Chapter 455: The Examination Question

The Emperor's mood wasn't good, and since he arrived late, he spoke briefly before announcing the examination topic for this palace test.

Six massive characters hung down from three positions—front, center, and back—on both sides of the hall, ensuring any candidate in any corner could see the question by looking up.

If anyone still couldn't see, they could raise their hand and ask the proctors patrolling the hall; they would relay the question.

Alas, after years of study, some candidates have poor eyesight; even though these six characters were already enormous, allowances must be made for those who simply cannot see.

Xue Shao had good eyesight; he scanned once and memorized the question, but he was surprised.

Though he had no intention of competing for the top rank, his exam instincts remained—he had pondered the palace test topic beforehand.

He had expected questions on maritime bans, economic policy, or northern frontier security, but he never imagined they would use this line from the Great Learning as the topic.

Xue Shao lowered his eyes, poured a little water into the inkstone, and began grinding ink, his thoughts spreading as he ground.

This question was oddly lax; though phrased as a sentence, it only gave half the prompt—without knowing the examiner's intent, answering would easily go astray.

Yang Pu was straightforward; he wouldn't set such a trick question, and as chief examiner, only the young Emperor seated on the dragon throne could override him to assign this topic.

Xue Shao recalled the two imperial edicts the Emperor issued last year: one strictly forbidding eunuchs from secretly allying with the outer court; the other strictly forbidding collusion between inner and outer officials.

When the first was issued, he thought the young Emperor was finally moving against Wang Zhen's abuse of power—but he didn't; Wang Zhen still dominated the court.

Only when the second was issued did he realize the young Emperor's target remained the civil ministers and the Grand Secretariat.

He wasn't wrong: over these past years, the court's morals had deteriorated, politics had grown murky, outer officials bribed capital officials, and capital officials flattered eunuchs, so the people's grievances never reached the Emperor's ears, and corruption grew worse, making life harder for the common folk.

It was the civil and military officials who started it; the Emperor wanted to correct this, to seize power, so he used Wang Zhen.

But his method was wrong: inner and outer factions fought, you seized land, I exposed you, yet the confiscated lands weren't returned to their rightful owners—they simply passed from outer officials to inner officials.

It looked like an anti-corruption campaign, but it was merely shifting power from one warlord's hands to another's; the people's stolen wealth and land never returned to them, and worse, because of the two sides' conflict, they lost even more.

Things have roots and branches; affairs have beginnings and endings; the Emperor wanted them to understand that all things develop with roots, branches, beginnings, and endings—this is the fundamental principle of political ethics and morality.

Knowing what comes first and what comes after brings one near the Dao; clarifying the boundaries between inner and outer courts, defining the duties of inner and outer officials, understanding and mastering these patterns would bring political clarity.

Political clarity…

Xue Shao couldn't help a quiet smile; fate had its way—he'd planned to answer casually, then draft his petition on scratch paper, but the Emperor had just handed him the blade directly.

The blade was in his hand; if he didn't draw it, wouldn't he waste Pan Yun's rare good fortune?

Xue Shao was extraordinarily intelligent; in an instant, he grasped every key point.

The palace test was a matter of national importance—how could they give only half a question?

Something must have happened, forcing the Emperor to change the topic; the examiners' original questions were probably unused.

Such a probability was exceedingly rare.

Xue Shao could only think of last night's nearly blinding burst of merit-gold light.

It was truly strange—why was Pan Yun's fortune so deeply entangled with merit, and why did her fortune so profoundly affect those around her and the events near her?

Xue Shao finished grinding the ink, set down the inkstick, lifted his brush, and dipped it lightly—the situation was not good.

As soon as he lifted the brush, all the chaotic thoughts in his mind vanished; he paused only a moment before beginning to write, and never stopped again.

The Emperor had also noticed Xue Shao; he couldn't help it—the man sat directly below him, so whether he looked up or down, he saw him.

He hadn't expected the young man he'd once met to be so formidable—he'd become the metropolitan champion.

The Emperor propped his chin and watched for a while, then couldn't resist rising and walking down, starting from the leftmost candidate and moving steadily onward.

Whenever the Emperor passed, candidates' hearts tightened, their brushes trembled; some couldn't write the next line for half a minute, others even wrote the wrong character. Zhu Qizhen found it amusing, so he wandered freely among the examinees.

Some candidates had poor mental resilience, but others handled it well—and many seized the opportunity to impress the Emperor during his stops.

The Emperor was very pleased; his expression grew increasingly favorable, and he began paying closer attention to those he favored. Walking, walking, he circled back from the rear to the front, stopping beside Xue Shao.

Most candidates were still drafting, but Xue Shao wasn't—he wrote directly, his regular script neat, pleasing to the eye, yet uniquely spirited.

The Emperor was slightly surprised, tilting his head to read his essay.

His handwriting was truly beautiful; as the Emperor read the text, he idly admired the script—but within moments, his attention was fully captured by the essay itself.

The more he read, the closer he leaned; when Xue Shao's arm blocked the first sheet, the Emperor gently moved his arm aside and unfolded the entire answer sheet to see the rest.

Xue Shao, disturbed, frowned slightly; he looked up and saw it was the Emperor, his brush tip pausing—but since he'd started quickly, he didn't smudge the paper.

Xue Shao lowered his left hand, letting the Emperor unfold more of the scroll, then paused only briefly before continuing to write at the end.

Only two final paragraphs remained.

Xue Shao wrote steadily, but the Emperor read faster—his expression shifted from initial delight to admiration, then to calm neutrality, then to blankness, and finally to a faint greenish pallor.

!. Read

He didn't finish reading; he set the scroll down and turned away.

Beside him, Yang Pu tried several times to speak, but feared disturbing other candidates and held his tongue.

Seeing the Emperor emerge, he immediately approached, sounding displeased: "Your Majesty, this disturbs the candidates—that's Xue Shao, the metropolitan champion of this year's exam…"

The Emperor whirled to face him. "What, Minister, do you wish to name him the top scorer?"

Yang Pu paused, then said: "That must depend on the answer—if it's excellent, achieving the triple crown would indeed be an auspicious sign."

The Emperor snorted. "I read it. The answer isn't particularly good—but it might please your tastes."

Yang Pu sensed the Emperor's displeasure and hurriedly said: "The palace test selects talent under Your Majesty's authority; I…"

"Then let's examine his scroll together later."

No sooner had he spoken than Xue Shao set down his brush—he had finished.

At that moment, the other candidates had just finished drafting and began copying their answers onto the official scrolls.

Xue Shao read through his answer once, confirmed it was flawless, blew on the ink to dry it, and felt he shouldn't linger longer—lest he delay the palace test grading.

After all, he might fail; there was no point in holding up other candidates.

So he rose and submitted his scroll.

The Emperor had just sat back on the dragon throne when the scroll was placed before him.

Goodnight

(End of chapter)