Chapter 61

Chapter 61

The nine-day deadline had arrived, and the Spring Imperial Examination came to an end.

When Sheng Zhaoning stepped out of the examination venue, exhaustion clung to her from head to toe. She looked utterly drained.

Still, compared with the others staggering on unsteady legs, their faces waxen, she was among the few who could still walk out with her back straight.

Zhou Wei hurried forward to support her.

He did not ask many questions. He simply helped her into the carriage and rushed all the way back to the residence on the outskirts of the Capital.

After a quick wash, Sheng Zhaoning said nothing. She went straight to bed and fell asleep.

Zhou Wei knew these nine days had not been easy for her, so he did not disturb her. He went to the kitchen and prepared a few dishes meant to restore her strength, so they could be reheated for her once she woke.

She slept for an entire day.

When she woke again, it was already after dusk.

Zhou Wei brought the meal and a pot of hot soup into the room. Sheng Zhaoning sat at the table and ate two full bowls of rice in a row. At the end, she even had Zhou Wei add another half bowl before she finally set down her chopsticks.

Zhou Wei glanced over the empty plates on the table and asked, “Have you never eaten before?”

Sheng Zhaoning could not be bothered with him.

The truth was, over the past nine days, she had not had a single grain of rice or drop of water. She had survived entirely on ginseng slices and the medicine she carried with her.

The Metropolitan Examination did not limit how often examinees could leave to relieve themselves, but anyone who did would have a black mark stamped on their paper. With that mark there, no matter how brilliant the prose or how penetrating the insight, the examiners would automatically ignore the paper and would not spare it a glance.

And so Sheng Zhaoning had endured hunger and cold, forcing herself through those nine days by sheer will.

Zhou Wei naturally did not know the hardship involved. This time, he did not make any more sarcastic remarks. He merely filled another bowl of soup for her in silence.

The results of the Metropolitan Examination would take roughly half a month before the rankings were posted.

Sheng Zhaoning finally had time to take a proper look at the Imperial City and the Capital.

Meanwhile, the people at the Examination Hall were clearly having a difficult time of it.

After the examinees handed in their papers, the answer sheets would first be given to the receiving officials. Then the sealing officials would paste over the names, while transcription officials supervised the copying of the original black-ink papers into vermilion-ink copies and assigned them serial numbers. After the comparison officials checked them against the originals, the black-ink papers would be handed to the paper-keeping officials for sealing and storage, while the vermilion copies would be sent to the chief examiner and assistant examiners for review.

The chief examiner and the Ministry of Rites official in charge of the examination would review the papers first selected by the assistant examiners, determine the rankings, and draft a preliminary list.

Once the preliminary list was complete, it would be checked again for errors before the final list of names was posted.

Those whose names appeared on the list would become Tribute Scholars. The first-ranked among them was known as the Huiyuan. Only after becoming a Tribute Scholar could one take part in the Palace Examination held in the imperial palace.

And in the Spring Imperial Examination, the one who drew the most attention was naturally the choice for Huiyuan.

That was also the person hardest for the chief examiner to select.

“Academician Meng, these are the recommended papers selected by several assistant examiners.”

Meng Mingyuan reached out to accept them and leafed through them one by one. From among them, he selected ten. Yet after pondering for a long while, he still could not decide on the name of the Huiyuan.

This Spring Imperial Examination had no shortage of talent. These ten papers alone had already been chosen through layer after layer of comparison as superior works, and every one of them had its own merits.

Only one paper stood out. Its views were exceptionally sharp. Unlike the ornate essays that whitewashed the illusion of peace and prosperity, it almost cut straight to the heart of the many abuses that currently existed, without the slightest regard for anyone’s dignity. Its language was so incisive that it startled the reader.

Even after serving in the Cabinet for many years, Meng Mingyuan still felt this paper was a hot potato. He could only vaguely classify it as a superior paper, while finding himself unable to determine its ranking.

He picked up the ten superior papers and walked behind a bamboo screen. Placing the papers on the desk, he lowered his head and said, “Your Highness, these are the ten superior papers this old minister has selected. Please review them.”

It was noon at the time, and many people had gone out to eat, leaving few inside the room.

Behind the desk, the person’s brush paused slightly. His fingers gleamed with the smooth luster of jade. He set down the brush and said in a slow voice, “Grand Secretary, there is no need for such formality.”

The papers were placed on the desk.

He picked them up and read them one by one with extraordinary care, as though afraid that even a single talented person might be buried and overlooked.

A crowd gradually gathered behind him, but he seemed completely undisturbed. He did not order anyone away, either. He simply continued reviewing the papers with meticulous focus, ensuring the final result would be absolutely fair.

At last, he turned to the final exam paper.

“This… this is far too…”

Someone behind him cried out in shock, only to forcibly swallow the rest of his words.

Meng Mingyuan looked up and glanced at the speaker. It was not only him. Everyone around them wore the same stunned expression, as though they could not believe such words had appeared on an examination paper.

Meng Mingyuan’s gaze returned to the person seated before the desk. In that man’s hands was the paper Meng Mingyuan had not dared to grade. If the candidate who had written it passed the imperial examination, then every abuse described in the paper, along with those who had created those abuses, would face a great calamity.

If he failed this paper, his conscience would never be at ease.

If he passed it, he had no idea how many people in court he would offend.

And so, this scalding-hot burden, this impossible problem, was not something Meng Mingyuan could decide. He could only hand it to someone of absolutely exalted status, someone no one would dare criticize.

That person was the Heir Apparent of Great Wei, the current Crown Prince.

Wei Heng.

He read that paper for a very long time.

At first, whispers rose around them. Later, everyone fell silent, all waiting to see what judgment the Crown Prince would ultimately make.

For a time, the room became so quiet that even a falling needle could be heard.

Wei Heng’s fingertips pinched the edge of the exam paper, and a faint, surging shock stirred in his heart.

From outside the window came the warm, gentle breeze of late spring. A sliver of afternoon sunlight fell half across his shoulder, while the other half slipped past him and shone upon the paper, gilding the vermilion characters in gold.

For a long while, his heart could not settle.

“I will personally present this paper to His Majesty for imperial review,” Wei Heng said.

Meng Mingyuan’s heart steadied, and he let out a breath of relief.

That was good. Presenting it before the throne and letting His Majesty decide personally was a perfect solution. No one would be offended.

“Crown Prince, you have considered this far ahead. If this paper is submitted for His Majesty’s sacred judgment, the candidate will certainly receive fairness.”

Wei Heng lifted his eyes. “No.”

Under Meng Mingyuan’s trembling gaze, Wei Heng’s clear, springlike voice sounded once more.

“This paper deserves, without question, to be ranked first.”

“Presenting it for His Majesty’s imperial review is for the purpose of purging corruption and punishing incompetent officials.”

His words were so soft and measured, yet when they fell upon everyone’s ears, they weighed as heavily as a thousand jun.

Meng Mingyuan’s tall, upright figure trembled for an instant. His lips parted slightly, and the phrase “purging corruption and punishing incompetent officials” rang again and again in his mind. For a long time, he could not come back to himself.

In truth, it was not as though no one knew of the abuses written in that paper.

It was simply that no one dared point them out. Still less did anyone dare become the villain who stirred up a storm, offended the masses, and drew condemnation from every side.

In the judiciary, there were abuses, wrongful imprisonments, and darkness.

In the military, there was corruption, disorder, and obstruction.

And the sage governance upon which Great Wei prided itself belonged only to an age of prosperity. Now, with wars breaking out everywhere and conflict never ceasing, how could they continue to whitewash the peace like this?

These things were not unknown to Meng Mingyuan.

Nor were they unknown to the court and the realm at large.

The Crown Prince had tried several times to purge all manner of unhealthy practices, but each attempt had met with repeated obstruction, making progress nearly impossible.

Among the officials of court, far too many sought only to preserve themselves. No one dared stand with the Crown Prince at the center of the storm, bearing blame and abuse. One misstep, and they might fall into an endless abyss, never to rise again.

From the imperial court down to every province, where were there not deep-rooted abuses now?

It meant standing alone against the entire court.

From beginning to end, the Crown Prince had fought by himself.

And now, at last, someone was willing to stand behind him.

Wei Heng picked up the vermilion seal and, with solemn gravity, pressed it onto the paper.

The vermilion mark glowed beneath the golden light.

Standing in that brilliant beam, he gently brushed his fingers over the seal, his eyes lowered.

“I wish to know his name.”