Chapter 4: 4

Chapter 4: The Tanhua

He Mingzhao’s tone sounded very bad.

Even the ministers at the front as well as the examinees at the back didn’t dare to look up when they heard this. They shivered subconsciously, afraid that He Mingzhao was asking about themselves.

Should they look up? Look to see if they were the one His Majesty was asking about?

As those people were thinking that, they heard a clear voice ring out. “My name is Jian Jin.”

It turned out to be Jian Jin that His Majesty was asking about!

Those who were standing in front of Jian Jin while bowing let out sighs of relief in unison, while those who were standing behind Jian Jin felt a little sympathy for him.

They all saw the scene just now. Jian Jin wasn’t particularly serious when he bowed, and he rose earlier than any of them!

As for Jian Jin reaching his arms out to give He Mingzhao a hug or something, they kept their heads down so they didn’t see it.

“Jian Jin……” He Mingzhao repeated Jian Jin’s name, still not taking his eyes off of Jian Jin.

The young man in front of him looked to be in his early twenties. His eyes were neither too big nor too small, his nose was neither flat nor straight, his complexion was neither dark nor fair, and he was ordinary in every way. He didn’t have any serious defects but he wasn’t handsome either. The only thing that made him better than the average person should be his temperament.

The man was tall, with a gentle smile that made people feel at ease when they looked at him.

It was the first time in his life that He Mingzhao felt this way after seeing a person, and it made him even more sure of one thing – he liked this man.

He Mingzhao said coldly, “Nice name.”

Jian Jin smiled and replied, “Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty.”

Although He Mingzhao’s attitude and temperament had changed a lot, his mental power hadn’t changed, so Jian Jin really couldn’t be afraid of him.

Given that he had already wrapped up He Mingzhao’s mental power with his own mental power, he could also clearly perceive that He Mingzhao wasn’t angry.

But that wasn’t what the others thought.

Hearing He Mingzhao’s almost emotionless voice, they all had the feeling that Jian Jin was about to be finished.

The ministers in charge of the Palace examination couldn’t help but want to curse – how did the people in charge of the examinations choose the candidates? How dare they choose such a brazen person!

Was His Majesty complimenting him? His Majesty was already very angry, yet he was smiling and thanking him for his compliment!

These ministers wanted to rush over and hold Jian Jin down and make him kneel and kowtow!

Jian Jin didn’t know what they were thinking. He was still smiling at He Mingzhao.

He Mingzhao’s heartbeat inexplicably quickened.

He thought he would die alone in his life. He never thought he would fall for someone, and it was even a man.

Striding forward, He Mingzhao came to the dragon chair at the top. He sat down and said, “Bring the papers.”

In the Great Qi, all the other papers in the imperial examinations had to be anonymous, but the Palace examination was not.

After all, the Palace examination was mainly for the emperor to take a look at the people who had passed the examinations, and ultimately to rank them. No one would be kicked out. Naturally, there was no need for anonymity.

Of course, the emperor would generally listen to the views of the ministers who graded the papers, so the ministers who graded the papers had the opportunity to show favoritism.

However, if someone who participated in the Palace examination was able to make the ministers who graded the papers show favoritism to them …… then even if the Palace examination was anonymous and they were given a poorer ranking in the Palace examination, they would still have a bright future.

The minister in charge of the Palace examination respectfully passed the test papers that had just been collected to He Mingzhao’s hands.

The examinees still didn’t dare to look up, but they could still hear the voices. They were even more afraid now – the previous emperors wouldn’t dismiss any examinees, but the one in front of them had always done whatever he wanted to do. They didn’t know if he would want to cut them down just because he didn’t like them.

The more Sun Youji thought about it, the more frightened he became. His whole body trembled, and he staggered and almost fell down.

Although Jian Jin, who was standing beside Sun Youji, had been watching He Mingzhao, he had strong mental strength and quick reflexes, so he gave Sun Youji a hand at this time.

Sun Youji glanced at Jian Jin gratefully and stood up properly, but couldn’t help but shiver again.

Somehow, he became even colder.

He Mingzhao, who was releasing the cold air, stared over Sun Youji’s head for a while before lowering his head and starting to look through the stack of test papers he was holding.

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He didn’t have the patience to read the dense text, so he just looked at the names and then flipped through them quickly.

He soon came to Jian Jin’s paper and pulled it out.

The handwriting on the paper was very beautiful, and the things written were well thought out, which made his heart grow fonder.

He Mingzhao kept his face expressionless while reading the test paper.

Jian Jin used his mental energy to calm him down and try to relax him, but he was a little embarrassed at the same time.

The paper he wrote had no merit and no fault[1] and was very ordinary. At least, when he looked at other people’s papers, he felt that his own paper was far inferior to those famous talents, not even comparable to Sun Youji.

He Mingzhao was the emperor, surrounded by people of outstanding learning. Would he be disappointed to see such a paper from him?

Before, He Mingzhao especially admired him. Whether he caught a mountain chicken or dug up a wild vegetable, He Mingzhao would look at him with two bright eyes and praise him, but now ……

While Jian Jin was thinking about his own minor thoughts, everyone around him was pitying him.

Even the eunuchs around He Mingzhao looked at Jian Jin with pity.

The late emperor liked people who were bold and not afraid of him, and would have a good chat with people when the mood struck. However, He Mingzhao was not such a person.

He Mingzhao loathed those who tried every possible way to get his attention.

Before He Mingzhao ascended to the throne, and when he first ascended to the throne, people often tried to get close to him. In the harem, there were all sorts of beauties who would throw themselves at him from time to time.

The former emperor ate it up, but He Mingzhao never did.

This Jian Jin obviously wanted to get His Majesty’s attention, but they were afraid that he worked in vain. His Majesty always hated such people. If he did this, His Majesty would probably be furious and then have him thrown out!

He might become the first person in this dynasty who was disqualified from receiving scholarly merit in the Palace examination.

Jian Jin: “……” His mental power was very strong, and he could more or less sense the emotions of the people around him.

Just then, He Mingzhao spoke up again: “This is a good test paper!”

The ministers grading the papers and the eunuchs around He Mingzhao: “……” Did they hear it right? His Majesty actually praised Jian Jin?

They didn’t hear wrong.

He Mingzhao expressionlessly pointed at Jian Jin’s test paper and said it was good, then stared again at the ministers reading the paper.

The ministers: “……” Being stared at by His Majesty while grading the papers, this job was really inhumane!

But they still had to do it ……

Under the watchful eyes of He Mingzhao, the ministers’ hands shook as they began to grade the papers and finally ranked them. The ranked papers were given to He Mingzhao, along with Jian Jin’s papers, which had been specially set aside.

If they were to rank Jian Jin’s paper, then belonging to the first grade would be hopeless, but it could be near the top of the second grade. Now, however, they didn’t dare to rank it ……

He Mingzhao took the test paper again and looked at it a few times, and then said, “Jian Jin …… is granted the rank of Tanhua[2].”

Jian Jin: “……” His partner must be opening the back door for him!

The others: “……” His Majesty said Jian Jin’s test paper was good. Could it be that he wasn’t being sarcastic and was telling the truth?

What the hell was going on here?

How did this ordinary student from Jiangnan, who had no fame at all before, make His Majesty look at him favorably?

Everyone was a bit confused. In fact, even He Mingzhao himself found it strange.

Even if he fell for a man, he even fell for such an …… ordinary looking man.

Wasn’t his taste a bit strange?

T/N

1. No merit and no fault: Means ensuring safety/stability by not doing anything bold or innovative, only what is expected

2. Tanhua: The 3rd place in the palace exam. It’s said the Tanhua title was preferentially awarded to the most handsome of the top scorers (but I’m not sure if that’s a myth or true)

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