Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 18 Don’t kneel before the emperor!

Qinhuai River.

The streets were crowded with people, and more and more people gathered around, curious about what had happened here that had caused the Jinyiwei to be dispatched.

Since its establishment, the Jinyiwei has been in charge of major cases. Every time they take action, there are countless heads and corpses.

Who is he coming for this time? How many people will be implicated?

The onlookers were curious, but did not dare to get close for fear of being implicated. The people surrounded in Fengyue Inn were also panic-stricken and at a loss.

"Jinyiwei is doing business, everyone else please get out of here!"

A more powerful voice was heard in the chaotic streets, and once it came out, it completely drowned out all the other voices around it.

boom!
With a dull thud, the tall and solid wooden door was kicked open by Mao Xiang, shocking the traveler who had already knelt on the ground. The corners of his mouth turned pale and his eyes were full of fear.

Mao Xiang strode in.

He glanced at the whole place indifferently, ignoring the Sheren who tried to ask, and just turned to look at Zuo Qianhu on the side: "Where are the people?"

Zuo Qian bowed and said, "Your Excellency, that person is on the second floor. He is very arrogant, as if he knew we were coming and opened the door early."

"Did you find the wrong person?" Mao Xiang frowned.

Zuo Qian said: "Absolutely impossible."

Mao Xiang nodded, raised his eyes, looked towards the second floor of the guest house, and asked Zuo Qian to lead the way to Xia Zhibai's room.

Second floor, left eight.

This is Xia Zhibai’s room.

When Mao Xiang arrived at the door, the door of the guest room was wide open, and a handsome young man with a scholarly air was sitting on a stool.

Mao Xiang walked into the room and glanced around the whole house vigilantly. It was just an ordinary decoration and there were no sharp weapons, but he was not careless.

He placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword, stared at Xia Zhibai with cold eyes, and asked, "I ask you questions, you answer them, are you the candidate for this examination, Xia Zhibai?"

Mao Xiang's gaze is very intimidating.

A mere scholar could actually cause the anger of His Majesty and His Highness. This was not something an ordinary person could do, so how could he dare to take it lightly?

I have been an official for so many years.

Having helped His Majesty deal with so many things, he has seen too many unknown and unattractive people who look harmless but are actually doing extremely vicious things behind the scenes.

The means were extremely cruel and fierce.

Anyone who dares to be careless may encounter unexpected events. He will not underestimate anyone and will not make such a mistake.

Xia Zhibai stood up, without directly answering Mao Xiang's question, and walked towards the door on his own, saying calmly, "Let's go."

Mao Xiang's eyelids twitched, the veins on the hand holding the sword bulged out, and he clenched his hand tighter. He was completely certain that this man was the criminal they were looking for, Xia Zhibai.

Mao Xiang hesitated for a moment and raised his hand. The Jinyiwei beside him immediately understood. Three or four of them came up together, held down Xia Zhibai's shoulders, and put heavy handcuffs on him.

Zuo Qian personally stepped forward and checked Xia Zhibai's entire body, then shook his head at Mao Xiang, and did not find any items that could have been used to commit the crime.

Mao Xiang nodded, his expression softened a lot, and said in a cold voice: "It seems that you know this day will come. Then it's easy to deal with. Take him away."

"His Majesty wishes to see you."

Mao Xiang gave an order and went downstairs directly. Amid the panicked gazes of other travelers, he left with a large group of people.

These Jinyiwei came and left quickly. In just a cup of tea, the inn that was originally surrounded and packed with people was suddenly opened.

After being frightened by this incident, the travelers who stayed there no longer dared to stay there and quickly checked out and moved to other places.

Only the people who were watching were still whispering, curious about what had happened. "Who did the Jinyiwei capture? Why does he look like a scholar? Could he be the candidate for the imperial examination?"

"I don't know. Shouldn't the candidates be staying at the Sifang Guild Hall? Why would they live here? I heard that those candidates who may have passed the imperial examination have been busy moving around these days, contacting officials from their hometowns."

"This is probably the son of an official, who came here to seek pleasure."

"..."

The discussions in the streets did not stop, but Xia Zhibai's figure was getting farther and farther away. A quarter of an hour later, Xia Zhibai arrived outside the gate of the imperial palace.

Xia Zhibai stood still.

Looking at this majestic palace, a burning fighting spirit suddenly ignited in my eyes. This is the power center of the Ming Dynasty and also the power center of the world.

It is also the root cause of social corruption.

Now, he was finally going to step into this place that countless people longed for, feared, and inexplicably desired to set foot on.

Power and desire!
Various emotions intertwined in Xia Zhibai's heart, and when he stood in front of the door of Wuying Palace, all his thoughts disappeared.

His eyes were clear.

If he were a typical modern person, he might choose to "accept the situation knowing that it cannot be helped and accept it as fate", go with the flow like modern people, and be willing to bend and bow to power.

But he is not.

If he had not seen the sun, he might have been able to continue to endure the darkness. However, now that he had seen the sun, how could he bear to continue to be trapped in darkness?

He does not want China to repeat the mistakes of history, nor does he want the tragedies of history to be repeated in the world.

Foreign invasion, loss of homeland, paper tiger, where is China in the world, these heart-wrenching events require some changes.

At least stand.

Even if I die in the end, I will die standing.

Xia Zhibai raised his head and looked at the three solemn words "Wuying Palace" above him, with a cold and serious look on his face.

"His Majesty has ordered that the criminal Xia Zhibai be summoned into the palace." A sharp and high-pitched voice came from the palace.

A fair-faced eunuch with no beard on his cheeks ran quickly to the palace gate, looked Xia Zhibai up and down, and said contemptuously: "Xia Zhibai, His Majesty wants to see you, when you go in, please follow the rules."

Xia Zhibai remained silent, but just looked down at the shackles on his hands and feet. His ankles were bleeding.

The eunuch snorted coldly, his face showing displeasure, and said to Mao Xiang who was standing beside him with a smile: "Commander Mao, take off the handcuffs."

"He is a juren after all, and your majesty doesn't want to make things too difficult for him. Besides, this thing is somewhat unlucky for your majesty."

Mao Xiang nodded and untied the shackles on Xia Zhibai's hands and feet. Xia Zhibai moved his hands and feet and tidied his clothes.

Be polite when meeting someone for the first time.

Seeing this, the eunuch showed a look of contempt. There are many scenes for dying people, but scholars are like this, a bunch of empty talk, and when they really encounter trouble, they kneel faster than anyone else.

It didn't take Xia Zhibai long to get ready before he was led into the main hall by the eunuch. When they were a hundred steps away from Zhu Yuanzhang, the two stopped.

The eunuch knelt on the ground, his buttocks raised high, and shouted respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have brought the criminal Xia Zhibai here."

Done.

The eunuch Pu Gou'er looked back, but he was not scared to death. When Xia Zhibai saw His Majesty, he not only did not kneel or kowtow, but also dared to look directly at His Majesty.

Pu Gou'er was shocked and angry, and he growled in a low voice: "Xia Zhibai, what are you doing? Are you capable of seeing the Holy Face? Kneel down quickly."

"kneel!!!"

(End of this chapter)