The faintest chime of porcelain against jade rang in the ears of the gathered nobles and esteemed scholars like a thunderclap.
Zheng Xiuyuan swallowed the fiery liquor burning his throat and set down his wine cup. He cast a glance at the First Prince.
Xiao Jingjing was toying with an empty cup in his hand.
But Zheng Xiuyuan had studied the art of governance since childhood. He understood all too well what such lofty calm truly signified.
Since he could not be brought under his banner, then he might as well let him run his course.
Zheng Xiuyuan lowered his head.
He knew that the toast he had just offered had fulfilled the true heart of a scholar—his desire to seek truth and uphold reality.
But he was the eldest legitimate grandson of the Xingyang Zheng clan.
Zheng Xiuyuan looked at Xu Zijin’s utterly unruffled face, and his gaze grew complicated.
There was respect in it, regret, and a trace of helpless resolve.
Then Zheng Xiuyuan turned and returned to his seat.
Xu Zijin was left with no one at his side.
Above them on the raised platform, Xiao Jingxing casually set his teacup down on the table.
Yet that single movement, noticed by the factions below who had been watching the seat of honor, conveyed one unmistakable message:
The time had come.
“Xu Zijin.”
A slightly aged yet powerful voice rang out from the seat of honor on the right.
An old scholar clad in a crane-patterned cloak rose to his feet.
He was a highly respected scholar at the Imperial Academy, where he lectured on the Book of Rites, and his seniority was considerable.
The old scholar walked out with measured, square steps and stopped five paces from Xu Zijin.
“This old man is unworthy. I have spent my entire life studying the classics, and there are several questions concerning the order of Heaven and the cardinal principles of the world on which I would seek the Deputy Laureate’s instruction.”
He cupped his hands in a scholarly salute, his bearing refined. Yet the instant he straightened, the words that left his mouth were cold enough to pierce bone.
“In your essay, ‘On the Unity of the Void and Qi,’ you declared that the Void contains nothing but qi; that when qi gathers, life is born, and when qi disperses, death comes. All things under Heaven, you say, are transformed from this qi. Then let this old man ask you—”
The old scholar gave a cold snort.
“If the world contains nothing but a single mass of qi, then at the imperial ceremony of sacrifice to Heaven in the southern suburbs, what exactly is being worshiped upon the ceremonial altar?”
The entire hall was stunned.
Several officials of the Ministry of Rites immediately sat up straighter.
The old scholar stared directly at Xu Zijin, pressing him relentlessly. “Within the imperial ancestral temple, the memorial tablets of the late emperors are enshrined. What, then, is the mass of qi attached to those tablets?”
The old scholar delivered his judgment.
“Master Meng once said, ‘He who has no ruler and no father is but a beast.’ Master Zheng Bo'an, the Grand Libationer, once marked your examination paper with the words, ‘You would turn the world into beasts.’ This old man is dull-witted and spent half a month pondering those words. Only after hearing your heresy today did I finally understand them completely!”
As soon as these words were spoken, solemn whispers swept through the hall. Several senior Hanlin scholars nodded as they stroked their beards.
You, Xu Zijin, claim to speak only of practical truth? Your practical truth does not even acknowledge your ancestors. You dare trample upon imperial authority and the Mandate of Heaven. You reject the sages’ teachings and are neither loyal nor filial!
Before Xu Zijin could respond to this attack aimed at destroying his reputation, a middle-aged official in an official robe embroidered with the xiezhi insignia suddenly rose from the seats on the left.
He was an Iron-Faced Censor under the command of the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate.
He did not even bother with a polite form of address. He strode directly into the center of the hall and stopped beside the old scholar.
“This official is unworthy. I will not debate learning with you. I have only three questions.”
The Iron-Faced Censor faced Xu Zijin and raised three fingers.
“First. The results of the metropolitan examination were released only a few days ago, yet your examination essay was printed in ten thousand copies within three days and circulated throughout the twelve wards of the capital. Every teahouse and street stall has a copy. Such an undertaking must have cost more than ten thousand taels of silver. Who paid for it behind the scenes?”
“Second!”
The Iron-Faced Censor lowered his first finger, and his voice rose another degree.
“At the Deer Cry Banquet, the civil and military officials of the court gathered alongside the highest-ranking examination candidates. The newly named provincial examination laureate left his seat and raised a cup to you, the second-place candidate, before the entire assembly. The banquet was thrown into an uproar. You treat the rules governing examination rankings as nothing. Tell me—whose faction are you joining?”
Forming a faction!
A deadly taboo in the imperial court!
In the rear rows, Niu Dazhuang’s mind went blank. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
At last, he understood what the old village scholar had meant when he warned him before his departure: the officialdom was a perilous place.
Even Zheng Xiuyuan, sitting in the corner and having anticipated this, could not help being startled when he heard the words “forming a faction.”
“Third!”
“The students of the Imperial Academy and the Grand Academy have recently abandoned the commentaries of the sages. They neither attend lectures nor study the classics. Instead, they wave banners and form societies, gathering in teahouses and inns. The words ‘the Void is qi’ are constantly on their lips. With a single doctrine, you have disrupted the foundation upon which our Great Qian has selected scholars for a hundred years.
“What school do you intend to establish?”
“To study without joining factions is a gentleman’s good fortune. To study and form a party is a calamity for the realm!”
“This official implores Your Excellencies: seize his printed editions and destroy his printing blocks! Ban his books and halt their circulation! Investigate his faction and restore order to the court!”
Seize the editions! Ban the books! Investigate the faction!
The First Prince, Xiao Jingxing, looked down upon it all, a smile spreading across his face.
“Heh heh heh.”
A burst of laughter rang out.
An elderly scholar with graying hair, dressed in the scarlet robe of a second-rank official bearing the embroidered golden pheasant insignia, sat in his chair and turned to look at Xu Zijin.
“Young man, you are indeed formidable. Xu Zijin, when you refused His Highness the First Prince’s toast just now, you spoke one sentence particularly well.”
“You said that you were unwilling to tarnish His Highness’s good name. Thus, you did not wish to bear the title of provincial examination laureate, nor did you wish to stand beneath His Highness’s banner.”
The old scholar paused.
“Allow this old man, in light of your lofty integrity, to ask you one more question.”
“Since you are unwilling to stand beneath His Highness’s banner, then the learning you loudly proclaimed on the main thoroughfare that you would establish as a new school—is it founded upon the court of Great Qian? Is it founded upon the sovereign and father?”
The moment these words were spoken, the crowd was even more horrified. The accusation was far too vicious.
The old scholar swept his gaze across the hall, his eyes gleaming with the seasoned ruthlessness he had honed over decades.
“Today, you dare declare at the Deer Cry Banquet that you will not stand beneath the banner of the imperial house. Tomorrow, what might this new school you seek to establish dare proclaim?”
“Fellow officials, think carefully.”
No one uttered the word “rebellion.”
Yet every noble, official, and examination candidate present clearly heard the thunderclap of a single accusation:
Treason.
And yet Xu Zijin, who bore the weight of that thunder and the murderous intent filling the hall, continued to stand quietly where he was.
Silence spread throughout the room.
Such unshakable composure, steady as an abyss and immovable as a mountain, stirred a trace of displeasure in the hearts of the old scholars of orthodox learning.
Had their punch landed against cotton?
At last, the Iron-Faced Censor, who had been kneeling on the ground, was the first to lose his composure. He shouted furiously:
“Why do you say nothing?”
Xu Zijin merely tilted his head slightly and raised a hand to brush away a speck of ash from the snow fox cloak draped over his shoulders.
The Iron-Faced Censor’s face flushed crimson.
He kicked the table beside him.
“You insolent wretch!”
Pointing at Xu Zijin, the Iron-Faced Censor roared the insult.
His loss of composure shocked every noble in the hall.
Even the First Prince, Xiao Jingxing, frowned from his seat on the raised platform.
Xu Zijin furrowed his brow and gave a cold laugh.
“So this is the scholarship of Great Qian’s esteemed masters?”
Xu Zijin chuckled softly.
“Gentlemen.”
The mockery in his voice was impossible to miss.
“Since you wish to debate, then this Xu will gladly debate with you today—properly, and at length—on the principles governing Heaven and the human order.”
