Chapter 983: The Renxu Year Top Scholar

At the rooster's crow, the night ended and dawn broke, the morning light about to emerge but not yet visible. Over the Golden Bright Pond, a thin layer of mist still lingered, the atmosphere rather cold. Within the detached palace, after a night of burning, only a few ashes remained of the palace candles. The imperial couch was hidden within layers of palace curtains, and upon it lay a beautiful body stretched out.

Being emperor truly was a thing that tested one's character. Beyond supreme power, there were temptations of every shape and form, far too many of them. Female beauty was only one small aspect, yet it was the most representative—every beauty in the realm could be taken at will, enjoyed and toyed with. Judging others by himself, there were times Liu Chengyou could understand why there had been so many lustful, benighted emperors.

Pure Consort Zhou, Zhou E'huang, woke from her dreams, opening her hazy eyes. The space beside her was already empty, while her delicate body felt sore and limp—she had truly been worked over quite thoroughly the night before.

Thinking of that cloud-and-rain encounter, a flush crept over her cheeks. The elder Lady Zhou's red lips couldn't help but curl into a slight arc. Yet soon that little womanly happiness faded completely away. She let out a faint sigh, and a touch of gloom appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Starting from the fifth year of Qianyou, she had been in the Han palace for nearly ten years now. She had transformed from a lovesick young maiden into a mature wife and mother. Over these years, the elder Lady Zhou had always upheld the teachings her father gave her when she first entered the palace—not contending, not snatching, staying low-key and obedient, immersing herself in poetry, prose, music, song, and dance, as if she had no quarrel with the world.

As the most talented woman among the consorts, this trait held a certain appeal for Liu Chengyou. Although Liu Chengyou was not skilled at discussing poetry, books, music, or melody, a cow chewing on peonies still had its own kind of amusement.

And in these ten years, Lady Zhou had borne Liu Chengyou a son and a daughter—the Seventh Prince Liu Hui and the Fifth Princess Liu Xuan. Because she had given birth, Pure Consort Zhou's position in the palace remained fairly secure. The reason Liu Chengyou's offspring mostly came from higher-ranking consorts was simple: being favored, the Emperor visited them more often, so the chance of pregnancy was naturally greater.

Compared to those Ladies of Beauty and palace women who were graced by the Emperor's presence and forgotten the next moment, Pure Consort Zhou could be considered fortunate. Beyond her beauty and talent, the Emperor had taken her in for a certain political significance as well—after all, she was a beauty born in Jianghuai.

Yet the palace gates were deep as the sea, and loneliness was hard to avoid. Because she had read many books, because she possessed literary talent, Pure Consort Zhou still harbored some faint fantasies about love in her heart...

But the Emperor clearly could not satisfy her. She was merely one of many beauties in the Han palace, though her status was not low. Like recently—she had been greatly favored, the Emperor visiting her many times, even bringing her along when he entertained great generals at the Qionglin Garden.

Yet perhaps before long, the Emperor would move on to someone else, and she would be forgotten again, not knowing how long she would have to endure before once more receiving Liu Chengyou's dew of favor. She had seen such situations many times, and experienced them too.

Still, that trace of resentment in her heart was quickly concealed. She was already a woman of mature thoughts. Seizing this rare favor, she still had to work hard to please the Emperor.

Rising in the early morning was the most disheveled time; for a woman, without tidying up, it was even more embarrassing. Attended by palace maids, she spent a fair amount of time before finishing her washing and dressing—no heavy makeup, just simple and clean. When Pure Consort Zhou lifted the curtain and came out, she had already regained her usual air of liveliness. That plain, light silk garment not only accentuated her impressive figure but also added a touch of otherworldly grace.

The sky was just barely brightening. Though indoors, one could still sense the dim morning light outside. Under the glow of a palace lantern, Liu Chengyou sat cross-legged by the writing desk, reviewing official business.

In recent years, among the common people, the way of life had been quietly changing—reflected in the use of tables, chairs, and stools, the summarization and popularization of the abacus, the modification of ships, the development of cotton goods, the improvement of looms, the upgrading of printing...

Even within the palace, there had been some updates in furniture, like the "Grand Preceptor's Chair," the "Eight Immortals Table," and so on. Of course, these could not have been done without the Emperor's "whimsical ideas"—he merely mentioned them, and someone would craft them, and they gradually spread.

Of course, perhaps because he was used to sitting kneeling, more often than not Liu Chengyou still preferred a long low table, like at this moment. Or perhaps because if he got tired he could just lie down and rest directly, without even needing to move—that was also somewhat convenient.

"Your Majesty, the morning meal has been prepared. Will you partake?" Pure Consort Zhou took the initiative to sit beside Liu Chengyou, her delicate body gently pressing against him as she asked in a soft voice, naturally taking over Sun the Yan army's duties.

Liu Chengyou seemed to be in a good mood, a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. He glanced at the obedient beauty, that pitifully charming appearance of hers—had today's schedule not already been arranged, he would surely have stolen half a day to spend between the sheets.

"I do feel hungry in my stomach. Have it brought up!" Liu Chengyou instructed.

In recent years, Liu Chengyou's meals had been very simple, but only simple in each meal—the variety and dishes were quite rich. Take the congee he drank in the morning, for instance—he could go half a year without repeating the same kind. The Great Han's material foundation was growing ever richer, especially among the common people. The wisdom of the laboring masses was inexhaustible—clothing, food, shelter, transport, and every other aspect had entered a period of rapid development. Once the realm was unified and north-south trade complemented each other, perhaps it would enter an explosive period...

"Has Your Majesty encountered some happy event?" Noticing the smile at the corner of Liu Chengyou's mouth, the elder Lady Zhou couldn't help asking curiously.

"Today is the first day of the metropolitan examination. The realm's talents have gathered in the Eastern Capital for my selection—is that not worth rejoicing?" Liu Chengyou asked in return.

To this, the elder Lady Zhou naturally nodded in agreement: "Naturally it is a happy event. The heroes of the realm should all enter Your Majesty's net!"

Liu Chengyou smiled, appraising his Pure Consort, and said: "In my view, my Pure Consort, if you went to take the examination, you could pass with honors too!"

"Your Majesty jokes! How could your concubine have such ability?" Lady Zhou hurriedly said.

Liu Chengyou was of course joking. In poetry, prose, classics, calligraphy, painting, music, and such, Lady Zhou might be skilled, but truly going to take the examination would not be so easy. Of course, the Classics Exegesis examination might hold a bit of hope, but that was basically contested by a group of accomplished literati—the difficulty was no small matter either.

The Great Han's current imperial examination system was perhaps the most unfriendly to pure scholars in all of history. If one's knowledge was shallow and one's belly lacked substance, passing the examination was truly not easy.

Thus, in the past two years, whether in the court or among the common folk, there had been much criticism of the court's personnel policy—saying the court did not value virtue, so that among officials and clerks, many petty people abounded, who did not observe propriety and virtue, caring only for profit. This was truly not an age of great governance.

Such voices, though not yet amounting to an attack on the court's (actually the Emperor's) personnel system, still saw discontent brewing and accumulating. Yet opposition was useless. The new examination system had been in practice for so many years without any problems arising, and it was still being continuously improved, trying to coordinate and cover all situations.

As for suppressing academic development—that was not entirely true either. Among the Great Han's official schools, there was no shortage of literary masters. The Three Institutes and the Directorate of Education also gathered many learned scholars. The Great Han's culture was gradually moving toward prosperity. Under such circumstances, some voices were naturally ignored by Liu Chengyou.

In Liu Chengyou's view, scholarship and officialdom were truly two different things and could not be conflated. Of course, there had indeed appeared some people in officialdom who chased only fame and profit while disregarding virtue, but they were ultimately a minority. Moreover, such people were never lacking in any era—as long as laws and decrees were complete and enforcement was strict, able to serve as a constraint, then there would be no major problems.

Coming back to himself, Liu Chengyou said to Lady Zhou: "But what I find amusing is this imperial uncle of mine—instead of properly reviewing prisons and examining case files, he's always thinking of being a construction supervisor. Don't you think he's neglecting his proper duties?"

Hearing Liu Chengyou say this, the elder Lady Zhou couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Has Uncle Murong been suggesting Your Majesty build a new palace again?"

"No!" Liu Chengyou waved his hand and said meaningfully: "This time, he wants me to rebuild Luoyang!"

In fact, Murong Yanchao truly did not want to be Minister of Justice. He wanted to be Minister of Works. It seemed that after supervising the construction of Kaifeng city once back then, he had developed a fondness for construction.

During his idle period, he had gathered quite a few architectural talents, doing research with them, and had actually produced quite a number of results, implemented within Kaifeng city. To be fair, Uncle Murong might leave a considerable name in the history of architecture—though he himself might not be deeply versed in it, he had enough strength and resources to develop it...

This time, Liu Chengyou did not know whether Murong Yanchao was guessing his thoughts by proposing to rebuild Luoyang, but unsurprisingly, the only answer was refusal. The court truly had neither the energy nor the financial resources for such things.

On the fifteenth day of the second month in the fifteenth year of Qianyou, the Renxu examination—the Great Han dynasty held its second regular examination since founding. The assembled candidates from all directions numbered 2,500, and the Son of Heaven personally came to the examination hall to inspect.

The top scholar of this examination was named Zhang Quhua.