Chapter 191

Shen Cui couldn’t hold back anymore. With no one else to talk to, she could only complain to the system: “This person, really. He came to see My Erpang, just say it directly. It’s normal for brothers with the same surnames who haven’t seen each other in three years to come and visit.”

The system replied: “Host, don’t you understand? Mu Yunchuan still hasn’t classified you as ‘one of his own’ yet. His treatment of the No. 1 cultivation target is indeed somewhat different. If he shows too directly, wouldn’t it be like handing you a handle?”

Shen Cui thought about it and realized it was true.

Although the two of them were not considered enemies now, if all his ‘goodness’ over the past few years was just a disguise, his true nature was hard to change, just waiting to reappear after Erpang finished his Imperial Examination.

If she knew he also treated Erpang with some sincerity, she might have other thoughts, like asking him to promote Erpang in his career.

He was so cautious for self-preservation, and Erpang did indeed remember him as his big brother, so she didn’t expose him and just said, “Since you’ve met, talk for a while. I’ll go prepare dinner first.”

With that, Shen Cui stood up and left them alone, thinking that if she wasn’t there, Mu Yunchuan wouldn’t need to be so reserved.

“I just heard that Big Brother was sick. Although Sister-in-law said you were fine, seeing you with my own eyes makes me feel relieved.” Mu Erpang spoke while carefully observing Mu Yunchuan’s complexion.

He couldn’t help but sigh, “Mother fell ill too. How can you adults not take care of yourselves? There’s no one to worry about you.”

With his tone as a little housekeeper, Mu Yunchuan couldn’t help but smile, “I’m fine. I came to tell you something.”

He paused and continued, “The examiners for the imperial examination have been announced.”

Mu Erpang also stopped joking and asked seriously, “Can the others in our academy know about this?”

It was not yet December, and according to the usual practice of this dynasty, the announcement of the examiners would not be made until the beginning of the new year when scholars from all over the country gathered in the capital.

Although Mu Yunchuan’s official position was low, he was just a sixth-grade editor of the Hanlin Academy.

However, scholars from all over the world were eager to enter the Hanlin Academy because Hanlin officials were considered close to the emperor and had the possibility of being appointed as imperial tutor.

Although Mu Yunchuan’s qualifications were not deep, he had performed extraordinarily in the palace exam and was the only one in this dynasty to be awarded six times.

He had the opportunity to meet the emperor from time to time.

So his certainty was because he had heard the exact news, not just rumors.

And Mu Erpang’s question was because he was worried that if this inside information could not be shared with others in the academy, only he would know.

Mu Yunchuan’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, as if he hadn’t expected Mu Er Pang to immediately think about sharing the news with his classmates.

However, since this was Mu Er Pang’s choice, he didn’t interfere, simply saying, “Actually, the court says the news will only be announced after the New Year each year. But right now, some scholars have already started inquiring through various channels. In at most half a month, this matter won’t be considered insider information anymore.”

This meant that everyone could listen together.

Mu Er Pang thanked him and went to call the others over.

When everyone was gathered, Mu Yunchuan continued, “This year, His Majesty intended for Senior Minister Shen to serve as the chief examiner again. However, Senior Minister Shen said he is old and afraid he may not be up to the task. But His Majesty insisted that Senior Minister Shen recommend someone, so Senior Minister Shen finally recommended Academician Pang. It’s truly unexpected.”

After everyone had listened, Mu Er Pang looked confused, looking at the others.

Lao Buyu helped explain, “Senior Minister Shen is the former Prime Minister we mentioned before in the academy. Because he doesn’t value fame, he dislikes being addressed as ‘Former Prime Minister’ or ‘Prime Minister Shen.’ So, we usually call him ‘Senior Minister Shen’ or ‘Elder Shen.’ As for Academician Pang, he is the Deputy… He also dislikes being referred to as ‘Deputy’ before or after his name.”

Lao Buyu gave a knowing look to Mu Er Pang, who nodded in understanding.

The Deputy is never happy with others reminding him that there’s someone above him in his title.

The rest of the story is unnecessary to mention. Senior Minister Shen and Deputy Pang don’t get along, but Senior Minister Shen still recommended Deputy Pang as the chief examiner.

Isn’t it, as Mu Yunchuan said, unexpected?

But in fact, when Mu Yunchuan said this, he actually roughly guessed the reason – the descendants of the Shen family have never entered officialdom.

It is said that Senior Minister Shen let his descendants hide their identities and return to their hometown for the imperial examination.

In the imperial examination, you have to write the names and resumes of your ancestors for three generations, and the relevant examination staff can see this when copying the names.

They made it known to everyone, and it spread like wildfire. What’s the point of ‘hiding’ anymore?

So, Senior Minister Shen sought grace from the late emperor and prepared a ‘fake’ household registration for the descendants of the Shen family that was certified by the late emperor.

Shen is not a prominent surname, but it’s not extremely rare either. Even in small places like Yongning County, there are several households surnamed Shen. Just from the surname, it’s impossible to make a definite judgment. Moreover, it’s not ruled out that the surname in that fake household registration has also been changed.

So basically, except for the late emperor and Senior Minister Shen himself, no one knows what identity the descendants of the Shen family used in the imperial examinations.

A few years ago, when the late emperor passed away due to illness, many things were left unclear to the current emperor who was then the crown prince. One of those things was the fake household registration.

Now is the time to use talents, and the current emperor proposed for Senior Minister Shen to be the chief examiner, firstly because he trusts him, and secondly, it’s actually to urge him to release the descendants of the Shen family who are useful to the Shen family.

Senior Minister Shen firmly declined and instead recommended Deputy Pang, with whom he has always had a disagreement.

So, it’s very likely that among the candidates for this year’s provincial examination, there are descendants of the Shen family.

In this way, if his descendants come out of Deputy Pang, whom Senior Minister Shen doesn’t get along with, it will definitely not raise suspicions about the fairness of this year’s provincial examination.

This concerns the situation in the court, which is the true secret that cannot be told to outsiders.

And for Mu Er Pang and the others, there’s actually no need to know – Senior Minister Shen did this because he didn’t want to give any special privileges to his descendants.

It’s beneficial for them, the same batch of candidates, so Mu Yunchuan stopped there and didn’t say the rest.

After digesting the information explained by Lao Buyu, Mu Er Pang blinked, hesitated, and asked Mu Yunchuan, “Is Academician Pang good at poetry?”

Mu Yunchuan didn’t know about the ‘hardships’ he had suffered under Liu Xuezhen and Minister Wang, so he didn’t expect him to ask this, but he still replied, “I haven’t heard that he has a preference for this.”

Mu Er Pang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he didn’t encounter a chief examiner who was obsessed with poetry again.

Liu Xuezhen’s poetry topics were tricky and obscure, and Minister Wang’s poetry topics were vague and difficult to write, which made him still have lingering fears.

Seeing him like this, Mu Yunchuan naturally understood that poetry was probably his weak point.

He glanced at the sky and said, “It’s still early, bring the poems and articles you’ve written recently.”

Some people knew about Mu Er Pang’s background before, just knowing that he was Mu Yunchuan’s younger brother made them envy and jealous, thinking that if they had such a powerful elder brother who could guide them carefully in private, maybe they could also pass the exam like Mu Er Pang without any obstacles.

Little did they know, the two brothers rarely met, and each time they briefly met, Mu Yunchuan hadn’t even finished his exams and the gap between their levels was huge. It was not as close as the siblings of other families.

Mu Er Pang had never taken the initiative to ask Mu Yunchuan to give him such guidance.

Mu Er Pang immediately went to the classroom to get the poems and articles. Lao Buyu and the other young people exchanged glances and left the room very tacitly, so as not to let Mu Yunchuan comment in front of others and have to consider giving Mu Er Pang face.

In the blink of an eye, Mu Er Pang brought over a stack of papers.

Mu Yunchuan didn’t expect there to be so many.

He listened as Mu Er Pang said, “These were written after coming to the capital. The ones before… were even worse, so I didn’t show them to Big Brother.”

Mu Yunchuan quickly calculated in his mind that all of these were written after he came to the capital, meaning he could write one almost every two or three days. Regardless of quality, this was very diligent.

He lowered his eyes, focused on the paper, and scanned it quickly, already knowing some of the issues.

“Diligence is a good thing, but in the realm of poetry and prose…”

Before he could finish, Mu Yunchuan’s expression suddenly changed— that splitting headache, that sensation of being pricked by needles came again!

His hand holding the paper trembled slightly.

Though it was only for a moment, Mu Er Pang, who was being guided by him for the first time, was both nervous and expectant, looking at him intently, noticing his reaction.

“Big Brother, you…”

Mu Yunchuan quickly closed his eyes, then opened them again with a calm expression. “Your poetry and prose are still acceptable. Since you say this is your shortcoming, it means other areas are more outstanding. The imperial examination is difficult, but with normal performance, achieving a top ranking isn’t difficult.”

This was his usual rhetoric. Mu Er Pang nodded, showing no disappointment, but the concern on his face couldn’t be hidden.

He no longer had the appearance of a silly, chubby person.

With his long, narrow eyes, high nose bridge, and a somewhat youthful appearance, Mu Yunchuan and him looked somewhat alike.

Blood ties are indeed a strange thing.

Seeing him like this, Mu Yunchuan’s mood became complicated.

“I still have official matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

Mu Er Pang nodded and saw him off.

Shen Cui and Zhou Shi were just about done preparing dinner.

Shen Cui was holding utensils, preparing to set the table in the main hall, when she saw Mu Er Pang returning after seeing someone off.

“Did your big brother leave?” Shen Cui asked casually as she entered the main hall.

Since there was no one else present, Mu Er Pang immediately recounted what had just happened, sighing, “Big Brother said he was fine, was speaking normally, and suddenly his hands started shaking. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s keeping it to himself, so I can’t ask too much. I’ll just tell Mother.”

Shen Cui connected the situation and understood everything— Mu Yunchuan rarely showed such concern for his younger brother, wanting to give him some guidance, but was ‘reprimanded’ by his condition!

This was actually good news.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle this.” Shen Cui, in a good mood, couldn’t help but smile.

It’s not that Shen Cui was bored and found it amusing to see Mu Yunchuan in distress.

It’s human nature to have a rebellious streak, especially for someone like Mu Yunchuan.

He had come all this way, not sensing the existence of the laws, thinking it was all done by himself.

He naturally has his pride. The laws, now forced into desperation, repeatedly restrain and hinder him. Can he be happy?