Summary
At the banquet for the newly crowned top scholar, the emperor got drunk and decided to pick a son-in-law from among the successful candidates. He ignored the top scholar and the third-place laureate, and instead chose me-the Proclaimer of the Roll, who was only passing as a man. “His Majesty truly has an eye for talent. If Brother Yu hadn’t caught a chill on the day of the palace examination, I fear His Majesty would have named him top scholar instead.” The top scholar praised me with a smile, while the second- and third-place scholars both offered their congratulations. All I could do was kneel and thank His Majesty for his boundless grace. And wonder, in utter confusion, how such a stroke of fortune had fallen upon a poor scholar of humble birth like me. Only on the wedding night, when I saw the princess’s swollen belly, did enlightenment finally strike. So the Emperor hadn’t been looking for a worthy son-in-law at all. He’d been looking for a cuckold.