Chapter 146: The Appearance of "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo" - Everyone Submits in Admiration |
The jailer had also noticed Song Shi'an's discomfort.
He had been clearly delighted upon their initial meeting, but suddenly showed displeasure.
So temperamental.
"Zhu Amang, come here for a moment."
At this time, the jailer called over the guard Zhu Amang, then bowed to Song Shi'an and said, "Young Master Song, if you have any instructions, just tell him. I'll take my leave first."
"Mm, you may go."
Song Shi'an spoke to him with utter calm.
Afterward, the man departed, leaving only this person whom Song Shi'an trusted.
Ever since the two court sessions, everyone understood as clearly as a mirror that Song Shi'an would be fine no matter what. Even opening the cell door and letting him move freely throughout the Court of Judicial Review would be no problem, but formalities still had to be observed.
Was this something he could listen to?
Time to leave.
After he walked away, Xinyue glanced at Zhu Amang standing to the side.
"One of our own," Song Shi'an said casually.
Hearing this, Zhu Amang, who had been shrinking back just moments ago, was instantly filled with vigor and spirit.
To be recognized by Master Song and become part of the Song faction—that was an incomparable honor!
Xinyue lowered her guard. After the guard opened the door, she entered carrying the food box and crouched down.
Song Shi'an had just prepared to welcome the good food when Xinyue pressed one hand over his: "Just now, what was that supposed to mean?"
"What do you mean 'what was that supposed to mean'?" Song Shi'an asked.
Xinyue looked at him, put on an innocent smile, then the next moment suddenly straightened her face and turned to the side: "Hmph."
Are you copying your father or something?
"I didn't upset you just now, did I?" Xinyue questioned.
Mentioning this made Song Shi'an angry, and he questioned back: "Is this your first time coming here?"
"Yes," Xinyue answered. "So what?"
"You've got some nerve saying that. Visits are allowed here, and you—you haven't come even once before." Song Shi'an was genuinely a bit hurt.
"So you're upset about this."
Xinyue could understand now, and then asked: "Has anyone else come to see you?"
"No, I've been sitting in this cell for so long, not a single person has come to see me!"
"Then you're pretty much a failure as a person."
"..."
"Besides, no one else came to see you, but I did." Xinyue countered, "Shouldn't you be even more grateful to me?"
Song Shi'an: "..."
Damn it, this person doesn't get caught up in internal conflicts at all!
What she said seemed to make perfect sense, like 'good people deserve to have guns pointed at them.' But that depends on the relationship! After going through the hell of Shuofeng together, couldn't they have developed even this much affection?
"Go, go, go." Song Shi'an waved his hand, gesturing for her to move aside, then opened the food box.
It was steaming hot dishes.
Xinyue helped him take out each layer, and then Song Shi'an picked up his bowl, finally able to eat a proper meal with three dishes and a soup.
After just one bite, he forgave Xinyue: "Seeing as you personally cooked for me, I'll forgive you."
"Got it from Vice Minister Cui's household."
"..." Song Shi'an subtly pressed his lips together. "You could have lied, you know."
"Alright, I'll remember for next time."
Xinyue hadn't expected Song Shi'an would actually fall for such a ploy.
If he knew that Sun Jinhu had also wanted to come bring him food, perhaps she truly would have become a ray of light for him in his despairing prison.
A single meal could earn quite a bit of affection.
Forget it, telling him such insignificant matters would just waste time.
"Have you been consulting with Vice Minister Cui all these days?" Song Shi'an asked.
"He's a Second Rank official, and from the Cui Clan. In Sheng'an, his roots run deep. I learned a lot of intelligence from him," Xinyue said. "What do you already know?"
"That Old Master Cui spoke out explosively in court, fighting for Song Ce and me to register for the examination and such—I know most of it," Song Shi'an said.
"Good, then I'll tell you some things you need to know." After a brief pause, Xinyue said, "The eight hundred li emergency courier is estimated to arrive in Sheng'an around the time the results are posted. If you place first as zhuangyuan this time, they'll definitely have you released from prison on the day of the parade."
"Sounds good, make it a grand affair."
Song Shi'an liked this kind of ceremony.
"But if you don't place as zhuangyuan, and the zhuangyuan isn't someone else but Sun Qian..." Xinyue lowered her voice. "Do you want to stagger your release?"
This involved a question of face.
Since the two were adversaries, when the other person was in the spotlight and overshadowing him, should he avoid the situation?
"No need, I'm definitely going to place as zhuangyuan."
Song Shi'an raised his hand dismissively.
"We're discussing real matters here, don't be willful," Xinyue said seriously.
"Really no need."
Song Shi'an didn't care at all about this so-called face, saying: "I've never considered Sun Qian my fated rival."
This statement convinced Xinyue: "You're right. We returned from Shuofeng—no one can compare to us. I also think Sun Qian isn't important."
In the end, he was just a chess piece, replaceable by anyone.
Song Shi'an appeared to be a chess piece as well.
But everyone knew he was absolutely both piece and player.
"What else?" Song Shi'an asked.
"You know who's helped you. Do you know who's harmed you?" Xinyue asked.
"People who've harmed me, people who want to harm me—aren't they everywhere?" Song Shi'an countered.
"Chen Kefu, Deputy General of Si Prefecture, Senior Second Rank," Xinyue said. "Even when we went to Shuofeng, he's been following the civil officials in impeaching you. And according to Vice Minister Cui's information, some civil officials instigated him to submit an extremely underhanded memorial, requesting that General Xiao Qun lead troops to Shuofeng to replace you."
When these words came out, Song Shi'an's expression immediately darkened.
Xinyue also felt some lingering fear. If the Emperor had truly listened to this scheme, the outcome at Shuofeng would be unknown.
But it would have had absolutely nothing to do with Song Shi'an anymore.
However, Song Shi'an sneered with cold disdain: "If such an order really came down, I'd have tied up Xiao Qun as well."
Both she and Zhu Amang were startled by such terrifying words.
But Xinyue also knew he was truly angry.
Just like that day with Duke Zhang.
Last time he got angry, he killed someone.
What about this time?
This was a Senior Second Rank official—he needed to be cautious.
"I'll remember this," Song Shi'an said solemnly.
It seemed he didn't want to be cautious.
"As long as you know in your heart."
Whatever Song Shi'an wanted to do, Xinyue was willing to support.
"Oh right, have you eaten?" Song Shi'an suddenly looked up, asking with a smile.
"I've eaten," Xinyue said.
Song Shi'an nodded, then on a sudden whim said: "My father is in the Imperial Prison. His food is only slightly better. Could you deliver meals to him as well?"
"Me?" Xinyue pointed at herself, somewhat hesitant. "I could, I suppose."
"No, never mind, forget it."
Song Shi'an suddenly reconsidered and waved his hand: "I feel like that would be weird."
Though he didn't know exactly what would be weird about it.
"How is His Highness? How has he been lately?" Song Shi'an asked.
"He entered the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs. I don't know what will happen when he returns to the palace—I'm afraid his freedom might be restricted, so I've been staying in the Palace City and the outer city," Xinyue said. "But he should be fine."
Hearing this, Song Shi'an felt somewhat reassured.
Then, he just watched this girl who had held his hand all the way into the city, willing to share both joy and hardship, and gave her a grateful, light smile.
Xinyue returned his good expression.
"Master Song, should I step out for a quarter-hour..."
Zhu Amang muttered quietly.
"You stay right there."
Then he was immediately stopped by Song Shi'an.
A quarter-hour? Who are you trying to slander here?
No, I mean—we can't tarnish our revolutionary friendship!
………
The next day, the massive task of grading began.
Nearly fifty academicians started the bulk of the grading.
Moreover, to avoid the situation where a good essay might be overlooked simply because one person didn't understand it, they employed cross-grading.
One essay had to pass through at least two people's hands.
Therefore, each person on average had to grade over two hundred fifty essays for both policy essays and lyrical compositions.
The workload was extraordinarily heavy.
The first to proceed were the lyrical compositions.
Unlike the xiucai-to-juren examination essays, where quality differences were extremely obvious.
All the test papers here were written by officials, official candidates, or at least those with the potential to work in important departments.
There were no poor quality ones.
They'd heard that this examination even included a Fourth Rank official from the capital.
Actually, having reached such a position, one was already part of the ruling class—quite impressive.
But the ancients placed great importance on status.
Even though some people were already in positions of great power and authority, they still wanted to obtain such a kasaya robe.
For instance, Zeng Guofan, who came within "half a step of being a true dragon," had his greatest lifelong regret in his academic credentials being somewhat lacking.
And it wasn't that he hadn't passed the jinshi examination, nor that he failed later.
What his pride couldn't bear was that in his first palace examination, he only placed in the third tier—a mere "Advanced Scholar" status.
Therefore, this level of examination was purely selecting the best among the excellent.
It practically induced choice paralysis.
What everyone most hoped to grade was an essay that was obviously excellent at first glance, requiring no deliberation.
A certain academician was in the process of grading essays.
Then, he came across one.
His eyes immediately lit up, and a smile appeared on his face.
Interesting.
Exceptionally elegant writing, lively characters, vivid imagery leaping off the page, not a single redundant word...
As he read, he became increasingly immersed.
I told her: Her form is like a startled swan in flight, graceful as a wandering dragon. She outshines autumn chrysanthemums in radiance, surpasses spring pines in splendor. As if light clouds veil the moon, as if drifting wind swirls the snow...
While reading, the academician became completely absorbed in the scene.
Slowly lowering his head, he looked at his palm.
The hair on his forearm stood on end.
"A divine work, a divine work indeed."
After finishing this piece, he couldn't help but exclaim aloud.
Others were quite surprised.
It was one thing to praise a good essay when grading, but what kind of lyrical composition could be called a "divine work"?
"Come quickly and look at this," the academician actively invited.
Several people gathered around and read together.
Every person's pupils were filled with radiant light, completely invested.
Not a single one thought he was exaggerating.
"But the topic is to write about a river. This is writing about a goddess—might there be suspicion of straying from the topic?"
"The topic says to compose a lyrical piece about a river to manifest the grandeur of our Sacred Dynasty's mountains and rivers... Is this writing about romantic love?"
"How could this be ordinary romantic love? Who could fall in love with a goddess?"
"Is there such a legend by the Luo River?"
"Every river has some stories, and it's normal for there to be sacred blessings. But the Luo River shouldn't have such a myth. I grew up in Luo City."
"Then this goddess is the Luo River deity he created. Or rather, it is the Luo River itself. This uses a person to symbolize an object."
"A divine being blessing the rivers and mountains—the goddess's beauty is also the beauty of the land. That's not far-fetched at all."
The reason such disagreement arose was because this essay had exceptional literary grace, extremely beautiful language, and supreme elegance—it absolutely couldn't be vulgarized into some tale of romantic love between men and women.
If it was a noble tribute to the Luo River, wouldn't that perfectly address the topic—to manifest the grandeur of our Sacred Dynasty's mountains and rivers?
Before they knew it, more and more people gathered here.
Sun Kang saw everyone crowding together and walked over, puzzled: "What's going on?"
"Master Sun." At this moment, the first academician who had read the piece, brimming with excitement, turned his head and said, "The 'Ode to the Goddess of the Luo'—it's absolutely a divine work."
Sun Kang walked over, and the man presented the essay.
After reading it, the old comrade also revealed astonishment and admiration.
This was too beautiful.
In terms of literary grace and artistry, one could even say it was the most beautiful lyrical composition of all time without exaggeration!
Moreover, it wasn't something that could be written with an aged mentality.
For instance, Sun Kang could only worship it.
Such an essay—among today's scholars, probably only Sun Qian possessed such literary talent...
No, this wasn't his handwriting.
But this handwriting seemed so familiar, as if he'd seen it before.