Jiapingguan Chronicle

"More or less," Song Yaojia nodded. "But they don't regret it at all; on the contrary, they're glad they didn't go to watch the spectacle." He looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and then at Jin Miaomiao, and sighed helplessly. "No need to ask why; those who know, know, right?"

"Yes, I totally understand!"

Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao nodded at the same time, looked at each other, and sighed again.

"What else could it be? Self-preservation, of course!" Jin Miaomiao sneered. "There's nothing surprising about that. They've always been like this. It's pointless to have any expectations of them!"

“That’s one reason, and there’s another.” Shen Haolin raised an eyebrow, snorted, and said, “They look down on Gongsun Yue and his group.”

"Disdain?"

“That’s right!” Shen Cha nodded. “In their eyes, the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review are disgraceful to scholars. They are no different from those violent warriors, or even worse. That’s what cruel officials are like. So even students who have passed the imperial examinations are generally unwilling to go to the Ministry of Justice or the Court of Judicial Review, feeling that such an assignment is a desecration of their ten years of hard study.”

"No real skills, but plenty of trouble." Jin Miaomiao rolled her eyes. "The Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review probably imprison mostly notorious bandits and these scholars who spout so much benevolence and morality, right?"

“It really is true.” Song Yaojia smiled bitterly. “Every year, officials who commit crimes, no matter how high or low their rank, have to go to these two places.”

"why?"

“Let’s finish what we started!” Song Yaojia raised an eyebrow. “It’s not just these two places that are disliked by those scholars. There’s also the Imperial Observatory and the Ministry of Works. These four places have been notoriously difficult for the imperial examinations over the years. In the early years, many scholars would rather be sent to a small county as a magistrate than stay in the capital and be assigned to one of these four places. There were many scholars who shouted angrily in front of the Ministry of Personnel, saying that the world was unfair and that they would rather leave than be assigned there and take the imperial examinations again in three years.”

"I've never heard of such a thing before." Jin Miaomiao frowned slightly. "Isn't this disrespecting imperial authority? Aren't they afraid of being punished?"

“If it were just one or two people, they would definitely get a beating, but there are quite a few like that.” Song Yaojia looked at Shen Haolin. “Right? We saw them when we were kids.”

“Hmm!” Shen Haolin nodded. “That year wasn’t the worst incident, but there were still more than a dozen people gathered at the entrance of the Ministry of Personnel. On the surface, there were only a dozen or so people, but who knows how many were behind it? If we beat up those students this time, it might be difficult to handle.”

"They're really pushing their luck," Jin Miaomiao sneered. "These poor scholars weren't even qualified for the imperial examinations in the previous dynasty, let alone have the right to choose where they wanted to go. Now that we're in this dynasty, not only are they qualified for the examinations and to become officials, but they're also getting too big for their britches and picking and choosing." She looked at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, then at Song Yaojia. "And you're just letting them off so easily?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. First, the law doesn't punish everyone, and second, you know, you can't force a relationship!" Song Yaojia sighed, spreading her hands helplessly. "Whether it's the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, the Imperial Observatory, or the Ministry of Works, they're all places with very high entry requirements. The Ministry of Works, needless to say, is where all the skilled craftsmen of the entire Great Xia Dynasty gather. What can those clumsy people do there besides cause trouble? The Imperial Observatory is even more so. Those who don't care about celestial phenomena or metaphysics can only serve tea and water there, right?"

"That's true."

"As for the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, putting aside everything else, anyone who can walk through a prison cell and come out without batting an eye is a hero," Shen Cha said, spreading her hands. "Over the years, you can count the number of people who can do that on one hand." "Is it that bad?"

"It's unavoidable. Although children from poor families can endure hardship, matters of the law are ultimately too far removed from their lives; they've never experienced them before," Song Yaojia sighed again. "In the end, these places still have to rely on the sons of noble families and aristocratic households to hold them together. Fortunately, there are still a few martial arts graduates willing to come here, otherwise..."

“Even among the sons of noble families and aristocratic families, there are quite a few who don’t like them,” Shen Cha said with a sneer. “Whenever the Ministry of Personnel needs people, it’s a headache.”

"Really not a single one? Surely those students from poor families aren't all useless?"

“The Ministry of Works does have some, but quite a few leave after only a few months.” Song Yaojia thought for a moment. “When we were repairing the river, many people went to the Ministry of Works with great enthusiasm, but in the end, more than half of them left, and only one or two stayed.”

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a waste."

"As for the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Imperial Observatory, there are ten new officials. If these three places can have five in total, then we should be thankful." Shen Cha smiled. "I remember one year when my brother and I returned to the capital, we happened to be there when the newly appointed Jinshi were being conferred their official positions. We had heard before that the process of conferring official positions was very lively, so we went to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to watch the excitement."

"Going to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to see the excitement? Why?"

"Because that year, more than twenty newly appointed scholars didn't mind the positions in the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, and volunteered to take up their posts," Shen Cha said with a smile. "We found it very unusual, so we went to check it out, and that's what happened."

What was the result?

"Not good." Shen Cha and Shen Haolin exchanged a glance, both showing helpless expressions. "The situation is similar in the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review. These twenty-odd newly appointed scholars went to the prison together, and they were already in bad shape afterward. The mild cases were vomiting so badly they were practically spitting out water while clinging to trees, while the severe cases were... they went black and fainted. The people from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review had to call doctors to see them. They were indeed frightened, but other than that, there wasn't anything seriously wrong."

"After this ordeal, I'm afraid you'll start to consider quitting, right?"

“Half of the people did withdraw, but the other half…” Shen Cha thought for a moment, “are quite resolute. This includes those who almost fainted from vomiting, and the one who passed out; they all decided to stay.”

"Stay?"

“Yes, they said that since we came here on our own initiative, we must see it through to the end. We absolutely cannot give up because of such a small difficulty.” Shen Cha chuckled. “Who would have thought that the person who fainted from fright after just one visit to the prison back then would now be the cold-faced and aloof Ling Shaoqing of the Dali Temple!”

"Ling Shaoqing?" Jin Miaomiao exclaimed in surprise. "Ling Yao?" Seeing Shen Cha nod, she looked incredulous. "That Ling Bingkuai actually fainted from fright? This is truly a bizarre story!" (End of Chapter)