Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 476 The Fury of the Eunuch
Because this special examination was the first imperial examination during the Taichang period and the first special examination presided over by His Majesty the Emperor himself since the Jichou examination in the 17th year of the Wanli reign, the Cabinet did not follow the rules and gave the opportunity to read the first-class papers to the readers of other government offices.

After Shi Jikai, the next in line were the Second Assistant Ye Xianggao and the First Assistant Fang Congzhe. In order to speak clearly, these two old men had slowed down their speech to an incredible speed.

After reading three volumes of nearly 8,000 words, plus the various scenes of delivering and receiving the papers in between, almost an hour had passed.

Although Zhu Changluo had been distracted for most of the time, he was still feeling dizzy after such a long reading. When Wang An put the third paper on the desk in front of him, Zhu Changluo immediately said the old saying: "Thank you for your hard work, my dear friends. Hand in the paper and go back. I will consider it carefully."

"Your Majesty, I obey." Seeing the emperor's state, the examiner had already anticipated that he had no interest in hearing the remaining excellent papers read aloud. This was not surprising. No matter how impressive the lineup of examiners was, it was just a formality. The vast majority of examiners never had the opportunity to appear before the emperor and have him listen to their readings.

During a palace examination in the emperor's presence, only the first three papers required his attention. Listening to the third paper before allowing someone to read aloud was considered a special favor from the emperor. Emperor Taichang did not follow the precedent set by his predecessor, Wanli, and dispensed with the reading, which was already a great honor.

Starting with the cabinet ministers Shen, Liu Yirong, and Han Yu, all the way to Yuan Keli, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the examiners handed the papers to Wang An in the order pre-arranged by the cabinet. Wang An, in accordance with common practice, placed the papers one by one on the desk.

When the papers submitted by Yuan Keli were placed on the table, the examiners' duties were complete, and their part-time duties were automatically terminated. The officials could return to their respective offices to continue their work, with only the cabinet ministers required to return to the cabinet across from the Wenhua Hall to await the emperor's final rankings and prepare a yellow list accordingly.

Watching the officials' backs gradually disappear, Zhu Changluo slowly stood up. He walked to the main desk and gently ran his fingertips over the seventeen neatly arranged answer sheets.

"Is there anyone you like?" Zhu Changluo looked at the five eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department behind him.

"Whether one is virtuous or not is a matter for the emperor to decide." Wang An assumed an extremely submissive attitude. "How dare we, the servants, make a comment?"

"I dare not say anything." The four eunuchs in charge of writing also nodded in agreement.

"Is there anything annoying about it?" Zhu Changluo took out a paper from the pile, without even looking at it, and just held it in his hand.

This time, Wang An did not answer, but just smiled and shook his head.

Zhu Changluo walked around Wang An and came to Liu Ruoyu and asked, "Wen Zhenmeng, do you know him?"

"..." The emperor's words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Liu Ruoyu's heart and almost stopping. In just a moment, his face turned paler than the answer sheet in the emperor's hand. "Slave, slave."

Zhu Changluo smiled faintly. "I heard that you once visited in person, hoping to ask for a painting. But you were turned away and not even allowed in? Is that true?"

"I admit my guilt!" Liu Ruoyu's knees went weak and she fell to her knees with a thud.

"What are you doing?" Zhu Changluo waved to the two factory managers, Wei and Cui, who were standing behind him. "Pull him up."

The two factory managers looked at each other and stepped forward to help Liu Ruoyu up.

"Master, master." Liu Ruoyu's teeth began to chatter, his legs and feet were soft and completely powerless, and he could only stand with the support of the two factory masters, Wei and Cui.

"Where do you think this answer sheet should be placed?" Zhu Changluo stuffed the answer sheet into Liu Ruoyu's hand.

"I don't know," Liu Ruoyu said, feeling her blood run cold. "I haven't thought about it, I really haven't thought about it."

"Then think about it carefully now. Once you've made up your mind, you can release it yourself." After saying this, Zhu Changluo looked at Wang An again. "Where is the exam paper for the first prize?"

"This year's champion seems to be..." Wang An's expression remained unfazed by Liu Ruoyu's fate; he remained calm and composed. On the other hand, Wei Chao, the chief eunuch, looked nervous. "It seems to be Liu Bi Da. Please wait a moment, my master." Wang An then walked to the main desk and read the names of the candidates one by one. On the fourteenth paper, Wang An finally found Liu Bi Da's.

"Master," Wang An held the paper before the emperor. "This is it."

"Is this Liu Bi Da the champion of the provincial examination?" Zhu Changluo did not reach out to take it.

"No." Wang An shook his head. "There is no provincial exam champion among the top five candidates in the imperial exam."

"Then put it back to him." Zhu Changluo still wanted to save up another three yuan, but since it was not his, it didn't matter.

"Yes." Wang An followed the order.

"Have you made up your mind?" Zhu Changluo returned to Liu Ruoyu.

"Hmm..." Liu Ruoyu was nearly crying, fearing the emperor's next words would be to arrest him and take him to the Western Factory for interrogation. He shook his head blankly and cast a pleading glance at Wang An, hoping for a warning or support.

But his good senior brother simply ignored him and had no intention of speaking for him, as if what was happening in front of him did not exist.

"Then I'll help you choose." Zhu Changluo glanced around, his gaze finally lingering on Cui Wensheng. "Be magnanimous and don't dwell on past grudges. Although he put on a front and got you rejected, there's no need to hold a grudge against him. Besides, the fact that he's in your good graces proves he has some literary talent. Let him be this year's top scholar." With that, Zhu Changluo placed the paper in the first place of the first class.

Liu Ruoyu's mind was completely shut down. He couldn't figure out whether the emperor was criticizing him or praising him. Liu Ruoyu stood there motionless, only the sweat on his forehead revealed his inner excitement.

"What are you standing there for? Why don't you thank me?" Wang An then spoke his first words to Liu Ruoyu.

The two factory masters, Wei and Cui, released Liu Ruoyu. Liu Ruoyu also knelt down. "I bow to thank you for your teachings, Master."

Zhu Changluo casually rearranged the order of the papers on the main case, then waved his hand and said nonchalantly, "Just shuffle the order of the remaining papers. Just consider it as if I've reviewed them."

The emperor walked away, followed by Wang An and Wei Chao. Only Liu Ruoyu and the two factory masters Wei and Cui stayed in the hall to carefully re-arrange the 217 papers other than the main case.

————————Near noon, the carriage carrying Wang An slowly stopped at the gate of the Imperial Household Department.

At this time, the horse had just stopped and the carriage frame was still shaking. Before the eunuch in charge of lifting the curtain could go over to do anything, Wang An's figure appeared.

"Grandfather, slow down!" The eunuch accompanying him was afraid that he would fall, so he quickly reached out to help him.

The eunuch who was supposed to be Wang An's human cushion also hurried forward. But before he could get down, Wang An grabbed the eunuch's hand and jumped off the carriage. "Pull your carriage here and wait," Wang An said, before walking through the gates of the Imperial Household Department without looking back.

In the lobby of the Imperial Household Department's headquarters, the eunuch Cao Huachun, the superintendent, sat in his seat with a sullen expression and his head lowered. Beside him, Wang Chengen, the director of the Western Factory's External Inspection Division, also sat obediently with his legs crossed.

Hearing the hurried footsteps approaching, Cao Huachun immediately looked up. Seeing that it was indeed Wang An, he stood up to greet him and knelt down, saying, "Son, I pay my respects to you, godfather!"

"Your servant pays homage to the ancestor." Wang Chengen also came over, knelt behind Cao Huachun, and kowtowed to Wang An.

"Everyone, stand up." Wang An did not walk to the desk at the end of the hall to sit down, but just stood there.

Wang Chengen was very sensible. He turned around and brought over the stool he had been sitting on and placed it behind Wang An's buttocks. "Grandpa, please sit down."

"Yeah." Wang An didn't have much to say, but since the stool had been handed to him, he sat down.

"How's the Jinyiwei investigation going? Do you know who's behind this?" Wang An looked at Cao Huachun.

"To answer godfather's question, the Jinyiwei's East and West offices arrested a total of seventy-four people," said Cao Huachun.

"I was asking how your investigation was going," Wang An's already stern tone turned harsh upon hearing the irrelevant answer. "You haven't found anything yet!"

Cao Huachun could only bite the bullet and say, "Godfather, please be kind. We haven't found any clear clues yet."

"It's been two days. What the hell has Luo Sigong been doing?!" Wang An had heard about the "Nine Lotus Bodhisattva's divine manifestation" on the day of the palace examination, and his mood had been turbulent ever since. But when accompanying the emperor, he had to feign indifference. Suppressed by anger and conflict, Wang An was like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.

Cao Huachun explained: "The suspects come from a wide range of sources, and even the Jinyiwei need time to identify and confirm them."

"No need to confirm," Wang An interrupted, his voice growing colder. "Send a message to Luo Sigong, have him send all those arrested in the East and West Offices to the Imperial Prison. Also, send a message to Tian Ergeng, have him conduct a thorough interrogation. From now on, anyone arrested will be sent to the Northern Pacification Office! Torture them immediately!"

"This..." Cao Huachun seemed a little hesitant. "Your Majesty doesn't know yet. I'm afraid it's not appropriate to let the Pacification Bureau torture him now, right?"

"There's nothing wrong with that. These damn bastards gossiping about the royal family is disrespectful in itself. We could just rip their tongues out." Wang An's eyes flashed like a scarlet knife. "Have the Pacification Office conduct a thorough investigation. Interrogate them to death! If His Majesty investigates, feel free to pin the blame on me." Wang An wanted to get to the bottom of this matter before the imperial court reported it. He suspected that someone from the outer court would report this matter as early as after the imperial edict. He couldn't suppress this source of information.

"Godfather, please don't say that! I'll send someone to pass on the message right away. Do you have any other instructions, Godfather? I'll do it as well." Seeing that Wang An was so determined, Cao Huachun stopped trying to persuade him.

"That's all. Just don't forget to attend to the imperial announcing ceremony tomorrow." Wang An used this as an excuse to leave the emperor.

Wang An stood up, turned around and took a step forward, but after taking just two steps, he turned back, looked down at Wang Chengen, and asked, "Why are you here? Is there something wrong with the West Factory again?"

"That's not the case," Cao Huachun replied on behalf of Wang Chengen. "Yesterday, Li Yongzhen brought this kid to the Imperial Household Department to report on the 'Nine Lotus Bodhisattva' incident. I listened carefully and believe that Wei Zhongxian was clearly using words to goad this kid into trouble with the Emperor. If Li Yongzhen hadn't stopped him, the Emperor would have known about this yesterday. I was afraid that Wei Zhongxian would talk this kid into losing his mind again, so I told him to stay put."

"Is this true? Why didn't you send someone to tell me?" Wang An was stunned.

"That old man Wei Zhongxian has been dishonest for a while now, and the Western Depot hasn't brought any new news." Cao Huachun swallowed. "And I thought you would come to our headquarters yesterday, so I didn't send anyone to disturb you."

"Hmm" Wang An frowned, as if he was thinking about something.

"Hurry up and tell your grandfather what happened in the West Factory." Cao Huachun patted Wang Chengen's head gently.

Wang Chengen shrank his head and trembled a little. Wang An looked so horrible, as if he was going to eat someone.

"Okay, no need to say more." Wang Chengen started to speak, but Wang An stopped him. "It's too easy to stir up your childish mind. Let me ask you something else."

"Yes," Wang Chengen nodded blankly. "Please ask the ancestor."

"Did you tell Concubine Shen about the 'Nine Lotus Bodhisattva'?" Wang An asked.

"No, I didn't have time to tell the Empress." Wang Chengen shook his head. "After the meeting, Li Shusi dragged me directly to the Imperial Household Department. After that, I was left with my godfather."

"Haha." Wang An laughed angrily.

"What's wrong, godfather?" Cao Huachun's face changed slightly: "Did Empress Mi report this to the Emperor?"

"No, our good empress is being very cautious. She came to comfort the emperor, but since he didn't know, she made up a pretext and left, even pretending to cry." Wang An glanced at Wang Chengen. "She's incredibly scheming. Even though she's only a few years older than this guy, her scheming is probably even deeper than that old dog Wei Zhongxian. Be careful not to let her take advantage of you."

Wang An sighed. He wished Mi Mengshang could be a little more "dumb" like Wang Chengen. An overly shrewd woman was truly dangerous. Zheng, Li, and now Mi. Couldn't the harem be a little quieter? Wang An couldn't help but miss the emperor's deceased first wife, Empress Xiaoyuan Guo. She was truly a good woman, embodying the legacy of Ma and Xu, though a little pathetic.

(End of this chapter)