spoiled brat

Chapter 124, Section 123: The Sharp Arrow (Part 3)

In the third month of spring, the capital was shrouded in continuous rain, the sky was gloomy and blue, and the wind carried a thin mist of rain, silently nourishing all things.

In the past, when the world was at peace, young ladies would sit in carriages, extending their fair wrists to catch raindrops and caress the new willows, their gentle fragrance and affection blending into the wind.

At that time, there would always be handsome young men riding through the misty rain, trying their best to brush past the carriage of their beloved, just to throw a spring flower with dew in it into her window.

Those good days are gone forever.

Ling Shi sighed and lowered the eaves to prevent rain from drifting into the pavilion and wetting the table.

He flipped through the register and found that there weren't many students registering at the academy today, probably because of the weather—most of those qualified to enroll were wealthy young men, dressed in fine silks and brocades, and few would go out on a rainy day.

It's highly unlikely that anyone will come.

The clerk collected the records and summoned his attendant to prepare to leave the office. Just then, the eaves of the tent swayed slightly, and a doorplate was pushed in. A voice said:
"Wait a minute, my lord."

The hands of the person who issued the household registration certificate were very rough, and it was clear that he was not from a wealthy family.

The clerk lifted the eaves, and there stood an ordinary-looking young man, dressed in coarse linen clothes, with a bundle on his back taller than himself. He was a poor boy who couldn't even afford to hire a page.

He didn't send the man away immediately. Instead, he took the household registration certificate, flipped through it casually, and said, "Xie Xiaoqing?"

This name sounds familiar.

"exist."

"The son of the village head of Yongzhou..." The clerk, a low-ranking official, rolled his eyes: "Why did you travel all the way to the capital to attend the official school?"

"The country is in peril, and although I am but a humble blade of grass, I still wish to do my part for the court."

"Oh, what skills do you have?"

"I've had a few years of schooling and can write a little poetry."

The shed was buzzing with mosquitoes. Ling Shi fanned himself with his door fan and said impatiently:

"Although you come from a noble family, your family has long since declined. Moreover, you have only studied for a few years, and the poems and songs you write are utterly useless. What makes you think you can serve the court?"

With a snap, the mosquito was killed.

When the household registration notice was pushed out, it had a bit of black and red stuck to it. Xie Xiaoqing raised his finger to remove it and heard the clerk say through the eaves, "You can wait here for now. Come back in half a month."

"Why?"

The clerk raised his hand and pointed behind him; the end of his finger was a dead end.

The place, originally intended for the officials of the Imperial Academy to park their carriages, was now crammed with poor students. Some were sleeping on mats on the ground, some were setting up small tents, and some were hanging rope beds between two abandoned stone lions. They all found a place to stay, looking just like a group of refugees.

“Look, they’re just like you, all without family connections,” the clerk said. “It’s not easy to live in the capital. If you’re willing to wait, but don’t have the money to stay at an inn, you should go in there and grab a spot as soon as possible.”

As he was about to leave the shed, Xie Xiaoqing blocked his way in the sedan chair and argued:
"The imperial court has clearly stated that people from both aristocratic and humble backgrounds can enter officialdom, as long as they are willing to serve the country and pass the three examinations in law, calligraphy, and mathematics. My household registration has the official seal of those who passed the examinations, but you rejected me without asking any questions simply because my family background is low?"

Having seen many clueless young men, the clerk laughed and said, "This time, the official school will only accept five hundred people. After those young masters are admitted, the remaining spots will be yours. Understand, you little fool?" With that, he stepped into the sedan chair, and his attendants carried him away.

Xie Xiaoqing stared at the tattered straw sandals on his feet, recalling the long journey he had undertaken over the past half month and his patriotic aspirations, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

A thunderclap boomed overhead, and then the rain poured down.

He stood in the pouring rain with his luggage on his back, looking very uneasy, not knowing where to go, when he suddenly heard someone shout from the alley: "Hey brother, it's raining so hard, why don't you come in and take shelter!" Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw that a rain shelter had been set up in the alley at some point. The shelter was dilapidated, made of tattered burlap sacks and old sails, but it was very waterproof, and not a single drop of rain leaked in.

Xie Xiaoqing crouched down and squeezed in. The poor students under the shed were very friendly and gave him a clean straw mat to sit on.

This kindness came too suddenly, and Xie Xiaoqing was about to refuse when he heard a round-faced chubby boy say:
"Brother, don't be shy. There are twenty or thirty of us here, and we don't treat everyone with the same deference. If you hadn't stopped the sedan chair to argue, and were just a spineless coward, we wouldn't have invited you in."

Therefore, all the people living in the hutongs are the same type of people.

Xie Xiaoqing bowed in thanks, unloaded his luggage, and sat down. When someone asked his name and place of origin, he replied, "Yongzhou, Xie Xiaoqing."

Everyone was stunned, feeling that they had heard the name somewhere before. Suddenly, someone slapped their thigh and said:

"I remember now! A few years ago, Minister Jiang was quite fond of your poetry and wanted to summon you to the capital, but you refused his kindness and even swore never to serve in office!"

"Back then, I was young and impetuous, only thinking about how to have fun." Xie Xiaoqing lowered his head and smiled, mocking himself, "Who would have thought that the country would decline, and in the end I still had to go to the capital."

He intended to let the matter drop, but then he heard several rumbling stomachs and took out a few dry biscuits to distribute.

Everyone argued and debated, each holding a small piece of bread, angrily cursing the unfair selection process in their respective local dialects.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps were heard outside the shed, and a small gray sedan chair was hurriedly carried in and stopped in front of the gate of the school.

Before he could even settle down, Ling Shi hurriedly stepped out of the sedan chair, shoved aside the attendant's hand holding the umbrella, and rushed into the registration pavilion in the rain.

"Didn't he leave work early?" someone asked curiously. "Why is he back at work now?"

Someone scoffed, "They probably got wind of it beforehand and knew which big shot was coming."

With the rain falling so heavily, could a wealthy young man really be coming? Xie Xiaoqing couldn't help but wonder, gazing at the dense rain.

"Brother, just you wait and see."

The chubby boy with the round face patted him on the shoulder and pointed to the street corner, saying:
"It won't be long before a magnificent carriage arrives. Shi will bow and scrape to greet it, and the nobleman inside won't even need to show his face to be added to the register. He can easily obtain what we could never get even if we begged and pleaded."

The people under the shed were all born into poor families that had fallen on hard times. They were angry and resentful about this phenomenon, and there was also a hint of jealousy mixed in. They hated that they were not the ones with illustrious family backgrounds.

So everyone stared at the empty street corner, wondering what kind of person could frighten the clerk like that.

About half an incense stick later, a blue-roofed carriage with four horses appeared at the street corner. Everyone frowned. This did not seem to be any powerful or noble person, so why should Shi be so anxious?
Someone with good hearing said, "Such heavy hoofbeats! The cart must be pulled by military horses!"

Everyone was astonished. Looking across the country, there were rich people and noble people, but military horses were not available in the market, and very few noble people could afford to use them to pull their carriages.

Why such a prominent figure be so low-key? Who is the person in the car?
As soon as the carriage came to a stop, Ling Shi knelt down in the rain with a thud and performed a deep bow: "This humble official respectfully welcomes the Princess!"

Who else could it be but the sickly princess of the Ning Prince's mansion, who commands troops in her household and enjoys such honor?

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, speechless with shock. Then, the curtain was lifted, and a jade-white wrist emerged, gesturing for the clerk to rise.

The clerk thanked the emperor and stood up, about to feign innocence, saying, "The wind and rain are too strong, Princess, you don't need to get off." Just then, the carriage door creaked open, and a young girl dressed as a personal attendant stepped out.

Black boots, a flowing silver horse-face skirt, and a moon-white cross-collar top, with a tight belt around the waist and a goose-feather knife tied at the waist.

When silent, he possessed a subtle sharpness. But as soon as he spoke, his childishness was revealed: "Sir."

She held an umbrella in one hand and pointed at the crowd in the dead end with the other: "My princess asked what's going on with them."