On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the martial arts palace examination took place.
The palace examination began at the hour of Si and lasted for two hours.
Ninety-eight martial arts tributes entered the hall and took their seats according to their rankings in the written examination. The first row only seated the top three from the metropolitan examination, while the rest were arranged in groups of five, forming a total of nineteen rows.
Emperor Yongchang sat on the dragon throne facing south. Three princes of the first rank, along with the two chief examiners from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, were granted seats on the lower left and right. Unlike the civil palace examination, today the main hall was surrounded by a ring of imperial guards, just in case any highly skilled tribute was actually an assassin sent or bribed by someone with ulterior motives to endanger the Emperor.
Within the solemn and majestic hall, there was only the rustling sound of nearly a hundred tributes putting pen to paper.
Emperor Yongchang held a roster in his hand, which indicated each tribute's name, age, marital status, and household registration. The household registration also included the names and ages of the tribute's father and brothers, whether they held any academic degrees, and their marital status.
Having to wait for two hours, Emperor Yongchang had plenty of patience. Whenever he saw a tribute's name, he would look up at the corresponding person in the seats below. He would take a second look at those who were exceptionally handsome or ugly, and simply glance over those who were unremarkable.
Emperor Yongchang had also heard the wonderful tale of Princess Hui's maiden family producing four successful candidates in a single examination. If it had been the brothers-in-law of his other two daughters-in-law, Emperor Yongchang might have suspected some foul play. But the second prince and his wife? the second prince was neither that kind of person nor did he have the official connections to help them cheat, and the second prince's wife only had a father who was a centurion—her reach couldn't possibly extend that far.
Following the order, Emperor Yongchang examined the three Luo brothers one by one. These young men from a suburban town had their skin tanned to a light wheat color. They all had handsome features, broad shoulders, long legs, and sturdy, muscular builds. At a glance, one could tell they possessed genuine martial arts skills.
After Luo Ze, Emperor Yongchang looked through several rows and finally spotted the second prince's own brother-in-law, Yao Lin.
Just looking at this ranking, Emperor Yongchang was not very satisfied with Yao Lin. As the dignified brother-in-law of Prince Hui, how could he score lower than his three cousins?
Finally, Emperor Yongchang saw Yao Lin in person. He was sitting in the third row from the back. Although he was lowering his head and writing furiously, his burly, bear-like physique could not be hidden even while seated. Taking advantage of the moment Yao Lin scratched his head and looked up in thought, Emperor Yongchang got a clear look at his facial features. He had a pair of round, bright black eyes that closely resembled those of the second prince's wife. They lacked her vivid agility but possessed a simple, honest sincerity that could be seen straight through at a glance.
Suddenly, Yao Lin looked forward.
Emperor Yongchang deliberately smiled at the young man.
Yao Lin blinked, returned a stiff smile, and then quickly buried his head back into his answers.
Once Emperor Yongchang had reviewed everyone's situation, the Emperor, clad in his dragon robe, left the dragon throne, and two guards automatically flanked him to protect him.
Emperor Yongchang still followed the order of the rankings, standing behind each tribute for a moment to look at their opening paragraphs and handwriting.
Emperor Yongchang was naturally not a true dragon, but imperial majesty still affected some of the candidates. The most nervous ones found their pen-holding hands trembling, with a layer of sweat visibly breaking out on their foreheads and the backs of their necks. Those who were moderately nervous stiffened slightly, pausing their pens to calm down. The moderately composed ones merely cast a sideways glance at the dragon robe, while the most composed ones simply focused on their exam papers, uncaring whether the Emperor was standing beside them.
In truth, everyone's heart would certainly experience some ripples of emotion. However, from the moment Emperor Yongchang stepped down from the dragon throne, it was an expected event; by the time the Emperor actually came to their side, those who were composed enough had already calmed those ripples.
A palace examination tested more than just written essays.
Just by walking this lap, Emperor Yongchang had roughly figured out the courage of this batch of tributes. Military generals who would lead troops into battle in the future had best be able to remain unruffled in the face of danger.
After the morning examination, in the afternoon, Emperor Yongchang summoned the three princes, the two prime ministers, and the Ministers of War, Personnel, and Rites to the imperial study. On the imperial desk lay three stacks of exam papers, which were the first, second, and third-class successful candidates graded by Emperor Yongchang. However, the specific rankings within each class had not yet been finalized. Emperor Yongchang wished to discuss this with everyone. If anyone felt his grading was incorrect—for instance, if someone in the second class could be moved up to the first or should be dropped to the third—they could speak freely.
There were three people in the first class, twenty-eight in the second, and sixty-seven in the third. Among them, the rankings of the top three in the first class—the Champion, the Second Place, and the Third Place—were the most important.
The Champion appointed by Emperor Yongchang was a thirty-one-year-old middle-aged tribute. He had ranked second in the martial arts exam and third in the civil exam, naturally making him a prime candidate for the first class.
As for Li Tingwang, who ranked first in both the civil and martial arts exams, because he was only twenty years old and had a striking appearance, he was unsurprisingly named the Third Place.
Whether in civil or martial arts palace examinations, and whether in the previous dynasty or the new one, the title of Third Place was almost always given to the youngest and most handsome among the top ten.
Yao Huang's eldest cousin, Luo Kun, was named Second Place by Emperor Yongchang. The reason Emperor Yongchang gave was that Luo Kun was calm and composed, possessing the demeanor of a great general. In the martial arts test, apart from one good grade, he received all excellent grades, ranking eighth. He was tenth in the civil exam, and his border defense strategy in the palace examination was substantive and highly practical.
Prince Kang and Prince Qing both glanced at Prince Hui's wheelchair. Although their imperial father's reasoning made sense, the two still felt that their father was favoring their second brother's wife's family. However, it was just a minor martial arts Second Place. He would at best be appointed as a fifth-rank local garrison commander or a military battalion centurion. During times of peace, apart from drilling the few soldiers under his command, he would have no other real power. Among the numerous military officials of the same rank in the Great Qi Dynasty, he would be entirely inconspicuous. This was unlike civil officials, where even a minor seventh-rank county magistrate held real power over a county's land taxes, criminal justice, and other affairs.
Luo Kun's twin brother, Luo Peng, ranked in the middle of the second class. Twenty-year-old Yao Lin and nineteen-year-old Luo Ze were both in the third class.
At dusk, Zhao Sui did not delay much at the Ministry of Works and returned to the prince's estate.
Yao Huang did not know that Prince Hui had also been summoned by Emperor Yongchang to the imperial study to evaluate the top three classes of martial arts candidates. She only cared about her four brothers' performance in the morning's palace examination. When eating at her maiden home in Changshou Alley at noon, the four brothers each had their own thoughts, but how could the candidates' own thoughts count? Yao Huang was very curious about what her brothers looked like in the eyes of Prince Hui.
Zhao Sui looked at the princess consort and said, I know the rankings for the three classes.
The results would be posted the next morning, and the princess consort could not go anywhere tonight, so there would be no crime of leaking the list early. As for the short hour or so before the list was published tomorrow morning, Zhao Sui believed the princess consort could hold it in.
Yao Huang: ...
Her heart beating faster and her blood rushing, Yao Huang stood up in excitement.
Zhao Sui looked at the princess consort's noticeably reddened cheeks, waiting to see if she would ask.
Yao Huang, of course, had to ask: How many in the second class and how many in the third class?
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes, suppressing a smile, and said, One in the second class, two in the third class.
Yao Huang's face turned pale. She stared at Prince Hui across from her in disbelief. What about my brother? Did he answer so poorly that he didn't even make it into the third class?
That shouldn't be. At noon, her brother was even showing off, saying the Emperor had smiled at him...
Zhao Sui: He is in the third class.
Yao Huang's heart remained clenched: Which cousin failed?
Prince Hui finally revealed a hint of a smile: Eldest cousin is the Second Place in the first class.
Yao Huang: ...
After the shock and ecstasy, Yao Huang threw herself onto the wheelchair, pressing down on Prince Hui's shoulders to bite the flesh of his neck. How did Your Highness become so bad? You knew I was anxious, yet you deliberately teased me!
Zhao Sui intervened in time to block the princess consort's small teeth, which often bit around his shoulders and arms, and defended himself: I merely answered exactly what you asked. There was no teasing.
Yao Huang would usually bicker with Prince Hui over other matters in detail, but right now she was too happy. She wished she could ride a horse straight back to Changshou Alley to tell her family the good news immediately.
Zhao Sui saw the Princess Consort's eagerness and sternly reminded her not to leak the matter.
Yao Huang's eyes shifted. Clinging to his neck, she asked, "Shouldn't Your Highness have kept it from me too?"
Prince Hui lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Yao Huang happily kissed his cheek. "I like this kind of exception. Since Your Highness trusts me, I won't cause you any trouble. Tomorrow, I won't even go to the exam results wall. I'll just wait for my mother and the others to come running to congratulate me."
Zhao Sui said, "You went for both the military and civil examination postings. If you don't go tomorrow, they will definitely guess that you already knew in advance."
Yao Huang replied, "That's true. Then I'll make another trip."
The next day, Yao Huang sat in the carriage, putting on a very convincing act. She didn't even reveal anything to her mother or her cousin.
When the officials from the Ministry of Rites came to post the results, aside from Luo Kun who stayed steadily by the carriage, Yao Lin and the other two squeezed their way into the crowd again.
The examinees were anxious to see the list with their own eyes, and there were also those who just wanted to join the fun and had grabbed good spots. As soon as the yellow list was posted, they helped read out the rankings: "First place Qiu Zhuo, second place Luo Kun, third place Li Tingwang!"
Before Yao Lin and the others could squeeze back out, Yao Huang and the other two women heard about Luo Kun's second-place finish first!
Luo Jinhua let out a loud shout and jumped off the carriage to hug her eldest nephew. Luo Yue also chased after them excitedly.
Yao Huang sat alone in the carriage. Because she had already known since last night, she was only happy, not overly excited. Thus, she clearly heard Li Tingwang's third-place finish right after her eldest cousin's.
Yao Huang suddenly thought of something.
Prince Hui was indifferent to worldly affairs; perhaps he hadn't paid attention to the top names of the military exams. But since he knew her four brothers' rankings in advance, he surely must have known Li Tingwang's prominent third-place ranking too, right?
Prince Hui could choose not to mention Li Tingwang, but given Li Tingwang's friendship with her brother, and considering that Li Tingwang had been her "childhood sweetheart" for so many years, if she didn't mention a single word about him doing so well in the exams this time, wouldn't it make her look like she had a guilty conscience?
.
After night fell, as soon as Prince Hui lay down on the bed, Yao Huang crawled on top of him. Propping her hands on either side of him, she smiled as she examined Prince Hui's handsome face.
Zhao Sui noticed the Princess Consort's unusual behavior. Even though she was so happy last night, she hadn't been this proactive.
Zhao Sui kept his arms by his sides, motionless as he met the Princess Consort's gaze. "Why are you acting like this?"
Yao Huang replied, "Admiration, I suppose. Today I discovered a new gentlemanly virtue in Your Highness."
Not expecting to receive such praise, Prince Hui immediately looked away. Every time the Princess Consort praised him, her eyes were as bright as the radiant sun.
"What virtue?"
"Broad-mindedness!"
Although Zhao Sui guessed what the Princess Consort meant, he had to pretend not to know. He asked, "Why do you say that?"
Yao Huang swayed a bit on top of him, swaying until Prince Hui's breathing hitched and he looked back at her. Only then did she smile and say, "Li Tingwang getting third place. Your Highness knew he was my childhood sweetheart and even felt a bit jealous over it before, yet you didn't even think of intentionally making him fail the exam or using some tricks to make him only place in the second or third tier. If such magnanimity isn't a gentlemanly virtue, what is?"
Prince Hui closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment before saying, "First, when he was close to you, you were not yet my Princess Consort; I should not take out past matters on him. Second, he has both talent and looks; third place is what he deserves. Even if I were not a gentleman, I would disdain being a petty man who abuses his power to bully others."
Yao Huang said, "That is being a gentleman. Even after becoming the Princess Consort, I still thought about having my mother go show off to Madam Li. It just goes to show that I don't have Your Highness's broad heart."
Zhao Sui thought back to the gaze Li Tingwang had directed at him before the palace examination began.
There wasn't the panic of He Wenbin fearing retaliation from the Prince, nor the anger of having his beloved taken away. In Li Tingwang's eyes, there was only the reverence a tribute student should have for a Prince, along with a hidden defiance concealed beneath that reverence.
During that hour, as Zhao Sui watched Li Tingwang's long legs bent under the desk while answering the questions, he thought about a lot of things.
He was not as broad-minded as the Princess Consort praised him to be; he would also mind.
But what Zhao Sui minded was not how Li Tingwang had once been close to the Princess Consort, but rather that he too wanted to run and play and make a fuss with the Princess Consort, yet he would never be able to do so in this lifetime.
