It Was All Old Zhu's Fault

Jining Prefecture, Teng County.

Gu Zhengchen, twenty years old, gazed at the night sky beyond the window. Countless stars filled it, bathing the quiet world in an especially cold, clear light.

He couldn't understand it. He simply couldn't. All he had done was soak in a hot spring and recite a line by Li Bai-"The goddess perished in the secluded realm; the hot spring flowed into the mighty river." How had that sent him into another world?

Old Li, you were the Immortal Poet, not an actual immortal! Send me back! I want to return beneath the red flag...

"Ma Decao?"

The young-faced Gu Qingqing watched her brother anxiously. He was calling that name again. Three days ago, he had jumped into the lake, then pointed at the sun and shouted that name for ages.

But nobody in Dayan Village had the surname Ma...

Auntie Hu said her brother had gone mad because he couldn't bear the shock. That wasn't true. Mother had said he was only suffering from a strange illness.

"It's all the court's fault!"

Gu Qingqing spoke under her breath, her teeth clenched, her voice full of resentment.

Looking at the stars, Gu Zhengchen nodded emphatically.

Exactly. It was all the court's fault. More precisely, it was all Old Zhu's fault.

It was now the fourth month of the sixth year of Hongwu!

Three years ago, in the fifth month of the third year of Hongwu, Old Zhu had issued an edict on the imperial examinations. With great fanfare, he declared that he was "specially establishing the imperial examinations to bring forth men of talent who embrace the Way" and would "assess their learning, rank their abilities, and appoint them to office." He also ordered every province to hold examinations for three consecutive years to recruit talented men.

Presumably, they had recruited too many talented men in the third and fourth years of Hongwu and run out of talent to recruit, because even Gu Zhengchen, a fellow with little mastery of scholarship, had passed the provincial examination in the fifth year of Hongwu.

Passing was a good thing-a cause for great celebration. Not only had more people begun currying favor with the Gu family, but Gu Zhengchen had also signed a marriage agreement with the Zhao family's third daughter. When the Wang family heard that the Gu family lacked the travel money to send him to the capital for the next examination, they had volunteered to lend them forty strings of cash.

The metropolitan examination, also known as the spring examination, took place in the second month. To reach it in time from Teng County in Shandong's Jining Prefecture, Gu Zhengchen had been forced to leave in the bitter winter of the twelfth month, braving wind and snow on a journey of nearly a thousand li to Nanjing.

After finally reaching Nanjing, he had bought brand-new paper, ink, brushes, and an inkstone. Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he prepared for the metropolitan examination, just one step away from entering the Great Ming bureaucracy.

Then...

Old Zhu had played a dirty trick and issued a notice: "I sincerely seek worthy men, yet all under heaven answer me with empty writings. This is not my intention in demanding substance and seeking worthies. The imperial examinations in all regions shall now be suspended..."

In short:

Well, the examinations are canceled. Everyone go home.

Old Zhu had put Gu Zhengchen through the wringer and ruined the Gu family along with him.

Old Zhu, couldn't you do something useful for once? Fine, cancel the examinations if you want, but damn it, couldn't you have given us two months' notice? I'd already paid for the journey, bought my supplies, and rented a room at an inn. More than half my travel money was gone, and now you were sending everyone home?

There was nothing to be done. Old Zhu did as he pleased.

Gu Zhengchen had returned home utterly dispirited, with only three strings of cash left. News of the cancellation had also reached Teng County. Everyone knew the examinations were over. A county-level degree, a provincial degree-neither amounted to much anymore.

The people who had once fawned over them disappeared. The Zhao family began keeping its distance, never mentioning the marriage agreement. Wang Fugui's family remembered the forty strings of cash they were owed, forcibly led away the Gu family's old ox, and made Madam Gu sell all ten mu of their farmland. Even then, they still owed six strings, and the Wangs came knocking to collect from time to time.

When Fan Jin passed the provincial examination, blessings had followed one after another. When Gu Zhengchen passed, he went straight into bankruptcy.

He was worse off than old Fan...

Unable to see a way out, Gu Zhengchen had jumped into the lake. By the time he was pulled out, the original Gu Zhengchen was gone, replaced by Gu Zhengchen from a later age.

As far as Gu Zhengchen was concerned, the Gu family's plight was entirely Old Zhu's fault!

If Old Zhu had announced the cancellation earlier, the Gu family would never have needed to borrow such a large sum to send him to the examination.

If Old Zhu hadn't canceled the examinations, then even if Gu Zhengchen had failed and couldn't repay the loan within a year, Wang Fugui would never have dared to hound a court-recognized provincial graduate so ruthlessly. The family would never have been reduced to such dire straits.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs.

Gu Zhengchen looked at Gu Qingqing, who had cried herself to sleep, and reached out to gently wipe the tears from her youthful cheeks.

This was no dream. It was a cold, bitter reality.

This was no longer the twenty-first century, but the turbulent Hongwu era, which was about to unleash countless storms of bloodshed. This was no easy dynasty to scrape by in...

I have to pull myself together. A man born between heaven and earth should strive to stand on his own and accomplish something.

Early the next morning, a commotion woke Gu Zhengchen.

"Stay back!"

Holding a sickle, Gu Qingqing watched Wang Youcheng advance and retreated step by step.

Wang Youcheng was Wang Fugui's son, a county-level graduate with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks. He was staring at Gu Qingqing with a thoroughly lecherous expression. He had to admit that the girl was pretty and adorable; her large, bright eyes were all the more captivating when brimming with sorrow.

"Little Miss Gu, this is a bond of servitude. Just put your thumbprint on it, and you'll become my family's maid. Your brother's debt will be wiped clean. How about it?"

With a practiced motion, Wang Youcheng drew a contract from his sleeve and unfolded it for Gu Qingqing to see.

Conflict showed on Gu Qingqing's face.

Seeing that she was less resolute than usual, Wang Youcheng felt a surge of delight and hurriedly said, "Your mother went to the Zhao family yesterday to borrow money. She knelt outside their gate for four hours, and they wouldn't even open it. Nobody in Teng County will lend your family six strings of cash. Your mother can't bear to sell you, but as her daughter, shouldn't you spare a thought for her troubles?"

Gu Qingqing's heart ached. Her mother really had gone to beg the Zhao family.

Wang Youcheng took another step forward and continued, "Think about it. If you come with me, you'll have enough to eat, and your mother won't have to beg anyone anymore. If you behave and keep me well satisfied, I might even beg my father to give your brother two mu of land. At least your family could get by. You don't want your mother and brother to starve to death, do you?"

Gu Qingqing backed up to the threshold and nearly tripped, tears streaming down her face. He was right. There wasn't much food left at home. The neighbors had given them a little help, but even that wouldn't see them through the summer.

"I, I..."

Gu Qingqing bit through her red lip and finally steeled herself. "Give back our family's ten mu of land, and I'll put down my thumbprint and go-go with you."

Wang Youcheng's heart fluttered. He stepped back and had his page bring out the ink paste. "Once you sign this contract, I'll go straight home and tell my father to return your land. Hurry. When your mother comes back, she might refuse again."

Gu Qingqing dropped the sickle and moved forward one heavy step at a time.

The page held out the crimson ink paste. Gu Qingqing slowly extended her right hand, curled in her four fingers, and pressed her thumb into it.

The page obligingly turned his back. Wang Youcheng slapped the contract against it and said to Gu Qingqing, "Selling yourself to save your mother and brother makes you a fine woman of the deepest devotion and filial piety. Everyone will praise you. Go on, press your thumbprint."

Gu Qingqing raised her hand and looked at the bond of servitude, hesitating, her heart twisting as though beneath a knife.

"Do it!"

Seeing that Gu Qingqing still hadn't moved, Wang Youcheng seized her hand and forced it down toward the contract without another word!

Thud!

A hand reached in from the side and clamped hard around Wang Youcheng's wrist. A low voice rang out. "Scholar Wang, you want to buy my sister. Have you asked her brother's permission?"