"My surname is Ji, given name Ze, courtesy name Runmin, and I serve as the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion," the elderly man introduced himself only after presenting the princes and princess. He then gestured to the other elder seated beside him: "This master's surname is Li, given name Tao, courtesy name Shanmou, and he holds the position of Academician Expositor-in-Waiting of the Hanlin Academy."Both the Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion and the Academician Expositor-in-Waiting were official court positions, but here in the Mingde Hall, dedicated to educating the imperial descendants, they were simply teaching masters."Master Ji! Master Li!"The youths politely greeted them following Ji Ze's introduction, though their eyes kept darting furtively toward the princes and princess standing behind the two elders.The Crown Prince hadn't come at all. Instead, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Princes were present, along with Second Princess Zhiling.Fu Xuechen was also discreetly observing the princes and Princess Zhiling. The Fourth Prince gave off an unusually serene, even icy and aloof impression—quite cool in demeanor. The Fifth Prince appeared much gentler, carrying an air of refined nobility within his scholarly bearing.The Sixth Prince seemed warmer than the Fourth Prince, yet more lively than the Fifth Prince, with an added touch of amiable smile. His eyes darted around more than those of the two princes before him, sweeping over the gathered youths.The Seventh Prince looked as if he wanted to move but didn't dare fidget, biting his lower lip slightly and blinking repeatedly.Princess Zhiling appeared somewhat timid, her gaze often fixed on her own feet, only occasionally lifting to quickly scan the youths in the hall before turning expectantly toward the few young ladies present.Fu Xuechen's first impression of the Sixth Prince was rather favorable—his looks were arguably the best among the princes.Next came the Fourth and Fifth Princes. In terms of temperament, the Sixth Prince also seemed the most approachable. As his study companion, while other things remained uncertain, at the very least, she wouldn't have to worry about being ignored by him.After several appraising glances, Sixth Prince Yunzuo also directed more of his attention toward Fu Xuechen.He had long heard that Fu Yuchen was exceptionally handsome, renowned even in the Imperial College as a beautiful youth. Seeing him today, the reputation indeed held true. It was just said that his scholarly talents weren't particularly outstanding, somewhat mismatched with his appearance.After completing the introductions, Ji Ze immediately beckoned to a young eunuch, who entered carrying a stack of papers and began distributing them one by one."This literary examination aims to assess your academic level as well as your character and aspirations. Therefore, only three questions are set, with a time limit of one hour. Papers will be graded on the spot. The top twenty-five males and top four females will be selected; the rest will be eliminated!"Fu Xuechen glanced at the number of youths in the hall—about fifty or so. Eliminating over half in a single literary exam meant a fairly high elimination rate.Once the papers were distributed, Ji Ze waved his hand again. Two young eunuchs stepped forward, each holding a scroll. At Ji Ze's signal, they unfurled and hung the scrolls on the pillars on either side of the hall's front. The scrolls were large, each measuring about three by four feet when opened, with black characters on a white background clearly stating the topics for this literary examination.On the left was the character "Spring," and on the right, the two characters "Youth.""With the Spring Equinox just passed, we shall take 'Spring' as the theme. Compose a poem—either five-character or seven-character regulated verse—to test your literary talent and creativity!"Ji Ze announced the topics loudly: "Additionally, take 'Youth' as the theme for a 'Youth Discourse.' What should youth be like? Each of you express your views, allowing us to observe your character. Alright, begin answering."Oh my! This is so much simpler than any middle school exams, college entrance exams, recruitment tests, or various examinations in later times!Fu Xuechen's mind quickly turned, and several poems about "spring" came to mind. Among them, the most straightforward and easily understood, with lines so simple even an old woman could grasp them, was Meng Haoran's "Spring Dawn." It could be used word for word without any changes.As for the "Essay on Youth," the first that came to mind was Liang Qichao's "Essay on a Youthful China." Fu Xuechen couldn’t recite Liang Qichao’s original text word for word, but because she also knew the song of the same title, she remembered the most crucial lines clearly.Among the youths in the hall, some began scratching their heads, others fell into deep thought, and a few glanced around furtively, restless and clearly intending to cheat. A small number of those with refined appearances had already spread out paper and brushes, answering slowly.Thinking of her literary rival in the exam, Xie Yucheng—a well-known figure in the Imperial Academy praised by many for his talent and learning—Fu Xuechen felt she couldn’t afford to be careless. Without overthinking, she directly copied Meng Haoran’s five-character poem "Spring Dawn" beneath the poetry prompt.For the "Essay on a Youthful China," she omitted many of the more obscure passages, selecting only the most essential and straightforward lines to compose a very short essay.Fortunately, in the early days of the Great Rong Kingdom, literary culture had not yet flourished greatly. Many of these youths’ fathers were generals who rose through military prowess, and the youths themselves were still young. Even those from scholarly families had not yet reached profound levels of study. Drawing from the literary skills of two lifetimes, Fu Xuechen was more than capable of handling the task.Even her brush calligraphy, inherited from the original body’s muscle memory and practiced frequently over the past six months, was decent enough, so she wasn’t worried about embarrassing herself.An hour passed quickly, and no one submitted their papers early.Ji Ze shouted loudly, "Stop writing! Collect the papers—"A few groans echoed in the hall, as some still hadn’t finished answering the simple two questions.A young eunuch rose from the back row and swiftly moved forward to collect the papers. Soon, all were gathered and respectfully presented to the two instructors at the front.The two instructors also had desks and writing materials in front of them. Li Tao picked up the first answer sheet, took up the vermilion brush on the table, skimmed through it, casually marked his evaluation, and then passed it to Ji Ze. After reviewing it, Ji Ze also made a few marks with the vermilion brush and announced loudly in the hall, "Wang Jialian! Poetry: inferior. Essay: inferior. Eliminated!"Such efficiency! Fu Xuechen glanced around at the youths with varied expressions and felt a surge of interest.The two instructors graded the papers extremely quickly, spending no more than a minute on each. The evaluations were divided into four grades: superior, excellent, average, and inferior. If either of the two questions was graded inferior, the candidate was eliminated. Only those with both questions graded average or above would temporarily pass. The papers of those who passed were then passed to the princes. Among them, the answer sheets of several candidates for the princess’s study companions were ultimately selected—four in total—and separately delivered to the princess.Fu Xuechen soon heard the results of her two competitors announced. Cheng Defang performed relatively poorly, with poetry graded excellent and the essay average. Xie Yucheng was even more impressive, with poetry graded superior and the essay excellent. This made Fu Xuechen’s heart skip a beat, and she secretly felt relieved that she hadn’t been careless, having played her trump card right from the start.After two more papers were graded, the lecturer Li Tao suddenly narrowed his eyes, let out a soft "hmm," and lingered on the next answer sheet for a moment longer. After evaluating it, he quickly handed it to the instructor Ji Ze."Fu Yuchen…" Ji Ze took the exam paper and had only just read the name on it when his gaze also froze. After lingering for a few seconds, he loudly praised with a "Good": "Excellent poem! Excellent verse! I never expected such talent among you all! Poetry—superior! Essay—superior! Passed!"Whoosh! In an instant, all the young men turned their heads, their eyes settling on Fu Xuechen, filled with surprise, astonishment, disbelief—a myriad of expressions.Was it that exaggerated? Fu Xuechen immediately felt that she might have underestimated the power of famous classical poetry and prose.After announcing the results, Ji Ze was actually reluctant to pass Fu Xuechen's paper to the princes behind him right away. Instead, he held the paper and recited aloud: "Spring! In springtime sleep, dawn unnoticed, everywhere birdsongs are heard. Through the night, sounds of wind and rain, how many flowers fallen, who knows… Excellent poem, truly excellent!"This time, even the princes above turned their gazes toward Fu Xuechen, as if she had instantly become the target of all attention.Fu Xuechen was reflecting on whether she had perhaps performed a bit too well when she noticed a discreetly extended thumb beside her. Her neighbor, Zhang Chuyang, couldn't help but whisper praise: "Yuchen! Impressive! 'Everywhere mosquitoes bite'—how did I not think of such a brilliant line?!"Master Ji did have a bit of an accent, but could you really mistake "birdsongs are heard" for "mosquitoes bite"?! Fu Xuechen nearly burst out laughing.Meanwhile, above, Ji Ze continued reading the lines from Fu Xuechen's second essay, "On Youth": "A nation renewed is like youth, youth is like the morning sun. The future of youth is vast and immeasurable. Thus, the responsibility of today lies entirely with us, the youth.""If youth are wise, the nation is wise; if youth are prosperous, the nation is prosperous; if youth are strong, the nation is strong; if youth are free, the nation is free. Therefore, youth should possess the boldness of youth, standing tall like mountains and rivers, hearts blazing like the radiant sun, forging ahead undeterred through thorns and brambles, striving diligently to become pillars of strength…""Good! Excellent character! Lofty aspirations! Fu Yuchen, you are truly remarkable! All those present here should take inspiration from this!" Ji Ze praised repeatedly.Ah! She had been singled out for praise, and her essay was being read as a model! She had experienced this back in middle school in her previous life. Fu Xuechen thought to herself while promptly and politely bowing to Ji Ze in thanks: "Yuchen is grateful for Master Ji's praise! This student is undeserving."Ji Ze nodded at her with a smile, clearly viewing her with newfound appreciation.Fu Xuechen's gaze drifted seemingly casually toward Sixth Prince Yunzuo above. Yunzuo was also looking back at her, his beautiful obsidian-like eyes seeming to hold a glimmer of light. The moment their eyes met, those dark eyes blinked, and the glimmer seemed to come alive, swirling like sparkling stars.Fu Xuechen quickly blinked in response, silently conveying her message: Did you see how outstanding I am? You must choose me as your study companion, choose me!This lad is quite bold! Unafraid of anything… Yunzuo's mind recalled the prevailing impression of Fu Yuchen as someone who loved to join in the fun but shirked responsibility, always eager to get involved yet quick to flee and shift blame when trouble arose. That impression now began to waver.After Fu Xuechen, there were still many papers awaiting review. But perhaps with such a gem presented first, it was difficult to surpass. No one else after her earned Ji Ze's praise, nor even a superior evaluation—there weren't even two who received an excellent rating.After the literary examination, the two instructors departed first. The princes and Princess Zhiling also moved ahead to the martial arts field specially designated for the princes and princesses to practice riding and archery. The twenty-five temporarily advanced candidates for prince companions and the four candidates for princess companions followed behind, led by the young eunuchs. As for those eliminated on the spot, they were escorted out of the palace gates and returned to their respective residences, with no further mention.Among Fu Yuchen's two companions, Guan Enming was also eliminated, leaving only Zhang Chuyang, who barely scraped through by the skin of his teeth, continuing to stay by Fu Xuechen's side.What was frustrating was that Fu Xuechen's two main competitors, Cheng Defang and Xie Yucheng, had also successfully advanced. Among them, Cheng Defang's literary examination results were even slightly better than Zhang Chuyang's, while Xie Yucheng performed even more brilliantly. If not for Fu Xuechen pulling out all the stops, her results would have been at best comparable to Cheng Defang's.Next came the martial examination. Fu Xuechen only knew how to ride a horse, far from being skilled, and although she had practiced archery, her accuracy left much to be desired. In truth, she felt somewhat ashamed as a descendant of a military family. Even Fu Yuchen wasn't much better than her.However, according to Zhang Chuyang's mutterings, the martial examination was Cheng Defang's forte. As for Xie Yucheng, no one knew his level of riding and archery skills, but it could only be guessed that, coming from a scholarly family, his riding and archery abilities might not be up to par.Her advantage, then, was likely that she was stronger in literature than Cheng Defang and better at riding and archery than Xie Yucheng, making her more well-rounded—that was all. If Xie Yucheng's riding and archery skills surpassed hers, then the more well-rounded one would become Xie Yucheng."Don't worry, Yuchen!" Zhang Chuyang, however, sneakily patted his chest for Fu Xuechen: "I'll keep a close eye on Cheng Defang for you and guarantee he won't outperform you!"
Chapter 4
The Prince Does Not Compete for the Throne