The vermilion doors of the great hall were tightly closed, the palace lamps inside casting a soft glow, the room extraordinarily quiet.

The sun rose and set, leaving a mottled pattern of gray shadows on the hall floor tiles, their intricate designs with blurred edges like the many suppressed emotions of spring.

He sat there, motionlessly watching these women in their plain clothes and simple adornments.

They were all so young, so full of vigor, but did they truly know what the real court was like?

Many women put down their brushes, took out the palace biscuits they had received while waiting at the steps below the hall in the early morning, and quietly began to eat at their seats.

Only she kept her head lowered, her wrist suspended as she wielded her brush, dotting ink on white paper, her back straight as a rod, as if unaware of fatigue.

With eyes rich with ink color, her brush flew across the paper, her handwriting neat within the red grid lines, and on her left side, a thin stack of gold-bordered answer sheets had accumulated.

Amidst all the red lips, fine eyebrows, and plain faces, his gaze gradually moved toward her, watching her eyelashes involuntarily flutter up and down, watching the loose strands of hair at her forehead blocking the tips of her eyebrows, watching the extremely focused and serious expression on her face, watching her pouring her heart into writing this essay.

Several women around her had eaten and begun writing their policy essays again.

Only the package of palace biscuits beside her remained untouched, completely intact.

He noticed how different she was, tilted his body slightly, and casually rested his chin on his arm, intently scrutinizing her.

In his mind, he recalled that day on the yellow earthen official road north of Chongzhou City—a broken temple, a person in plain clothing, eyes stubborn and determined looking at him, actually asking him his surname and given name.

Since his birth, no one had ever asked him that question.

His name was known throughout the land, yet no one dared call it, and few knew what profound meaning it truly represented.

“Gua” meant solitary.

Since ancient times, rulers have been solitary. Even his parents, who matched like a sword and its sheath, had walked alone through so many years, shed so much blood, sweat, and tears, and sacrificed so many people and things, only to gain these few decades of mutual dependence and companionship.

Naming him “solitary” was not to wish him a life of solitude, but because this empire, stained with the life’s blood of both his parents, could only be inherited by him.

He was the only child of their entire lives, and who else but he would be qualified to bear the bitterness, the difficulty, and the loneliness of an emperor?

Others only saw his limitless glory, but who understood how heavy the burden on his shoulders truly was? The difficulty of being a ruler cannot be spoken of.

Even if it could be spoken of, there was no one to speak to.

…

“Your Highness?”

The Court of Imperial Entertainments official beside him, seeing him staring at a woman in a trance, softly called to him.

He suddenly came to his senses, aware of his lapse in composure, and frowned involuntarily. He raised his eyes to look at her once more, only to meet her gaze as she glanced over.

It was the same clear, limpid gaze as that day.

He impassively shifted his eyes away, looking toward a corner of the hall, his gaze sweeping across the seated crowd before returning.

She looked so young, at most seventeen or eighteen years old, with a pure and delicate face, yet she dared to break the rules in the provincial examination. She was vastly different from the women he had seen before.

But why had she broken the rules?

He closed his eyes slightly, recalling what Gu Qin had told him at the Ministry of Rites Examination Hall a few days ago.

Unexpectedly, in just a few days, she had managed to befriend Shen Zhili, and Shen Zhili had even been willing to go to Gu Qin’s residence to present a card to her.

This showed that she truly was different from others.

Deep red candle wax dripped down, with a fiery color, as eye-catching as blood.

When he raised his eyes again, he found she was still looking at him.

His eyes darkened, not expecting her to be so bold.

She met his slightly stern gaze and immediately averted her eyes.

But even so, he saw the flickering, deep anticipation in her eyes.

What was she longing for?

Fame or official salary?

The clean desk before her was neatly stacked with gold-bordered answer sheets, her brush and ink already put away, and the package of palace biscuits beside her still uneaten.

A Ministry of Rites official also noticed and walked over to inquire in a low voice. Seeing that she had completed all the answers, he was surprised, but according to the rules, she could not leave early. So he let her continue sitting there, waiting to exit the hall with the others at sunset.

He observed this, and his expression changed again. He saw her slightly lower her head, looking at the desk in front of her, her expression focused, motionless for a long time, lost in thought about who knows what.

This woman…

She was indeed interesting.

The night was deep, yet the Eastern Palace’s outer chamber remained brightly lit.

Several Grand Scholars from the Hanlin Academy and officials from the Ministry of Rites were busy at the long desk, arranging the Palace examination papers by surname. Lecturers from the Hanlin Academy brought them before him one by one, reading the policy essays aloud.

He sat behind the desk, reading the memorials submitted by the two departments while listening to the recitation of those essays. After a long while, he finally gathered the scattered memorials and looked up, saying: “Bring them here, I’ll read them myself.”

Someone immediately brought the thick stack of policy essays to the desk in front of him.

He reached out and flipped through them a couple of times, then looked up: “Is the one with the surname Meng among these?”

“Your Highness, please wait a moment.” The person turned around, brought another stack, respectfully placed it down, and extracted one to present to him: “This is the policy essay by Meng Tinghui.”

He glanced at the person, his lips moving slightly, about to say he wasn’t asking for Meng Tinghui’s, but then remembered that she was the only one with the surname Meng in this Palace examination. His brow cooled, and with a stiff face, he accepted the stack of answer sheets the person handed to him, spreading them out on the desk with a rustle, his gaze sweeping over them.

“It is difficult to be a ruler, even more difficult to be a minister.

I have heard it said, that if my body can save people, I would not begrudge it.

This is why our dynasty has been able to expand its borders and enjoy the realm, with the four seas united…

He did not read further, his gaze lingering only on that one sentence, gradually becoming fiery.

—I have heard it said, that if my body can save people, I would not begrudge it.

From whom had she heard these words?

He steadied himself and then continued reading.

On sheet after sheet of gold-bordered paper, row after row of proud, firm small regular script formed a magnificent essay, causing him to sigh in silent admiration.

Scholars have often been aloof and unyielding, but when had he ever seen a woman like her?

He thought again of her in the Hall of Precious Harmony, looking up at him from her seat, and later, her focused expression as she stared at her desk.

What was really in her mind?

What was she truly seeking?

After pondering for a moment, he picked up his brush, dipped it in vermilion ink, and made a mark in the upper right corner of her answer sheet. Then he turned to summon someone, saying: “The top three graduates and the seven second-rank graduates must be selected by the day after tomorrow at the latest. However, who will be named as the first-rank first-place graduate will be personally decided by me after the preliminary announcement ceremony.”

The Ministry of Rites official who heard this was extremely surprised, then hesitantly asked: “If the first rank first place is not determined, in what order should Your Highness receive the ten tribute scholars during the preliminary announcement ceremony?”

He raised his eyebrows: “The seven second-rank graduates will follow their rankings, as for the top three graduates,” he paused slightly, “arrange them as you wish, but place Meng Tinghui last in the audience.”