Chapter 105

Chapter 105

After returning from Taiyuan, Cui Xuan visited Xiuyun Temple to see his father, who had taken monastic vows.

In the past, on his days off, he would visit Xiuyun Temple to meditate, but he didn’t always meet with his father. When they did cross paths, it was as if they were strangers, passing by without acknowledgment.

Although Xiuyun Temple was built by the Cui family, it was maintained with the simplest necessities, following the ascetic practices of monastic life.

The former eldest son of the Cui family was now an ordinary monk at Xiuyun Temple, known as Qi Chen.

Even when Cui Xuan sought him out, Qi Chen’s expression remained calm and unruffled. He gestured to a cushion beside him, indicating for Cui Xuan to sit.

Cui Xuan glanced at the cushion on the ground and said flatly, "Let’s go to the meditation room. The floor is too dusty."

Qi Chen: "..." Luckily, he had always been a patient man, even before taking monastic vows.

Qi Chen borrowed the abbot’s meditation room, and at last, he and Cui Xuan sat face to face. Qi Chen brewed tea for Cui Xuan and said lightly, "This tea was grown by me. Please try it."

In the past, Qi Chen, like Cui Xuan, would only drink meticulously prepared tea. But after taking monastic vows, he had simplified his life.

Cui Xuan glanced at the teacup, met Qi Chen’s gaze, and this time, without disdain, he picked up the cup and took a small sip.

Qi Chen waited, and when Cui Xuan remained silent, he finally sighed in relief, genuinely fearing another criticism.

"Do you know why I always visit Xiuyun Temple on my days off?" Cui Xuan asked abruptly.

Qi Chen clasped his hands together and said, "You must have your own reasons for coming here."

Cui Xuan looked up at Qi Chen. The two resembled each other closely, both with striking phoenix eyes. However, Cui Xuan’s eyebrows were sharp and intense, while Qi Chen’s features were more subdued.

"Because I want to learn from your mistakes," Cui Xuan said icily.

Before falling victim to Lady Zheng’s schemes, Qi Chen had a beloved woman named Yang. However, Yang was the daughter of a low-ranking official, and the Cui family forbade Qi Chen from marrying her as his principal wife. After being deceived by Lady Zheng, Qi Chen was compelled to marry her. Although Yang came from a minor official family, she refused to become a concubine. After Qi Chen married, she became betrothed to someone else. However, Lady Zheng couldn’t stand to see Qi Chen still pining for another woman, so she orchestrated a scheme to force Yang into becoming Qi Chen’s concubine.

Qi Chen naturally welcomed this with joy. Later, Yang became pregnant before Lady Zheng, but she gave birth to stillborn infants one after another. Yang became deeply despondent. The most rebellious act Qi Chen committed was to somehow bring in a baby boy, naming him Cui Xin and registering him under Yang’s name as the Cui family’s eldest son.

Even so, Yang’s life was not saved.

When Yang died, Cui Xuan was present—

At that time, Yang knew her time was running out and wanted to take revenge on Lady Zheng. She took the four-year-old Cui Xuan hostage.

She held a pair of scissors to the young Cui Xuan’s neck, venting her hatred in a fit of hysteria. She hated Lady Zheng, she hated the Cui family, but most of all, she hated Qi Chen.

Yang said that Qi Chen knew full well that her children had been killed by Lady Zheng, yet he turned a blind eye. Did he think that bringing in a random child would make her forget the pain of losing her own? Qi Chen was weak and spineless, compromising with the family by marrying Lady Zheng. If that was the case, he should never have dragged her into this mess. He took her as a concubine but couldn’t protect her, costing her children’s lives and her own.

Yang also said that she would kill Cui Xuan, so that Lady Zheng could taste the pain of losing a child.

To this day, Cui Xuan still remembered Yang’s eyes—they were not the eyes of a murderer, but eyes filled with sorrow and despair. Yang was even careful not to hurt him with the scissors, always avoiding pointing the blade at him.

In contrast, his mother, Lady Zheng, ignored the fact that her son was in Yang’s hands and directly ordered the guards to rush in. In the end, Yang stabbed the scissors into her own chest and died with her eyes open.

It was at that time that Cui Xuan’s grandfather decided that Lady Zheng was unfit to raise children and took Cui Xuan under his own care. As for his father, Qi Chen, after Yang’s death, he chose to become a monk, leaving behind everything related to the Cui family.

Cui Xuan kept his distance from Lady Zheng and didn’t like his father either.

Once he became slightly more sensible, he told himself that he would never end up in the same situation as Qi Chen—

So whenever he needed to clear his mind, he would come to Xiuyun Temple and look at Qi Chen, dressed in his dusty monk’s robes.

Qi Chen: "..."

Qi Chen silently turned the prayer beads in his hand, and after a long while, he said, "Patron, are you troubled by matters of the heart?"

Over the years, the father and son rarely spoke. Qi Chen could only remember three conversations: one when Cui Xuan entered government service, another when the former head of the Cui family passed away, and the last when the news of Cui Xin's death arrived.

But in those three instances, Cui Xuan merely delivered the message and left, not sitting down with him as he did this time, which made Qi Chen somewhat suspicious.

Cui Xuan expressionlessly put down the teacup, glanced at him coldly, and calmly said, "Do I look like it to you?"

After saying that, he turned and left.

After returning from Xiuyun Temple, Cui Xuan no longer avoided Su Yu. She was the sovereign, and he was the minister; there was no way to avoid her.

Even when he heard that Su Yu had kept Liu Wushi in the palace overnight, he remained exceptionally calm, going to the palace early in the morning as usual to assist Su Yu in donning her court robes. It wasn't that he cared about anything, but these days he had seen Su Yu wearing her court robes askew, which made him quite uncomfortable.

He also heard that Liu Wushi wanted to leave the capital, which reminded Cui Xuan of the recent incident where Liu Wushi had wanted to transfer his fleet to the Cui clan. His phoenix eyes grew particularly deep. In recent years, the Liu family's focus had been shifting to the south, but would Liu Wushi really leave the capital this time?

Cui Xuan immediately sent people to keep an eye on Liu Wushi.

Unexpectedly, Liu Wushi not only did not leave the capital but also took the imperial examination. Moreover, Su Yu had already made it clear that she wanted to heavily utilize Liu Wushi.

Cui Xuan unconsciously frowned.

"Master, do you not wish for Liu Buyi to take the imperial examination?" The scout reporting below hesitated to ask, considering whether to take action.

Cui Xuan glanced at him coolly, "He is someone the Emperor values. If you dare to act without permission, bring your head to see me."

The scout: "..." Why did it feel like the word "values" was said through gritted teeth by the master?

Having known early on that Liu Wushi had taken the imperial examination, Cui Xuan was not surprised to see him during the palace examination on the fifteenth day of the sixth month.

The palace examination questions were set by the Emperor. Last year's palace examination questions were actually decided by Lu Zhenghan and given to Su Yu, who did not object, giving Lu Zhenghan, who was still the Chancellor at the time, due respect. This year's two Chancellors obviously would not do such a thing.

However, Cui Xuan was somewhat worried, so he had been extremely busy this month, managing countless affairs and still finding time to tutor Su Yu, the Emperor, telling her what kind of questions had been asked in previous palace examinations and roughly how to set them—

When he came to tutor Su Yu, he ran into Xie Yiguan several times. The two of them exchanged glances, tacitly understanding each other, each trying their best to tutor the Emperor in their own way, all to prevent Su Yu from revealing her lack of erudition in public today.

Su Yu, however, was not the least bit flustered, nor did she ask Cui Xuan and Xie Yiguan to prepare the questions in advance. But she was self-aware about her handwriting, so she drafted the questions early in the morning and had Xie Yiguan copy them again. Her questions were also very simple: Question one, the new tax system has been implemented for over half a year now, what are your insights on its implementation? Question two, commercial development in the Jiangnan region is booming, not only is there no curfew, but some eateries even offer midnight delivery services. Please share your views on this phenomenon.

The candidates were to choose one of the two questions to address.

Moreover, Su Yu eliminated some of the formalities, shortening the original one-day palace examination to half a day, with the papers to be submitted by noon and the grading would begin in the afternoon, with the results would be announced before dusk.

When Cui Xuan saw the questions, he immediately looked accusingly at Xie Yiguan. The Emperor's questions were good, but the language was too straightforward. Couldn't Xie Yiguan, as a secretary in the Secretariat, polish the wording a bit, incorporating some classical references to enhance its refinement? Such straightforward language was copied and distributed to the candidates.

Xie Yiguan, for once, remained expressionless. It wasn't that he didn't want to refine the wording, but the Emperor insisted on distributing the questions as they were.

Su Yu said that these candidates would eventually become officials in the court and serve her, so they had to learn to adapt to her style.

Xie Yiguan smiled helplessly, indicating that as long as the Emperor was happy.

The candidates who received the questions were also stunned for a while before they started writing one after another.

When the top ten papers were presented to Su Yu, she was not surprised to see Liu Wushi's paper, but she was surprised that he did not choose the topic of Jiangnan commerce, which he was more familiar with, but instead directly pointed out the drawbacks of the new tax system.

In his paper, Liu Wushi wrote that the new tax system was good, but the measurement and reporting of land to the court varied across different regions, leading to inconsistencies in implementation. The implication was that farmers were dutifully paying taxes, even paying more because the recorded land was larger than the actual, while local magnates paid less tax by underreporting the extent of their landholdings.

Su Yu was quite satisfied with this paper. Liu Wushi, as one of the male leads, lived up to his reputation, having dealt with her for so long. His language was concise and to the point, without any unnecessary embellishments. There was another paper, from a candidate named Cheng Heyuan, which was also well-answered, but it had too many obscure characters, making Su Yu's head hurt—

If it weren’t for the intensive teaching by Cui Xuan and Xie Yiguan over the past month, Su Yu would have had to guess the pronunciation of many characters. Xie Yiguan, who delivered the papers and knew her well, immediately helped her by dictating and translating from classical Chinese to modern vernacular, which was very considerate.

Xie Yiguan shared his view on Cheng Heyuan: "His writing is flowery and incisive, and he’s a bit too cocky about his abilities, which might easily offend people in the future."

"That’s not bad," Su Yu smiled, immediately deciding to make Cheng Heyuan the top scholar of the imperial examination.

Xie Yiguan: "..." The emperor is likely up to her usual mischief.

"As for Liu Wushi, he’s good-looking, let him be the Tanhua," Su Yu said with a laugh.

Xie Yiguan: "..." What an odd criterion, but since Liu Wushi had entered the palace before the exam, if he really got first place, it might lead to rumors damaging the emperor’s reputation.

However, even as the Tanhua, this was the highest rank ever attained by a merchant’s son in Great Qi.

When the rankings were announced, Liu Wushi didn’t react much, only clenching his fist at the thought of seeing Su Yu again, then releasing it.

But soon, he realized he was overthinking it. In the empty hall, the emperor sat high above, and like everyone else, he entered and exited with his head bowed, never getting a chance to glance at Su Yu.

Then came the emperor’s banquet in the imperial garden.

The banquet in Great Qi was exclusively for scholars who had succeeded in the imperial exams. The emperor’s banquet not only invited the top scholars from each subject but also some officials and their families. Although not as overt as the later practice of matchmaking based on exam results, it had a subtle matchmaking undertone, especially since the gender segregation in Great Qi wasn’t so strict. If a young woman took a liking to a scholar, she could give him her sachet, and if the scholar accepted it, it meant he was also interested in her.

Such a banquet should have been hosted by the empress, but since Su Yu had no empress, she delegated the banquet arrangements to Pei Baozhen.

Sitting in this banquet, Liu Wushi was utterly miserable—

After rejecting the eleventh sachet, he finally understood why Cui Xuan always looked so stern. Before he could cool his own face, the twelfth sachet was already thrust upon him.

He intended to refuse immediately, but was slightly stunned by the color of the sachet, which was a soft pink hue, with clumsily embroidered patterns, far less refined than the others. He thought, if Su Yu were to embroider a sachet, it would probably look like this...

"The emperor approaches—"

The eunuch shouted, and Liu Wushi suddenly looked up to see Su Yu in a bright yellow informal robe.

Under the dazzling lights, the emperor’s features were striking, outshining the flowers and guests in the garden. In Liu Wushi’s eyes, there was only her.

He stared at Su Yu intently from across the crowd.

Su Yu seemed to notice his gaze, looking over and raising her golden cup with a smile.

Liu Wushi quickly looked away, almost embarrassed, only to look back after a while. This time, he clearly saw that beside the emperor stood not only Cui Xuan and Xie Yiguan but also a lovely court official.

Liu Wushi knew Pei Baozhen; when he went to Taiyuan for business, he met the Hedong military governor through Pei Baozhen, who was living a monastic life in a Taoist temple.

He had also heard that the emperor brought Pei Baozhen back to the capital, appointed her as a female official, and put her in charge of certain palace duties, even handling some palace banquets.

Liu Wushi rejected the twelfth sachet, bitterly mused, Su Yu would never embroider a sachet, and even if she did, it wouldn’t be for him!

The banquet ended before the curfew, and before Liu Wushi reached the palace gate, Su Yu called him back.

Following the palace registrar towards the imperial study, Liu Wushi noticed that the palace was surprisingly thrifty, with a lamp every fifty steps, and only on one side, even more economical than ordinary wealthy families.

He pursed his lips, was the emperor so short of money? It shouldn’t be, just confiscating the Lu family’s property should have brought in a lot.

Liu Wushi stepped into the imperial study again, his heart still aching, feeling a tightness in his chest as he looked up to see Su Yu and the ever-present Cui Xuan and Xie Yiguan.

Liu Wushi: "..." Why are these two still here?

Su Yu smiled at him, the dimple by her lips still there, her smile still carrying a touch of innocent charm.

Liu Wushi was taken aback once more. Despite knowing Su Yu's true identity, he was still struck by her radiant smile.

"Buyi's article really hit home for me. I also wanted to do the same. Since Buyi and I are quite familiar, there's no need for him to report to the Ministry of Personnel and wait for an appointment," Su Yu turned to Cui Xuan and said, "Let Buyi directly take the position of a chief clerk at the Ministry of Revenue. Notify Vice Minister Shangguan that Buyi will be responsible for the re-measurement and registration of the confiscated land from the Lu family."

Cui Xuan nodded. The Lu family's land also included what they had previously seized from the Zheng family, spread across the entire Central Plains. This meant Liu Wushi would be out of the capital for an extended period, which was ideal.

Liu Wushi was stunned. Was it really okay to hand him an official position just like that? Although the chief clerk position at the Ministry of Revenue was only a ninth-rank post—

Did this mean he held a special place in Su Yu's heart too...?

Su Yu smiled at him again, "For convenience outside the palace, I still use the identity of my cousin Zhi Wei. Buyi, you must keep this a secret for me!"

Liu Wushi felt a brief daze, the June heat so intense it flushed his face.

"Liu Wushi's favorability increased by 50, current favorability is 50." The system, which had thought Cui Xuan was over the top, now saw there was always a bigger fish. But it didn't matter; the system had seen it all. The rise and fall of the male lead's favorability was of no concern to it!

Hearing the system's announcement, Su Yu's smile at Liu Wushi grew even brighter.

Liu Wushi turned his head away, flustered.

The three of them walked out of the imperial study together, under the glow of a full moon.

Cui Xuan glanced at Liu Wushi, his usually cold phoenix eyes showing a hint of pleasure.

Xie Yiguan patted Liu Wushi's shoulder with a clear smile, "Liu Buyi, do your best."

Liu Wushi: "..." Why did he feel a chill of foreboding run down his spine?