Grand Secretary Li held the anonymized exam paper in his hand, clicking his tongue in amazement. The other examiners nodded in agreement and repeatedly praised it. One examiner said, “Although the first two essays were somewhat ordinary, this last one is the best among the more than ten thousand candidates.”

Someone asked, “Then how should we rank this session’s exam?”

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Grand Secretary Li thought for a moment and said, “Though it’s customary not to reveal the names on the papers even after determining the top ten, we’ll make an exception today. There’s a precedent for this from the time of the late emperor, where two candidates’ writings were so exceptional that their names were revealed to check their authentic handwriting. The final ranking for the top candidate was then determined by considering the other two exam sessions as well. My suggestion, colleagues, is that we first select the top three candidates, then reveal their rankings and decide the top three positions.”

“We shall follow your lead, Li daren.”

Thus, the examiners first identified the top three papers. Then they ordered the government officers to retrieve the papers from the other two sessions for these three candidates, this time with their actual handwriting. 

The papers had originally been transcribed by xiucai, whose handwriting was mostly neat and elegant; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been chosen for the task. However, when compared with these three candidates’ original handwriting, the difference was stark, like fireflies against the sun. The examiners felt utterly refreshed as they read the original versions of these three papers.

After reviewing all three papers, one of the vice examiners said, “I’ve come to a conclusion.”

The other two vice examiners also said, “So have we.”

Finally, everyone turned their attention to Grand Secretary Li.

The eccentric Grand Secretary Li stroked his dry, white goatee and said, “Then let’s vote. I’ll have three votes, and each of you will have two.”

“Agreed.”

The day before the exam results were posted, Tang Shen had completely forgotten about it and slept soundly. Who would have thought that early the next morning, before dawn, Feng Bi would wake him up. Startled, Tang Shen immediately remembered what day it was. Feng Bi suggested, “Gongzi, why don’t you wait at home today, and I’ll go to the Shengjing Exam Hall to check the results?”

Tang Shen thought for a moment and said, “I’ll go myself.”

He put on a thick cotton jacket, donned a cloak, and before dawn, he, along with Feng Bi and Yao San, went to the Shengjing Exam Hall.

It was now early spring in March, but Shengjing was still cold, with their breath visible in the air. It was still before the hours of yin shi (3-5am), and the wide, quiet road was deserted, save for the high-ranking officials heading to the morning court and the candidates heading to the exam hall to check their results. They walked in silence along the sides of the road, most of them looking anxious, with few showing any joy or confidence.

Tang Shen lifted the curtain of his carriage and saw the distressed faces of the other candidates, sighing helplessly, “The questions in this year’s huishi were indeed tricky!”

As they approached the exam hall gates, they saw from a distance a mass of dark heads under the moonlight—students gathered like a black sea. Despite the crowd, there was only the sound of breathing and an occasional cough, followed by a heavy, oppressive silence like still water.

Finally, the gates of the exam hall opened, and the wave of candidates began to move.

Tang Shen stood in the middle of the crowd and saw two officers holding up a large red list, posting the ranking board. The list was posted from the bottom up, and a total of 291 candidates were selected in this round of the huishi. Tang Shen noticed that Liu Fang ranked 217th. At first, he thought it was just a duplicate name, but upon closer inspection, it was indeed Liu Fang, Liu Keji, the student from the Imperial College who was most likely to win the top spot in this exam.

Some other students from the Imperial College also noticed Liu Fang’s name, and someone shouted, “Liu Fang, how did you only rank 217th? Ah, Liu Fang, what’s wrong with you… Sigh, I didn’t expect Liu Fang to be so upset that he left before the list was fully posted!”

Tang Shen thought to himself: If it weren’t for Grand Secretary Li coming up with such messed-up questions, how could Liu Fang not be in the top three? Storming off is a mild reaction; others with worse tempers might have cursed on the spot.

As he continued to scan the list, Tang Shen saw a few other familiar names. Most of the scholars who attended the banquet at Prince Jing Manor were ranked within the top hundred, though they were on the lower end. Moving further up, Tang Shen spotted the name of Mei Shengze, ranked 34th.

Tang Shen immediately turned and looked at Mei Shengze, who was not far away.

Mei Shengze cupped his hands and gave a bitter smile, “I’ve already come to terms with it, Jing Ze, don’t laugh at me.”

Tang Shen deeply understood, “I feel the same, utter shamelessness.”

As the list continued to be posted, Tang Shen saw two more familiar names. After two more quarters of an hour, only the top three names were left to be revealed.

Yao San held his breath nervously, and Tang Shen stared intently at the ranking board.

In the 27th year of Kaiping, the third place in the Shengjing huishi went to Yao Xun, Yao Wenji.

Second place, Tang Shen, Tang Jingze.

First place, Wang Xiao, Wang Daiyue.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him by the shoulder, and Tang Shen turned around in a daze, only to see Mei Shengze looking at him joyfully, “Jing Ze, you got second place!”

Yao San was also ecstatic, “Little Boss, you got second place!”

Tang Shen was momentarily stunned, then jokingly said, “Am I Tang Shen?”

Everyone burst into laughter, and the classmates from the Imperial College also offered their congratulations.

Mei Shengze said, “Look at you, you’re so full of yourself now.”

Tang Shen chuckled, barely able to contain his excitement, “You know me well, Sheng Ze! My friends, to Qianli Tower, lunch is on me today!”

“We must go to support Jing Ze!”

“I will definitely be there!”

Securing a high score in the exam was within Tang Shen’s expectations, but getting second place was beyond what he imagined. After a day of elation, he thought about it carefully and concluded, “It’s mostly because I’m naturally talented, plus I have a golden finger from my transmigration that lets me remember everything, so that’s 80% of it. Besides that, my first essay should have been quite good, but the second one was really just average, only solid writing. Getting second place must have been due to my third essay, ‘I Reflect on Myself Three Times a Day.’ Master Zhu Xi has blessed me!”

He wasn’t far off in his guess.

With such good results, Tang Shen immediately went to inform Fu Wei and Wang Zhen of the news. However, this time he couldn’t find Wang Zhen, as he had left the capital for some business and hadn’t returned for a few days. When he finally saw Wang Zhen again, it was in a situation Tang Shen had not anticipated.

Every time the huishi took place in February, the results were announced in March, and in early April, the dianshi would follow.

The Imperial College was full of talented people, and every time the results were released, at least one-sixth of the successful candidates were from the Imperial College. At this time, the head of the Imperial College, Dean Lin, would invite court officials to give lectures at the college, known as “official lessons.” This day, Tang Shen attended a lecture and learned that tomorrow’s official lesson at the Imperial College would be delivered by none other than the Minister of Revenue, Wang Zifeng. He was taken aback.

Mei Shengze also remarked, “Jing Ze, it’s your senior brother! You must have known this in advance, right?”

Tang Shen looked innocent, “I didn’t even know when my senior brother returned to the capital!”

The next day, Dean Lin led the examinees to the Shuaixing Hall. At one quarter past noon, Wang Zhen, wearing a bright red official robe, entered the lecture hall through the main entrance. Although he was in official attire, he did not wear his official hat. Standing in front of the hall, his gentle and calm gaze swept across the students below. He must have noticed Tang Shen, but did not particularly look at him.

Half of the students at the Imperial College were from official families and knew a bit about Wang Zhen. The other half were genuinely from humble backgrounds and had never seen a powerful court official like him. Seeing how young Wang Zhen was, the students from humble backgrounds, with Liu Fang as their representative, were surprised, and their initially composed expressions varied.

However, the students of the Imperial College maintained their composure.

Wang Zhen began, “My name is Wang Zhen, courtesy name Zi Feng. I am here today to give an official lesson at the Imperial College for the sake of our teacher-student relationship, not to discuss ranks in officialdom.”

The students responded in unison, “We listen to Mr. Wang.”

Wang Zhen then formally began his lecture.

Dean Lin had specially invited Wang Zhen to teach this lesson, not on the Four Books and Five Classics, but on current political affairs. Of course, Wang Zhen could not reveal state secrets, but through his gestures and casual conversation, he easily shared a few stories from the late emperor’s time. The sharp students understood immediately, gaining deeper insights into officialdom and some preparation for the upcoming dianshi.

The dianshi in early April did not test the eight-legged essays, only policy discussions!

When the official lesson ended, the students were still immersed in the lecture.

Wang Zhen’s clear voice rang out, “Is there anything that remains unclear?”

After a moment of hesitation, a few students asked their questions, which Wang Zhen answered one by one.

Throughout the lesson, Wang Zhen had not once looked at Tang Shen, making Tang Shen wonder if his senior brother was truly here just to give the official lesson.

“Is Wang Zifeng really such a kind-hearted person?” Tang Shen couldn’t shake the feeling that “kind-hearted” and Wang Zifeng didn’t belong in the same sentence.

As he left the Shuaixing Hall, a lecturer was waiting outside for him and said, “Jing Ze, Wang daren is waiting for you at the Chongzhi Hall!”

Perplexed, Tang Shen went to the Chongzhi Hall. He knocked lightly on the door, and Wang Zhen’s voice came from inside, “Enter.”

Tang Shen entered the room and saw Wang Zhen standing by the west wall of Chongzhi Hall, beside a painting of an old man riding a cow, looking up at it. When Tang Shen came in, Wang Zhen turned and glanced at him, his gaze pausing briefly on Tang Shen’s face before dropping to his shoulder.

Tang Shen said, “Senior Brother Zi Feng.”

Wang Zhen stepped forward and plucked a pale flower petal from Tang Shen’s left shoulder.

Tang Shen was taken aback.

Wang Zhen said, “An apricot blossom.”

Tang Shen replied, “It must have fallen on me earlier when I walked through the backyard of the Imperial College.”

Wang Zhen smiled and said, “Congratulations, Junior Brother, for being listed on the Apricot Roll and placing second in the huishi.”

Tang Shen had been congratulated by countless people over the past few days, and he had grown immune to it. But hearing this simple remark from Wang Zhen, and seeing the slight smile on his face, Tang Shen inexplicably felt a bit embarrassed. With genuine sincerity, Tang Shen said, “As Senior Brother mentioned, the huishi isn’t what’s important; what matters is the dianshi.”

Wang Zhen nodded and suddenly changed the topic, “How has your calligraphy practice been?”

Even as a modern person, Tang Shen was momentarily bewildered by Wang Zifeng’s abrupt shift in conversation.

Wait a minute, weren’t we just talking about the huishi? How did we suddenly switch to discussing calligraphy practice?

Tang Shen wondered in his mind, but he responded, “I’ve been practicing for quite some time.”

“There are still ten days until the dianshi. From now on, come to my residence every afternoon at shen shi (3-5pm).”

“Senior Brother?”

“I’ll teach you calligraphy.”

“…”

Is Wang Zifeng really okay today?

It wasn’t until much later that Tang Shen realized that Wang Zhen didn’t believe he could secure a top-three spot in the dianshi through true talent and skill!

Writing on current affairs seems simple but is actually harder than writing an eight-legged essay! The topics for the eight-legged essay are taken from the Four Books and Five Classics, and even poor scholars with no understanding of worldly affairs can still cite scriptures and compose decent works. But as for the current affairs essay?

Tang Shen was only sixteen this year. In terms of life experience, he couldn’t compare to Yao Shan, who placed third in the huishi, nor could he match the scholarly lineage of Wang Xiao, who topped this year’s examination. Besides these two, many other candidates on the Apricot Roll, from noble and scholarly families, were far superior to him! Tang Shen had a chance of placing in the top twenty, but getting into the top ten would be difficult, and securing a top-three spot seemed nearly impossible!

However, success is determined by human effort.

During the dianshi, the only chief examiner was the emperor himself, while all other examiners were called “exam readers.” The exam papers of the 291 candidates would first be reviewed by the exam readers, who would select the top ten and rank them in advance before submitting them to the emperor, who would then choose the top three.

If Tang Shen didn’t make it into the top ten, he wouldn’t even have the chance to catch the emperor’s eye.

On the second day of April, before the mao shi (5-7am), the candidates entered the palace through the Xuanwu Gate and arrived at the Mingyi Hall. Naturally, the emperor was not present on this day. Nearly three hundred candidates bowed to the empty throne, and the ten exam readers distributed the exam papers and began monitoring the exam.

As the second-place finisher in the huishi, Tang Shen sat in the second seat of the first row.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Tang Shen was momentarily stunned when he saw the four current affairs topics. In his previous life, Tang Shen had no experience in government, and in this life, he had only been in this world for three years. Not to mention analyzing these topics from an official’s perspective and proposing solutions, Tang Shen barely understood the “Battle of Yu Hu” mentioned in the fourth question and had only heard of it in passing!

However, Tang Shen remained composed, his demeanor calm as he began to answer the questions.

Not knowing what to write, he resorted to writing polite and respectful words to the emperor, wishing him good health. Tang Shen meticulously wrote each character and carefully transcribed them onto the exam paper following the specific format required for the dianshi.

Writing the policy essay was not difficult, but writing beautifully and adhering to the proper format was extremely challenging! It wasn’t until the sun had set that Tang Shen finally completed the last character. He dried the ink, set down his brush, and stopped writing.

After another hour, all the candidates were told to put down their brushes, and their exam papers were collected as they left the palace.

As Tang Shen walked out, Mei Shengze caught up with him. The two exchanged glances and both smiled wryly.

Mei Shengze asked, “Jing Ze, how did it go?”

Tang Shen sincerely replied, “I filled the entire paper, each essay with 1,500 characters.”

Mei Shengze responded, “Good for you, Tang Jingze. I only managed 1,200 characters. Oh no, my ranking in the dianshi will surely be lower than yours again.”

The two laughed heartily.

As the new jinshi filed out through the Xuanwu Gate, the exam readers, who were all senior officials of the court—half of them being second-rank officials, including most of the Six Ministries’ ministers—began reviewing the exam papers. The Minister of Rites, a tall and slender middle-aged man with a well-groomed mustache, was among them, though Wang Zhen was not, due to a conflict of interest.

During the dianshi, the exam readers reviewed the candidates’ handwritten exam papers. The Minister of Rites flipped through a paper and, upon opening the next one, his gaze froze on the first line. After a moment, he called over the Left Vice Minister of Rites and pointed to the paper, saying, “Does this handwriting look familiar?”

The Left Vice Minister of Rites glanced at it and couldn’t take his eyes off the paper. After reading the entire essay, he burst out laughing and called over the Right Vice Minister of Revenue, “Qin daren, come and take a look.”

This commotion soon attracted the attention of all the exam readers in the room.

The group gathered around, and Qin Si approached, his gaze fixed on the paper.

The Minister of Rites stroked his mustache, smiling, and asked, “Doesn’t this look like Wang daren’s handwriting?”

Qin Si responded with a wry smile, “It indeed has about seventy percent of Wang daren’s style. This must be the work of Wang daren’s junior brother, Tang Shen, also known as Tang Jingze!”

The Minister of Rites feigned a stern tone, “This level of calligraphy can’t be achieved without a year and a half of practice! Well done, Wang Zifeng, making such a blatant mark—it’s practically cheating and favoritism!”

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The senior ministers in the room all looked down at the floor, thinking: You should say that to Wang Zifeng’s face!

The Minister of Rites let out a snort and handed Tang Shen’s paper to the Left Vice Minister of Rites. “The arguments are well-reasoned, the writing is elegant and refined. Place it as a backup for the top ten.”

“Understood.”

Tang Shen had no idea about the earnest efforts his senior brother had gone through for him!

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To see a thousand miles further, climb one story higher.

Qianli Tower is in the west of Shengjing City. From the fourth floor, one can see the endless Grand Canal like a silver ribbon in the distance. On the day after the huishi ended, Tang Shen and Shopkeeper Lu arrived at Qianli Tower. Shopkeeper Xing, with a round, joyful face, had been waiting for a long time.

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Shopkeeper Xing looked Tang Shen up and down and laughed, “I didn’t expect gongzi to be so youthful, truly a talented young man.”

Tang Shen bowed slightly, “Shopkeeper Xing.”

Shopkeeper Xing said, “Our young master hasn’t arrived yet. Please move to the private room and rest for a while.”

The three of them went upstairs together. Tang Shen entered the private room while Shopkeeper Xing and Shopkeeper Lu waited outside.

Inside the private room, Tang Shen saw a screen depicting a thousand mile mountain. On the left was a multi-treasure shelf filled with various treasures and antiques. Looking to the right, he saw two closed windows. When Tang Shen opened them, the sights and sounds of the bustling streets and the grandeur of Shengjing were in full view.

“Upon climbing this tower, one feels a vast, refreshing joy, raising a cup in the breeze, filled with happiness!”

Gazing at the prosperous scenery of Shengjing, Tang Shen suddenly understood Fan Zhongyan’s words.

“What a feeling of vast joy, raising a cup in the breeze. Since that’s the case, how can there be no wine?”

Tang Shen quickly turned around and saw the heir of Prince Jing, Zhao Qiong, dressed in brocade robes and wearing a jade crown, had already entered. The two exchanged glances, and Zhao Qiong stood still, surprised to see him. After a moment, Zhao Qiong said in amazement, “It’s you!”

Tang Shen bowed, “Greetings to the heir of Prince Jing.”

With a bit of thought, Zhao Qiong quickly realized the connections. He understood that Tang Shen had intentionally submitted his card to the Prince Jing Manor and attended the Top Scorer Banquet. However, Zhao Qiong didn’t mind such minor matters. On the contrary, he was pleased that the soap business involved a scholar with official status.

Zhao Qiong called for Shopkeeper Xing, “Serve the dishes.”

Shopkeeper Xing responded, “Yes.”

Zhao Qiong turned back to Tang Shen, “The huishi just ended yesterday. Did you go?”

Tang Shen smiled, “Of course.”

“Great, then today let’s not talk about those business matters. Let’s just talk about poetry and beauty. We’ll discuss everything else after the results are out, shall we?”

Tang Shen hadn’t expected to finalize the soap and essential oil business on their first meeting. On the contrary, Zhao Qiong’s words indicated that he was genuinely interested in cooperating with Tang Shen. If Tang Shen passed the exam and became a jinshi, Zhao Qiong’s attitude might change even more favorably. Discussing cooperation afterward would be highly beneficial for both parties.

So, the two of them simply enjoyed drinking and chatting.

Being young and not very good at drinking, Tang Shen was not pushed too hard by Zhao Qiong.

Two hours later, the two had become friends. Tang Shen stepped out of the private room and bowed to Zhao Qiong, “No need to see me off, heir.”

Zhao Qiong replied, “Then I’ll wait for the results and celebrate with you properly when the time comes.”

Tang Shen and Shopkeeper Lu left Qianli Tower. Shopkeeper Lu, somewhat surprised, said, “I thought the heir of King Jing would be difficult to deal with since he is royalty, but he is quite approachable and didn’t put on any airs.”

Tang Shen remembered something and smiled, “Shopkeeper Lu, why do you think Prince Jing Manor runs Qianli Tower and Autumn Hall?”

Shopkeeper Lu replied, “It’s normal for the royals in Shengjing to have businesses in the city. Why, is there something wrong?”

“Indeed, there’s nothing wrong. But Prince Jing Manor deals in fine food, wine, and jewelry. The Prince is a wealthy royal with no real power. Those truly lucrative businesses, like last year’s canal repairs, where any official involvement meant huge profits, are out of his reach!”

Government projects like canal repairs often serve as significant sources of income for royals and high-ranking officials.

This doesn’t necessarily imply corruption, but there are numerous ways to profit from procurement and construction decisions. While not as much as through corruption, the profits are still substantial.

The Prince can run the largest restaurant and jewelry store in Shengjing but can’t influence government affairs. This shows he is merely a wealthy royal with a title but no power.

Some might become corrupt in such circumstances, while others would enjoy their leisure.

Tang Shen thought the heir of Prince Jing didn’t seem resentful. After all, the current emperor maintained a good facade, and no one could accuse him of being a tyrant; he was merely an emperor interested in Daoism and immortality. Throughout history, many emperors sought immortality, and in comparison, Zhao Fu could be considered a wise ruler.

The emperor didn’t mistreat his brothers, and the Prince was happy with his peaceful life.

As for the intricate royal secrets, Tang Shen wasn’t privy to them yet.

Shopkeeper Lu asked, “Little Boss, when will the results of the huishi be released? Will it be like the xiangshi, released ten days later?”

Tang Shen immediately laughed and said helplessly, “It’s not that easy!”

The huishi is the final stage of the imperial examinations. Once you pass the huishi, you won’t fail again, just waiting for the palace exam to give a ranking among the successful candidates. No matter how poorly you do in the palace exam, the worst you can get is the last place.

The huishi is so important that, in addition to the anonymized system, each examinee’s paper has to be copied by someone else before being reviewed by the examiners.

There are over ten thousand papers from the juren examinees nationwide, and the hired xiucai need three full days to finish copying them, and they might still not be done.

In fact, Tang Shen’s estimate of three days was an understatement. The exam ended in mid-February, but the examiners didn’t receive the papers until February 27. The names had already been covered, and the handwriting was not by the examinees. All the papers were neatly written in the official Guange script. After worshiping Confucius, the examiners locked themselves in a hall to concentrate on grading the papers.

Five days later, thirty examiners finally selected the top ten papers from the exam.

Taking advantage of the chief examiner, Grand Secretary Li, being away on business, one of the examiners quietly sighed to his colleagues, “The questions this time were indeed biased and strange. Some examinees’ essays were flowery but off-topic. The breaking open of the topic was so obscure that I find it hard to speak about it. It’s way off. We can’t select such essays for the top ten; we can only let them pass and hope they might shine in the dianshi later.”

When Grand Secretary Li returned, everyone reviewed the final ten papers together.

The huishi, like the xiangshi and tongshi, placed the most importance on the first session. In the first session, Grand Secretary Li set three questions: “The official requests to see the sage,” “Those who flee from Mohism will inevitably return to Yangism,” and “I reflect on myself three times a day.”

The first question alone eliminated a large number of examinees.

The three vice examiners of the huishi included two scholars from the Hanlin Academy and one assistant minister from the Ministry of Rites. One of them said, “I think this paper is an excellent choice for the top candidate. Gentlemen, please see, for the question ‘The official requests to see the sage,’ the candidate broke open the topic with Confucius teaching the world, the comparisons are clear, and the conclusion is insightful.”

Everyone looked at the paper and said, “Excellent!”

Another vice examiner said, “Gentlemen, why don’t you look at this essay?”

Everyone looked over again.

Grand Secretary Li, being older, was not as sharp-eared and keen-eyed as the other examiners. He picked up the paper and brought it close to his eyes to read carefully. “If Heaven gave birth to the sage but we couldn’t see him, we would request three times to see his sage words, seeing the sage without knowing it… Ha, it truly shows great respect for Confucius. Let me look at the second essay.” After a while, Grand Secretary Li said, “A mediocre piece, solid writing, and brilliant style, but the topic is broken open in a conventional way. This paper can enter the top ten, but how can it be the top candidate?”

The vice examiner being stared at by Grand Secretary Li was distressed. Grand Secretary Li was a pedantic old scholar, known for his eccentric temperament. The difficulty and bias of the questions he set this time reflected his difficult nature. He was not an easy person to get along with at the Hanlin Academy either.

The vice examiner said, “Li daren, have you seen his third essay?”

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Grand Secretary Li lowered his head to read the third essay. After a while, he suddenly paused, then brought the paper closer to his eyes, carefully reading it several times from top to bottom. Suddenly, he said, “Good! What a phrase ‘Correct mistakes if there are any, encourage yourself if there are none.’ The writing connects ancient and modern times, as if hearing the voice of the sage.” He couldn’t help but recite these words several times and called the other examiners in the hall to see the essay.

Grand Secretary Li, with his eyebrows raised in delight, praised, “Each word is profound, an excellent piece, truly the best work of this year’s huishi!”

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“‘Escaping Mohism inevitably leads to Yangism,’ originates from ‘Mencius: Exhausting One’s Heart.’ The original sentence is ‘Escaping Mohism inevitably leads to Yangism, escaping Yangism inevitably leads to Confucianism.’

During the Warring States period, it wasn’t as vibrant with a hundred schools of thought as the Spring and Autumn period, but there were three major schools that were widely accepted: Mohism, Yang Zhu’s school, and Confucianism. ‘Escaping Mohism inevitably leads to Yangism’ is Mencius’s evaluation of these three schools. It means that abandoning the Mohist school inevitably leads to the Yang Zhu school, and abandoning the Yang Zhu school inevitably leads to the Confucian school.

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In short, Mencius saw the Confucian school as the orthodoxy and the ultimate righteous path of all schools.

If we look at the topic itself, it isn’t particularly difficult to write about. The Mohist school advocates universal love and non-aggression, emphasizing self-sacrifice to benefit others and bringing prosperity to the people. The Yang Zhu school is about individualism, disregarding others and the world, not harming others and only benefiting oneself. Tang Shen could immediately think of two ways to approach the topic, such as writing from the perspective of benefiting oneself versus benefiting others, using the two schools to promote Confucian thoughts of benefiting both oneself and others.

However, all this is based on the premise of criticizing Mohism and Yangism and extolling Confucianism.

Tang Shen looked at the topic on the paper and then looked up at the distant Mingyuan Tower, sighing deeply.

But who in the world does not know that the current emperor Zhao Fu is pursuing immortality and refining elixirs, having long been inclined towards Daoism! 

Yang Zhu’s school is precisely one of the three classics of Daoism.

Although Zhao Fu has never publicly claimed to honor Daoism and values Confucianism greatly, even writing memorial articles on Confucius’s birthday every year, his obsession with Daoism is evident to all in the court. While there is no issue with Grand Secretary Li setting this question, if an examinee fully criticizes Yang Zhu, it might be reported to Zhao Fu if he ever rises to a high official position by a political opponent.

The emperor’s mind is difficult to gauge, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger; who knows how Zhao Fu will react!

Tang Shen thought there were only two possibilities. Either Zhao Fu is not a tyrant who punishes speech and won’t care, or Zhao Fu is sensitive to criticism of his pursuit of immortality. In any case, if Zhao Fu ever wanted to punish an official, this essay criticizing Daoism could be one of the reasons for his downfall.

Other examinees might not think so far ahead, but Tang Shen had to consider it.

He was not just seeing the current examination but also looking towards the future!

Closing his eyes, Tang Shen discarded all his initial ideas. He chose the simplest, safest approach, which was also the least impressive, and then began writing: “Observing those with different ideologies from Confucianism, they often become easily angered and fearful due to their exposure to these wicked principles. Thus, abandoning Mohism, they turn to Yang Zhu, seeking broad-minded tranquility. But why, after abandoning Mohism, do they turn to Yang Zhu?”

Yes, Tang Shen discarded all the broader, more expansive ideas and directly tackled the question, writing an essay on why people abandon Mohism for Yang Zhu’s school. This was a safe, generic essay; Tang Shen did not say Yang Zhu’s school was correct, nor did he greatly denigrate it.

Never had he written such a laborious essay. Tang Shen knew that his approach to the topic was not outstanding, so he focused on logic and argumentation, spending three hours meticulously choosing every word, finally completing the second essay. By the time he finished, he found his back drenched in sweat!

In the cold month of February, he was drenched in sweat!

After completing the essay on the draft paper, Tang Shen stared at it, unsure whether he had made the right choice.

Was he overthinking it? This was just an essay in the huishi; he shouldn’t worry so much.

But then he thought, “If it were Wang Zifeng, he would have done the same.”

Having written it, Tang Shen believed his essay, while not extraordinary, was certainly among the top tier of examinees. He copied the essay neatly and slept, exhausted. When he awoke, it was already the third day of the examination.

Before sleeping, Tang Shen had already seen the third topic: “I examine myself thrice daily.”

Zengzi said: “I examine myself thrice daily: in my dealings with others, have I been disloyal? In my interactions with friends, have I been untrustworthy? Have I failed to review what I have learned?”

This quote is from ‘The Analects: Shu Er,’ and it is a classic familiar to later generations. After finishing the second essay, Tang Shen was inevitably a bit frustrated, but upon seeing the third topic, his mood brightened, and he almost laughed out loud in the examination hall.

Typically, the three essays in the first session of the huishi would be two from ‘The Analects’ or ‘Mencius’ and one from ‘The Great Learning’ or ‘The Doctrine of the Mean.’ But Grand Secretary Li, the chief examiner, was not typical! The first topic was obscure and strange, the second could potentially anger the emperor, and the third topic was another from ‘The Analects’!

In his previous life, Tang Shen had been a pure science student with limited study on language and literature, but he could not possibly be unfamiliar with the phrase “I examine myself thrice daily.” He even knew another quote.”

“Correct mistakes if there are any, encourage yourself if there are none!”

This is Zhu Xi’s commentary on the saying “I reflect on myself three times a day.”

At such a moment, Tang Shen did not hold back and directly used Zhu Xi’s approach to start the essay. Following Zhu Xi’s viewpoint, he wrote an extensive piece: “Zong Sheng reflects on himself thrice daily, observes benevolence and loyalty, and aspires to learn. If a sage does so, then I must also correct my mistakes if there are any and encourage myself if there are none!”

The third essay was written in one go, and when Tang Shen reviewed it, he found it stirring. Even with just the phrase “Correct mistakes if there are any, encourage yourself if there are none,” he was sure to score high, even if the rest of his writing wasn’t perfect.

After copying the final eight-legged essay onto the official exam paper, Tang Shen looked at the last task, a five-character eight-line test poem.

The topic was: “The wind and rain are bleak.”

The wind and rain are bleak, the rooster crows. Now that I see the gentleman, why should I not be happy?

This is from “The Book of Songs, National Airs, Zheng Rain.”

This poem depicts a bleak scene of wind and rain and expresses a woman’s longing for her lover. After some thought, Tang Shen wrote his test poem:

I hear the news and search for the clouds, hearing the wind and startling the cicadas.

The rain hits the green plantains, and thunder rumbles in the depths.

…

The white-haired road to return is exhausted, the cuckoo cries in longing.

In the huishi, handwriting and calligraphy weren’t that important since the final exam papers the officials saw were not handwritten by the examinees. Nevertheless, Tang Shen carefully copied the test poem onto the paper, checked it thoroughly, and then stood up to hand in his paper.

As he walked out of his assigned cubicle and entered the corridor, he unexpectedly ran into Mei Shengze. 

Mei Shengze was also pleasantly surprised to see him and said, “Jing Ze, how do you feel?”

Tang Shen honestly replied, “What shamelessness!”

Mei Shengze immediately lost the joy of seeing his friend and gloomily said, “Utter shamelessness!”

The two laughed heartily and chatted as they walked out of the exam hall.

Mei Shengze said, “That first question took me two hours just to decide how to break it open. I’m not good at the eight-legged essay, and both you and Brother Liu Fang are better than me at it. Now great, the test poem topic ‘the wind and rain are bleak’ is extremely simple, but the first eight-legged essay was extremely difficult! Luckily, the next two eight-legged essay topics from Grand Secretary Li were simpler, otherwise, I would have definitely crashed my head into one of the pillars of the Mingyuan Tower today!”

Tang Shen immediately knew that Mei Shengze hadn’t spent as much time thinking about the second essay as he had.

The two walked out of the examination hall and bid each other farewell.

Yao San had been waiting for Tang Shen outside the gate with a doctor for a long time. Tang Shen said, “Let’s go home first. This time, my health is pretty good. Thanks to the experience from the xiangshi, I’m fine this time. Let’s go home, take a bath, and sleep, and I’ll come back for the exam tomorrow.”

Yao San and Accountant Lin both sighed in relief.

That night, after a hot bath and a good night’s sleep, Tang Shen returned to the gate of the Shengjing Examination Hall before dawn the next day.

Wang Zhen had once told Tang Shen that among the four grand secretaries of the Hanlin Academy, Grand Secretary Yang and Grand Secretary Pan liked “The Book of Changes,” while Grand Secretary Zhou liked “The Spring and Autumn Annals.” Only Grand Secretary Li’s preferences weren’t mentioned. Tang Shen didn’t ask because he knew that if Wang Zhen didn’t mention it, it was likely that Grand Secretary Li didn’t have a particular preference among the Five Classics. He might prefer “The Analects,” hence the two questions from “The Analects” in the first session of the exam.

Since Grand Secretary Li had a balanced liking for the Five Classics, Tang Shen chose the simplest topic and began answering.

Three days later, Tang Shen walked out of the exam hall, looking slightly pale.

Yao San immediately approached him.

Tang Shen said, “No worries, just tired.”

After a good sleep, Tang Shen gathered his energy and returned to the prison-like exam cubicle, where he stayed for another three days and nights, answering the current affairs questions for the third session of the huishi.

The nine-day-long huishi with three sessions finally ended. As soon as they returned home, Shopkeeper Lu came over. He had clearly timed his visit perfectly for when Tang Shen finished his exam, but upon seeing him, Tang Shen waved his hand and said, “Come back tomorrow.”

Shopkeeper Lu smiled helplessly and said, “Alright, I’ll do as the little boss says.”

The next day, Tang Shen slept until late morning. As he ate the Shengjing pastries bought by Feng Bi and drank porridge, Shopkeeper Lu knocked and entered. He saluted Tang Shen and said, “Little Boss, it’s done! The day before yesterday, while you were still taking the exam, Shopkeeper Xing from the Qianli Tower approached me. He bluntly pointed out that I am the shopkeeper of Xixia Tower in Gusu and then subtly asked if we wanted to cooperate with Autumn Hall to sell soap and the Golden Wisp!”

Upon hearing this, Tang Shen immediately put down his bowl and asked, “He knows you are the shopkeeper of Xixia Tower?”

“Of course. Two months ago, I handed him the gift box containing Golden Wisp, and I was puzzled. Little Boss, we made our intentions very clear that we wanted to cooperate with Autumn Hall. Why did Shopkeeper Xing act like he didn’t receive the gift and didn’t understand at all? Now I understand, he didn’t pretend not to understand, he was secretly investigating my identity before approaching us!”

Tang Shen smiled and said, “To make Qianli Tower and Autumn Hall the top brands in Shengjing, Shopkeeper Xing is certainly no ordinary person. How did your talks with him go?”

Shopkeeper Lu explained the preliminary agreements he had reached with Shopkeeper Xing, saying, “…I don’t see this as a problem. Shopkeeper Xing’s conditions are quite favorable. However, specific matters can’t be decided by just the two of us shopkeepers. Shopkeeper Xing wants you to meet the owner behind Qianli Tower to finalize the details.”

Tang Shen was surprised and asked, “Prince Xiaoyao, Zhao Ao?”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Shopkeeper Lu replied, “No, it’s the heir of Prince Jing, Zhao Qiong.”

A figure flashed through Tang Shen’s mind, and he nodded, “Alright, a meeting is necessary.”

AN: Neighbor Wang: No scenes today?

Little Tang Lang: Huh, what kind of scenes do you want then?

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