Siheyuan: Pushing Huairu, the Prime Minister admits defeat

(Preliminary selection 2, which one do you want to see?)

The year of Jiyou was the spring of the fifth year of Xuanwu in the Zhou Dynasty.

The fireworks in March are the time when the spring examinations are getting exciting.

In the capital city of Qing Dynasty, gongs and drums were blaring, yellow earth was covering the ground, and three handsome newly promoted scholars with red flowers on their waists were riding horses and parading in the streets.

The newly crowned number one scholar, Lin Chaosheng, wore a gauze hat, a red robe, held the imperial edict in his hand, and rode a horse with a golden saddle and a red mane. He was truly a handsome young man.

"Brother Lin, after the roll call at Donghua Gate, all the scholars in the world know that there is a Lin Chaosheng from Jiangling City, but they don't know me, Wei Zaoqiu from Qingjing!"

Wei Zaoqiu, the runner-up in the special examination, looked at Lin Chaosheng with some envy, and there was bitterness in his words.

You know, this is the first top scholar in the Xuanwu period.

Since Emperor Xuanwu ascended the throne, he has been busy recovering the lost territories in northern Jiangsu Province. He has marched to the south of the Yangtze River five times and invaded the Central Plains three times.

The imperial examination had been put on hold, and as Lin Chaosheng was the first number one scholar of the dynasty, he naturally received the emperor's grace.

In response, Lin Chaosheng just smiled awkwardly, as if immersed in the warm spring breeze.

"Want to be the top scholar? No problem!"

"The prerequisite is that you have to study hard, research day and night, write articles with unique meanings, and have a wealthy family background."

"Of course, the most important thing is that you have to be a time traveler and have the potential to be a plagiarist!"

That’s right, Lin Chaosheng is a genuine time traveler!

Nineteen years ago, he was hit by a dump truck because he was drunk, and accidentally came to the Zhou Dynasty where martial arts flourished.

I had originally wanted to follow the crowd and practice martial arts to strengthen my muscles so that I could get a title and a good fortune for my wife and children on the frontier.

However, due to his poor family background, he had to rely on his experience as a doctor of Chinese language before time travel and concentrate on passing the imperial examination.

Now, after ten years of hard study, I finally got what I wanted.

In the palace examination, Lin Chaosheng's essay on "Salt and Iron" amazed everyone. In addition, he had a good appearance and was humble and polite.

It was very easy to get the top spot in the imperial examination!

I don't know which prince's daughter will throw the bouquet to me, and I'm actually a little excited inside.

Looking around at the flowery boats on the river with the sound of pianos, silk dances, and flutes and pipes, the new top scholar has begun to imagine a shameless and carefree life.

Suddenly, the servant who was clearing the way in front stopped.

I saw a large group of ferocious-looking Imperial City Patrol soldiers, wearing black boots and green robes, with embroidered spring swords hanging from their waists, surrounding me.

Such a commotion caused the surrounding people to exclaim in surprise.

In the hundred years since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, this was the first time that a special scholar was stopped from parading through the streets.

"Your Majesty's order has been passed on. The villain Lin Chaosheng spread rumors to confuse the people. The Peony Pavilion he wore showed men and women rubbing against each other, which was detrimental to people's eyes and ears. It spread far and wide and indirectly mocked the affairs of the palace. It was a violation of etiquette and was extremely disrespectful!"

"Considering his ignorance, I grant him castration as a punishment! He is exiled to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Imperial City Department is responsible for bringing him to justice!"

"What? The Peony Pavilion is satirizing the imperial boudoir!"

"Impossible! My Lord, have you misunderstood something? This is just a storybook. How can it interfere with the emperor's family affairs?"

Lin Chaosheng hastily explained that The Peony Pavilion was a temporary project he had done when he was short of money for taking the imperial examination in Beijing.

Once published, it became widely circulated along the Qinhuai River and became a must-read for countless infatuated men and women.

This also made Lin Chaosheng quickly become the object of affection for many young girls.

Now it has become a disaster that has brought disaster upon itself!

After reading the oral order, the leading patrolman, without caring about the face of the top scholar, tore off his gauze hat and red robe, took off his golden saddle and red shoes, and shackled Lin Chaosheng, who was shouting for justice.

The surrounding scholars all looked at him sideways. A Jinshi who had experience in suing his teacher said indignantly: "According to the laws of the Great Zhou, Lin Chaosheng has meritorious service. Even if he violated the law, he should be tried by the three courts and the cabinet should draft an edict. Even though the emperor is worth millions of gold, he should..."

Before the newly-appointed scholar with a goatee and a thin face could finish his words, he was beaten by the guards with sticks and curled up into a ball, screaming in agony.

"Humph, you are just a pale-faced scholar who can only talk big. The Great Zhou was founded on military power. Now it is your turn as a bunch of corrupt scholars to point fingers? Come, take the criminal Lin Chaosheng to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

The patrol soldiers were strong and sturdy, and skilled in martial arts.

Lin Chaosheng was controlled by these people without any resistance. His mind was blank at this moment.

"It shouldn't be like this. The script shouldn't be played like this!"

"How can a top scholar be castrated and become a eunuch?"

"I, Lin, am well-read, have copied Han Dynasty fu and eight-legged essays, and am definitely a high-end talent. How could Emperor Xuanwu have the heart to let me enter the palace and become a eunuch?"

However, the facts were before him, and his good friend Wei Zaoqiu wanted to step forward to plead for mercy. He was the young master of the Wei family, a founding duke, and held considerable influence in the capital of the Qing Dynasty.

But today, the leading Jinyi Imperial Censor Zhu Zhengchun did not give him the slightest bit of face, and said in a muffled voice: "Your Majesty ordered me to arrest someone, I dare not disobey the Holy Order, Young Lord, please don't embarrass me."

After the sacred metaphor was brought out, Wei Zaoqiu showed regret on his face and did not dare to look Lin Chaosheng in the eye.

The top scholar who was the center of everyone's attention the moment before became a prisoner the next second and was even castrated to become a eunuch.

The huge contrast was caused by Lin Chaosheng, which made even the bystanders feel chilled.

After all, it is no longer the time when the old emperor and the scholars ruled the world together. The current Emperor Xuanwu seems to be determined to respect martial arts, and the martial arts champion is now valuable...

In a private room on the second floor of the Imperial Street Winery, Emperor Xuanwu Yang Rong was drinking tea with his head bowed, dressed in white as a merchant, his eyes occasionally glancing at the noisy crowd below.

"Your Majesty, it's early spring and the wind is cold. Put on a cloak!"

The concerned voice of the attendant Zhao En came from behind. He was Yang Rong's close companion who had served him since childhood and they had a deep and sincere relationship.

Normally, he was the only one who dared to say a few more words to the moody Yang Rong.

"Well, Zhao En, I'll have to trouble you to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs later and act according to the plan we discussed before."

After taking a sip of tea, Yang Rong turned around with a sinister look and picked up the green silk cloak.

He was about thirty years old, in the prime of his life, with thin skin and narrow eyes, and a look that revealed a cunning and cruel look.

In fact, he is not a good person.

When he was 24 years old, he took advantage of his brother Emperor Jianning's illness to launch the Palace Gate Coup, and forcibly promoted Emperor Jianning to the position of Supreme Emperor.

Now they are going to put a fake eunuch into the palace of the retired emperor, with the purpose of seducing the empress dowager, the princess who once married from the Liao Kingdom in the north, to have an affair.

It's normal for the emperor to make some mistakes during this affair, right?

At that time, he could not only take the opportunity to eliminate the remnants of Emperor Jianning, but also give himself the opportunity to send troops again.

Recover lost territory and rebuild the country.

He climbed Mount Tai in the north and wiped out the barbarians.

Yang Rong was a little excited just thinking about it, but because of the failures in the previous Northern Expeditions, those sour Confucian officials in the court kept coming out to make trouble.

A large number of people could not be stopped from being killed or imprisoned.

"Haha, this bunch of useless trash, as long as I want, I can kill them anytime and anywhere, even if it means skinning and stuffing them with straw, it's just a matter of a word!"

That’s right, the reason why Yang Rong humiliated Lin Chaosheng so much could not possibly be because of the fabricated palace affairs in The Peony Pavilion.

His idea is to spiritually castrate Shilin!

The Great Zhou was established a hundred years ago. In the early days, it emphasized martial arts and the country was peaceful and the people were prosperous. It was only in the last twenty years that it began to become more refined.

Not only were there repeated defeats on the frontier, but the problem of land annexation was becoming increasingly serious. They no longer took advantage of the fact that the power of the nobles and relatives of the emperor still existed to suppress the scholars.

I guess the Zhou Dynasty has become a two-legged sheep!

Seeing that Yang Rong was in a good mood, Zhao En bravely asked, "Your Majesty, this is a wonderful thing, but I don't know if the Queen Mother has fallen into the trap. You know, for so many years, the Queen Mother has always abided by the moral principles. Although she has no children, she and the Emperor have a deep love for each other."

Yang Rong sneered, "No children? The eunuchs around him put kidney-damaging drugs in his food every day. I guess he can't even have an affair."

Although he was speaking sinister words, Yang Rong's smile deepened: "As the saying goes, a chaste woman loves sex, and Empress Dowager Xiao is young and smiling, but I know that the Peony Pavilion written by Lin Chaosheng is placed next to her pillow day and night."

A young girl's feelings are always poetic, and the Queen Mother is no exception!