Chapter 485
Chapter 485
“All the designated positions are filled, and there are no other vacancies. If you refuse the post of Central Commander of Tianxi Province, there is no other office of equal weight to offer you.”
“This subject understands!”
The King gestured for him to leave.
“Then you may return home for now. I imagine a great many people have flocked to your door, turning it into a marketplace.”
In truth, the King’s comment about his home becoming a marketplace was a subtle jab. Zhang Chong bowed his head in farewell.
“This subject takes his leave.”
Zhang Chong sighed inwardly at how fate between people could not be forced. Though he had achieved great merit and the King intended to grant him a significant position, His Majesty showed no intention of growing closer to him. However, Zhang Chong did not mind. He, too, preferred to maintain a certain distance, believing that closeness to a sovereign could blur the lines between public and private duty. He could never learn Shen Lang’s way of acting as if he and the King were on the same side.
After leaving the palace, his servant asked him.
“Master, shall we return home?”
Zhang Chong pictured the bustling scene at his doorstep, then recalled the time he had been afflicted with intestinal ulcers. Everyone had assumed he would die, and not a single person had come to see him off. He found the contrast utterly ridiculous.
“Not home. We will go to His Highness Ning Zheng’s estate.”
The servant was taken aback.
“Master, doing so will put you in the Crown Prince’s bad graces.”
“I have already made my decision. I no longer need to worry about whom I might displease.”
“Young Master Shen Lang has not yet returned.”
“Then we will go and wait. I hear his home has many fine books.”
And so, Zhang Chong’s carriage made its way to Ning Zheng’s Marquis of Changping Estate. Even from a distance, Zhang Chong could see a sea of people outside the residence, with at least a thousand surrounding it.
“What is happening?”
“It’s because Young Master Shen Lang hired eleven beggars as officials and intends to have them sit for the Enke examination. The scholars and martial artists are displeased. Every day, censors impeach Young Master Shen Lang, and every day, the scholars surround His Highness Ning Zheng’s estate, demanding that Young Master Shen Lang admit his guilt and send those eleven beggars to the Court of Judicial Review’s prison.”
“Go to the rear gate!”
But the rear gate was also surrounded by a large crowd.
“Lord Zhang, it is Lord Zhang Chong.”
The sight of Zhang Chong instantly excited the crowd.
“Lord Zhang Chong is a pillar of the court. Have you come to reprimand Shen Lang? Lord Zhang, you are a follower of the Confucian teachings, are you not? You must uphold justice for the sages. Shen Lang must not be allowed to get away with this.”
Zhang Chong cast a sidelong glance at the speaker. Did people forget so easily? Had they all forgotten how many Shen Lang had killed in Tianxi Province?
With a stoic expression, Zhang Chong approached the rear gate and knocked. A female warrior opened it and was greatly surprised to see him.
“Lord Zhang.”
“I have come to see His Highness Ning Zheng and Young Master Shen Lang.”
“His Highness and the Young Master are not home.”
“Then, would it be alright if I wait for them inside?”
The female warrior nodded.
“Of course, it’s more than alright!”
They welcomed Zhang Chong into the estate. On the battlefield of the White Night Army, they had fought shoulder-to-shoulder with him and held him in the highest regard. They also knew he was the Young Master’s closest friend. As Zhang Chong entered, some of the scholars surrounding the estate tried to rush in through the opening, but dozens of female warriors instantly poured out from within, roaring.
“Anyone who dares to step through this gate, I’ll smash their eggs!”
She took a hard walnut in her hand and twisted it with force, shattering it completely.
“You’d better be sure whether this walnut is harder, or your eggs are.”
In that moment, a shiver ran down the scholars’ spines, though it wasn’t cold.
* * *
The moment Shen Lang entered the capital, he was met with a tempestuous wave of attention. Throngs of people gathered like a swarm of bees, surrounding them to watch. Shen Lang, leading several dozen cavalrymen, swaggered down the center of Xuanwu Avenue, acting as if he had no care for propriety, unlike Zhang Chong. Of course, with Ning Zheng by his side, he had every right to ride down the middle of the grand avenue. The crowd of onlookers on both sides of the street grew larger and larger.
‘Shen Lang, that rampaging clown, dares to return to the capital? The Enke is the day after tomorrow. Instead of fleeing to Xuanwu City, he dares to come back?’
Shen Lang had not been seen in the capital for the past month, leading many to spread rumors that he had fled to Xuanwu City in disgrace.
“Young Master Shen Lang, where are those ten beggars? Did you hear about the bet we made?” someone shouted from the crowd.
Normally, Shen Lang wouldn't have bothered to respond, but he raised a hand, and the entire procession halted. Shen Lang stepped out of his carriage and said.
“You mean the bet about eating dung?”
“That’s the one!”
“I hear that many local ruffians in the capital have made a wager concerning me. If Madman Lan and the beggars pass the examination, they will eat ten catties of dung. If they fail, everyone gets to spit on me once, is that right?”
“That’s right!”
“Good. I accept the bet. Bring it here.”
Wu Lie brought forth an exceedingly long scroll. On it was clearly written that if Madman Lan, Lan Yi, Lan Er, and the other eleven passed the Enke, those who lost the bet would each eat ten catties of dung. If they won, they would each spit on Shen Lang once.
“A person without integrity cannot stand in this world. Anyone who wishes to bet with me, come forward, sign your name, and leave your handprint.”
Hearing this, the crowd began to murmur loudly.
‘Shen Lang, aren’t you going too far? Behaving in such an outlandish manner, what makes you different from a scoundrel or a ruffian? Do you have any semblance of decency?’
Even Ning Zheng felt a pang of regret. He was an upright and conservative man who couldn't stand the sight of pandering to the masses with exaggerated words and actions. Shen Lang’s behavior was precisely that—pandering without a bottom line. Yet, Shen Lang seemed to have a natural talent for it. No matter how absurd his actions, people seemed to accept them. They might not know exactly what he was saying, but it somehow seemed impressive. This was what one might call ‘incomprehensible yet awe-inspiring,’ a term Ning Zheng had learned from Shen Lang himself. When Shen Lang presented the scroll, the capital’s ruffians actually backed away.
“Getting cold feet? Can’t do it?”
“Who says we can’t?”
A particularly brazen scoundrel among them stepped forward and signed his name. A second, a third, and a fourth followed, and eventually, a swarm of people rushed forward until a full thousand had signed.
“Anyone else want to sign? Yes or no?”
There were no more takers. Only the scoundrels and ruffians had come forward to sign; what ordinary, decent person would participate in such a thing? They merely watched from a distance, unwilling to get needlessly involved. Shen Lang took the large scroll bearing a thousand names and returned to Ning Zheng’s Marquis of Changping Estate.
Upon arriving at the main gate of the estate—heavens! It was a sea of people. It seemed as though every scholar and martial artist in the capital had come.
“Shen Lang is back! Shen Lang is back! Shen Lang, you must go to the Sage Temple at once and atone for your sins, then send those eleven beggars to the prison of the Court of Judicial Review! Shen Lang, we disciples of Confucianism cannot coexist with you!”
Two thousand of them surged forward, shouting that Shen Lang should be beaten to death.
“Shen Lang, come out and give us an explanation!”
“You dare to insult the sages, to have beggars sit for the Enke alongside us! You are a sinner against the world!”
At this, Shen Lang stepped out of his carriage and shouted.
“What use is it for all of you to surround this place? Why don’t you go to the Ministry of Rites and the Bureau of Military Affairs and protest by refusing to take the exam? Go to them now and present your terms. Tell them that if they do not revoke the eligibility of Madman Lan and the other eleven to sit for the Enke, you will officially boycott the examination.”
His words stunned the crowd for a moment, but then they thought about it and found it quite reasonable. To protect the dignity of the sages and the sanctity of the imperial examinations, couldn't they boycott the exam themselves, even if many tried to dissuade them? There were thousands of them, while Shen Lang only had eleven beggars. If they threatened a boycott, the Ministry of Rites and the Bureau of Military Affairs would surely compromise.
“Let’s go, to the Ministry of Rites! To the Bureau of Military Affairs! If they don’t revoke the examination eligibility of Shen Lang’s eleven beggars, we will boycott the exam!”
And so, one or two thousand people, waving their arms and shouting, marched toward the Ministry of Rites and the Bureau of Military Affairs. Shen Lang’s party entered the Marquis of Changping Estate without any further trouble.
* * *
“Lord Zhang, what brings you here?”
Shen Lang was overjoyed at the unexpected sight of Zhang Chong.
“My home has become a marketplace, so I could not return.”
“You’ve come at the perfect time. Please, take a look at this essay.”
Shen Lang selected a policy essay written by Madman Lan and handed it to him. The moment Zhang Chong read the first passage, he was utterly astonished.
“Excellent, an excellent piece. It is so magnificent it could startle a deaf man’s ears open.”
Then, Zhang Chong continued reading the rest. A quarter of an hour later, he finished the essay and read it again, a second and then a third time.
“What do you think?”
“This was not written by you, Young Master Shen?”
“How did you know?”
“Young Master Shen’s writing is unrestrained, free-spirited, and bold, yet it carries profound meaning. This essay, however, begins with unparalleled beauty but feels somewhat lacking toward the end. Still, as a whole, it is flawless, with no mistakes. The prose and phrasing are exquisite, and the classical allusions are cited with precision. But… it still lacks a certain depth.”
As a grandmaster of classical learning, Zhang Chong had naturally spotted the shortcomings in Madman Lan’s essay at a single glance.
“With an essay of this caliber, can he pass this Enke?”
“He will pass with flying colors. An essay so free of errors, with such beautiful phrasing and a clear articulation of its theme, has no risk of failing.”
If Zhang Chong said he would pass, he would definitely pass.
“Then will he place in the top three?”
Zhang Chong thought for a moment before replying.
“There is perhaps a sixty percent chance of placing in the top three, but he will absolutely not take first. I have seen Zhu Hongbing’s writing, and his skill is superior.”
Zhu Hongbing was Zhu Rong’s fifth son, a seventeen-year-old hailed as the foremost young genius in the capital. Indeed, had his grandfather and father not held him back, the prodigiously talented youth would have passed the examinations years ago. His talent was immense, whether in writing policy essays or composing poetry. The Zhu Clan was truly overflowing with talent; it was impossible to count how many Jinshi and Juren had come from their family. In the last century alone, the Zhu Clan had produced three Zhuangyuan scholars. One was a Zhuangyuan of the Great Qian Kingdom, another of the State of Yue, and one had even achieved the title in the Great Yan Empire. This family’s influence stretched across several nations, truly deserving of the title of a great and powerful clan of the Great Yan Dynasty.
“He will certainly pass, but whether he places in the top three will depend on luck. Is this the work of that Madman Lan?”
Shen Lang nodded.
“Incredible. To produce such writing in just one month, he is truly a peerless genius. But where is His Highness Ning Zheng?”
“He did not come out to meet you, for fear of putting you in a difficult position.”
Ning Zheng believed that Zhang Chong had come to see Shen Lang, not him. He had announced his participation in the struggle for the throne, while Zhang Chong was a key official in the Crown Prince’s faction. If Ning Zheng were to proactively meet with Zhang Chong, wouldn't the Crown Prince become suspicious and make things difficult for him?
Zhang Chong said, “His Highness the Fifth Prince is a true gentleman. I have just come from telling His Majesty that I refuse the post of Central Commander of Tianxi Province.”
“I have put you in a difficult position, Lord Zhang. I fear you will face a tempest ahead.”