Bone Painting Coroner

Yufu at this moment was filled with tranquility and joyful harmony. However in the same moment, the capital was covered in ominous dark clouds.

During this period of time, two important events happened in the capital.

First, the Imperial Examination held in the seventh lunar month of the year had ended.

The list of top three candidates’ names and their exam papers were sent directly to Qizhen Emperor by the transcribers of the Hanlin Academy. He opened the list and three names were prominently printed on it: Lin Shu, Shang Zhuo, and Jiang Huaixin. All three of them were ranked Grade One.

Official Lin Si, the transcriber of the Hanlin Academy, stood there waiting. He had been looking at the Emperor secretly as he read the list. Because he was also a student of Teacher Yu in Mingshan Academy, he was naturally interested as his juniors, Shang Zhuo and Lin Shu, were listed.

The Emperor had to compare and decide how to rank the three.

Qizhen Emperor opened the papers written by the three men and read them one by one. The three essays were not long, but he took almost half an hour to read them. To be precise, he read them in detail.

Official Lin asked, "Your Majesty, have you decided the top scorer, the zhuangyuan, of this National Civil Examinations?" [1]

Qizhen Emperor's forehead creased. It was difficult to make a decision. After a long time, he only picked out the third place, the tanhua. He directly handed the test paper of Jiang Huaixin to Lin Si, "This person's writing is traditional and he has good talent. But in terms of poetic philosophy, there are still some deficiencies in comparison with the other two. He would be the tanhua and be granted the position of assistant secretary in Hanlin Academy."

"Yes!" Official Lin took the test papers over and asked again, "What about the zhuangyuan and bangyan?"

Qizhen Emperor was still deliberating, "The students taught by Teacher Yu are truly extraordinary. Two students from the Mingshan Academy always attempt the Imperial Examinations every year. Even Official Lin is from that academy.”

"Teacher Yu taught countless students. I am very honored to be his student." What a silver tongue!

However, Qizhen Emperor simply threw the problem to him and said, "Shang Zhuo and Lin Shu are comparable. The six theories are well explained. They also answered well to the questions I posed. Official Lin, you also read their essays, tell me, who would be the best fit for the secretary of Hanlin Academy?"

Since ancient times, the zhuangyuan would be the Secretary in the Hanlin Academy, while the next two spots, the bangyan and tanhua, would be Assistant Secretary in the Hanlin Academy. [3]

After half a year, the Secretary could take up an official position in the imperial court that was below the third grade and above the fifth grade, while the Assistant Secretary could only do so after two years. After that, they would be assigned to various provinces and states as local officials, or take up official positions in the imperial court below the sixth grade.

As for the others that had made the rankings, they would be granted positions according to their score: Honorary Scholar, Supervisor, Scribe, Auditor, Court Academic, or Prefectural Judge ... [2]

Qizhen Emperor had tossed the problem to him. Lin Si pondered for a moment and bowed, "The zhuangyuan is always decided by the Emperor. After reading Shang Zhuo’s and Lin Shu’s essays, I think both of them are good. If we really want to compare them, it is indeed a bit difficult."

"What does the Hanlin Academy think?"

"We await Your Majesty’s decision."

Qizhen Emperor was also worried. He picked up the two essays and read them again. This time, he read them for about an hour. He was really pondering over them word by word.

Lin Si stood there for so long his feet turned numb. In the end…

"Alright, you can leave now, I'll think about it."

Lin Si bowed down, "Yes, this official will take my leave." He went out.

In fact, it didn't matter who was the zhuangyuan between Shang Zhuo and Lin Shu. They were both students of Mingshan Academy, and their Academy seniors would take care of them in the Official Court.

The second major event was Jing Yi's marriage.

After settling her daughter's marriage, Concubine Xiao also proposed to Qizhen Emperor that her son should marry his formal wife. Her first choice for the position would naturally be Ji Muqing.

Qizhen Emperor had originally said that he would give it some thought, but at that time, there were more pressing matters: there was that assassin who died mysteriously in the Supreme Court prison, as well as the matter of The Ministry of Personnel. As a result Jing Yi's marriage had been pushed aside never mentioned again.

Then, Concubine Xiao had realised that the timing wasn't right, but now that the storm had passed, she mentioned it again during the dinner. "What's Your Majesty's opinion of Yi'er's marriage?"

The corners of Qizhen Emperor’s mouth immediately turned down, but he didn't say anything. He was not in the mood to eat anymore.

At bedtime, Concubine Xiao spoke as she helped the Qizhen Emperor undress, "Your Majesty, now that Xuan'er's marriage has been settled, she will go to Hu Yi when everything is settled. I have only one daughter. I really can't bear to see her go."

"At that time, it was you who put forward the proposal, and I agreed to it. You should also be prepared."

"Yes, Xuan'er married off to Hu Yi, although as a mother I can’t bear it, for her sake, I will do anything. My whole life has been dedicated to Your Majesty and my children. Now that Xuan'er has a home, I'm very worried about Yi'er's formal marriage. Your Majesty, what do you think?"

However, Qizhen Emperor did not respond to her.

"Your Majesty?"

"All right, I'll think about it carefully, so don't talk about it anymore." He was serious.

Concubine Xiao’s hands paused, and another superficial smile appeared on the corners of her mouth, "Yes, as Your Majesty wishes."

Despite saying that, Concubine Xiao still wasn’t satisfied. You haven't decided yet? How long do I have to wait?

Although she didn't mention it again that night, the next day she continued to worry at the matter with both soft and hard tactics, as tenacious as an immortal cockroach.

When the Qizhen Emperor finished reading his memorials and stepped out for a walk in the imperial garden, Concubine Xiao appeared and followed him like a shadow. After walking for a while, they sat down in the pavilion of the imperial garden.

What he didn't expect was that instead of bringing up the matter again, she had simply brought the person concerned to him. Ji Muqing arrived at the imperial garden, just at the right time.

During the Crown Prince’s Consort Selection, she had been sent out of the palace because she fell ill. She had been staying in the general's mansion and did not go out ever since.

Naturally, it wasn't a coincidence that she would appear here today, but rather that early in the morning, Concubine Xiao had sent someone to summon her into the palace, just waiting for this good show.

Unlike her usual attire of heavy makeup, Ji Muqing wore very little makeup this time. She was wearing a purple-red outer vest embroidered with beautiful peony flowers and daffodils. The light gauze fabric danced gently in the breeze.

Her face was also not as thickly caked with white makeup as before, and instead was only lightly dusted with powder. Her eyes were slightly curved and her eyebrows looked as slender as willow leaves. Together with her sharp nose and vermillion lips, her whole person looked as if she had just drifted out of a picture. For a moment, she looked almost like Ji Wanxin, but she lacked the sickly beauty of the latter.

She walked to the pavilion with graceful steps and gave a polite curtsy. She didn't dare to look directly at the Emperor as she spoke, "This humble one greets Your Majesty and Concubine Xiao." Her voice was as melodious as a song.

Qizhen Emperor's eyebrows and eyes wrinkled slightly.

Concubine Xiao immediately explained, "Your Majesty, this concubine knows that Miss Ji is in the capital city alone. Besides her elder brother and second brother, she has no more relatives. So I decided to take her for a walk in the palace and a chat with this concubine."

Are you kidding me? She came into the palace not to spend time with you, but she isn’t in your palace but came here by chance?

[1] These examinations were a Big Deal, basically the only route to officialdom and a better life for many. Its modern equivalent the Gaokao is also the source of headache of all youths. Yay meritocracy.

[2] Titles are approximated bc i can't find official translations. For those interested, raws here: 庶吉士、主事、中书、行人、评事、博士、推官

[3] The Hanlin Academy isn't really a school, but more like a... fraternity maybe? In some dynasties, all officials must take up a post there before they get the chance to take up an official position.