Chapter 2: Palace Exam

It was still dark when Jian Jin arrived at the palace gate, but there were already examinees of the same rank as him waiting.

After the disappearance of his partner, Jian Jin had to take care of his child, earn money, and learn the knowledge of this planet to take the examinations. He’d been so busy that he didn’t have much contact with others, and he didn’t know many people.

However, he more or less knew a few people. At this moment, he was greeted by a chubby scholar in his thirties who had a flowing beard and a slightly bulging stomach. “Over here, Shaoan.”

This chubby scholar was named Sun Youji. He was from Jian Jin’s hometown and was the only person Jian Jin knew among the people present. “Shaoan” was Jian Jin’s courtesy name.[1]

The people in this place all had courtesy names, so Jian Jin also gave himself one.

Sun Youji greeted Jian Jin and said to those around him, “This is my fellow villager. His surname is Jian, his given name is Jin, and his courtesy name is Shaoan.”

Those people then spoke to Jian Jin one after another and introduced themselves.

After the introductions, the crowd quieted down.

Generally, when scholars got together, they would always discuss something, and the quietness at this moment was actually a bit unusual, but Jian Jin wasn’t surprised.

They were about to meet the tyrant …… These people were probably a little panicked and not in the mood to talk.

Just as Jian Jin thought about the tyrant, he heard someone say, “Today …… I wonder if His Majesty will come to see us.”

As soon as this person’s words were out, the people around him instantly went quiet.

The people who were originally pacing back and forth because they were nervous stopped still, the people who had been looking around stiffened their necks, and the hands of the people who were organizing their clothes trembled and they tugged their clothes tightly before they finally steadied themselves. Everyone was still a little stiff.

In the end, the Huiyuan[1], who came from an aristocratic family and had contacts in the imperial court, said, “His Majesty is busy with government affairs, so he may not come.”

As soon as his words fell, people around him breathed a sigh of relief. Another person agreed, “It’s said that His Majesty didn’t attend the last Palace examination, so he shouldn’t come this time either.”

Someone else said, “His Majesty hasn’t been to court for several months, so he certainly won’t have time to preside over the Palace examination.”

The people around immediately became more relaxed.

Not long ago, Jian Jin’s mental power had been completely restored and he was able to use it as he wished, so he could clearly feel the fear of the examinees around him after hearing the word “His Majesty” and the relaxation after learning that His Majesty would not come to see them.

His Majesty was really “famous”.

Jian Jin had only been on this planet for five years, but he had already heard a lot about the “prestige” of the current emperor.

The name of this country was the Great Qi, and the current emperor of the Great Qi was named He Mingzhao. He was twenty-four years old and was the seventh son of the late emperor.

He Mingzhao was born during a solar eclipse, preceded and followed by natural disasters, and the loss of borderlands, so he was considered inauspicious by the then National Teacher[3], and was also disliked by the late Emperor.

But when he grew up to 13 or 14 years old, for some reason the previous emperor gave him many tasks to do.

He wasn’t very old at that time, but he was very violent, and every time he did an assignment, he would kill many people, and he did a lot of things like ransacking households and exterminating clans. Within a few years, he made all the ministers in the imperial court dislike him and they went to court to impeach him.

The late emperor chastised him, but he turned around and killed a lot of the people who impeached him, making all the ministers afraid to confront him.

However, at that time, although the ministers were afraid of him and hated him, they also sympathized with him. Everyone knew that he was just a knife in the hands of the late emperor, used to kill disobedient ministers and toughen up his brothers in the process.

When the new emperor ascended to the throne, He Mingzhao definitely wouldn’t end well!

What no one expected, however, was that the knife would turn upon the late emperor.

Four years ago, He Mingzhao suddenly rose up and killed his father and older brothers. He killed the previous emperor and all his sons over the age of 14, and then ascended to the throne as emperor himself!

At that time, there were many ministers who wanted to oppose him to the death, and he complied with their wishes and killed them all.

What He Mingzhao did was treacherous, but he took control of the Black-Clad Guards and the capital’s garrison, who were directly under the emperor’s orders, and he killed so many people that no one in the court dared to oppose him anymore.

For four years …… He Mingzhao committed wanton destruction and set off a storm of blood in the capital.

The eunuchs and maids in the palace were killed by him from time to time. The concubines left behind by the previous emperor couldn’t enjoy their old age under his hands. The ministers in the court were beheaded when he was in a bad mood. Even the clansmen who shared the same ancestors with him were killed without mercy whenever he wanted.

Four years down the line, now there was no one in the whole of the Great Qi who didn’t fear him. Everyone knew he was a tyrant.

However, strange to say, after he killed so many people to become the emperor, surprisingly, he wasn’t interested in the occupation of the emperor. He only occasionally read the memorials, only went to court once in a while, and as for various kinds of enjoyment ……

Anyone who offered him beautiful women was cut down by his sword, the various imperial chefs recruited by the previous emperor were driven out of the palace, and the exotic animals raised in the palace by the previous emperor were slaughtered and eaten by him.

Jian Jin once heard a theory that this emperor had gone crazy, which was why he acted insane and incomprehensible.

With such an emperor in the Great Qi, fewer people took part in the imperial examinations, and many people didn’t want to be officials after obtaining scholarly merit by passing the exams, lest they be cut down by the emperor. However, Jian Jin didn’t hate the emperor.

Although the emperor killed a lot of people, ever since he came to power, the common people were better off than when the previous emperor was in power.

In addition…… With such an arbitrary tyrant who did as he pleased, Jian Jin’s plans would be easier to implement.

As long as he got the emperor’s attention, he should be able to have a meteoric rise in his career.

As for how to get the emperor’s attention …… looking at this emperor’s style of behavior, he was afraid that there was a problem with his mental state. In other words, he had a mental illness.

His mental power was of the healing type, and he also learned medical skills, so he should be able to cure this emperor.

Five years ago when he first met his partner, his partner’s mental power was in disarray. Wasn’t it also slowly cured by him? Unfortunately, his partner suddenly became “pregnant” and ruined that treatment.

His partner’s mental power was also messed up, and he didn’t know if he was having a hard time.

Jian Jin’s heart ached when he thought of his partner.

He had made a mental energy contract with his partner, so he knew his partner was still alive, but he didn’t know where his partner was or what condition he was in.

All the money he had earned in the past few years had basically been spent on finding his partner, but he hadn’t found him at all.

Back then his partner had forgotten everything that had ever happened. He didn’t know his partner’s name, and as for looks …… there were too many similar looking people in this world!

He painted his partner’s face and asked around, and although he found many people with similar looks, they weren’t his partner.

Thinking about this, Jian Jin couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated.

“Shaoan, don’t be nervous,” Sun Youji said to Jian Jin. “Anyway, we’ve basically already passed the exam.”

“Yeah.” Jian Jin returned to his senses and responded with a smile. He wasn’t nervous, but Sun Youji…… Sun Youji’s heartbeat and other physical characteristics indicated that he was very nervous.

“Shaoan, what are your plans after the Palace examination?” Sun Youji asked again. “Shall we return to our hometown together?” After taking the Palace examination, all of them had a vacation to return to their hometowns in glory and happiness.

“I plan to stay in the capital,” Jian Jin said.

Sun Youji knew that Jian Jin’s hometown had been hit by a disaster and that his parents had died during their escape, so he wasn’t surprised by Jian Jin’s choice. However, he also wanted to ease his nervousness by talking, so he added, “Shaoan, since you plan to stay in the capital, why don’t you take this opportunity to choose a virtuous woman to marry and help you take care of your family?”

Jian Jin’s looks weren’t outstanding, but he didn’t have any serious defects. Coupled with his upright posture, he could already be considered handsome among this group of examinees.

And according to his academic performance, this time he could more than likely be ranked in the 2nd grade[4]. As a Jinshi[5], plus his appearance, even if he had previously married a wife and had a child, a minor official’s daughter would be willing to marry him.

“My wife is still alive.” Jian Jin looked at Sun Youji seriously, “Just missing.”

Sun Youji was speechless for a while.

He knew that Jian Jin’s wife was missing, and he knew that Jian Jin had been looking for his wife.

However, these days, most missing women were caught and sold. Under such circumstances, it was basically impossible for women to keep their innocence. Even if she kept her innocence …… Jian Jin had become an official. How could he let such a woman who had been “missing” for a long time come back to be the madam of the house?

Sun Youji wanted to say something, but at that moment, the palace door opened.

He shut his mouth and couldn’t help a shiver after meeting the gaze of the eunuch who came out with a lantern, his indifferent face flickering in the lantern’s firelight.

The faint dawn light slowly made the outline of the palace clear, and the examinees lined up and slowly entered the palace.

Jian Jin stood in the middle of the front row.

The imperial examination wasn’t difficult for him.

He had strong mental power and therefore the ability to never forget, so of course he learned things quickly.

However, his shortcomings were also obvious – he had no talent for poetry and lacked a true understanding of the time period, so the essays he wrote were often contrived and formulaic.

Fortunately, before each examination, he would get to understand the examiners, so even if his writing felt contrived, he still managed to overcome the obstacles.

This time, he even got a good rank of forty-two in the exam.

Nowadays, officials in the court were afraid of being dragged down by their disciples, and they didn’t dare to accept those scholars who were full of ambition and wanted to make a big career, but were more likely to be cut down by the emperor. They liked that he was such a rule-abiding person, and his essays were written in a calm and steady manner, so he shouldn’t cause trouble after becoming an official.

So, he was expected to be in the second grade.

After following the large group into the palace and going through the rituals of roll call, distribution of papers, praise and worship, and salutations, Jian Jin finished his Palace exam paper.

According to the regulations of the Great Qi, the Palace examination would be presided over by the emperor and last all morning. At the end of the morning, the papers would be graded on the spot and the results would come out in the afternoon. When the results came out and the emperor settled on the ranking, everyone would ride their horses to attend the Qionglin banquet[6].

This journey was also known as the Zhuangyuan parade.

But this time, the emperor didn’t come at all.

However, this was a good thing for many of the examinees. Without the fearsome emperor, the killer who chopped people’s heads off like chopping melons and vegetables, even Sun Youji, who was easily nervous, was able to finish writing his own exam paper.

After Jian Jin finished writing, he used his mental power to look at other people’s papers, and then completely put his mind at ease.

His essay wasn’t perfect, but at least it was accurate. His paper was definitely the neatest, and the examiner’s evaluation shouldn’t be too low.

After the time was up, someone took away the test papers, and at that moment, Jian Jin suddenly felt a familiar mental energy.

It was his partner’s mental power!

At the same time, the eunuch’s sharp voice pierced into the room, “His Majesty has arrived!”

T/N:

1. Courtesy name: a name given to young men and sometimes women when they reached adulthood. Peers of the same generation called each other by their courtesy name, and using their birth name was considered rude.

2. Huiyuan: The person who scored first in the metropolitan examination

3. National Teacher: The person who advised the emperor about morality and religion

4. Second grade: The examinees would be divided into grades depending on how they ranked

5. Jinshi: Somebody who passed the palace examination. They were afforded many privileges and high civil service appointments.

6. Qionglin Banquet: A banquet held for the new Jinshi after passing the Palace exam