"What is this?" Su Mo gazed at the scene before him, momentarily dazed.
Majestic buildings towered all around him, while stern, formidable guards stood in every corner with weapons in hand.
Was this the imperial palace?
What heaven-reaching power could bring someone from the city's south to the imperial palace in the blink of an eye?
As though sensing Su Mo's confusion, Eunuch Ji smiled and said, "Under all heaven, there is no land that is not the sovereign's!"
"What does that mean?" Su Mo asked, puzzled.
Eunuch Ji shook his head without explaining. Instead, he pointed toward a deep passage to one side and said, "This road leads to the Hall of Supreme Splendor. A guard will take you there shortly for today's palace examination. Before that... there is a question I must ask you, Young Master Su."
"Whatever your question, please ask, Eunuch Ji!" Su Mo regarded him thoughtfully.
Eunuch Ji straightened, clasped his hands before him, and spoke with a solemn expression:
"If you were the lord of Peach Mountain, and its tiger were savage and wished to devour people who were your subjects, what would you do if you could not defeat the beast?"
His voice was low, his tone grave.
So it had come...
This question echoed what Su Mo had written on the "blank paper" in the Spring Examination.
That day, Su Mo had written: to share a couch with the beast, first become its king.
Today, that person asked in return: what would you do if you could not defeat the beast?
Su Mo looked solemnly at Eunuch Ji and gave the answer that had long lain buried in his heart:
"To survive in this world, one must become stronger than others. Before opposing another, first remedy one's own afflictions!"
Eunuch Ji stared intently into Su Mo's eyes, as though trying to discern something within them.
Su Mo's expression remained open, his gaze fearless...
"Better to shatter as jade..."
"Than remain whole as a tile!"
Better to shatter as jade than remain whole as a tile...
As Su Mo finished speaking, the air around them seemed to freeze abruptly. An invisible presence seemed to leak out inadvertently, then immediately concealed itself again.
Eunuch Ji's eyes flickered, and he murmured to himself.
Absolute silence fell around them...
After a brief silence, Eunuch Ji seemed to receive some instruction. He took a jade pendant from his robes and held it out to Su Mo.
The pendant was pure, flawless white, engraved with strange, mysterious patterns. Threads of light flowed slowly through the markings; it was unmistakably an immortal treasure.
"What is this?" Su Mo accepted the pendant, bewildered.
Eunuch Ji spoke slowly. "This is the Memory-River Spirit Jade. When you activate it, whatever you recall in your heart will take shape and reappear in the world..."
Su Mo was clever to begin with, and at that moment, he naturally understood a few things.
Eunuch Ji was clearly acting on that person's orders: bringing him to the palace, testing him with a question, then giving him a crucial item.
What do you want to do...?
Su Mo understood clearly, yet felt no resistance.
You want me to help you, so I will...
"Go on. Go take the palace examination!" Eunuch Ji summoned a nearby guard and pointed down the road leading to the Hall of Supreme Splendor.
Eunuch Ji turned to leave, but as he did, he sighed as though speaking to himself:
"All the civil and military officials will be present at today's palace examination, and everything in the hall will be witnessed by the world. It should be quite lively indeed. Go on, now. Don't miss the appointed hour..."
Su Mo's eyes flashed. He put away the Memory-River Spirit Jade, then turned and followed the guard.
Su Mo followed the guard to the Hall of Supreme Splendor. The Cinnabar-and-Jade Avenue before the hall stretched far into the distance, leading straight to the palace gates. Paved with jade, it was extravagant to the utmost. The plazas on either side were immensely spacious, enclosed by walls on all four sides.
Su Mo was taken to one side of the plaza before the hall, where he saw the other candidates participating in the palace examination.
There were several dozen candidates, all standing there in fearful unease as they waited for the examination to begin. Su Mo spotted a rare female candidate among them and guessed that she was Ji Hongyan, whose name had appeared on the golden list.
Su Mo also recognized two people among these candidates: Jiang Yu and Liu Feng.
Jiang Yu was the talented scholar he had met on the road to the examination. They had spoken, though not at any great length.
Liu Feng was the Minister of War's son-the man who had inexplicably targeted Su Mo outside the Riverboat Pavilion, and the ultimate beneficiary behind the bloody massacre in West City!
Liu Feng stood among the candidates with a radiant expression, brimming with confidence and triumphant pride.
Yet the moment he saw Su Mo, he frowned. For some reason, Liu Feng disliked him intensely. There seemed to be something in the way Su Mo looked at him that he found utterly repulsive.
Su Mo merely glanced at him, then quietly joined the candidates and took an empty place beside the female candidate named Ji Hongyan.
Liu Feng frowned at Su Mo. Although Su Mo was no longer looking at him, Liu Feng kept feeling as though countless eyes on Su Mo's body were staring fixedly at him.
Ji Hongyan turned and glanced at Su Mo. She had no recollection of this refined-looking young man, so she paid him no further attention and simply waited quietly for the examination to begin.
The morning light gradually brightened.
The officials entered...
Clang, clang, clang...
The bells rang, and the emperor arrived!
"His Majesty arrives!" A voice familiar to Su Mo resounded across the grounds. It was Eunuch Ji.
A vast, majestic pressure descended with the announcement, and the officials fell to their knees.
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live ten thousand years!"
Su Mo knelt and paid his respects with everyone else. With his head lowered, he could not see the person seated high upon the imperial throne.
A powerful, resonant voice rang out, full of vigor:
"Today, the assembled scholars take the palace examination, with all officials bearing witness. I shall personally set the questions for this round. It will test neither erudition, literary propriety, nor poetry and prose."
"This round shall be an oral inquiry!"
An oral inquiry meant that he would ask questions aloud, and the candidates would answer aloud in turn.
"Rise!" Eunuch Ji called.
The officials rose and stood silently.
Su Mo stood up. Suddenly, he felt a gaze sweep over him from the high seat and looked back toward it.
The emperor appeared to be a middle-aged man. Seated high above them in dragon robes, he wore a calm expression, his eyes like the sea.
The emperor's gaze did not seem to linger on any particular candidate. He merely swept his eyes over them and went straight to the subject.
"The question is: why do you study...? You have a quarter of an hour. No written answer is required. Respond freely."
"I shall judge the results myself!"
Why study?
What sort of question was this? Why ask it?
Hearing the question, the officials knitted their brows, unable to understand.
Among the senior ministers at the very front, however, someone frowned and cast a hurried, puzzled glance at the emperor, hoping to discern his intent.
The candidates began racking their brains. This year's examination was far too strange: first a blank paper, and now an oral inquiry.
Was the Sage seeking to test them through this, or to question their hearts?
The entire space before the hall instantly fell deathly silent.
The emperor on the imperial throne seemed in no hurry either. He leaned back in his seat and waited quietly.
Liu Feng wore an odd expression, his brows tightly furrowed. His earlier triumphant pride had vanished, replaced by utter confusion... as though the emperor's question had come as a surprise to him!
Jiang Yu pondered for a while but still could not fathom the emperor's intentions. He was not restless or anxious, however, merely puzzled.
Beside Su Mo, Ji Hongyan gave it only a little thought. She did not seem particularly concerned and simply stood there quietly.
Below the emperor sat a disheveled-haired man whose face bore the ravages of sorrow. He seemed wholly unconcerned with the emperor's question, lost instead in his own thoughts with a haggard gaze. He reeked of wine and swayed as though about to fall...
A eunuch nearby brought over a chair for the man, and none of the civil or military officials objected.
The man slumped into the chair. Beneath his tangled hair, his eyes were vacant, revealing a profound sorrow as he murmured over and over:
"Tongtong, where are you? Where did you sneak off to?"
"Don't you want your daddy anymore?"
Before you continue