After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 667 Conversation
After Jin Jiashu returned home, he sat alone in the study for a long time.

By the time he noticed that there were other people in the study, it was already dark, and the aroma of fireworks from the neighbors cooking dinner came through the courtyard wall.

He looked up at Ma Shangyi who walked into the room quietly, stood up and bowed to her silently.

"Sit down, brother." Ma Shangyi sat down on the kang with a tired look on his face. "Regarding the provincial examination... the result has already been like this, brother, there is no need to be too depressed. You are still young, and there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Continue to study hard and wait for the next exam."

Jin Jiashu said calmly, "Mammy, I don't care that I failed the exam because of my lack of knowledge. I am not knowledgeable enough, so I will work hard to learn. I believe that I will eventually be able to pass the exam. But if it is not because of my lack of knowledge, but someone deliberately prevented me from passing the exam, that is another matter. You don't have to hide anything from me. No matter what the reason is, you have to let me know what is going on and who is trying to make things difficult for me. Even if I die, I have to be a clear-headed ghost."

Ma Shangyi sighed, closed her eyes, and then opened them again and said, "Sometimes, knowing too much is not good for you. Why do you bother asking so clearly? The Queen Mother and Madam Xu will never let you suffer. Can't you just listen to your elders' orders? Even if you know these things, what can you do?"

Jin Jiashu did not answer, but showed a thoughtful expression: "It seems that there is indeed something fishy about my failure in the provincial examination. Who is behind this? Who can tamper with the provincial examination list... Is it the prefect? ​​But what reason does the prefect have to make things difficult for a small scholar like me? I heard that the prefect is also the emperor's confidant. Could it be that the emperor does not want me to pass the imperial examination and go to Beijing to meet... my 'aunt'?"

Ma Shangyi knew that Jin Jiashu was a smart kid, but she didn't expect him to guess the truth so quickly. She couldn't help but sigh, "It was indeed Prefect Xin who specifically removed your name from the official list. Don't blame him, he was acting on orders and had no choice. He didn't know you had the ability to be on the list, so he didn't take precautions in advance. After opening the envelope and revealing your name, he found out that you were ranked 78th, which was against the emperor's will, so he had to hastily find a reason to kick you off the official list, and he took a lot of risks for this."

It turned out to be the case.

Jin Jiashu raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

This year's Shaanxi provincial examination admitted a total of 88 candidates. He was originally ranked 78th, the tenth from the bottom, and was not noticeable at all among the new candidates. Even if other examiners disagreed with the decision of the chief examiner Xin Zhifu, they would not argue with him for the sake of a small person who was ranked last.

Jin Jiashu pursed his lips and said, "I wonder what reason the Xin prefect used when he kicked me out of the official list? How could all the examiners agree?" Ma Shangyi sighed, "There are mainly two reasons. One is that you are young and talented, but your writing skills are still insufficient and your foundation is a little shallow. If you pass the exam early, you may become arrogant and unwilling to study hard. Therefore, we have to suppress you and hope that you can achieve greater success in the future. This is the goodwill of the senior scholars to the younger scholars, and all the examiners are convinced. The other reason is that because you are a relative of the imperial concubine, they are afraid that if you pass the imperial examination successfully and become an official in the court, you will rely on nepotism to fight for power and profit, causing the disaster of relatives in the court to reappear."

Jin Jiashu couldn't help but sneer. The first one was fine. He had heard of such examples before. Although it was unfortunate for the person involved, it was also the good intention of the senior scholars. Even if it was the self-righteous ideas of a few pedantic old scholars, it was better than deliberate suppression with ulterior motives.

But what about the second one?
Now the largest foreign relatives in the court still hold all the power, and even the emperor is bound by them and cannot act freely. The examiners do not want to deal with the foreign relatives of the Sun family, but are wary of the "nephew" of the imperial concubine who has no bad record. Not to mention whether he, the "nephew" of Concubine Xu, is a legitimate foreign relative, he naturally stands in opposition to the Sun family. To suppress him is to help the Sun family, isn't it? When Prefect Xin put forward this reason, is he trying to suppress the foreign relatives or to encourage their arrogance? !
Jin Jiashu thought it was ridiculous. "The so-called calamity caused by foreign relatives is just an excuse, right? I am alone, without a father or a brother, and I have no one to rely on. Even if I pass the imperial examination, I am still a long way from being an official. Even if I have the opportunity to be an official in the future, I may not be able to enter the cabinet. What kind of trouble can I bring to the court? How can I compete for power with others? Who will I compete for power with in the future?! Is Governor Xin really acting in accordance with the imperial edict, and not being bribed by the Sun family?!"

Ma Shangyi looked at him helplessly: "Brother, don't be angry, and don't say stupid things. It was the emperor who chose Prefect Xin and ordered him to come to Chang'an to take up the post. How could he be bribed by the Sun family?"

Jin Jiashu turned his head away: "Is it really unrelated to the Sun family? I don't understand, why is my passing the imperial examination an eyesore to others? Can the 78th juren in the Shaanxi provincial examination really be a high-ranking official in the court? With such a score, if I want to pass the imperial examination, I have to endure at least another ten years. How can I be so fearful of others?!"

Ma Shangyi was silent for a long time before she answered, "The emperor is also afraid. He doesn't want the new emperor to have a relative in power again. He knows that Madam Xu has no family support and the Eighth Prince is still young, so he specially arranged for loyal and trustworthy ministers to take charge of the affairs. But Madam Xu has always been thinking about you. He is worried that Madam Xu will forget the public interest for her personal feelings, so he specially promoted you to compete with the ministers he arranged for the affairs... He just doesn't want to leave any hidden dangers..."

Jin Jiashu said calmly, "Now he doesn't need to worry anymore. I can't pass the imperial examination, so there's no way I can take the imperial examination. Even if I get into the Imperial College through connections, I'll just be an ordinary student in the future. Even if I can finally become an official by accumulating experience, I won't be able to join the cabinet. I might just be sent to work in a remote place. I only have the dignity of a relative, but I actually have no say in the court. If Madam Xu and the new emperor are happy, I can't benefit from it; if Madam Xu and the new emperor are unhappy, I can't help them. It's not a bad thing to live a dull life. My father has been looking forward to such a dull life all his life, but he just never waited for that day."

Ma Shangyi was silent for a moment, and her tone softened. "Don't be upset, brother. The emperor has his own ideas, but the empress dowager and Madam Xu may not think so. Madam Xu has no family to rely on, and where else in the world can she find a more reliable helper than her own flesh and blood? She must be looking forward to you coming to the court to share her worries. Now that the emperor is insisting on his own way, Madam Xu can only follow his orders. When... the new emperor ascends the throne, brother can take part in the provincial examination and enter the officialdom through the imperial examination, and there will be no obstacles."

Jin Jiashu has no confidence in this: "Now the Queen is only a concubine, and the Eighth Prince is only a prince. They haven't officially appointed the crown prince yet, but some examiners dislike me because I am a relative by marriage. They are afraid that I will cause trouble for the government, so they deliberately suppress my results. When the Queen becomes the Queen Mother and the Eighth Prince becomes the new emperor, my status as a relative by marriage will be more solidified. Will they still allow me to pass the provincial examination smoothly? Moreover, since the Emperor wants to curb the relatives by marriage, he may leave a will to deliberately guard against me. Even if I study hard for a hundred years, no matter how good my knowledge is, no matter how outstanding my imperial examination results are, I can't stand out, right?!"

If he wanted to take the official path of the imperial examination, someone would suppress him; if he did not take the official path of the imperial examination and relied on his status as a relative to the emperor like the Sun family did, he would become a sycophant in the eyes of others and was destined to follow the footsteps of the treacherous officials of the Sun family. No matter what he did, others would find fault with him. So why did he study so hard? !
(End of this chapter)