The Crown Prince was restless in the Eastern Palace, sighing one moment and pacing around in circles the next. Seeing his state, the Chief Eunuch couldn't help but advise, "Your Highness, if you don't rest, I'm afraid the Emperor will use it against you."

The Crown Prince said with a pained expression, "How can I sleep? Father said today that I have no ability and might as well not be the Crown Prince. Ah Zui, why am I the Crown Prince? If I were just a wealthy idle person, I could take Mother and my younger brother to the countryside, buy a large house with a few acres of land, and live out our days. Wouldn't that be wonderful..."

Ah Zui covered his mouth, "Your Highness, please don't say that!"

The Crown Prince sighed, sat down dejectedly, then suddenly stood up after a while, "Ah Zui, please go to Mother's palace and find out the situation for me! Father went to Mother's Jing'an Hall yesterday, I don't know if he mentioned me to her?"

The Chief Eunuch sighed, put on a pale blue fur-lined cloak, and hurriedly left.

This Crown Prince was a good person, only unfortunately born into the wrong imperial family. He was loyal, kind, loved to read, and was filial to his elders. In any ordinary family, he would be a son very much liked by the elders.

Unfortunately, he was born into an imperial family and as the son of the Qianwan Emperor. When the Qianwan Emperor fought for the position of Crown Prince back then, he personally led troops on the battlefield and seized the position amidst the flames of war against the Qiang tribe. Compared to him now, this weak Crown Prince seemed even more incompetent.

The Chief Eunuch hurried to the Empress' Jing'an Hall. Upon entering, he noticed the palace maids coming and going on tiptoe, the imperial physicians passing by with lowered heads, and the inner chamber doors wide open with a strong medicinal smell wafting out.

The Chief Eunuch was quite startled. He immediately pulled aside the Empress' palace steward and asked, "Do you know if the Empress is ill?"

The steward shushed him and said in a low voice, "The Empress is tending to someone."

The Chief Eunuch had a vague guess as to who it was. With a glance, he saw someone being helped onto a couch behind the curtain, then several palace servants carefully carried the couch out. The Empress was leaning over the person, constantly wiping away tears with her hand.

The Chief Eunuch said, "Your Majesty," then lifted the curtain and walked in. The Empress sat behind the tea table, staring blankly with tears flowing. Only when she saw the Chief Eunuch enter did she ask in a daze, "You're here?"

The Chief Eunuch quickly knelt down, "This servant has come to pay respects on behalf of the Crown Prince. Just now, that person...could it be...could it be..."

The Empress suddenly smashed a teacup, making a crisp cracking sound.

The Chief Eunuch dared not say a word. The Empress' expression changed completely as she gritted her teeth in anger, "That beast Li Ji!"

The Chief Eunuch hurriedly got up and pulled the green gauze cabinet closed.

The Empress seemed not to notice at all as she said harshly, "He was nearly dead when they sent him over! He said nothing at all, only passing on one sentence. Guess what it was?"

The Chief Eunuch shook his head, "This servant doesn't know."

"He said: Leave him in the Empress' care!"

The Empress' voice became shrill, almost changing pitch completely, "That beast! He's not human at all! There are so many beautiful boys in the world, yet he insists on torturing Mingde to death to be satisfied?"

The Chief Eunuch knelt down, "Your Majesty, the most important thing now is to get Lord Mingde to the examination grounds. Lord Mingde has outstanding literary talent. As long as he gets to the examination, there is still a chance."

The Empress tried her best to steady her breathing and slowly stroked the Chief Eunuch's back, saying, "Good child, you are indeed thinking the same as me in every way."

The Chief Eunuch said, "This servant doesn't dare."

"What's there not to dare? With the Crown Prince the way he is, how could I...if he didn't have you taking care of him by his side..."

The Chief Eunuch looked up and saw a tear suddenly fall from the Empress' exquisitely made-up face, "Having lost so much already, what more do I want? Isn't it just for him to ascend the throne? If he doesn't become Emperor, how can he face me, how can he face his younger brother! How can he face the fact that we've been enduring humiliation and living like this for so many years..."

In fact, Mingde was not fully conscious. One moment he was jolting about in a soft sedan chair, the next he seemed to arrive at the Empress' Fengxian Palace. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a silver needle pricked the back of his neck, painfully startling him awake.

Then a couch carried him to the examination grounds, arriving at the Imperial College Hall in the palace where the exams were held before the third crow of the rooster.

He felt very muddled in his mind, hot one moment and cold the next. He wasn't even fully aware of how he sat down in his seat. The examinees arrived one after another. The great hall was completely silent. Every minute and second was an agonizing torment for him.

He was thirsty and feverish. Every inch of his bones felt like they had been broken and reset. He could barely sit steady. The brush shook badly in his hand, making it nearly impossible to write.

The supervising Imperial College official paced past this seat and noticed something off about this examinee, so he asked, "Are you alright?"

Mingde nearly toppled over. He didn't even have the strength to raise his head, only weakly shaking it.

After three years of diligent study, many examinees placed great hopes on this examination. Even if feeling unwell, they would still force themselves to come to the exam grounds. The official sighed with understanding. Without saying more, he shook his head and walked away.

Mingde slumped over the desk, panting for a while. He read the questions word by word. The policy question tested the way of being a minister. The righteousness question asked what a filial son should do. Every word and phrase alluded to the current Emperor and Crown Prince.

Not bad indeed. The grand Spring Examination questions, such important exam topics, with tens of thousands of examinees...yet the questions were set for me alone to see.

The corners of Mingde's lips twitched as if wanting to smile, but he immediately covered his mouth in pain.

That man practically wanted to devour him whole, not sparing any inch of the delicate skin in his mouth, biting over it bit by bit, only stopping after leaving a mess behind.

Mingde picked up his brush. The way of father and son is different from the way of ruler and minister... When the father is old and confused, the son should do his best to make up for it and comfort him; when the ruler is muddled, extravagant, misgoverns, and violates human relations, the minister should do his best to remonstrate and even force him to change. How can loyalty and filial piety be mixed into one?

-- Li Ji, Mingde thought coldly: Since you have set the exam question for me alone to see, then I will tell you this answer properly.

It was already noon when the exam was over. The chief examiner made the final decision, and the ancient bell rang, its lingering echo heard throughout Chang'an City. The papers were collected one by one, and the chief examiner once again instructed them on the way of being an upright minister, then waved his hand to let them leave.

The Imperial College hall gradually became noisy with voices. Mingde dazedly knew it was time to go. His fingers were trembling so much that he couldn't pick anything up. In the end, he had to leave all his stationery on the desk, stand up himself, and stagger out.

An examinee thought he had forgotten his brush, ink, paper and inkstone, so he went up and patted him: "Brother..."

With just that pat, Mingde collapsed without a sound.

The examinee was startled: "Brother! Brother! What's wrong with you? What's wrong?"

There seemed to be some clamor and exclamations around him, but they were getting farther and farther away from him. Mingde's vision went black, and he fell straight down on the platform in front of the steps of the Imperial College hall.

_

An examinee fainting after the exam was actually not a big deal.

Chief Examiner Ding Huang didn't pay much attention either, but in front of people, he had to show his official stance and love for the people. So he ordered, "The Imperial College officials should help that examinee to the inner room and ask the doctor to take a look."

With that said, he turned around and saw Eunuch Zhang, the emperor's favorite, waiting on the side. He hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "Is Eunuch Zhang well?"

Zhang Kuo bowed slightly: "Thanks to your blessing, I am well. Now that the spring examination is over, you must have worked hard, sir."

Ding Huang quickly said, "Not hard at all, I will definitely not fail the emperor's trust."

He wanted to inquire about his young daughter in the palace, but before he could speak, Zhang Kuo interrupted him: "Sir, I suddenly remembered something. Who was that examinee who just fainted?"

Ding Huang had no idea who that person was, so he turned around and asked the servant boy: "What is that examinee's name? Where is he from?"

The servant boy ran off to inquire and quickly returned, saying, "In response to your question, sir, he is Mingde, the youngest son of Minister Shangguan."

Zhang Kuo's face suddenly changed color, and he stepped forward abruptly and asked, "Where is he?"

Ding Huang was startled, and then he saw Zhang Kuo turn his head and whisper to him, "Lord Ding is unaware, but that person's favor with the emperor... is... is very deep!"

Ding Huang hurriedly went with the others to the inner room. Shangguan Mingde was lying on a small couch, his face pale and his breathing shallow. There was no one around to attend to him, and everyone outside was busy.

A servant boy saw Ding Huang and Eunuch Zhang coming from afar with a few subordinates, and hurriedly ran over and called out, "Sir! The freshly brewed red maple tea, would you like to try some?"

Zhang Kuo raised his hand and slapped the servant boy: "What were you doing earlier? Get out of the way!"

The servant boy was knocked to the ground by the slap and hurriedly retreated to the side. Zhang Kuo hurriedly lifted the curtain and entered the inner room. Seeing Mingde's condition, he hurriedly called out, "Quickly send him into the palace!"

Ding Huang was about to send someone to invite Minister Shangguan to come, but when he heard this, he dismissed his subordinates and pointed to Shangguan Mingde, asking in a low voice, "Does Eunuch know that this person is..."

Zhang Kuo made a shushing gesture and said, "Originally I shouldn't gossip, but since I've been friends with you for so many years, I shouldn't hide this from you. This person and the empress originally had some... some blood relation."

With that said, he bent down and gently pushed Mingde, whispering in his ear, "Young Master Mingde, Young Master Mingde?"

Mingde frowned in a daze, slowly opened his eyes, and after a long time, he could see a little more clearly. He asked in a low voice, "What are you doing here?"

Zhang Kuo lowered his hands and said, "The emperor sent me."

Ding Huang was startled, but he heard Mingde close his eyes and say in a low voice, "...Tell him to get lost."

Ding Huang almost couldn't stand steady, but he saw that Zhang Kuo seemed to be used to it, smiling and saying, "Young master, you should take care of yourself in this condition. Why make things difficult for yourself? I have already sent someone to inform your father, saying that the emperor has decreed that since you are in poor health, you should be taken to the palace to recuperate, which is also a way of showing care for his ministers..."

He rambled on and on, and Mingde gradually lost the energy to listen to him. He only saw his mouth opening and closing, not knowing what he was saying again, and he fell asleep in a daze.

Zhang Kuo waited respectfully on the side, watching him gradually close his eyes and fall asleep. He slowly stopped talking and gave a look to the palace servants who had been waiting outside for a long time. The Qianwan Emperor's order was: bring that child to my side, but this "side" did not have any time limit attached.

Could it be that the emperor already had the intention to make it clear to the Shangguan family?

...Possibly.

The Shangguan family did not have only this one precious seedling. If this was the only heir, then as an old minister, he would have the standing to argue and refuse to comply; if there were many sons in the family and this one was also a concubine-born youngest son, then when the emperor subtly expressed his affection, most people would not refuse too much.

There had been such examples in the previous dynasty. For an emperor to have a few beautiful boys accompanying him was not a big deal. He was an unarmed boy, alone in the palace that devoured people without spitting out their bones. Apart from the emperor's favor, what else could he rely on?

As long as he left the Shangguan family, he would no longer have the status of an official's son. It would be difficult for the Qianwan Emperor to take possession of a minister's son, but if he lost that status as a son of the Shangguan family, then even if the Qianwan Emperor did as he pleased with him, no one would care.