The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 039 Because I Like It
The two were drinking tea in the flower hall when it began to rain outside. It was a sudden, heavy downpour, and the crisp sound of rain hitting the banana leaves could be heard.
Wang Zhen quietly sipped his tea, still wearing bright red official robes, clearly having come straight to find Tang Shen upon returning home. Tang Shen discreetly observed him, knowing that although his senior brother was a bit eccentric in some ways, unpredictable in behavior and difficult to understand, he seemed to harbor no ill will toward him.
Tang Shen sighed inwardly: Wang Zifeng just liked to provoke people a little, and he would bear with it.
Tang Shen was preparing himself mentally when Wang Zhen suddenly said, "For the second session of the xiangshi, did you choose the five questions on the Book of Changes?"
Tang Shen was taken aback and sat up straight, saying, "Yes. I heard from Senior Brother Zi Feng that the chief examiner, Grand Secretary Yang, likes the Book of Changes, so I took the easy way out and wrote about it."
"You wrote well."
A thought flashed through Tang Shen's mind: How do you know I wrote well?
He quickly realized that since Grand Secretary Yang and Wang Zhen served in the same court, and it wasn't a secret in the Imperial College that he was Wang Zhen's junior brother. Thus it was possible that Grand Secretary Yang had mentioned his essay to Wang Zhen in private.
Having accepted this idea, Tang Shen picked up his tea cup, just about to take another sip, when he saw Wang Zhen take out a thick stack of paper from his sleeve. The top of the stack had a thin layer of paste marks, and upon closer inspection, the paper contained a proficient script in the Guange style!
Tang Shen was stunned, holding the tea cup in mid-air, neither drinking nor putting it down.
Damn!
Wang Zifeng had abused his power to this extent!
He had even secretly obtained his examination papers!!!
In modern times, wouldn't this be equivalent to taking out the college entrance exam papers to review?
As if hearing Tang Shen's thoughts, Wang Zhen looked up and, seeing Tang Shen's shocked expression, feigned surprise and said, "Little Junior Brother, you don't know that xiangshi papers can be freely retrieved?"
"Huh?"
"To prevent unfairness and omissions in grading, any candidate can freely retrieve their own papers after the results are announced. The tongshi exam papers are kept at the county government office for a year; the xiangshi and huishi exam papers are kept at the examination hall for three years. Little Junior Brother didn't know?"
Tang Shen: "..."
How was he supposed to know such things!
Since candidates could freely retrieve their own papers, it seemed less shocking that Wang Zhen could take out his papers.
Wang Zhen smiled, "Come over and take a look."
Tang Shen hesitated for a moment before walking over and sitting down beside Wang Zhen.
The flower hall had a carved purple sandalwood Luohan chair, and by pushing the small tea table in the center to the side, it could accommodate two people sitting side by side.
The xiangshi lasted nine days, with three sessions of three days each. Tang Shen had been unable to bathe and had not rested well during the examination. Having the chance to review his own writings was not only a way to refresh his memory but also an opportunity to identify and correct any mistakes.
Tang Shen looked at the two essays he had written in the first session and realized that some sentences could have been expressed differently to better convey the original meaning and be more impressive. He noticed the review comments on his paper, which read, "The opening is exceptionally brilliant, free-flowing, with well-balanced transitions."
One of the most grueling aspects of the xiangshi and huishi examinations for the examiners was that every essay, no matter how poorly written, required comments. The comments were usually pre-written and attached unless the essay was so outstanding that the examiner couldn't help but personally write a comment. Most comments were pre-written and attached.
The comments on Tang Shen's first-session exam paper were pre-attached.
However, the five essays on the Book of Changes in the second session had beautifully written cursive comments that were written personally.
Wang Zhen said, "It is said that Grand Secretary Yang wrote it himself."
Grand Secretary Yang wrote, "The excellence of the essay grows with distance, and its robust spirit is vigorous, expressing what others cannot."
Tang Shen nodded.
Grand Secretary Yang indeed loved the Book of Changes.
The two discussed Tang Shen's examination papers for a while in the flower hall. Wang Zhen offered some guidance, and Tang Shen nodded frequently. When the moon rose high, Wang Zhen called the steward, "Is dinner ready?"
Steward: "It has been prepared long ago."
Wang Zhen turned to Tang Shen, "Then stay for dinner."
"…Okay."
After dinner, Tang Shen bid farewell to Wang Zhen. Wang Zhen had already changed into an indigo satin robe, a color often worn by women, but on Wang Zifeng, it accentuated his graceful and handsome appearance without seeming effeminate, making him look even more elegant. Before Tang Shen left, Wang Zhen had a servant hand him a copybook.
Wang Zhen said, "Although handwriting is no longer important in the huishi since each paper is transcribed to prevent cheating."
Tang Shen knew this as well. During the huishi, apart from anonymizing the names, the court hired xiucai with excellent handwriting to transcribe each candidate's paper. In the end, the examiners reviewed the transcriptions, not the originals. This greatly prevented cheating in the imperial examinations.
Wang Zhen said, "Even so, good handwriting is very important."
Tang Shen felt a bit tense, thinking Wang Zhen might open another back door for him. He hesitated for a moment and cautiously asked, "Does Senior Brother mean…"
"Because I like it."
"…"
Wang Zhen laughed, covering his mouth with his fan, "I was joking with you. When you are selected as a candidate for the top three in the palace examination, the emperor will personally review your essay, and you will understand the benefits."
Tang Shen returned home with a lot of unspoken words. When he opened the copybook, he found it was Wang Zhen's own handwriting. He quickly understood: Wang Zhen wanted him to change his script!
A wise man can still make mistakes.
Previously, Wang Zhen had him learn Zhong Taisheng's “Famen Temple Stele”, as Zhong Wei was once considered one of the top four Confucian scholars in the world, known for his strong and powerful handwriting, considered the best regular script. Many scholars learned the Zhong style because it was easy to master and looked good. However, in the palace examination, even if all the candidates wrote in Zhong style, Wang Zhen would not let Tang Shen use it.
He had prepared everything for him.
Looking at the copybook, Tang Shen felt a mix of emotions.
Wang Zifeng, as his senior brother, had indeed fulfilled the role of a teacher.
The huishi was to be held in the spring of the following year, and Tang Shen began preparing early. Unknowingly, more and more juren arrived in Shengjing. Talented scholars from all over gathered in Shengjing, preparing for the next year's huishi.
Tang Shen stayed at the Imperial College, and even if he didn't intentionally seek out information, classmates eagerly shared the latest news with him.
"Have you heard? The top scorer of the last xiangshi at the Jiangnan Examination Hall arrived in Shengjing yesterday and rented a house in the west of the city!"
"Is it Wang Xiao from Jinling Prefecture? I heard he is distantly related to the Wang family of Langya."
"That's him! He was supposed to participate in the huishi two years ago, but he said, 'I am not confident in becoming the zhuangyuan this time,' and gave up the exam. Now that he is in Shengjing, he must be determined to win the top spot."
"So what, our Imperial College's Liu Fang and Mei Shengze are not to be underestimated."
Mei Shengze modestly cupped his hands, "You all praise me too much, but Jing Ze was also the runner-up this time, with outstanding talent."
With one sentence, Tang Shen was pushed into the spotlight. Although he knew his friend was complimenting him, Tang Shen gave him a helpless look, blaming him for dragging him into this. Outwardly, however, Tang Shen remained calm and said, "I don't dare to think about being the zhuangyuan; let's just pass the exam first!"
Becoming the zhuangyuan at sixteen?
That would be even more shocking than the "Peerless Zhuangyuan Wang Zifeng"!
Not only had Tang Shen not considered such a thing, but none of the students at the Imperial College thought Tang Shen could become the top scorer.
Time quickly passed, and soon it was winter.
Tang Shen was at home writing and reading. It had snowed heavily the day before, and the Imperial College was on a three-day break, so Tang Shen stayed home to study. He took a sip of tea when he heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
The wooden door creaked open, and Shopkeeper Lu patted the snow off his coat as he entered.
"Heh, this snow is really heavy. Little Boss, Shengjing is so cold, unlike our Gusu Prefecture where it never snows like this!"
Tang Shen smiled and pointed to the brazier in the center of the room, "Go warm yourself by the fire."
Shopkeeper Lu immediately went to the brazier and warmed himself. "That's much better. Little Boss, I went to Qianli Restaurant again this afternoon."
Tang Shen put down his brush and looked up at him with a serious expression. "What happened?"
Shopkeeper Lu said, "There is both good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
Tang Shen replied, "Tell me both."
Since Tang Shen didn’t give him any leeway, Shopkeeper Lu had no choice but to continue. He said helplessly, "The good news is that Qianli Restaurant is the largest restaurant in Shengjing. Besides it, there are 321 restaurants in Shengjing, none of which provide boxiagong services. In fact, none have ever offered boxiagong services!"
This meant that Shengjing was a large and untapped market!
Tang Shen's eyes lit up. He then asked, "What’s the bad news?"
Shopkeeper Lu said, "Originally, I just wanted to find out how to do restaurant business in Shengjing. But after contacting Shopkeeper Xing of Qianli Restaurant, I discovered something. Little Boss, do you know who stands behind Qianli Restaurant?" Without waiting for Tang Shen to respond, Shopkeeper Lu sighed, "It turns out to be the free-spirited prince, the Sixth Prince Zhao Ao!"
AN: Little Boss Tang: Actually, my senior brother is very good to me, I know that. It's just that he... likes to tease people! I just endure it. By the way, why is my senior brother so good to me?
Old Neighbor Wang: Raising a kid is actually quite fun.