In ancient times, the imperial examination consisted of three sessions, each lasting three days and two nights. That meant a total of nine days and six nights. Zhuang Dongqing was quite skeptical about whether he could endure such harsh examination conditions. Unfortunately, there was no choice in the matter. When the time came, he packed his writing tools and provisions, and after being thoroughly searched, he entered the assigned examination hall.

Fortunately, he wasn’t next to the latrine, and the space wasn’t too cramped— a small blessing amidst the misfortunes. After sitting on the wooden bench for a while, Zhuang Dongqing laid out his ink, paper, and inkstone, leisurely grinding the ink. Once everything was ready, he finally gathered his thoughts and resigned himself to answering the questions.

*

“Master, everything is here,” Xu Si said as he placed the statements in front of Cen Yan.

“Where’s Hao San?” Cen Yan asked while flipping through the documents.

Xu Si replied, “He’s still questioning the servants to verify the details.”

Cen Yan nodded.

Later, Hao San returned with Zhao Ye, confirming that all the details matched. They had also identified the poison the woman had taken. Cen Yan’s team was composed of skilled individuals, and they took over the case entirely. Initially, the case was handled by the Dali Temple’s supervisor, but after half a month without results and a death occurring, they sent the Dali Temple’s head to investigate. Another half month passed, and still, there was no conclusion.

The group from the Wang residence had only been there for five days, but they had already pieced together the case. “No wonder they sent one to be mute; they were too scared to investigate,” Cen Yan scoffed. On the surface, it seemed like a case of a royal family member being frivolous with a beautiful woman, but digging deeper revealed collusion between both parties, with illegal money lending and uneven profit distribution causing the uproar.

The court had always strictly prohibited usury, and with one side being the royal family and the other the gentry, if they really started digging, who knows how many would be implicated. Cen Yan sneered, “Looks like it really falls to me to handle this.”

In the capital, the big families were all interconnected, and everyone was a relative in one way or another. This business was extensive, with high profits, and it had been quietly going on without a hint of trouble. Just one family alone couldn’t cover it up, nor could they consume it all. If it weren’t for him being an outsider, no one would have thought to investigate.

“Alright, call the supervisor and the head of the temple to come here. Write a memorial to report to His Majesty,” he instructed. This matter was of great importance, and how deep they could investigate depended solely on the emperor’s orders.

Within an hour, the memorial was written, sealed, and handed to Xu Si to return to the capital overnight. Thus, Cen Yan finally had a brief moment of leisure.

During dinner, Cen Yan suddenly remembered something and asked Liu Qi, “Has the spring examination started?”

Liu Qi replied respectfully, “It started yesterday.”

“Yesterday, huh…”

Liu Qi lowered his voice, “The eldest and second young masters of the Zhuang family have already registered to take the exam.”

Cen Yan’s expression didn’t reveal much, and he didn’t refute Liu Qi, but he also didn’t continue the conversation. After finishing dinner and putting down his chopsticks, he noticed many carriages passing by. Liu Qi said, “Those should be the local wealthy families sending their students back from the exam.”

Cen Yan nodded. Suddenly, he remembered, “Shouldn’t we go to Daci Temple?” Since the old prince passed away, Cen Yan had been offering a perpetual lamp at Daci Temple, visiting every two to three months to pay his respects and personally add some oil.

“It’s been two months and six days since my last visit.”

“Then it’s just right to go back to the capital and take a look.”

Liu Qi noted it down.

*

The first three days in the examination hall were bearable, but after the second exam, Zhuang Dongqing emerged looking somewhat pale. After a brief rest overnight, he entered the final exam, but halfway through, he felt extremely unwell, unable to pinpoint what was wrong; his body just felt uncomfortable all over. Fortunately, knowing that the original body was weak, he had brought thick clothing. Although he felt unwell, he wasn’t at risk of catching a cold.

Once this exam was over, the spring examination concluded, and when Zhuang Dongqing left the examination hall, he felt like he was floating. Nine days and six nights without a bath had him on the verge of smelling bad. The madam and the mothers surrounded the eldest young master as they left.

Zhuang Dongqing was helped back to the courtyard by Liu Fu. He lay down on the floor (disliking how dirty he was, he refused to get on the bed) and instructed Liu Fu to prepare water for a bath. In Liu Fu’s eyes, ever since Zhuang Dongqing had a high fever, his bathing frequency had increased, and he couldn’t stand being unclean. He had reminded him before the exams, and after the second exam, Zhuang Dongqing had really wanted to wash up, but there simply wasn’t enough time to rest. In the end, he was persuaded by Liu Fu to get a good night’s sleep.

Now that all the exams were over, he couldn’t stand it for even a moment longer. The monthly allowance from the Zhuang family wasn’t much, and the food wasn’t great either, but they never skimped on hot water for Zhuang Dongqing.

Before long, Liu Fu had everything ready and called for Zhuang Dongqing.

As Zhuang Dongqing undressed, he felt a bit dazed.

Liu Fu said, “Young master, why don’t you eat something before you wash?”

The food had already been prepared and was being kept warm. Thanks to the eldest young master, the dishes were quite sumptuous.

Without a second thought, Zhuang Dongqing refused.

He didn’t want to do anything until he had that bath.

Eventually, with Liu Fu’s help, he sank into the hot water, letting out a sigh of relief— it felt so good.

In his heart, he half-closed his eyes and carefully scrubbed his entire body, feeling much better.

“Young master, take it slow.”

“This side.”

Guiding Zhuang Dongqing to sit down, amidst the rising steam, Liu Fu handed him a towel to dry off.

“Hang your clothes here, young master. Get dressed and come out for dinner.”

“Okay,” Zhuang Dongqing replied.

After washing up, he felt relaxed, but also more tired. The room wasn’t cold, and Zhuang Dongqing moved slowly.

So when he dried off and got dressed, the steam in the washroom had mostly dissipated.

His vision cleared, and as he looked down to tie his undergarment, Zhuang Dongqing froze.

He was momentarily stunned, unable to speak.

Slowly, he reached out, his fingertips trembling slightly.

When he touched his skin, he rubbed it hard, but it didn’t go away.

A winding red line lay across his lower abdomen.

Bright and glaring.

— “The men in this clan who can bear children all have a common trait; after conception, a red line appears below the navel…”

The words of the famous doctor echoed in his ears, ringing loudly.

Zhuang Dongqing swallowed hard, feeling dry and parched.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t prepared.

Nor was it unexpected.

But thinking about it in his head and actually seeing it with his own eyes, confirming it, felt completely different.

Very different.

“Young master, what’s wrong? Are you not done yet?”

Liu Fu called out.

Zhuang Dongqing finally snapped back to reality, hurriedly pulling his clothes together and getting dressed, responding, “Coming.”

He still had to eat.

He was too hungry.

And with the recent string of unfortunate events, to be honest, Zhuang Dongqing felt a bit numb from the shock.

Picking up his chopsticks, Zhuang Dongqing’s first reaction to the red line, the child, and everything else was that it didn’t matter.

After gnawing on dry rations for nine days, seeing the hot rice and dishes, Zhuang Dongqing had only one simple thought in his mind—

So delicious.

He devoured two big bowls.

*

After dinner, Liu Fu urged him to go to bed, and in a daze, he really fell asleep.

Perhaps he was just too tired.

The ancient imperial examination was truly not something humans could endure.

He slept soundly until dawn, feeling well-rested.

The next day, Liu Fu didn’t wake him. When Zhuang Dongqing opened his eyes, he could hear Liu Fu moving around outside, cleaning.

Staring at the ceiling, he blinked a few times, and once his mind cleared, Zhuang Dongqing got up.

He got dressed, washed up, and after breakfast, Zhuang Dongqing returned to his inner chamber.

Sitting there for a while, he pulled out the package of miscarriage medicine.

He poured a bowl of warm water, sprinkled the powder in, stirred it well, but didn’t drink it. Instead, he went outside and poured it into a pot of flower soil.

His mind had been too chaotic that day; after bringing the medicine back, Zhuang Dongqing had started to think more clearly about some things.

For example, the original body had a bright future as an official; didn’t he ever consider getting rid of the child?

And even if the conditions for giving birth were harsh, if they had to operate to remove the fetus, under what circumstances would it result in not only the mother’s body being ruined but also the child needing to take medicine for years?

Difficult births often lead to oxygen deprivation for the fetus, and most of the damage is to the brain; Zhuang Dongqing hadn’t heard much about physical damage.

Combining this with the original text, the situation became clear.

Most likely, the original body had attempted to abort but failed.

It was the medicine that harmed both the original body and the child.

After all, the abortion pills of this era weren’t that precise; they often contained some arsenic and vermilion, and taking them all at once was dangerous.

Looking at the damp flower soil, Zhuang Dongqing exhaled a breath of frustration.

He instructed Liu Fu to throw away the bowl, lit a candle, and burned the paper that had contained the medicine powder. After washing his hands, Zhuang Dongqing returned to his room and unfastened his clothes to take another look; the red line was still there, still very much in line with the muscle structure of the human body, lying horizontally.

His hand trembled slightly in the air, and finally, he pressed it against his lower abdomen, feeling very complicated.

There was some fear, but more so, a sense of helplessness.

Zhuang Dongqing’s parents had passed away early, and he was raised by his aunt. After getting into university, his aunt was diagnosed with a malignant tumor, and after taking a half-year leave to send her off, Zhuang Dongqing had no relatives left in the world. Plus, with his orientation being towards men, he thought that what awaited him in life would only be one romantic relationship after another…

After all, the circle was like that; falling in love was easy, but lasting was hard.

He never thought he would have a child.

His own blood relative?

…

When Liu Fu returned after throwing away the bowl, Zhuang Dongqing had already tidied up and was sitting in the courtyard drinking water.

Watching Liu Fu wash his hands, Zhuang Dongqing poured him a cup of tea and mentioned, “Starting tomorrow, let’s go out for a walk.”

Liu Fu misunderstood, “You’ve been preparing for the exams for a while; it must be quite stuffy.”

Zhuang Dongqing didn’t correct him and asked, “How much of the monthly allowance is left?”

“Um, let me check…” He took out the pouch and counted; it wasn’t much. He had spent some on medical consultations before, and there was a little over fifty taels left.

The original body only received two taels a month, and this was after saving for many years.

Zhuang Dongqing calculated in his mind; after setting aside what he needed for Liu Fu, he shouldn’t have to worry about food and drink for a while.

Having made up his mind, that afternoon, Zhuang Dongqing took Liu Fu out.

They spent several days out and about, leaving in the morning and returning before sunset. Given that the original body had good academic performance, even if the madam wanted to say something, she couldn’t because Zhuang Dongqing hadn’t broken any rules, and the imperial list for the top scholars hadn’t been released yet. There was a hint of fear that he might rank too high, so she pretended not to know.

As for Zhuang Laoye, he was busy with official duties related to the examination papers and was hardly seen, completely unaware of Zhuang Dongqing’s activities.

At first, Liu Fu would say a few words, but being younger than Zhuang Dongqing, he quickly got caught up in the fun.

Oh right, Zhuang Dongqing also ran into Li Yang on the street.

They had shared meals together a couple of times.

To be honest, if it weren’t for knowing that Li Yang was the male lead, with his cheerful and enthusiastic personality, it would be hard not to like him as a friend.

Sometimes, Zhuang Dongqing even thought that if Li Yang were born in modern times, he would definitely be a heartthrob.

Whether he was a “heavenly dish” was hard to say, but there should be no shortage of people who liked that type.

Li Yang also asked about Zhuang Dongqing’s confidence in the imperial examination.

After Zhuang Dongqing answered, he suddenly realized something else.

The original body could be Li Yang’s guest because he was cunning and skilled in strategy.

If it were him,

Even if he followed the original plot, the original text didn’t cover every detail. Slight differences in the minutiae could lead to a butterfly effect, causing the opponent’s strategy to adjust…

— Right now, he was not what Li Yang needed.

When he came to this realization, Zhuang Dongqing felt a lump in his throat, but with so many worries, he quickly let it go and didn’t dwell on it.

By the eighth day, Zhuang Dongqing felt a bit exhausted.

On the tenth day, he got up, yawning, and was about to ask Liu Fu if they could rest at home today when the bed curtain was lifted, revealing Liu Fu already standing by the bed, waiting for him to wake up.

Zhuang Dongqing, still a bit dazed, asked, “Why do you have such a long face?”

Liu Fu leaned in closer and whispered, “Young master, the master didn’t return last night.”

“Ah? Did he stay at the yamen?”

Liu Fu shook his head, “He actually didn’t come back the night before. The madam thought he was busy and didn’t think much of it, but when he didn’t return last night, she sent someone to the Ministry of Rites to inquire, and he still hasn’t come back.”

Zhuang Dongqing immediately became alert.

Liu Fu didn’t elaborate on anything else, just relayed, “The madam issued an order early this morning, forbidding anyone in the residence from coming and going freely.”

“…Oh.”

Zhuang Dongqing got up as usual. During breakfast, he heard that the madam had personally gone out.

In the morning, he practiced calligraphy in the courtyard to keep himself occupied.

After several days out, Zhuang Dongqing noticed that the potted plant he had poured the miscarriage medicine into had completely withered and turned black.

By noon, the madam returned, but Zhuang Laoye was still nowhere to be seen.

Listening to Liu Fu’s report, Zhuang Dongqing looked up at the sky.

It seemed that the scandal involving the imperial examination and the downfall of the crown prince was about to begin.