Before long—clang!
The chimes rang out from the rear of the Brightmoon Pavilion’s main hall.
Before the echo had faded, dozens of beautiful maids entered in single file. Draped in gauzy robes, their cloudlike hair piled high, they carried gilded bronze platters bearing steaming delicacies: bear paws from the far north and fresh abalone rushed in by fast horses from the Bohai Gulf. Music sounded from every direction at once, while musicians behind the curtains played a calm, elegant melody.
This world atop the Brightmoon Pavilion was completely cut off from the bitter winter snow outside.
Seated at the head of the banquet, the First Prince Xiao Jingxing swept back his robe sleeve and took hold of the solid-gold wine goblet on the table.
He rose slowly. His martial physique filled out the crimson, gold-woven, wide-sleeved round-collared robe, while a belt of rhinoceros horn and gold-studded jade encircled his waist.
The officials and examinees who had been whispering among themselves immediately fell silent at the sight of this movement. In the vast hall, only the sound of pipes and strings continued to reverberate.
Xiao Jingxing’s voice carried unhindered to every corner of the hall. It was loud and powerful, filled with vigor.
“You have distinguished yourselves in the examinations held throughout the provinces and achieved high honors. You are the pillars of the empire. I have arranged this Deer-Cry Banquet for two reasons: first, to celebrate the imperial court’s acquisition of worthy talent; and second, to wash away the fatigue of the examinations. Let us all raise a toast to peace and prosperity throughout Great Qian!”
With that, he lifted the golden goblet above his head.
The more than one hundred officials and newly successful examinees present did not dare be negligent. In unison, they pushed away the tables before them. The crimson-robed officials in the front row were the first to perform a grand bow of thanks, and the examinees behind them followed, bowing respectfully. Their cries shook the glazed roof tiles overhead, and the surging sound nearly rattled the hall’s window frames.
“We thank Your Highness for your gracious favor! May Great Qian enjoy peace and prosperity, may His Majesty live for ten thousand years, and may Your Highness live for a thousand!”
“You may dispense with the ceremony. Take your seats,” Xiao Jingxing said. He tipped back his head and drained the strong liquor in his cup.
Only then did the officials and examinees rise as though granted a reprieve, returning hurriedly to their seats.
After three rounds of wine, the fine food and drink had warmed everyone’s spirits. With several officials deliberately flattering their hosts, the atmosphere at the banquet gradually grew more lively.
The young men of the various clans raised their cups to one another and recited refined verses.
At that moment, Xiao Jingxing set down his wine cup.
He crooked one finger and tapped it against the tabletop.
His chief secretary understood at once. He stepped forward and called out in a ringing voice, “Wanping’s classical examination laureate, Niu Dazhuang, where are you?”
Every sound in the hall ceased.
The summoned Niu Dazhuang had been sweating profusely as he wrestled with a glossy, oil-braised prawn on his plate.
He had never eaten at such an elaborate banquet in his life. The chopsticks in his hand were slick and difficult to control. When he heard his name called from above, his wrist trembled in fright.
“I’m here! I’m here!” Niu Dazhuang cried anxiously, his face turning bright red. He hurriedly wiped the grease from his mouth and squeezed out from his cramped seat.
He knew nothing of official etiquette and simply dropped to his knees in the aisle with a thud.
“Your student, Niu Dazhuang, pays his respects to the First Prince!”
Several young men from prominent families seated not far away could not restrain themselves. They covered their mouths with their sleeves and snickered.
Xiao Jingxing did not even look at the laughing scions.
He merely raised one hand.
A chill ran down the backs of those young men. They hastily shut their mouths and sat up straight.
“You are a classical examination laureate whose success was truly unexpected,” Xiao Jingxing said, looking at Niu Dazhuang sprawled on the floor. “Let me ask you this. You farm in Wanping County. After this year’s autumn harvest, exactly how much grain can the land produce?”
At these words, the civil officials who prided themselves on their moral rectitude exchanged uneasy looks.
Niu Dazhuang secretly swallowed. His mind was a complete muddle.
The stock phrases the village headman had taught him before he came had long since vanished from his memory.
But he knew how much grain the land could yield. That was a question he could answer.
“R-Reporting to Your Highness!” Niu Dazhuang raised his head boldly. His voice was halting, but he dragged it as loud as he could to conceal his nervousness. “In Niu Family Village, a mu of good irrigated paddy can yield three hundred jin of coarse wheat in a good year! As for poor hillside fields, they can only produce two hundred jin of sorghum! And that’s only if Heaven is feeling generous—if there’s enough rain and no insect plague! If we’re hit by a severe drought or flood, even a hundred jin per mu is hard to hope for!”
Several civil officials standing behind Song Zhiyuan knitted their brows.
A classical examination laureate who could not even recite half a sentence about how the people were the foundation of the state—the imperial examinations of Great Qian had truly become a laughingstock.
Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Xiao Jingxing did not find the answer disappointing. Instead, he threw back his head and laughed.
“Good! Very good! ‘It all depends on whether Heaven grants us a living.’ The entire court knows only how to sit and theorize, speaking endlessly of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.
“If you truly asked them how many jin of wheat could be harvested from the fields, nine out of ten would have no answer! You, Niu Dazhuang, have not forgotten your roots. You understand how hard it is to obtain the grain that fills one’s bowl. That alone makes you better than those who have spent ten years studying the sages’ books!”
Xiao Jingxing turned to the chief secretary beside him.
“Chief Secretary! Take silver from my private treasury. Purchase fifty mu of the finest irrigated fields in the outskirts of the capital, and acquire a residence with a side courtyard within the inner city. Give them all to Niu Dazhuang!”
Xiao Jingxing’s voice carried with extraordinary force.
“Remember, this is not a reward from the imperial court. It is a personal gift from me, in honor of his sincere heart and his refusal to forget the farmers’ roots! Niu Dazhuang, simply bring your old mother to the capital and prepare for next spring’s metropolitan examination with peace of mind!”
The hall fell so silent that the slightest dropped pin could be heard.
Then, one after another, the impoverished examinees seated in the back—who had previously hardly dared to breathe—suddenly saw their eyes redden. Their hurried breathing blended into a single restless murmur.
Fifty mu of irrigated farmland! A residence in the inner city!
To these impoverished scholars, whose families had tilled the soil for generations, this was nothing short of a fortune capable of lifting them straight into the heavens.
Niu Dazhuang was utterly stunned. His eyes bulged, and he had no idea what to do with his hands and feet.
Only after a kindhearted official in a blue robe gave him a discreet kick to the heel did he come to his senses.
“Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you for your gracious gift! Your student will kowtow to you! I’ll kowtow to you!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Xiao Jingxing took in the reddened eyes and quickened breathing of the impoverished examinees below.
He knew perfectly well that he had already achieved the desired effect of buying a thousand ounces of gold for a single horse.
He had chastised the great clans and won over the poor scholars.
Xiao Jingxing immediately turned his attention in another direction.
“Newly named provincial examination laureate, the Xingyang Zheng clan—Zheng Xiuyuan.”
Upon hearing himself summoned, Zheng Xiuyuan set down his silver chopsticks.
He rose, smoothed the faint creases from his robe, and walked out from his place with measured composure.
He stopped ten paces from the dais. As the treasured heir of the Zheng clan, he naturally did not need to kneel. Instead, he performed a grand bow.
“Your student, Zheng Xiuyuan, pays his respects to Your Highness.”
There was a hint of scrutiny in Xiao Jingxing’s eyes.
“I have read your examination essay. It is filled with quotations from the classics, and your family principles are rigorous. From beginning to end, there is not the slightest error. It is a steady, well-balanced piece of writing, worthy of the title of top scholar.”
With that, he raised his hand slightly.
The maid beside him had been prepared in advance. She carried a rosewood tray down the steps.
Resting on the tray was an inkstone of fine texture, entirely black and gleaming with a cold luster.
“This ancient inkstone was a treasured possession once bestowed upon me by the Imperial Father.” Xiao Jingxing looked at the white-robed provincial laureate below, his tone warm and filled with courtesy. “A distinguished scholar deserves a distinguished inkstone. Today, I shall present it to you, Zheng, the Provincial Laureate. May you use it in the years to come to carry on the learning of the sages, uphold the orthodox tradition of Great Qian, and live up to the century-old reputation of the Xingyang Zheng clan.”
His manner of handling the matter was flawless. While suppressing the empty arrogance of the great clans, he had also granted a century-old aristocratic house the dignity it deserved from the highest possible position. This was truly the pinnacle of imperial statecraft.
With his penetrating intellect, Zheng Xiuyuan naturally understood the significance behind this gift and the “definition” it conveyed.
He showed not the slightest ripple of emotion. After steadily accepting the tray, he said, “This student thanks Your Highness for your gracious favor. I shall certainly remain true to my principles.”
He bowed, rose, and turned to walk back with the inkstone in his arms.
With the segment of rewards that combined favor and authority now concluded, the atmosphere in the hall was pushed to its peak by Xiao Jingxing’s gift.
The chief aide held a wine goblet carved from green jade. The vessel was emerald green from top to bottom, filled with grape wine presented as tribute from the Western Regions.
As it swayed, the dark-red liquor reflected the glow of the lights throughout the hall.
The chief aide respectfully offered the wine goblet to Xiao Jingxing.
Xiao Jingxing took the heavy goblet from him.
One step.
The lively conversation that had just resumed in the hall instantly fell silent by half as he took that step down from the dais.
Two steps.
The officials who had been raising their cups to exchange toasts looked toward the dais in uncertainty.
The musicians, unsure whether they should stop, could only grit their teeth and slow the melody.
At last, the footsteps came to a halt.
Xiao Jingxing held the green-jade goblet in one hand and looked down at Xu Zijin.
Xu Zijin set down her teacup and raised her head to look at the First Prince.
