One month later, on the sixth day of the twelfth month.
The Great Cold had arrived, and the wind howled outside.
The First Prince’s residence. The study.
Four braziers of auspicious charcoal burned fiercely, driving the chill from the room.
Xiao Jingxing held a fine-steel short sword no more than a foot and a half long, gripping it backward.
He picked up a piece of soft deerskin and slowly wiped the blade from the bottom upward, following its keen edge.
The chief steward of the residence stood respectfully three paces before the desk, head bowed, reading from a memorial.
“Your Highness, this is an urgent dispatch from the Tongzhou Courier Station.
“Of the candidates from every circuit who are coming to the capital for the banquet, all thirty-nine who placed in the top three among their respective prefectures have reached the capital region, save for several from Jiangning Prefecture, who were delayed half a day by frozen waterways.
“They will all enter the outer city by noon tomorrow.”
Xiao Jingxing’s fingers did not pause. He merely gave a low response. “Has everything been arranged at Brightmoon Tower?”
“Yes, Your Highness. All three floors have been cleared. The banquet has been set according to the highest specifications—the Deer-Crying Banquet. The Five City Commanderies have placed hidden agents in the twelve surrounding lanes. Not even a bird could get through unnoticed.” At this point, the chief steward’s voice suddenly faltered. He drew another blue-covered memorial from his sleeve and raised it above his head with both hands.
“There is one more matter. This is a report on today’s public sentiment, gathered by our informants from the twelve wards of the outer city.”
Xiao Jingxing did not take it. He merely glanced at it from the corner of his eye. “Read it.”
The chief steward opened the memorial, clear anxiety entering his voice. “That Truth-Seeking Society has become utterly uncontrollable! Ever since Xu Zijin made those outrageous declarations in the main street last month, not only the lowest-ranking students of the Imperial College, but also numerous failed scholars and assorted figures from the southern districts have been gathering in inns and teahouses every day, speaking at length on high-minded theories.
“They have even joined together to draft the Memorial on Practical Affairs. Just this morning, several hundred of them blocked the Ministry of Rites. The tide of this New Learning shows every sign of becoming impossible to suppress.”
The chief steward raised his head, his face hardening. “Your Highness, these people are being far too brazen. If this continues, the capital region will surely descend into disorder. We have troops at our disposal. May this subordinate venture to suggest that we dispatch a detachment of the city defense forces? We need not arrest anyone. We need only seal off the teahouses and inns they frequent, then drive the few impoverished scholars leading the disturbance out of the capital. The unrest will naturally die down!”
The sound of scraping stopped abruptly.
Xiao Jingxing stared at the cold, sinister gleam of the blade in his hand.
“Seal off the Truth-Seeking Society? Drive them out of the capital?” Xiao Jingxing suddenly let out a very soft laugh.
The laugh made the chief steward’s scalp prickle. He hurriedly lowered his head.
“Is your head filled with paste?” Xiao Jingxing flicked his wrist, and the short sword slid into its sheath on the desk.
“The celebrated scholars of Jiangnan, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and several hundred memorials impeaching Xu Zijin for abandoning orthodox doctrine are all gathering dust in the Inner Cabinet’s Archive of Literary Splendor! His Majesty has not even affixed a vermilion mark to a single one of them!”
Xiao Jingxing was domineering, yet perfectly lucid.
“Retained without comment or action! Do you understand what that means? This is the opening His Majesty has given to forces beyond imperial authority! It is a trial!”
He strode around the desk and stopped before the chief steward.
“His Majesty is testing me and the Third Prince. He is watching to see who will dare reach out and touch the great fire of New Learning kindled by Xu Zijin—and who can seize that spark and put it to use! And now you suggest that I send soldiers to suppress it?”
Xiao Jingxing drove a finger into the chief steward’s shoulder with tremendous force. “If you drive those students from humble families away, you will be handing the hearts of the people to someone else! What is it that I want? I want military power. I want the wealth of the empire. I want the sons of humble families throughout the realm to charge into battle for me!”
Cold sweat poured down the chief steward’s back. He retreated half a step and fell directly to his knees. “This subordinate was foolish! This subordinate deserves death!”
Xiao Jingxing turned and strode back to the desk before sitting down. “Put away that crude habit of solving everything with fists and blades. Go. Immediately select several dozen men with clean backgrounds and quick wits.”
The chief steward scrambled to his feet. “What are Your Highness’s orders?”
Xiao Jingxing tapped his fingers against the tabletop, speaking each word distinctly.
“Send them to the gates of the Imperial Academy. Send them to the teahouses in the twelve wards of the southern city. Send them wherever the Truth-Seeking Society gathers.
“Spread the word for me!
“Repeat my exact words. Say that I personally declared before His Majesty:
‘If I were placed in charge of reviewing and grading this year’s metropolitan examination, Xu Zijin’s essay, On the Void Being Qi, would surely rank first!’”
Upon hearing this, the chief steward’s expression changed dramatically. “Your Highness! If those words spread… the great Jiangnan families and the upright scholars and grandees at court will all be thoroughly offended!”
“Offended?”
Xiao Jingxing sneered, his expression arrogant and defiant. “They occupy their positions without accomplishing anything. They should have been replaced long ago! The hearts of those aristocratic clans have never belonged to me. They care only about the honor of their own households! I intend to tell every humble scholar beneath Heaven that the justice they cannot obtain—I will give them!”
“See to it at once! Before dawn tomorrow, I want all of the capital to know these words!”
The chief steward no longer dared to argue. He clenched his teeth, bowed his head to the floor, and hurried out of the study.
…
Half an hour later.
The Eastern City Guildhall, within the inner city.
This had always been a favored gathering place for the capital’s scions of illustrious families, and its furnishings were extravagantly luxurious.
At that moment, several braziers of fine silver-thread charcoal burned in a private room on the second floor, warming it like spring.
Liu Wenyuan reclined in a grand rosewood armchair, a black-glazed cup in his hand.
He was listening to several of his fellow students boast about the splendor of tomorrow’s Deer-Cry Banquet, a sour edge barely concealed at the corners of his mouth.
“Even those ignorant commoners are allowed into the First Prince’s residence. It’s a disgrace to all things scholarly…”
Liu Wenyuan gave a cold snort and was just lifting the lid of his tea cup to skim away the foam when—
Bang!
The private room’s wooden door was slammed open.
A servant came tumbling inside, his face deathly pale and utterly drained of color. He was so breathless he could hardly speak.
“Young Master! Young Master! Something terrible… something terrible has happened outside!”
Liu Wenyuan’s brows shot up. “You insolent wretch! What kind of behavior is that? Slap him!”
The servant had no time to worry about being punished. He collapsed to his knees and wailed, “Young Master! Word has come from the First Prince’s residence! The whole city is buzzing with it. They say His Highness the First Prince personally declared…”
“Declared what?” Liu Wenyuan snapped impatiently.
The servant swallowed hard. “He said… he said that if he were the one reviewing the examination papers, Xu Zijin’s heretical essay would deserve first place among the jieyuan!”
The expensive cup slipped from Liu Wenyuan’s hand and shattered into pieces.
His entire body sprang up from the chair.
“What did you say?!” His voice broke. “Say that again!”
The other sons of noble families, who had been chatting and laughing moments before, were now frozen in place, their faces blank with shock.
“It’s true, Young Master! All the students from humble families outside the Imperial Academy are kneeling and bowing toward the First Prince’s residence!” The servant kowtowed repeatedly.
Liu Wenyuan’s chest heaved violently, his breathing growing faster and faster.
He shoved over the small table in front of him.
The pastries and fruit dishes crashed noisily to the floor.
…
At the same time.
In a quiet residence less than three streets from the East City Guild Hall, two third-rank vice ministers of the imperial court sat facing each other. Between them lay an unfinished game of chess.
The man on the left was none other than Song Zhiyuan, Vice Minister of Rites and deputy examiner for the provincial examination.
The man on the right was Zhou Mingyuan, Vice Minister of Personnel.
Song Zhiyuan held a black stone between his fingers, but could not bring himself to place it.
Zhou Mingyuan lifted his cold cup of tea and moistened his throat before speaking.
“Minister Song, have you heard what’s being said outside?”
Song Zhiyuan shut his eyes and irritably tossed the black stone back into the chess container.
“With this one move, the First Prince has stripped the skin from the faces of old fossils like us…” Song Zhiyuan’s voice was cold, his resentment impossible to conceal.
“He’s not merely trying to win over the New Learning faction.”
Zhou Mingyuan’s expression was grim as he analyzed the situation.
“Brother Song, we both understand what this means.”
The two men exchanged a glance.
No further words were necessary. Suspicion and wariness had already taken root between them.
…
Night had fully fallen.
In the rear garden of the Chengyi Earl’s residence, the silver-thread charcoal in the brazier had already been replaced with a fresh batch.
Xu Qinghuan used fire tongs to dig a steaming-hot taro from the ashes. She peeled away its charred outer skin, revealing soft, snowy-white flesh within.
She casually dipped it into the fine white sugar in the dish beside her and, without bothering to wait for it to cool, took a large bite.
It was sweet, soft, and wonderfully sticky.
Xu Zijin sat at a writing desk on the other side of the room, reading intelligence reports from every direction.
Just then—
Bang, bang, bang!
“Come in, come in! The door isn’t bolted!” Xu Qinghuan called, chewing on the hot taro.
Xu Fu burst in with snow covering his forehead. His foot slipped, and he nearly pitched headfirst into the brazier.
“Ow, my poor old back!” Xu Fu steadied himself and hurried straight toward Xu Qinghuan.
“Miss! Young Master Xu! Something extraordinary has happened outside!” Xu Fu patted his chest, forcing the words out in three breathless bursts.
“Did the sky fall, or did the earth split open? What’s got you so worked up?” Xu Qinghuan rolled her eyes at him and blew on the potato in her hand.
Xu Fu swallowed hard and shouted, “The First Prince’s residence has made an announcement! His Highness the First Prince personally said that if he were reviewing the papers, Young Master Xu’s essay would be the top-ranked jieyuan!”
At those words, Xu Zijin, who had been sitting at the desk, immediately wore a puzzled expression.
The brothers Xu Wuyou and Xu Zhan had been sparring in the corner. They both stopped at once.
“Has The First Prince taken the wrong medicine?” Xu Zhan scratched his scalp, looking completely baffled. “Wasn’t he always trying to win over the aristocratic clans? Why has he suddenly turned around and thrown his support behind Zijin’s ‘disorderly learning’?”
Xu Qinghuan stopped eating the potato.
She stared at the dancing flames in the brazier for two breaths.
Then she set the half-eaten taro on an empty plate and casually patted the charcoal dust from her palms.
“The First Prince is clever,” Xu Qinghuan said with a cold smile, her voice especially clear in the quiet rear garden.
She turned to look at Xu Zijin.
“Xu Zijin, we’re not the only clever people in this world. The First Prince saw through His Majesty’s test. Not only did he take hold of the opportunity, he practically draped the imperial yellow robe over you.”
Xu Qinghuan raised one finger and pointed into the air.
“Now, every impoverished scholar in the capital will surely regard the First Prince as the great benefactor who gave them a new lease on life. And you—”
Xu Qinghuan stared straight at Xu Zijin. “Now, everyone under Heaven will believe that you and the First Prince are on the same boat! He has you firmly in the palm of his hand, using your reputation to win the hearts of the people! That was indeed a vicious move.”
A flicker passed through Xu Zijin’s eyes.
“Win the people’s hearts and establish himself as their benefactor.” Xu Zijin’s voice was exceedingly low. “This plaque proclaiming first place isn’t so easy to accept.”
“But…” Xu Zijin suddenly smiled with effortless calm. “There are no good feasts, and no game without a hidden agenda. We’ll see whether Xiao Jingxing can swallow this piece!”
