Chapter 1: Father, It's Cold. Put On Another Robe.

“Father, it’s cold. Put on another robe!”[1]

“You’ve put Us in a terrible position… No, wait! You unfilial brat! What do you think you’re doing?”

……

Smack!

What did it feel like to get slapped into next week?

Zhang Heng’s cheek burned so fiercely that his mind went blank. The blow had knocked him flat onto his backside.

Before he could work out what had happened, he looked up into the glare of a middle-aged man with eyes as sharp as a hawk’s.

A yellow robe hung from the man’s shoulders.

Who am I? Where am I?

Unfamiliar images and memories came flooding into his head.

His mind reeled.

In his previous life, he had been a librarian with a doctorate in Chinese language and literature.

In this life, his name was Zhang Heng.

He had arrived in a dynasty called Great Jing, as the eldest legitimate son of the Prince of Yan.

And the man who had just slapped the living daylights out of him was his father: Zhang Yuanzhe, Prince of Yan, the emperor’s fourth son.

Zhang Heng was still feeling the cold floor through his backside when Zhang Yuanzhe’s furious voice rang out.

“Your imperial grandfather is a wise and mighty sovereign! He has toiled tirelessly for the prosperity of Great Jing!

“The borders have only just been secured. The people are finally at peace.

“And you, you unfilial brat, want your father to rebel?

“Are you trying to get me killed? Or are you trying to get me killed?”

Rebel?

The memories supplied the whole sorry story.

For all Zhang Yuanzhe’s glorious military achievements, he was only the fourth son. The eldest legitimate son, Zhang Yuanji, was the crown prince.

From what Zhang Heng remembered of Zhang Yuanji’s treatment of his father, the day that man took the throne would be the end of everyone in the Prince of Yan’s household. They would not even have graves to call their own.

If Father died unless he became emperor, his body’s former owner had reasoned, why not rebel? A yellow robe had conveniently appeared in his carriage. He might as well put another layer on Father.

“Your Highness.”

A voice spoke beside them.

Zhang Heng looked up.

A middle-aged man with a long beard held a fan between father and son.

“Please restrain your anger, Your Highness. The heir has a good heart. He was thinking of the entire household. His actions were rash, but there was no malice in them.”

This was Xiahou Liang, an adviser to the Prince of Yan. He had followed Zhang Yuanzhe through years of campaigns in the north and south, rendering long and distinguished service.

Zhang Yuanzhe hesitated at his words. At last, with a cold snort, he shook the yellow robe off his shoulders.

He snatched up a basin and pulled out a fire taper, ready to burn it.

Xiahou Liang caught his hand.

“Not here, my prince. There are people outside. They will think the house is on fire and come rushing in. Hide it for now.”

Just then, a sharp crack came from outside.

A shadow seemed to flash past the door.

“Who’s there?” Zhang Yuanzhe barked.

“My prince, someone has come from the palace,” answered a familiar guard.

Zhang Yuanzhe let out a small breath of relief. Good. No one else had seen it.

Then he turned to Zhang Heng. “Who gave you this robe?”

Zhang Heng shook his head. “I don’t know who put it in my carriage.”

“You have some nerve,” his father said coldly. “Did it never occur to you that someone might be setting you up?”

Zhang Heng had no answer. His body’s former owner had really outdone himself.

“Xiahou, have someone investigate who slipped that yellow robe into the heir’s carriage. I should like to see who dares frame my household so brazenly.”

Knowing how grave the matter was, Xiahou Liang answered solemnly, “Yes, my prince.”

At that moment, a shrill voice carried in from the doorway.

“Prince of Yan! Your Highness! His Majesty sends a verbal decree.”

Zhang Heng looked over. It was Eunuch Liu, who attended Emperor Qian, with only two junior eunuchs behind him.

The Prince of Yan hastily kicked the yellow robe down by his feet. All three men stood in front of it, blocking it from view.

“What brings you here, Eunuch Liu?” the prince asked, a little tense.

Eunuch Liu glanced at Zhang Heng before turning to his father.

“His Majesty’s words: ‘The heir of Yan has volunteered to sit tomorrow’s examination. His courage is commendable, and We are greatly pleased. Should he disgrace the imperial family in this metropolitan examination, however, the Prince of Yan shall forfeit one year’s stipend, and the heir shall be confined to his residence for three years!’”

Zhang Yuanzhe stood rooted to the spot. His son had secretly entered tomorrow’s civil service examination?

“Eunuch Liu,” he could not help asking, “might my imperial father have been misinformed?”

Eunuch Liu looked at Zhang Heng.

“Perhaps Your Highness should first speak with the heir. In any event, His Majesty was quite pleased to hear the news. He hopes the heir of Yan will not disappoint him.”

“Your grandson understands,” Zhang Heng said with a helpless bow.

Another mess his predecessor had left him.

He had entered the metropolitan examination because a daughter of a prominent family, whom his predecessor fancied, had declared that she would marry only a man whose name appeared on the list of successful candidates.

So the idiot had decided to cheat his way to a jinshi degree.

And he had actually found someone willing to help. An official from the Ministry of Rites had secretly sold him the examination questions and answers, and even pulled strings with the chief examiner. All he had to do was copy the answers onto his paper, and his name was guaranteed a place on the list.

Zhang Heng could only give a bitter smile at his predecessor’s astonishing thought process. The answers to the metropolitan examination were that easy to buy? Did they come with a money-back guarantee?

Putting the imperial robe on his father. Cheating in the civil service examinations.

Every damn thing the man had done came with a free beheading.

Once Zhang Heng had acknowledged the decree, Eunuch Liu left with the two junior eunuchs. As he went, he cast a meaningful glance at the yellow robe on the floor.

Cold sweat soaked Zhang Yuanzhe’s back.

He rounded on Zhang Heng again.

“You unfilial brat! When did you enter the metropolitan examination behind my back? With that paltry learning of yours, have you no fear of making the imperial family a laughingstock?”

Everyone knew Zhang Heng was an idle ignoramus. If he sat the examination tomorrow, people would laugh themselves sick.

“Your Highness, His Majesty expressly permits members of the imperial family to sit the examinations under their own names,” Xiahou Liang said in his defense. “The heir wished to please His Majesty.

“However, I have learned that the heir previously met with Zhou Bin, a bureau secretary in the Ministry of Rites. This man gave him a set of examination questions and answers.”

Emperor Qian had grown up poor, with little schooling, and had always held scholars in great esteem.

At the founding of his dynasty, he had decreed that members of the imperial family could enter the examinations under their own names whenever they were held.

His descendants, however, knew their limits. They had no intention of competing with those examination machines who had fought their way up through the counties and commanderies. Zhang Heng was thus the first of Emperor Qian’s bloodline to enter.

“And you mean to cheat? Utter stupidity!” Zhang Yuanzhe thundered. “Do you not know that His Majesty values his dignity above all else? If you are caught cheating in the examinations, he will have your head!”

Xiahou Liang, too, could only stare at Zhang Heng. What had possessed him to take such a risk?

Now His Majesty knew about it, and had even sent a verbal decree to make his interest in the boy’s examination quite clear.

“Well, we’re here now,” Zhang Heng said awkwardly. “I’ll just have to pass on my own.”

On reflection, there was something very wrong with the Ministry of Rites official who had offered his predecessor that little shortcut.

It did not take Zhang Heng long to work it out. When the dynasty was founded, the Prince of Yan had been an unmatched warrior with a string of brilliant victories. Almost half of Jing’s territory had been won by his hand. Although he no longer held military command, his name still carried enormous weight in the army.

If Zhang Heng were caught cheating, it would deal another blow to his father’s reputation and destroy any remaining chance he had of taking the throne.

A chill ran through Zhang Heng as the pieces fell into place.

A struggle for supreme power was a complicated business. Lose, and your entire family died with you.

Still, getting out of this trap should not be difficult. Since his arrival in this world, everything he had ever read seemed engraved in his mind. He could pass the examination on his own merits.

“Pass on your own? I don’t believe that for a moment,” Zhang Yuanzhe said, with no faith whatsoever in his son’s learning. “But I do have a plan to resolve this predicament.”

“A plan, my prince?” Xiahou Liang sounded puzzled. Zhang Yuanzhe had always been brave, but strategy was hardly his strength. Scheming was Xiahou Liang’s job.

Zhang Heng perked up at once.

“Father, are we doing a Xuanwu Gate? You and your brother fight it out, winner gets to be crown prince?”[2]