Five Years To Ascend The Throne, Three Years Of Mock Simulations - Chapter 14

At the yin hour, in the Upper Study.

Everyone had already arrived, and Teacher Qin had invited the emperor to sit in the seat of honor. The emperor looked down at the children, each of them with lowered brows and obedient eyes, not even daring to breathe too loudly, and said calmly, “Yao’er, come forward.”

Ming Yao did not seem surprised at all, nor did he show the slightest nervousness. After answering, he rose neatly and walked gracefully to the center of the hall.

His bearing was composed. Even beneath the gazes of so many brothers and sisters, he remained calm and unhurried. He saluted the emperor openly and said, “The Classic this son specializes in is the Book of Documents. Father Emperor, please ask your question.”

The emperor nodded. Without needing to consult a book, he merely thought briefly before asking directly, “‘Complacency brings loss; humility receives benefit—such is the way of Heaven.’ Do you know where this sentence comes from?”

A mere ten characters, yet one had to search for them among more than fifty chapters of the ancient and modern texts of the Book of Documents.

Not only did Ming Xuan, who specialized in the Book of Documents like Ming Yao, suck in a cold breath—even Teacher Qin himself, standing beside the emperor, could not help frowning slightly.

Yet Ming Yao did not show the slightest panic. He only thought for around three breaths before saying with confidence, “Reporting to Father Emperor, this sentence should come from the chapter ‘Counsels of Great Yu’ in the Book of Yu.”

The Book of Documents was divided into four major sections: Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou, each corresponding to its respective dynasty. The Book of Yu recorded the affairs of the Yu Dynasty.

However…

Ming Yao thought for a moment. After hesitating briefly, he still continued to add, “Furthermore, the chapter ‘Counsels of Great Yu’ belongs to the Old Text Book of Documents. It is one of the forged chapters presented by the Mei clan of Jin.”

From ancient times to the present, the Book of Documents, as one of the Confucian Five Classics, had always been generally believed to have been written by the pre-Qin philosophers.

However, because of the burning of books and burying of scholars during the Qin Dynasty, as well as the endless wars of successive dynasties, the original text, handwritten copies, and orally transmitted versions of the Book of Documents had been scattered and lost several times. It was not until the early Eastern Jin Dynasty that an official named Mei Ze presented a version of the Book of Documents to the court, which included twenty-five “forged” chapters of the Old Text Book of Documents—meaning chapters not written in the pre-Qin period.

“Oh?”

The emperor raised a brow and turned to ask Teacher Qin, “You even taught this?”

The latter shook his head and denied it with a solemn expression. “The Fifth Prince has not yet finished studying the entire Book of Documents, so this humble subject has not yet taught His Highness about the theory of ‘forgeries.’”

So the emperor turned back to Ming Yao and asked with great interest, “Then how did Yao’er know?”

“Reporting to Father Emperor,” a trace of pride naturally appeared on Ming Yao’s face, “Second Imperial Brother also specialized in the Book of Documents. He personally taught this son.”

—The Second Prince, Ming Hui, and the Fifth Prince, Ming Yao, were both born of Noble Consort Wan. They were full brothers from the same mother.

“Oh, yes. Back then, Second also specialized in the Book of Documents.” The emperor nodded in sudden realization and sighed with a smile. “Two months ago, We ordered him to go to Qianzhou on official business. Quite some time has passed since then…”

There were actually not many older princes in the palace.

The former crown prince, Ming Yan, had been the emperor’s legitimate eldest son. He was exquisitely intelligent, gentle as jade, and possessed the talent to govern heaven and earth. Unfortunately, although his fortune was great, his life was thin. At sixteen, when he went south to Jiangnan, he was tragically killed by assassins. His guards had not reached him in time, and he passed away just like that.

The Second Prince, Ming Hui, was Noble Consort Wan’s eldest son. Now nearly of age, he had talent and foresight in equal measure. He was almost no different from Ming Yan back then, and so many people secretly regarded him as the best candidate for crown prince.

As for the Third Prince…

Hearing the emperor mention the Second Prince, who was away from the palace, Ming Tan lowered her eyes and sighed softly in her heart.

The Third Prince, Ming Jing, was also born of the empress Gu Ying. He was Ming Tan’s second full elder brother.

Back then, after Ming Jing was born, countless people had believed that the emperor would surely appoint another legitimate son as crown prince. But gradually, as he grew older, for some unknown reason, Ming Jing became increasingly weak and sickly. He was bedridden almost all year round…

The imperial physicians in the palace were all helpless. The emperor had also sought famous doctors everywhere for his son, but all his efforts had been in vain. Not a single person could cure Ming Jing.

As time went on, perhaps because he had lain in bed for too long, Ming Jing eventually developed an illness in his legs. He could not even stand steadily, and could only move with the help of a wheelchair. In the end, he lost the qualifications to compete for the position of crown prince.

No one would appoint a half-disabled prince as heir.

The empress herself was already in poor health. She always felt that Ming Jing’s illness had been brought from her womb, so she believed she was the one who had harmed her child. She spent her days filled with guilt and self-blame, gloomy and unhappy, nearly tormenting herself into depression as well.

—Fortunately, when misfortune reached its limit, things finally began to turn toward hope.

Three years ago, the medical-seeking decree the emperor had issued to the entire realm finally received a response from Baicao Valley, known as the “number one physician under heaven.”

Although this Baicao Valley had the word “valley” in its name, it was not actually a valley, but the self-designation of a hereditary family of physicians. They had passed down their medical arts from generation to generation, practicing medicine for a hundred years. They had a very high reputation among the common people and were said to possess the skill to revive the dead and regrow flesh on bare bones. Yet they had never accepted anyone’s request for treatment.

The emperor had once sent people to look for them as well, but they had always returned empty-handed.

But three years ago, the current head of Baicao Valley took the initiative to enter the palace and request an audience. He said that the Third Prince’s illness was strange, unheard of, and had aroused the interest of their entire family. Therefore, they hoped to invite the Third Prince to reside temporarily in Baicao Valley, where they would take full responsibility for treating him. Perhaps in the future, there might still be a turn for the better.

These words were actually rather impolite, as if they were looking for an experimental white mouse.

In great anger, the emperor originally wanted to refuse. But Ming Jing seized the opportunity and personally came to Tianhong Palace, declaring in person to the family head that even if there was only the faintest chance of survival, he was willing to go to Baicao Valley to treat his legs.

The emperor had no choice but to approve.

However, once Ming Jing left, he was gone for three years. During that time, he only exchanged a few letters with the imperial palace. No one knew when exactly he would return, nor did anyone know how his leg illness was now, or whether he was close to recovery.

And little Ming Tan, who had separated from her third brother at the age of five, had died without ever seeing again the full elder brother in her memories who had doted on her in every possible way.

“…”

Ming Tan quickly raised her hand and used her sleeve to wipe away the inexplicable shimmer of tears at the corner of her eyes.

She took a deep breath and lifted her eyes, only to suddenly realize that Ming Zhao had already finished her recitation test and was now turning back to her seat, looking at Ming Tan with some worry.

Ming Tan blinked and was just about to return her a reassuring smile when she heard the emperor say, “Ming Xuan, Ming Xiao. Since you two are siblings, come up and answer together.”

The two siblings looked at each other and obediently left their seats.

Ming Tan had no patience to watch them, so she lazily yawned, sprawled over her desk, and simply closed her eyes to doze.

The emperor casually chose a few slightly difficult sentences. Seeing that although the two needed to think for a long time, their recitation was fairly smooth, he praised them as well. “Mm, not bad. Especially Ming Xiao. You have improved greatly. You should continue to be diligent like this.”

Ming Xiao floated with pride from the praise, even her steps becoming lighter by two degrees. She walked back to her seat smugly. When she passed Ming Tan, she suddenly lowered her voice and cursed softly:

“I’d like to see how a little slut like you can beat me!”

“…”

Ming Tan did not even bother acknowledging her. She merely let out a soft cold laugh and did not spare her even half a glance.

“—Longlin.”

At that exact moment, the emperor’s smiling voice rang out. “What are you waiting for? Hurry over.”

Ming Tan flicked her sleeves and rose. With an “ei,” she trotted to the emperor and stood before him, grinning. “Longlin memorized everything very well. Father Emperor, please test me however you like!”

“Oh? Quite ambitious.” The emperor asked, “The Classic you specialize in is Spring and Autumn Annals. Have you found it difficult and obscure?”

“Longlin has recently been studying the Zuo Tradition. The stories inside are quite interesting, so I don’t find them that obscure.”

Ming Tan denied it against her true feelings. Then she paused, as if remembering something, narrowed her eyes, and added, “I must also thank Father Emperor for your great grace in finding me such a good study companion.”

“The eldest daughter of Chancellor Lin’s family is famous for her talent, unmatched in the capital. With her and Teacher Qin here, We feel very at ease about you.”

The emperor clapped his hands and laughed. Raising a brow, he followed the topic and said, “Since you said just now that you have recently been studying the Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Tradition, then We shall test you on that.”

The current emperor, Ming Yi, had read poetry and books extensively since childhood. After ascending the throne, he had also never stopped studying diligently. The Four Books and Five Classics were closely related to governing the country, and he had always kept these classical texts in his mind, even occasionally opening them again to reread. Thus, when it came to breadth of learning, he was not necessarily much worse than Teacher Qin, who specialized in this path.

Ming Tan lifted her chin and showed no fear. In high spirits, she said, “Father Emperor, please ask!”

Under Lin Shurong’s demonic teaching policy… when it came to memorization, she had already completely conquered it!

However, to everyone’s surprise—

The emperor did not, like he had with the other princes and princesses, merely pick original passages from ancient books for her to recite.

Instead, as if he had prepared long ago, he asked, “In the first year of Duke Yin, Duke Zheng defeats Duan at Yan. In Longlin’s view, what kind of person was Gongshu Duan, Duke Zhuang’s younger brother?”

“Duke Zheng defeats Duan at Yan” came from the first entry in Spring and Autumn Annals. This story told of how Duke Zhuang deliberately indulged his younger brother Gongshu Duan, who was favored by their mother, allowing him to grow arrogant and eventually rebel. Yet Gongshu Duan was defeated at the city of Yan by the well-prepared Duke Zhuang—Duke Zheng in the title—and after that, their mother was moved to Ying.

Ming Tan froze at this unexpected question.

But she immediately came back to herself and swiftly ran through the story in her mind. After pondering for a moment, she raised her eyes and said bluntly, “Gongshu Duan was a fool, and likewise, an evil man.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone’s expressions changed in different ways. The princes and princesses below who did not specialize in Spring and Autumn Annals looked at one another, not understanding why. Beside the emperor, Teacher Qin furrowed his brows slightly, revealing a thoughtful look.

But the emperor, seated in the place of honor, raised his brows high with interest and lifted his chin, signaling for Ming Tan to continue.

She did not hesitate. Out of habit, she clasped her hands behind her back, furrowed her brows as if in thought, and slowly said, “From ancient times to the present, among all the different commentaries, there are always people who angrily curse Duke Zhuang and sigh with pity for Gongshu Duan…”

“But in Longlin’s humble view—Duke Zhuang was the dignified ruler of a state. In order to preserve his great enterprise, what wrong did he commit? The one who should be hated even more is clearly that treasonous man who dared rebel!”

“…!”

Teacher Qin could not help sucking in a cold breath. The princes and princesses all held their breaths too, not daring to even breathe loudly. None of them had expected Ming Tan to open her mouth and speak of “rebellion” and “treason.”

Meanwhile, in a corner no one noticed, Ming Yao furrowed his brows and instinctively lowered his head even more.

However, even though everyone else treated the matter as something taboo, the emperor’s expression did not change. Instead, his smile deepened, and he continued asking, “Then what kind of person was Duke Zhuang?”

“Longlin believes that Duke Zhuang was unloved by his mother from childhood, while his younger brother harbored disloyal ambitions. As the eldest son and elder brother, how tragic he was.”

Ming Tan seemed not to feel that she had said anything shocking just now and continued calmly, “Old grudges and new hatred, coupled with the fact that the fault already lay with Gongshu Duan, meant that Duke Zhuang restrained himself, bided his time, laid a plan, indulged him, and then executed the arrogant traitor. This was truly a model of sovereign strategy. He clearly ought to receive the praise of the world.”

“Oh?” the emperor asked curiously. “Longlin does not think Duke Zhuang’s act of killing his younger brother was too cruel?”

“Cruel?” Ming Tan scoffed. “Putting aside the fact that Gongshu Duan committed treason first, let us speak only of Duke Zhuang—those who accomplish great things should not be confined by emotion, and as a ruler, one must all the more look at the larger situation. As long as the outcome is correct, then even if the process is somewhat cruel, somewhat ruthless, so what?”

“…”

The emperor lowered his eyes and smiled. He stood, slowly walked to Ming Tan, and reached out to gently stroke her head with affection.

“Then… if We were Wu Jiang, and you were Duke Zhuang, would you also say to Us, ‘Until we reach the Yellow Springs, we shall not see each other again’?”

Wu Jiang was Duke Zhuang’s mother.

She spoiled Gongshu Duan until he became lawless, yet showed Duke Zhuang no kindness at all. After his younger brother’s rebellion failed, Duke Zhuang sent her far away to Ying and once swore that he and his mother would “not meet again until they reached the Yellow Springs.”

—But how could such a double-standard Wu Jiang possibly be compared with the best father emperor in the whole world?!

Ming Tan was both shocked and furious. She grabbed the emperor’s arm and, gritting her back teeth, said, “Wu Jiang was unkind as a mother. Father Emperor must never compare yourself to her!”

“Yes, yes. Father Emperor was foolish.”

The emperor patted Ming Tan’s hand soothingly. He deliberately slowed his tone and said gently, “But Longlin, although Father Emperor thinks most of what you said is not wrong, you must also know that a ruler should not only be skilled at strategy, schemes, and weighing choices. A ruler should also understand one word.”

“…” Ming Tan pressed her lips together. Her anger faded a little, and she lifted her head somewhat blankly. “What word?”

The emperor lowered his eyes and quietly looked at Ming Tan.

His gaze was deep, like a vast and distant ocean. It seemed both as if he had sailed past countless waves, and as if he had endured the cruelest winds and rains in the world.

He smiled and said calmly:

“That word is what the sages often spoke of—benevolence.”