24. Ostracism

"Thank you for your guidance, Uncle." Cui Xiu steadied his posture and bowed respectfully to Cui Enhou.

Seeing Cui Xiu, who was quick to understand and showed genuine gratitude, Cui Enhou was quite satisfied. He tapped his index finger on the desk three times. "Drink your tea."

Cui Xiu understood immediately: this was the "tea-tapping salute," where three taps signified an elder's affection for a younger one. However... he realized his uncle must have forgotten that Cui Xiu had yet to learn the art of tea.

Sighing inwardly with regret, Cui Xiu glanced out of the corner of his eye at the somewhat embarrassed bailiff. He lowered his head to hide his calculations: as an unloved son of a concubine, he knew all too well that these minor figures—people who seemed insignificant in daily life—could silently weave a dense web like spiders spinning silk. This web might look weak and fragile, swaying in the wind, but it could easily be sharpened into a lethal blade.

Furthermore, since the Cui family’s primary goal was to survive the threat of having their property confiscated and being exiled, they could not afford to offend a bailiff.

He did not yet know the specific regulations regarding bailiffs in this dynasty, but in the Great Qing Dynasty, bailiffs held a "lowly status," a designation passed down through generations. Their marriages were also restricted to other bailiff families. If the Cui family were ever confiscated and exiled, and if this bailiff happened to be a proud and vengeful man, he might hold a grudge against being used as a tool for Cui Enhou’s lessons. A mere hint or a few words to his old acquaintances could easily lead to the death of the entire Cui family on the road to exile!

With vigilance in his heart, Cui Xiu slowly raised his eyes to look at Cui Enhou, forcing a radiant smile. "Uncle, I understand now. This is 'learning through entertainment,' right? I’ve heard of this principle in the stories of the *Seven Star Generals*."

Cui Enhou looked at the child, who was smiling so broadly that his little teeth were showing, looking more adorable by the second. "Exactly."

"Then, may I also thank the uncle here? He saw I was small and weak and helped me serve tea. That is the chivalrous spirit of helping the weak, isn't it?" Cui Xiu watched his uncle, who took pride in the mention of the *Seven Star Generals*, and deliberately emphasized the noble qualities learned from the story, blurring the lines of status.

Cui Enhou looked at Cui Xiu’s bright, expectant eyes, and then slowly turned to the bailiff standing beside him.

The bailiff, hearing the child’s milky yet articulate words, felt that his day of working in the cold wind was worth it—it was warmer than a hundred bowls of ginger tea. However, he dared not speak his mind in public; he was a man of some modest education and knew that Cui Enhou had been a spoiled, unruly soul since birth.

Ever since Cui Enhou was old enough to run, jump, and get into fights, every bailiff had been warned by their elders to stay out of his way. Even after the old General Cui passed away and rumors spread that the Cui family was finished, ten years had passed, and Cui Enhou remained a high-ranking Duke. Even without real power, he was still an aristocrat of gold and jade. A single word from him could cost a man his life.

Feeling a lingering fear, the bailiff bowed cautiously. "You are too kind, Master Xiu. It was my oversight for not serving tea sooner."

"You truly lack perception!" Cui Enhou glanced at the fawning bailiff, displeased. "My Xiu-er knows how to think and has his own opinions. At such a young age, he sees your act as helping others, so you should stand tall and say you are happy to help! Raise the stakes and say you were acting under orders to provide ginger tea to freezing candidates, out of the benevolence of a local official."

"Who knows? Maybe my little Xiu-xiu will be moved and learn to benefit the people in the future, just like you?"

As he spoke, Cui Enhou slapped the desk. "Act it out as I said! That’s how it’s written in the storybooks—something about 'not neglecting the small...'"

He couldn't quite recall the full idiom, but Cui Enhou felt justified and bold. He joyfully instructed the bailiff: "You must be grand and heroic! Pat Cui Xiu on the shoulder and say that one must learn to help others within one's means!"

Facing Cui Enhou’s sharp, urging gaze, the bailiff hurriedly complied, cautiously patting Cui Xiu’s shoulder and quickly repeating the lines.

Cui Xiu nodded quickly. He had no choice; many people were already looking at his uncle as if his brain had been crushed by a door panel, completely ignoring the fact that Cui Enhou’s words actually made sense—to act within one's means!

Because he was young, Cui Xiu could not say anything that exceeded his station. Feeling regretful, he looked at the bailiff and studied him closely. Seeing that the man’s eyes were clear and devoid of malice—showing only embarrassment and fear of Cui Enhou—Cui Xiu let out a silent sigh of relief. He even openly made an appointment for when the hundred taels of silver would be collected.

"I know. Please use it to buy drinks for all the busy bailiff uncles to warm yourselves up," Cui Xiu said, puffing out his chest and nodding sagely. "This is called caring in return for care."

Cui Enhou looked at the spirited child, who possessed his own air of generosity, and waved a large hand. "Go on, thank our young Master Xiu. Take the hundred taels, and take another five hundred for wine and meat. Tell them the Duke ordered it, and that all of you on duty should go and have a lively time on your day off. Go show off to everyone that my Cui family is taking the imperial examinations this year!"

Hearing this, the bailiff couldn't hide his gratitude and knelt on both knees. "Thank you, Your Grace! Thank you, young Master Xiu!"

With a hundred taels and a grand feast to share with his brothers, he wouldn't stand out or be envied, and he would still have enough money to marry and save for his own children's schooling. If he could have a fat son as clever—no, just a little bit as sensible and well-behaved as young Master Xiu—that would be enough.

Catching the look of gratitude in the bailiff's eyes, Cui Xiu pretended to be a child and waved his hand awkwardly. "You're welcome."

At this moment, he only wanted to minimize the future tortures he might face. But looking back years later at his loyal right-hand man, Xiang Baixiu, he couldn't help but feel lucky that his own caution had inadvertently changed the trajectory of a family.

Meanwhile, hearing the commotion, Cui Enhou looked at the newly opened gate of the examination hall and waved his hand. "Another batch is out. Go on, get back to work."

He then looked at Gao Feng, who stood out from the crowd like a crane in a flock of chickens, and said excitedly, "Hey, you boy with the surname Gao, come over here! Tell me, what flower did you write for the third question!"

The bailiff, understanding his cue, hurried off to prepare the ginger tea.

Gao Feng ignored the subtle, prying gazes of other candidates, walked over to the seat where Cui Enhou was sitting, bowed, and replied, "In response to the Duke’s inquiry, the answer to that question should be the rapeseed flower."

Hearing yet another scholar confirm the rapeseed flower, Cui Enhou was filled with resentment. "When can I finally leave this place?! It’s impossible that those two little rascals, Cui Hu and Cui Xiu, would have thought of rapeseed flowers!"

Seeing Cui Enhou’s sorrow, Gao Feng whispered, "Your Grace, do not worry. This question was indeed a bit obscure. Many poems refer to 'yellow flowers,' which easily leads candidates to interpret it as autumn chrysanthemums. The examiners will weigh the overall performance of all candidates. Besides, the county exam is only the first stage of the child exams, and the grading is usually not too strict. As long as the essay is decent, even if the poem’s theme is slightly off, there is still a chance to qualify."

Gao Feng lowered his voice even further. "After all, the imperial examination is meant to select talents for governing the country and its people, not for writing poetry. This was the golden edict of the Founding Emperor. I dare not speak for other regions, but the Daxiang County exam has always focused on practical governance."

Hearing this, the Duke’s sorrow only deepened. "That just means that shutting oneself away to study won't help you pass the county exam."

This remark was like a thunderclap. The other curious candidates dared not listen any longer. They hurriedly finished their ginger tea or left it untouched, fleeing so as not to be implicated by Cui Enhou’s reckless speech. After all, it sounded like he was implying that the Emperor's policy of "secluded study" was insidious!

Cui Enhou watched as he scared the young scholars away for the second time, raised an eyebrow, and clicked his tongue. "Look at these kids, they just love to overthink things."

Just then, he saw his two boys coming out, one looking happy and the other worried. The bailiff hurried over with more ginger tea. Cui Enhou urged Cui Hu and Cui Cong to drink and warm up, then looked at the worried Cui Cong with concern. "Was it hard?"

Cui Cong sighed deeply and whispered, "I... I overheard some talk. Many candidates leaving are arguing about whether it was a chrysanthemum or a rapeseed flower. I... I wrote chrysanthemum."

"Writing chrysanthemum is fine, I wrote chrysanthemum too." Cui Enhou relayed what Gao Feng had told him to comfort himself: "As long as the first two questions are written well, it’s the same."

Cui Cong gave a bitter smile. "I can only pray for good luck. There are more spots this year, so maybe I’ll make it."

Seeing that Cui Cong was still spirited enough to find ways to comfort himself, Cui Enhou relaxed and turned to his own son. "You’re smiling so happily, did you do well on the first two questions?"

"Not really. The first question was both simple and difficult; I didn't have many examples to give." Cui Hu looked at his father with bright eyes. "Thanks to you, Father, I got the third question right!"

Hearing this unexpectedly, Cui Enhou felt it was more incredible than hearing that Cui Qianting had become the top scholar. "You got it right? No, how on earth did you get it right?"

Cui Xiu was also quite surprised. "Big brother Hu, have you seen rapeseed flowers at the Guoqing Temple?"

Cui Cong was also shocked. "Cui Hu, if I didn't hear wrong, Uncle just said he didn't know the answer!"

Gao Feng, sitting at the same table, heard the three confused voices and couldn't suppress his own curiosity. He looked at Cui Hu, the heir to the Duke’s title—a young man whom other official descendants envied because the Duke never forced him to study and even publicly declared he would not remarry to ensure his eldest son would smoothly inherit the title.

Cui Hu was puzzled. "Does Guoqing Temple have rapeseed flowers? I never go there. Second Uncle doesn't like superstitions, and Father hasn't been there in years. Why would I go to Guoqing Temple?"

"Then how did you get it right?" Cui Enhou asked impatiently.

Gao Feng, hearing the loud voice that seemed intended for the whole examination hall to hear, took the rare risk of leaning closer to Cui Enhou and whispered, "I dare to speak, but... this is usually the kind of technique one discusses at home."

As he spoke, he looked vigilantly at a few people sitting in the corner of the shed who looked like candidates. Since the birth of the imperial examination system, every family and academy had used their own methods to gather information. Academies in other districts of the capital and scholarly families in the East City were often prejudiced by "status." They would send students to sneak into the crowd during the release of the candidates to sniff out the examination questions. Regardless of the actual questions, they would spread rumors about them being simple or speculate on how they would answer.

Most candidates in Daxiang County would discuss their answers privately at home. Even if they were excited, they would only mention the topics outside the examination hall, never their core approach to the questions.

Cui Enhou didn't know the specific reasons, but seeing the "beauty’s" wary eyes and glaring at the three candidates across from him who showed obvious jealousy, he mistook them for people deliberately trying to probe the Cui family.

So, instead of lowering his voice, he shouted, "Why wait until we get home? Maybe some petty people will say it’s suspicious that Cui Hu, the heir to the Duke, got the rapeseed flower question right! After all, like father, like son!"

Hearing the vigilance and self-deprecation hidden within the joke, Gao Feng’s thoughts wandered. He bowed respectfully. "It was I who took things too simply."

Cui Hu, not being a fool, immediately said, "Father, you forgot. Half of our family's noble lands are planted with rapeseed flowers, which are used for medicine."

Hearing this, Gao Feng was stunned. "Used... for medicine?"

"The seeds of the rapeseed flower can promote blood circulation and reduce swelling; the leaves can be applied externally for boils; the roots can cool the blood and detoxify," Cui Hu said, standing tall. "Training soldiers inevitably leads to bumps and bruises, so we need this medicine to reduce swelling. Compared to other herbs, rapeseed flowers are cheap. Plus, they can be mixed with other ingredients. Thirty years ago, Grandfather ordered the planting of rapeseed flowers and developed a cheap military secret medicine called 'Little Gold'."

"Even after Grandfather passed away and donated the prescription, the Imperial Hospital still collects rapeseed flowers from our family lands," Cui Hu recounted with pride.

Cui Enhou was stunned. "Is that true? How do you know so clearly? You were only three when your grandfather died!"

Cui Xiu, upon hearing this, silently wanted to distance himself from Cui Enhou. He thought it was ridiculous that a Duke didn't know what was growing on his own land, and now, with these constant questions, he was even more determined to get on good terms with the bailiff to avoid confiscation and exile.

"..." Cui Hu pressed his temple, where a vein was throbbing, and said in a low voice, "Because since I was six, you tricked me into taking over all the accounts of the Rongguo Mansion! When there were strange financial dealings with the Imperial Hospital, of course I had to ask!"

Facing his father’s sharp gaze, Cui Hu’s voice dropped. "I... I reported it to you. You said not to bother you unless it was a matter involving more than a hundred thousand taels."

Cui Enhou looked at his son for a long moment, then angrily punched the table. "This is so frustrating! The answer was right under my nose, and I didn't know it!"

Cui Hu hurried to soothe his father. Cui Cong, forgetting his own woes, joined in to comfort his uncle. Cui Xiu followed suit, holding up his ginger tea and offering it to Cui Enhou.

Watching the star-studded Cui Enhou, Gao Feng had a momentary urge to stay away from them. But being of low status and influence, he had to soothe this high-ranking Duke and childhood friend of Princess Changping.

Cui Enhou looked at the promising young scholars surrounding him and smoothed his own chest.

"Father, you don't want to be the top scholar anyway, so why do you care so much about what kind of flower it was?" Cui Hu asked curiously.

"Since I'm here, of course I want to show off my talent," Cui Enhou said righteously. "Why is it that when scholars play with women in brothels and write poetry, they are called 'talented,' but when I do it, I’m a 'prodigal son'? I have to fight for the reputation of all the prodigals in the world and live up to my name as the leader of the capital’s prodigals for decades!"

Cui Xiu, who had hoped his uncle might turn over a new leaf, thought: "..."

Cui Hu sighed. "Father, let’s go home. It’s late; we should get some rest. Anything is possible in dreams."

Cui Cong nodded. "Uncle, I’m hungry. Let’s eat, or we’ll be punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall." He added a pitiful plea at the end.

Cui Enhou felt a pang of heartache. "It’s okay, Uncle will be with you."

As he spoke, he picked up Cui Xiu and headed toward the parking area, teaching him as they walked: "If you observe your father acting fiercely later, just cry, okay?"

Cui Xiu hesitated. "But will it be useful if I cry?"

"It will. And then you, Gao Feng, you intervene. Cui Qianting still gives me, the head of the house, some face in front of others." Cui Enhou arranged, "Regardless, we will all insist that the exam was hard—extremely, incredibly hard. It’s normal not to pass."

Facing Cui Enhou’s protective, sharp gaze, Gao Feng suppressed the envy in his eyes, bowed respectfully, and said, "Yes, Your Grace, rest assured."

Princess Changping despised male favorites who studied, but he still wanted to establish himself through the imperial examinations, so he had to go along with Cui Enhou, the childhood friend protected by the Princess.

As the five members of the Cui family discussed their "testimony for the parents," officials who had already received the news wore twisted expressions. Many who had their own plans had faces as black as ink. "A prosperous age relies on literature; that is the golden rule! That Cui family is nothing but mud-legged peasants, yet they want to be on the golden list?! And they want to disrupt the exam rules every year?!"

"Cui Enhou taking the exam every year isn't the scary part. If he forces Cui Qianting to take the provincial exam every year, then we must be cautious, extremely cautious!"

"Tell the censors under your command to memorialize it in court!"

"Contact Brother Wen and have him send people to create a stir in other districts of Shuntian Prefecture."

"..."

Each had their own agenda. Even many civil officials who were usually hostile united to prevent the possibility of the Cui family taking the exams every year.

As the leader of the pure-minded faction and a Grand Secretary, Su Hua, the grandfather of Su Jinyi, looked at the visiting card handed over by his relative and sighed in depression. Even though he was a civil official, he admired Cui Zhen. Yet, the pressure from his kin and his mentors kept him aligned with the interests of the vast civil service group. But today’s exam questions...

Grand Secretary Su looked steadily at his youngest grandson and asked again, his tone strained: "Was the second question truly 'rectifying names'?"

Su Jinyi, though puzzled, replied earnestly, "Yes. Grandfather, was my approach to the question off?"

He thought about it carefully again and again. The phrase came from the *Analects*, and he could recite the whole chapter backward.

*Zilu said: "The Prince of Wei is waiting for you to administer the government. What will you prioritize?"*

*The Master said: "It must be the rectification of names."*

*Zilu said: "Is that so? You are being too pedantic. Why rectify them?"*

*The Master said: "How unrefined you are, You! A gentleman is cautious about what he does not know. If names are not rectified, then language is not appropriate; if language is not appropriate, then affairs cannot be completed; if affairs cannot be completed, then ritual and music will not flourish; if ritual and music do not flourish, then punishments will not be just; if punishments are not just, then the people will have nowhere to put their hands and feet. Therefore, a gentleman must ensure that his names can be spoken, and that what is spoken can be carried out. A gentleman is simply not negligent in his words."*

The two words—"ritual and music" and "punishments"—from the Sage pointed to the essence of the question!

"Using ritual and law as the 'name' is not biased. It’s just that this question..." Su Hua’s eyes flickered as he weighed the situation, revealing the truth he was certain of: "It must have been set by Xie Zhongyuan under the Emperor’s orders."

"Ah?" Su Jinyi was startled, then smiled. "Does this mean I had a trial run of the palace exam?"

"You rascal." Su Hua was quite fond of his clever and charming youngest grandson, so he didn't put on a stern face. He explained in a low voice: "Years ago, when Cui Qianting took the exam, the Cui family’s attention was all on him. Cui Enhou felt that the elders were biased and got so angry he went to live in the palace. Emperor Wu coaxed and persuaded him, even using this as a topic, letting the princes and grandsons join Cui Enhou in taking the county exam for fun."

"As it happened, I was a Vice Minister of the Rites at the time, and I was ordered to teach the princes about the exams. I was fortunate enough to witness the Emperor’s interpretation of the topic."

Su Jinyi looked at his grandfather, whose expression was bitter, and changed the subject, looking like a teenager full of gossip: "Grandfather, when Cui Enhou signed up wearing the royal top scholar’s robe... is the rumor about him being an illegitimate son true?"

"With Emperor Wu’s iron-blooded, strong personality, he was clear about what he loved and hated. If he were his son, he would have been recognized by the clan long ago." Grand Secretary Su tapped Su Jinyi on the forehead and then pulled his ear. "Don't you know that rumors stop with the wise?"

"Yes." Su Jinyi, meeting his grandfather’s gaze—which, despite his kind appearance, held a stern coldness—didn't dare cover his ears and apologized honestly: "It was my loose talk."

"Emperor Wu said: 'Name' refers to the livelihood of the farmers. When the people are well-fed, well-clothed, and have land, that is the true 'rectification of names.' Only then can the Emperor speak with authority and command the world." Su Hua didn't dare recall the passion he felt when he first heard those words, closing his eyes and speaking cautiously.

Su Jinyi was stunned, then his eyes lit up: "Can one... interpret the question like that?"

"This isn't just interpreting a question; this is the root of governance!" Su Hua opened his eyes with a flash, looking sharply at Su Jinyi, the only descendant of the Su family currently without an official rank. "If your grandfather does something that might fail or lead to being ostracized, even causing you to be unable to pass the exams for ten or twenty years, can you endure the world’s grinding?"