Grand Counselor Zheng asked: “What does Your Majesty think?”
Emperor Zhengyuan was clearly not best pleased. His expression grew ever more grave — yet he still held his temper, and said: “Lingnan is a wilderness. That is not going to serve as a post — that is exile in all but name. The Emperor does not consider it acceptable.”
Grand Counselor Zheng said: “A sharp sword is made through hardship. It is precisely in such places that a top scholar can prove his worth. For if he cannot manage even this, on what grounds can he call himself top scholar?”
Emperor Zhengyuan gave a cold laugh. “If the Emperor recalls correctly, Grand Counselor Zheng arranged for the second-place scholar to be posted as county magistrate in Xinping County of the Jingji region — right on the doorstep of the capital, under the Emperor’s very eyes. And yet you turn around and propose to send the top scholar all the way to Lingnan. What is the meaning of this? Is it not simply that the second-place scholar is of noble birth with ties of marriage to the Xingyang Zheng Family, while Shen Xiao is nothing but a commoner?”
The Emperor grew angrier as he spoke. “You might as well not come asking the Emperor’s opinion at all. The Emperor wished to place someone in the Chancellery, and you sent him to Lingnan instead. Since this entire court answers to Grand Counselor Zheng alone, you may as well take the Emperor’s imperial seal right now and simply stamp this memorial yourself!”
The Emperor’s voice of fury rang through the hall. Palace women and eunuchs tumbled to their knees in a cascade.
Li Shu rushed forward and took hold of the Emperor’s arm. “Father Emperor, please do not let your anger harm your health.”
Grand Counselor Zheng had also risen from his stool, swaying and unsteady, his voice old and cracked. “Your Majesty, this old subject has not the slightest intention of overstepping. Everything this old subject has said has been for the good of the court.”
“When Your Majesty first proposed opening the imperial examination, this old subject cautioned against it. Now the examination has selected a few men and Your Majesty sees a hall full of talent — yet this old subject still has misgivings in his heart. Will the court of the future be filled entirely with those who do nothing but write essays and pass tests?”
“The top scholar Shen Xiao’s essay is brilliantly written — this subject has read it and must concede as much. Yet he comes from the humblest of origins. If he has risen to win the top position, it can only be through the grinding, water-wearing labor of twenty years bent over a cold window. This subject will speak plainly: one fears the man has become nothing but a bookworm, and is wholly unfit to manage affairs of real consequence. How could such a man be placed in the Chancellery as a Reviewing Censor?”
Growing heated in his argument, Grand Counselor Zheng coughed. “Cough, cough… Your Majesty, this old subject is not set against you. This old subject fears only that the court will appoint the wrong men.”
Li Shu quickly ordered the junior eunuch: “Blind as a post — get over here and help Grand Counselor Zheng be seated!”
A man of his age — if something happened to him right here in the hall, it would be impossible to explain.
The junior eunuch helped Grand Counselor Zheng slowly back to his seat. Emperor Zhengyuan laughed with cold fury. “So Grand Counselor Zheng’s meaning is that this imperial examination is utterly useless? That everything it produced is rubbish?”
Grand Counselor Zheng said: “One cannot say it is without use — after all, a few commoners with beautifully written essays have been identified. Good for composing poetry, harmonizing verse, and compiling the classics. But for actual governing — best to set that aside.”
Emperor Zhengyuan flung his memorial to the table and rose to his feet with a bang of his palm. “Those are your true feelings! You simply do not want the Emperor to give commoners any path upward! If the Emperor were to heed you today and send Shen Xiao off to Lingnan, the next time the examination is held, what commoner would still wish to come and sit it? You are asking the Emperor to break faith with all the scholars in the empire!”
Watching Emperor Zhengyuan grow more enraged by the moment, Li Shu was afraid this would end somewhere neither side could retreat from with dignity. No longer concerned with propriety, she stepped forward and took hold of the Emperor’s arm. “Father Emperor, please do not be angry — it is not worth damaging your health.”
She raised a cup of tea and personally served it to him, smiling as she said: “Even teeth and tongue have their quarrels sometimes — much less the fact that we are all family here. A little friction is perfectly ordinary, and no harm done, so long as no one’s feelings are truly hurt.”
Emperor Zhengyuan drank a mouthful of tea with a dark expression, then abruptly turned: “Sparrow — what official post do you think would suit Shen Xiao?”
And now the target had swung to Li Shu.
The Emperor’s thinking was that Li Shu had always been clear-sighted and sharp in her political judgments, and that standing as she did outside the immediate conflict, a proposal from her might break the current deadlock.
Grand Counselor Zheng immediately followed: “This subject would be most pleased to hear the princess’s thoughts.”
Grand Counselor Zheng was thinking: Prince Consort Cui Jinzhi was the Crown Prince’s man through and through, so Princess Pingyang would surely side with his own camp.
Li Shu was thinking: this was a narrow ledge, and every side of it was a blade. One misstep and she would crack her head open.
A great many thoughts flashed through Li Shu’s mind in quick succession — but she kept her expression unchanged and her smile steady, and spoke at an unhurried pace:
“Your subject-daughter is too ignorant to judge. Having listened to all of this, I can only say that Father Emperor and Grand Counselor Zheng both seem to make sense.”
Merely playing peacekeeper would only earn disdain from both sides.
Li Shu continued:
“Father Emperor admires the top scholar’s talent and wishes to place him in the Chancellery. But the Grand Counselor fears the top scholar may be all show and no substance, and wishes to send him to Lingnan to be seasoned. May I suggest a middle course — let the top scholar remain in the capital, but assign him only a minor post of low rank. If he performs well, Father Emperor may then raise him into the Chancellery. If he does not perform well, he can be demoted to Lingnan.”
Emperor Zhengyuan immediately followed up: “Sparrow, what post in particular do you think would suit?”
The Crown Prince’s instructions that morning from Cui Jinzhi were perfectly clear, and if she disobeyed she would face unpleasant consequences. Yet she could not let Father Emperor think she was distancing herself from him, or this imperial favor would be gone.
Li Shu smiled slowly and said: “Your subject-daughter is a woman of no political knowledge — how would I know which post would be most fitting?… Oh, wait — I do vaguely recall a post called something like ‘Surveillance Censor.’ I believe it is an eighth-rank post of some kind. Perhaps that might suit… though this subject-daughter is not certain, Father Emperor. If I have spoken out of turn, please do not punish me for it.”
And with that, Li Shu even managed a prettily aggrieved tug at the Emperor’s sleeve, affecting the manner of a daughter coaxing her father.
A Surveillance Censor — this was the only solution that could untangle the knot.
It was only eighth rank, the lowest of ranks, and yet its authority was broad: it carried the power to investigate and impeach any official in the realm. A low-profile post with genuine power. Father Emperor would certainly be satisfied.
And at the same time — the Censorate was administered by none other than Xiao Jiang of the Lanling Xiao Family. The Xiao Family was a noble clan of over a hundred years’ standing — and just like Grand Counselor Zheng, Xiao Jiang held commoners in the utmost contempt. Even if Shen Xiao entered the Censorate, the path there would be a difficult one — whether he could ultimately make something of himself remained to be seen. The Crown Prince and the noble families would be quite satisfied with this arrangement as well.
Emperor Zhengyuan was indeed pleased by Li Shu’s suggestion. He tapped her on the nose with one finger and laughed: “You blind cat — you’ve managed to catch this dead mouse after all!” Then he turned to the Grand Counselor: “What does Grand Counselor Zheng think?”
Grand Counselor Zheng naturally had no objections. Xiao Jiang set the greatest store by birth and breeding — there was no chance that Shen Xiao could stir up any real trouble in the Censorate. In a few years, once the Emperor had forgotten about the young man, he could quietly arrange to have him sent out of the capital.
So Grand Counselor Zheng ceased his arguments, clasped his hands, and said: “This subject respectfully accepts Your Majesty’s imperial decree.”
It was as though she had been walking a hundred paces of steel wire suspended at great height. Li Shu’s back was already soaked through with cold sweat.
Having narrowly managed to defuse this storm, Emperor Zhengyuan appeared to be in fine spirits, and the two of them shared a meal of imperial food together. After leaving the palace, Li Shu wandered the streets for a while, and it was not until late afternoon that she returned to her mansion.
Li Shu had just stepped off the carriage and mounted the entrance steps, about to go inside, when she heard the thunderous sound of approaching hooves. She turned — and saw a magnificent scarlet Dayuan stallion bearing down upon her like a wall of fire, pulling up short right in front of her gates.
The horse had barely stopped when its rider leaped off.
The newcomer was the Second Prince.
Second Prince Li Yan wore his standard scarlet prince’s robe, a riding crop still in hand, and cleared several steps of the entrance in a single bound.
Li Shu frowned, but quickly hung a smile in place. “Second Brother — what has you in such a hurry?”
But Li Yan only fixed her with a furious stare, his features contorted as if he wanted to strike someone. “You still know I’m your second brother?!”
Li Yan was a military man, strapping and tall, and had seen battle. At this moment, glaring at Li Shu, he looked like a living demon incarnate.
Hong Luo’s voice quavered, but she held her ground. “Second Prince — what are you—”
Li Yan impatiently shoved Hong Luo aside and stepped forward until he was almost chest to chest with Li Shu. He ducked his head and spoke through clenched teeth: “Li Shu — do you want to drive me to my death before you’re satisfied?!”
He had ridden here at a gallop, and his body was hot and lightly damp, radiating the fierce heat and sweat of a robust man. Li Shu turned her face slightly away and said in a cool, even voice: “Second Brother, I don’t understand what you mean.”
Li Yan gave a cold laugh, his words bitten out: “Don’t understand? Then let me remind you — four words: grain in place of coin! Does it make sense now? Are you trying to push me into my grave?!”
Hearing those four words, Li Shu knew that the idea she had given Cui Jinzhi that morning had already been put in motion — the Crown Prince had evidently submitted a memorial to the Emperor that very afternoon.
Li Shu understood full well what those four words meant to the Second Prince — and yet she felt not the slightest trace of pity or remorse. Her voice remained detached and cool. “Second Brother — lower your voice. This is the gate of my mansion. Half the court passes by this street. If you wish to make a scene here, please leave me out of it.”
And with that she turned to go inside. But Li Yan’s hand shot out and locked around her wrist, clamping it through the sleeve so hard it was nearly crushed.
Li Yan raged: “Make a scene? I’m beyond caring about scenes now. You’ve all but pushed me to the edge of a cliff — do you think I still care about being seen?”
“Grain in place of coin — oh, what a splendid idea that is! You’ve handed the Crown Prince a magnificent stroke! Yongtong Canal has been under repair for three months, yet the laborers just drag their feet and refuse to work hard. Why? Because grain prices have shot through the roof and wages can’t buy enough to eat — isn’t that it? So you told the Crown Prince to stop paying wages altogether, and give rations of grain instead. What a brilliant idea — that canal will get repaired in no time, and the Crown Prince will win the Emperor’s praise.”
“But what about me? Grain instead of coin — where does the grain come from? It all comes from my Ministry of Revenue in the end.
“Guanzhong has been in drought since last winter. Every grain shop in the entire city of Da Xing has been emptied out. Even if the Ministry of Revenue wanted to buy grain, there is none to be bought. The state granaries do have grain, but that is the military rations the Emperor has set aside for the frontier troops — not a single grain can be touched. The Ministry of Revenue is penniless and bare — where am I supposed to find grain? And if the grain cannot be disbursed, the court breaks faith with the people!”
“Li Shu — Li Shu — you have pushed me to the very end of my rope!”