On the fifteenth day of the fifth month in the twenty-fourth year of the Qiande era, the predawn darkness was as if splashed with ink. Though the wind still carried a biting chill through their garments, the stone-paved path outside the imperial palace watchtowers was already lined with women gathered for the Palace Examination.
Young eunuchs stood by holding palace lanterns, allowing Ministry of Rites officials to clearly verify names during roll call. Female officials from the Court of State Ceremonial distributed specially made palace cakes to the waiting candidates, softly reminding them: "One packet per person. You won't emerge until nightfall - ration wisely."
By the time the Ministry of Rites officials had verified all attendees' identities, dawn had broken. Only then did officials from the Court of Imperial Entertainments arrive to lead the women to await summons below the vermilion steps behind the Hall of Preserved Harmony.
Meng Tinghui stood among the crowd, lifting her gaze to distant palaces' soaring eaves and towering pillars. Glazed tiles shimmered faintly in the fading darkness, making everything appear dreamlike.
Suddenly, the woman beside her shuddered, emitting a strange guttural sound.
A Ministry of Rites official hurried over to investigate, then called toward nearby palace attendants: "She's vomited! Quickly escort her away!"
Meng Tinghui frowned slightly, watching as two attendants supported the woman away, then shifted her gaze to where the candidate had stood.
The palace brick there appeared somber, densely carved with bluish-grey patterns.
Countless days and nights of arduous study, numerous examinations and compositions - all to reach this moment.
Yet mere nervousness had cost her this golden opportunity to showcase her ambitions.
Truly pitiful.
She sighed inwardly, rubbing her ice-numbed fingertips.
After waiting another quarter-hour, word came from the main hall. The Ministry of Rites officials instructed the waiting women to ascend the steps in their assigned order.
The great hall blazed with palace candles, its floors polished to mirror brightness. The dragon throne sat elevated at the far end, with examination desks and chairs neatly arranged below.
Meng Tinghui found her assigned seat and settled like the others.
Dragon motifs coiling around distant golden pillars looked faintly sinister in the candlelight, their nine claws soaring through clouds in intimidating postures. She stared at them a long while before lowering her gaze to her empty desktop.
Though the hall was considerably warmer than outside, her fingertips seemed colder still, her palms beginning to seep cool sweat.
She took a deep breath, arranging her writing implements. Just as she inwardly mocked her own lack of composure, music from palace musicians echoed from beyond the hall.
Officials from the Ministries of Rites, Imperial Entertainments, and State Ceremonial filed in and took positions, while the examination candidates rose from their seats.
Meng Tinghui stood with them, knowing this signaled the Crown Prince's entrance.
Thanks to this Crown Prince, she had gained her "reputation" in the capital after the provincial examinations. Though she never spoke of it, the matter rankled in her heart. She had assumed she'd have no further dealings with him after this final imperial examination, but three days after the Ministry of Rites examination concluded, news arrived that the Crown Prince would preside over the Palace Examination in the Emperor's stead.
Blessings cannot be avoided... nor disasters escaped.
So she mused, head slightly bowed, joining the others in kneeling and chanting "Your Highness" as the assembly paid respects.
The palace bricks felt icy and unyielding against her aching knees.
A man's clear, resonant voice carried down from the elevated seat ahead: "All may be seated. There's no need for formality during the Palace Examination. Focus on composing excellent essays - that is what truly matters."
The voice struck her eardrums like a small drumstick - "thump."A thunderous roar echoed in her mind.
She lifted her head recklessly, gazing straight ahead—
Gold-threaded patterns adorned the sides of black boots, an enraged five-clawed dragon coiled proudly over black robes. The man sat upright on the dragon throne in the hall, long legs slightly bent, hands resting on his knees.
His sword-like eyebrows stood sharp, his face lean and chiseled. Most striking were his heterochromatic eyes—deep brown in the left, dark blue in the right.
The white jade dragon hairpin behind his head gleamed so brightly it stung her eyes.
She felt as if scalding water had been poured over her, then was plunged into the abyss of an icy chasm. A sharp, piercing pain seized her entire body, yet she remained frozen, utterly motionless.
This person... this face...
How could it be him?
How could it be him!
His right eye...
She bit her lip hard, her hands on the floor involuntarily clenching into fists.
He wasn’t one-eyed—he simply concealed his true appearance from others.
All under heaven knew the Crown Prince was born with heterochromatic eyes: the left inherited Prince Ping’s brown, the right the Emperor’s black. From birth, he was regarded as the sole successor to both thrones.
She had speculated countless times about his identity, but never imagined he would be the Crown Prince of the nation.
She had fantasized endlessly about their reunion, but never anticipated it would be at the palace examination for the Female Scholar Examination.
In this moment, she felt utterly at a loss.
All the plans she had meticulously laid out crumbled to dust the instant she saw him.
She had yearned so desperately to see him again.
But upon learning who he was and where he stood, despair only deepened.
She once thought that if she could someday become a court official, she might be worthy of him. Now, it seemed she would never be worthy in this lifetime.
That day on the official road outside Chongzhou, he had asked her name—proof he knew who she was. Thus, his subsequent decision to appoint her as the top provincial graduate must have been deliberate, making her a target for all.
As these thoughts swirled, her hands pressed against the palace floor tightened into fists.
What terrified her most was that he might already view her with disdain, seeing her only as a woman who would stop at nothing to climb the ranks.
……
His gaze swept slowly over the candidates below. It paused on her, then drifted past, glancing at the Ministry of Rites officials nearby. He gave a slight nod.
A grand academician from the Imperial Academy approached from the side of the hall, retrieved the essay prompt from the inner desk, and presented it to the waiting officials.
The officials unrolled the yellow silk heading and proclaimed in a loud voice—
"On the Difficulty of Being a Ruler and the Greater Difficulty of Being a Subject."
……
The deep, resonant voice jolted her back to reality.
Her mind remained blank, stunned, as she knelt to receive the Gold-Foil Writing Paper issued by the officials.
Stiffly, she returned to her seat, still consumed by thoughts of him.
But she dared not lift her eyes to look at him again.
The women around her had already begun writing furiously. The sound of brushes scratching paper brushed past her ears, and only then did she lower her gaze to the paper clutched in her hand.
The voice of the Ministry of Rites official echoed once more: "...No changing of topics permitted. Scrolls must be submitted by sunset."
Then, and only then, did she fully awaken to the present.
She smoothed her sleeves, picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and let the tip meet the paper—
To be a ruler is hard,
But to be a subject is harder still.
OpenNovel