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The supportive faction argued that there was no law prohibiting a candidate from leaving after completing the imperial examination. Perhaps the candidate had urgent matters that required leaving Taiyuan Prefecture?

The opposition faction sneered repeatedly.

After ten years of hard studying and becoming the Jieyuan, topping the list yet remaining so low-key as if he didn’t exist, and oddly choosing to leave Taiyuan Prefecture on the very day the results were announced—could such a person really say with a straight face that there was no problem?

If the Scholars from Taiyuan Prefecture were to start a riot, who could bear the responsibility?

The supporters loudly denounced this as sophistry, as an attempt to impute guilt, as utter nonsense!

A civil official from the Ministry of War responsible for the order of the imperial examination followed them after the court session to listen, watching the two factions argue heatedly, quite entertained, he muttered if there were any disturbances, then deploying troops to suppress them would be fine since they had nothing better to do.

This military general thought he had spoken quietly, but his voice was too loud, and everyone heard him; the hall immediately went silent.

Then both the opposition and the supporters started to curse this official, calling him a reckless person who only wished for chaos and had ill intentions, among other things, and he was almost accused of being a traitor, scolded until his face turned utterly red, gasping for breath and unable to retort!

The Emperor took this matter very seriously; the imperial examination was of great importance throughout the dynasties. If the system for selecting talent deteriorated, then the very foundation of the Imperial Court was also fundamentally rotten.

The Grand Tutor’s Chen Bian and the original manuscripts of the lame Scholar’s examination papers were submitted to the court along with the government office documents.

He did not first review the Grand Tutor’s Chen Bian but instead started with the lame Scholar’s examination manuscripts. While there was noise below, he was focused on reading the examination papers.

Upon opening the manuscript, the neat small script was immediately pleasing to the eye, as refreshing as a spring breeze; upon careful appreciation, even he could not help but admire the lame Scholar’s skill.

The handwriting had the spirit and form of regular script with a hint of the free strokes of running script, laid out seriously and neatly, strictly according to rules, the whole text flowing smoothly from start to finish, evidently showing the Scholar’s thorough grasp during the essay writing.

This first impression admittedly garnered the Emperor’s favorable opinion.

He continued to read the content of the answers, becoming more engrossed as he read, his eyes brightening with excitement, until he couldn’t help but slam his hand down on the imperial desk, "Excellent!"

The essay was substantive and literarily elegant, especially the discourse on the penal laws of the dynasty, as if experiencing the life of a lower-ranking official firsthand, enabling him to write such a text true to reality. How could such an article be produced by cheating?

Even if there was indeed cheating, in the worst scenario, where he had obtained the questions beforehand, had someone else write it for him, or consulted a great Confucian scholar, it would still be impossible to produce such an essay, nor reach such a level.

The court ministers, hearing the Emperor’s shout of approval, suddenly fell silent and stopped attacking the official from the Ministry of War, all turning their gazes toward the throne.

The plainspoken official heaved a sigh of relief. Facing the enemy on the battlefield, even vastly outnumbered, was less stressful than facing these civil officials whose sharp tongues could drown him in spit; even his large stature could not withstand it.

His Majesty was kind, understanding the fragility of his heart.

Everyone looked up, seeing His Majesty with his head bowed, reading something; they felt uneasy, not knowing for whose favor the Emperor’s praise was intended, or if he was being sarcastic.

After thoroughly reading the article, the Emperor had come to a decision, greatly relieved. The Grand Tutor indeed had the ability to recognize talent. The initial praises were no exaggeration—overlooking him due to his physical appearance would indeed be a loss for the Imperial Court.

He looked at the end, wanting to see the name of this Scholar, only to see the name written in small characters at the top: Lian Mu.

He couldn’t help but frown and ponder, feeling that the name sounded very familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

The ministers below saw this expression and their hearts skipped a beat, worrying that His Majesty’s mood was not good. Could it be because they had been arguing too much earlier?...

Each of them lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound anymore, and began to feel anxious.

The Emperor pondered, Lian Mu, Lian Mu?

He remembered. Wasn’t the name of the elder brother of his Little Concubine exactly Lian Musu? He didn’t expect that this person’s name had two homophonic characters. No wonder it sounded so familiar; it really was a coincidence.

His fingers tapped on the imperial desk, tap by tap, making the heartbeats of the ministers below thump loudly in unison.

The Emperor then chuckled to himself for overthinking. This person merely shared the pronunciation; moreover, he was a candidate from Taiyuan Prefecture. How could it be such a coincidence that he was related to his Little Concubine?

The journey from the south was still long, and it would take some time before any news from Hu Miaomiao arrived.

After Xu Rongying had nearly finished cleaning up the harem today, he first arranged for the Clan Aunt of his Little Concubine to come in, to give her some solace.

Speaking of which, the Clan Uncle of his Little Concubine was indeed amusing. Hu Miaomiao reported back that after meeting him once, Lian Bingcheng had changed completely from before.

Upon seeing Hu Miaomiao, he no longer wore a displeased expression, but became warmer, incessantly asking Hu Miaomiao if there was any news regarding the matter His Majesty had instructed them to investigate.

Whenever Hu Miaomiao smiled and said there was no news yet, Lian Bingcheng would show contempt, as if implying Hu Miaomiao was inept, and began giving Hu Miaomiao advice on how to investigate and conduct affairs, listing the most suspicious people over the years just like an expert, with words flowing one after another, so much so that even a chatterbox like Hu Miaomiao couldn’t interject.

It annoyed Hu Miaomiao into complaining tactfully to the Emperor, mentioning how the old man used to be so aloof, sparing few words, but now seemed like a different person, far more talkative, even outdoing him.

The Emperor soothed Hu Miaomiao, saying that concern leads to chaos. Mr. Lian’s longstanding heartache, seeing hope at last, was understandable. It was still best to go see how progress was going.

When Lian Bingcheng saw that asking Hu Miaomiao got him nowhere, he suddenly remembered his niece Xiao Hua, and began asking how Xiao Hua was faring in the palace.

Hu Miaomiao dared not speak of it until he had reported back to the Emperor and received his words to selectively share, though even just a few words were enough to reassure Lian Bingcheng.

Amidst his reassurance, Lian Bingcheng also felt a bit melancholic, worried about his niece who became somewhat confused... and then, each time, he would trail off, leaving Hu Miaomiao awkwardly looking up at the sky, pretending not to understand.

Upon learning this, the Emperor felt somewhat helpless.

His Little Concubine was now nominally the daughter of Lian Bingcheng, making him his second father-in-law.

Perhaps after fathers around the world have come to their senses, they all find it hard to let go of their daughters, feeling as if their daughters had been tricked away by their sons-in-law.

What could he do but treat his Little Concubine even better from now on?

Regarding the whereabouts of Lian Bingcai, Lian Bingcheng was very supportive.

He wished Hu Miaomiao would indeed train his no-good brother thoroughly, to craft him into someone strong and resilient, to make him endure hardships, understand things better, and not cause trouble for his niece Xiao Hua in the future.