Emperor Yongchang had appointed Di Xian to construct the Fengyan Canal in front of a group of officials and the newly minted scholars. This matter was now set in stone. The Ministry of Works only needed to select two suitable assistant officials and prepare for the conscription of laborers, timber harvesting, transportation, and silver accounting. The Ministry of Revenue had an even simpler task: they just needed to disburse the silver according to the accounts provided by the Ministry of Works, as the Ministry of Works already had Emperor Yongchang's decree.
The Ministry of Personnel, however, could recommend a few more officials to participate in this matter.
At dusk that day, Prince Qing went to visit his maternal grandfather, Shen Shiyan, the Minister of Personnel.
"Did Imperial Father drink too much? How could he so easily trust the son of an old county magistrate?" With no one else around, Prince Qing complained in a low voice.
The nearly sixty-year-old Shen Shiyan's eyelids twitched. He set down his teacup and advised, "Your Highness must not say such things. Even if Your Highness is completely alone, you must keep such grievances buried in your heart."
Prince Qing smiled faintly, long accustomed to his grandfather's caution. He only spoke of Di Xian, "If he were truly talented, he wouldn't have merely placed in the third tier of scholars."
Shen Shiyan sighed. "During the banquet, the Emperor asked both princes for their views on the canal construction. What Prince Kang said amounted to nothing. Your Highness, on the other hand, affirmed the need to build the canal, and suggesting to send someone to survey it was also correct. However, Your Highness should not have underestimated the Di family father and son, especially in front of so many newly minted scholars who just made the golden list. You must know that the vast majority of them will start as county magistrates, and there are another five or six thousand failed candidates out there. If this matter spreads, how will the scholars of the world view Your Highness?"
Prince Qing pursed his lips, realizing his slip of the tongue.
But as a prince of the first rank, having been respected by prime ministers and ministers since childhood, how could he highly regard a mere third-tier scholar from the common folk who had just passed the exams and had yet to show any real talent or learning?
Shen Shiyan said, "Being open-minded and receptive is a virtue, while being arrogant because of one's talent is a flaw. Your Highness should remember today's slip of the tongue and emulate the Emperor's courtesy to the wise and condescension to scholars more often."
Prince Qing was receptive to advice. He took a sip of tea and asked, "For a construction project worth hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, would you like to recommend a few deputies to Imperial Father?"
Shen Shiyan looked at his grandson, stroked his beard, and pointed out, "Your Highness, the Emperor is getting old, and these few years are the critical time for selecting the crown prince. Prince Kang is mediocre and lacks his own opinions. Your Highness only needs to do your duty well, and you will have a seventy percent chance of winning. Saying too much and doing too much can easily become superfluous."
Prince Qing said, "...Grandfather means I should just wait?"
Shen Shiyan replied, "Yes. While waiting, watch and learn more. Learn how the ministers handle official business, and learn how the Emperor governs the civil and military officials. The Emperor has long been well aware of the talents and temperaments of you and Prince Kang. His delay in appointing a Crown Prince shows that he is not satisfied enough with either of you. Your Highness is still young. As long as you shed your past impetuousness and become steady, the Emperor will see it."
Prince Qing looked thoughtful.
On the twenty-second of the third month, while the Ministry of Personnel was selecting the second and third-tier scholars, the Ministry of War also concluded the outdoor martial arts examination for over eighteen hundred military candidates.
The spring martial arts imperial examination of the current dynasty was divided into an outdoor martial test and an indoor literary test. The martial test was taken first. Only those military candidates graded as excellent, superior, or average could participate in the subsequent literary test. Candidates graded as inferior or lowest directly failed, but they could return to their home prefectures to be assigned suitable low-ranking military posts by local generals.
On the afternoon of the twenty-third of the third month, the Ministry of War released the results, announcing the list of candidates who had passed the martial test.
Yao Huang had one older brother and three older male cousins who had participated in this year's martial arts examination. On such a big day as the release of the results, she had no patience to wait at home. Early in the morning, she took a carriage to the vicinity of the tribute wall specially used for posting the results. She had two tall and burly princely estate guards dressed in plain clothes go wait at the base of the tribute wall. Zhang Yue and Wang Dong were responsible for the Princess Consort's safety, standing on the left and right sides of the carriage respectively.
Yao Lin and the three Luo brothers had also been dragged over by Luo Jinhua and Luo Yue to wait for the results.
Yao Huang saw them through a crack in the curtain and asked Zhang Yue to invite the mother and children over.
Luo Jinhua and Luo Yue boarded the carriage, while Yao Lin and his three brothers lined up outside the carriage window.
Looking at the still bare tribute wall, Yao Lin said confidently, "For mounted archery, foot archery, horseback spearmanship, weightbearing, and bladed weaponry, everyone's results were announced on the spot right after the test. The worst grade among the four of us in any single category was average, so we are definitely all on the list. If you ask me, we didn't even need to come here to wait; we could have just prepared for the literary test at home."
His voice was not quiet, and several military candidates nearby who had also come to wait for the results looked over with complicated expressions.
Eldest cousin Luo Kun reminded Yao Lin to lower his voice.
With the window curtain half-raised, Yao Huang looked at her brother's guileless and silly appearance. She highly doubted whether her brother could pass the subsequent literary test. Her eldest cousin Luo Kun was very good at both military strategy and martial arts, making him the most certain to pass as a martial scholar. Her second cousin Luo Peng and third cousin Luo Ze had lesser martial arts skills than her brother but surpassed him in military strategy. As long as they passed the martial test, their hopes of becoming martial scholars were also greater than her brother's.
Luo Kun suddenly shot a glance at his cousin.
Yao Huang followed his gaze and saw Li Tingwang walking over with a young servant boy. She immediately sat up straight. Although she didn't completely lower the curtain, Li Tingwang absolutely would not be able to see her.
Li Tingwang knew Yao Huang was sitting in the carriage and also guessed the guard identity of Zhang Yue in front of the carriage. He didn't want to cause trouble for Yao Huang, but pretending not to know them would only arouse more suspicion. So, he came over to greet Yao Lin and the other three brothers before heading towards the tribute wall.
Yao Lin said enviously, "Tingwang was right in front of me, and he got excellent grades in several assessments."
Yao Lin had also received several excellent grades, but his mounted archery and foot archery were only superior. Luo Kun's foot archery was excellent, and his mounted archery was superior.
Luo Kun chimed in with a few words of envy and then changed the subject.
The people from the Ministry of War were coming to post the list, and the crowd surged. Yao Lin, who had been very confident just a moment ago, suddenly became excited as well, pushing through the crowd with Luo Peng and Luo Ze.
Luo Yue poked her head out the carriage window, excitedly watching the surging crowd of military candidates.
Yao Huang leaned over and teased her cousin, "See any handsome ones?"
Luo Yue replied, "It's all backs of heads. Besides, looking now is useless. Only those who make it onto the literary test list have a hope of staying in the capital."
Out of the more than eighteen hundred military candidates, only over five hundred made it onto the martial test list.
Yao Lin and his three brothers were all on the list!
Yao Huang happily took her mother, brother, and cousins to Wangxian Tower for a banquet.
After entering the private room, Yao Lin leaned close to his sister's ear and whispered, "Tingwang placed first in the martial test."
Yao Huang smiled and said, "That's great. After all, he can be considered half a brother to me."
Given her brother's foolish nature, if she directly said she didn't like Li Tingwang and told her brother to stop mentioning him, her brother would instead misunderstand and think she actually liked Li Tingwang but had to avoid suspicion now that she was a Princess Consort.
Seeing his sister smile so naturally, Yao Lin indeed felt relieved. It turned out his sister really hadn't liked Li Tingwang even a little bit.
After accompanying her family for a lively banquet, Yao Huang returned to the princely estate alone.
The weather was getting warmer. In the estate's back garden, the plum blossoms, peach blossoms, and crabapple blossoms bloomed one after another, and thirty percent of the early blooming varieties in the peony garden had also unfurled their petals.
After an afternoon rest, Yao Huang casually strolled through the back garden until dusk. Prince Hui would be returning soon.
Yao Huang returned to Ming'an Hall early to wait.
Upon meeting, Yao Huang could not help but smile. With the princess consort's hint being so obvious, Zhao Sui was also happy for her. "Did all four of your brothers pass the martial arts examination?"
Yao Huang replied, "Yes, it was not in vain that my father taught them the horse stance and basic skills so early on, nor was it in vain that I worried about this for days."
Usually, she felt her brothers were all highly skilled in martial arts, but seeing the robust young men from all over the country, Yao Huang's confidence wavered. However long her brothers took their exams, she was nervous for just as long.
Zhao Sui thought about how those who passed the military imperial exams in previous years were also mostly children of military officials. Children of commoners preferred taking the civil service exams. The military exams tested both military strategy and archery on horseback; the more one learned, the more money it cost. Moreover, military officials were prone to injury on the battlefield, making it far less stable than being a civil official.
Yao Zhenhu was only a Centurion at his age, mostly losing out due to his temper, but his martial arts skills were still quite good. His four sons and nephews learned basic skills from him since childhood and then studied under famous masters at the martial academy in the capital, naturally giving them an advantage over students from local martial academies.
Yao Huang poured a bowl of tea for Prince Hui, who had just returned from outside.
Looking at the python robe on Prince Hui, Yao Huang happily envisioned the future. "If all four of my brothers can pass the military imperial examination and become military scholars, my maiden family will suddenly have four more military officials. Although they still have to be promoted slowly, it can be considered a small military family. When others discuss the family background of Princess Consort Hui again, it won't be considered too shabby, right?"
Prince Kang's former princess consort was a noble lady from a duke's estate, and Prince Qing's princess consort was a commandery princess directly from the grand princess's estate. Only Prince Hui had married a princess consort from a humble family.
Yao Huang was not ashamed of her background. After all, the imperial family insisted she participate in the draft; it was not her rushing to join. But Yao Huang always felt that Prince Hui's choice of her back then had a bit of a giving-up vibe. Because his legs were crippled and he felt like a dead man himself, he could not be bothered to care about his princess consort's family background.
Now that Prince Hui was alive again and back on duty, he might hear some idle gossip outside comparing the family backgrounds of the various princess consorts.
Zhao Sui looked at the smile in his princess consort's eyes, which looked as if she had found silver, and said, "I have never felt your family background is shabby, and you do not need to mind how outsiders gossip."
Yao Huang was stunned.
Prince Hui lowered his eyes, picked up his tea bowl, and casually took a sip.
Yao Huang smiled. After Prince Hui finished drinking, she walked around to sit on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said, "As long as Your Highness does not mind, it is fine. You can rest assured about me; a broad mind makes a stout body is exactly what describes me."
Zhao Sui was speechless.
Was the princess consort using the correct interpretation of the idiom, or deliberately misinterpreting it to mock herself? If the latter, should he say something?
.
Two days later, the military candidates who passed the martial arts examination entered the Ministry of Rites' examination hall to begin the civil examination.
The civil exam lasted for a day, and at dusk, everyone came out with varying expressions on their faces.
Yao Huang went back to her maiden home and asked her brother if he was confident. Yao Lin rubbed his head, no longer having his previous confidence.
On the sixth day of the fourth lunar month, the results for the civil portion of the military imperial exam were posted, with a total of ninety-eight people making the list.
Li Tingwang's name still hung high at the top of the list. As for Yao Huang's four brothers, her eldest cousin Luo Kun ranked tenth, second cousin Luo Peng ranked thirty-seventh, third cousin Luo Ze ranked fifty-sixth, and her biological brother Yao Lin ranked eighty-third.
These ninety-eight people still had to participate in the palace examination, but the palace exam was only to grade the top three tiers of scholars. In other words, Yao Lin and the other three had already secured their titles as military scholars!
Overjoyed, Yao Huang promised her four brothers during their noon banquet at the Wangxian Restaurant that they could drink as much of her strong liquor as they wanted.
Ministry of Works.
Minister Yan Lun knew very well that Prince Hui had four brothers-in-law participating in this year's spring military examination. Upon learning that all four were on the list, Yan Lun specially had someone copy the list and smilingly presented it to Prince Hui to congratulate him.
Sitting in his wheelchair, Prince Hui immediately spotted the name ranked at the top of the list.
