" Drag him out and behead him!" The Emperor had no fondness for courtiers who studied until they became foolish and superstitious. Since he dared to defy him openly, he should be prepared to die.
Startled back to his senses by the order, Minister Zhao knew he couldn't escape death today. Even in death, he had to prove he wasn't wrong: "Usurper! Traitor! Killing me today won't help! You can silence my mouth, but can you silence the voices of the world?!"
No matter what, the Emperor's improper ascension was a fact. Once today's events spread, it would undoubtedly invite more criticism from scholars.
The Son of Heaven looked down on scholars, but how much of their verbal and written attacks could he endure?!
"Your Majesty, calm down," someone quick-thinking quickly realized this too. Seeing Minister Zhao being dragged away by the imperial guards, he hurriedly spoke up: "Minister Zhao was from Suzhou Prefecture. If he dies, the scholars of Suzhou—"
"Let them talk! Let them write!" The Emperor's attitude was firm. "If they speak well and write well enough to bring the hundred thousand people of Huayin back to life, I would gladly give them this dragon throne!"
"... That won't do!" The courtiers were terrified. This improperly enthroned Emperor was truly reckless, even saying things like handing over the throne.
" Why won't it do?" The Emperor was utterly fed up with these useless court officials. "The throne is meant to be taken in turns. If the court fills with more officials like you, how many years can I even sit on this emperor's seat?"
The hall fell into complete silence; no one dared to respond.
Fortunately, the Emperor knew their nature all too well and directly decreed: "Starting from the next imperial examination, except for the academy exams, the provincial, metropolitan, and palace exams will focus on current affairs, with other subjects as supplements. Those who excel in current affairs may be exceptionally selected for preferential admission."
With that, the Emperor turned to leave.
Someone knelt to block his way: "Your Majesty, how should the top three scholars for this palace examination be appointed?"
"You decide." The Emperor flicked his sleeve and left. He had no fondness for this year's candidates who wrote about current affairs as flowery as literature.
It was all he could do to stomach reading through the papers with his strong willpower. Did they still expect him to appoint the top scholars?
Once the Emperor left, the courtiers, soaked in sweat, sat slumped on the ground. Although the Emperor hadn't invalidated this year's exams, the candidates had still earned his disgust.
"Mastering literary and martial skills to serve the Emperor."
After decades of hard work, finally making the list only to disgust the Emperor—sitting on the cold bench for life—it was easy to imagine how crushed and desperate all scholars and candidates would be once the Emperor's decree was announced.
Their decades of study were wasted! It was all because they, the civil officials, were useless and couldn't restrain a militarized Emperor.
They could only yield to him.
Otherwise, they would end up like Minister Zhao outside the hall, beheaded by the imperial guards with a single stroke—a heart-stopping, terrifying sight.
The scholar's pen could condemn the good, but it could never destroy a demon with firm resolve.
None of this court drama had anything to do with the small village of Xinghua, let alone the bully Chen Liejiu. Right now, he was truly wandering through the dense, boundless deep mountains with his men.
"Boss, we've been roaming these mountains for over ten days and found nothing. Are you sure we can find it?!" Chen Wu's clothes were torn to shreds by thorns, his body covered in snake and insect bites. Looking at the empty forest around them, his resolve wavered, and he didn't want to continue.
Chen Liejiu wasn't much better off. His fair skin was covered in mosquito bites, and he sat on the ground disheveledly chewing dry rations—so sour it made his teeth ache.
The weather was hot; nothing kept well. After over ten days in the mountains, their dry food had turned sour.
"Hold on one more day. If we can't find it by then, we'll retreat." Chen Liejiu thought it over; he couldn't make his brothers suffer with him indefinitely.
Chen Wu pouted: "Maybe that hunter was lying. What streams or peppercorn trees could there be in such deep mountains?"
They had searched the entire county, but no one would sell them peppercorn trees. Only one hunter mentioned a group of wild peppercorn trees by a stream in these deep mountains.
He had only been there once by chance while chasing a fox and could never find the place again, so they had to search the mountains themselves.
Chen Wu had thought it sounded false from the start, but for some reason, their boss had gone crazy at the word "fox" and brought them into the mountains.
Just as he was complaining, Chen San— clever as a monkey—returned from scouting ahead: "Boss, found it! Found it! A few miles ahead there's indeed a stream, and the banks are full of peppercorn trees, but—"
Before he could finish, Chen Liejiu scrambled up from the ground: "Let's go!"
But when they arrived, they found the peppercorn trees were on the opposite bank of the stream, separated by a cliff with water below. To reach them, they had to descend the cliff.
"How do we get across?" Chen Wu was dumbfounded. He thought it would be a ditch, but it was a cliff.
Chen Liejiu looked at the lush branches weaving across the cliff gap: "There is a way—swing across by the branches."
But it was easy to fall to your death!
Everyone knew this, but no one said it aloud. Chen Liejiu even joked with them lightheartedly: "If I swing across and accidentally fall to my death, wouldn't it be 'dying under the peony flower, a ghost but still romantic' for your Second Brother?"
Of course it would.
Since their boss had taken up with Second Brother, just think of how many earth-shattering things he had done for him!
Before they could react, everyone's eyes widened in shock.
Because Chen Liejiu, biting his dagger, rolled up his sleeves, climbed a tree, and swung from branch to branch like a strand of fiery red silk, gliding smoothly across to the peppercorn trees on the opposite cliff.
He really went to be romantic!!!