Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Xu Yanmiao held the list of… assassination targets—no, the list of outstanding young men favored by the emperor—and asked Princess Xiangyang a crucial question:

“What if there’s actually a true gentleman among them?”

Princess Xiangyang made a circular gesture with her hand.

Xu Yanmiao was shocked. “Kill them?!”

“Huh?” Princess Xiangyang blurted out, “How could that be! I meant, find a way to smooth things over!”

“For example?”

“Oh, you’re so dense! Think about it this way: a true gentleman is someone who enjoys sacrificing himself and his family for the sake of others. My father would never let such a person become a prince consort!”

…Well, not necessarily.

But the way she put it made Xu Yanmiao understand.

Holding the list, Xu Yanmiao’s hands itched with excitement. “No problem, leave it to me!”

Princess Xiangyang said boldly, “Didn’t you say you didn’t want to clean your house? I’ll cover your household cleaning for a month!”

Of course, she wouldn’t clean it herself—she’d send servants to do it.

Xu Yanmiao immediately thought of the damp moss in the corners of his courtyard, the flying dust, and the murky water from scrubbing the floors and washing rags.

Without hesitation, he agreed, “Great! I’ll give you the keys later!”

Princess Xiangyang smiled.

If it were about money, Xu Yanmiao wouldn’t take it. But this playful, joking attitude was something he actually liked.

Still, she wouldn’t let this favor go unacknowledged.

—This debt of gratitude, Princess Xiangyang remembered well.

With something on her mind, she suddenly said, “Oh! I almost forgot—my father wants to see you.”

---

Xu Yanmiao was surprised to find that his audience with the emperor was at the Ministry of War Stables.

A loud whistle rang out from the stables, and before long, four powerful and robust horses trotted out in formation, all of them fine steeds.

“This year, the Ministry of War recorded a total of 26,000 horses. These four, while not the absolute best, are strong and swift. Each one could sell for five to eight taels of pure silver.”

The old emperor slowly emerged from behind the horses. Upon closer inspection, there was even a stool there.

With a smile, he said, “I’m docking half a year’s salary from you. In exchange, these four horses are yours. How about it?”

Xu Yanmiao instinctively replied, “I don’t have a courtyard to keep them in.”

The emperor gave him a sidelong glance. “Can’t you just keep them here at the stables and retrieve them when you need them?”

Xu Yanmiao was stunned. “That’s an option?”

The emperor: “Of course not.”

Xu Yanmiao: “…”

Even in his mind, he sounded aggrieved: [Then why did you say that…]

On the surface, however, he remained the perfect subordinate, swallowing his complaints. “Your Majesty, please don’t tease me.”

The emperor couldn’t help but chuckle. “Who’s teasing you? Haven’t you heard of ‘imperial privilege’?”

Xu Yanmiao’s eyes lit up, immediately seizing the opportunity. “Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace!”

The emperor shot him a look and said, “Now that you have horses, you’ll also need a proper carriage. It’s etiquette for attending banquets. You’re a high-ranking official now—don’t let people look down on you.”

In ancient society, horses were equivalent to formal attire. At certain prestigious events, if someone arrived with a carriage drawn by mares instead of stallions, they’d be outright denied entry.

To Xu Yanmiao, however, this gift meant—

[Whoa—]

[Boss just gave me a car! And it’s a luxury car! Boss is so generous!]

The old emperor paused slightly.

…He had only gifted the horses, not a carriage. Did Xu Yanmiao misunderstand?

Never mind. He might as well give him one—otherwise, if this brat realized later that there was no carriage, he’d probably complain that the emperor was stingy.

The emperor coughed lightly and added, “There’s also a carriage. I’ll have one prepared for you as well. Everything will be kept at the stables. There are also some gold and miscellaneous items—take those with you too.”

[Woohoo!!!]

The old emperor’s gaze drifted toward the stack of papers in Xu Yanmiao’s hand, curiosity flickering in his eyes. “What’s that?”

Xu Yanmiao: “……”

[Crap, I forgot to have Gao Xiang hold onto this first!]

[The emperor wouldn’t just forcibly take something from a minister’s hands, right?]

[But if I hesitate, he’ll definitely want it—damn it, how do I get out of this?!]

[And he just gifted me a carriage… wouldn’t it be kind of rude to deceive him?]

The old emperor narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at those papers, making Xu Yanmiao’s scalp tingle.

“Your Majesty…” Xu Yanmiao had a sudden stroke of inspiration. Lowering his gaze, he put on a somewhat embarrassed expression. “This is something the princess entrusted to me. As a young lady about to be married, she’s naturally worried about the character of her future husband, so she asked me to look into it.”

Xu Yanmiao: [Thanks for the invitation. After three years in office, I’ve mastered the art of vague wording.]

—Not a single word was a lie!

The old emperor didn’t sense anything amiss. Instead, he found it rather amusing. “So Xiangyang actually has moments of girlish shyness? Is that true?”

Xu Yanmiao’s gaze involuntarily shifted to the side.

Clearing his throat, he said, “Your subject should not comment on whether the princess is delicate or not.”

The old emperor nodded in satisfaction.

[That should do it, right? No way the old emperor would guess that Gao Xiang’s real goal is to sabotage her own marriage!]

Halfway through his nod, the Supreme Emperor of the Realm suddenly froze.

“…Heh, heh.”

---

The next day, the palace examination proceeded as usual.

Xu Yanmiao discreetly glanced around the room. With the imperial censors pretending to be blind, he found it odd:

[Huh? Where’s Gao Xiang?]

The old emperor let out a cold chuckle.

---

Inside the palace.

“As expected, this is divine retribution for seeking help from that so-called miracle solution.”

Princess Xiangyang wiped nonexistent tears with the hem of her sleeve as she started copying The Admonitions for Women for the fifty-fifth time.

She still had 445 copies to go.

“Father totally did this on purpose! He knows I hate The Admonitions for Women the most!”

The old emperor: That’s right. I did it on purpose. 🙂

---

Xu Yanmiao subtly wriggled his toes—standing for too long had made them go numb.

Since he couldn’t find Princess Xiangyang, he didn’t dwell on it and instead turned his attention to the examinees in the palace examination.

He spotted Liang Youwen among them. It seemed he had passed the retest—Xu Yanmiao was happy for him.

Then he saw Gao He, who also noticed him and gave a friendly smile, looking to be in high spirits.

[Hope he doesn’t smash his brush when he sees the exam question later.]

[Well, I already threw mine once.]

This immediately piqued the curiosity of the ministers.

Just what kind of exam question had His Majesty set to make Xu Yanmiao say something like that?

—After all, wasn’t Little Baize someone with extensive knowledge and experience?

[At this timing, asking about the governance of emperors, the hearts of emperors, and the laws of emperors… Could it be that the old emperor, realizing his age, is starting to pave the way for the next ruler?]

Governance of emperors???

Hearts of emperors???

Laws of emperors???

Your Majesty, you really dare to ask that?! You must have great faith in these candidates’ courage.

Prime Minister Dou’s eyelid twitched slightly, once again amazed by his brother-in-law.

—No wonder he refused to hire any scholars for assistance this time and insisted on drafting the imperial exam question himself!

---

After that, the palace examination followed its standard procedures. Once the sound of the whip rang out, signaling the emperor’s departure, the civil and military officials also withdrew, leaving only the Ministry of Rites officials to distribute the exam papers to the candidates.

[I always thought it would be like in the TV dramas, where the emperor watches the exam in person, then stands behind some candidate, gets deeply engrossed in their essay, and is astonished by their brilliance, making the Six Ministries’ ministers itch with curiosity about what kind of genius they’re witnessing.]

[Turns out the emperor and non-invigilating officials don’t even stay on-site.]

Lian Hang, walking beside Xu Yanmiao, hesitated before speaking.

…What is a TV drama?

Could it be some kind of wicked object that misleads Baize? How else could it make Xu Lang develop such a major misunderstanding—since when would an emperor and his officials have so much free time to personally watch the examination of tribute students?

Xu Yanmiao turned to him excitedly, “Lian Lang! In a few days, let’s go try the famous chicken dumplings in the capital!”

Lian Hang snapped out of his thoughts and asked in surprise, “Didn’t you say that since you were fined half a year’s salary, you’d be eating plain buns for six months and wouldn’t go out to eat?”

Xu Yanmiao coughed lightly. “Well, I suddenly have money now. Are you coming or not?”

Lian Hang—and the surrounding officials—were all shrewd people. They instantly guessed the truth: the emperor must have used his personal treasury to subsidize Little Baize.

Prime Minister Dou suddenly chimed in with a smile, “Why go out and spend money? In a few days, I’ll be celebrating my 80th birthday, and I’ve invited that very restaurant to my residence to make chicken dumplings. Besides the food, I’ve also arranged for a lively performance—Kunqu opera, Pihuang, all very entertaining. Xu Lang, would you honor me with your presence?”

Xu Yanmiao naturally expressed his gratitude and accepted the invitation.

After walking a few more steps, he unexpectedly spotted Ji Sui still among the officials and was puzzled.

Prime Minister Dou noticed his confusion and explained with a smile, “Scholar Ji specifically requested this favor—he will leave the capital only after the palace exam rankings are announced.”

Xu Yanmiao’s confusion deepened.

Prime Minister Dou leaned in slightly and lowered his voice. “That former adopted son of his, whose ties have now been severed—Ji Sui needs to know his ranking.”

Ji Sui didn’t bother interfering with the other man’s imperial exam, but if he stepped into the officialdom, then he had no one to blame but himself.

—Since they were already enemies, he would make sure to suppress him to the very end.

Xu Yanmiao suddenly understood. He cast a few more glances at Ji Sui, staring so much that Ji Sui started feeling puzzled, wondering if he had done something recently that would cause gossip.

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