Fu Xiuyi was a member of the royal family and naturally couldn't be entirely ignorant of the imperial court's methods. The crisp sound of the teacup shattering on the ground, seemingly accidental, had already disrupted the rhythm of the musicians on stage, preventing those bewitching melodies from continuing. Naturally, he wanted to see who the instigator was. Fu Xiuyi himself was a cautious and suspicious man by nature, and he didn't believe the act was unintentional.
The girl in the purple robe was resting her chin on her hand, speaking to someone beside her. Her expression was cold, yet from afar, she exuded an indescribable aura that clearly set her apart from those around her.
"Who is Ninth Brother looking at?" Prince Zhou, Fu Xiuan, followed Fu Xiuyi's gaze and smiled knowingly. "Come to think of it, among us brothers, Ninth Brother is the only one who hasn't married yet. Father has mentioned the Selection of your consort many times. So, which noble family's daughter is that girl? She seems quite impressive. I wonder whose relative she is—does anyone recognize her?"
"She is the fifth young lady of the Grand General of Might's household, my student," Pei Lang, who was standing nearby, answered.
"The fifth young lady of the Grand General of Might's household?" Prince Jing, Fu Xiuxuan, had an excellent memory. Perhaps Shen Miao's reputation was too great—even the royal family was familiar with her name. He said, "Isn't that the legitimate daughter of General Shen Xin? Her name is Shen Miao, isn't it?"
"How could it be Shen Miao?" Fu Xiuan laughed dismissively. "The whole Fixed Capital knows about Shen Miao chasing our Ninth Brother. Didn't she fall into the water just the other day trying to catch a glimpse of him? If Ninth Brother truly fancied Shen Miao, why would he go to such trouble? Besides, Shen Miao is an Incompetent. Look at that girl across from us—her demeanor is serene and noble. There's no way she could be Shen Miao."
"Fourth Brother, be careful with your words. Xiuyi has no such intentions," Fu Xiuyi shook his head, though his gaze remained fixed on the girl in purple among the women's seats.
He couldn't help but feel shocked. Who was Shen Miao? In his eyes, she was no different from the other girls who admired him. At least those girls pretended to be reserved on the surface and understood basic etiquette, whereas Shen Miao... could do nothing but gawk at him foolishly. Naturally, he wouldn't spare a glance for the laughingstock of the entire Fixed Capital. If not for Shen Xin's sake, he would have openly displayed his disdain.
The Shen Miao he remembered always wore gaudy red and green clothes, adored gold ornaments, and caked her face with rouge and powder, looking like a clown from a rural opera stage. But the girl in purple before him now had skin like fine jade, delicate features, and an air of nobility that clearly distinguished her from the other women. How could she possibly be Shen Miao?
He wasn't the only one puzzled—Pei Lang was equally bewildered.
As Shen Miao's tutor for the past two years, Pei Lang undoubtedly knew her far better than Fu Xiuyi. While a person's attire could be changed, their innate temperament was another matter. Pei Lang was a scholar, and scholars placed greater emphasis on temperament than most. How could Shen Miao have transformed overnight into a completely different person? Such things simply didn't happen.
He hadn't connected the incident with the teacup to her, though he too had noticed something amiss with the music. In his mind, how could a young girl possibly discern such subtleties? Besides, Shen Miao had never been skilled in music.Everyone was lost in their own thoughts when the musicians on the stage finally concluded their performance. The Verification was about to begin.
This year's Verification was different from previous years, as it no longer separated men and women but only distinguished between literary and martial categories. Although the Hall of Extensive Learning required students to excel in both, the rules over the past century had always been such that very few women chose the martial category. Meanwhile, the literary category—comprising policy discussions, historical essays, and classical interpretations—was largely dominated by men. These three subjects were essentially pathways for the imperial court to select talent, as one official once remarked, "Those who pass the imperial examinations often become generals or ministers, reaching the pinnacle of prominence."
The martial category tested mounted archery, horse spear techniques, and weightlifting, among other skills. However, since this was not an actual military examination, drills and specific sparring matches were omitted.
Most women were tested on the four literary arts: poetry, songwriting, calligraphy, and painting—a tradition that had long been taken for granted. Even though Ming Qi's customs were relatively open-minded, women were still subjected to much harsher standards. This wasn’t unique to Ming Qi; nearly all nations held the same belief that women should stay at home, tending to their husbands and children while indulging in refined pastimes.
Ming Qi’s Verification had always been divided into three parts: Drawing, Selection, and Challenge.
The Drawing was mandatory for everyone. The Verification officials would shuffle the order and determine each participant’s test item through a random draw. To avoid overly difficult tasks, women drew from the four literary arts, while men drew from either the martial category or the literary subjects of policy discussions and classical interpretations.
Since this was unavoidable, Shen Miao had always embarrassed herself in this segment every year—simply because she was utterly inept in all four literary arts.
The Selection was the second stage, where participants could choose a category they excelled in and demonstrate it on stage. For instance, Shen Yue often chose the zither, while Shen Qing opted for arithmetic.
Finally, there was the Challenge. This was not about choosing but about daring someone to compete. A participant could step forward and challenge any student to a contest in a specific category. Such confrontations usually occurred between evenly matched opponents. As for someone like Shen Miao, challenging her would only demean the challenger’s own abilities. Yet there were those who wanted to mock her, deliberately picking her in previous years to compete in certain categories. The outcome was always predictable—Shen Miao would lose miserably, no matter the category.
Thus, for Shen Miao, the annual Verification was nothing short of a nightmare, a recurring joke that invited scorn and ridicule. Such days were countless.
And this year was no different.
The chief Verification official on stage delivered the same solemn speech as in previous years, while two others brought out small wooden buckets containing the Signed papers. These papers listed the Verification items, to be drawn by the students themselves.
Both men and women had to draw. One official walked to the male section, handing the bucket to each male student in turn. Meanwhile, a tall woman carried the bucket to the female section, allowing the female students to draw in order.
Feng Anning blinked her eyes and said, "May heaven bless me. I only hope to draw the zither or calligraphy—I’m hopeless at painting and chess." She glanced at Shen Miao. "You don’t seem worried at all. Are you confident, or have you simply given up?" It wasn’t that she meant to be harsh, but Shen Miao truly was a fool who excelled at nothing.
Shen Miao remained indifferent. What did it matter what she drew? She was already incompetent in all four arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.When the wooden bucket reached Shen Miao's table, Feng Anning drew first. After picking a signed paper, she eagerly unfolded it and immediately sighed in relief: "It's the zither! The zither! This is perfect—all those days practicing the zither weren't wasted. Shen Miao, what did you get?"
Shen Miao had just withdrawn her hand from the drawing bucket, a white signed paper lying in her palm, folded into a long strip. She opened it to find a single word written inside.
Painting.
...
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