Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower

Fan Yi Kingdom Emperor looked at his prime minister. "Tell me."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Zhu's posture was very polite. "Prime Minister Yang is defending the north border with the few other generals. However, there are a few other generals who stayed within the territory and hadn't made much contribution. It's possible to assign them to the south border."

The faces of the ministers turned subtle.

They all knew that there were indeed two other generals who were not assigned to either border and didn't have much important position. 

One of them was Prime Minister Yang's brother, who the Emperor didn't seem to like very much. The Yang Family had served the Imperial Family in Fan Yi Kingdom for years, but they were also very powerful and scheming.

Whenever they showed their abilities, it would be during the time when the Kingdom needed them the most. Because of that, no matter how much the Emperor disliked them, they still had to use them to maintain Fan Yi Kingdom.

In the past few years, General Yang had reported that he was sick and couldn't participate in the battle again. It was also due to this that he hadn't appeared much on the battlefield.

The other one was Prime Minister Zhu's cousin. From what the ministers knew, General Zhu was not very capable and relied more on the support from Prime Minister Zhu to be able to reach his current position.

His reputation so far has been very bad. 

The others had been talking about him, but they didn't dare to be so blatant. Who made Prime Minister Zhu the trusted minister in Fan Yi Kingdom? If they didn't want their neck to be cut, they better behaved.

"General Yang and General Zhu?" Fan Yi Kingdom's Emperor also remembered these two generals. He frowned because he didn't really want to use either one of the two. But now that they were in battle with Fei Yang Kingdom, it would be best for them to use whatever means necessary to win. 

"Send message to the two of them. If they could make it to the south border, help Great General Ji to win the battle."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Zhu cupped his fist and then lowered his head. No one could see that his eyes flashed with calculation.

The other ministers also obeyed their Emperor's arrangement.

Even if they have other thoughts in their heart, they didn't dare to mention it. Right now, this is already the best solution. 

…

<Fei Yang Kingdom's Capital City>

The news about the war on the border has spread in the Capital City. Some people were worried while some others didn't care because it was far away from them.

Old Master Nan was among the few who received the news and had been staying in the Capital City recently. He was not willing to return to the Central Region. It has been a long time ever since he returned, so it was time for him to take some rest.

"Father, is it about Hua'er?"

Old Master Nan turned around and saw his daughter, Nan Si Qiao, looking in his direction worriedly. Perhaps, the one who would be impacted the most were the people who have their relative on the frontline.

Nan Si Qiao had always been worried for her family members because almost all of them went to the battlefield.

Having to stay at home and waited without being able to do anything was very torturous.

But Nan Si Qiao knew that her abilities were limited.

Rather than worrying about things that couldn't be done, it would be better for her to live for her own life and trusted that they would return safely.

"No, there's nothing about Nan Hua. It's just that Fan Yi Kingdom has been advancing and trying to take advantage of our business in the other areas." Old Master Nan smiled. "Don't worry, she will be fine."

Nan Si Qiao looked at her father and nodded with a sigh. To be honest, she wished that she could do something for them, but aside from waiting at the Capital City, there was truly nothing that could be done.

Old Master Nan thought of something and added, "Rather than worrying about Nan Hua, why don't you worry about your son more? He's going to take the examination today, right?"

In order to make sure that the officials were not stupid, there was an examination each year. The content of the examination was relatively simple because the system was not very sophisticated. 

At most, they would be questioned about a few things.

If they were capable enough, they would be passed and there was the list of people who passed later on. The Emperor will then select them and grant them their position based on the nine rankings that had been established beforehand.

The one who handled it was the people from the Ministers of Rites. 

"I don't worry about Ao Kuai." Nan Si Qiao shook her head. "With his ability, it's estimated that he will make the examiner turn quiet.

…

Sora's Corner: Imperial Examination

To be honest, the formal Imperial Examination was started in Sui Dynasty rather than this early. It was used in the Tang Dynasty after Sui Dynasty and then become more dominant during Song Dynasty. The Imperial Examination will last until late Qing Dynasty (20th Century) where it would be abolished and changed to a more modern examination. 

However, the origin of the Imperial Examination had already started from Han Dynasty, right after the Qin Dynasty, the first Dynasty in China. Candidates of officials would be recommended by the prefect of a prefecture and then examined by the Ministry of Rites before being presented to the Emperor.

Later on, during one of the emperor's reign, the recruitment went through examination but the content was different from the later era and it was not truly standardized yet. 

For the details of the content and others, you can search by yourself.

There are too many to be mentioned.