Chapter 79: The same path no more
Translator's note: In previous chapters, I made a slight error in a character's name—that's been amended now, so in this chapter you'll see "Yun Shanxing" rather than the previous "Yun Shanhang".
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He Leyong's expression changed suddenly, her gaze shifting to the maid by the side. The maid seemed to know that she ought not stay here as well, and, with a lowered head, left with short, rapid steps. Only once she had ascertained there was no one around did He Leyong lower her voice. "You absolutely can't be like such. Did you forget what I told to you before? Now she's the ruler and you and I are subjects; regardless of how deep a friendship there was before, now, your identities are, in the end, no longer the same. After all, being a bit more careful in all matters can't go wrong."
For the first time, Xie Qianbing disagreed somewhat with He Leyong's views, but she also knew that this place wasn't a good place to speak, and could only nod. "Laoshi's guidance is correct."
So, six scrolls of exam paper thusly fell upon Jiang Changbai's imperial study's desk. Her mood was clearly quite good, and she even had the mind to joke with Xie Qianbing. "Qianbing, you must have grown tired of looking at these and so pushed the remaining papers over to Us."
Xie Qianbing smiled as well. "Ah, how could I? It's just that this minister's scholarship. has its limits, and and feeling that these exam papers were evenly matched, couldn't pick out a ranking. I can only entreat your majesty to make the decision."
Seeing Jiang Changbai had picked up an exam scroll to peruse, Xie Qianbing let out a breath of relief. Once the zhuangyuan, bangyan, and tanhua were chosen, then this keju could be counted as having reached its end. These past few days, she'd been shut up in her room reading through exam scrolls, not noticing day and night, and she felt that her eyes were about to go blind because of it.
However, Jiang Changbai suddenly spoke. "It was Laoshi who told you to come, wasn't it?"
"Ah?" Xie Qianbing startled, a degree of panic flashing in her eyes. "What you're saying, this minister doesn't understand."
Jiang Changbai was still smiling. "Laoshi feared that you'd be punished for picking someone who didn't align with Our intentions, and so had you bring the scrolls to Us, isn't that right?"
No matter what, Xie Qianbing hadn't thought that Jiang Changbai would ask such a question, and in a flash, her train of thought fell into a disarray. However, now, He Leyong's words from the night before suddenly flashed in her mind. "No matter when it is, as long as you maintain loyal and devoted to her majesty, you can evade the majority of the danger."
As a result, she slowly and cautiously nodded. "Nothing can be hidden from Bixia."
Yet hearing this, Jiang Changbai sighed; seeing this, Xie Qianbing's heart stuttered, and the hands withdrawn within her sleeves trembled a bit as well, and she feared that, at the slightest mistake, she'd bring disaster down on her teacher.
But Jiang Changbai merely said, "Everything Laoshi says is so; it's just a little too careful. To speak of it, it's the Tai Emperor's fault as well—he was too rigid, and it affected others. Now, it's caused even Us to be be guarded against by Laoshi."
Xie Qianbing let out a great breath of relief, and continued Jiang Changbai's line of thought. "Ah, yes, this minister thinks so as well."
"But luckily there's still you," Jiang Changbai said. "You're still the same as before. Otherwise We really would be on a solitary path, cut off from others, and being the Emperor would be far too difficult."
Xie Qianbing's eyes brightened, and for an instant, a sense of a great deal of achievement rushed forth in her heart. Hadn't she said? Even if circumstances had changed even more, the basic character of a person wouldn't change. Jiang Changbai would forever be Jiang Changbai, no matter if she were a princess or the Emperor.
"Alright, let's just go with this order. From top to bottom, zhuangyuan, bangyan, tanhua."
In the time Xie Qianbing's thoughts had been flying, Jiang Changbai had already perused these six exam scrolls in their entirety. To be honest, the difference between the candidates' capabilities wasn't much, and no matter who was zhuangyuan, they wouldn't be unable to convince others.
What neither of them knew was that, beneath the anonymising slip of the exam scroll at the very top of the pile was, actually, written Xu Shuqiao's name.
With the evaluation of the keju exam papers over, Xu Shuqiao could finally go home. In this period, in order to prevent news from leaking out, Xu Shuqiao had lived the entire time in a government office, and hadn't gone home. As a result, to an outsider's view, Xu Shuqiao had been arrested for beating the Drum of Grievance, and hadn't been let out since then.
Even Xu Shuqiao's family believed this, and as a result, when Xu Shuqiao stepped into the courtyard, her mother suddenly embraced her, unable to stop sobbing.
"Niang, don't cry, I'm alright."
At this moment, Xu Shuqiao still didn't know she'd earned the title of zhuangyuan, but with Jiang Changbai's guarantee, she wasn't that worried about the keju results either anymore. After all, a sovereign wouldn't go back on their words, and in the future, she'd most certainly play a role in the bureaucracy.
"How could you be so reckless!" Her mother, suddenly seeming to recall something, stopped crying, and raised a palm to swat fiercely at Xu Shuqiao a couple times. But these slaps were all thunder and barely any rain, and Xu Shuqiao feel hurt, either; rather, her heart felt warm.
"Not thinking it through at all when doing things—you even passed yourself off as a man, which is a crime in deceiving the Emperor. If not for her majesty's kindheartedness, how could you still be alive? If you were to come to some unexpected end, what would come of me? What would come of your little sister?"
Her mother was still admonishing her, but Xu Shuqiao's gaze had already swept across the courtyard. Those in the household had seemingly all come out to greet her on hearing the sounds, except for one person.
Xu Shuqiao asked, "Niang, what about A Xing?"
As her mother spoke, her words carried a bit of a sob as well, and hearing this, she suddenly slapped her thigh. "A Xing thought that you were stuck in jail and couldn't get out, so she said she was going to find her mother's dear friends[1] and find a way to get you out. She left not long ago; quick, go chase her down and bring her back!"
Hearing this, Xu Shuqiao's pupils suddenly dilated, and without even looking back,s he rushed towards the stable. So, having rushed about outside for so many days, on coming back home, she left once more without even having a sip of water. But for better or worse, she'd only been gone half an incense's time when the celebratory party came to her home, beating gongs and drums.
"Ah, congratulations, congratulations!" The leader, seeing the doors were open, stood up and made obeisance in all directions.
Xu Shuqiao's mother, still steeping in the joy of her daughter having been let out of prison, suddenly being congratulated like this, unexpectedly was a bit dazed. Though being let out of prison was a happy matter, it wasn't to the point of having such a large party come give congratulations.
"Two jinshi holders from a single house—ah, this is such a great matter!" That person naturally could tell that Xu Shuqiao's mother wasn't herself, and hurriedly explained.
As it turned out, when the imperial notice had been released, Xu Shuqiao's name was, shockingly, written at the very first place, as the first zhuangyuan since the new Emperor had taken the throne. And Yun Shanxing's name was on the imperial notice as well, only a bit lower than Xu Shuqiao's—tanhua.
"Ah, are Xu Shuqiao and Yun Shanxing here?" That person at the head was an unknown minor figure without a reputation as well. She was an official of seventh rank, and if it were a previous keju, it absolutely wouldn't be her coming to give congratulations.
But this year was special.
Only now did Xu Shuqiao's mother react, but she could only stutter, "She only just left…"
But by the second day, Xu Shuqiao and Yun Shanxing hadn't come back. With the zhuangyuan and tanhua gone, the only one left to parade about the streets with horses and banners was the bangyan. This bangyan wasn't a youth either, and at a glance, she ought to be about her forties or older. She, too, was a beneficiary of participating in this keju; if it were even later, perhaps she wouldn't have been able to spend three days unceasingly in examination, to say nothing of earning a bangyan.
It was just that, with her alone astride a horse, it really did seem a bit lonely. Only once the bangyan had come to the end of the street did she hear from, behind her, the sound of a rush of hoofbeats. As it turned out, Xu Shuqiao and Yun Shanxing had made it back, just in time to catch the final notes.
"The zhuangyuan has come!" some unknown person amidst the crowd called out.
Equally as joyful was Jiang Changbai. She'd always felt that her ideas weren't wrong; women had never been able to participate in the keju, and amidst them were most certainly buried a not insignificant number of talents. The results of this re-examining of the exams was exactly as she'd suspected; among the hundred people, almost ninety were women, and as for the first three names, they'd been even more monopolised.
With the Emperor happy, the atmosphere of the court improved a not insignificant amount as well. Those who had been involved with this keju and hadn't made any mistakes all received rewards as well. The new jinshi holders all rapidly earned official positions as well, and it seemed as if everything was developing towards good.
But today, when Shen Yanyi returned to her residence, she saw Yang Zhuofei sitting in her drawing room.
"Princess Yu?" Shen Yanyi startled, rubbing her eyes in disbelief. "How is it that you're here?"
"I came to find you," Yang Zhuofei said, without the slightest bit of a guest's consideration, each motion and movement as if it were she herself who was the owner of this place. She leaned against the chair calmly, merely waiting for Shen Yanyi to speak.
Shen Yanyi cooled her expression. "This place doesn't welcome you; leave quickly."
"How is it you're so eager to chase this princess away?" Yang Zhuofei laughed. "Could it be that you don't want to hear the news about your mother?"
"I've already been deceived once," Shen Yanyi said, her gaze practically spitting fire. "You really must take me for a fool—you've fooled me once, so you want to fool me a second time?"
"How did this princess deceive you?" The disappointment on Yang Zhuofei's face increased. "Your mother and I were friends at first sight; now, seeing her orphan, I merely wanted to look after you for her, but I hadn't imagined…"
Before she could finish speaking, Shen Yanyi cut her off. "Quit acting for me—I won't be fooled by you again?"
"Don't disbelieve me; this princess really is making considerations for you," Yang Zhuofei said, lowering her gaze. "With the keju having just finished, her majesty has gained all those new talents. With so many people, there naturally has to be those who are removed. Just take a look at that new zhuangyuan Xu Shuqiao—it's said that, before this notice, she helped her majesty with a great number of matters. You probably didn't know about these matters, did you."
"Complete nonsense!" Shen Yanyi cried. "Is it it that whatever you say simply is?"
Yang Zhuofei laughed softly. "Or else, who did you think it was who handled Xie Qianbing's original responsibilities during the period she was behind closed doors devoting herself to grading the exam papers? You didn't truly believe that Xie Qianbing has such a skill—half grading exams, half dealing with all those official affairs?"
Shen Yanyi stilled, and for a while, really couldn't say anything. Yang Zhuofei, seeing this, was internally elated, and continued. "As this princess sees it, you and Xie Qianbing are equal in ability, such that even your ability is ability is above hers. But why is she able to earn an important position, and you haven't? Now, with so many new people entering the court, and with you having just committed an error, I fear that, in the future, the times her majesty will be able to make use of you will be even fewer. Ah, what a pity…"
Shen Yanyi fell silent for a long while, unspeaking. Only after another incense's time did she seem to have made a decision. "Then by Dianxia's opinion, what ought I to do in the future?"
Translator's notes:
[1]: 手帕交 (shoupa jiao), literally "handkerchief friends". Not very common in spoken usage and used in writing to refer to deep emotional ties between female friends.
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