frightfiction Chapter 42 Lin Shiming: Save me! Save me!
Chapter 42 Lin Shiming: Save me! Save me!
The first imperial examination concluded successfully.
Lu Yuxi stayed with Lin Shiming in the examination room for a whole day and two nights.
After seeing the examinees off at the examination hall on the morning of the tenth, and arranging the remaining matters to return to the palace, it was almost noon. Lin Shiming simply ordered someone to send a message to Fengyi Palace, and then went with Lu Yuxi to Bai Qiongzhu's place for a meal.
He claimed, "Thank you, Mother, for standing up for me!"
Bai Qiongzhu naturally welcomed them warmly, and she led Lu Tingsong to enjoy a delightful "small family feast" with the Crown Prince and his wife.
Finally, Lin Shiming even persuaded Bai Qiongzhu to send someone to the Xuanzheng Hall to show off to Emperor Longyun.
Emperor Longyun, who was so busy that he only had a few bites of food for lunch, thought: "... ..."
Emperor Longyun: "Say it again, what did the Crown Princess say?"
The scene looked somewhat familiar, so Li An quietly took two steps back to minimize his presence.
The eunuch kneeling on the ground could only reply tremblingly, "His Highness said that he knew you couldn't enter Fengyi Palace these two days, so he ate a few extra bites for you so you wouldn't regret it..." There was no need to thank him; it was just what a son should do.
Although he didn't say the second half of the sentence, Emperor Longyun was so angry that his beard bristled.
He angrily threw the memorial in his hand onto the table, looked around, and saw Chief Steward Li, who was hunched over and putting on airs, in the corner.
"Li An!" Emperor Longyun shouted angrily, pointing with a trembling hand, "You, go and invite the Crown Prince and Crown Princess over to me. Tell them I want to personally teach them how to handle state affairs!"
Ha, I may not be able to deal with the Empress, but I can certainly handle you two little brats?
Today I'm going to make you suffer!
Li An, who had failed to feign death, was driven crazy by this family, and his usual fawning smile was now tinged with bitterness.
"The slave obeys the order."
*
Li An walked briskly all the way and arrived at Fengyi Palace, panting heavily.
Bai Qiongzhu was not in good health, so after finishing his meal, he went for a nap to help with digestion.
Meanwhile, in the east hall of Fengyi Palace, Lin Shiming was happily playing house with his eldest son on the carpet, while Lu Yuxi sat to the side drinking tea and watching them fool around with a smile.
Just then, Lianqiu led Li'an in. Li'an, still catching his breath, stepped forward and bowed with trembling hands.
"Your Highnesses, His Majesty has summoned you to the Xuanzheng Hall, saying that he will personally instruct you on how to handle state affairs."
Lin Shiming was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is this 'political matter' a proper 'political matter'?"
Could it be a metaphor for me and the Crown Prince?
Li An forced a fawning smile again.
Lin Shiming: "... ..."
Lu Yuxi chuckled. He put down his teacup, bent down, and helped Lin Shiming, who was sitting on the carpet, to his feet.
"You've become too happy and now you're going to have a bad time. I told you not to provoke Father, but you insisted on sending someone to show off."
Lin Shiming was on the verge of tears, "Who knew he was so stingy!"
"Alright, put your shoes on quickly. If we're late, won't we be giving Father Emperor a handle to use against us?"
Lin Shiming looked aggrieved. He took the two shoes that Aunt Lianqiu had picked up for him, which he had thrown to the south and north respectively, and put them on. He reluctantly said goodbye to his good son, and was soon pulled out of Fengyi Palace by Lu Yuxi.
*
Before long, the two arrived at Xuanzheng Hall.
Emperor Longyun was sitting inside reviewing memorials when he caught sight of the two of them entering and let out a long hum.
Seeing this, Lin Shiming knew he was doomed.
In order to appease Emperor Longyun and make him let him off the hook, Lin Shiming, being very perceptive, performed a deep bow together with Lu Yuxi.
"My son, I will meet my father."
Emperor Longyun snorted again.
He slowly put down the memorial in his hand, then rested his chin on his hand and carefully admired the submissive appearance of the two people kneeling below.
When the two of them felt uneasy under his gaze, Emperor Longyun finally spoke up slowly.
"Get up."
"Thank you, Father."
The two stood up and looked up. Lu Yuxi remained as composed as ever, while Lin Shiming was unusually well-behaved and obedient.
Hmph! It's too late for them to play innocent now!
Emperor Longyun sneered inwardly, raising his hand to point to the two tables he had hastily added beside his imperial desk. Each table was fully equipped with writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone; several stacks of memorials lay on one of the tables.
"The two of you will stay here today."
Lin Shiming glanced around and thought, thankfully, there were chairs!
"I said I would personally teach you how to handle state affairs today. It's only the hour of Wei (1-3 PM) now. The Crown Prince has learned how to review memorials. Your task is to finish reviewing everything on the table before dinner. If you don't finish, you'll have to wait until after dinner to review them standing up."
Lu Yuxi nodded. He was familiar with this matter; whenever Emperor Longyun wanted to slack off, he would summon him to write the imperial edicts and then hand them over to Emperor Longyun for his review. Therefore, the people in the court had become accustomed to a large number of memorials written in the Crown Prince's handwriting appearing in the memorials sent back by Emperor Longyun from time to time.
Moreover, in most cases, Emperor Longyun would only glance at the memorials he had approved, and after getting a general idea of what they were about, he would issue them directly for processing, which shows that he trusted the emperor quite a bit.
That's the number...
Lu Yuxi estimated that she would definitely have to stand for more than an hour today.
"As for the Crown Princess..."
Lin Shiming looked up in alarm, waving his hands in refusal, "Your subject has not studied this, I cannot approve it!"
He really didn't want to read the cryptic text.
He had read Lin Shihe's memorials when he was curious before. Each one was a thousand or two thousand words long. Who could possibly read that? Moreover, according to Lin Yunyue's later complaints to him, Lin Shihe was already among the most concise writers. Many civil officials liked to quote classical texts when they wrote, and it was common for their memorials to be three or four thousand words long. They were also obscure and difficult to understand.
But Emperor Longyun clearly wouldn't let him go.
"I know you haven't studied this before, isn't that why I'm here today to teach you?"
Emperor Longyun smiled kindly, “Your task is to carefully read through the memorials that the Crown Prince has approved, list and summarize the key points in the memorials, and then copy down the Crown Prince’s comments below.”
Help me! Help me!
"Moreover, I will review every single summary and copy you make. If it is not up to standard, I will rewrite it until it is up to standard."
"!"
Lin Shiming was on the verge of tears. He desperately tugged at Lu Yuxi's sleeve, "Please, write less."
Lu Yuxi was amused. "I'll try my best."
*
It must be said that Emperor Longyun's method of teaching, though painful, was incredibly effective. Although only seven memorials passed in the afternoon, by the time dinner was approaching, Lin Shiming was already able to quickly extract the key points and intentions from the thousands of words of memorials.
The price was a head of hair that looked like a bird's nest and a pen barrel that had been chewed and pockmarked.
"Alright." Emperor Longyun raised his hand and snatched the brush from his hand. "Look what you've done to my finest purple brush."
"I didn't mean to, this thing is just too difficult to understand..."
Emperor Longyun glanced discreetly at Lianqiu, who bowed to him and then left the room, and snorted softly, "Fine. I'll let you off this time."
Lin Shiming's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Go back, I won't provide meals."
Lin Shiming grabbed Lu Yuxi and ran outside.
"Wait a minute!"
"...Father, your word is law, you can't go back on your word, can you?"
"Am I that kind of person?" Emperor Longyun glared at him, then casually tossed the broken wolf-hair brush back onto Lin Shiming's table. "Remember to bring your own brush tomorrow at Shenshi (3-5 PM)."
Lin Shiming was dumbfounded.
"Again?"
*
The emperor's command is difficult to disobey.
Lin Shiming spent seven days in this intermittent state of suicidal thoughts, during which time even the imperial examination ended without him realizing it.
Except for the two days he spent at the examination hall, Lin Shiming had to study for two hours every other day at the Xuanzheng Hall. He studied so hard that his scalp tingled, and at night he dreamed of a group of old men chanting scriptures in his ear.
Fortunately, with Lu Yuxi giving him extra help every night, his homework finally gained Emperor Longyun's approval.
Looking at the summary, which was almost identical to Lu Yuxi's in both handwriting and thought process, Emperor Longyun nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, starting tomorrow you can begin by reviewing some less important memorials."
"real!!"
“Of course. Starting tomorrow, the Crown Prince will be going to the Ministry of Personnel to review the papers, and you will be in charge of the daily memorials. Just remember to use the Crown Prince's handwriting.”
"Good good!"
Lin Shiming didn't feel anything was wrong. He just felt that he had finally escaped the previous painful stage and would no longer have to copy Lu Yuxi's homework. He could do whatever he wanted.
"My son, thank you very much, Father!"
Lu Yuxi turned her head and gave him a meaningful look, then stood up as if nothing had happened.
"Hmm." Emperor Longyun concealed the smile in his eyes. "That's all for today. Go back early and get some rest for the night."
"My son, please retire!"
Lin Shiming bowed respectfully, then, overjoyed, pulled Lu Yuxi outside.
"Come on, I'll cook you a barbecue tonight myself, as a way of thanking you for cooking for me!"
Lu Yuxi smiled without saying a word, and let him pull her back.