Misty Rain of the Old Times

Near noon, the clouds and fog had already dispersed, and the magnificent palace under the sky seemed to be covered with a layer of golden light.

"Announce the current Jinshi to the palace!"

A loud summons came from afar, and it was transmitted layer by layer through the nine palaces until it reached the gate of the imperial palace.

Retracting his gaze, Chen Xuan turned back and said, "Xian Ning, did you sleep well? It's time to start."

There was no response, and the faint breathing sound was still heard behind the screen. Chen Xuan clearly heard her breathing pause when he opened his mouth, and he felt amused. She was still staying in bed.

After thinking for a while, Chen Xuan stood up and walked towards the screen. The palace maids and eunuchs beside him looked at Chen Xuan approaching with a fierce look, wanting to say something but stopping themselves. They didn't know what to do. Should they stop him or not?
Due to height factors, the screen that was less than 1.6 meters high could not block Chen Xuan's sight. He saw the little princess sleeping on the couch with her legs spread out, one leg dangling over the edge, her skirt reaching her knees, and there were faint traces of moisture on the pillow.

Seeing this, Chen Xuan almost laughed out loud. It turned out that the little princess also slept like this, just like himself.

Coughing, Chen Xuan said, "The sun... well, the sun has already set, if we don't get up now, we'll be late."

Hearing this, the little princess lazily opened her eyes, sleepily pupaing on the soft couch like a maggot, and said pitifully: "Oh, Brother Xuan, please let me sleep for a while. The palace examination will not end so soon."

Chen Xuan thought to himself, "I do want to, but if I really dare to do that, your father will skin me alive." He urged, "Hurry up, or I'll go by myself and leave you here to sleep forever."

"Don't...ah, I'm so annoyed," she said, barely able to stand up and scratch her hair, her head almost becoming a mess.

This attitude was not very presentable at all, but Chen Xuan did not laugh at him, knowing that he was usually like this. "Brother, don't laugh at me, second brother." If he hadn't wanted to see with his own eyes whether Xiao Gao could achieve the highest achievement as a scholar, he would not have been so enthusiastic.

Soon the palace maids and eunuchs came to wash and dress her up, and in a short while she was back to her beautiful appearance, dignified and noble, with every move showing her unparalleled grace.

"Let's go to the next door of the Council of State," she said neatly and quickly, but she was a little anxious.

What were you doing so far? Chen Xuan was speechless and followed her. She naturally didn't have any ceremonial procession in the palace. When they left Fuyao Palace, there were already two sedan chairs waiting for them, so they couldn't ride together. But she didn't have to be sneaky and went straight to the Council Hall.

After turning several times, they arrived at the side of a majestic building. The imperial guards were on duty every three steps and every five steps, like sculptures. When Chen Xuan and his companions arrived, the sentries just took a look and then looked away, as if they didn't exist. It was estimated that the little princess had behaved like this more than once or twice, and no one cared even if she brought Chen Xuan with her.

After getting out of the sedan chair, the little princess made a silent gesture and said, "Brother Xuan, follow me."

Then the two of them sneaked into the side hall but actually blatantly. It was not empty, and had everything it needed, including palace maids and eunuchs ready to serve. Next door was the council hall. As soon as Chen Xuan arrived, he heard the voice of Emperor Shang Xuan, which was calm but majestic.

"...How should we respond? This is the question for this palace examination. My dear ministers, please begin your answers. I hope you will produce brilliant essays."

The council hall was completely silent. Somehow, the Emperor Shang Xuan's voice, though not loud, could be heard clearly in every corner. As soon as he finished speaking, there was the rustling sound of spreading paper and grinding ink while writing.

Normally, there is no need for Chen Xuan to amplify his senses and absorb information from all sides all the time. How tiring would it be to have countless pieces of information flooding into his mind?

He came here and only heard half of the words. He looked at the little princess and said with a smile: "It's all your fault. You stayed in bed and wasted time. We were a step late and didn't even hear what the test was about."

Hearing this, the little princess shrank her neck and whispered in fear, "Brother Xuan, keep your voice down. The place next door is the power center of our entire Jing Kingdom. In addition to my father and the crown prince, there are also a large group of ministers in the court. If they knew that we were eavesdropping and peeping next door, I would be in trouble."

Oh, you who are usually lawless are also afraid sometimes? Chen Xuan felt amused and said nonchalantly as usual: "Don't worry, I'm here, no one else will hear what we say, relax."

Hesitant about whether to listen to him, the little princess said in surprise, "Brother Xuan, why do I feel like you're bolder than me? Even when I come here occasionally, I have to be very careful. But you, on the other hand, the first time you came here, it was like... it was like you were back home!"

This is called "skillful and daring." You don't understand, Chen Xuan muttered to himself. He looked around and changed the subject, "That's it? It would be better not to come. It would be the same anywhere else."

Subconsciously making a silent gesture, she pointed to the side and said, "Come over here, you can see the situation in the main hall."

There was a door where she pointed, with stools and a table beside it. As she spoke, a eunuch had already silently opened the door a crack. The two of them leaned over and through the crack they could see what was happening in the adjacent hall.

Behind the door, there was first a bead curtain, and then a light gauze curtain. The light gauze curtain was almost transparent, and it was woven with incredible skill. It was transparent from their side, but not see through from the other side, just like one-way glass.

Although they were in the side hall next door, the terrain was quite high, so they could have a clear view of the situation in the Council Hall.

The area of ​​the entire hall is no less than half a standard football field. The pillars are five meters high and can be hugged by two people. They are carved with dragons and phoenixes. A total of eighty-one pillars support this magnificent hall.

At the top is naturally the emperor's golden dragon throne. Emperor Shang Xuan, wearing a golden robe with rolling dragons and a flat crown on his head, exudes endless majesty wherever he sits.

A little lower to the left of the emperor's throne was the seat of the crown prince, who was serving as regent. Zhou Chen, dressed in a golden dragon robe and a golden crown on his head, sat there sternly, looking straight ahead, with the air of an emperor.

On both sides of them, there were eunuchs waiting quietly with their heads lowered, like statues. There were also eunuchs and palace maids holding precious fans and canopies as ceremonial guards, and there were also imperial guards in golden armor and silver helmets.

Moving forward, I saw hundreds of desks placed in the middle of the vast hall, and hundreds of this year's Jinshi candidates were writing furiously. They were the protagonists today. Some were scratching their heads, some were frowning, and some were calm. Their performances were all under the watchful eyes of the emperor, the crown prince, and even the hundreds of ministers around them. You can imagine how much pressure they were under.

At this point, they have become real Jinshi who have made it through the imperial examinations. As long as they behave properly, they will not be deprived of their honors. However, if they perform well, they can strive for the highest achievement of being a scholar with three places in the second or even first class.

Surrounding the successful candidates of this year's imperial examination were hundreds of desks, behind which sat the ministers of the court. Some were daydreaming, some were paying attention to the performance of the successful candidates, and some were whispering to each other.

Surrounding the hall are the palace guards. They are like shadow sculptures, very inconspicuous, and it is difficult to detect their existence if you don't pay attention. As long as the emperor gives an order, it is time for them to unleash their thundering methods.

Chen Xuan's eyes locked onto Gao Jingming's figure at a glance. He was wearing a jinshi robe and sitting in the second seat on the left in the front row. He had an upright posture and a calm expression. He was waving his sleeve with one hand and holding a pen with the other, writing quickly with his wrist suspended.

"Could the topic of this palace examination be disaster relief?" Due to his angle, Chen Xuan's eyes scanned the case files in front of some of the current Jinshi candidates like a telescope. There was definitely no topic on them, only the way they explained it. Based on their explanations, Chen Xuan roughly deduced the topic of this palace examination.

Especially Gao Jingming's case file, Chen Xuan's expression was as constipated as soon as he glanced at it.

His opening sentence was truly shocking, saying, "Don't treat the disaster victims as human beings..."

"Ah, this... I think I once said something similar to him when we were chatting and bragging. The classic example of disaster relief with adults is still very impressive. And Xiao Gao used it? So what is this called? Is it his extraordinary knowledge and application, or is he cheating by copying the answers?"

Chen Xuan was in a state of confusion. However, since this was the solution someone had given during the palace examination, it should be considered his, right? Whoever came up with it first got it. How could someone who was a scholar be considered plagiarizing? If someone else had the ability to come up with such an answer, that was their own skill.

Scratching his butt, Chen Xuan felt that he couldn't understand Xiao Gao anymore. He could say that he was a gentleman who knew how to apply what he had learned. It was also true that he was a gentleman. After all, he relied on his real talents and knowledge to get to where he is today.

Could it be that I have been infected by myself over the years and have developed flexible morals?
"No, no, that's not the case. No matter where he got his strategies and tactics from, they are his own. That's the truth. He was able to make use of the things I boasted about to him. That's his ability. Otherwise, what would a teacher be for? Can someone be born with all that knowledge?"

Thinking of this, Chen Xuan felt relieved.

Xiao Gao is truly audacious. Could those "upright gentlemen" accept this disaster relief method? Controversy is certain. Implementing a pragmatic approach, setting aside morality and ethics, and prioritizing problem-solving is truly taking unconventional approaches to the extreme.

The question for this palace examination was most likely about disaster relief. Could it be that the old emperor had come up with this idea because of the severe drought in Rong State? After all, there was no telling when such a thing would happen to Jing State, and throughout history, there had been countless disasters such as droughts, floods, locust plagues, and snowstorms.

Chen Xuan's eyes moved away from Xiao Gao and swept over the others. The corner of his mouth twitched. There was a guy who was even more ruthless than Xiao Gao. He was sitting next to Xiao Gao. His disaster relief method was orthodox, focusing on combating corruption. He made sure that disaster relief supplies were distributed to the victims. He proposed many effective monitoring methods. Whoever dared to raise a hand would be chopped off, and their homes would be confiscated to expand the relief supplies. To sum it up, in one sentence, while solving the problem, the people who caused the problem in the process should also be solved. The termites should die!

After seeing his answer, Chen Xuan exclaimed that he was a talent, and a ruthless person at that. If it were combined with the ideas proposed by Xiao Gao, it would be like a perfect match for Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick, for sure!
This is not a derogatory statement, they are truly a perfect match, if they get together they can definitely accomplish great things.

Looking at Emperor Shang Xuan sitting on the dragon throne, Chen Xuan thought to himself, "You've found a treasure! These two men are so ruthless, each one more ruthless than the other. If you use them well, you won't have to worry so much..." (End of this chapter)