The Lonely City Closed

Chapter 68

"Who needs you to guard it!" she frowned. "What's there to guard?"

I thought about it and decided to tell her the truth: "I'm afraid the princess might try to commit suicide again."

"What does it matter to you whether I live or die?" she said irritably. "My death won't do you any harm. You can stay here to serve your sister, or you can be transferred to another pavilion to serve other ladies, or you can apply to manage the calligraphy and paintings you like in the Secret Pavilion... There are plenty of good places for you, it won't hinder your promotion."

“The princess is right,” I replied, “but if the princess is gone, where will I find another master who can write flawed poems to amuse myself with revising her works?”

The princess was both amused and exasperated, and finally slapped me to express her anger: "How dare you laugh at the princess!"

These familiar words immediately brought back memories of our childhood games. We looked at each other, and I saw her gaze gradually soften, and I suppose mine did too.

“I mean it.” I sat down by her bedside, looking at her lying beside me, searching for my reflection in her eyes, and slowly said, “It’s a very pleasant thing to revise your poems… Not only revising poems, but also teaching you to read, answering your questions, and even ghostwriting your essays, are all pleasant things… Of course, I used to find it a bit annoying sometimes after doing it so much, but now I think even that feeling of being annoyed was joyful… I want to stay by your side forever, doing everything you want me to do for you. When it rains, I’ll hold an umbrella for you; when it’s windy, I’ll add clothes for you; when you read, I’ll make tea for you; when you play the konghou, I’ll play the flute for you; when you laugh, I’ll laugh with you from behind; if you cry, I can always hand you a clean sleeve… Every single one of these things is joyful to me, so I’m very afraid that one day I won’t be able to see you anymore, because when that day comes, you will take all my happiness with you.”

She listened to me in a daze, and tears streamed down her face in an instant.

Her tears left me at a loss. I wanted to wipe them away myself but was afraid of offending her. I stood up nervously and asked, "Princess, did I say something wrong?"

“Oh, no,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “I’m just a little cold…”

"I will go and fetch the quilt," I said immediately, turning to leave.

"Huaiji!" the princess suddenly called to me. When I turned around, she sat up, her tearful eyes gazing at me intently. She reached out a hand to me, "Brother, hug me..."

After a brief hesitation, I sat down next to her again. She leaned over, hugged me, nestled her cheek against my chest, listened to my heartbeat, and peacefully closed her eyes.

I gradually pulled her closer, feeling a sense of peace and joy I had never experienced before, as if she had finally filled the void in my life, and the emptiness of half a lifetime had finally found meaning in the warmth of our mutual dependence. Outside the window, the wind and rain were raging, but in this dim light, the eyes in my heart that had been lost for so many years began to become clear and bright.

The Lonely City Closed (A Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) Leaning idly against the twelve balustrades 1. Imperial Examinations

Chapter word count: 3622 Update time: 08-08-21 17:30

1. Imperial Examination

In the second year of the Jiayou reign, the princess turned twenty. According to the customs of the Great Song Dynasty, if a woman was not married by this age, she would be considered an old maid who had missed the opportune time for marriage. Therefore, the current emperor began to order people to prepare for the princess's marriage. The wedding date was set for the second half of the year, and before that, the princess would be conferred the title of princess. Her mother, Consort Miao, would also be granted an honorary promotion and a higher rank.

Consort Miao is expected to become the first imperial concubine to be promoted to the rank of one of the Four Consorts after Consort Zhang, which is the only thing she is slightly looking forward to, despite her deep frown. Since the Emperor's long talk with the princess that day, the princess no longer resists the marriage arranged for her by her father. However, as the wedding day approaches, her mood becomes increasingly depressed. Consort Miao once excitedly mentioned to her that the Emperor intends to hold a grand investiture ceremony for her, an honor never before bestowed upon a princess of the dynasty, but this could not stir up any joy in her.

The Emperor did not overlook her melancholy and asked with concern, "Huirou, are you unhappy?"

The princess simply shook her head and replied softly, "It's just that I'm a little bored with nothing to do all day."

The Emperor smiled and suggested, "The flowers in Yichun Garden are blooming beautifully this year; you should go and take a look."

Therefore, in March, the Emperor ordered Deng Baoji to dispatch dozens of Imperial City Guards, along with the princess's usual entourage, to escort the princess to Yichun Garden.

The trees are sparse, the birdsong is distant, the water is still, and the fallen flowers are deep. Yichun Garden is still the same as before. New orioles flit past the willow tips, and thousands of poplar catkins fly all over the road. But this bustling spring scenery cannot ignite a glimmer of light in the princess's eyes. She stands alone at the head of the red railing bridge in the garden, gazing at the spring water at her feet, remaining still for a long time, letting her reflection float in the pond and the flowers fall into her clothes.

At noon, she turned to look at me and said, "Let's go back."

The journey home was not smooth. When they reached Fantai Street, a crowd of people gathered and made a commotion ahead, and many passersby stopped to watch, causing a traffic jam. Although the servants repeatedly shouted for help, the carriages could not move.

Deng Baoji, who had resumed his post in the Imperial City Guard, was also accompanying the princess today. Upon seeing the situation, he immediately led his horse over to investigate. A short while later, Deng Baoji returned and reported to the princess, "A group of unsuccessful candidates have surrounded Ouyang Neihan, hurling insults at him and preventing him from leaving."

Upon hearing this, the princess lifted the curtain, exchanged a glance with me, and roughly understood the situation.

In the first month of that year, the Emperor appointed Hanlin Academician Ouyang Xiu to temporarily oversee the imperial examinations, making him the chief examiner for this year's examinations. In recent years, scholars at the Imperial Academy had favored writing obscure and difficult essays, attracting imitation from other scholars and even becoming a national trend known as the "Imperial Academy Style." It is said that Ouyang Xiu greatly disliked this style and resolved to severely suppress it, rejecting any papers written in the "Imperial Academy Style" during his grading. Therefore, when the results of the provincial examinations at the Ministry of Rites were announced, the world was astonished; those previously praised by contemporaries were not among the successful candidates. Now that the palace examinations were over, the list of successful candidates selected by the examiners had been submitted to the Emperor, and the final results would be announced in the palace the next day. Ouyang Xiu had been released from his post and should have just returned from court. Those unsuccessful candidates had probably timed it perfectly, deliberately waiting here to make things difficult for him.

“Huaiji,” the princess instructed me, “go and take a look.”

I agreed and rode there immediately.

At this moment, Ouyang Xiu was surrounded by a large group of candidates. Although he had a few attendants and street guards protecting him, the number of candidates was too great, and they all tried their best to get close to him. The attendants and guards could only surround his horse and try their best to prevent the candidates from touching him.

Some of the candidates were furious, some looked on with disdain, and some smiled mockingly; they were all engaged in a lively discussion, each offering their own opinion.

"The Imperial Academy style is neither rigid and pedantic like parallel prose, nor does it become bland and monotonous. Its word choice and phrasing are all original and can fully reflect the talent and thought of scholars. What is wrong with it? Such a style of writing is admired by the whole world, so why is it not tolerated by the Imperial Academy?"

"The imperial examinations are for selecting talented individuals for the emperor, not for you, Ouyang Neihan, to choose your students. How can you reject universally recognized talents from the Imperial Academy based on one person's likes or dislikes?"

"I heard that during his time in the examination hall, Ouyang Neihan often composed poems and made merry with the other examiners, Wang Gui, Mei Zhi, Han Jiang, and Fan Zhen, plus the junior examiner Mei Yaochen. The poems they wrote in response to each other were enough to fill a collection. With such an indulgence in exchanging poems, have you carefully examined our examination papers?"

"It is said that the examiners produced many excellent lines during their exchanges. Ouyang Neihan, you once described the examination scene as 'Silent warriors bravely gag themselves, their pens moving like silkworms devouring leaves,' while Mei Shengyu described the scene in the examination hall as 'Ten thousand ants fighting in the warm spring sun, five stars shining brightly in the deep night hall.' Tsk tsk, you compared yourselves to the five stars, while we were like silkworms and ants, which shows the humility of the examiners!"

...

Such remarks came one after another, but Ouyang Xiu remained silent, reining in his horse and standing still, without responding.

A moment later, another person began to question his scholarship: "In the Ministry of Rites examination, the topic you set was 'Understanding the changes so that the people are not weary.' That's strange. I seem to remember that the original text of this sentence in the Book of Changes is 'Understanding the changes so that the people are not weary.'"

No sooner had these words been spoken than someone chimed in: "That's nothing surprising. Who doesn't know these days that 'examiners favor outsiders'? Haha..."

The surrounding scholars all laughed upon hearing this. Ouyang Xiu remained relatively calm, but his expression couldn't help but change slightly.

Ouyang Xiu did indeed like to use the word "而" (ér) in his writing. He once wrote a piece titled "Record of the Painting Brocade Hall in Xiangzhou" at someone's request, which included the line: "Upon reaching the rank of general or minister, one returns to one's hometown in wealth and honor." After writing and sending it out, he later felt it was inappropriate and sent someone by fast horse to retrieve the original manuscript, revise it, and send it back. The messenger read the revised manuscript and discovered that he had only changed the above line to "Upon reaching the rank of general or minister, one returns to one's hometown in wealth and honor."

Of course, the scholar's mention of this at this moment was not intended to discuss his literary preferences, but rather to allude to the rumors of his affair with his niece through the homophony of "外生而".

This remark immediately drew the scholars' interest to the affairs of his daughter's family. Some jokingly inquired about Zhang's recent situation, while others began reciting the poem "Looking South of the Yangtze River." Then, Ouyang Xiu pointed to a scholar in brown robes in front of him and raised his voice to sing a verse of "Drunken Penglai": "Seeing her shy face, her tender cheeks flushed, her slender waist swaying gracefully. By the red peony railing, I am annoyed that she cannot pass by. Half-hiding her delicate shyness, her voice trembling, she asks if anyone knows. She forcibly adjusts her skirt, stealing glances, pretending to walk or sit. She further asks, 'What if, after things are done, her hair is disheveled, and her mother suspects it...'"

The lyrics were obscene, describing adultery between a man and a woman. As the man in brown sang, he raised his arm and gestured with his hands, acting like a shy young woman trying to refuse, which only drew more laughter from the crowd. Later in the song, several people joined in, indicating that the lyrics were not a recent creation but had been circulating for some time.

"Was this poem also written by Ouyang Neihan?" someone in the crowd asked.

The man in brown stopped and laughed, "If not for 'talent and arrogance,' who could understand the realm of the poem, always busy with flowers?"

"Talent and arrogance" and "Always busy with flowers" are lines from another poem by Ouyang Xiu, "Looking South of the Yangtze River." Judging from this person's words, it seems they were implying that the erotic poem they had just sung was also written by Ouyang Xiu.