Facing the emperor…

Previously, when she passed through the main road in front of the Palace of Brightness, the gazes of onlookers were merely focused on the confrontation between two children.

But as Qiao Yan returned to this path, the crowd, including the students of the Imperial Academy, looked at her with a noticeable change in their eyes.

Studying in the capital of Luoyang, the ultimate goal for scholars was to gain recognition from the emperor, to ascend to the court.

In this process of accumulating reputation, it was preferable to receive patronage from influential figures.

If not, one had to establish their own reputation.

In special circumstances like the Yellow Turban Rebellion, only a few could build achievements—it wasn’t a path that could be easily emulated.

For most scholars, being able to stand out from the Imperial Academy based on their outstanding scholarship and then traveling through the territories of Ruyi and Ying, receiving guidance from one or two scholars, was already a high starting point.

The pinnacle was to receive evaluations from contemporary top critics like Xu Jing, Xu Shao, He Yong, and Guo Tai.

A favorable evaluation was enough to distinguish oneself from ordinary scholars.

And evidently, Qiao Yan had achieved it.

She not only obtained the high praise of “a fledgling phoenix with a clear voice,” which held great expectations for the future, but she also immediately received an audience with the emperor.

Of course, everyone could see that Qiao Yan’s opportunity to be summoned was not solely due to Xu Shao’s evaluation.

If it weren’t for the previously conferred title of Marquis Le Ping, and Liu Hong wasn’t just idling around, he wouldn’t necessarily summon a mere nobody who was only valued by Xu Shao.

Moreover, considering the distance between Dingzhongguan and the Imperial City, it was evident that as soon as Xu Shao’s evaluation was out, someone must have informed the palace.

And if Liu Hong had nothing pressing to do, he would have ordered Zhang Rang to come and deliver the imperial decree.

Zhang Rang arrived too quickly!

So fast that it made one suspect that Liu Hong had been paying close attention to Qiao Yan’s actions and situation all along.

But it couldn’t be denied that when that evaluation and this opportune summons were put together, it benefited Xu Shao, and Qiao Yan’s reputation skyrocketed.

At this moment, no one would say she should have been at her grandfather’s bedside—

After all, this was her first outing since arriving in Luoyang, and her accompanying Yang Xiu to Dingzhongguan seemed more like a chance encounter.

And all she did was, when the opportunity presented itself, she grasped it without hesitation.

Putting oneself in her shoes, if they were in Qiao Xuan’s position, and on the verge of deathly illness, and someone like Xu Shao had appeared offering a chance—

With such an outstanding granddaughter whose words can reach the heavens, perhaps Qiao Xuan could indeed pass away with a smile on his face.

With future generations and accomplishments in sight, what else could comfort the heart of an elder more?

“After all this commotion, they’ll probably be as curious as I am about what you wrote,” Yang Xiu said as he looked back while passing through the Pingcheng Gate.

Fortunately, not everyone could enter the capital of Luoyang, especially beyond the city gate, near the Guangyang Gate and the Haomen, before the South Palace, on the wall of the South Palace, was the Zhuque Observatory.

This marked the strict security of the imperial city.

And it displayed a solemn atmosphere because it represented the highest authority of the Han Dynasty.

Even someone like Yang Xiu, the grandson of the Grand Commandant, couldn’t pass through the Zhuque Gate without permission.

He was just following this path because he had to return home.

Now, as Qiao Yan continued to follow Zhang Rang into the South Palace, Yang Xiu turned right towards the Grand Commandant’s Mansion.

He had an extraordinary memory; if one were to slightly exaggerate, he could probably earn the praise of having a photographic memory.

For instance, at this moment, Qiao Yan’s essay was still imprinted in his mind.

He pondered that since he had been defeated by such a piece, he naturally had to memorize it and recite it daily to remember it thoroughly.

Because of this, he didn’t continue playing around the Imperial Academy with his friends but decided to go home first to prevent missing a word or two.

As he saw Qiao Yan’s figure disappear behind the gates, he sighed softly.

“I wonder how today’s situation will be recorded in the history books…”

Despite receiving a not-so-bad evaluation, he hoped he wouldn’t be recorded as something like—”Yang Xiu openly challenged Qiao Yan on the street, forcing her to accompany him to Dingzhongguan. Qiao Yan reluctantly presented ‘The Provincial Governor and Feudalism’ to Xu Shao and was summoned by the emperor.”

Wouldn’t that make him the villain?

The still young Yang Xiu pondered how he could redeem his reputation.

Maybe… “Yang Xiu, convinced by Qiao Yan, accompanies her to Le Ping” could work.

He felt like there was some feasibility in that!

Would the Grand Commandant Yang Ci ever have thought that his exceptionally bright grandson, who had initially gone to reclaim his dignity, would now be so straightforwardly selling himself and even contemplating the possibility of running away from home?

Qiao Yan, who had entered through the Zhuque Gate, naturally had no idea.

Besides, her entire focus was now on her impending audience with the emperor.

Without putting it in terms of responding to Liu Hong, there wouldn’t even be a consideration of what Yang Xiu might be thinking.

A mediocre emperor was easy to deal with, but a clever one was hard to read.

In theory, Qiao Yan had not made any missteps in her previous actions.

From assisting in quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion to arguing that “the natural disasters of Han have nothing to do with the rulers,”

to calmly starting farming after arriving in Luoyang, and now this analogy refuting the provincial governor feudal system—everything she did was in defense of Han’s rule.

She hadn’t given Liu Hong any small handles to catch onto to accuse her of leaning towards any particular side.

But when facing him in person, these things might not necessarily be entirely useful; it still depended on improvisation.

However, while planting vegetables in Qiao Xuan’s mansion, she had already speculated in her mind about what Liu Hong might ask and how she should respond, so she wasn’t caught off guard.

With this mindset, as she entered through the Zhuque Gate and passed the Hongde Gate, Qiao Yan even leisurely admired the appearance of the Mingguang Hall directly in front of her after the palace gate opened.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the Northern Wei powerful minister Erzhu Rong was killed in this place.

Of course, at this point, it was just an ordinary palace chamber.

It was only during the reign of Emperor Wen of Wei that Luoyang was redesigned with the concept of the central axis, and subsequent dynasties inherited this axial design to showcase imperial majesty.

The current South Palace in Luoyang did not yet have this characteristic.

For example, Liu Hong lived in the Jade Hall, which wasn’t in the middle row but in the second column when counted from left to right.

This column consisted of Ming Guang, Xuan Shi, Cheng Fu, Jia De, and Jade Hall.

However, Qiao Yan found Liu Hong not in the Jade Hall but in the Jia De Hall.

At this time, the big fire in the Jade Hall in the second year of Zhongping hadn’t happened yet.

The Jia De Hall wasn’t used as Liu Hong’s living quarters; it was more like a reception room placed in front of the bedrooms, or perhaps a study.

Thinking of this, Qiao Yan’s gaze instinctively swept over to the orchid terrace next to the Jia De Hall.

Surrounded by verdant bamboo near the orchid terrace, which was just a few steps away from the Jia De Hall, it was where the Han Dynasty royal family kept their books.

Ban Gu had once served as the Orchid Terrace Historian here.

It was quite fitting for Liu Hong, a man of culture, to set up his living and reception area nearby.

However, her stray thoughts were fleeting.

As soon as she stepped onto the high steps in front of the Jia De Hall, she adopted a calm and focused demeanor, concentrating all her attention on what lay ahead.

With the doors of the Jia De Hall wide open, sunlight poured in, but because the palace rooms were very deep, it was where Liu Hong sat.

In that place, sunlight couldn’t reach, so several bright lamps were lit on the side.

The emperor seated at the head of the room didn’t surprise Qiao Yan too much with his posture.

Instead of sitting up straight, he leaned on one elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand, while flipping through a piece of silk in his other hand.

It was none other than Qiao Yan’s work “Discussion on Provincial Governance.”

When Zhang Rang came to invite Qiao Yan into the palace, he promptly took this item away, delivering it to the imperial palace and into Liu Hong’s hands ahead of time.

Liu Hong only raised his eyes when Qiao Yan entered the hall and bowed.

He shifted his attention from the silk in his hand to Qiao Yan.

“Qiao Qing, you’ve only been in the capital for seven days, and you’ve already made a name for yourself with your talents, which truly exceeds my expectations.”

There was no discernible tone of pleasure or anger in his words, but rather a sense of inquiry, as if he were about to question and judge.

If it were a real child of merely ten years old here, they might have been truly frightened.

However, Qiao Yan, who was observant of people’s words and expressions, didn’t detect any hint of anger on Liu Hong’s face.

His grip on the silk was relaxed.

Moreover, the trait of short life spans among Eastern Han emperors was evident in Liu Hong.

Even though the room wasn’t brightly lit, it wasn’t hard for someone like Qiao Yan, who was used to the people of this age from the future, to notice that Liu Hong’s complexion seemed a bit pale.

This display of lack of vigor from within diminished some of his dignity, no matter how profound he might appear.

She replied calmly, “The scriptures I have read are not many. The only thing I excel at is writing about what I see and hear.

Since the start of the military disaster, everything I have witnessed on the way to Luoyang has been recorded in my writings.

It was beyond my expectations to be noticed by you, Master Zijiang, and it is my great fortune that Your Majesty has taken the time to read my humble work.”

Although Qiao Yan held no official position in Luoyang, she had taken the position of Marquess of Leping.

Liu Hong addressed her as “Minister,” and she referred to herself as “subject” in return, which was appropriate.

“All that I have seen and heard is recorded in my writings…” Liu Hong repeated Qiao Yan’s words with a smile.

“Interesting. Minister Qiao is a practical person. Please take a seat.”

Qiao Yan stood up and knelt on the cushion below Liu Hong.

Liu Hong glanced at her and suddenly found it quite amusing.

Although his time moving from the North Palace to the South Palace had not been long, he had met many ministers in Jiade Hall.

However, it was indeed the first time he had met someone so young.