Green Mountain-Chapter 563 - 424: Scholar’s Poem, Success in the Bag
The Ning Dynasty’s Imperial Examination Hall is located at the easternmost part of the inner city, right next to the Mingzhi Workshop Grass Field.
The spring examination has lasted several days, and today is the day when the Imperial Examination Hall’s gates open.
Once the 800 strikes of the evening drum on the drum tower were completed, a bell resonated within the Imperial Examination Hall, and someone called out loudly, "Stand up and leave your seats. Anyone caught writing after the bell will be disqualified, wasting ten years of hard study—don’t let it ruin you!"
A cacophony erupted within the Imperial Examination Hall, as the scholars rose en masse, standing obediently inside their cubicles, while some continued to furiously scribble, counting the bell tolls in their minds.
When the twelfth bell rang and stopped, the curtain official loudly declared, "Submit your papers!"
Twelve paper collectors passed by the cubicles, snatching up each exam sheet, not hesitating even if someone hadn’t finished writing.
Then, the sound of wailing erupted from those cubicles: "It’s over, all over! Give me a moment to write a couple more lines!"
The curtain official barked fiercely, "Quiet! What’s the decorum in crying and causing a ruckus? If we’re lenient with you, we’ll all lose our heads! Now exit the cubicles and form two rows outside. Anyone who leaves the line without permission will be disqualified."
The Imperial Examination Hall fell silent once more. Everyone stood outside the cubicles in lines, hands hanging at their sides, terrified of making a mistake.
The paper collectors took the exams to the sealing office, where the names were redacted.
After being anonymized, a specialist would transcribe it using a vermillion pen, so that during grading, the examiners only looked at the vermillion copies, not the ink ones, to prevent any chance of favoritism or fraud.
Each step of this solemn ceremony was like the final veil of the imperial examination system.
After the paper collectors took all the exams to the sealing office, the six curtain officials remaining on site suddenly showed a different face, smiling pleasantly, "Gentlemen, the spring examination concludes here. On the fifteenth of March, the plum blossom lists will be posted, revealing the rankings. After returning home, prepare for the policy test, as there’s still a court examination awaiting you."
Another curtain official smiled and said, "In the future, when we work together in the court, I will be counting on you all. Attendants, sound the whip!"
Servants rolled up red firecrackers at the exit of the cubicles. When ignited, they crackled noisily within the Imperial Examination Hall, sending white smoke billowing into the sky.
The six curtain officials bid farewell to the scholars with cupped hands. During the spring examination, they wore one face; afterward, they wore another. In the future, they will no longer be examiners and students but colleagues.
Who can say who will rise above whom?
The curtain official motioned to the servants, "Escort the scholars out. Be cautious when opening the gate to prevent anyone from forcibly entering the Imperial Examination Hall. If anyone does break in, watch your heads!"
The servants bowed in obeisance, "Yes!"
The examinees lined up in two columns, slowly making their way out. Only then did the atmosphere finally relax.
In the line, someone quietly asked the person in front, Lin Chaojing, "Brother Lin, the phrase ’the great way to wealth is broad, the many create it, the few consume it, those who act quickly use it calmly, thus wealth is always sufficient’, how do you interpret it?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Lin Chaojing smiled slightly, without turning his head, replied, "The great way to wealth originates from benevolent governance, it is a mutual assistance between high and low..."
As he spoke enthusiastically, the examinee behind him turned pale, murmuring to himself, "Benevolent governance...how did I not think of using benevolent governance to begin and continue the essay!"
At this moment, Lin Chaojing noticed Shen Ye at the front of the line, quickly became interested: "Brother Shen, how did you answer the Five Classics’ questions?"
Shen Ye turned his head, with a half-smile replied to Lin Chaojing, "Dear brother, the exams are over, what are you talking about a feather for? I barely survived these days, do you really want to test me again? Let’s go, let’s go, let’s drink, all the classics are in the wine, all the policy questions are in the Eight Great Hutongs!"
Lin Chaojing shook his head, "Brother Shen, I need to return home to study, to prepare for the court examination in fifteen days..."
But before he could finish refusing, Shen Ye had already turned away, having promised Huang Que to go drinking at Meihua Ferry Crossing tonight.
Lin Chaojing’s unfinished sentence, he silently swallowed back.
Arriving at the front gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, the gate remained closed.
A group of servants guarded the gate, reminding, "When the gate opens, do not linger outside, leave promptly!"
The triennial talent selection ceremony is one of the biggest events in the capital, with who knows how many people awaiting outside the Imperial Examination Hall.
There were servants carrying lanterns and food boxes, waiting for their masters to emerge from the Imperial Examination Hall; prominent figures from various local associations, ready to welcome and cleanse the dust of their local scholars; hawkers mingling in the crowd with baskets of warm Zhuangyuan Cake; also, inn workers with watchful eyes, ready to call out loudly to attract customers; and gambling house workers lying in wait outside, secretly observing whose complexion looked best, to return and adjust the betting odds for "winning the primacy".
It was a lively scene.
But the most attention-grabbing were the tables outside the Imperial Examination Hall, each restaurant having laid out pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. Scholars would be invited to write a poem as they exited. If a scholar later became the top scorer in the court examination, the restaurant that received the calligraphy would hang it prominently inside, and host eighty-eight congratulatory banquet tables for the top scorer.
These eighty-eight tables are not just eighty-eight; once one table is finished, another follows, continuing until the moon rises high in the branches.
Furthermore, for the next three years, the top eight dishes on the water plate menu of that restaurant cannot be prepared by other restaurants. If anyone wishes to taste these eight dishes, they must visit the "Zhuangyuan Building".
Lin Chaojing looked at Shen Ye: "Brother Shen, will you write a poem or a phrase later?"
Shen Ye chuckled, "Why write a poem, one of my poems in Jinling can trade for the chief courtesan of Qinhuai River offering herself, writing one in the Imperial Capital would benefit those restaurants for nothing."
Lin Chaojing was slightly taken aback, "If you achieved the top scorer, those restaurants would hold eighty-eight tables of celebratory banquets on your behalf."
Shen Ye casually replied, "Those eighty-eight tables wouldn’t go into my stomach, besides, I don’t have that many friends and family in the Imperial Capital, a jar of good wine and four small dishes are enough for me."
At the next moment, the curtain official shouted loudly, "Open the gate, let them through!"
The vermillion-painted gate abruptly swung open, but everyone stood frozen inside. Outside the gate, only a sparse handful of people remained, shockingly desolate.
Oddly enough, these few people outside also stood with their backs to the Imperial Examination Hall, looking towards Andingmen Avenue outside Biaobei Alley, as if something more lively than the spring examination was taking place.
Lin Chaojing stepped out of the Imperial Examination Hall gate, puzzled as he surveyed, even failing to spot his own servant, he asked in confusion, "Where did everyone go?"
The gambling house worker, without turning his head, said, "I don’t know, someone just ran down the street shouting, ’Li Changge is returning to the capital, and Prince Fu is leading his horse,’ and the crowd just rushed off to watch the spectacle."
Shen Ye and Huang Que exchanged a glance, wasn’t Li Changge Chen Ji’s "nickname"?
Lin Chaojing was even more puzzled, "And what does Prince Fu leading a horse have to do with it?"
The gambling house assistant shook his head, "We have no idea."
Shen Ye laughed heartily, "Why not go take a look and find out? Let’s see if this Li Changge has grown three heads and six arms, stealing even the limelight from me, the scholarly candidate!"
He pulled Huang Que along as they headed towards Andingmen Avenue, where they found people bustling shoulder to shoulder, blocking out the sun.
Shen Ye showed none of the restraint of a soon-to-be scholar, squeezing through the crowd with Huang Que.
On both sides of the long Andingmen Avenue, buildings stood lined up, brightly lit with resplendent decorations, their lattices painted and beams carved, with wine flags fluttering and lanterns hanging high.
Amidst the bustling crowd, Shen Ye enthusiastically pushed forward, feeling like he was back in Jinling at fifteen during the Lantern Festival, within the grandeur of a prosperous era.
Shen Ye excitedly said, "Brother Huang, we arrived in the capital late and missed this year’s Lantern Festival, but who’d have thought we could still see such bustling beauty!"
They pushed forward a few dozen steps but could go no further. He pulled an older man over to ask, "What’s happening ahead, brother?"
The man looked surprised, "You haven’t heard? Chen Ji, the criminal wanted for the assassination of the Crown Prince, has returned to the capital!"
Shen Ye’s eyes widened, "Chen Ji? Assassinating the Crown Prince?"
He and Huang Que looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what they had missed over the past few days in the Imperial Examination Hall, and how Chen Ji suddenly became a court-wanted criminal.
Shen Ye urgently asked, "If he hasn’t been publicly executed, why the crowd? Was he caught, or...?"
The man, stepping on tiptoes to look, replied without turning his head, "He wasn’t caught, he came back on his own. He claims he’s been wronged and has apprehended the real culprit, Liao Zhong, but the Five Cities Military Department doesn’t believe him and remains in confrontation at Anding Gate. Strangely, the military department can’t do anything against him, no matter what."
Shen Ye asked again, "And then?"
The man replied, "Then? This kid has guts. With so many people wanting to catch him, he just stopped at the city gate and drank dozens of bowls of wine in front of everyone."
Before Shen Ye could ask further, the crowd in front of him parted as if split by a sword.
Shen Ye saw Prince Fu in black official robes, wearing a two-dragon gold-winged crown coming forward. Prince Fu was holding the reins, behind him, a drunken youth swayed unsteadily on horseback but remained upright.
The youth was holding a wine jar, pouring for himself and drinking every drop.
In a world of mere passersby, this person rode past on horseback, naturally standing taller than everyone.
"Chen Ji!" Shen Ye exclaimed, astonished.
In the lamplight of Andingmen Avenue, white steam rose from Chen Ji as if the wine in his stomach was set ablaze, transforming into mist soaring up.
The bloodstains on his clothes resembled the big red embroidered flowers on the chest of the best scorer, with Prince Fu leading his horse, like a top scholar preparing to attend the Heavenly Family’s banquet.
Shen Ye couldn’t help but laugh and cry, it wasn’t even time for the imperial exams, yet this wild top scholar had stolen the limelight from legitimate scholars.
As Prince Fu led the horse closer, Shen Ye stepped aside and loudly asked Chen Ji, "How many bowls have you drunk?"
Chen Ji looked down through bleary eyes and replied, "Sixty-seven bowls."
The onlookers gasped, Shen Ye cheerfully asked from the crowd, "How many more to drink?"
Chen Ji smiled and replied, "Fifteen more."
Someone on Andingmen Avenue shouted, "Boasting, aren’t you? Sixty-seven bowls would burst your belly!"
Just then, Prince Fu snorted, "If he says sixty-seven bowls, it’s sixty-seven bowls, how could he lie to you? I’m counting!"
Silently observing from the crowd, Shen Ye saw the brightly lit wine shops along Andingmen Avenue, Prince and youth looking like characters straight out of a storyteller’s tale, wild and unrestrained.
Watching Prince Fu and Chen Ji gradually disappear, Shen Ye suddenly shouted, "The newly acclaimed top scholar of the thirty-second year of Jianing, Shen Ye, is here. Which restaurant has pen and ink?"
A young servant in the crowd hurriedly said, "I have it!"
Shen Ye laughed heartily, "Bring it here, I’ll grant you a masterpiece!"
Two servants clumsily pushed through the crowd, one unrolled a scroll in front of Shen Ye while the other squatted and opened an ink box, soaking a brush in ink and handing it to Shen Ye.
People teased, "The spring examination results aren’t even posted, yet you claim to be the new top scholar? The boys at Bianyifang, don’t let him fool you!"
Shen Ye rolled up his sleeves, accepting the brush and laughed loudly, "It’s already in the bag."
With a grand flourish, he wrote on the scroll, "Broken Formation, on the day of the spring exam when Changge entered the capital drunk."
At that moment, Shen Ye closed his eyes in thought. Huang Que curiously leaned over, asking, "Didn’t Brother Shen say you didn’t want to give away favors to the capital’s wine houses?"
Shen Ye opened his eyes again and pointed to Chen Ji’s distant silhouette, sighing, "Who could resist this?"
The next moment, he penned, "Studied the classics for twenty years, spent thirty years in vain. Eight hundred drums echo still harsh, three thousand miles rushed in vain, many wasted scholars abound."
"Young riding waves, the prince beside the saddle says naught. Dare to pour the northern dipper’s strong wine, drunkenly gaze upon old mountains and rivers, reclaiming two dynasties for the nation!"
"Careless and slapdash, not too shameful," Shen Ye assessed the "Broken Formation," then tossed the brush to a servant from Bianyifang.
The servant caught the brush, asking, "May I ask, where do you reside, sir? If you call names at Eastern Hua Gate, the tavern would like to visit and discuss with you who to invite for the feast."
Shen Ye glanced sideways at the servant, "No need to consult me, everyone who sees it is invited. On that day, anyone can come to your Bianyifang, beggars, women, children, offer the world a golden cup to get drunk, yes?"
The servant grinned, "As long as you can call names outside Eastern Hua Gate, why not?"
At the edge of the crowd, a young Taoist riding backward on a Qing Niu was fervently writing in an endlessly inked brush on a Wordless Heavenly Scripture.
