After the written exam ended, the faces of the new ladies were grim.
Even Consort Ji, who had been full of confidence, wore a cold expression, her hands under her sleeves clenched into small fists.
What kind of questions did the Empress even come up with!
For the past month, the new ladies had studied with all their might to be assigned to a good palace—entertainment in the palace was scarce, and with Wet Nurse Ye watching them so closely, the new ladies had nothing else to do but study. After such high-pressure, concentrated learning, every one of them knew the palace rules by heart. They had also guessed there would be scenario-based questions to test their temperament and upbringing.
For example: [Your palace maid receives a reward from another consort. How should you handle it?]…
Similar questions would have been difficult for the new ladies of lower birth, but for those from good families like Consort Ji and Attendant He, they were a breeze. If not perfect, their answers would at least be very proper.
What made all the new ladies look so troubled was the large number of questions about the etiquette of court festivals.
Especially those involving the Three Great Court Congratulations.
There were a total of twelve places for New Year’s sacrificial rites. Besides the ones the Emperor went to himself, the Empress would also lead the palace consorts to perform grand ceremonies and offer congratulations. The entire process, from dressing to the order of precedence, had to be flawless.
Attendant Zhang fumed, “Isn’t this just deliberately making things difficult for people? Won’t the servants arrange all that? Do we really need to worry about it?”
“Your Ladyship is mistaken,” Wet Nurse Ye, who had overheard, said with a smile. “Trivial matters should indeed be prepared by the servants. But if the master herself is clueless, there’s no guarantee a servant won’t be negligent. When that time comes and you overstep the rules, Your Ladyship won’t be able to escape punishment. Besides, only by having a grasp of all procedures can you manage the servants of an entire palace. However, if Attendant Zhang believes she does not wish to manage them, this servant can relay that to Her Majesty the Empress.”
Only a consort of pin rank or higher could be the master of a palace.
If Wet Nurse Ye truly relayed this with some embellishment to Jianzhang Palace, then in any future promotions within the six palaces, this could be used as leverage to firmly keep Attendant Zhang below the rank of pin.
“…Don’t be offended, Wet Nurse. I misspoke.”
Attendant Zhang’s face paled, and she bit her lower lip, lowering her head to admit her mistake.
Wet Nurse Ye said, “If Your Ladyship can pass the examination, I hope you will be more cautious with your words in the future.”
“Wet Nurse’s lesson is right.”
Only after Wet Nurse Ye had left did Attendant Zhang dare to raise her head.
But the moment she looked up, she saw Yun Jiao’s sweet, hibiscus-like face, wreathed in a smile. A surge of anger instantly rose within her. “What are you smiling about? Are you happy because you saw everyone did poorly on the exam?”
With that, Attendant Zhang had successfully drawn everyone’s animosity toward Yun Jiao.
“Not really.”
“If not, then what are you smiling about?”
“I’m happy to see that you did poorly on the exam.”
Sincerity is always a killer move.
Attendant Zhang had long seen her as a thorn in the side, so Yun Jiao naturally wouldn’t waste effort trying to please her or change her impression.
The others who heard this, while finding Yun Daying a bit too blunt, couldn’t help but stifle their laughter. “You provoke Yun Daying all day long, and you won’t even allow her a moment of schadenfreude?”
Annoyed, Attendant Zhang stomped her foot and turned to seek help from Consort Ji.
Unexpectedly, Consort Ji gave her a cool glance. “Since you are not familiar with Yun Daying, you should talk to her less. You can’t out-talk her, and you’ve never won a fight against her. Now you’re telling me, and you want me to go demand justice for you? You’re not even in the right.”
“Sister Ji is a Consort. Even if I’m not in the right, she can’t disrespect a superior…”
Upon hearing this, Consort Ji frowned and dismissed her.
…
While Attendant Zhang was hiding somewhere crying her eyes out, the exam papers were quickly delivered to Jianzhang Palace.
Delivered along with the papers was a gift of respect from Shufei.
Dongqin picked out a ruby hairpin of excellent quality from the gifts and clicked her tongue. “Her Majesty Shufei has really spared no expense for her younger sister.”
Another palace maid chimed in, “Would Her Majesty Shufei really be so devoted to planning her sister’s future? I heard their relationship back at their family estate was quite poor.”
The Empress said to Dongqin in a cold voice, “It’s a rare thing for Shufei to bow her head to me. It’s just a matter of assigning a good palace, so I’ll grant her this. We’ll see which of them, she or Shufei, has the better fortune.”
With that, she began to look through the papers.
Seeing how many of the papers were answered in a complete mess, she, the one who set the questions, actually broke into a smile. “Later, send the papers to Weiyang Palace for the Emperor to have a look.”
Normally, matters of the inner palace should not be used to disturb the Emperor.
However, the current sovereign had a controlling nature and did not dislike the Empress consulting him on palace affairs. He would always complete any work handed to him.
The Empress knew that the Emperor detested foolish people most of all.
This was perfect. Let him see the bunch of simpletons selected based on family status and appearance.
The exam papers were arranged in order of family status and rank. When she reached the last one, the smile on the Empress’s face froze slightly.
Dongqin brought over hot tea. “Your Majesty?”
“This paper is answered quite well. There isn’t a single mistake or omission.”
Dongqin couldn’t read, so she had Donghua, who was literate, come over to look with her.
As the one who set the questions, the Empress knew she had buried some “guaranteed-to-be-wrong questions” in the exam. For example, the taboo characters for the Longevity Lantern Removal and Hanging Lanterns, and the fixed dishes at the banquet after the Grand Temple Xia Sacrifice. Wet Nurse Ye had mentioned the former once as a tangent to liven the mood, and the latter was only mentioned during the lesson on arranging dishes. Who would have expected the exam to be so minutely detailed?
And yet, the handwriting on Yun Daying’s paper was elegant without being weak, the strokes firm, showing that the writer was full of confidence in her answers.
The Empress’s hand, nails painted with impatiens dye, lightly lifted Yun Jiao’s paper. “If this were Consort Ji’s paper, I would have to suspect someone in Jianzhang Palace of leaking the questions.” Not to mention Yun Daying’s poor family background, even if she had some silver, a few taels would not be enough to bribe her way through the gates of Jianzhang Palace.
She had actually earned this entirely on her own merit.
The Empress imagined a clever and spirited face. Then, thinking of the Emperor’s preferences, her expression remained unchanged, but her mood soured slightly. “Yun Daying shall be granted residence in Xianfu Palace.”
After all, she had personally said that assessment scores were linked to palace assignments, so she naturally couldn’t treat Yun Jiao, who had submitted a perfect paper, unfairly. Xianfu Palace was not particularly close to the Emperor, but it was on the list of palaces that the Emperor had ordered the Imperial Household Department to renovate after his ascension.
Yun Jiao’s birth and rank were both low.
Unless she gained favor in the future, she would have no share in the upper three palaces like Chengqian, Yikun, and Yonghe Palace.
Xianfu Palace was already the best she could hope for.
“For Yun Daying to receive such generous treatment from Your Majesty, others will see it and know that Your Majesty is fair in your rewards and punishments.”
Donghua’s words flattered her mistress, and a faint smile finally appeared on the Empress’s lips.
…
Even though the Emperor and Empress were not close, the Empress understood the Emperor quite well.
When Xie Zhihang saw the exam papers that were sent over, not only did he not find her meddlesome, but he also took on the spirit of the final imperial examination selection and began to read them very seriously.
After reading them, he felt like a professor looking at graduation theses—his Idiot Aversion Syndrome was acting up.
What on earth was this stuff they had written?
They had studied for a month in Chu Xiu Palace and this was the result?
Aside from Consort Ji, whose answers were reasonably decent, the others were all sloppy.
The questions that seemed as difficult as ascending to heaven in the eyes of the new ladies were nothing in the eyes of the top student who had once dominated the imperial study and become the nightmare of all his younger brothers! What was wrong with testing the fixed customs of a certain banquet? Weren’t these all free-point questions that could be aced just by memorizing them? They didn’t even require any thought!
Xie Zhihang’s brows furrowed sharply, only relaxing when he saw Yun Jiao’s paper.
Mm, only this Yun clan member seems to have a good head on her shoulders.