CH 69

After the rankings for the yuanshi came out, the artisans from the prefectural school rushed to publish who was the hongan, the highest ranked student, per the county’s orders. They then rushed to send the results to the newly promoted shengyuan at the inn in which they were staying. There were even those who kept watch by the door of the school and waited to send the ranking results, hoping that they could report great success to the shengyuan’s hometown. As soon as the public roll of successful examinees was posted, they would use crimson note-paper reporting of a success and dash towards each shengyuan’s county and residence and even their relatives to announce the good news, in order to ask for some red envelopes. 

The inn Cui Xie was currently lodged at was full of tongsheng and shengyuan who had taken the examinations. On the day of the announcement, strings of small firecrackers popped unceasingly and those who reported good news darted in one after another: “Success! Some scholar child from so-and-so county, accordinging to Zhili Provincial Educational Commissioner Dai, has been selected to be a xiucai during the Jiachen year with so-and-so rank, a joint triumph along with the provincial examinations!”

Zhao Yinglin and a few other tongsheng couldn’t wait for the good news to be sent over, so they had rushed outside the prefectural office early in the morning to see the rankings for themselves. After Cui Xie finished the examinations, he planned to draw the portraits for the last 11 volumes of the 《Three Kingdoms》. These readers did not dare to delay his proper business and slapped their chests persuading “Just draw what you need to draw, we will head over there and copy down your ranking. Since you placed first in the last two examinations, it can be assumed that you will certainly be ranked near the top again this time. It doesn’t take too much effort to take a look.”

Pengyan had also wanted to see Cui Xie’s rank earlier and stalled until the school students had left before serving Cui Xie a cup of tea and said, “Da-ge, should I also help you take a look?”

Cui Xie smiled, “After you are finished, do you also want to help me report the good news to my hometown? I still have to stay in the prefectural city to await the re-examination [1], attend the entrance ceremony, and see off the Headmaster before I can return home. Your father and Shopkeeper Ji must be anxiously waiting at home.”

Pengyan replied, “No matter, there will naturally be someone  who will notify our residence. I should stay to help you sort the silver, order new clothes, order a shengyuan headscarf as well as boots, stockings and silk waistbands. You must also bring me with you when you go out for a meal and drinks with your new shengyuan friends. Otherwise, everyone else will be accompanied by their book boys, and if you are by yourself, that is just asking for others to make fun of you.

Cui Xie lightly patted Pengyan’s forehead encased by the black-netted headscarf, “You are already a young boss now, why do you still treat yourself as a book boy? Your father has already prepared the clothes. When the time comes, we will ask the shop to starch the clothes so they can be worn, no need for you to do the work. Besides, it’s not a good thing to go out for drinks. I don’t even want to go with them, let alone a child like yourself. If you want to go see the list, just go. Buy whatever food you want to eat along the road, just don’t get lost.”

Feeling his forehead, Pengyan ran out with a grin and said, “During the past few days while you were taking the examinations, I have already strolled around the entire prefectural city, how will I get lost from just going to look at the public roll? Da-ge, just feel at ease and paint, I will bring some hammered fowl over for lunch at noon.”

Pengyan took a Chinese skullcap hat in hand, put it on and dashed off. Cui Xie bolted the door from the inside with a horizontal bar and began to paint the famous scene from Chapter 57 of the 《Three Kingdoms》where “Wo Long (Zhuge Liang) Pays a Condolence Call”.

Seeing these names, the faces of Tang Guoqiang and He Qing [2] seemed to float before him: A funeral hall hung with veils of snow-white plain thin silk with Zhuge Liang dressed in white robes holding a fan of crane feathers and wearing a striped hat as he weeped while caressing the coffin while Xiao Qiao, clasping a long sword, appeared with eyes holding back hot tears as she held the sword…..

It was a pity that the original work didn’t have a portrait of Xiao Qiao wanting to kill Zhuge Liang, so he could only draw a portrait of Zhou Yu bent over his desk, vomiting blood and add the He Qing version of Xiao Qiao into the scene, rushing from behind in alarm and grief. In the scene of Zhuge Liang paying a condolence call, Cui Xie painted it so that Zhuge Liang stood in the center as he grasped a written eulogy in his hands. Zhao Yun stood at the rear with a hand on his sword while Lu Su, Zhang Zhao, Huang Gai and others persuaded with tears brimming in their eyes.

Cui Xie used a ungraduated ruler to make a perspective line and used a wood charcoal pencil to draw the draft. He first drew a simple composition of Zhou Yu vomiting blood.

Just as the silhouette of a human body began to form, and he drew different crosshairs to form the face, suddenly, a peal of urgent rapping sounded out from the door. Thinking it was Pengyan or his schoolmates returning home from looking at the list, he rolled up his painting papers and got up to open the door.

However, outside the door was an unknown burly man with beads of sweat floating on his forehead and neck. The man’s chest heaved as he panted for breath and the outer corner of his eyes were slightly droopy, so for some reason, he looked somewhat fierce. Cui Xie pulled the door ajar slightly and was somewhat on alert as he asked, “To come over here, has something happened?”

That man pressed against the door frame and peered carefully at Cui Xie as he asked, “You are Young Master Cui Xie from Qian’an?”

……It couldn’t be that someone truly accused him of cheating?

Cui Xie tightened his grip on the door frame and forced himself to remain calm as he said, “I am Cui Xie, is this da-ge here to find me?”

That man nodded, glanced left and right before pushing open the door, squeezing his way into the room and locking the door behind him. Cui Xie had a kind of misunderstanding that felt like he had stepped right into a secret room where a murder was going to take place. He retreated two steps towards the window, swallowed and asked: “What matter does this Sir have with me that you even have to lock the door to speak?”

That man fished out a piece of raw silk paper with Xie Ying’s name on it from his bosom, bowed his head and spoke, “This little one is a servant from the Xie Residence, Xie Ke, and was ordered by my Laoye, Colonel Xie to pass on a message.”

It turned out Colonel Xie had some business with him, wouldn’t it have been better to just say it straight out? Everyone was already well-acquainted, was there a need to be so mysterious? Cui Xie inwardly let out breath and tucked the note into his sleeve before politely saying, “Then da-ge, please take a seat in the main Inner Hall, I will ask a waiter to bring a cup of iced smoked plum boiled in water.”

Xie Ke waved his hands, “No need to call anyone, I have received the Colonel’s command to inform you of a matter. The Young Master shouldn’t know about this matter at this time, so after listening, just pretend you haven’t heard of it yet and don’t make any movements temporarily.”

Although Cui Xie was somewhat distrustful, because it was a matter regarding the Jinyiwei, he honestly stood to listen.

Xie Ke even got up to shut the window and then began speaking in a low voice, “These past few days, someone had been sending posts to individual residences saying that Qian’an County Magistrate Qi Sheng forcibly took that library of yours…..”

Cui Xie already knew of this matter, Colonel Xie and Imperial Censor Liu had even come to the prefecture to personally take his oral confession! Could it be that there was a follow-up to this matter and it required him to enter the capital to testify for County Magistrate Qi?

Cui Xie’s eyes widened as he looked at Xie Ke and his gaze was full of questions but he was afraid of interrupting the other’s speech, so he didn’t dare to voice them. Xie Ke avoided Cui Xie’s stare, as if he was afraid of harming him, gently and cautiously lowering his voice: “This matter was actually done by your mother. Our Colonel has already investigated the truth and ordered this small one to first come to Yongping to notify the Young Master in advance and ask the Young Master to make preparations…”

Preparations….what was there to prepare? Prepare for the entire family to be imprisoned?

He really was f****** speechless!

At that time, Xu furen had planted false evidence against her stepson which had been passed over and after all was said and done, technically it wasn’t her that had beaten someone to death. Now, unexpectedly, she was so audacious that she dared to frame a titled official of the Imperial court——it was even a person she had no grievance or grudge with, it was even an official who had helped her stepson. Just what kind of deep grievance and hatred was there!

Cui Xie wanted to enter the capital to testify. Even if she did too, Cui Xie would follow her in. He needed to shed light on the truth and testify. Country Magistrate Qi was innocent and had never taken anything by force!

Cui Xie’s face flushed angrily and he heavily stamped his feet against the floorboards, “I will enter the capital! How can there be such a thing in the world? How can I just sit in Yongping and watch! I….worst comes to worst, I will go make a complaint to the Imperial court, roll over the nail plate[3]. I don’t believe….”

He couldn’t believe that there was no unreasonable place in the entire world!

Xie Ke promptly held Cui Xie’s shoulders, persuading urgently and quickly next to his ear, “Colonel asked me to bring a letter, precisely because he felt that you would become anxious after hearing what happened and do something unwise. Although Xu furen is your stepmother, she certainly violated the laws of the Imperial court. While our Colonel was judging the case, she admitted to making a false accusation and sending an anonymous message. There is absolutely no doubt in the confessions obtained from torture.”

…..Colonel Xie had already uncovered the truth and details of the case and Xu furen had been convicted of a crime? This was really the heavens having eyes, good and evil karmic retribution!

Cui Xie was a youth who had grown up under the teachings of socialism and believed that one’s actions would be converted to karma. He had been so excessively stirred up that his entire face was blank and he didn’t even know how to laugh. Xie Ke mistakenly thought that after hearing his stepmother’s crime that the other had been heartbroken to this point. He couldn’t bear to look on any further, so Xie Ke turned away from Cui Xie and sighed a few times.

Cui Xie managed to regain his senses after great difficulty and raised his hands in a cupped fist salute towards Xie Ke and said: “Many thanks to da-ge for delivering the letter, please thank the Colonel when you return.”

Xie Ke replied, “No need to thank, the Colonel just wanted me to come and tell you the news, as well as warn you: The Emperor wants to summon you into the Imperial palace. I’m afraid your family will soon arrive to retrieve you to come back to the capital. The Colonel knows you are a filial son, after entering the capital, you will naturally try to present a petition asking for the exoneration of your stepmother. When submitting the petition, he wanted you to think about the grievances County Magistrate Qi suffered.”

Cui Xie still needed to write a letter to exonerate his stepmother ah…If Colonel Xie hadn’t reminded him, he would have never thought to do it. Even if Colonel Xie had said so, he truly did not want to.

But, he was a high-minded and righteous person personally commended by the Emperor and had even received an edict. Naturally, he must also be a filial son. Loyalty and righteousness were the two mainstream values of the Great Ming. No matter what his heart felt, whether or not he was like this everyday, in such a situation in which tens of thousands of people were paying attention to him, it must be taken care of beautifully.

The petition needed to be written with brilliant literary grace and in a splendid and touching manner, but by all means, it must not be so moving that it would cause the Emperor or the court officials to be willing to pardon Xu-shi’s sins. In this case, the petition needed to include more about how County Magistrate Qi diligently governed his beloved people, and treated Cui Xie like a disciple. It was to let people who read it to always think of how such an uncorrupted and loving official had been framed by Xu-shi.

Colonel Xie was really worthy of being part of the Jinyiwei, such high ability ah!

Cui Xie narrowed his eyes slightly and seriously pondered over how to write this Cahiers de doléances (list of grievances). Xie Ke observed from the side, but felt that the burden carried in the other’s brows was becoming increasingly heavy, making it unbearable for others to see. He simply raised his hands in a cupped fist salute and said his farewells, noiselessly merging into the crowd.

After he left, Cui Xie still returned to his table to paint, but he couldn’t produce any satisfactory composition. He just used the painting brush to give vent to the mercurial feelings in his heart.

At noon, a few schoolmates returned to the inn with their companions and brought back the news that he was the anshou, the highest ranked examinee:

The anshou for all three examinations, Little Tertiary Winner, it was rare for the prefecture to see such a talent in decades!

Naturally, such an occasion must be celebrated!

Among the primary school students in Teacher Lin’s academy, four had been admitted as shengyuan. Among them were Zhao Shishi and Yue Shixiong, who had taken him to the Chongyang Poetry Banquet where he had advertised his goods. A few people discussed visitinghim to celebrate, so they each brought some food and drink over, not only to celebrate him becoming the anshou, but to also express their thanks for having received some of his luck when taking the examinations.

Cui Xie temporarily threw those vexing thoughts to the back of his mind and rose out of his seat to welcome and congratulate them with a face radiant with happiness.

Everyone tightly encircled the table to take a seat. The vegetable and meat dishes in addition to Pengyan’s hammered fowl and fish mackerel filled the table and they also ordered two jars of white shaojiu[4]——

From now on, they were no longer primary school students, but genuine prefectural and county shengyuan. Naturally, they needed to drink authentic mellow, rich and intoxicating wine!

But, they didn’t dare to drink too much on account of there being a re-examination after the public roll was released. The Provincial Educational Commissioner was still waiting to test them in the examination tents.

However, there was only one round of examinations and it was two questions on Confucian Classics and the examination papers were only passed out after entering the examination grounds. On the front, the essays from the previous three stages of tongshi, or entry-level examinations, were bound together and at the end, a few pages of gridded draft paper was included at the end. This exam’s purpose was only to compare the students’ handwriting and literary power. It would be enough to verify that no one had cheated and generally people wouldn’t be dismissed.

After passing the re-examinations, it was the entrance ceremony for the new shengyuan. The new students were led by their respective county educational officials to thank the examiners and perform the ceremony for teachers and students. Then, the Headmaster would lead the new students to pay their respects to the sage, Confucius, and worthy Sages of the past at the civil temple. The Yongping Prefecture was renowned for being a palace where horses were raised, so each household was distributed with horses nurtured by the Imperial court. The Education Commissioner asked for the help of the locals and the village chiefs. In the end, they gathered together a few hundred horses and let these rising stars parade through the streets like jinshi.

The Yongping Prefecture had not seen such a bustling scene of noise and excitement for several years, and the common people chased after the procession to watch.

Cui Xie was wearing a lanshan[5], a hairpin with silver flowers and straddled over a snowy-white horse.

He was good-looking and the entire city’s gaze amassed onto him and young girls were not soft-hearted in throwing flowers and fruits. If it wasn’t for his good eyesight and quick reflexes, perhaps his face would have already been smashed and littered with bruises from the attention.

Fortunately, he attracted the majority of the firepower and the two young and elegant jingkui behind him received a lighter barrage. Further in the back, there were those who were older and did not look as handsome and were ranked near the bottom…it was not so dangerous for them. Occasionally, there would be some thrown at them since they were to be honored, and they held the flowers and handkerchiefs tightly, beaming as they circled back to the school temple.

While they were en-route back towards the city, Cui Xie seemed to vaguely hear someone chasing behind the back shouting “Eldest Young Master”. On account of worrying about the matter of Xu furen, he could not help but turn around several times. But, he really couldn’t recognize anyone from the Cui Residence and couldn’t see anything unusual in the crowd. He had no choice but to urge his horse with a whip and continue forward to finish touring the streets.

Upon returning to the school temple, Educational Commissioner Dai lectured a few words and allowed these rising stars to return home, leaving behind Cui Xie only and pulling his hands to ask, “How old were you when you first received instruction? What age did you start to write essays? Have you chosen a courtesy name?”

Cui Xie answered the first two questions fluently and then told Imperial Censor Dai that he had only been 14-years-old when he came to Qian’an and had never taken the county examinations before, hence, his father had not bestowed him a courtesy name yet.

Dai Ren was extremely satisfied with this answer and stroked his chin and the few stalks of beard there: “You are young, yet you have entered school and are a person of scholarly honor. In the future, when you deal with similarly scholarly friends, you must have a name for them to address you. Since this official has selected you and can be regarded as the Chief Examiner, how about  letting me choose a courtesy name for you?”

Naturally, that was good since he was a modern person who wasn’t familiar with the customs that the ancient times had when choosing a courtesy name, Cui Xie had even been afraid he wouldn’t be able to come up with anything good himself! He hurriedly stood up, cupped his hands in a fisted salute and thanked, “This is exactly what this student has  been looking for, many thanks for da-ren’s favor!”

Imperial Censor Dai swayed his head back and forth to say, “Since your name is Xie and it is said, “Xie, means harmony”, and in the《Book of Documents·Hongfan》, there is the phrase, ‘Good-natured and flexible’.. You are refined in manner, calm and steady in temperament. You also make an effort in your studies. Naturally, you are good-natured and flexible and will harmonize the land under the heavens. I will choose your courtesy name as Hezhong. In the 《Book of History》, it says, “The moral nature (of the people) is made harmonious[6]. I hope that in the future you will join the Sages under the heavens in doing one’s utmost to share unity and work together to harmonize yin and yang.”

Good, very good, as long as it wasn’t a name chosen by his father, Official Cui, it was good!

Cui Xie stood up in response, cupped his hands in a fisted salute and thanked him, “This student thanks Mister for bestowing the name!”

Footnote: