On the street outside the women’s academy, two men on two horses were slowly riding away.
Shen Zhishu, holding his whip, looked back and, seeing that the eaves of the women’s academy were no longer visible, turned to the man riding beside him: “Allowing the top female graduate of the imperial examinations to enter the Hanlin Academy—what is the Crown Prince planning this time?”
Bai Danyong was merely one of the Crown Prince’s close attendants—how could he know about court personnel reforms? Seeing Shen Zhishu riding along unhurriedly, he grew anxious and said hastily: “The Crown Prince must have been waiting for us in the city for a long time. Lord Shen, we must hurry along and not keep the Crown Prince waiting!”
Seeing him about to spur his horse, Shen Zhishu quickly moved forward to block him, his expression awkward. After hesitating for a moment, he said: “Guard Bai, the Crown Prince… he’s no longer in the city.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Danyong’s face immediately turned pale: “What did Lord Shen say?”
Shen Zhishu continued with an embarrassed smile, “Don’t worry, Guard Bai. The Crown Prince went north to have a look around. He’ll be back in a few days.”
As soon as Bai Danyong heard the words “went north to have a look,” he immediately flicked his horsewhip in anger and said gravely: “So Lord Shen’s request for me to accompany you to the women’s academy today was just an excuse! Lord Shen now holds a position in the Hanlin Academy, yet you still play such tricks with the Crown Prince as you did in childhood, making me run in circles? Your Excellency, are you trying to get me beheaded this time? Where exactly in the north did the Crown Prince go?”
Hearing Bai Danyong’s distress, even reverting to his old form of address, Shen Zhishu quickly tried to placate him with a smile: “What are you saying, Guard Bai? You practically watched me grow up—how could I put you in a position of disloyalty? The Crown Prince gave an order, and I dared not disobey. You understand the Crown Prince’s nature—if he could be constrained by rules and regulations, would he still be the Crown Prince? As for where the Crown Prince has gone, without his permission, how could I speak of it carelessly?”
Bai Danyong clutched the reins tightly, frowning deeply before saying: “But if something happens to the Crown Prince alone in the north…”
Shen Zhishu continued to smile: “Guard Bai, please rest assured. The Crown Prince has trained in martial arts with the palace guards since childhood, and he was personally taught by the Prince of Peace. How could ordinary people harm him?”
Bai Danyong wore a bitter expression, sighing repeatedly, “This matter… if Her Majesty finds out about this, who knows how angry she’ll be! Your Excellency, you and the Crown Prince put on quite a show yesterday, but you’re going to ruin me!”
“Guard Bai, don’t worry,” Shen Zhishu urged his horse forward. “If anything happens to the Crown Prince, I’ll cut off my head first to serve as a stepping stone for you on the execution platform, how about that?”
Bai Danyong followed with a pained expression: “At a time like this, Your Excellency still makes such jokes…”
Shen Zhishu smiled but said nothing more, merely raising his eyebrows and glancing toward the distant mountains beyond the north gate.
The reddish-brown mountain peak showed hints of emerald green, drifting amid wispy white clouds.
He lowered his eyes. The road to the Qingzhou garrison would probably not be as pleasant as one might hope…
In the city, peach blossoms had just begun to open. Delicate pink petals fluttered everywhere, enticing butterflies and bees to chase them endlessly.
The provincial examinations for female candidates had just concluded after three days of testing. While Grand Tutor Shen had people seal the examination hall to copy and grade the papers, shocking news spread throughout Chongzhou City—
The Crown Prince had come to Chao’an!
Traveling incognito without prior notice to any officials in the North Chao’an Road prefectures, he had gone alone to the Qingzhou garrison, then southward, inspecting dozens of border outposts without anyone’s knowledge before swiftly returning to Chongzhou Prefecture.
Upon entering Chongzhou City, the Crown Prince went directly to the North Chao’an Road Pacification Commissioner’s Office and ordered all military officials from the Pacification Commissioner down to await him in the yamen.
This stunned all the officials in the North Chao’an Road Pacification Commissioner’s Office.
Who could have expected the Crown Prince to come to Chao’an at this time? And who could have imagined he would inspect the Qingzhou garrison?
His orders were as sharp as a sword—no one dared to resist. No matter how shocked or frightened they were, they all obediently waited in the Pacification Commissioner’s Office, wondering what the Crown Prince’s move meant.
Officials in their heavy ceremonial robes knelt on the blue bricks of the Pacification Commissioner’s Office courtyard.
Spring days lengthened, but once past noon, the sunlight poured down like magma from the sky, baking these men in their heavy official robes. Even the most composed person couldn’t withstand such scorching heat.
The backs of many robes were already soaked with sweat, and almost everyone would periodically use their sleeves to wipe the sweat rolling down their foreheads.
Someone complained in a low voice: “The Crown Prince didn’t say a word about punishment. On what authority does Minister Dong make us kneel here waiting?”
Someone nearby replied in a hushed tone: “Are you blind or brainless? Couldn’t you see how angry the Crown Prince was? Minister Dong having us kneel here is the best strategy—otherwise, who knows how the Crown Prince might punish us!”
Another person whispered: “It’s just that the Qingzhou garrison has grown somewhat lax—surely that doesn’t warrant such anger? Besides, Minister Dong was personally selected by the Prince of Peace as the Pacification Commissioner. The Crown Prince wouldn’t disregard the Prince of Peace’s face and…”
“What do you know?” someone in the middle interrupted. “Have you heard of the Chao’an monks and nuns case from ten years ago? The Crown Prince was only fourteen then, but his methods…” The speaker shuddered and drew a finger across his throat. “Even someone who had fought alongside the Prince of Peace was beheaded just like that! Without even a report to the capital.”
Hearing this, everyone around lowered their heads, no longer daring to speak. The sunlight overhead suddenly seemed to carry a chill, instantly dispelling the feeling of sweat on their bodies.
…
The Crown Prince of the Great Peace Nation, surnamed Ying and named Gua, was the only child of the reigning Empress Ying Huan and the Prince of Peace He Xi.
If anyone in the world had the most ruthless methods that made people tremble with fear, that person would undoubtedly be the Prince of Peace. But if anyone in the world had the most unfathomable mind, that person would be Crown Prince Ying Gua.
He had been taciturn since childhood, true to his name.
When the Empress and the Prince of Peace chose “Gua” (meaning “solitary” or “few”) as the Crown Prince’s name, it left the people of the world speculating for a long time, unable to understand its meaning. Only a few old ministers in the court who had followed the two for many years could comprehend the deep significance.
Before the founding of the Great Peace Dynasty, the world was divided into five parts.
In the east was Ye Qi, in the west was Tai Tuo, in the south was Xue, in the north was Jian, and in the center remained Tian Wan.
The Empress was originally the ruler of Tai Tuo, while the Prince of Peace was the ruler of Ye Qi. The two fought each other for exactly ten years, then met once and became entangled for life, from then on never able to do without each other.
It was a contest between two emperors, and also a love affair between two rulers.
Even after so many years, the old people of the nation still vividly remember that passionate entanglement beneath the iron curtain of chaotic warfare.
Hundreds of rivers, thousands of streams, vast territories, weapons, and blood, countless armies lined up on battlefields, war smoke rising in all five nations… Tremendous waves of life and death before them, unpredictable fate, and unstable empires behind them. She and he, both rulers, went from hatred to love, from suspicion to trust, from battlefield confrontations to joining armies and marching north. They consecutively defeated the two nations of South Xue and Central Tian Wan but stopped before attacking North Jian due to his severe injuries.
No one in the world knew why he ultimately yielded this empire to her.
People only knew that from then on, they advanced and retreated together, and she even renamed the nation after his title—Peace.
The founding of the Great Peace Dynasty coincided with the Crown Prince’s birth.
Named “Gua” (few/solitary) not because they wanted their only child to be alone for life, but because only this one person could inherit the empire they had built with their lifelong blood and effort.
Crown Prince Ying Gua was intelligent from childhood. At fourteen, he began participating in court and military affairs. From then on, the Prince of Peace withdrew from politics, and the Empress only conferred with the Crown Prince on important matters.
When the Prince of Peace yielded his position, the Empress unified the world and changed the name of the country to Great Peace. The former officials of their original states were merged in the new capital of Suiyang in the third year of Qiande. From then on, the civil officials in the court were secretly divided into Eastern and Western factions, occasionally contending over court and military affairs for over twenty years.
The surrendered territories of former South Xue and Central Tian Wan were also reorganized into administrative regions. North Chao’an Road was precisely the northern territory of former Central Tian Wan, adjacent to the North Jian border. The dozens of outposts built along the border had only increased over the years, showing the court’s level of attention to this region.
So the Crown Prince’s incognito inspection of North Chao’an Road and his anger at finding the Qingzhou garrison in disrepair were understandable.
…
Inside the secondary hall of the prefectural yamen, it was cold and dim.
A man in his forties knelt in the hall, bowing his head: “Your Highness has come from the capital, and I failed to detect it beforehand. This is indeed a great crime. I beg Your Highness to quell your anger.”
“Minister Dong,” the young man on the seat called out softly.
It was Crown Prince Ying Gua.
Dong Yicheng remained prostrate for a long while before raising his head. “I beg Your Highness for forgiveness.”
Ying Gua’s face was expressionless, his voice cold: “Minister Dong failed to detect me beforehand—what crime is there in that? It is I who came to Chao’an without informing you first, causing you trouble.”
Dong Yicheng hurriedly lowered his head again, saying with a trembling voice: “I wouldn’t dare say that!” After a pause, he continued: “I have already sent people to investigate the deterioration of the Qingzhou garrison and the thirty-seven outposts along the northern border. Those kneeling in the courtyard outside are all involved in the military affairs of Chao’an. Whether to question or punish them, I leave it all to Your Highness!”
Ying Gua stood up. “From the seventeenth year of Qiande until now, your North Chao’an Road has annually requested grain and military funds from the court. The Empress knew the northern border was still unstable and was wary of North Jian’s armies stationed in the south, so she never rejected your memorials. She gave whatever you asked for, simply hoping for peace at the northern border.”
Dong Yicheng’s forehead dripped with sweat, and he dared not speak.
With a backward sweep of his hand, Ying Gua knocked several thick impeachment documents from the table to the floor. “In recent years, there have always been bandits causing trouble at the northern border. What is your Chao’an Military Command doing? How are you maintaining the hundred thousand imperial troops on the northern border? There have been people in the court impeaching you, but all such memorials were suppressed by the Empress. How have you treated the imperial edicts? Have you truly become so accustomed to peace that you think no great disturbance will arise at the northern border?”
Dong Yicheng looked up, wanting to defend himself, but upon meeting the sword-like gaze of the young man before him, he could not utter a word.
Ying Gua continued coldly: “Every time you come to the capital to report, you complain that the court favors officials in the eastern and western prefectures, looking down on officials in the surrendered territories… Tell me, among the twenty-eight regions of the Great Peace Nation, which Pacification Commissioner has more money saved than you, Dong Yicheng?”
“Your Highness, I have not…”
Ying Gua unfastened the sword hanging at his waist, placed its tip on the ground, and raised an eyebrow: “Back when the Empress and the Prince of Peace were fighting to establish the empire, no matter how difficult things were, they never shortchanged the soldiers by a single coin. Now the Qingzhou garrison and the other thirty-seven outposts have weak soldiers and feeble horses, the fortifications are in ruins with no one to repair them, and countless weapons and armor are rusting. Where has all the money the court allocates to you each year for military purposes gone?” He ran his hand over the sword hilt a few times, then continued: “If one-day unrest breaks out at the northern border, executing everyone in your Chao’an Military Command would not be excessive!”
“Mercy, Your Highness! Mercy, Your Highness!…” Dong Yicheng prostrated himself on the ground, repeatedly knocking his head.
With cold eyes and a furrowed brow, Ying Gua was about to speak again when suddenly someone outside the hall timidly announced: “Reporting to Your Highness, someone has just arrived from the examination hall, saying that Grand Tutor Shen has sent an examination paper for Your Highness to see.”
Hearing this, Dong Yicheng quickly rose from the ground and went outside to send various officials back to their duties at the yamen, then invited the person from the examination hall to enter.
The visitor wore a short purple robe. After paying his respects, he took a copied examination essay from his sleeve and presented it, saying: “Although it’s against regulations, Grand Tutor Shen still ordered me to bring this for Your Highness’s perusal.”
Raising an eyebrow, Ying Gua accepted it while saying: “With the examination hall sealed and papers being graded, how can we break the rules? What is the Grand Tutor’s intention…”
The messenger lowered his head: “Grand Tutor Shen has already disqualified this person from the female candidates’ imperial examination, so the copied paper can be shown to Your Highness.”
“Disqualified?” He frowned. “Ten years of diligent study is not easy. Why was this person disqualified?”
“The essay written did not conform to the assigned topic. The Grand Tutor said that although this person is knowledgeable, there is a suspicion of showing off talent and being deliberately unconventional, so they were disqualified according to the rules.”
His expression cooled slightly. After thinking for a moment, he asked: “If that’s the case, why specifically bring it for me to see?”
“The Grand Tutor said, it’s a pity to waste talent… The Grand Tutor also said that this essay might align with Your Highness’s thinking.”
He remained silent, his long index finger gently unfolding the copied paper. After quickly reading through it, surprise flashed in his eyes. He looked up and asked the messenger: “Do you know this person’s name?”
The messenger nodded, “Meng Tinghui.”