What a mess. This left Yu Qing completely stunned and dumbfounded.
Not only did he have to write some kind of rhapsody, but he also had to compose poetry on the spot in front of guests from all over the world to add to the festivities?
It was getting more and more excessive, more and more outrageous. Yu Qing felt his scalp go numb as he listened, and cold sweat nearly broke out on his body right there.
This joke had gone too far!
This was something he had never expected at all. Previously he had struggled desperately for the palace examination, finally managed to get through it, and had just breathed a sigh of relief thinking he could take things easy. Yet after crawling out of the palace examination pit, he saw a pile of pits ahead, full of holes and craters everywhere, and even a bottomless abyss waiting in front of him.
He could not play this game anymore. He still wanted to live a few more years.
Seeing him in a daze, Pei Qingcheng patted his shoulder and laughed, “This is precisely a great opportunity for you to show your brilliance once again. You must grasp it well. If used properly, you may win the favour of the Sinan Mansion, which could be of help to you.”
“Sinan Mansion?” Yu Qing said in astonishment. “What does this have to do with the Sinan Mansion again?”
Pei Qingcheng replied, “You came from Liezhou. You should have experienced that tragic incident in the ancient tomb wasteland, but you may not know the full truth of the matter.”
Yu Qing blinked. He had already learned the truth from the mouths of Tie Miaoqing and the others, but he still pretended not to know and said, “This humble official is willing to hear the details.”
“In the southwest region there is a great demon known as the Qixia Lady. She has a son…” Pei Qingcheng calmly recounted the truth, which was exactly what Yu Qing had heard. However, he only knew the beginning of the matter. Pei Qingcheng continued and revealed the truth about how it ended. “With the great examination approaching, the Sinan Mansion caused such an incident, and even His Majesty was not pleased. He had no choice but to summon the Earth Mother, the chief of the Sinan Mansion.
His Majesty warned the Earth Mother in person. Seeing that deaths and injuries among examinees had begun to appear in various places, and that it was about to cause a huge sensation across the country, once the impact grew too great the matter could no longer be contained. People with ulterior motives would surely exploit it, and at that time the calls to dissolve the Sinan Mansion would surge like a tide. Because of this, His Majesty ordered the Earth Mother to resolve the matter immediately!
Left with no choice, the Earth Mother personally took action and went to slay the Qixia Lady herself in order to settle the incident. However, the Earth Mother also paid a price for it!
Everyone knows the truth in their hearts. The Sinan Mansion was at fault first. The disciple killed someone else’s son, and the master not only shielded her but even struck again with lethal force. In terms of reason, it was indeed hard to justify. This matter alarmed the top figure in the demon realm. The Demon Saint of Qianliu Mountain spoke up with just one sentence, leaving no room for negotiation. He directly demanded that the Sinan Mansion hand over the person and that the Earth Mother surrender the disciple who caused the trouble, or else war would begin!”
Yu Qing could not help but ask out of curiosity, “Did the Earth Mother hand over the disciple then?”
Pei Qingcheng said, “Things had reached this point. The Earth Mother had no choice but to hand someone over, otherwise the Jin Kingdom would have to bear a great war with the entire demon realm. If she did not hand anyone over, His Majesty could not protect the Sinan Mansion, and the chaos of war would mean the entire Jin Kingdom could no longer tolerate the Sinan Mansion. However, the Earth Mother did not hand over the person. Instead, in front of the people from Qianliu Mountain, she personally executed that disciple herself!”
“Uh…” Yu Qing was speechless. He realised the Earth Mother was quite ruthless, but he could also understand her situation at the time. She would rather kill her own disciple with her own hands than hand the person over to others for humiliation.
Pei Qingcheng continued, “In fact, when the Earth Mother moved against the old Qixia demon, she should have realised that handling the matter this way gave her no advantage at all. It was even bullying others too much, and the demon realm would not accept it. She probably already prepared to end the matter with one life from her disciple before she took action. The Earth Mother was forced by the Demon Saint to kill her own disciple with her own hands as repayment. The demon realm also regained their face this way. The Demon Saint had an explanation for the demon realm, and the matter was settled without further ado.”
“So that is how it is!” Yu Qing nodded. He finally found the answer to the doubts that Tie Miaoqing and the others had at the time, but he could not help feeling puzzled. “What does this have to do with this humble official?”
Pei Qingcheng laughed and said, “Although the matter has been resolved, the Earth Mother lost face by being forced by the demon realm to kill her own disciple. Think about it. This time for the six hundred year grand celebration, the demon realm, whether sincerely or not, will also send people to offer congratulations. On such a joyous day it is impossible to regain face through fighting and killing, as that would disrupt their own event.
However, with the pride of the Sinan Mansion, they will not be so cowardly as to pretend nothing happened. They will surely find a roundabout way to regain their face.
If force will not work, they will definitely turn to the literary route. When it comes to literary talent, is it not obvious? A rare talent like you who appears once in a century has just emerged. The Sinan Mansion is very likely to seek your help. As long as you do your utmost to help the Sinan Mansion regain their face, this connection will be formed. At the very least, the matter of your father using them back then can be considered over.”
Yu Qing gave a dry smile with a rather colourful expression on his face. “Sir, you think really far ahead. Perhaps it will not come to that.”
Pei Qingcheng waved his hand and said, “You simply do not understand. I have seen these kinds of manoeuvres many times. Remember this. Whenever various forces gather together, it is never simply about happily eating and drinking. It is never all harmony. There is always something lively to watch. Verbal sparring on and off the stage is the bare minimum. In my view, it is inevitable that the Sinan Mansion will seek your help to trip others up. Even if they do not use you, they will prepare just in case. They will absolutely not silently admit defeat.”
“…” Yu Qing could not help but glance at the roof beam. He now understood what it meant for one wave to be followed by another even higher wave.
He told himself in his heart that if he did not run now, he might as well throw a rope over the beam and hang himself. He would rather die than compete with others in poetry or prose in front of everyone.
Fine. With wave after wave like this, he knew there was no need for any more excuses. He could dodge the first day of the lunar month but not the fifteenth. He could not make excuses forever. This was a place of trouble, not somewhere someone like him should stay. The best thing was to leave as soon as possible.
Seeing him accept it silently, Pei Qingcheng laughed and said, “That is how things are. There is still half a month left. With your talent and quick thinking, writing one rhapsody will not be difficult for you. I am counting on your writing to add glory to the Censorate’s face. By the way, what is the situation with your engagement to the Zhong family?”
Yu Qing felt a chill in his heart. It seemed he had truly been targeted by some people. He answered vaguely, “It was arranged when I was young. My father handled everything. I simply followed along. I do not know the details.”
“Arranged when young…” Pei Qingcheng muttered to himself, frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, “All right, go on. Today I will not have you do anything. Since you have just arrived, walk around the Censorate, take a look, familiarise yourself with the place first, and get to know your colleagues. Come back tomorrow to formally learn how to do things and understand the rules of the Censorate.”
“Yes, this humble official takes his leave.” Yu Qing saluted and withdrew.
As soon as he left the room, he immediately went to look for Yin Jizhen. That fellow had been assigned to the Censorate archives, a place where the Censorate’s documents were stored.
Perfect. He was short of one thing and needed to go to the archives to find it. He could ask Yin Jizhen for help.
What he wanted to find was something simple, a sample resignation letter.
He could not just open his mouth and say he was resigning and then run off like that. That would be far too crude.
If he did it that way, there would be no proper procedure.
But he had never written such a thing before, nor had he even seen one. He did not even know the basic format, so he wanted to find a sample resignation letter. There should be one in the Censorate archives.
He did not know where the archives were, so he asked people along the way. He found that whether they were superiors or minor clerks he encountered, everyone was quite polite and enthusiastic towards him, giving him detailed directions all the way.
There was no helping it. In a place like this some things could not stay secret. The Vice Censor had specifically requested the new top scorer as his dedicated proofreader. The news had already spread through the Censorate like wildfire before Yu Qing had even arrived.
As soon as Yu Qing reached the Censorate, even before he officially reported in, most people from top to bottom had already got to know him through door cracks, window cracks, and other overt or covert means.
Soon he found Yin Jizhen inside a large stone-built storehouse.
One could not enter casually. Yin Jizhen came out to meet him. Upon seeing him, Yu Qing asked, “Brother Yin, how is it? Are you getting used to it?”
Before Yin Jizhen could speak, a man with a small moustache turned out from inside the door. The newcomer smiled and took over the conversation, “He will get used to it very soon. A grand top scorer like him cannot stay here looking after the archives forever. If word got out it would be hard to explain to the court or to the outside world. This is just giving him a place to familiarise himself with the situation first.
There are many kinds of documents from the Censorate stored in the archives. It is a good place to get familiar with the Censorate’s affairs. Believe it or not, within three months at most the higher ups will arrange proper duties for him to start learning. They will definitely give him a starting opportunity. After that it will depend on his own fortune.”
Yu Qing looked at this suddenly enthusiastic stranger with some confusion.
Yin Jizhen quickly introduced him, “Brother Shiheng, this is the manager of the archives, also my superior…”
The man waved his hand to interrupt, “What superior or not? I already said someone like you will not stay here long. I am Lin Chengdao. From the way Yin Jizhen addressed you, you must be the new top scorer, Ah Shiheng?”
Yu Qing cupped his hands and said, “Indeed. This humble official pays respects to Lord Lin.”
Lin Chengdao quickly supported him, “No need to be so polite. I am just someone demoted to look after the archives. It is rare for the top scorer to come over. I have saved some good tea here. Would the top scorer like to come in and taste it?”
“Tea is not necessary…” Yu Qing glanced into the archives a couple of times and gave Yin Jizhen a meaningful look. “I came to find something.”
The meaning was to ask Yin Jizhen to help.
Yin Jizhen immediately said, “Although the archives are an idle place, they are not somewhere one can enter and exit freely. Brother Shiheng, do you have approval from above?”
Even though he had only been here a short while, it was clear he had put in the effort. He could immediately state the basic rules here.
Yu Qing was stunned. “I am one of our own. Do I still need approval to go in?”
Yin Jizhen smiled bitterly and said, “Of course. Important documents from the Censorate are stored inside. It is impossible for just anyone to barge in whenever they want. Officials below the fifth rank need written approval to enter. A record must be kept here for reference, and then the items you need will be retrieved for you according to what is listed in the approval.”
But as soon as he finished speaking, Lin Chengdao laughed and said, “It is fine, it is fine. The top scorer can go straight in.”
“Ah?” Yin Jizhen was shocked and even a little panicked. Was this not against the rules? He had just arrived and was already doing this. It was really quite frightening.
“Relax. If anything happens I will take responsibility.” Lin Chengdao understood the newcomer’s panic and reassured him with one sentence. He then pulled Yu Qing to the front room of the archives, opened the notebook on the table, dipped the brush in ink and handed it to Yu Qing. “Top scorer, just make a signature here.”
Yin Jizhen, who had followed along, quickly said, “Manager Lin, you said only signing is needed to enter, but did you not tell me that only those above the fifth rank can do so?”
His face was full of the expression of “do not deceive me, I am scared.”