Too Dangerous to Cross
Consort Jin fell silent for a long while before sighing, "We underestimated her. We thought she was nothing, but she won your father's appreciation and the respect of the court officials with her talent. Now she has become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), a master painter, and I've heard her calligraphy is also quite impressive. This kind of person is no ant; she's clearly a wolf. If you treat her like an ant, how can you not suffer?"
Think about why she fell out of favor – it all started when she couldn't stand Zhao Ruxi stealing the limelight from the Capital Women's Academy and causing Princess Pingyang to make things difficult for her. Although Princess Pingyang acted on her own initiative to partly cause trouble, she didn't stop her.
Now her daughter has made the same mistake as Princess Pingyang, causing the hard-won recovery to be completely ruined.
It can be said that they all fell for Zhao Ruxi.
Realizing this, she stopped letting her daughter continue her self-destructive behavior.
She let out a long sigh, "That Zhao Zhiwei is wicked. Look at how many people have messed with her and what happened to them? Is it really necessary for us to give up our good life and go after her?"
Xiao Ruoyu blinked, seemingly not understanding.
Consort Jin then recounted the fates of all those who had made things difficult for Zhao Ruxi since she returned to the capital, based on her investigation.
Xiao Ruoyu clearly thought of metaphysics, shuddered, and asked, "Mother, do you think she's some kind of demon or monster?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Consort Jin only said those things to stop her daughter from courting disaster; she didn't think Zhao Ruxi was anything special.
"The reason for this is that she is talented and has gained the appreciation of your father; Mister Kumu, her three senior brothers, Qi Xugu of the Ministry of Revenue Court of Judicial Review, Zhang Changshen, the Minister of the Court of the Imperial Academy, and Peng Guoan, the Chancellor of the Peng Guoan, all admire her. She can also bring honor to your Aunt Shangde. With these people protecting her, even if we were to confront her, we might not be able to gain the upper hand."
Speaking of this, Xiao Ruoyu was indignant.
"That's because she likes to show off. There are plenty of talented women in the capital. Not to mention, many of the students at our Capital Women's Academy are talented, but they just don't like to show their faces or compete with men," she retorted.
Consort Jin sighed softly and shook her head, "Xiangyang, although you are a princess, you cannot be arrogant and deceive yourself. This Zhao Zhiwei, not to mention the imperial examinations, just considering the eight talents of music, chess, calligraphy, painting, archery, horsemanship, poetry, and mathematics, she excels in three of them. It is said that the calligraphy she wrote during the palace examination was no worse than that of Master Mingcang. Lord Qin Zhe has already been alarmed and submitted a token to enter the palace to see it, but your father refused. He said that after the results of the palace examination are announced, the papers of the top ten will be posted in front of the examination hall, and he can see them then."
"Hmph, doesn't that mean it's not confirmed yet?" Xiao Ruoyu was still unconvinced, but her voice lowered.
Consort Jin knew that her daughter was strong-willed by nature, and her current behavior showed that she had been persuaded, but was just being stubborn and refusing to admit it.
She said, "In short, don't provoke Zhao Zhiwei; it won't do us any good. As for Duan Chen, whether he wants to compete with Zhao Zhiwei or admires her talent, as long as we show any interest in finding a husband for her, he'll definitely discard Zhao Zhiwei like trash and turn to us."
She paused, then looked at Xiao Ruoyu: "Do you mean you're planning to give Duan Chen to Zhao Zhiwei?"
"Hmph, she's dreaming. Even if I don't want her, she can forget about marrying me." Xiao Ruoyu raised her chin and said arrogantly.
"Mother, since you think he's good, then choose him. But I need to meet him twice and make sure I think he's a good person," she added.
Consort Jin's lips curled up slightly.
She knew that using reverse psychology was the most effective method.
Her daughter has been domineering since childhood. Even if she doesn't like something, she would rather destroy it than give it to someone else. If someone she doesn't like wants something, she will fight for it even if she doesn't like it.
It was good that Duan Chen didn't show any interest in Zhao Zhiwei; but since he had shown a desire to befriend Zhao Zhiwei, Xiangyang would definitely not let him have any connection with Zhao Zhiwei and would surely try to win him over.
Zhao Ruxi returned from the Kang Residence an hour later. After alighting from her carriage, she asked the gatekeeper, "Didn't anyone from the Ministry of Rites come?"
The gatekeeper who had delivered the invitation quickly shook his head and said, "Reporting to Miss, after you instructed me to wait for the officials from the Ministry of Ministry of Rites, I was afraid of delaying your business, so I have been staying here without leaving. But the Ministry of Rites has not sent anyone."
Zhao Ruxi nodded and entered the gate.
After returning to the backyard, she changed her clothes, washed her hands and face, and practiced calligraphy for two more sessions. Seeing that it was almost midnight, she went to the old lady's courtyard.
Every day at noon, the three of them—grandparents, grandchildren, and parents—eat together.
Lady Zhu was already there, watching the servants serve the dishes.
Upon seeing Zhao Ruxi, she asked, "I heard from the servants that you are waiting for someone from the Ministry of Rites? Will the Ministry of Rites send someone to find you?"
Zhao Ruxi touched her nose a little embarrassedly. "I thought the Emperor would appoint me as the chief examiner."
She was quite confident in her writing and calligraphy. The palace examination was ranked based on the provincial examination. As the second-place winner in the provincial examination, if she didn't voluntarily request a transfer to a post outside the capital and give up her first-class ranking, wouldn't she have been guaranteed a place in the first class based on her original ranking and her essay and calligraphy in the palace examination?
Since she has already stepped back and avoided putting the Emperor in a difficult position, there is a high probability that the Emperor will appoint her as the fourth-ranked candidate in the palace examination.
Tomorrow is the grand ceremony for announcing the names of the candidates for the imperial examinations. As the person in charge of announcing the names, I will be responsible for calling out their names during the ceremony. If anything goes wrong, it will be considered a failure of the Ministry of Ministry of Rites.
She had just taken the opportunity of paying her respects to her master to inquire about the procedure.
Kang Shilin also said that the rankings of the top ten have been roughly determined at this point. Although there will be some adjustments during the emperor's audience before the grand ceremony tomorrow, the grand ceremony is a solemn and dignified event, and the selection of the announcers will be very carefully considered.
To prevent the ceremony from going wrong, the announcer has basically been decided in advance. The Ministry of Rites will send someone today to explain the procedures.
But by then, the people from the Ministry of Ministry of Rites still hadn't arrived.
Could it be that the Emperor thinks she's not even qualified to be a candidate for the imperial examinations, and insists on ranking her to the back? That would be too tragic!
Upon hearing this, the old lady immediately became serious.
She glanced at Lady Zhu and said to her granddaughter, "Anyway, the exam is over. The final ranking depends not only on ability but also on luck. You've already done exceptionally well. How many boys who start their education at five or six years old can pass the imperial examination at fifteen or sixteen and achieve such a high ranking? From the founding of the Great Jin until now, there are only a handful in total. So don't feel pressured; just wait patiently for the news."
Zhao Ruxi nodded. "Yes, Grandmother, I understand."
After hearing what the old lady said, she breathed a sigh of relief and truly felt at ease.
It was because she was too competitive. From the moment she participated in the imperial examinations, she knew that the difference between men and women would be a major obstacle on this path. But after passing the fair and just provincial and metropolitan examinations, why did she still have such high expectations for the palace examination, which was based on arbitrary ranking?