Presiding over the Imperial Examination

The moment Xie Huizhou saw the imperial edict, he suddenly had an ominous premonition.

Damn it! They were elevating him while giving him more work again. Couldn't they just let him be an idle freeloader?

He only wanted to be a Phoenix Picture Painter who strayed from the proper path!

Lewdness was the ladder of human progress.

"His Majesty's decree has arrived. Your Highness, you are to preside over this Imperial Examination." Zhang Lanhe handed him the imperial edict. "Your Highness, this is an excellent opportunity to show the officials your abilities."

In everyone's eyes, Xie Huizhou was a useless, good-for-nothing prince, but Zhang Lanhe insisted on raising him onto a pedestal.

He would not allow anyone to look down on Xie Huizhou.

Xie Huizhou froze for a moment. "Me?"

The old emperor really did dislike him and wanted to harm him.

To others, presiding over the triennial Imperial Examination was a lucrative assignment that offered connections with many powerful dignitaries.

But to Xie Huizhou, who had read the entire novel, it was a huge pit waiting for him to jump into. One careless mistake could leave him dead without even a place to be buried.

A cheating scandal occurred during this Imperial Examination.

The various factions used every means at their disposal to place their own people in court. Among them were those who had long since bribed the officials setting the questions and stolen the exam papers, producing countless "geniuses," each seemingly on the verge of entering court with limitless prospects.

The reigning emperor found it suspicious and uncovered the cheating through an investigation. All the officials involved were held accountable, and many others were implicated and exiled.

Even the Eighth Prince, who presided over the Imperial Examination, was implicated and placed under house arrest.

The Eighth Prince's original ending was lifelong house arrest, followed by death amid the fighting when the dynasty changed hands.

Now, thanks to Xie Huizhou's scheming, the Eighth Prince was under partial confinement, though it still amounted to reaching the same destination by a different route.

This plotline, altered by the butterfly effect, had now fallen into Xie Huizhou's hands.

This was when Zhou Yanqing first distinguished himself. His outstanding results led people to suspect him of cheating, and many mocked and insulted him. Only after the second Imperial Examination did everyone realize he possessed genuine talent and ability, and that his title of Third Place in the Imperial Examination was well deserved.

Here, Zhou Yanqing began his life of meteoric advancement at court.

Plots targeting Xie Huizhou came one after another. Since Xie Huizhou had accepted the assignment, he certainly would not let them have an easy time either.

Xie Huizhou recalled the civil service examinations from his previous life and considered giving them a big surprise.

Want to land a government job? Go compete yourselves into the ground.

"I need to think this over and make sure these people stealing questions and cheating everywhere can't possibly guess what questions I'll set."

He had always wanted to struggle free of the vortex of power struggles, yet he only sank deeper.

Zhang Lanhe brought up another matter. "By now, Consort Wei and the Fourth Prince should already know about Wei Hu's death. Your Highness, you must be careful. Don't die at their hands. If you need anything, you may ask me for help. I will lend you a hand."

Zhang Lanhe had long anticipated that someone would scheme against him, but opportunity lay within danger. It would be such a pity if Xie Huizhou lost his nerve because of it.

Someone who always lived beneath another's protective wings would find it difficult to spread his own wings and soar.

"I won't die. Please rest assured, Imperial Preceptor."

Meanwhile, news of Wei Hu's death reached Consort Wei, throwing the imperial palace into chaos.

Consort Wei was admiring the flowers with the Fourth Prince, Xie Wangqiu, in the Imperial Garden when she saw people carrying over a corpse with its face covered by a white cloth. She felt that something was terribly wrong.

The figure beneath that white cloth looked so familiar. The moment Consort Wei thought of a terrifying possibility, she felt the world spin around her and hurriedly called out to stop them.

"Stop! Who is this?"

"Your Ladyship, it is Lord Wei Hu."

At the sight of Wei Hu with his face covered by a white cloth, Consort Wei turned deathly pale and nearly fainted. She wept for some time.

"This is outrageous. He actually beat my younger brother to death in the street and simply left us to collect his body. Wangqiu, he clearly has no regard for either of us."

Before she could even see Wei Hu once, they had been separated by death.

Had she not wanted someone to support the Fourth Prince, she would never have summoned him back, only for Wei Hu to lose his life instead.

"Uncle molested my ninth brother in the street and attempted to assassinate the Imperial Preceptor. Whether on moral or legal grounds, we cannot hold them guilty."

The Fourth Prince, Xie Wangqiu, glanced at Wei Hu's corpse and actually felt relieved.

He had disliked this troublemaking uncle to begin with, worried that he would cause him problems, but he could not kill his own maternal uncle.

Now that the man was dead, it suited him quite well.

Good riddance.

"Wangqiu, he was your own uncle. How can you be so cold?" Dissatisfied with the Fourth Prince's reaction, Consort Wei persisted in demanding revenge. "His Majesty is now elevating the Ninth Prince again. If this continues, with the Imperial Preceptor's support, the Ninth Prince will trample over us sooner or later. Do you want to return to the days when that temptress Consort Yu was still alive?"

With a single imperial edict, the lucrative assignment of overseeing the Imperial Examination had fallen to Xie Huizhou, taking everyone by surprise.

Consort Yu had been dead for so many years, yet the shadow she had cast over them remained. Everyone gnashed their teeth with hatred whenever that woman was mentioned, and their hatred extended to Xie Huizhou.

Now that Xie Huizhou might once again gain the old emperor's attention, the consorts and princes could hardly sit still.

No one wanted to return to those days. The Ninth Prince's death would serve their interests best.

"Mother, just why did Father come to loathe the ninth prince so much back then?" Xie Wangqiu had never been able to make sense of this matter. "The woman he loved most gave her life to bear that child. How could he be so heartless?"

It was not merely neglect. On several occasions, whether deliberately or otherwise, he had even sent Xie Huizhou to his death. It was more like how one treated an enemy.

Xie Wangqiu sensed something unusual and was searching for clues about it.

Consort Wei froze for a moment. Recalling the past, she hesitated, but ultimately chose not to speak. "Wangqiu, your father has his own judgment on this matter. You need not know too much. Your father values his dignity above all else. The more you know, the worse it will be for you."

Almost everyone who had known the truth back then was dead. The emperor disliked others discussing what he had done all those years ago. The more one knew, the sooner one died.

Whenever Consort Wei recalled how a favored consort had been sentenced to death by a length of white silk merely for mentioning it, she feared that, after a lifetime of wealth and glory, she too might meet such an end.

"If you are unwilling to speak, Mother, then let it be."

Xie Wangqiu's smiling gaze was cold and sinister, the beauty mark at the corner of his eye lending him further allure. No matter how thoroughly the events of that year had been covered up, traces would remain. If he investigated, he would uncover them eventually.

They wanted nothing more than to get rid of him. He would gather leverage over these brothers of his, one by one.

Consort Wei asked, "Then when do you intend to act?"

With the death of her blood relative, hatred blinded Consort Wei, and she could not help urging the Fourth Prince to act.

The Fourth Prince, Xie Wangqiu, slowly replaced the white cloth over Wei Hu's face. His phoenix eyes were sharp as he looked beyond the palace in Xie Huizhou's direction and chuckled softly.

"Mother, what's the hurry? Let us see how the ninth prince handles the turmoil surrounding the Imperial Examination."

Xie Wangqiu never acted rashly. He would first serve up a little appetizer to test Xie Huizhou's mettle.