Chapter 21: The Real Key

Chapter 21: The Real Key

Recently, Shi Yuanxi had been occupied with studying, and Le Shu had also been keeping busy.

Shi Yuanxi had instructed her to find experienced and reliable blacksmiths in the capital.

This wasn’t an easy task; while experienced blacksmiths were easy enough to find, the other condition was harder to meet.

Le Shu got help from A Tuo, the eldest son of Uncle Qing, the driver for the second branch of the family.

A Tuo had been helped by Shi Yuanxi before, so he was naturally willing to help.

For over two months, the two of them went door to door, checking out every blacksmith shop in the capital.

By a lucky coincidence, on Shi Yuanxi’s day off, Le Shu and A Tuo went out again to search for a blacksmith.

They went to a renowned blacksmith shop in the capital that day, and as they arrived, Le Shu caught sight of Lu Xingyi.

Shi Yuanxi had told her to be careful, so Le Shu ducked behind A Tuo to avoid being seen.

After returning, she told Shi Yuanxi about it.

Shi Yuanxi sensed something off about it.

The next day, when the Guozijian reopened, she sent Le Shu back and had A Tuo go check it out alone.

A Tuo went back to the shop and stayed there for a while, where he saw Lu Xingyi again.

This time, Le Shu wasn’t with him, and since Lu Xingyi didn’t recognize A Tuo at all, he openly stared at him.

When he got back, he told Shi Yuanxi that Lu Xingyi had gone there to repair a weapon.

It was a government weapon with an official emblem.

The Liang dynasty had its own military supply department responsible for the manufacture and repair of weapons, but the process was quite troublesome.

For minor issues, it wasn’t a big problem to privately find a blacksmith to repair them, as long as they met the regulations.

Official weapons, privately repaired by a blacksmith, combined with Lu Xingyi’s usual behavior at the Guozijian—Shi Yuanxi instantly understood what he had been secretly doing.

And the reason he avoided the military supply department wasn’t because he found the process troublesome, but because he didn’t dare go. He was afraid of being recognized and having his plans ruined.

Accompanying this revelation was another piece of information brought by A Tuo.

“When I saw that person, it was in the morning. In the afternoon, I deliberately went back to the blacksmith shop, but by then, the shop had closed.” A Tuo, being meticulous, specifically asked around for the reason: “The people running nearby businesses said that the entire shop, including the blacksmith and his workers, had been transferred out.”

Lu Xingyi wasn’t stupid.

He had money, and if he wanted to be more discreet, buying out the blacksmith shop would have been the best option.

But his luck wasn’t good, and he happened to be caught by Shi Yuanxi.

In fact, Shi Yuanxi was quite envious. If she had the money, she would have bought out a shop too.

But it was precisely because of this incident that she gained absolute confidence in how to deal with Lu Xingyi.

Lu Xingyi gave Shi Yuanxi a cold glance. Within the entire academy, only Zhou Huaiyang knew what he had been doing every day.

Zhou Huaiyang could not possibly have told her about this, so how did she find out?

He stayed quiet, his face dark, and shifted his gaze to Wang Hengzhi, who was standing next to Shi Yuanxi.

……Wang Hengzhi, still in shock, didn’t dare to speak.

It was he who had informed Shi Yuanxi about Lu Xingyi’s father’s high expectations for him to enter officialdom through the Guozijian, aiming for a career as a civil servant.

But he swore on his life that he had thought Shi Yuanxi was planning to talk some sense into Lu Xingyi.

The three of them stood in silence for a while before Lu Xingyi finally broke the quiet.

He dropped his laid-back attitude and said directly, “You’ve said so much, is it all about the policy essays?”

Lu Xingyi remained expressionless. “Even if you hadn’t come to me today, I was still going to submit my policy essay on time.”

He needed to stay in the Guozijian to avoid raising his father’s suspicions; there was no way he would miss the major exam.

“Besides,” Lu Xingyi looked at her, “Didn’t you say there was no need for group grading? If that’s the case, even if I just hand it in, it won’t affect you, right?”

Since his sneaking into the military camp had been found out, his tone wasn’t too sharp.

However, Shi Yuanxi understood that his compliant attitude was because her knowledge of his secret hadn’t been leaked. If it had, his attitude would certainly be different.

“Yes,” Shi Yuanxi replied, “But I need you to write the policy essay based on the topic I give you.”

With the major exam approaching, she simply didn’t have the time to assist these two in writing their policy essays.

Originally, in Shi Yuanxi’s plan, the three of them would submit their essays individually. Even if what they wrote had nothing to do with each other, she believed Qiu Xuezheng wouldn’t give them any trouble.

But now the situation had changed. With the new regulations in place, countless people were watching the Guozijian closely.

The weight of this group assignment had suddenly become heavier.

It was key to taking the major exam, and it was hard to guarantee that no one would try to sabotage it.

Lu Xingyi understood her concerns. After a pause, he said, “I can only agree to write on the topic you've prepared.”

Other than that, if she expected him to follow her plan, he couldn’t agree.

He had finally managed to get into the new military camp, and this was a crucial moment for him.

“Agreed,” Shi Yuanxi said.

The rapid change in their attitudes left Wang Hengzhi unable to react.

Lu Xingyi then fixed him with a stare and said, “About today’s matter…”

Wang Hengzhi immediately raised two fingers. “I didn’t hear a thing.”

Lu Xingyi was satisfied.

For the first time, the three of them reached a consensus.

The next day, Shi Yuanxi gave them the topic she had prepared, giving them the freedom to write.

It wasn’t until only three days were left until the submission deadline that the two of them finally handed in their essays.

Before submission, Shi Yuanxi took a look.

She only glanced at Wang Hengzhi's policy essay before putting it down.

……It's hard to imagine how the teacher managed to endure it all this time.

The policy essay submitted by Lu Xingyi, however, was quite interesting.

He had always appeared cynical and indifferent in the Imperial Academy and never seemed to care much about his studies.

Yet unexpectedly, his policy essay was quite well-written.

The "well-written" Shi Yuanxi referred to was probably of medium quality within their lecture hall.

When placed against the entire First-Class Academy, it still wasn't impressive.

But compared to Lu Xingyi's usual performance, this policy essay was indeed quite a surprise and met the qualification standard.

After confirming, she submitted their three policy essays on the final submission day.

With the policy essays handed in, the next step was waiting for the evaluations.

Generally, Qiu Xuezheng would announce the scores before the major exam.

But once again, things changed.

The next morning, Li Wei arrived early at the lecture hall and brought news to everyone.

With a serious expression, he said, “This time, the policy essay evaluations will be given this afternoon by all the academic supervisors within the Imperial Academy.”

The room fell silent.

Wang Hengzhi exclaimed in surprise, “On-the-spot scoring!?”

Li Wei replied, “Yes.”

*Isn't this just like a public execution?*

By the morning, the news of the on-the-spot public policy essay evaluation spread throughout the Imperial Academy.

During the calligraphy and painting class that morning, Shi Yuanxi looked up to see that nearly all the students in the lecture hall were visibly tense.

Wang Hengzhi in front was particularly uneasy.

Just as she was about to shift her gaze away, she caught Lu Xingyi's thoughtful stare.

Only then did he look away.

A few days earlier, not long after Shi Yuanxi had approached him, Zhou Huaiyang came to his current residence to inform him that this policy essay required thorough preparation.

It was normal for Zhou Huaiyang, who was among the top students in the First-Class Academy and had connections with the Xie family, to know about this.

Shi Yuanxi…… How did she find out about his involvement with the military camp?

Lu Xingyi was so curious that he didn't leave the Imperial Academy throughout the day.

By the afternoon, all the students from the First-Class Academy had gathered at Tranquility Terrace.

The policy essay assessment before the major exam is only conducted in the First and Second Departments within the Imperial Academy.

Due to the public scoring, students from the other colleges were given the afternoon off (Muxiu holiday), but not many actually left. Most people gathered outside the Tranquility Terrace to see what was going on.

It would be really bad luck to be barred from taking the exam just before the major exam.

Many people thought the same and, as usual, believed that this policy essay assessment wouldn’t be too difficult.

However, not long after all the students of the First Department took their seats, during the public scoring up front, when they reached the 13th group,

the newly arrived Qi Xuezheng, holding a policy essay in his hand, after checking several times, asked, “Is Ye Bin of Class Three, Second Department present?”

Ye Bin.

Shi Yuanxi glanced toward Xu Jinghe, who sat at Lu Jijiu’s left.

Xu Jinghe rarely taught, and she almost never saw him around.

This time, although he appeared, he was only looking down at the exam papers. Upon hearing Ye Bin’s name, he didn’t even look up.

However, Shi Yuanxi remembered this student’s name.

He was the one who, on the first day of admission, at Wei Qingran’s behest, questioned her about cheating at the entrance examination.

Under everyone's gaze, Ye Bin stood up.

He remained calm and composed, “I am present.”

Qi Xuezheng glared at him, “Tell me, is this policy essay written by you?”

“It is!”

“How dare you!”

“Pah!” Qi Xuezheng slammed the already bound policy essay onto the table.

“When discussing river management, one should engage the local population and focus on dredging... This is the fundamental long-term solution to river disasters!” Without even looking at the essay, Qi Xuezheng recited a long list of points.

“This is an article written by Sun He, a dual-degree Jinshi of the 13th year of Huai Kang,” Qi Xuezheng said coldly, “Tell me again, is this policy essay really written by you?”

The surroundings became completely silent.

Shi Yuanxi looked up to see Ye Bin’s face turn pale in an instant. The hand hidden under his sleeve trembled faintly.

Almost instantly, beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.

The students around him dared not breathe loudly, and many below exchanged glances, revealing looks of shock.

How could they not be shocked?

This Qi Xuezheng joined the Imperial Academy relatively late and didn’t teach many classes, so the students didn’t have a deep impression of him.

But they never expected that he would remember the articles written by Jinshi from Huai Kang so clearly.

As a regular academy, the Imperial Academy inevitably had its share of cheating.

Ever since Ye Bin entered the Imperial Academy, he hadn’t studied properly for many days, wasting much time on how to socialize with the nobility. How could he have the mind to write a policy essay?

He thought himself a bit clever and borrowed parts from policy essays written several years ago, adding them to his work to make it sound better.

He didn’t expect that the new academic supervisor would see through it at a glance.

At this point, he was utterly at a loss. He was in a state of extreme panic.

"Student..." Drenched in cold sweat, Ye Bin stammered, "For the past few days, I've been pulling all-nighters to study. In my confusion, I handed in the wrong essay by mistake. Please forgive me, respected teachers!"

He bowed deeply and didn’t get up.

Sweat trickled down his forehead and fell to the ground with a soft tap.

Panicking and confused, Ye Bin was dazed when he heard someone above him speak.

It was Xu Jinghe who spoke.

He said in a cold, indifferent tone, "Ye Bin cheated on his policy essay and is disqualified from the upcoming exam."

"Since the entrance examination, cheating has been rampant in the Imperial Academy, which displeases the Emperor. To fix this, we must impose strict punishment."

"Upon investigation, it has been found that Ye Bin has cheated multiple times, and despite warnings, he remains unrepentant and continues his bad behavior. As a demonstration of fairness, he is expelled from the Imperial Academy."

Once he finished speaking, all the students gasped in shock.

This wasn’t just about missing the exam. This was outright expulsion!

With this, Ye Bin's official career was effectively cut off at the knees.

Though he could still take the imperial exams, with his record, he had no chance of passing.

Ye Bin was left dumbfounded, collapsing to the ground, crying, "No, no! Academic Supervisor Xu, please give me another chance! Director Wang!"

But no one above looked at him anymore.

Director Wang's expression darkened. He wanted to help, but in recent months, the Wei family had turned the Imperial Academy upside down in their attempt to find fault with Xu Jinghe.

They didn’t succeed in finding fault with Xu Jinghe, but they did uncover many other things.

Among them, the most egregious case was Ye Bin’s.

In his three years at the B-grade Academy, he had cheated in over a dozen essays during major examinations.

This had led to several academic supervisors being punished as well.

Now publicly exposed again, with such brazen behavior, what could Director Wang use to protect him?

His own head?

With the task from his superiors left undone and Ye Bin expelled, Director Wang's mood sank to the bottom.

At that moment, someone below presented several policy essays.

"Policy essays from Shi Yuanxi, Wang Hengzhi, and Lu Xingyi of Class A, Fifth Year."

Hearing this, Director Wang immediately lifted his head.

There seemed to be a dispute above about one of the essays.

Wang Hengzhi, with sharp eyes, whispered to Shi Yuanxi after a few glances, "...This seems to be our essay!"

Although he was far away, he still instantly recognized Lu Xingyi's handwriting.

Lu Xingyi's handwriting was unique within the entire Guozijian, exuding a sense of... freedom and wildness.

Shi Yuanxi nodded slightly, but before she could speak, Director Wang suddenly stood up and angrily said, "Since this is a group policy essay, the overall level should be assessed. Even if she writes extremely well, it still doesn't qualify for an A grade!"

Qi Xuezheng beside him had already turned cold and didn't want to argue.

However, Qiu Xuezheng, being older, and more gentle in temperament, looked up and gazed at the students sitting below.

Among all the students, Shi Yuanxi stood out.

Qiu Xuezheng softly said, "Since this is the case, why don't we let her defend herself?"

"Shi Yuanxi, please stand up and answer."

Countless eyes fell on Shi Yuanxi.

The students gathered outside perked up when they heard her name.

"No way, she won't even pass the pre-exam policy essay, right?"

"It shouldn't be... This time, the essay didn't have a set topic, making it one of the easier A-grade exams."

Amid the various opinions, Qiu Xuezheng declared, "Your essay is quite good. If graded individually, it would definitely receive an A."

According to Qiu Xuezheng's estimation, this passable A-grade essay ranked in the middle among fifth-year students.

In just three months, Shi Yuanxi had already risen from the bottom to the middle in terms of policy essays alone.

Leaving aside other matters, Qiu Xuezheng really appreciated her.

"The issue is that the scores of your group members, Wang Hengzhi and Lu Xingyi, are too low," Director Wang interjected coldly. "Shi Yuanxi, do you remember that this is a group policy essay?"

"I remember, sir."

"Lu Xingyi's essay received a B, and Wang Hengzhi received an E," Qi Xuezheng said.

"The scores are acceptable since everyone's abilities differ," Qiu Xuezheng frowned and said, "but the problem is that the three of your essays have little correlation."

"According to the judging rules, even if you are individually passable, the overall assessment won't reach an A grade."

Among the three of them, she was the only one who wasn't a yin jiansheng (a student with special privileges).

If she didn't get an A, she wouldn't be able to participate in the upcoming major exam.

Xu Jinghe looked up, gazing at the person standing below.

Shi Yuanxi stood in the cold winter sunlight, wearing the Guozijian's blue-and-white robes, her dark hair adorned with two jade hairpins, looking elegant and tranquil.

Amidst the various conversations, she lowered her eyes and slowly said, "These varied answers are the students' supplementary responses to the topic."

"What?"

"What do you mean?"

Not only did the people outside not understand, but Director Wang inside also frowned and said, "What are you talking about?"

Amidst the clamor, Shi Yuanxi raised her head, her eyes bright and clear like stars in the night sky.

She spoke calmly and unhurriedly, “What we three have presented this time is ‘drawing on the best from various sources.’”

“Your student believes that the so-called ‘drawing on the best from various sources’ means to utilize each person’s expertise and display their individual abilities.”

“If we must follow a prescribed format for today’s policy essays, both Wang Hengzhi and Lu Xingyi could have made theirs appear similar to mine. But if we only adhere to the format, the essence of a policy essay is lost.”

“A policy essay reflects the thoughts and intentions of the writer. Your student believes that I do not share the same perspective as the other two, so our understandings differ, and thus our presentations differ. ‘Drawing on the best from various sources’ means difference.”

“Lu Xingyi is unbridled, Wang Hengzhi is unpredictable, and my essay is titled ‘Selecting Strengths and Eliminating Weaknesses.’”

Not enhancing strengths to compensate for weaknesses, but eliminating weaknesses.

Qi Xuezheng was slightly taken aback. Following her explanation, he found the corresponding content in her essay. Although her writing shared a similar central theme with the other two, the presentation was entirely different.

“A foot of jade may have flaws, and an inch of stone may have its uses; as an overall planner, one should harness strengths and eliminate weaknesses to achieve the convergence of the three forces.”

“Therefore, your student’s submitted topic is: ‘Selecting Strengths and Eliminating Weaknesses to Achieve the Convergence of the Three Forces.’”

The nearby Qiu Xuezheng picked up the submitted topic papers. Since it was an open evaluation session, they hadn’t been paying attention to the submitted topics. Upon unfolding them, they realized that the three had indeed submitted differing topics.

Lu Xingyi and Wang Hengzhi’s essays were about ‘drawing on the best from various sources,’ while Shi Yuanxi’s was as she described.

A group policy essay doesn’t have to conform to a single format. In the case of the three of them, Shi Yuanxi’s content was more summarized in nature.

Thus, it could hardly be considered off-topic.

Director Wang was about to scold her for being silver-tongued, but before he could open his mouth, he suddenly realized.

Three forces, three forces!?

What did ‘the convergence of the three forces’ refer to?

It wasn’t just about the three of them; it was a metaphor for the current chaotic court situation!

The power struggles led by the Wei family, Xie family, and Xu family.

But in her mouth, it became ‘the convergence of the three forces.’

She… she certainly has some nerve!

Indeed.

Shi Yuanxi had already planned which camp she would align with, and this policy essay was her first submitted answer, her true stepping stone.

She wanted to clearly inform the other party that she wasn’t going to simply take one side or align with any faction to rise in power.

What she aimed for was to make the three powers unite under one rule, to make them all bow their heads in submission! To forge an unparalleled prosperous era!