But she said nothing, and without regard for etiquette, straightened her clothes for her:
"I wish you... success in the exam."
Yan Qingli actually wanted to say "return safely," but at this moment, perhaps those four words were better for her.
With her name on the honor roll and her wish to achieve the highest honors, she sincerely hoped that Qiu Lanxi could overcome all the difficulties ahead and ride the waves of success.
Yan Qingli didn't know if her decision was right, because now, more than being at ease, she felt fear and unease. This was different from when she first went to court as an "official." At that time, she only had ambition and no trepidation. She could guess that Qiu Lanxi was probably the same, completely at ease.
She should trust her, but she really can't stay calm right now. When she pleaded with her father, she thought she made the decision rationally and calmly, not to interfere with her subsequent actions, nor to help her again.
Yan Qingli will not intervene now. Everyone must be responsible for their own choices. Since Qiu Lanxi has chosen to step out of her protective circle, she should face the storms on her own.
Yan Qingli sets this standard for herself and others.
However, she was still anxious and afraid about it, and this anxiety truly reached its peak with the approach of the palace examination.
She thought she might regret it.
Even if she can't grow feathers, at least she's safe.
Many people yearn for freedom and the ability to fly, yet for many, freedom is earned at the cost of their lives.
Qiu Lanxi simply smiled at her, without saying anything reassuring, because at this moment, words were futile; they could only wait until everything had settled down before speaking.
She followed the students into the Hall of Preserving Harmony. Including her, there were 101 participants in this palace examination. Emperor Qinghe had never revealed anything before today, so the court officials were surprised to see the extra desks and wondered which arrogant student it was. After all, the Ning Dynasty had made precedents for certain people in the palace examination before, but after some arrogant students became laughingstocks because of it, no one dared to do so unless they were extremely confident in their own talents.
Therefore, when Qiu Lanxi walked in with her head held high, she shocked the court and the public even more than Yan Qingli.
Not everyone knew Qiu Lanxi, but after a brief exchange, the court officials immediately understood her identity. However, there was no doubt that her release was authorized by Emperor Qinghe, so they managed to restrain themselves.
Not long after, Emperor Qinghe entered. In recent days, Yan Qingli herself had rarely attended various banquets, let alone Qiu Lanxi. Since their parting at the autumn hunt, this was the first time Emperor Qinghe had seen her.
If we're talking about changes, it's mostly a difference in spirit and energy. She's like a fire that's been lit; she either burns herself out or ignites others.
Chapter 49
As time passed, Emperor Qinghe was no longer as angry as he had been at the beginning. In fact, after regaining his senses, he began to look at Yan Qingli in a different light.
A person's achievements in favorable circumstances are nothing special; they can only be considered the lower limit. However, their performance in adversity is the upper limit. An emperor's mood can easily influence the behavior of his subordinates. If Emperor Qinghe initially had some intention of making her back down, he later simply wanted to see how far she could go.
Yan Qingli did not show any particularly impressive results. She had been keeping a low profile these days, and the attention in the court had been drawn to the struggle between the Crown Prince and the other princes. However, Emperor Qinghe did not miss her performance.
Instead of fading into obscurity under the pressure, she rallied a small group of supporters. As far as Emperor Qinghe knew, several prominent nobles had publicly praised her and expressed their approval.
These actions made Emperor Qinghe unable to help but defend her, saying that she was not someone who was blinded by lust, and perhaps Qiu Lanxi was a person with real abilities?
Even so, Emperor Qinghe still couldn't understand her behavior. If she felt that Qiu Lanxi's talents were wasted, she could simply stand in front of her. This wouldn't be considered 'killing a good person and taking credit for it,' since Qiu Lanxi was originally her person.
Just like the things that princes and crown princes bring out, if you really look closely, are they all their own ideas? But people only attribute these achievements to them and ignore how many people contributed behind the scenes.
From this perspective, Emperor Qinghe could not understand Yan Qingli's behavior and felt that she was too emotional. Of course, even if his daughter had a thousand faults, it was not a big deal in his eyes. He would only think that it was Qiu Lanxi's problem.
The long tassels of the crown concealed the emperor's expression. Emperor Qinghe calmly began the palace examination. He was not an emperor who would break his promise. If Qiu Lanxi was truly capable, he would not mind adding another virtuous minister to the court.
The palace examination tested policy essays. Qiu Lanxi was educated in exam-oriented education, so she first glanced at the exam questions to get a general idea of what to expect before she started writing.
As Qiu Lanxi had expected, this year's exam questions were indeed the most challenging ever, with the very first question being a major surprise.
The first question is about Su Wu, the god of war in the Ning Dynasty.
Su Wu, a commoner, caught the eye of General Su because of his innate superhuman strength and was adopted as his son. Later, General Su even married his beloved daughter to him. Su Wu did not disappoint the old general, and achieved outstanding results in the war between Ning and Teng, capturing more than seventy cities. The first great victory between Ning and Teng was also won by Su Wu leading the troops.
Despite this, Su Wu was still not granted a title, because he once led his men to personally massacre a city after the general said that those who surrendered would not be killed. He was also bloodthirsty and liked to drink the blood of his enemies.
This caused the people's worship of him to gradually turn into fear.
In addition to these incidents, Su Wu also refused to open the city gates to the defeated army, who were also citizens of the Ning Dynasty, for fear of an enemy trap, and watched helplessly as they were all killed by the enemy.
This meant that despite Su Wu's outstanding achievements, many people still opposed elevating him to a high position, believing that he lacked virtue and was unworthy of the position.
Qiu Lanxi mentally prepared his response before picking up his pen and writing: 'Your subject has heard... I respectfully reply.'
The problem isn't actually difficult, because the court will definitely bestow an honor upon him. The difficulty lies in how to do so and in a way that convinces the people. The Ning Dynasty governs with benevolence and propriety, and Su Wu's actions are morally unacceptable to many. This is normal; when the country is in crisis, no one will think his actions are too extreme. But once the matter is over, there will be no shortage of self-righteous sympathizers.
Moreover, high positions are highly sought after, and no one wants to watch their position be taken by someone else when given the chance.
However, in Qiu Lanxi's view, Su Wu's actions were nothing to be ashamed of, as he was in a position to fulfill his duties. Of course, he was indeed impulsive in carrying out the massacre of the city.
In fact, during major battles, soldiers who are blinded by bloodlust don't care about the principle of not killing those who surrender. Once they enter the city, the soldiers are more like bandits than bandits themselves. The reason why this is not recorded in history books is because everyone has a tacit understanding and has never let things escalate. If things had escalated, it would have been difficult to accept from a moral standpoint.
Qiu Lanxi has been paying close attention to the political situation these days and has prepared her predictions in advance; this question was within the scope of her predictions.
The second question requires Qiu Lanxi to improvise. It discusses how local officials collude with the local community, and how outsiders often either die unexpectedly or become mere figureheads, unable to govern. It also mentions how some officials, after being sent to local areas, knowing they have no hope of promotion, act arrogantly and domineeringly. What is the explanation for this?
The inability of central government orders to reach local areas is a problem that has been difficult to solve throughout history. Qiu Lanxi pondered for a moment and wrote down the four characters "Southern Officials Transferred to the North". Afterwards, he picked up his pen and wrote down something similar to the training of modern selected cadres.
Ningchao has no shortage of top talents, but it lacks grassroots and mid-level talents. Qiu Lanxi's method is that no matter what status you are, if you want to get promoted, you must first go to the grassroots level. Only in poor and bad places can you show your abilities. If you can turn a notoriously poor county into a rich county, your abilities must be good. As for the local forces, as long as you set a term and transfer them to a distant place when the term is over, you will not let the local area become a stagnant pool with no way to get promoted.
Of course, Qiu Lanxi also knew that this could not be completely applicable to the current situation, and what she said was rather vague, because she could not be certain about the details. But in an interview, what should be shown is not a weakness. As for the other things, it is up to Emperor Qinghe and the others to judge the pros and cons themselves.
The palace examination consisted of ten questions, covering a wide range of topics. Later, there were questions on floods, mathematics, and people's livelihood. Qiu Lanxi wrote all the way to the end and looked at the last bonus question that was not counted in the score.
"The Ning Dynasty established itself through benevolence and propriety, respecting ancestral rules and conforming to the will of the people. Since I ascended the throne... what does the saying 'a hen crowing at dawn' mean?"
Qiu Lanxi took a deep breath. When she saw this question, her first reaction was that Emperor Qinghe not only planned to target her, but also Yan Qingli. But then she thought it was unlikely.
No matter how reasonable Emperor Qinghe is, he is still an emperor. If he really resisted women serving as officials, Yan Qingli wouldn't still be sitting here peacefully. So what appears to be a dilemma is actually more like an attempt to open a door.
It should be noted that even in the imperial harem today, there are no female officials. The path to promotion for imperial concubines is based on merit in childbirth, and their honors are only related to their children. In contrast, the honors of the wives of officials in the previous dynasty come from the titles earned by their children and their husbands.
According to Qiu Lanxi's thinking, even if this kind of question were to be raised, it would be after Yan Qingli took over. After a little thought, she realized that if this question appeared on the exam paper, it would probably still be related to her.
These days, her novels are selling like hotcakes. She likes to lure people in with love, then shatter their illusions with a tragic ending. After that, it's a satisfying story of first suppressing and then slapping people in the face, including "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river", family dramas, fake young masters forcibly taking the real heiress, soul swapping, women becoming men, and abandoning wives and children in a crematorium...
In short, there was nothing Ning Chao couldn't write, greatly enriching the entertainment life of the people of Ning Chao. Some people even opened restaurants because of the stories in the book. These famous women added fuel to the fire of these stories.
Then the book was banned.
Hmm...that makes sense.
But as we all know, people have a rebellious streak. The more you try to hide something, the faster it will spread. Not to mention that anyone in the capital who gets a good scoop on their background is no ordinary person, so they are naturally bolder than people in other places. The more you try to suppress it, the more they will see it.
According to Yan Qingli, the person who gave the order behind the scenes seems to be the Crown Prince. If it hadn't been banned, these stories would have taken a long time to spread and ferment, because those who read them were all women, and they had no say. Many men also didn't have the patience to listen to their wives and daughters tell these stories. However, once it was banned, conflict arose. Since ancient times, when conflicts are intensified, things can escalate quickly.
Then, Emperor Qinghe also found out.
Emperor Qinghe originally did not pay attention to such frivolous pursuits. Because of the recent war, Ning Dynasty was the most free in history in terms of speech. Even if it wasn't, Ning Dynasty was not short of ministers and even the emperor being cursed by the people.
This is somewhat similar to the Han Dynasty, where they respected the elderly. As long as someone was old, they could not only not kneel before the emperor, but also curse others without consequence, because the other party was an 'elder'.
Of course, even so, there aren't many who dare to act arrogantly because of their age. After all, even though they will die in a few years, they still have children and grandchildren. Who would dare to really do something reckless?
However, although Emperor Qinghe knew about this matter, he did not stop it. It should be noted that his intervention and the Crown Prince's intervention were completely different matters. Qiu Lanxi felt that his lack of intervention was tantamount to tacit approval.
Qiu Lanxi wasn't sure if Emperor Qinghe had found out where those books had come from, but regardless, she would only have one answer to this question, since she couldn't betray her origins.
After a moment of contemplation, Qiu Lanxi finally put pen to paper. She wasn't one to confront people head-on; when trying to reason with someone, she would first flatter them to make them feel comfortable. No one would refuse to be stroked flattered, so Qiu Lanxi first showered them with compliments without repeating any words, then went on to explain her own point of view. Afterward, she sharply characterized those who denied her point of view as jealous of her mother's virtue and ability, and as looking down on her birth mother. She argued that denying this point of view was tantamount to disrespecting her own mother.
Filial piety was a great mountain in ancient times. Anyone who dared to disrespect their parents would basically have no future. Even if the mother was mean and the father was cold-blooded, others might pity the child, but once the child rebelled, many people would immediately think the child was wrong.
Because no matter what, they are his parents.
So Qiu Lanxi started frantically raising the banner, not only bringing up her mother, but also the young emperor and empress dowager in the history of the Ning Dynasty, first positioning herself in the direction of the great, glorious and righteous.
This caused Qiu Lanxi's bonus question to exceed the word limit, and she didn't manage to keep it under a thousand words at all.
Nevertheless, her speed was still not slow among the crowd. Unlike the system in other dynasties, the candidates' exam papers would be circulated immediately after they were completed, and the rankings would be determined on the same day. This was certainly somewhat unfair, after all, with more than a hundred people, anyone would get tired of looking at the papers. Moreover, Emperor Qinghe could not possibly look at the students' exam papers all day long; he probably would only look at a few before leaving.
Therefore, the palace examination not only tested talent and learning, but also speed.
After Qiu Lanxi finished writing, Emperor Qinghe waved his hand, indicating that he should first show her the exam paper. He was also very curious about what the other party had to rely on.
Upon receiving the exam paper, Emperor Qinghe was immediately drawn to the beautiful handwriting before paying attention to the content, and couldn't help but glance up at Qiu Lanxi.
As for the content, her words were indeed rather simple. Some of her students, in order to leave a good impression on Emperor Qinghe, tried to quote classical texts in every word. However, the content was not particularly impressive to Emperor Qinghe. After all, Da Ning has never lacked amazing talents, but among these people, only a few can stand out.
Fortune, background, and political views can all influence all of this.
What surprised Emperor Qinghe was those punctuation marks. He keenly realized the benefits that would come if this were promoted. It is common for Chinese characters to have multiple meanings, and different punctuation can lead to completely opposite meanings. If this were promoted, it would be easy to imagine what kind of effect it would have.
Chapter 50
Emperor Qinghe quietly looked at Qiu Lanxi's strategy report. At this moment, he truly understood why Shaoguang had lost his mind and done such a thing.
He had met many people who wrote excellent policy essays. Each person had their own stance, and a few could stand in the shoes of others. But in any case, the main point was to persuade others to believe in them.
However, upon reading Qiu Lanxi's policy essays, Emperor Qinghe couldn't help but have the illusion that 'that's exactly what I think.'
But is that really what he thinks?
In reality, looking at it calmly, it was only partially correct.
This person is a bit strange.
Emperor Qinghe couldn't help but think.
However, at least they do have real talent and are not sycophants. From his perspective, Emperor Qinghe appreciates such people. After all, regardless of gender, they are all subjects of Da Ning and live under his protection.
But as people get older, they naturally become more prudent in their actions, especially when the major enemy has been defeated and internal troubles have been eliminated.
At the same time, Emperor Qinghe also had a restless heart. He always felt that he was still young. His first half of life was magnificent, and he naturally did not want to settle for an ordinary life in the second half.
In this life, people strive for fame and fortune. Both aim to leave a lasting legacy, and he too wants to be the one that everyone remembers first.
Thus, the word "reform" naturally came to mind for Emperor Qinghe.
The bold and unrestrained style of Qiu Lanxi's policy essays made him feel as if he had rediscovered some of the passion of his youth.
That's why Emperor Qinghe felt that this person was somewhat strange. He calmly flipped through the pages and first looked at the last bonus question. People can deal with things rationally when their own interests are not involved, but they are bound to get excited when faced with their own interests.
As Emperor Qinghe had expected, compared to the mild tone of the previous policy discussions, the opponent's words on this question were extremely sharp, revealing the reasons why many people opposed women serving as officials.
Nowadays, men hold power, and the heirs of royal families and noble clans are all men. They will naturally oppose all of this because it touches on their interests. Since ancient times, men have been considered yang and women yin, each fulfilling their respective roles. If men and women are reversed, wouldn't the world be in chaos?
They praise women who are virtuous and talented. Being a good wife and mother and a good homemaker is the highest praise for a woman. They make women guard these virtues and raise their moral standards. But if this is really a good thing, why don't they compete for it and willingly give it to others?
Emperor Qinghe frowned as he watched. Having grown accustomed to sycophants, he skipped the beginning. Some of the biting sarcasm made him feel slightly uncomfortable, because he... thought the same thing.
However, Emperor Qinghe patiently continued reading, because he guessed that the other party would soon soften their tone. Sure enough, the other party clearly understood the principle of giving a sweet treat after a beating, and then changed the subject, praising a group of people to the skies, making them feel that they were different from other slutty and cheap women. Even with Emperor Qinghe's composure, he couldn't help but have the illusion that the people being described seemed to be himself.