Chapter 494
Chapter 494
Ning Yuanxian frowned and asked.
“Is there no one else?”
The king’s frown was not because he disliked the man named Zhang Ziyu. In fact, the king was quite fond of him. He had placed first in the imperial examination and, at thirty-nine, was already a third-rank high official. But he was also a pillar of the Crown Prince’s faction. Of course, that in itself was not a problem. The position of Central Governor of Tianxi Province had to be filled by a pillar of the Crown Prince’s faction to counterbalance Zhong Yao in the north.
‘However, you, the Minister of Rites, are not an official of the Zhu Faction, yet you recommend one of their officials. What am I to think of that? Am I not to worry that you, the head of the Ministry of Rites and the third-ranking member of the Grand Secretariat, have sided with the Zhu Faction?’
As much as Ning Yuanxian trusted the Zhu Faction and relied on Zhu Hongzhu, he did not want their influence to dominate the court. The Minister of Rites said.
“Your Majesty, I have no selfish intentions.”
He spoke with righteous conviction. Indeed, he had no selfish motives at all.
‘The position of Central Governor of Tianxi Province must be held by a pillar of the Crown Prince’s faction anyway. If Zhang Chong is unwilling, then Zhang Ziyu is naturally the most suitable. As the head of the Ministry of Rites, why should I act against my better judgment? Besides, why would I recommend someone else only to make Zhang Ziyu stand out even more?’
The four ministers of the State of Yue's Grand Secretariat were all men of strong character. This Minister of Rites, being a nobleman from a prestigious family, was unwaveringly loyal and principled, but he disliked disingenuous actions. Ning Yuanxian nodded and said.
“I understand. You may leave.”
The Minister of Rites bowed his head to him once more and said.
“If there is nothing else, this servant will take his leave.”
He then turned and left the study. Watching the back of the head of the Ministry of Rites, Ning Yuanxian felt a little better. While the court had many mediocre individuals, the four ministers of the Grand Secretariat and the four commanders of the Bureau of Military Affairs were all men of outstanding ability, pillars supporting the nation. Take Su Nan, for example—how formidable was he as the Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs? It wasn't just this generation's Grand Secretariat and Bureau of Military Affairs that were brimming with talent; the next generation would also produce exceptional individuals for these two institutions. Zhu Rong, Zhang Chong, and Zhang Ziyu were all men worthy of becoming ministers of the Grand Secretariat in the next generation.
‘What about Shen Lang? Would he… enter the Grand Secretariat in the next, next generation? No, not him!’
A chill ran down King Ning Yuanxian’s spine. If that human trash, that walking disaster, were to enter the Grand Secretariat, the nation would cease to be a nation. At that, the king recalled the recent special examination, and his anger flared anew.
“Li Yin, go to the examination hall and ask how the grading is progressing. Tell them if they find a blank exam paper, they are to immediately tear off the slip covering the name and see who it is. And if the name on that blank paper is Lanling, immediately send men to ensure he is killed.”
This king was truly an impatient man. He couldn't wait even two or three days; when something was on his mind, he needed an answer immediately.
“Yes!”
Little Eunuch Li immediately dashed off towards the examination hall.
***
Inside the examination hall.
After lunch and another two-hour rest, the examiners resumed the tedious task of grading. Of course, the initial burst of clarity had long since passed. But after grading Zhu Hongbing's paper, reading the other candidates' essays felt like chewing on wax—utterly tasteless. It even felt as if the writing was too poor to look at. In truth, the other candidates’ essays were not of a low standard and were quite well-written, but they all said more or less the same thing. The topic was given for them to write according to their own thoughts, so how could all their perspectives be so identical?
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
The examiners continuously dropped papers to the floor. Previously, they might have selected one passing paper out of ten, but now they were lucky to find one in twenty. It felt like searching for a pearl amidst a sea of stones. Just then, a knock came from outside. The chief examiner asked.
“What is it?”
A guard outside answered.
“Little Eunuch Li has arrived.”
Everyone in the capital called Li Yin “Little Eunuch Li.” Far from being offended, Li Yin was quite fond of the title. The palace had the Three Lis: Old Eunuch Li Mu, Big Eunuch Li Jun, and Little Eunuch Li Yin. All three were the king's most trusted confidants. Countless eunuchs fought tooth and nail for the position of the lesser Little Eunuch Li under him. Upon hearing of his arrival, the chief examiner immediately asked.
“What brings Little Eunuch Li here?”
Li Yin asked him.
“Examiners, have any of you come across a blank exam paper while grading?”
The examiners chuckled to themselves. His Majesty was just as they had expected. That Madman Lan was a dead man, and he was going to die a most miserable death. The chief examiner replied.
“We have not yet found a blank paper. If we do, we will inform Little Eunuch Li at once.”
“Then I shall leave you to your hard work, gentlemen.”
After speaking, Li Yin waited there to save himself the trouble of coming and going. The examiners inside continued their grading. Once again, an utterly somber atmosphere descended, and the moments of consuming tasteless food continued. The sound of papers hitting the floor—thump, thump, thump—persisted, but now they all had a new goal. Before, their goal was to find Zhu Hongbing’s paper; now, it was to find Madman Lan’s blank exam paper. The appearance of that blank paper meant someone would die, and Shen Lang and Ning Zheng would suffer misfortune.
‘When someone suffers misfortune, we, on the contrary, feel pleased. And if the one to suffer is that human trash Shen Lang, so much the better, wouldn’t you agree?’
This made things even more unfortunate for the ordinary candidates. Any paper that didn't show the slightest hint of distinction was read once and immediately dropped to the floor.
***
Time flew by, and as deep night fell, the third watch was approaching. The six examiners had been grading for several hours straight and were now truly exhausted and desperate for sleep. Reading these policy essays that all said the same thing, and the poems and prose unnaturally embellished with flowery language, had gone from being tasteless to being utterly nauseating.
Tonight, the six of them had already graded over a thousand papers, ninety percent of which had ended up on the floor. In the silent consensus, Zhu Hongbing still felt like a crane among chickens, the most outstanding by far. It now seemed that Grand Chancellor Zhu Hongzhu had been overly concerned. He had prevented his grandson from taking the examination twice, but even without such measures, his grandson could have genuinely and honorably taken first place. The quality of the other candidates' writing was too far removed from Zhu Hongbing's; his first-place finish was already a foregone conclusion.
The chief examiner said, “Let’s persevere a little longer, everyone. When the gong for the third watch sounds, we will officially end today’s grading and all get some sleep. We’ll grade the rest tomorrow morning!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
The examiners were all delighted.
‘Today’s ordeal is finally coming to an end. We’ll just muddle through the remaining time, and once the third watch gong sounds, we can get a good night’s sleep. Otherwise, I really might throw up.’
The first assistant examiner, who was from the Hanlin Academy, was already about to fall asleep. His eyelids kept drooping, and he could no longer hold them up. He was almost mechanically tearing open the paper envelopes and taking out the exam papers inside. If he had a keen sense of smell, he might have noticed a faint scent of urine wafting from the paper he had just taken out. This was, without a doubt, Madman Lan’s exam paper. Only that single paper had such a peculiar odor. The examiner reviewed the classics questions at the front, instinctively intending to skim through them. He had memorized all the answers to the problems. But suddenly, he was so startled that his body trembled.
‘Impossible! Am I possessed by a ghost? He got all ninety classics questions right! What kind of madness is this? What kind of monster is he?’
There were ninety classics questions, ten of which were extremely obscure, intentionally designed to be missed by the candidates.
‘A genius like Zhu Hongbing answered eighty-eight of them correctly, missing two, and that was enough to break a decades-old record. Who on earth could answer all ninety correctly?’
At that moment, the first assistant examiner was wide awake. Because he then discovered that the candidate had also answered all thirty of the arithmetic questions correctly.
‘Mad, this is mad! I must be seeing a ghost!’
The assistant examiner drank some strong tea and, focusing all his attention, began to grade the policy essay written on the paper. Because no matter how outstanding one’s performance in classics and arithmetic was, one only needed to answer sixty or more questions correctly to pass that section. The policy essay and the poetry and prose were far more important.
At first, he quickly read through the policy essay once, and soon, a chill ran down his spine.
‘This… where did this genius come from? An essay on *The Feudal System* written this well? No, no, ‘well-written’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. It’s so good it makes you want to slap your knees in admiration. A piece that could make the deaf hear? No. I already used that evaluation for Zhu Hongbing. I must take back all my previous praise and pour it all into this essay. This is an essay that comes once in a century. A masterpiece.’
As the examiner looked at the essay before him, even Zhu Hongbing’s exceptionally brilliant essay seemed to show its flaws, the difference in the quality of writing now apparent. He wanted to read the essay carefully again and again, perhaps eight, even ten times, but he couldn't resist the urge to see the poetry and prose written by the candidate. He hoped that the person who had written such a brilliant essay would not fall short in their poetry and prose. It didn't even need to be exceptional; if it was just eighty percent as good as this essay, this candidate would snatch first place from Zhu Hongbing.
Then, the examiner saw the first line of the *Poem on the Autumn Goose*, and a chill ran down his spine, his hair stood on end, and his heart trembled.
What an elegant and beautiful verse! This was not something an ordinary person could write. He then read the rest of the lines, and by the time he finished the poem, he was trembling, his body almost numb. He then read the *Prose on the Peng Bird*. The soaring spirit, the profound meaning that cut to the bone, and the beauty of the prose. It was truly an immortal masterpiece, the kind that appears once in a thousand years. This was simply not poetry and prose that a mere mortal could write.
‘This… this person is an immortal descended to the mortal realm. It’s madness, sheer madness! Where did this genius come from? No, where did this monster come from? Ah, Zhu Hongbing will not be taking first place in this examination. The paper in my hands is the first place, the undisputed first place! It will be first place without any debate. Anyone who calls this paper second place is either blind or has ulterior motives!’
He took several deep breaths, desperately trying to calm himself, for he felt dizzy as if he were drunk.
“Ahem, ahem! Everyone, Zhu Hongbing will not be taking first place. The paper in my hand is the one that deserves first place. In any examination hall, in any era, this person would be number one! If anyone dares to rank this person second, I will storm the royal palace myself!”