A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 33

In the twentieth year of Xuanyuan’s reign, the Imperial Examinations, which were originally scheduled for the autumn of the following year, were moved up to November of the current year.

The reason was this: When Xie Yu vigorously supported Zhang Diancheng in re-surveying the lands of all prefectures, counties, and districts, he established the Bureau of Agriculture and Sericulture at the county level, and the Department of Agriculture and Sericulture at the district and prefecture levels to oversee and manage the county bureaus. This was a preemptive measure to prevent a recurrence of civil unrest caused by land consolidation.

In any case where aristocratic families or officials illegally seized cultivated land, the common people would write a formal complaint which the bureau official must seal immediately and expedite to Yongdu, where Zhang Diancheng would personally review and handle the matter.

Once verified, the official would be instantly stripped of their position and executed.

To prevent the officials of the Department and Bureau of Agriculture and Sericulture from engaging in corruption, seventeen inspectors (Ducheng Yushi) were also appointed to conduct irregular inspections in the local areas.

The officials in the Department and Bureau of Agriculture and Sericulture worked diligently, with their lives on the line, daring not to slack off or harbor any wicked intent to seize farmland.

However, the loophole appeared with the Ducheng Yushi.

Cen Jinshan, the Ducheng Yushi of Linxia Prefecture, acquired a famous painting in the local area of Linxia in addition to his duties and presented it to Zhang Diancheng.

Zhang Diancheng was far from poor. He enjoyed collecting famous artifacts, calligraphy, and paintings, all of which were quite valuable. Many of his students were proficient in this art as well, and if they were fortunate enough to find a rare painting that pleased Prime Minister Zhang, they were sure to receive promotion and recommendation.

The painting Cen Jinshan found was The Dusk Clouds of Baiyue, the final masterpiece of the deceased painting master Huangfu Maomao. The descendants, lacking talent and experiencing a decline in the family’s fortunes, had to sell the family heirloom.

Cen Jinshan’s official salary was insufficient to buy this painting.

Thus, he came up with a wicked scheme: he colluded with a money house in Linxia Prefecture and embezzled a portion of the savings of the prefecture’s citizens.

The citizens had deposit receipts, but when they tried to withdraw their money, the money house initially offered various excuses. Later, when the truth could no longer be concealed and a big commotion arose, Cen Jinshan, carrying his inspector’s seal, directly demanded that the local government use force to suppress the people.

The citizens were resentful but dared not speak out. After a full year, when the government saw that the situation had calmed down and lowered its guard, the people found an opportunity to travel to Yongdu and present an imperial appeal.

The tragedy of the Cangnan civil unrest was still fresh in memory, yet someone was so audacious as to commit such a crime in defiance of the law.

Emperor Xuanyuan was furious. He berated Zhang Diancheng and ordered him to suspend morning court for three days to investigate the matter.

Being ordered to suspend court, while not the most severe punishment, was enough to cause a respected Prime Minister to lose face.

It signaled that the Emperor no longer trusted him.

The punishment was the execution of Cen Jinshan’s three familial lines, and the dismissal and investigation of all officials, large and small, in Linxia.

In previous years, due to a period of instability, the faces in the officialdom had already changed significantly. The corruption case at the Imperial Lodge and the Cangnan civil unrest led to the purging of a large number of officials: some were executed, some were demoted, and some were exiled. The leak of the Yin and Yang Scrolls of the He family’s military strategy resulted in another round of executions.

With heads being cut off one after another, the court needed new personnel to fill the vacancies. Consequently, Emperor Xuanyuan decreed that a special Enke (Mercy Exam) be held this year.

The Imperial Examinations were originally held every three years, but to supplement the new officials, they were changed to an annual event.

The chief examiners were to be the Left Prime Minister, Xun Xian, and the Censor-in-Chief, Jiang Xiantang.

Shortly after the examination, another incident of “contracted students” (Yueding Mensheng) was exposed.

The main subject was none other than Xun Xian.

A “student” (Mensheng), simply put, was a scholar who successfully passed the metropolitan examination that year, making them the student of that year’s chief examiner.

These students, promoted by the chief examiner, naturally became the chief examiner’s protégés, forming a political faction with him.

“Contracted students” meant the chief examiner would identify outstanding students in that year’s cohort and try to recruit them early by secretly making an agreement: if you pass the exam, you will become my student.

The bait was the examination questions for the metropolitan exam that year.

Among those Xun Xian recruited was a student from Hanhong Academy named Han Song.

His original rank should have been Second Place (Bangye), with the First Place (Zhuangyuan) and Third Place (Tanhua) going to Sheng Y’an and Chen Luan, respectively. After the incident, the Second Place was stripped of his score and imprisoned, forever barred from taking the Imperial Examinations.

The other candidates who were similarly “contracted” were treated the same way.

This time, Emperor Xuanyuan seemed to have lost his temper, not displaying the same anger as when he rebuked Zhang Diancheng. He sat quietly on the high platform, looking down with eyes full of disappointment.

“Minister Xun, even you have begun to cultivate your own faction?”

The two Prime Ministers of Da Lin had different survival strategies. Zhang Diancheng stood firm through his personal achievements and his backing by the Crown Prince. Xun Xian, however, was able to maintain his position as Prime Minister for many years entirely by relying on his absolute loyalty to Emperor Xuanyuan.

He had no outstanding political achievements, yet his position in court was unshakeable, all because of his pure heart that did not form cliques, did not engage in corruption, and was loyal only to Emperor Xuanyuan.

Emperor Xuanyuan suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of sadness.

The young woman he loved had suddenly passed away; his once-loyal followers had betrayed him and left, choosing to become bandits and occupy the mountains; the elder brother who had grown up with him had become estranged and sought to resign; and his sons were locked in a fierce struggle, plotting how to seize his throne.

He had always believed that Xun Xian would remain loyal to him, and only him, until his final years.

A solitary ruler, that was all he was.

Another incident that came to light was the widespread popularity of On Women.

The person responsible for investigating the “contracted students” was Zhao Xingli. This official was overly dedicated and investigated the spread of banned books simultaneously.

One thing led to another, and he uncovered the existence of a grand, yet unfinished, academy that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere in Yongdu, as well as the Shengchanglong merchant house providing the financial backing.

This matter, which could not be concealed forever, was finally brought before Emperor Xuanyuan.

When Xie Wenjun and Chen Liangyu knelt together beneath Emperor Xuanyuan’s throne, he slowly spoke the deep-seated question in his heart in a calm, yet manic, tone.

“Does My Being Alive Bother You?”

Emperor Xuanyuan raised his hand and tossed a book onto the ground in front of Xie Wenjun. The pages opened, revealing On Women, which she had translated into vernacular Chinese based on Yao Jifeng’s original draft.

“You spent three years at the Grand Monastery of Peace, was it to compile and translate this thing?”

Chen Liangyu had met Xie Wenjun right outside the Chongzheng Hall when summoned. They entered the hall together, knelt together to plead guilty, and her expression held an air of defiance, as if she were ready to face death.

Emperor Xuanyuan’s questioning came down upon them. Under the wrath of the Son of Heaven, Chen Liangyu couldn’t help but feel a little worried. She glanced at Xie Wenjun and saw that the Princess, who had just a moment ago seemed ready to sacrifice herself, was now teary-eyed and overcome with sorrow.

She choked back sobs, her eyes blurred with tears as she softly called out, “Imperial Father.”

Tears streamed down her face.

Emperor Xuanyuan’s expression softened.

He felt guilty towards Empress Huixian and her daughter. He had previously thought he was prioritizing the greater good and had neglected them for a long time. After Empress Huixian passed away, Xie Wenjun grew into a young woman, her appearance and temperament remarkably similar to her mother’s.

Thinking of this, his voice involuntarily softened a few degrees, though he still maintained the tone of reprimand befitting a sovereign.

“I am asking you a question. Just answer, and if you have any grievances, speak them as well.”

“Your daughter admits her guilt!” Xie Wenjun prostrated herself, touching her forehead to the ground, then straightened up and said, “In the past, Imperial Father was busy with court affairs, and thus did not often have time to visit Mother and me. Each time he came, he looked more exhausted than the last. At that time, Mother often worried about not being able to share your burdens, and this kept her awake at night. When she couldn’t sleep, she could only look for leisure books to pass the time. Mother’s greatest regret in life was not having the opportunity to attend an academy or school, to study, discuss, and learn alongside friends.”

Emperor Xuanyuan was touched. He knew what Xie Wenjun said was true.

When he was still a prince and she was the fourth daughter of the Rong family, Empress Huixian had yearned for wide-open spaces. At that time, her favorite thing to do was host poetry gatherings and engage in a fierce battle of poetry and lyrics with He Yunzhou.

She had also once told him that if she could study and take the Imperial Examinations, she would surely be on the honor roll.

“When your daughter was observing filial piety, Mother appeared in a dream again and spoke of her lifelong regret. Your daughter could not bear to see Mother restless in the afterlife, so I wanted to do something to comfort Mother’s soul.”

Xie Wenjun wept with tears and snot flowing, smearing her rouge and eyebrows.

“Your daughter is guilty and is willing to accept any punishment!”

Chen Liangyu found it hard to discern how much of her words were true or false, but seeing the Emperor’s deeply mournful expression as he recalled Empress Huixian, it seemed this hurdle might be easy to pass.

While Xie Wenjun turned her face away to wipe her tears, she used her hand to shield her face and winked at Chen Liangyu.

Understood, play the sentiment card!

So, when Emperor Xuanyuan forgave Xie Wenjun and turned to question Chen Liangyu about the academy and the Shengchanglong merchant house, Chen Liangyu immediately followed suit. After bowing and pleading guilty, she redirected the whole story back to Chen Yuanqing.

“Reporting to His Majesty, casualties were heavy when repelling the enemy in the northern border that year, and later nearly 200,000 soldiers were demobilized. Though reliant on Imperial Grace, the court issued pensions to the parents, wives, and children of the deceased soldiers, and distributed rewards to the retired soldiers to settle their lives. The Ministry of Revenue allocated more than half of this money, and the rest was supplemented by grain harvested from the northern garrison’s cultivated land and taxes collected from the Shuofang trade route. However, the amount was enormous. My father worried day and night, filling the gap with the gold and silver bestowed upon the Marquis’s Residence by Your Majesty, but it was still not enough. I was momentarily confused and resorted to this inferior method, distributing the remaining required funds to civilian merchants.”

Chen Liangyu performed a kowtow again, her forehead hitting the ground with a thump.

“This subject deserves ten thousand deaths!”

Emperor Xuanyuan stepped down from the imperial platform and paced back and forth twice in front of the two of them, letting out a heavy snort.

The words, a mixture of truth and falsehood, were difficult to find fault with.

It was true that the Marquis of Xuanping had used the bestowed gold and silver to supplement the rewards for demobilized soldiers and the pensions for fallen soldiers. It was also true that the shortfall was allocated to civilian merchants in the form of “buying official posts.” However, whether this military expenditure was related to the rise of Shengchanglong was questionable.

If he wanted to investigate thoroughly, the accounts of Shengchanglong would not be hard to check, but Emperor Xuanyuan was not inclined to dwell on such minor details.

“And how do you explain the academy?”

Xie Wenjun interrupted, jumping in ahead: “The academy was something your daughter requested General Chen to establish. As I cannot frequently leave the palace, I ordered her to undertake this matter.”

Other people were still kneeling in Chongzheng Hall.

Today, besides calling the two of them to account for On Women and the academy, the more urgent court business was dealing with the “contracted students” incident. Therefore, Xun Xian, Zhang Diancheng, and a group of officials responsible for investigating the case were all present.

There were also two Censors sent by the Censorate to submit reports and impeach officials.

Kicking the copy of On Women on the ground, Emperor Xuanyuan said irritably, “This kind of exaggerated and misleading book should be burned. If anyone is found spreading it again, they will be given fifty strokes of the cane and imprisoned.”

After a moment’s consideration, he added, “As for the academy, you may keep it if you wish! Just treat it as a pastime, as fulfilling your Mother’s last wish.”

A rare scene occurred.

Typically, at this moment, civilian officials would surely step forward to advise against it, saying things like “establishing an academy is wasteful and harms the people” and “female scholarship is putting the cart before the horse,” turning a reasonable matter into a crime against nature.

Yet, no one objected.

Especially the two Censors standing at the back of the hall, who remained silent regarding Emperor Xuanyuan’s decision to keep the women’s academy.

“The two of you may withdraw,” Emperor Xuanyuan waved them away.

Chen Liangyu and Xie Wenjun performed the retreating courtesy and left.

The moment Xie Wenjun turned around, her expression returned to normal; the person who had just been weeping profusely and displaying deep father-daughter affection seemed not to have been her.

When she recognized the faces of those few civilian officials and the two Censors, Chen Liangyu understood why they had not stepped up to object.

They were among those who had lost in the poetry battle at the Empress Dowager Wang’s birthday banquet. Losing to Grand Tutor Gu’s granddaughter could be explained, but losing to a courtesan was a tremendous loss of face.

Chen Liangyu and Princess Jiangning were both present that day.

Fearing that the disgrace of their defeat would be brought up in front of the Emperor and cause them further humiliation, they tacitly kept their mouths shut.

Furthermore, an academy used to fulfill Empress Huixian’s dying wish was an issue where, even if they spoke up, it was almost impossible to reverse the imperial will.

Given the circumstances, it was best to say less.

Chen Liangyu had hit her head a bit hard, and her forehead was red. Xie Wenjun pulled her to a deserted corridor next to Chongzheng Hall and took a small box from her sleeve.

When opened, a cool, medicinal fragrance wafted out.

“Why are you carrying ointment for bruises and sprains?”

“I originally planned that if bringing up Mother didn’t work, I would learn from those people in the Censorate and stage an act of smashing my head against a pillar for him to see.”

Xie Wenjun circled her fingertip on the ointment. As the paste melted slightly, she reached out and touched the red, swollen area on Chen Liangyu’s face.

Chen Liangyu did not turn her head to avoid it.

A cool sensation moved across her forehead, and she felt a tingling itch at her brow bone.

It was just a red mark, not even a scratch on the skin. Following her usual habit, she wouldn’t bother applying ointment herself; it would disappear after a night’s sleep.

Yet, Xie Wenjun was unusually focused, carefully rubbing the area until the creamy white ointment blended with the skin.

Chen Liangyu thought: As expected of the Imperial Princess raised by the Eastern Palace, she treats even a small matter like applying ointment with such seriousness and meticulousness.

Suddenly, she heard a faint, almost imperceptible sigh. Chen Liangyu asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Wenjun replied, “It won’t be so easy to fool Imperial Brother.”

Chen Liangyu nodded in agreement.

With Xie Yu, the sentiment card wouldn’t be as effective.