After dawn, she left the palace.
A Grand Secretary of Wuying Hall had taken ill, and His Majesty asked her to visit on his behalf as a gesture of concern.
That Grand Secretary belonged to the Rong faction, though his position was relatively moderate. He was an old peacemaker who smoothed over everything—someone both the Emperor and his daughter wanted to win over. When he fell ill, it was proper for the imperial family to visit.
After Tie Ci warmly expressed her concern, she received a basketful of tearful gratitude from the slippery old minister, though not a single genuinely heartfelt word. The Crown Princess didn’t mind, still fulfilling her duty with grace and warmth. However, when taking her leave, she casually took out a small jade piece and played with it in her hand.
When the Grand Secretary saw it, his eyes widened slightly.
This jade piece was one of the tokens she had obtained from various families when she helped resolve the ghost island trouble for the merchant fleet at sea.
This Grand Secretary’s household had participated, so Tie Ci took it out to test the waters.
Tie Ci only played with it for a moment before putting it away, smiling at him.
Grand Secretary Chang’s expression changed for just an instant, then he immediately had his son escort the Crown Princess out.
The seemingly shrewd middle-aged man bowed deeply to Tie Ci at the second gate, and before she got in her carriage, quietly said a few words.
Tie Ci listened attentively, smiled and nodded, then lowered the curtain.
It was still early. Thinking of tomorrow’s spring examinations, she wondered how the scholars were preparing today and decided to go observe them incognito.
The place where scholars in the capital now most loved to gather was Zhegui Tower, one of the three famous towers in the capital. Originally called Mingyue Tower, it was later renamed Shanyin Tower because it backed against mountains—when you opened the windows, you saw mountains, and on rainy days the green mountains appeared misty and hidden, creating a very atmospheric scene. But because the mountain roads were difficult to navigate, making it seem somewhat remote, business was once affected. Later they changed it to the vulgar name Zhegui Tower, and business immediately surged, as scholars favored it for the auspicious meaning of its name.
Tomorrow was the spring examination, so cramming today would be rather meaningless. When Tie Ci arrived, the building was packed from top to bottom with people engaged in high-spirited discourse, discussing the world’s talents.
Before each spring examination, heroes gathered, and among them there were always those with widespread literary reputation who inevitably became subjects of ranking and comparison. Some even opened betting pools.
Standing outside the building, Tie Ci listened for a while and heard names like Hui Chuan and Chang Yuan mentioned most frequently. Besides these, many names came from Yueli Academy, and she even heard Qi Yuansi and Shen Mi mentioned, though they were ranked rather low, they were at least on the list.
Qi Yuansi was also taking the examination this year. He was already one of the rare scholars among the capital’s youth who excelled in both literary and martial arts. Military families rarely produced scholarly talent, and military officers had lower status than civil officials in the Da Qian dynasty, so Governor Qi strongly supported Qi Yuansi taking the imperial examinations.
After returning to the academy, Shen Mi had kept a low profile, but he already had considerable literary reputation and excelled at policy essays, making him a formidable opponent in everyone’s minds.
Tie Ci was surprised to hear Tong Rushi’s name.
This strange dormmate—she knew he was very excellent. Though relegated to the Wu dormitory, he had likely come specifically for her.
This person and Li Zhi had mysteriously disappeared in Dongming and hadn’t appeared since, yet who knew he was also participating in the metropolitan examination.
After Tie Ci had nearly exposed his identity face-to-face, he still came to take the examination. Tie Ci found this quite interesting.
She listened for a while, then lifted the curtain and entered. A server enthusiastically approached, about to speak when he saw her and unconsciously paused.
The people engaged in lively discussion instinctively turned back, and for a moment the entire building quieted.
A youth like pearl and jade, in white silk robes with silver-blue woven belt at the waist. He wore few accessories like sachets, pouches, or jade pendants—only a distinctive jade brush hung at his waist, from which dangled an even more distinctive light silver-blue fish-shaped pearl.
The youth stood there as a gentle breeze passed through the hall, stirring his robes slightly. Everyone felt as if they were seeing a jade tree growing on a majestic jade mountain—bright, lustrous, and noble, bathed in heaven and earth’s qi, bearing the light of sun and moon.
This time Tie Ci hadn’t disguised herself much, because she had inquired and learned that mostly ordinary scholars gathered here. Few children of officials participated in the imperial examinations, and even when they gathered, they had their own places. There shouldn’t be anyone who could recognize her.
She was quite accustomed to such gazes, calmly nodding and finding a random place to sit. She smiled and raised her hand, signaling everyone to continue.
Everyone instinctively watched her every movement, feeling that while this person’s aura wasn’t aggressive, every gesture was exceptionally comfortable and pleasing to watch. Yet this non-aggressive person’s movements naturally inspired obedience. When she raised her hand to signal them to continue, they did so.
The conversation naturally turned to where those famous scholars came from, what forces backed them, and what they excelled at.
Tie Ci had Dan Shuang and Chi Xue sit as well, ordered some wine and food, and sat quietly listening.
Upstairs in the private rooms, some seemed to be listening to music while others listened to storytelling.
Not long after Tie Ci sat down, a middle-aged man entered with several guards. The man had an ordinary appearance, but his gaze swept around the building and brightened when he saw Tie Ci, instinctively wanting to approach.
A guard beside him said quietly: “Master, the main hall is chaotic—better to sit in a private room.”
A server approached. These runners who mixed in the capital were best at reading people and immediately saw that this man had an extraordinary aura. With a few words, they invited the middle-aged man to a private room.
Tie Ci sat with her back to the middle-aged man and didn’t notice him among the coming and going crowd.
After a while, she heard that the storytelling upstairs had changed from heroic legends to “The Chronicle of Ci’s Heart.”
The main hall paid even less attention to who came and went, continuing their heated discussion.
Tie Ci silently noted the names of several scholars everyone highly praised, along with the possible backing relationships people gossiped about.
“…What you’re all discussing isn’t really anything,” someone suddenly laughed. “What remote relatives of the Chief Minister, what people from Grand Secretaries’ hometowns, what ministers who think highly of them—none of that compares to two people here who have reached the emperor’s ears and are guaranteed to pluck osmanthus in the moon palace.”
Tie Ci, who had been quietly cracking sunflower seeds, raised an eyebrow.
The middle-aged man upstairs who had been happily listening to stories froze, waving his hand to signal the storyteller to pause.
People chattered, asking who.
The man said: “Those from Yueli Academy.”
“So what?”
The man meaningfully pointed upward, saying: “Cannot say, cannot say.”
Dan Shuang raised an eyebrow and was about to stand, but Tie Ci held her down.
She glanced at that pretentious person—ordinary-looking, so ordinary that if thrown into a crowd, you’d never find him again.
“Do you mean the Crown Princess?” someone rashly said. “The Crown Princess did once study at Yueli Academy for historical training, but it was brief—just ordinary classmates. Your words are inappropriate. Are you saying the Crown Princess would cheat? What kind of person is the Crown Princess? How could she show favoritism for brief acquaintances?”
“Hey, brother, you can eat carelessly, but you can’t speak carelessly. When did I ever say the Crown Princess would cheat or show favoritism?” the man laughed. “But you got one thing wrong—those people weren’t ordinary classmates with the Crown Princess. After the academy temporarily closed, some followed the Crown Princess continuously, accompanying her to Dongming, Yongping, and Xirong. Others directly received the Crown Princess’s favor, obtaining academy enrollment through her—this isn’t an ordinary relationship.”
Everyone fell silent. This topic was too sensitive, implying that the Crown Princess interfered with the academy, using student quotas to win people’s hearts. And since the Crown Princess had gone to such lengths to cultivate talent, she naturally wouldn’t let them fail the metropolitan examination.
Dan Shuang’s face flushed red with anger. Who was cultivating whom? Qi Yuansi had once been forced by the Crown Princess to eat shit!
As for Shen Mi, he had attached himself to the Crown Princess, and she reciprocated, giving him a chance to return to study. What was wrong with that?
“The Chronicle of Ci’s Heart” had spread widely recently, and someone immediately retorted: “The Crown Princess went to the academy out of necessity. She was also excellent while studying there. It’s natural for outstanding people to attract famous scholars’ loyalty. Why think of it so sordidly!”
The man laughed: “And how do you know the Crown Princess was excellent?”
“Naturally—haven’t you read ‘The Chronicle of Ci’s Heart’?”
“‘The Chronicle of Ci’s Heart’?” the man chuckled. “Unscrupulous literati waving flags and shouting for those in power—do you actually believe that? Gentlemen, we’ve studied hard for ten years, mastering literary and martial arts, to establish hearts for heaven and earth, establish destinies for the people, continue the lost teachings of past sages, and establish peace for all generations—not to follow others blindly, go with the flow, and bow and scrape to the powerful!”
He spoke with righteous conviction and proud bearing, causing a group of angry youth who loved to criticize the court first in everything and considered themselves upright to cheer loudly.
The scholar he mocked turned red-faced, momentarily unable to refute the big hat suddenly placed on his head.
Because in literary debates, hat-placing was an essential competitive technique. The hats had to be big, numerous, heavy, and placed quickly. Whoever first placed a big, heavy, intimidating hat covered with moral coercion would usually win.
Though the Crown Princess held noble status and had recently gained great fame, precisely because of this, criticizing the Crown Princess a few times showed one’s exceptional and unique character.
The person who had gained the upper hand became even more pleased, laughing: “You say the Crown Princess is excellent—do you know that the Crown Princess originally had no qualifications to enter the academy? She used connections to get in, and immediately upon entering, she was placed in the Yi Hall. In her first class on classical texts, because she couldn’t recite the essentials of the Five Classics, the professor gave her the lowest grade!”
Everyone exclaimed in amazement. The Five Classics essentials were required reading for every scholar taking the imperial examinations. By the metropolitan examination level, everyone knew them by heart. Hearing that someone couldn’t even recite the Five Classics essentials caused much discussion.
“Such matters naturally wouldn’t be written in ‘The Chronicle of Ci’s Heart.’ Some spineless literati serving as mouthpieces for the powerful naturally know what should and shouldn’t be shown to you.”
“Then how do you know about this?”
“Because that professor is my distant relative. He fears no powerful figures. Soon he’ll come to the capital for a position and will naturally write another ‘Academy Records’ to let everyone understand what cosmetic whitewashing means. Then everyone will naturally know whether my words are true or false.”
The sounds of music and storytelling upstairs had somehow stopped, and the entire building was silent.
“‘The Chronicle of Ci’s Heart’ misleads people! Gentlemen are all people of outstanding wisdom—why not carefully recall that this person was always said to dislike studying, only knowing how to wield swords and spears. How did she suddenly gain literary reputation? This person lacks talent and learning, her innate abilities have been slow to manifest, her position precarious, forcing her to seek alternative paths. She was just born with good looks.”
“Good looks mean nothing to discerning men. So when the Crown Princess was selecting marriage partners, the Qi family, Wang family, Xirong, and Murong family all refused the match. I heard that to win over the last candidate and maintain face, she bestowed countless precious gifts—golden nine-petaled lotus lamp stands, gem-studded eight-bat sun-embracing golden plates, cloud kiln lotus-green dragon-pattern plum vase sets, glass jade eighteen-bead bracelets, purple crystal beast-knob oval private seals… all rare treasures, sent to that Eighteenth Prince’s residence as if money meant nothing. And the result? Guess what happened?”
Everyone stared with eyes gleaming with gossip.
The man slapped his thigh: “He sold them all!”
Everyone gasped.
“How could imperial gifts be sold…”
“Liaodong is far from the emperor—what do they care about imperial gifts? But guess why he sold them? If my fiancée gave me even a handkerchief, I definitely wouldn’t bear to sell it.”
Everyone fell silent, savoring this matter, tasting countless flavors, their expressions growing complex.
Dan Shuang’s face had long been covered with frost, angrily saying: “I told you we shouldn’t have been nice to that bastard!”
Tie Ci’s expression was blank.
She had heard about this from Rong Pu before. When she first heard it, she hadn’t cared, but hearing it again now, it sounded wrong no matter how she listened.
Chi Xue glared at Dan Shuang.
Why add salt to the wound?
The Crown Princess had remained unmoved through all the previous slander, but only now did her expression seem wrong.
After all, the Crown Princess had weathered countless attacks and storms—what was before them was child’s play. Only that person could truly affect her emotions.
Seeing everyone taking the bait, the man felt pleased, thinking of the enormous reward made him even happier.
“Hitting walls everywhere, no one willing to take her—naturally she could only search elsewhere. Don’t underestimate this person’s literary talent, but she’s clever. Look how she’s turned things around now! I say choosing the academy was brilliant—people when needed, talent when needed, plus gaining reputation. All young people, hot-blooded. A beautiful young woman speaking gently and pitifully—who wouldn’t soften and follow? ‘A fair lady is a gentleman’s good match,’ after all.” The man laughed, saying lightly: “I heard the Crown Princess lived in the Wu dormitory at the academy—one room, five men!”
“Crack.” Someone upstairs suddenly threw down a wine pot, though the aim wasn’t good—it hit the nearby railing, wine splashing and drenching that group.
The man yelped, instinctively looking up. Before he could curse, a sweet shout rang out from upstairs: “You foul-mouthed scoundrel slandering the Crown Princess! Sisters, pelt him to death!”
Before the words finished, countless fruits, wine, food, along with sunflower seed plates and peanut shells poured down like rain. The people below cried out in alarm, scattering to avoid them.
At the second-floor railing, the middle-aged man who had first thrown the wine pot was pushed aside by a group of furiously charging girls throwing things. After being dazed for a while, he pointed downstairs with an iron-dark face, telling his guards: “Arrest him! Whoever lets him escape loses their head!”
The guards rushed down, but the main floor was in chaos. Several people dressed as ordinary scholars beside that man suddenly acted, deflecting the fruits and peanuts while quickly parting the crowd to escort him out.
Tie Ci had risen the moment the wine pot fell. Though the other party had reached the door amid the chaos, Tie Ci flashed and appeared behind him, but suddenly felt cold wind attacking. She dodged sideways as several sharp blades flashed past her waist—those disguised scholar-experts had struck.
Someone kicked a scholar toward them while another raised a blade to stab. The scholar’s terrified screams hurt Tie Ci’s ears, forcing her to scoop up the scholar and throw him far away.
This delay allowed the loudmouth to be escorted out, with a carriage waiting at the door. He quickly leaped aboard—
Tie Ci wanted to pursue, but someone else was kicked toward her from the crowd, wailing mid-air.
Someone upstairs angrily shouted: “Don’t save these slanderers! Go chase him first!”
Tie Ci recognized this voice too well and looked up in alarm. As she caught the person, she was delayed another step, and the carriage outside was about to speed away.
Suddenly a sharp cry rang out. The carriage seemed hit by something, the driver cried out, and the carriage tilted to one side.
“Swoosh”—a sharp sound followed by a thud as the carriage window cracked from left to right. Accompanied by screams from inside, an arrow hung on the carriage curtain.
Hoofbeats thundered with stern shouts of “Surround this carriage! No one leaves!” as a large group of soldiers arrived, encircling the carriage.
The leader rode straight to the wine house entrance, dismounted and entered directly, drawing his whip from behind and cracking it several times, sweeping aside the scholars blocking the doorway.
Without these scholars in the way, and before the middle-aged man’s guards could act, Tie Ci took down those men in a few exchanges.
Her graceful figure danced flower-like before everyone’s eyes. Her robes had just begun to flutter when several men collapsed on the ground. Such martial arts amazed the watching scholars, and the bold ones even began applauding.
After Tie Ci captured those men, Chi Xue and Dan Shuang immediately stepped forward to seal their tongues to prevent suicide, borrowing rope from the shop to tie them in a bundle.
Tie Ci looked up and saw someone on the railing guiltily pulling their head back instantly.
Tie Ci smiled. She wouldn’t expose them now, turning back to look at the serious-faced Qi Yuansi. “How did you get here?”
Qi Yuansi said stiffly: “Someone kicked me awake.”
Tie Ci: “Hm?”
Not just kicked awake—he’d been dragged here all the way, not only dragged here but scolded the entire way, not only scolded the entire way but taken on a detour to the toilet.
Qi Yuansi rarely looked so unpleasant. Ignoring etiquette, without saying much to Tie Ci, he turned and shouted: “Bring it up!”
Someone brought up a tray with a large bowl covered by a lid.
Tie Ci noticed the person carrying the tray also had a strange expression, eyebrows, eyes, and nose all scrunched together as if carrying excrement.
Qi Yuansi said: “I am Qi Yuansi.”
The scholars were shocked, not expecting to see the celebrity they’d just been discussing. They all stepped forward to pay respects.
Qi Yuansi waved his hand: “Just now someone said I refused marriage with the Crown Princess, and that the Crown Princess approached and tried to please us?”