the corners of his robe flutter in the wind, showing his royal majesty.
He signaled to Eunuch Ma with his eyes, and everyone's eyes began to shift from Li Yin to Eunuch Ma behind him.
Li Yin began, "This is a new policy essay question. There is no designated answer. Your answer will depend entirely on your own ideas. I hope you can come up with a variety of ideas for the future of the country."
Afterwards, Eunuch Ma distributed the policy essay papers. Some of the examinees looked anxious, while others were calm. A new round of pens rustled...
——
In the Purple Palace, Li Yin and the prime minister sat opposite each other. For a moment, the atmosphere in the palace became solemn, as if even the air had frozen.
The Prime Minister frowned slightly and was the first to break the silence, his voice carrying a hint of deliberately suppressed inquiry: "The examination went very smoothly!"
Having said this, he paused slightly, his brows furrowed even more, and finally asked the question that had been lingering on his mind for a long time: "I heard that Your Highness suddenly changed the exam questions on the day of the exam and even conducted the examination himself!"
Li Yin had already prepared for this question. He said calmly, "Even if I manage everything perfectly, 7 of the 33 successful candidates are disciples of the Ji family. It's astonishing that such a large number of people could be cultivated through legitimate means!"
The Prime Minister nodded slightly and said, "Your Highness is so appreciative of my family! I am deeply grateful!"
Then, Li Yin spoke in a resounding voice, clasped his hands, and said, "I assure you that I will always uphold my principles and will not tolerate any unhealthy practices or unorthodox practices."
“…”
At noon, the sun had already climbed over the Chiwen of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but the emperor did not dare to open the windows in the study completely.
The window frames covered with mica paper filtered the sunlight into a pale gold, which fell obliquely on the edge of the green jade table, making the corners of the piled memorials on the table appear old beige, as if faded by the stagnant air.
The agarwood incense burning in the gilded crane-shaped incense burner flickered, and the smoke swirled up in the beam of light, but it could never dispel the stagnation that weighed on people's hearts.
His Majesty stood with his hands behind his back before the screen, the hem of his bright yellow formal attire hanging down on the golden brick floor, where the wind that leaked in through the window created tiny ripples before falling heavily.
He tapped the raised mountain patterns on the screen with his fingertips, causing pain from the friction.
The copper bells on the eaves rang softly in the wind, and every sound seemed to attract people to look outside the hall.
His Majesty glanced at the clepsydra from the corner of his eye. The bronze arrow moved very slowly on the scale, so slowly that he could almost count every grain of incense ash that burned in the incense burner.
"Lord Shang has arrived—" The eunuch's shrill voice had just broken the silence in the hall when His Majesty suddenly turned around.
Amid the creaking sound of the rosewood door hinges turning, he saw Lord Shang, wearing a slightly dusty court robe. The moment he bowed and stepped into the hall, his dragon boots had already taken two steps on the gold bricks. The crisp sound of his heels hitting the ground startled the smoke in the incense.
"How is it?" His Majesty's voice was more urgent than expected, with a slight hoarseness that he himself did not realize. "Have all the ministers returned?"
Lord Shang bowed and responded, "Yes, Your Highness."
His Majesty took a deep breath, and the frown that had been on his face for half a day finally relaxed and he felt relieved.
"Lord Shang, do you know why I became such an incompetent king?" When he spoke, there was still a hint of hoarseness in his voice.
Lord Shang did not respond. Based on his previous experience with the emperor, he thought this was a sign that the emperor had something to say.
Sure enough, His Majesty then said: "Because there is no one, no one available."
Lord Shang quickly said, "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. The Emperor's grace is immense, so please do not worry too much!"
The emperor sat dejectedly on the dragon throne, his wide bright yellow dragon robe making his figure look even thinner.
His face was sallow, his eyes bloodshot, and his once majestic brows were now filled with indelible fatigue and depression. A few strands of glaring white hair had grown on his temples, standing out in the dim light.
Below, Mr. Shang, who had been serving for many years, just waited with his head lowered and his breathing even lighter.
Just now he was whispering to His Majesty to take care of his health and not to worry too much about the affairs of the court, but he did not expect to be met with such a gloomy remark from His Majesty.
"No," the emperor said, his voice low and hoarse, filled with an indescribable fatigue and despair, "In this palace, there is no one who truly belongs to me."
He paused slightly, his eyes sweeping across the empty hall, as if he could penetrate the palace walls and see the civil and military officials chatting and laughing in the court.
"Whether they are civil officials or military officials," he continued, each word coming out through gritted teeth, chilling to the bone, "even those self-proclaimed upright censors and remonstrators, they... are all the prime minister's men!"
After he finished speaking, the emperor slowly closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently, as if he had a lot of pent-up anger that was difficult to relieve.
Mr. Shang knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold gold brick, his hands trembling slightly.
He knew that any consolation would be unnecessary at this moment, as the pain in His Majesty's heart was probably only understood by himself.
This magnificent palace has become the most gorgeous cage for His Majesty, and he, the emperor, is like the loneliest beast trapped in the cage.
After a long time, the emperor slowly opened his eyes and looked outside the hall with empty eyes. But in the end, his gaze fell back on the cold dragon table in front of him, with a bitter smile that was almost self-deprecating.
The emperor continued, his tone calm and almost indifferent, but a complex and indistinguishable light flashed across his bottomless eyes: "I don't want the prince to become like me."
"I need someone." He suddenly raised his tone, his eyes as sharp as a knife.
"Lord Shang, give the order. I want to grant the Crown Prince a marriage!"
——
Li Yin here doesn’t know anything yet. He has an important thing to do now.
Princess Yongning pulled Luo Sanrong forward. Luo Sanrong didn't know where the princess was taking her. She thought the princess had found some fun place and wanted to share it with her, so she asked curiously, "Princess, where are you taking me?"
Princess Yongning couldn't speak. She turned around and gave Luo Sanrong a kind look, indicating that Luo Sanrong should follow her.
When they reached a remote place, Luo Sanrong wanted to hold the princess back and stop her from going any further.
But he saw a large group of people headed by Li Yin standing not far away.
Luo Sanrong wanted to pull the princess away, but found that the princess let go of her hand, pushed her forward, gave her a smile, and ran away.
Luo Sanrong stood there at a loss.
At this time, Li Yin suddenly made a gesture to her. She was very familiar with this gesture. Wasn't this the 'sign language' she taught the princess?
Luo Sanrong stared at these gestures, which translated into: "I - like - you, I - admire - you!"
Li Yin didn't know if these gestures could shake Luo Sanrong's determination to leave, but Yongning said to him: "If you don't do it because you are afraid of the consequences, you will regret it in the end!"
So in order to avoid regretting it, Li Yin decided to confess his feelings to her in public.
"Don't leave. Stay with me!"
After saying this, Li Yin took a deep breath, with a boastful look on his face, as if to say, "Look, I will confess my love to you in public."
Luo Sanrong was already in tears, and in order to prevent others from seeing her loss of composure, she hurriedly fled back to the eunuch hall.
Li Yin wanted to catch up, but was stopped by the eunuch Ma beside him. The eunuch Ma asked curiously, "Your Highness, what are you doing?"
In just a short while, Luo Sanrong had already run far away.
Li Yin waved it away and said angrily and helplessly, "It means you should stay away from me."
Eunuch Ma: “….”
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