Chapter 134: Chapter 75 Hill Seedlings and Ravine Pines_1
The imperial examination was a major event in the Liang Dynasty, and the news from the examination halls swept through every corner of Shengjing like a whirlwind.
Merchants from all along West Street stepped out of their shops, crowding the already narrow street to the point of impassability.
"Have you heard? The scholar who died in the Tribute Court, he was Scholar Wu from our West Street fish stall!"
"Where did you hear such rumors? Wu Youcai was kind-hearted and honest, always minding his own business beyond his books and the fish stand. Who would have a grudge against him? You might have heard wrong," said the warm-hearted Sister Song.
Widow Sun, well-informed and carrying a basket of vegetables, happened to pass by and leaned in to say, "I just came back from the Tribute Court, and Scholar Wu didn’t die from being poisoned by someone else, he died from drinking poison himself."
"Drank poison himself?" People looked at her curiously, "Why would he do such a thing if everything was fine?"
Just as Widow Sun was about to answer, another cry of grief came from the end of the street, "Youcai—"
Looking toward the sound, they saw an old man stumbling down the street, his face yellowed and emaciated, his white beard drenched with tears. Someone recognized him as Old Master Xun from the temple entrance and asked, "Old Master Xun, didn’t you participate in the examination this year too? What exactly happened at the Tribute Court?"
As soon as these words were uttered, Old Master Xun’s tears rolled down anew and with a cough and a sigh, he said, "Youcai was driven to it by those people—"
The crowd surged around him, bombarding him with questions. It was as if they were distanced by a gap, turning into the dense ink characters on an examination paper, swirling and rushing towards him, which reminded Old Master Xun of a scene back in the Tribute Court—
The Department of Military Affairs took away those twelve individuals involved in the examination fraud, and the Medical Officer found the packet of poison placed by Wu Youcai inside the examination basket. These alone were not enough to prove that Wu Youcai committed suicide by taking poison.
What truly confirmed the suicide was the last sheet of Wu Youcai’s examination paper.
Since Wu Youcai had smashed the window of his cell before the final round had ended, his results for this year’s autumn examination were invalidated, even if it was due to an emergency. Several chief examiners from the Ministry of Rites were taken away for interrogation by the Department of Criminal & Justice, and a Scholar from the Hanlin Academy took Wu Youcai’s examination papers.
While the other candidates were still shaken by the death in the Tribute Court and outraged by the examination fraud, Old Master Xun saw the Scholar staring at Wu Youcai’s paper with a peculiar expression.
Having a bond of the same year with Wu Youcai and feeling deeply distressed by his predicament, he brazenly approached the Scholar, hoping to have a glance at the last written work Wu Youcai left to the world.
He saw it—
"Alas for the scholar, tirelessly striving without end. His eyes dim from reading, his hand calloused from writing..."
With eyes blurred by tears, Old Master Xun raised his head and cried out, "If it weren’t for those examiners and candidates conniving in broad daylight, cheating in the imperial examination, how could Youcai have remained insignificant for over ten years?
"He knew the fraudulence was rampant and commoners couldn’t shake the high officials. He had no choice but to express his protest through death, hoping his own demise would prompt a thorough investigation of the examination."
"Mountain seedlings and valley pines, the terrain varies with heights and depths... The terrain varies with heights and depths indeed!"
His cry was heart-wrenching, and a feeling of shared misery and indignation stirred within him. Wu Youcai sacrificed his life to expose the darkness of the examination hall. The twelve impostors were taken away, the chief examiners caught and interrogated, but Wu Youcai’s life was gone. Perhaps he could have been named on the golden list in the past twelve years, bringing glory to his family and showing his mother an achieved life, yet that possibility was cruelly snuffed out by others.
The same was true for himself.
Having devoted his life to the pursuit of fame and recognition, only to realize in the end that all his diligent efforts amounted to naught. The hardest thing to bear in this world isn’t failing to achieve, but realizing you could have achieved something only to lose it.
Unfair!
While Old Scholar’s inner turmoil had yet to subside, an apprentice from Tailor Sun’s shop at the end of the street came sprinting over, shouting as he ran, "This is terrible, uncles, aunts! A lot of soldiers have gone to the Wu Family’s fish stall, searching everywhere as if intending to charge Wu with a crime!"
"Charging with a crime?" Sister Song voiced her doubts, "Wu is already dead, what crime could there be to charge?"
"They say... They say that Wu took poison in his cell, a deed that disturbed the examination and unsettled the people’s hearts. Now they’re searching his home to see if any family members need to be taken as well."
Family members? Wu Youcai’s only mother had been laid to rest last month. He was all alone; with no family left, the government officers’ attempt to incriminate others would certainly flop.
But... Disturbing the examination, unsettling people’s hearts?
The surroundings gradually quieted down.
After a long while, someone in the crowd finally broke the silence, "Isn’t this just blatant bullying?"