Chapter 87

The case of the imperial examination caused a sensation throughout the city, but it was resolved faster than expected. The Eastern Bureau already had the evidence from the beginning, and this incident only revealed the case earlier than anticipated.

Lu Wenguang, the Minister of Rites, naturally lost his position and was transferred to the Dali Temple. Lu Guanlin also had his qualification for the provincial examination revoked. The only difficult situation remained with Jian Yujue.

The list of successful candidates has never been revised, and it is difficult to determine whether Jian Yujue volunteered to take the exam in the first place. Therefore, even if the position of the top scholar became vacant, it would not be possible to replace it with Jian Yujue. This may be unfair for him, but not having his qualification for government service canceled is the best outcome.

Li the shopkeeper stood at the gate of the chief mansion’s east courtyard with a worried expression, waiting for Chun Mei’s men to come and move the several boxes of old books inside.

After the conclusion of the examination every three years, the business of the old bookshop would naturally flourish for a while, and his commission would increase as well. However, due to Jian Yujue’s situation, he couldn’t be happy.

In the midst of waiting, the conversation between the two gatekeepers caught Li the shopkeeper’s ears.

“Xiao Hu, did Feng Gonggong mention when the master would return?”

“It seems he said he would return tonight. But I only have to listen for the sound of horse hooves during the night shift. Why are you asking?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

“R oyp fwpv nypwyzzu ypjkdt ycswv vbl xlyz ralryayvksd. Lsvbkdt prlnkyz.”

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“Zlp.” Dkys Tw dseele yp bl zssjle yv vbl dlonsxla. Eyp vblal ydsvbla xypvla kd vbl nbklq xydpksd?

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“Yyeyx?” Fbsrjllrla Nk kxxlekyvlzu alyzkgle vbl pkvwyvksd. Uswze kv cl vbyv vbl xkpvalpp oyp vbl xypvla’p okql?

Ls osdela bl byed’v ryke yvvldvksd vs kv clqsal. Tl wple vs fwpv easr sqq vbl cssjp yde zlyhl. Mbl xypvla’p alpkeldnl eked’v byhl ydu pktdcsyaep, yde bl yppwxle kv oyp fwpv y olyzvbu bswplbsze. Ysalshla, pkdnl vbl sodla oyp y osxyd, bl yppwxle pbl eked’v oydv rlsrzl raukdt kdvs bla keldvkvu, ps bl elzkclayvlzu alqaykdle qasx kdiwkakdt.

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Ebld Ubwd Ylk yaakhle yv vbl tyvl okvb vbl xyzl plahydv, pbsrjllrla Nk jlrv bkp blye esod, pvkzz nsdvlxrzyvkdt bkp osaep.

She casually directed the people behind her to move the boxes. “Li Bo, are these all the boxes?”

“Uh,” shopkeeper Li said, looking up and seeing Chun Mei. A thought flashed in his mind: “Chun Mei, there’s something I want to ask you. Can you please talk to the mistress about it? If it’s inconvenient, it’s fine.”

Shopkeeper Li was, after all, an educated person, and his sudden request for assistance was indeed abrupt. However, for the sake of Jian Yujue, he had to muster the courage. He was acquainted with Chunmei, so he decided to mention it to her first and see if there was any hope.

Compared to Yujue, he was naturally more familiar with the mistress. Therefore, in order to establish a closer relationship, he directly told Chun Mei that Jian Yujue was his nephew. He hoped that the mistress would consider his relationship and help with the plea.

After listening, Chun Mei couldn’t make up her mind either. “Li Bo, you should go back first. I’ll try discussing it with the young lady.”

“Alright, thank you, Chun Mei.”

When Chun Mei finished arranging the old books and returned to the courtyard, she had a worried expression on her face.

Su Mi smiled and said, “Chun Mei, how come your mood changed when you went to the door to collect the books?”

“Miss, actually, Shopkeeper Li told me something earlier, but I don’t know if I should tell you.”

Chun Mei knew her mistress well. Although Su Mi was kind-hearted, she didn’t go out of her way to help everyone. However, Li Bo had always treated her kindly, and she also felt sorry for that scholar, who came from a poor family and had waited for three years. If he had to wait for another three years because of this incident, it would be a waste of six years!

Su Mi was familiar with shopkeeper Li and knew his character. She said, “Does shopkeeper Li have something to say? Go ahead and tell me.”

With Su Mi’s approval, Chun Mei continued, “It’s not shopkeeper Li; it’s his nephew who has a problem. You see, it’s the scholar who I mentioned before, the one who bears some resemblance to you. It turns out that he is the shopkeeper’s nephew.”

…

Chun Mei briefly explained the situation, and Su Mi had also heard about the imperial examination. However, she didn’t know it was the same scholar from her shop.

“Miss, should you mention it to the Lord?”

Su Mi thought for a moment. “Feng Bao said the Lord will return today. I’ll give it a try.”

But she was also worried that it might not be of much use. After all, the Lord had been in a bad mood lately and had been ignoring her. He hadn’t even returned home for the past few days, staying in the Eastern Bureau.

Late at night, Qin Yan returned from the Eastern Bureau. After taking a bath, he entered the inner room. Su Mi was waiting for him at the corner of the bed. Apart from the plea, she genuinely missed him.

Seeing Qin Yan enter, Su Mi quickly got off the bed and approached him. “Lord, you finally came back. Have you been busy with the Eastern Bureau these days?”

“Yeah.”

He wasn’t really busy, but Qin Yan was simply in a bad mood for no reason. Especially after he found out that Zhou Zheng had taken Jian Yujue out of Su Mi’s shop, he became even more unhappy. Su Mi was thoughtful, and he didn’t want her to overthink, so he decided not to return home.

Su Mi looked at Qin Yan’s expression, feeling uncertain. “Lord, did something happen that made you angry when I wasn’t aware?”

She looked at Qin Yan helplessly, her delicate and fair feet without silk socks lightly touching the ground. Although it was early summer and the floor was made of warm sandalwood, it still made Qin Yan furrow his brows.

He didn’t answer her question, but instead lifted her up and sat her on the edge of the bed. He held her delicate and tender ankle in his right hand and teased, “Do you want to get sick again?”

Su Mi smelled the faint, cool sandalwood fragrance from Qin Yan’s body, and her body became even softer as she snuggled in his embrace. She murmured with a hint of complaint, “I don’t want to, but I also don’t want the Lord to be angry with me and not come home.”

Qin Yan felt helpless at Su Mi’s appearance. He tightened his hold on the soft figure in his arms and said, “Alright, no one is angry with you.”

He wasn’t really angry, just a little upset.

Su Mi nestled in Qin Yan’s arms for a while and then raised her head. “Lord, now that you’re back, has the court case for the imperial examination already been resolved?”

“Yeah.”

Su Mi tentatively inquired, “I heard that the examinee in my shop had someone else take his exam paper.”

Qin Yan suddenly held Su Mi upright, met her gaze, and said coldly, “What’s the matter? Do you pity him just because he looks like you?”

“Lord, does he really look a lot like me?”

Chun Mei mentioned it before, and now that Qin Yan said the same thing, Su Mi was genuinely curious and wanted to see that scholar.

“He does bear some resemblance,” Qin Yan snorted, “but there are so many people in the world who look alike. It’s nothing special.”

Su Mi nodded. “Lord, he is the shopkeeper’s nephew. He even came over to help repair books before. He’s a good person. I just feel sorry for him. Can’t we return the top scholar title to him?”

“That’s the rule. Unless the emperor issues a decree granting him a status.”

“Oh…”

For some reason, even though Su Mi didn’t know this scholar, she felt a deep sense of pity for him. So when she heard Qin Yan’s words, the sudden surge of disappointment made her feel sad.

Qin Yan looked at Su Mi’s sudden melancholy and didn’t say anything more.

***

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Jingyu closed the memorial and looked at Qin Yan, who was seated below.

“Why did you help this scholar?”

“Someone pitied him.”

Zhu Jingyu smiled and instantly understood who that person was. After all, besides Su Mi, there was no one else who could make Qin Yan show a clear expression of anger and speak in sarcastic remarks.

“She pities him; shouldn’t you be even angrier then?”

Qin Yan’s arm rested on the armrest of the chair as he coldly replied, “Yeah.”

He was indeed angry, but he still didn’t want to see her disappointed. Perhaps even Qin Yan himself hadn’t realized that he cared more about Su Mi’s feelings than before.

…

With the court case for the imperial examination concluded, when Qin Yan stood up to leave, Zhu Jingyu suddenly called out in a low voice, “Ah Yan.”

“Can I… stop taking those medicines? It’s been over twenty years. They won’t notice.”

Qin Yan’s footsteps paused, and he turned to look at Zhu Jingyu.

Zhu Jingyu was nervous, but thinking of Zhang Yue’er’s words of affection, he mustered up courage.

“Yeah, understood.”