Chapter 56: Court Turmoil, Taking the County Exam

Chapter 56: Court Turmoil

Xie Jingxing's handwriting was truly something.

That was Ning Xishi's first impression upon seeing the letter. Looking at those vigorous, forceful strokes, he could almost see Xie Jingxing in his armor.

For this reason, Ning Xishi didn't mind practicing calligraphy as much anymore.

In this era where news traveled slowly, sending letters by messenger was the norm for keeping in touch. Naturally, one's handwriting had to be decent enough that others could feel "seeing the writer in the words."

And so the days passed. Ning Xishi practiced calligraphy, studied, and trained in martial arts every day, though the first two took up more of his time, with martial arts occupying only half an hour each day.

Five months flew by, and several major events had indeed occurred at court.

First, Xie Jingxing rebelled. Second, he completely crushed the remaining Xiongnu forces, who then proclaimed him their Heavenly Khan.

After that, Xie Jingxing stayed quiet in the northern frontier. No one knew whether his next step would be to march on the capital or head south into Jiangnan.

The Emperor was so anxious his hair was falling out in clumps. He couldn't sleep night after night, and he'd even lost several teeth.

At least he was too busy to bother Ning Xishi anymore.

But the daily surveillance was still in place—the Ning household's every move still landed on the Emperor's desk without fail.

On this day, the civil and military officials at court were once again arguing heatedly over which general to send against Xie Jingxing.

The Emperor watched from behind the beaded curtain and could tell everyone had their own agenda.

"Your Majesty, in this old minister's view, Xie Jingxing holds great prestige in the military—a million mighty soldiers all obey his command. We must send a seasoned veteran general to face him."

"Oh? Who does my beloved minister think would be suitable?" The Emperor showed some interest.

"Wang Xun, the former Governor-General of Liangjiang. He once served as Grand Marshal of the entire army, commanding all three branches of the military. He is a rare general capable of going up against that rebel Xie Jingxing."

The moment these words were spoken, others couldn't help themselves—

"Governor-General Wang is already eighty-three. Can he even get on a horse anymore?"

"Exactly. He'd drop dead from exhaustion before even reaching the northern frontier."

"No matter how experienced he is, can an eighty-three-year-old still lead troops?"

The Emperor fingered his prayer beads rapidly and said, "Nonsense!"

The old minister who had made the suggestion immediately knelt down, pleading his ignorance, but insisted that Wang Xun was truly a veteran general who could go toe-to-toe with Xie Jingxing.

Seeing him sob like that, the Emperor grew even more irritated. These stubborn old fools—they were fine for using underhanded tricks to annoy people, but when it came to major matters, they couldn't see clearly at all.

If it weren't for the fact that this man usually read his mind—he was the one who had suggested marrying Ning Xishi to Xie Jingxing, which the Emperor had found useful and adopted—he'd have thrown him out of the throne room right then.

"Your Majesty, Censor Chen is spouting nonsense. This minister, however, believes that Zhou Mian, who was demoted six years ago, is the right man for the job." A younger censor stepped forward with his suggestion.

The moment the name Zhou Mian was uttered, the court fell silent for a few breaths, then everyone started shouting at once.

"How could he possibly work?"

"He absolutely cannot!"

"He and Xie Jingxing's master were close friends—he's practically Xie Jingxing's second master. If he were made commander, we might as well hand the whole government to Xie Jingxing."

The Emperor, meanwhile, shot a dark look at the censor who had recommended Zhou Mian. In his memory, this was a minor official who rarely spoke and had always kept a low profile.

He never expected the man's first speech to be so bold.

"Do you know the consequences of recommending a convicted criminal like Zhou Mian?"

The Emperor spoke slowly, his words carrying weight.

Yet this unknown censor didn't flinch: "This minister knows full well the consequences of his words. It is precisely because I know them that I must recommend Zhou Mian."

Seeing how composed the man was, the Emperor was torn between suspecting he was a spy planted by Xie Jingxing and wanting to hear what he had to say.

So he said in a deep voice, "State your reasoning. If you speak with substance, I shall forgive your audacity. Otherwise... I'll have your head this very moment."

"Your Majesty, although Zhou Mian studied under the same master as Xie Jingxing's teacher and even taught Xie Jingxing himself, it was precisely because he failed to appear in time six years ago that led to the great defeat in that battle, with heavy losses in the army. Xie Jingxing has not contacted him in these six years—he must hate his guts." The young official spoke thus.

"Therefore, in this minister's view, these two are sworn enemies, not allies."

The Emperor mulled it over for a moment, then said, "Continue."

"Furthermore, Zhou Mian does not come from a military family. On the contrary, he passed the imperial exams fair and square. I have obtained several of his essays from back then, which show real insight into governing. So he's definitely not the type to let personal grudges override his loyalty to the throne."

That actually made some sense.

A few of the angry officials actually nodded.

But some still scoffed: "Utter nonsense! Xie Jingxing used to be such a loyal subject. Now look—he rebelled at the drop of a hat."

At those words, the mood in the court turned icy. All eyes turned to the Minister of War.

The Emperor shot him a threatening look.

The Minister of War immediately realized his voice had been a bit too loud, but he stuck his chin out stubbornly and said, "We all thought Xie Jingxing wouldn't rebel before—even if you shoved shit down his throat, he'd just swallow it silently. Who would have thought he'd long harbored intentions of rebellion, even laying his groundwork during last year's bandit suppression in Chuzhou, when he got in touch with the Mandarin Duck Swords, the ones who could kill the Wanyan clan!"

This man had never gotten along with Xie Jingxing in earlier years, but due to his limited abilities, he always lost when going up against him. Plus, he was petty, so he'd held a grudge ever since.

The Emperor had exploited this exact trait to slowly promote him to Minister of War.

After all, among all the civil and military officials at court, those who were to his liking were few and far between.

This Minister of War had previously been cautious and reserved, but now that Xie Jingxing had rebelled, he finally saw himself as the loyal, history-making minister he'd always wanted to be. He'd become bolder and couldn't stop talking.

"Your Majesty, think about it—that rebel harbored seditious intentions long ago, yet he endured humiliation and bided his time, even marrying a man and crippling his own legs as part of the act. It was all to make us let our guard down! All for this moment! Therefore, we absolutely cannot use Zhou Mian—who knows if this is part of the rebel's plan." The Minister of War's jowls shook as he said, "In this minister's view, let the eighty-three-year-old Governor-General Wang Xun resume his post as Grand Marshal, and make Zhou Mian the vanguard. We must take Zhou Mian's entire family hostage so he won't dare think about betraying us!"

Though the man's words were crude, the idea was actually pretty fresh.

Meanwhile, in the commander's tent beyond the frontier, Qiu Changyu was discussing with Xie Jingxing who the court might send to face them.

Qiu Changyu thought for a moment, then actually burst out laughing: "Just thinking about how those good-for-nothings can't even find someone capable of fighting a war—they're just asking for it."

Basically, anyone who actually knew how to lead troops was now under Xie Jingxing's command.

"Don't underestimate them. They all crossed the same single-plank bridge of the imperial exams—each one's got a decent head on their shoulders," Xie Jingxing said.

"Yes, but what use are a bunch of armchair strategists? Besides, even if they do offer suggestions, will our esteemed Emperor actually adopt them? In the end, he only goes along with what he wants to hear." Qiu Changyu had this Emperor's number.

"General, who do you think they'll send against us?"

Xie Jingxing said casually, "Wang Xun."

"Wang Xun?" Qiu Changyu thought for a long time before scraping the name up from the back of his mind, and his expression turned rather peculiar. "Old General Wang Xun was a formidable warrior back in the day, but he must be eighty or ninety by now. Dragging him out of his hometown—these guys are really playing dirty."

Isn't this just ruining Old General Wang's reputation in his twilight years?

Xie Jingxing gazed into the distance at his homeland and said, "Indeed. But my dear brother just can't trust any other commander with ties to me."

Even Wang Meng, who had long been assigned to serve as a Golden Guard, definitely wouldn't be sent out by the emperor.

The emperor didn't care that Wang Meng had once served under Xie Jingxing and knew his tactics inside out. He'd only worry about Wang Meng surrendering the moment he came face-to-face with Xie Jingxing.

So this great battle was bound to be a one-sided victory, and the court was doomed to have no power to resist.

But even with no power to resist, in an era of cold steel, fighting across such a vast territory, war was inevitably going to drag on.

By the time the second defeat report came in from the border, the capital remained utterly unconcerned and even went ahead with the county scholar exams.

Ning Xishi had studied hard for a full year. Finally, in the second month after the new year, he brought Dongshuang along, book basket in hand, and headed to the capital's county office.

In a place crawling with big shots and high-ranking officials, the county magistrate of the capital was a mere minor official, and the county office itself seemed a bit underwhelming—nothing compared to the Three Departments and Six Ministries Ning Xishi usually visited.

But visiting the place was a whole different story from actually sitting for the exam there.

When Ning Xishi handed over his ID tag, got checked and cleared, and was led by a clerk to a low stool, he looked up and realized that the county office was pretty imposing after all.

The clerk seated everyone according to the roster. Since kids in the capital generally had a decent education, most of the people taking the county exam were children. It was pretty rare for someone Ning Xishi's age to be taking the exam.

So when it came to the headband-and-paper-strip thing, even the clerk was a bit stumped.

—Each examinee got a headband, and a strip of paper was pasted across to form a line connecting everyone's heads.

If anyone turned their head or moved too much, the paper would snap, and that counted as cheating.

If one person cheated, the whole row got flagged for cheating too.

That person was banned from ever taking the exam again, and everyone else in the row had to wait until next year's county exam to retry.

So the county exam wasn't just a test of knowledge—it was also a test of luck.

Ning Xishi didn't get lucky this time. In his row, there were two kids, both pretty short. With the paper strung across like that, if anyone so much as lowered their head a little, the paper would tear easily.

And since he was tall, he had to keep his head down the whole time, which made it even worse.

If this had been last year, Young Master Ning probably would've just turned around and walked out. But this past year, he'd studied seriously and worked hard, and he wanted to see what he'd learned.

So the tall Young Master Ning had no choice but to hunch over uncomfortably and, at the examiner's command, start writing like crazy.

—Finish early, hand it in early, and he wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

==========Author's Note:==========

Goodnight.