Wei Shao was startled, but his quick reflexes allowed him to snatch the document from Xiao Qiao’s hands before she could open it.
Xiao Qiao glanced at him, extending her soft, delicate hand towards him.
Wei Shao held the document behind his back and forced a laugh. “This one isn’t well-written. Why don’t you look at something else?”
“I want to take a look,” Xiao Qiao said, smiling at him.
Wei Shao remained motionless.
Xiao Qiao reached behind him, trying to grab the document from his hand.
Wei Shao held on tightly.
The smile faded from Xiao Qiao’s face.
“Let go!” she demanded.
Wei Shao’s grip loosened, and she snatched the document away.
As she opened it and began reading, her gaze finally settled on the name column. She seemed lost in thought. Suppressing the bubbling jealousy in his heart, Wei Shao said, “Gao Heng’s writing is merely a pile of flowery words without substance. What do you think, Manman?”
Xiao Qiao put down the document.
“On my way here, I happened to meet Doctor Fang and casually asked about the imperial examination papers. The doctor’s opinion is quite the opposite of yours, Your Majesty. According to him, Gao Bohai’s answer is worthy of the top rank.”
Wei Shao flushed, clearing his throat. “I’m not slandering the previous dynasty! How did people like Fang Xi ever become Imperial Academy scholars? It’s a mishmash, yet they insist on calling it a masterpiece! It’s only because of Gao Heng’s reputation that even if he wrote rubbish, they’d still…”
His initially indignant expression gradually softened as he noticed Xiao Qiao watching him, and his voice trailed off.
“Go on!” Xiao Qiao urged, still sitting sideways on his lap, raising her delicate eyebrows.
Wei Shao met her gaze for a moment, then suddenly said, “Are you deliberately opposing me too? I’ll be frank! I just can’t stand this Gao Heng! Moreover…”
He glanced at her sideways. “Moreover, his participation in the exam has ulterior motives! Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
Xiao Qiao stared at him for a moment, trying to keep a straight face but eventually bursting into laughter.
“What ulterior motives? Explain clearly!” she said, smiling.
Wei Shao, having let his words slip in a moment of anger, was initially worried about Xiao Qiao’s reaction. Seeing her laugh, her face as beautiful as a lotus flower, he seized the opportunity to embrace her. “You asked me to say it, so don’t blame me! I’ve always known that this Gao Heng had designs on you! Even though you’re already my wife, he still calls you his confidante. That’s bad enough, but he even dared to invite you to see the Yunmen Cliff Inscriptions. If that’s not having ulterior motives, what is? I thought that after all these years, I wouldn’t hold it against him anymore! But I never expected him to come now…”
He paused.
“Come now to do what?” Xiao Qiao asked.
“To attract your attention again!” Wei Shao said, growing more irritated as he thought about it. “With the Bohai Gao clan’s reputation, if he wanted an official position, he could have had one during the previous dynasty! But he chose neither to come out earlier nor later, instead participating in the imperial examination at this time. It’s clearly because he heard that you advocated for this examination system, so he’s deliberately trying to cater to your interests and attract your attention!”
“Aren’t you ashamed? You’re making such a fuss over a trivial matter from so many years ago when even Feifei is already three years old!” Xiao Qiao chided. “When the imperial examination system was first introduced, there was widespread opposition from the gentry families across the empire. I know that you, Your Majesty, in your wisdom and might, don’t need to rely on the old local gentry to stabilize your reign. But if they truly united in strong opposition, it would destabilize the regions, and you couldn’t just behead them all for this. You’d still need to find a way to appease them, right? Gao Bohai not only publicly supported Your Majesty but also withstood pressure to participate in the examination, which silenced the gentry. What’s the purpose of the Great Yan’s imperial examination? To recruit talents from all backgrounds! Now that he has made it to the metropolitan examination based on his abilities, instead of rewarding him, you’re being unreasonable!”
Xiao Qiao poked his chest with her finger. “I think your heart is hardly bigger than the eye of a needle!”
“I’ve always been like this, and it’s not like you just found out today!” Wei Shao grumbled. “If those gentry families cause more trouble and anger me, I have plenty of ways to deal with them. I don’t need Gao Heng to play the good guy for me!”
Xiao Qiao frowned slightly. “Why do I feel like you have the potential to become a tyrannical ruler?”
“Tyrannical ruler it is, then!” Wei Shao said without batting an eye. “No matter what you say, I just can’t stand this Gao Heng! No matter how well he writes or how capable he is at governing, I won’t let him pass!”
Xiao Qiao stared at him for a moment, then removed his hands from her waist and stood up with a wry smile. “As long as Your Majesty is happy. I’ll take my leave now.”
She turned to leave.
When the emperor and empress were alone in a room, there was an unwritten rule in the palace that unless summoned, all servants would withdraw outside.
So at this moment, in the vast imperial study, there were only the two of them.
“Stop!”
“Come back!”
“Wait—”
As Xiao Qiao reached the door, there was a flurry of footsteps behind her. Wei Shao caught up and grabbed her hand.
“I’ll rank him second! Is that acceptable?” he said.
Xiao Qiao turned back.
“I can’t give him the top spot! The purpose of this first imperial examination, although not to exclude the gentry’s children, is for the court to demonstrate to the world its determination to use talents regardless of background. You told me this yourself! Even if Gao Bohai’s essay is good, making him the top scorer in the first examination would go against the original intention of the new policy! I’ll rank him second, and at most, I’ll give him some extra rewards as compensation for not getting the top spot!”
“Are you satisfied now?” he asked, scowling.
Xiao Qiao slowly smiled. She wrapped her arms around his waist, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him. Then, bringing her lips close to his ear, she whispered, “My husband is as wise as Yao and Shun, yet he was just senselessly jealous. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at?”
Wei Shao’s expression softened.
“In Manman’s eyes, there is only Your Majesty. Among all the men in the world, not only is there no one better than Your Majesty, but even if there were, Manman would never look at them twice…”
Finally hearing such sweet words from his beloved, Wei Shao felt his body melt. His earlier sullenness vanished instantly. He embraced her tightly, their faces close together. Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly said, “Manman, I know you’ve always wanted to see those cliff inscriptions. I promised before to take you, but I’ve never been able to get away, so we haven’t gone yet. Why don’t we put aside our work and I’ll take you and Feifei out of the palace!”
Xiao Qiao was taken aback, then smiled and shook her head. “The cliff inscriptions can be seen or not seen. There’s no need for you to go to such lengths just for me.”
Wei Shao mumbled a vague agreement at the time, but he kept this matter in his heart. The next day, he summoned Gong Sun Yang and showed him the draft of the top three candidates for the imperial examination. Then, he hinted at his desire to leave the palace for a while.
However, before he could finish speaking, Gong Sun Yang presented a series of seemingly reasonable arguments to dissuade him.
The emperor felt dejected and had to suppress his wishes.
Half a month later, the results of the Great Yan’s first imperial examination were announced.
The most anticipated candidate, Gao Heng from Bohai, secured the second-highest rank.
In this first imperial examination, two of the top three positions were taken by scholars from humble backgrounds, with one from the gentry. This result seemed to please everyone.
Although Gao Heng didn’t achieve the top rank, he had accomplished his initial goal and had no regrets.
On the day of the imperial banquet, the emperor and empress arrived together. After many years, Gao Heng finally had the chance to meet again the woman with whom he had once painted and composed poetry in the Queen Mother of the West’s temple. This filled him with excitement.
In Gao Heng’s heart, Empress Qiao had long since become a goddess-like figure, without any hint of disrespect. Moreover, given her status, how could he harbor any impure thoughts?
He originally had no intention of entering official service. Besides, in the current times, talented scholars and writers from gentry families like Gao Heng, who were proud and aloof by nature, might not truly be valued by the emperor. However, the woman who had left such an unforgettable impression on him years ago as the wife of the Marquis of Yan was different. She was now the empress. He had also heard that the new imperial examination system promulgated by the court was first advocated by Empress Qiao. When he learned that the gentry families were opposing it, he immediately felt his blood boil and, without much thought, stepped forward to express his support.
Being able to contribute even a little to Empress Qiao’s cause filled Gao Heng with pride.
Thus, at today’s imperial banquet, as he knelt to receive the wine bestowed by the empress and saw her smile and nod at him, asking questions kindly, he was overwhelmed with excitement. For a moment, he even forgot about the emperor’s presence. In a moment of indiscretion, he couldn’t help but say, “This humble servant has rubbings of the Ten Great Cliff Inscriptions of the realm. In particular, the rubbing of the Yunmen Cliff Inscription was personally made by me and is almost indistinguishable from the original. If the Empress doesn’t mind, this humble servant would like to present it to the Empress as a token of loyalty.”
The emperor’s face darkened slightly. The empress smiled and politely declined, saying she couldn’t accept such a precious item. Gao Heng looked disappointed, while the emperor’s expression improved somewhat.
Half a month later, when the emperor appointed officials, he sent Gao Heng far away from Luoyang, which finally made him feel much better.
However, there was still one matter weighing on his mind.
Two months later, on a particular day, an enormous object was enclosed in a sealed box three zhang high and four to five zhang long. It was pulled by six horses and escorted by a team of soldiers under the stern command of Jia Si. This procession entered Luoyang through the South Gate.
This seemingly heavy and massive box passed through half of the imperial city with great fanfare, attracting the attention of nearly half the city’s residents, who watched as it was finally delivered to the palace gates.
What could be inside the box?
Bystanders speculated, and eventually, most agreed that given its weight and the level of security, the box must be filled with gold, silver, and precious artifacts.
As these rumors reached Jia Si’s ears, his tightly composed face was on the verge of crumbling.
He was quite concerned that if the people of Luoyang knew that the box contained a large stone block chiseled from a mountaintop—much to the silent resentment of the local people of Yunzhong—by dozens of stonemasons working day and night, and that to transport this stone successfully to Luoyang, countless resources had been expended on both water and land routes, all because the emperor wanted to please the empress with what even Jia Si considered a somewhat ridiculous gesture, would the people mock the emperor behind his back as a foolish ruler likely to lose the country in a single generation?