The Prisoner of Beauty

Wei Shao was momentarily stunned, but his reflexes were quick. Before Xiao Qiao could unfold it, he swiftly snatched the scroll from her hand.

Xiao Qiao glanced at him, then extended her fair, delicate palm toward him.

Wei Shao hid the hand holding the scroll behind his back and forced a laugh. "This one isn’t well-written. Look at another..."

"I want to see it."

Xiao Qiao smiled at him.

Wei Shao didn’t budge.

So Xiao Qiao reached behind him herself to pull the scroll from his grip.

Wei Shao held on tightly.

The smile faded from Xiao Qiao’s face.

"Let go!"

Wei Shao released his grip, and the scroll was promptly taken from him.

As she opened it and skimmed through the contents, her gaze finally settled on the name column, pausing thoughtfully. Suppressing the bubbling jealousy in his heart, he remarked, "Gao Heng’s essay is nothing but empty rhetoric, devoid of substance. What do you think, Manman?"

Xiao Qiao set the scroll down.

"On my way here, I happened to meet Dr. Fang and casually asked about the imperial examination grading. His opinion was quite the opposite of yours, Your Majesty. According to him, Gao of Bohai’s paper was rightfully ranked as the top candidate."

Wei Shao stiffened, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I’m not slandering the previous dynasty! But how did people like Fang Xi even become imperial scholars? Clearly a mishmash of words, yet they insist on calling it the top essay! It’s all because of Gao Heng’s reputation—even if he wrote garbage, they’d still—"

His indignant tirade trailed off as he noticed Xiao Qiao staring at him, and his voice gradually faded into silence.

"Go on!"

Still perched sideways on his lap, Xiao Qiao urged him with a raised eyebrow when he stopped.

Wei Shao met her gaze for a moment before suddenly blurting out, "You’re deliberately opposing me, aren’t you? Fine, I’ll say it outright—I can’t stand this Gao Heng! Besides..." He shot her a sidelong glance. "Besides, he’s taking the exam with ulterior motives! Don’t pretend you don’t know!"

Xiao Qiao stared at him for a beat, her stern expression cracking as she suddenly burst into laughter.

"What ulterior motives? Explain clearly!" she said, still smiling.

Wei Shao had spoken rashly in his anger and was slightly worried she might take offense. But seeing her radiant smile, he seized the chance to pull her into an embrace. "You asked for it, so don’t blame me! I’ve known for ages that Gao Heng has designs on you! Even after you married me, he still called you his ‘kindred spirit’—fine, but then he dared to invite you to see the Yunmen Cliff carvings? Isn’t that proof enough? I thought, after all these years, I’d let it go. But now he’s—" He paused.

"Now he’s what?"

"Now he’s trying to get your attention again!"

The more Wei Shao thought about it, the angrier he grew. "With the Gao family’s status in Bohai, if he wanted an official post, he could’ve gotten one long ago under the previous dynasty! Why wait until now to take the imperial exams? It’s obvious—he heard you advocated for this examination system, so he’s deliberately pandering to you to catch your eye!""Aren't you ashamed! Bringing up such ancient history—Fei Fei is already three years old—yet you still cling to this trivial matter and make a big fuss out of it! When the imperial examination system was first introduced, the scholar clans across the land were up in arms. I know Your Majesty is wise and mighty, disdainful of relying on the old local clans to stabilize the realm. But if they truly unite in fierce opposition, local stability will be compromised. You can't just chop off their heads for this, can you? You'd still have to find a way to settle it, right? Gao Bohai not only publicly supported Your Majesty but also withstood the pressure to take the exams, thereby silencing the scholar clans. What was the purpose of establishing the imperial examinations in Great Yan? To cast the net wide and gather talents from all corners of the land! Now that he has reached the metropolitan exam through his own merit, instead of rewarding him, you're making unreasonable accusations!"

Xiao Qiao poked his chest with a finger. "I think your heart is smaller than the eye of a needle!"

"That's just how I am, and it's not like you didn't know!" Wei Shao retorted darkly. "If those scholar clans dare to make trouble, I have plenty of ways to deal with them. I don’t need Gao Heng to play the good guy for me!"

Xiao Qiao frowned slightly. "Why do I feel like you have the makings of a tyrant?"

"Tyrant it is, then!" Wei Shao didn’t even blink. "No matter what you say, I simply can’t stand the sight of this Gao Heng! No matter how brilliant his essays are or how capable he is in governance, don’t even think I’ll pass him!"

Xiao Qiao gave him a look, removed his hands from her waist, and stood up with a faint smile. "As Your Majesty pleases. This humble consort shall take her leave."

With that, she turned and walked toward the door.

There was an unwritten rule in the palace: when the emperor and empress were alone together, attendants would withdraw unless summoned. Thus, the vast Xuan Chamber held only the imperial couple at this moment.

"Stop!"

"Come back!"

"Wait—"

Just as Xiao Qiao reached the doorway, hurried footsteps sounded behind her. Wei Shao caught up and grabbed her hand from behind.

"I’ll pass him as the second-rank candidate! Will that satisfy you?"

Xiao Qiao turned back.

"But I can’t give him the top spot! Though the imperial examinations don’t exclude scholar clans, the purpose of the first round is to demonstrate the court’s resolve to recruit talents without bias—those were your own words! Even if Gao Bohai’s essays are outstanding, awarding him the top spot would contradict the reform’s original intent. I’ll make him second-rank and compensate him with additional rewards for losing the top position. How about that?"

His face remained sour.

Xiao Qiao slowly smiled. She wrapped her arms around his waist, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him, whispering by his ear, "My husband is as wise as the legendary sage-kings, yet just now you were so jealous over nothing. Aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you…?"

Wei Shao’s expression softened.

"In Manman’s eyes, there is only Your Majesty. No other man in the world could surpass you—and even if one existed, Manman would never spare him a glance..."Finally hearing such tender words from his beloved, Wei Shao felt half his body melt away, and the earlier frustration instantly vanished without a trace. He embraced her tightly, their cheeks brushing together, when suddenly he remembered something. Eagerly, he said, "Manman, I know you’ve always wanted to see the Yunzhong Cliff Inscriptions. I promised long ago to take you there, but I’ve been too tied up with duties to make it happen. Why don’t we set aside our responsibilities for now? I’ll take you and Fei Fei out of the palace for a trip!"

Xiao Qiao was taken aback but shook her head with a smile. "The cliff inscriptions aren’t a must-see. My lord, there’s no need to go through such trouble just for me."

Wei Shao gave a vague response at the time, but the idea stuck in his mind. The next day, he summoned Gongsun Yang, showed him the finalized top three candidates for the imperial examinations, and then hinted at his desire to leave the palace for a while.

Before he could even finish speaking, Gongsun Yang blocked the idea with a barrage of perfectly reasonable arguments.

Frustrated, the emperor had no choice but to suppress his wish.

Half a month later, the results of the first imperial examinations of Great Yan were publicly announced.

The most anticipated candidate, Gao Heng from Bohai, secured the position of second-rank scholar.

In this inaugural examination, two of the top three spots were taken by scholars from humble backgrounds, while one came from an aristocratic family—a result that pleased all sides.

Though Gao Heng didn’t claim the top honor, he had achieved his original goal and felt no regret.

During the palace banquet hosted by the emperor, the imperial couple made a joint appearance. For Gao Heng, this was the first time in years he had the chance to meet the woman he had once painted and inscribed poetry with at the Temple of the Queen Mother of the West. The encounter left him deeply moved.

In his heart, Empress Qiao had long become a goddess-like figure, utterly beyond any impure thoughts. Moreover, given her status, how could he dare to harbor any disrespect?

He had never intended to pursue an official career. Besides, in these times, scholars of aristocratic lineage like Gao Heng, with their inherent pride and romanticism, might not truly be valued by the emperor. But the former Madam of Marquis Yan, who had left an indelible impression on him, was different. Now elevated to Empress, he had also heard that the new imperial examination system had been her initiative. Learning that aristocratic families opposed it, he was instantly fired up and stepped forward without hesitation to voice his support.

To be able to contribute even a modest effort for Empress Qiao filled Gao Heng with immense pride.

Thus, at the palace banquet, when he knelt to receive the wine offered by Empress Qiao and saw her smile and nod at him, even engaging him in warm conversation, he was overwhelmed with emotion. In his excitement, he momentarily forgot the emperor’s presence and blurted out, "Your humble servant possesses rubbings of the ten greatest cliff inscriptions in the land, especially the Yunzhong Cliff rubbing, which I personally made—almost indistinguishable from the original. If Your Majesty does not disdain it, I would be honored to present it as a token of my loyalty."

The emperor’s expression darkened slightly. With a gracious smile, the empress politely declined, saying she dared not deprive him of his treasure. Gao Heng’s face showed regret, while the emperor’s mood improved somewhat.

Half a month later, when the emperor assigned official posts, he sent Gao Heng far away from Luoyang, finally feeling much more at ease.

Yet one matter still weighed on his mind.

Two months later, an enormous object, encased in a sealed crate three zhang high and four to five zhang long, was hauled by six horses under the stern command of Jia Si. Escorted by a troop of soldiers, it entered Luoyang through the southern gate.The enormous and seemingly weighty chest made a grand procession through half the imperial city, drawing such a spectacle that nearly half the city's residents came out to watch as it was finally carried through the palace gates.

What exactly was inside the chest?

Passersby speculated endlessly, and the most widely accepted theory was that, judging by its weight and the level of security, it must be filled with gold, silver, and precious artifacts.

When the lively gossip of the crowd drifted into Jia Si's ears, his tightly drawn face nearly collapsed in distress.

He was deeply concerned—what if the people of Luoyang discovered that the chest actually contained nothing more than a massive boulder? A boulder that had been chiseled from a mountaintop by dozens of stonemasons working day and night, enduring the silent resentment of the locals in Yunzhong. Transporting this enormous rock to Luoyang had required countless resources and manpower, switching between water and land routes multiple times—all for the sake of the Emperor's attempt to please the Empress, an act so absurd that even Jia Si found it somewhat ridiculous. Would the people then whisper behind the Emperor's back, branding him a foolish ruler whose reign might very well end within a single generation?