Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Chapter 273: Princess Xiangyang – Instead of Reflecting on Yourself, Question Others! (2 / 2)

Liang Rui glanced at his second son. Even after hearing Bai Ze’s words, he still held onto a shred of hope. He handed the bowl and chopsticks to Liang Youwen. “You feed your brother.”

Liang Youwen quickly took them and picked up a piece of pig liver, feeding it to Liang Youwu.

“Thanks, Brother,” Liang Youwu said with a smile, accepting the food naturally. On the surface, it looked like a harmonious scene of brotherly love. But as Liang Rui watched, he couldn’t shake a strange feeling. Maybe he was just overthinking it…

Then Xu Yanmiao’s voice chimed in again:

[No wonder Little Liang is so dark-skinned. Turns out he’s been running all over the place with Old Liang since he was five.]

[When Old Liang went to the capital for the provincial exam, he took Little Liang with him. After passing the palace examination, he served three years as a junior compiler in the Hanlin Academy—and Little Liang stayed in the capital with him for all three years. Then, when Old Liang was assigned as magistrate of Tianmen County, Little Liang, at age seven, had to go along.]

[Seven years in Tianmen County, then a transfer to Wen’an County.]

[Seven years in Wen’an County, then back to the Imperial Academy as a registrar.]

[A year after becoming a registrar, his wife passed away, so he returned home to observe three years of mourning. After that, he was reassigned as magistrate of Qingpu County.]

[And the younger son?]

[Oh! The younger son was born the year before the move to Tianmen County. He was naturally intelligent, so at age seven, Lord Liang arranged for a great scholar to tutor him and sent him to study in Heyang! Then he took his eldest son with him to Wen’an County for his new post.]

[Since the younger son wasn’t constantly traveling under the sun, that’s why he’s so fair-skinned!]

Liang Rui remained crouched on the ground, watching as his eldest son carefully fed the braised pig liver to his younger brother through the gaps in the wooden bars.

In his ears, Xu Yanmiao’s voice continued recounting the past of his own family.

He had always felt guilty toward his wife and children.

His eldest son had no choice but to follow him from place to place, never settling down for long before having to move again. His youngest son was sent to Heyang for school at just seven years old, with his wife accompanying him. She was cared for by her family, but their time together as a family was scarce.

[Oh ho! So that’s why Liang Youwu thinks his father favors his brother—because he always took his brother with him but never him.]

Liang Rui’s eyes widened in shock.

Beside him, Xu Yanmiao’s puzzled voice continued.

[Wait a minute. Then why doesn’t he think his mother favored him? Doesn’t this balance things out—one child for each parent?]

[Oh, oh! Liang Xiao’er sees his mother taking care of him and his father favoring his brother as two completely separate matters. He believes his jealousy toward his brother is justified. And if his brother wanted to, he could be jealous of him too.]

[But what about the policy? He should also know that back then, the late emperor’s policy encouraged county magistrates to bring their families along to help them empathize with the people. Later, the rule changed—officials bringing their families were seen as prioritizing personal matters over official duties, so they were only allowed to bring one family member.]

[Only one person could come. Old Liang had no choice! He couldn’t exactly bring a seven-year-old child with him.]

[Ah… So that’s how he sees it. If he hadn’t made a habit of talking to his grandfather’s grave, I probably wouldn’t have figured it out either.]

[Wait… But what’s the point of me knowing? It’s not like I can run off and tell Old Liang!]

[What am I supposed to do? Say, “Oh, I just happen to hang around your father-in-law’s grave all the time and overheard this”?]

[That wouldn’t work either—Liang Rui’s father-in-law is buried in his hometown.]

Liang Rui was so frustrated he nearly lost his mind: You could just say it came to you in a dream!!!

Now he understood why his colleagues always said, As long as Xu Lang is willing to speak, no matter how absurd the reason, people will believe it.

At this moment, he was willing to believe it too!

Not only was he willing to believe, but he was even prepared to find a reasonable excuse for it—but you have to say something first! Just tell me what my son is thinking!

Xu Yanmiao had no habit of immediately repeating things he had just learned. Instead, he kept mumbling to himself:

[So, because he always suspected Old Liang of favoring his brother, he’s determined to crush him in this year’s imperial exam? To make Old Liang witness firsthand that his favoritism was a mistake???]

[And, just in case his father secretly gives his brother special treatment, he decided to cheat?]

[And since he’s already cheating, he absolutely has to take first place?]

[Liang Xiao’er, you’re overthinking this. If you cheat and win first place without getting caught, Old Liang will just be more convinced that he was absolutely right to favor your brother.]

[If you really want to make him regret it, you should just give up and become a total slacker! That way, Old Liang might actually be devastated and realize his mistake!]

[Hmm… Reborn: I Just Want to Be a Slacker?]

Liang Rui’s pupils trembled.

[Or maybe After I Gave Up, My Father Regretted It Deeply?]

What a vicious thought! What a terrifying curse!

Liang Rui clutched his chest. His heartbeat sped up, and even his breathing became unbearably heavy.

His two sons immediately noticed his distress and grew anxious.

“Father!”

“Father, are you alright?”

Liang Rui took a few deep breaths before asking, “Suo’er, do you know what kind of place Wen’an County is?”

Suddenly hearing his childhood name, Liang Youwu was momentarily stunned. Without thinking too much, he answered the question, “Yes, I know. Wen’an County is in a low-lying area, surrounded by water on three sides, and with poorly maintained embankments. Every autumn, the Hutuo, Zhuozhang, and Yongding Rivers surge, flooding the farmlands and making cultivation impossible.”

Then, a slight smile appeared on his face. “But later, Father, when you became the magistrate of Wen’an County, you expanded the waterways and reinforced the embankments. Thanks to you, that marshland has gone twelve years without a flood.”

However, Liang Rui’s expression grew stern. “So, do you think it would have been good for you if I had taken you, a seven-year-old, with me to Wen’an County?”

Liang Youwu immediately realized what he was getting at. Under Liang Youwen’s puzzled gaze, he reacted as if triggered, his voice rising in agitation, “Then you could have just taken no one! Why did you—”

Liang Rui suddenly cut him off, both shocked and pained. “You were intelligent from a young age, so I sought out a great scholar to teach you. Your brother wasn’t academically inclined, so I kept him by my side, hoping he could learn practical matters and find another path in life. I wanted both of you to have good futures. If only one of you lived well while the other wasted away, I might as well have never had the other one!”

Liang Youwu’s eyes turned red. “So what if there were floods and marshlands?! You never even asked if I was afraid!”

Liang Rui said sharply, “You were only seven years old back then!”

Liang Youwu was agitated beyond reason. “So what if I was seven?! When my brother was five, after your imperial examination, didn’t you bring him and Mother to the capital? When he was seven, he got to follow you to Tianmen County—why couldn’t I follow you to Wen’an County when I was seven?!”

In that instant, Liang Rui realized—this was exactly what Xu Yanmiao had overheard when his youngest son talked to his grandfather’s grave.

Xu Yanmiao sensed that this was a private argument between father and son, and it was no longer appropriate for him to keep watching.

He had only come here to see what kind of fearless man would dare to blackmail an examiner with account books. And maybe, to take a break and clear his mind—

[My entire six months’ salary, QAQ…]

[I still have a chef to support at home!!!]

[And my cat!!!]

He hadn’t expected to stumble upon Liang Rui visiting the prison.

“Sigh… huh?!”

Xu Yanmiao lowered his head—several chunks of ice had been thrown near his feet.

Before he could even look up to see who was responsible, another piece of ice came flying at him, landing slightly closer than the previous ones.

[Ha! So this is how we’re playing it? I get it now! Gao Xiang!]

—Though the man’s actual name was Gao Shengxian, Xu Yanmiao had long been used to calling him Gao Xiang.

Another chunk of ice was thrown his way.

Xu Yanmiao still wasn’t fully engaged, but he lowered his head and followed the ice trail, turning a corner—only to be nearly deafened by an urgent, desperate wail—

“Xu Shentong! Save me!!!”

Xu Yanmiao froze for a moment. “What happened?”

Then, he saw Princess Xiangyang’s puffed-up, angry face. “Now that the palace examination is over, my father wants to start matchmaking for me! I finally got out of my last marriage—I don’t want to get married again so soon.”

Xu Yanmiao thought for a moment, trying to come up with an idea for his friend. “So, do you want to ruin your own reputation to make the matter go away?”

“How could I?!”

Princess Xiangyang declared righteously, “What could possibly be wrong with me? If there’s a problem, it’s definitely with them!”

She continued, “Besides, I am my father’s daughter. Just how badly would I have to ruin my reputation before they’d dare to reject me?”

“So, what’s your plan?”

“You live outside the palace, so it’s easier for you to gather information! My father wants to choose my consort from among the new jinshi, right?”

Her expression suddenly turned mischievous, as if she was eager to stir up trouble. “Xu Yaohai! Xu Shentong! Xu Lang! Can you help me dig up some dirt on these families so my father will drop the idea?”

Then, she took out a list, coughed lightly, and hinted, “These are the candidates my father has picked for me…”

In the 14th year of Emperor Shunzhi’s reign, during the Shuntian xiangshi (provincial examination), examiner Li Zhenye colluded with candidate Zhang Han to sell exam placements, all to satisfy his concubine’s demands. A dispute between Li and Zhang led Zhang to join another candidate in reporting the scandal. After the case was exposed, Emperor Shunzhi sentenced Li Zhenye and six other officials to death and exiled 108 of their family members.

Later, the emperor personally interrogated 40 individuals involved in the scandal in the grand hall, in an extremely severe setting. However, some of the accused still protested in court. In the end, the emperor showed leniency in handling their punishment.

This was the first bloody examination scandal in Qing Dynasty history.

— Blood List: China’s Imperial Examination Scandals

Some Extra Details:

(Regarding Li Zhenye’s case) Each candidate paid 6,000 taels of silver. If they actually passed and became a juren, they had to pay an additional 2,000 taels.

6,000 taels of silver would be roughly equivalent to 2.52 million yuan today, while 8,000 taels would be about 3.36 million yuan.

— Blood List: China’s Imperial Examination Scandals

[If the xiangshi (provincial exam) cost this much, then the huishi (metropolitan exam) cheating fee of 10,000 taels wasn’t actually that expensive… ()]