In the capital, the metropolitan examination held once every three years had always taken place in spring.
The south was unlike the north. Spring did not merely make a brief appearance before hurriedly disappearing. The springtime in the south was naturally like the “misty spring of March” described in books, with flowers blooming so abundantly that they dazzled the eyes, and willow branches swaying gently in the breeze.
At the ferry crossing of Huzhou Prefecture, these past few days had seen scholars dressed in long robes and carrying luggage gradually bidding farewell to their friends and family before boarding boats heading north. Following the current eastward for more than a hundred li led directly to the Grand Canal, which had been constructed by the previous dynasty. Following this canal all the way north, one could travel directly to the capital by water.
In the past, this group of candidates would have found it difficult to take this route. But ever since Lord Shu from the capital had come here to control the river at the beginning of the year before last, the accumulated problems of many years had been completely eliminated. The rivers were clear and the seas were calm. By this year, the Yellow River almost no longer flooded, and boats could already travel upon it.
“…Three years!”
At the ferry crossing, several scholars dressed in long robes walked toward the side of the boat. One of them, a scholar whose temples had already turned white, sighed.
“Three years ago, the examination fraud case disrupted everything and delayed an entire generation of candidates from Huzhou. Who knows how many people were worn down or ruined over these three years? Now, at last, we can safely enter the examination hall!”
A candidate beside him agreed, “Exactly. We scholars spend ten years studying by the cold window, all of us exhausting our blood and sweat. Who could afford to wait another three years?”
Another person sighed. “This time, we must seize this opportunity and not allow these three years of time to have been wasted for nothing.”
Just then, a scholar beside them exclaimed in surprise, “That person… seems to be Lord Shu!”
There was no one in Huzhou who did not know Lord Shu Changyu. In Huzhou, there was only one person who could be called the resounding “Lord Shu” without any other title or designation—Shu Changyu.
Hearing this, several scholars hurriedly turned around, and beneath the swaying willows along the riverbank, they saw a person standing gracefully there.
That person wore a crab-shell-green wide-sleeved long robe, with a cloak draped over it and a somewhat worn moon-white cape covering him. His figure was tall and slender, like a green bamboo stalk, and what was especially striking was his handsome, refined appearance. His nose bridge was particularly beautiful, and his eyebrows were also well defined. Standing there, his entire person carried a clear, bright elegance.
A jade jue hung from his waist. Its design was ancient and simple, looking like an object from the pre-Qin era. Yet hanging upon him, it did not appear out of place in the slightest, almost completely blending with his clear and tranquil bearing.
It really was Lord Shu.
Shu Changyu stood beneath the willow tree, and standing before him was Fang Yuqian, the very person who had gone to the capital for the examination back then, helping Shu Changyu resolve the knot in his heart and saving his life.
“This time, Brother Fang must place high in the examination, so as not to disappoint Shu’s expectations!” Shu Changyu smiled and cupped his hands in greeting. He then took Fang Yuqian’s luggage from Kong Qing beside him and handed it to him.
“I certainly will not disappoint Jingchen’s high hopes!” Fang Yuqian replied with a smile.
Fang Yuqian’s family was in Huzhou Prefecture. They could also be considered a scholarly family and a prominent local clan. After Shu Changyu came here, Fang Yuqian had meticulously fulfilled the duties of a host and taken great care of him. The two originally held similar views and could be called confidants. Before long, they had become bosom friends, as close as brothers.
“Then you must take extra care along the way.” Shu Changyu nodded. “Although the water route is smoother than the land route, water and fire show no mercy. Don’t hurry along the way. Take your time. There is always enough time.”
Fang Yuqian nodded in agreement. Afterward, he paused and asked, “Jingchen, you came to Huzhou the year before last, and it has already been three years since you returned home. Now that the flooding in Huzhou has basically been resolved, you don’t need to worry so much anymore. Return to the capital and report your duties as soon as possible, so that you can reunite with your family.”
Hearing this, Shu Changyu froze.
A person immediately surfaced in his heart.
Back then, that person had blocked him inside the dim carriage and, gritting his teeth, told him to wait.
Yet he had waited for three years and had not received the slightest bit of news, not even a single letter.
Instead, through the information he had sent people to investigate in the capital, he could learn about that person’s situation from scattered fragments.
Shu Changyu had spent three years taming the unruly Yellow River, earning widespread praise throughout Huzhou and the imperial court, as well as a reputation that had spread throughout the land.
And Jing Mu had needed only three short years to firmly seize control of the imperial court, becoming a figure whose might shook the four seas and eight wastelands.
In the first year after Shu Changyu left, the Dali Temple broke several Qi cases. Quite a few involved the family foundations of the Empress, Consort Hui, and others. Those implicated had all suffered the destruction of their families and separation from their wives and children. This caused panic throughout the court, and many officials gradually began secretly submitting themselves to Jing Mu in order to seek his protection.
That same winter, the Xiongnu invaded Yumen Pass in force. Jing Mu volunteered to lead troops in support, utterly defeating the Xiongnu, driving the enemy back more than eight hundred li, and recovering the five frontier cities that had been lost by the previous dynasty.
The entire court was shocked.
Now, Jing Mu occupied the Ministry of War like a tiger sitting in its lair, holding the military tally tokens commanding most of the empire’s military forces. His authority extended throughout the civil and military officials, and he had almost completely suppressed the Empress’s faction until they could barely breathe.
Even more bizarrely, the suspicious and jealous Emperor Qian Ning had been coaxed into becoming completely devoted to him. Despite Jing Mu holding immense power, the emperor trusted and favored him more and more.
And this was also thanks to the changes in Emperor Qian Ning’s health over these past few years.
It was said that the half-immortal on Mount Zhongnan had not even opened his eyes upon seeing Emperor Qian Ning, merely swaying about without even mentioning offering a salute. Yet when he divined Emperor Qian Ning’s fortune, that half-immortal was immediately terrified, kneeling down and calling him “Your Majesty.”
Afterward, that half-immortal prepared a medicinal pill for Emperor Qian Ning. The ingredients in the prescription were bizarre in every way, and talismans had to be affixed to it before it was refined in a furnace for forty-nine days. It was called the “Nine-Turn Soul-Calming Powder.”
After taking it, Emperor Qian Ning became full of vigor, almost returning to the prime of his life, and perhaps even surpassing it.
These past few years, everything had gone smoothly for Emperor Qian Ning. The four seas were at peace, and he possessed capable ministers. Thus, his mood had become carefree, and his temperament had changed greatly.
Shu Changyu held the secret letters that had flown in one after another from the north. As he looked at every word within them, he subconsciously picked out all the information concerning Jing Mu, secretly piecing together the years of his life.
The more he looked, the more he felt that he did not know this person.
Jing Mu seemed to have become an entirely different person. From that innocent, clingy, vivid young man, he had transformed into a single page in the legends of history.
As for Shu Changyu himself, Jing Mu had completely severed every connection.
All the ties between the two of them seemed to have been abruptly cut off. Only Shu Changyu himself still pretended not to care while keeping a close watch on the other’s life.
Sometimes Shu Changyu even mocked himself, thinking that perhaps he had blocked Jing Mu’s path.
In his previous life, Jing Mu had spent more than ten years as a puppet. In this life, as long as Shu Changyu had remained by his side, he had accomplished nothing.
But the moment Shu Changyu left, Jing Mu had immediately become like a tiger with wings, soaring straight into the heavens.
And the decision Shu Changyu had made back then to go south in order to save him seemed particularly laughable now.
It was as though he had paid an enormous price for something completely insignificant.
Shu Changyu himself was unwilling to admit that, although he appeared to have been riding the crest of success these three years, in reality, he had suffered more torment and tossed and turned more than anyone.
He was unwilling to admit that Jing Mu truly seemed to have severed ties with him completely.
The person who had originally wished to cling to him all day long had simply disappeared without a trace, without a single word of news.
He had always been persuading himself that he had not lost Jing Mu.
But throughout these three years, he had never found a suitable excuse.
He was already utterly alone.
Every time he thought of this, Shu Changyu felt pain in his heart that he could barely suppress.
“…Jingchen, Jingchen?”
Over there, Fang Yuqian saw him standing there dazed for such a long time without speaking and called out to remind him.
Only then did Shu Changyu return to his senses. He forced a smile and nodded.
“There are still a few matters that have not been properly settled, so I need another month or so. Once everything is settled, it will probably be after summer begins. If the Yellow River has no more disasters, I will also return to the capital.”
Hearing this, Fang Yuqian smiled and nodded.
“Then by that time, I will wait for Jingchen in the capital.”
Shu Changyu nodded.
Fang Yuqian frowned again.
“I heard from my classmates that this time, the water route can only be traveled halfway. Shandong suffered a drought last year, and this spring there has not been a single drop of rain. I heard the land has already cracked. Under such circumstances, I fear the river water will also be dry, making it impossible for boats to travel.”
Shu Changyu smiled and shook his head.
“You can rest assured about this. The canal was built lower in the north and higher in the south, drawing water from Jiangnan and the Yellow River. Although the canal passes through Shandong, it does not pass through the places suffering from drought. There will probably be many disaster victims there, but it is absolutely impossible for even the river water to have completely dried up.”
Fang Yuqian nodded, but his smile had already disappeared.
As he listened to Shu Changyu, his brows knitted tighter and tighter. He then sighed.
“The people of Shandong are truly pitiful. Their tax burden was already heavy. After one year of drought, there is another drought in the second year. I heard that even the relief funds were embezzled by the local officials, while the tax burden has not been adjusted by even a single fraction… How can they possibly survive?”
In his previous life, this drought had not become so severe.
At that time, Shu Changyu had already held power. He had mobilized the strength of the entire nation to provide relief to the disaster victims and exempted Shandong from taxes for three years, only then bringing the disaster under control.
But in this life, the only person with such ability was Emperor Qian Ning, and it seemed that he did not have the same plans Shu Changyu had possessed in his previous life.
Thinking of this, Shu Changyu patted his shoulder.
“Therefore, you must become an official. The common people have no other options. They depend upon Heaven for their livelihood. If you become a good official, you can ensure that they need not fear droughts or floods.”
Fang Yuqian nodded heavily and then said, “That’s right! Jingchen, I have always admired you. Even in my dreams, I want to become an official like you. You don’t know, nowadays the common people all say…”
At this point, he lowered his voice.
“The great drought in Shandong and the flooding in the south are because His Majesty has accumulated no virtue, appointed sorcerers, and is using the destiny of Great Qi to extend his own life. Originally, these few years should have been the time when Great Qi’s fortune reached its end and the world fell into chaos. But fortunately, there is you, Jingchen. You are a celestial star descended to earth to protect the rivers and mountains of Great Qi.”
Hearing this, Shu Changyu frowned.
“Who said such ridiculous nonsense?”
As a subject, for him to actually be capable of making up for the emperor’s virtue, even descending to earth to save the world, was simply absurd.
If an inexperienced official heard such words, it would be difficult not to become intoxicated by them.
But Shu Changyu knew that such words could lift a person into the clouds, only to make him fall and be smashed to pieces.
Fang Yuqian, however, did not care in the slightest. He smiled.
“It is merely a rumor among the people, praising you for your achievements in controlling the river.”
Just then, the boatman aboard the ship began calling out.
Fang Yuqian hurriedly cupped his hands in farewell and turned to hurry aboard the boat.
The boatman then untied the boat, pushed off with his pole, and sent the boat away from the riverbank.
Fang Yuqian stood unsteadily on the boat and waved toward Shu Changyu.
Behind him, the mountains were lush and green, layered one upon another. The surface of the water glittered beneath the light, mist curling through the air. It was practically an ink-wash landscape painting.
The direction Shu Changyu faced happened to be north.
Amid the faint outlines of the water and mountains, through layer upon layer of scenery, he seemed to see Zhaojing in the north.
His eyes suddenly felt somewhat sore.
He steadied his gaze, then turned around and walked back against the crowd that had come to see them off.
“Go investigate.”
He instructed Kong Qing.
“Find out where that rumor about me descending to earth to save the world came from.”
Author’s Note: Prime Minister Shu’s behavior of spying on Jing Mu Mu is kind of like a girl spying on her ex-boyfriend’s Weibo, huh? ←_←