Chu Wang Fei

by Ning er

  Thinking about this, Hai Tian felt a sudden sharp pain in her heart. She was firmly twisting the handkerchief in her hands, her face had turned colder.

  Particularly when she was reminded of the scene she saw earlier behind that rock garden in the side palace hall, which further made Hai Tian feel that she was being ruthlessly slapped on the face, such kind of humiliation was indeed an unprecedented experience!

  But at this time, she was sitting upright inside the imperial garden. Yet she was unable to expose that person’s despicable behavior, or else Emperor Yu Qian would never forgive her. Perhaps even her own father would also not forgive her.

  The anger rushed forth bit by bit in her heart. Yet she needed to try hard suppressing down the anger which was about to overflow from her body. Both her eyes was gradually losing her judgement as an ordinary person. Hai Tian immediately searched for her target all around, then she saw Yun Qian Meng sitting in a corner not very far away from her, she shot a treacherous glance at her.

  Yun Qian Meng acknowledged Hai Tian’s grievance with a faint smile. She knew that Hai Tian must be feeling imbalanced right now so she did not plan to provoke her on purpose so as to avoid making a scene.

  Those few designated first, second and third placers of imperial examination were sitting behind those hundred official without talking much. They were just carefully observing everyone inside the imperial garden, not to know how many twists and turns had been going on in their thoughts.

  “I really have to congratulate brother Han for reaching the top position of Imperial Top Scorer in the literary competition!” Han Shao Mian naturally sat beside Han Che, his smiling face was filled with enthusiasm, lifting his hands while congratulating Han Che.

  Hearing Han Shao Mian’s voice, Han Che reluctantly pulled back his gaze. He supressed the wild feelings of joy in his heart and with a smiling face he smiled and responded “The same to you!”

  After speaking, he picked up his teacup, concealing the ecstasy in his eyes using the motions of drinking.

  It was her, it wa’s really her! She was indeed the da xiaojie of Fu Guo Gong Fu.

  This confirmation had caused Han Che’s originally calm and composed behavior to somehow go out of control. That graceful bearing of hers had been engraved in the bottom of his heart. Today he had finally found her figure in this vast and obscure multitude of people, how could he not feel the excitement?

  But in order to be able to find her, he had also carried on his head the pressure that Chen Wang had given him in the past few days. He stubbornly refused to join Chen Wang’s faction, for that fear that he might inadvertently become her enemy in this unclear situation.

  But by seeing her today, Han Che couldn’t help but loosened up a bit, suddenly feeling that they were all worth it. The corner of her mouth exposed a smile of happiness. Even the tea water in his mouth seeming to have been added with honey.

  Sitting in a corner, Kong Fan was able to see all the extremely subtle transformation in Han Che’s actions, not being able to understand which person inside the imperial garden was able to make this cold emotionless Han Che expose a bit of weak smile in his eyes. His heart immediately felt astonished for a moment.

  But, seeing Han Shao Mian who was sitting beside having a noble status, Kong Fan lifted up his own teacup and congratulated “I would like to congratulate Mr. Han for reaching the throne of being the Imperial Top Scorer in the military examinations.

  Han Shao Mian watching Kong Fan as he expressed his good will, the smile on his remained unchanged, but the spoken words seemed to be somewhat cold, lifting up the teacup he acknowledged Kong Fan “Many thanks, Brother Kong!”

  “His Majesty the Emperor, Empress Dowager, the Empress, Rong Gui Fei, and Chu Wang have arrived!” This time, Yu Gong Gong’s sharp and resonant voice could be heard in the entrance of the imperial garden.

  The laughing sounds inside the imperial garden suddenly faded away. Everyone simultaneously stood up as they made their salutations, welcoming Emperor Yu Qian and the others as they walked in “Long live the Emperor, His Majesty.”

  “Get up all of you! Today is the festive Lunar New Year’s eve, don’t be overcautious, everyone!” After walking up to the dragon throne, he spoke in a delighted tone of voice.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty!” Having heard what was said, everyone respectfully stood up in succession, after which they took their respective seats noiselessly, unlike the way they talked and laughed continuously earlier.

  “Today before we begin with the feast, I have one thing to announce!” Watching everyone settled down on their seats, Emperor Yu Qianslightly smiled, after which he took a glimpse at Yu Gong Gong.

  Receiving the command from Emperor Yu Qian, Yu Gong Gong immediately proceeded ahead, facing all the people below he announced “The Imperial Top Scorers of the literary and military examinations Han Che and Han Shao Mian, please proceed ahead to receive the imperial decree!”

  They didn’t expect Emperor Yu Qian Di announce his decree upon entering the imperial garden, Han Che and Han Shao Mian glanced at each other for a moment, then they immediately stood up, walking towards Emperor Yu Qian, taking quick steps as they both knelt down “We hereby receive the imperial decree!”

  Seeing the both of them being ready, Yu Gong Gong took out the bright yellow satin roll of imperial decree from his sleeve then slowly opened it, reading it out loud in front of the crowd “As the Mandate of Heaven, His Majesty the Emperor hereby provide this imperial decree: That the Imperial Top Scorers of literary examinations Han Che of great talent, being resourceful and smart, to be trained inside the Imperial Hanlin Academy, and to be bestowed a title of temporary position in the Hanlin Academy! The Imperial Top Scorer of the military examinations Han Shao Mian being both wise and brave, to be granted the title as the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, as announced by His Majesty the Emperor himself!”

  Everybody became startled at this imperial decree. They did not expect that Emperor Yu Qian had actually looked after these two people, a scholar from a poor and humble family who had actually became Shu Ji Shi, and with one leap Han Shao Mian had became a third-rank official being the assistant minister of Ministry of War, who had replaced Qu Chang Qing’s previous position, such kind of great honor, how many people in the whole world will be able to achieve it?

  Kong Fan looked at the two persons kneeling at the center of the large space, his both hands under the sleeves tightly clenched up. Han Shao Mian came from a prestigious family, His Majesty would naturally provide special treatment, but Han Che was just a scholar from the poor and humble family like him, yet he was so blessed to be becoming the candidate for Reserver Minister, this truly made Kong Fan feel upset.

  Chapter 135: Part 1 Numerous Happenings During the Feast of New Year's Eve Inside the Palace | Chu Wang Fei

  Even though everyone was extremely astonished and curious, with Emperor Yu Qian present, they could not discuss it spiritedly. After all, the imperial edict had already been finalized, what use was it for them to give comments?

  Furthermore, the imperial edict was drafted by the Ministry of Rites before being decreed to the public. Presumably, before this, Emperor Yu Qian must have discussed the matter with all the important officials before issuing this decree.

  As a result, it would be better for them to observe the facial expressions of the few important officials, instead of making any judgements against Han Che and Han Shao Mian's capabilities to assume their positions as the assistant minister and the important official of the Imperial Hanlin Academy. They needed to see if they could pry out the thoughts going through the faces of theo officials so as to avoid offending the one who would bring trouble to their families in the future.

  In a short period of time, everybody's thoughts turned over many things. But their expressions remained the same. Aside from their cheerful faces, there were no other expressions.

  Emperor Yu Qian who was sitting on the dragon throne wearing a warm simple smile on
his face. Chen Wang, Hai Wang, Chu Fei Yang and the others were preoccupied with tasting the tea in front of them,

  not in the slightest degree of being distracted by the sudden announcement of imperial decree, causing those people who were attempting to obtain information from them to regain their gaze one by one, feeling disappointed.

  "Thanks for your grace, Your Majesty!" Han Che and Han Shao Mian naturally had the same astonishment as everybody else. Han Che's initially peaceful face slightly turned serious, and Han Shao Mian casted a quick glance at Duan Wang in a distant place. He saw Duan Wang calmly nodding his head at him. Then he expressed his gratitude together with Han Che. Afterwards the two of them quickly retreated back to their seats.

  While the big officials still had various opinions, the women were all already quite excited. When Han Shao Mian entered the venue he had obtained the favor from all the women. As for the newly appointed Han Che, those furen and xiaojie immediately abandoned their prejudice and discrimination earlier. They were quickly assessing how far his official career could reach in the future, or if he will be able to become an important minister in just one leap just like Chu Fei Yang.

  In addition to Han Che's body build being tall and straight, with an attractive and intelligent appearance, plus his unyielding and unforgiving personality traits, it had made many xiaojie's cheeks blush. This made the furen start comparing him with the others, intending to take this newly appointee into their own families, and to become their own son-in-law.

  Yun Qian Meng took a quick glance at Emperor Yu Qian. She saw his eyes smiling, his expression being amiable, looking at Han Shao Kian and Han Che feeling pleased. Perhaps he had already considered them as the emperor's disciples, not only planning to pave way to their paths to their official careers, but also to cultivate new sources of powers which he would be to take control with his own hands.

  Her gaze shifted towards Chu Fei Yang, yet she saw him staring directly back at her, being able to guess the thoughts she had in her mind. Chu Fei Yang smiled in a simple and elegant way, giving her the assurance. The two of them smiled at each other, all the thoughts being expressed in a nonverbal way. It made Jiang Mu Chen, who was watching Yun Qian Meng attentively all along, suddenly wrinkle up his brows, the air in the surrounding turned cold in an instant.

  "Who would have thought that Imperial Top Scorer Han actually had such outstanding ability, being personally appointed by His Majesty as the ‘Shu Ji Shi'! That Mister Han is also quite a talented young man, being a newest member of the imperial court he managed to achieve the position as assistant minister of the Ministry of War, that is truly outstanding!" Regaining her gaze from the current scene, Qu Fei Qing slightly leaned closer to Yun Qian Meng, and said this in a lowered voice.

  But, Qu Fei Qing shifted her gaze at Qu Zhang Qing who was sitting upright in the opposite side.

  After all, Qu Zhang Ching was the son of the first wife of Fu Guo Gong Fu. Since he was young he had campaigned in the battlefield and was designated as the assistant minister of Ministry of War after

  achieving outstanding military service.

  Yet unexpectedly this Han Shao Mian, by relying on his title of being the Imperial Top Scorer of the military exams, had effortlessly obtained the same position. That truly made people feel envious.

  And furthermore, although Han Fu and Duan Wang Fu became related to each other through marriage, Fu Guo Gong Fu was still higher in status by a little. With such a decision from Emperor Yu Qian,

  perhaps it will become the reason for destroying the harmony among these four major family clans.

  Having acknowledged the worried look of his younger sister, Qu Zhang Qing just nodded his head at her indifferently. he did not get angry because of being exceeded by the younger generation in the starting point of the official career. His moderate and calm expression immediately made Qu Fei Qing feel impressed by her older brother's maturity during these recent years, and immediately felt relieved.

  And during this, Yu Gong Gong summoned the remaining four persons left behind to approach the emperor. He took out another imperial edict and announced the appointed positions of Kong Fan and the others. For the person with powerful connections, the official posts of these people who had just revealed their outstanding talents by means of the imperial examinations were not significant. But for these children of poor and humble families, it was like they were carps who leapt through the dragon gate.

  Kong Fan was being appointed as the editor of Imperial Han Lin Academy. Compared to Han Che's sixth-rank position in the Imperial Hanlin Academy, the editor was actually a seventh-rank official position. Compared to Han Che who had earlier been put in the limelight, this time Kong Fan seemed to have obtained lack of interest from the audience.

  Kong Fan felt extremely upset at having only a few observants. He endured the flame of anger in his heart silently as he thanked the emperor for the favor. Then the returned back to his seat with the others.

  "Brother Han, Congratulations, indeed! In the future we will be colleagues! I hope Brother Han will show me forebearance!" Sitting down again, Kong Fan's eyes smiled. With a relaxed tone he congratulated Han Che beside him. His eyes were actually observing Han Che's every action.

  "Same to you! I hope Brother Kong would also show be more considerate!" Han Che faintly restrained his gaze, when he lifted up his eyes again, it turned cold and cheerless just as before, fortunately everyone knew quite well about his nature, they weren't being oversensitive.

  "Today it is actually the night of the New Year's eve, but I really appreciate all the exam candidates' hard work, in that case I have issued the imperial order in advance, thus, this will also be considered as the Feast of King Lam! I hope these scholars will never forget their aspirations in serving the royal court, and to be able to obtain success in their respective positions!" This time, Emperor Yu Qian and the Empress Dowager simultaneously stood up and lifted up their cups.

  Upon seeing this, everyone respectfully stood up one by one. Together they said "Long live the Emperor!"

  After speaking, all the people lifted up the wine in their cups, then they sat back to their seats after seeing Emperor Yu Qian sat down.

  This time, Yu Gong Gong had already arranged everything, after all the people took their seats, he nodded at the palace eunuch waiting at the entrance who was in charge of everything. Everyone heard

  the musical instruments and then a group of female dancers walked in in a line, dancing lightly and gracefully in the midst of the snowy imperial garden. Their light dancing dresses slightly floated up along with their movements, carrying an absolutely beautiful chilly grace, making all the people stare in awe.

  And following the sound of musical instruments, the atmosphere inside the imperial garden appeared to be much lively and relaxed. All the officials were proposing toasts and exchanging conventional greetings to each other. The newly appointed literary and military top scorers were being surrounded by a lot of people, some of them making discreet inquiries, also some of them having the intention to get involved with them, a seemingly simple palace feast, yet it contained countless schemes and intentions.

  Yun Qian Meng behaved contrary to the usual reaction of the others, her eyes were not focused on Han Che and his group, but instead she shifted her gaze on Emperor Yu Qian and the others. Although the Empress Dowager was wearing a smile on her face today, but ever since she arrived at the imperial garden she remained quiet. The Empress behaved gently and virtuously just like her usual ways. This time she was attentively attending to the needs of the young princess beside her. As for the Rong Gui Fei who was sitting lower than the Empress, she was wearing an ordinary expression on her face. It was not

  possible to determine her current mood. Her crimson colored royal dress seemed to make her like the most beautiful fairy that descended from heaven, as compared to the honorable Empress' phoenix design royal court dress, the peony flower embroidered on Rong Rong's royal dress appeared to be outstandingly beautiful,
completing her prettiest appearance. No wonder all the women had secretly started to discuss about this eldest xiaojie of Rong family.

  Carefully observing Rong Rong today, Yun Qian Meng's gaze suddenly deepended. Her eyes fixated on the edge of her skirt which was slightly being moistened by the snow water, then her heart immediately tensed up!

  In order to prevent all the masters from slipping and falling to the ground, each and every path leading to the imperial garden was already being covered with thick layer of red carpets by the servant of the palace. Although it was snowing, the red carpets were being swept clean by all the palace maids and eunuchs at all times, even the masters' shoes would never be moistened, let alone the edge of the skirts.

  Beside, during this time, Emperor Yu Qian, the Empress and the others were all dry and clean, it could be clearly seen that on the way through it will be impossible for them to set foot on the snowy ground. Furthermore, all the royal court officials were invited to today's feast, how could anyone not care about they look?

  While Yun Qian Meng was busy staring at Rong Gui Fei, pondering, she suddenly felt a pair of eyes filled with murderous spirit shot at her direction. Those vicious currents that hit her directly on the face made Yun Qian Meng's heart trembled a bit. After which she shifted her gaze and looked straight ahead on the opposite side. But she discovered that everyone was discussing everything under the sun, having a harmonious and happy scenario, once again that chilly blood-thirsty gaze had vanished once again.

  "Meng'er, what's happened to you?" Seeing Yun Qian Meng's face suddenly turned grave, Qu Fei Qing asked feeling a bit concerned.

  "It's nothing!" Turning around looking at Qu Fei Qing, Yun Qian Meng responded with a smile, concealing her discovery and unconvincing thoughts at the back of her head.

  "I really want to congratulate Wang Ye for having a reunited family!" This time, among the male guests in the opposite side, Hai Wang slightly moved his wheelchair, facing Chu Wang smiling as he