Chapter 74: Chapter 74

At this moment, Ning Que was fiercely and shamelessly staring at a man who was among hundreds of students and conversing in high spirits with others around him. Ning Que had no qualms to be noticed by him with such a blatant stare, as he had already received looks from others. He stubbornly continued considering the man attentively, as if he would swallow the man into his dark orbs and into his memory as pitch dark as a dead night.

The man was attired in a long black robe emblazoned with a gold-colored pattern, and a pair of wide bright-red cuffs. He had an appealing look with attractive brows, a straight-edged nose, an infectious smile, and several lines around the corners of his eyes. He could have been in his 40s, or perhaps 30s. All in all, he was considerably charismatic.

The man’s name was Li Peiyan, the second most powerful man in the Tang, and the only younger brother of His Majesty, also known as Prince of Xian (good nature). It was he who took advantage of the occasion when His Majesty had been on a tour around the country 13 years ago and imprisoned the Xuanwei General Lin Guangyuan under the accusation of treason, conspiring with several important ministers and the major general, Xia Hou. They exterminated the entire family of the Xuanwei General at that time.

Ever since he fled from Chang’an to the City of Wei in the first year of Tianqi, Ning Que, for the past 13 years, had struggled to live in this world. His ever-growing hatred was becoming more conspicuous accompanied by all those years of torture of body and soul, with guilt and regret deep down in his heart.

They were many men in Chang’an on his blacklist whom he determined to kill, and Li Peiyan was no doubt the first name on it. Today in the Academy was the first time that Ning Que saw his first object on his list. He took the time to observe the prince carefully, and tried to etch this charming prince’s look in his mind—his brows, eyes, lips, even the lines around the corner of his eyes—so that he could tear it all up all someday.

The prince, Li Peiyan, smiled and declared inspiringly, “All of you present here are the finest men from around the world. Don’t be afraid of today’s examination and show what you are capable of. Once being enrolled, you ought to study hard as much as you can, and equip yourself for what the Tang has in store for you. Eventually, you should make yourself, the Tang Empire, and His Majesty proud!”

Ning Que peered at him thoughtfully and softly blinked as though his eyelashes could cut through the wind.

Li Peiyan looked at his left-hand side where some students were dressed in exotic clothes distinct from those of Tang students. He opened his arms and said beamingly as warm as sunshine, “Although you aren’t from the Tang, the Academy boasts a history of welcoming all different peoples. Therefore, be assured, your scores will be assessed fair and square. Should you achieve good results in the Academy one day, the Tang Empire and His Majesty will await your endeavor in the future.”

Ning Que kept staring at him, coldly and nonchalantly, as his eyes started to darken.

Attentiveness could be regarded as fervent, and when added with a morsel of other emotions, hatred could equally be seen as reverence. A student was waiting for the examination, listening to the prince’s talk in awe, which was perfectly normal in everyone’s eyes. Nobody but Sangsang discerned his abnormal looks. Sangsang looked up at him deeply concerned, then extended her hand secretly into his sleeve and held his quivering hand gently.

A candidate from the Yan Kingdom was bracing himself to talk with the prince at the moment, and some cheerful words from the prince brought peals of laughter from the nervous candidates. With this atmosphere, Li Peiyan told some leisure anecdotes to relax them. Those candidates quickly picked up on his intentions and eased their previous serious looks as they started to chat around, stretched their arms, and of course, tried to brown-nose the prince.

“What a good-natured Prince of Tang!”

“Like the words carrying around, the virtue of the prince is indeed as warm as sunshine, and as pleasant as the breeze.”

“Xian (good nature).”

Certainly, not all of the students were playing up to the prince. Yet hearing all the compliments around him, Ning Que could not help but frown a little, thinking of the known title of the fourth Princess, Lee Yu, which was Xian (good nature) as well, murmuring to himself, “Is there anyone who isn’t Xian?”

“Yes, porridge isn’t Xian (homophone of salty).”

A student nearby answered earnestly, and no one noticed since the young man stood right next to Ning Que. He was dressed in a long silk robe with a precious jade pendant hung from a gold belt band, revealing he was either from a wealthy or high-official family. Most of all, he was an acquaintance.

“Chu Youxian? I’m surprised that you’re here to take the exam.” Ning Que turned around to find out who answered, and asked amazedly, “How come I never heard you mention this earlier on when we were at the brothel?”

The young man was the only child of the Chu Family, one of the seven richest families in Eastern City, who happened to be the man who was being scolded by Mistress Jian on Ning Que’s first visit to the House of Red Sleeves. Chu Youxian was his name, and he was known to have a generous and friendly character. On their first meeting, Chu Youxian was planning to host Ning Que well in the brothel and let him enjoy it, yet something went amiss. Later, Ning Que frequented the House of Red Sleeves to chat around with Dewdrop and other girls. After that, he met him several times and they drank wine together, thus they became acquaintances.

Chu Youxian faced the front while glancing sideways at Ning Que, and said with agony all over his face, “My old man forced me to take the exam and told me that anyone who doesn’t take the exam would be belittled by the intended’s family when it comes to marriage. They would even have to present several more betrothal gifts than those who did take it. I was left with no choice, so here I am.”

Ning Que turned and looked at the prince talking to each student around him, and said in low voice, “The preliminary evaluation deadline was long passed, how did you get through?”

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Chu Youxian lifted two of his fingers gesturing toward Ning Que and answered while looking ahead, “I was recommended by the Military Ministry.”

Ning Que was conscious that there were many more candidates than usual recommended by the Military Ministry this year. At first, he thought that it might be because the court worried about deficiencies in the military generals, and never thought there would be strings pulled behind the scenes. Thinking of how he fought bravely on the battlefields, chopped woods in the forest, toiled away, and accrued military merits all of those years to be able to pass the preliminary examination evaluation, Ning Que felt indignant. He cursed in a low voice, “2,000 taels of silvers… which is no bigger than half of a spread-open blanket—I can’t believe such money could buy your way into the Academy!”

Upon hearing this, Sangsang, who stood quietly next to him on the other side, lifted her head and looked up at Ning Que. She thought to herself, “I know you are upset about this Young Master, but why on earth have you brought up that matter? ”

“2,000 taels of silvers? Are you kidding me? It’s not enough to even bribe the lodge porter of the Academy! My old man supplicated all the people he could reach and spent 20,000 taels of silvers… That’s just for the evaluation qualification, and no guarantee for enrollment!”

Chu Youxian glanced at him with contempt and said, “There is no ministry of the Tang that can guarantee enrollment, as that is beyond the realm of those officials, not even His Majesty can. So save your disdain for me. My old man told me that I just need to take the examination and gain experience so that I can have a good marriage in the future.”

The two continued talking thus. Then the prince, Li Peiyan, accompanied by some officials and instructors, walked down their way, taking notice of a thin and weak little girl, Sangsang, while completely ignoring Ning Que and Chu Youxian nearby. He turned around to the instructors and said smiling, “It’s amazing to watch such a little girl come and take the exam. I guess she’s even two years younger than Wang Ying, who we saw in Lin City.”

Wang Ying was a prodigy that was brought by an instructor of the Academy from a distant rural institution to Chang’an. He was almost 14 and the new sensation introduced by officials to the prince. No one expected to see such a swarthy little girl here—judging by her dress, she was simply too plain…

“She’s my handmaiden,” Ning Que explained, making a bow with his hands in front.

Li Peiyan felt a bit embarrassed to be mistaken about a person. The officials that followed had a quick response, glowered at one instructor, and asked, “How could a handmaiden get in on commencement day?”

The middle-aged instructor appeared not to notice the anger of the officials and answered composedly, “There’s no restriction on the entrance of handmaidens and servants into the Academy. This is the commencement ceremony, not the examination—she’s only banned from entering the exam rooms later.”

Having been answered defiantly thus by the instructor, the official, no matter how high-ranking he was and how much power he could wield, could not even lose his temper. In the Academy, it was pointless and useless. The prince smiled embarrassedly, stretched his hand and patted Ning Que’s shoulder, saying no words. He then carried on with all the officials.

Looking at the instructor beside Li Peiyan and nudging Chu Youxian gently by his shoulder, Ning Que praised in a low voice, “Hey, this is called not salty (not “Xian”). I think I’m growing more and more fond of this place.”

The bell was tolled for a second time, indicating that it was the last call.

One instructor loudly declared the rules of the exam without emotion, and yet the students were too nervous to remember because the rules were too loose to follow—no limit on talking and on asking questions, except that answers were not allowed to be passed around.

At the sound of the bell, the students, with their long robes billowing in the breeze, tread on the petals of peach blossoms on the slate ground. They all entered their rooms ready to take the exam, leaving Sangsang standing alone outside on the stone ground. As spring rain started to fall, Sangsang lifted her head and squinted at the rain, before she opened the big black umbrella that was tied on her back.

The Academy Entrance Exam was similar to the Imperial Exam of the Tang and was divided into 6 disciplines: Etiquette, Music, Toxophily, Driving, Calligraphy, and Mathematics. The exams in the morning were Etiquette, Calligraphy, and Mathematics, and first among them was the math exam, which did not often fall into the specialty of the Tang people. Or in other words, they could not care more about it.

It was quiet in the exam rooms, where pink blooms outside the window were matched with white walls like a beautiful scenery painting, creating a meditating atmosphere. Upon receiving the exam papers, the candidates behind their desks were all in turmoil, bemoaning and sighing.

“Why comprehensive questions again?” Some cried out with their hands tightly clutching their hair.

“Aren’t we so unfortunate?” Some complained with pale faces.

Because a rule of no noise simply did not exist, all the candidates could not help expressing their complaints and grief in all sorts of ways. It was known to all that the comprehensive questions were the most difficult ones in recent years, usually devised by literature and mathematics professors. Sometimes, the candidates would even have problems comprehending the questions.

Ning Que put his writing brush on an ink slab, deeply inhaling the chilly air. He then opened the exam papers, on which only one question was presented that was merely a few dozen words. Written as follows:

“In the spring, the Headmaster of the Academy was touring around different countries and encountered a mountain of peach blossoms. He then climbed up to enjoy the scenery and have a drink. At first, the headmaster cut off one mass of peach blossoms and drank one bottle of wine. Later, he cut off one mass of peach blossoms, but saving his wine, he only drank half of the bottle. And then one mass, half of half of the bottle… In this way up to the summit of the mountain, all the bottles of wine were finished. The headmaster looked around blankly, and asked all of you, ‘How many masses of peach blossoms have I cut off today? And how many bottles of wine have I drunk?'”