EES - Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Next day.
An Lin rose early as usual for morning court. Before leaving, she instructed the palace attendants outside the bedchamber, "The Empress is still resting. Do not disturb her."
The attendants paused, then chorused, "Yes!"
An Lin nodded in satisfaction. Turning back, however, she caught Wang Xiuwen's subtly ambiguous expression.
"Xiuwen?"
"Your servant is here." Wang Xiuwen instantly snapped back to attention, answering calmly. If An Lin hadn't just noticed his expression, she never would have guessed what strange thoughts might be running through his chief steward's mind.
But An Lin didn't ask what he was thinking. She simply said, "Starting today, henceforth all verification memorials and documents shall be moved to Our bedchamber. Memorials from other officials and localities will still be sent to the study. The Empress's daily martial arts practice time with you remains unchanged."
"Yes."
Afterward, An Lin's routine proceeded as usual: morning court, dismissal, and splitting her time between reviewing memorials and practicing martial arts across two separate time blocks. Aside from officially having an Empress now, nothing else had changed.
Meanwhile, in the Shadow Guard's inner cells, Liu Guanglin hung his head, breathing heavily in a daze. Through blurred vision, he caught a figure descending the steps, instinctively shrinking back, feeling every wound on his body flare in pain. "I've told you everything I know! Who... who are you people? Can you let me go..."
"You still have quite a bit of energy." The Shadow Guard responsible for the interrogation studied the man who looked half-dead yet spoke with clear consciousness and unbroken voice, causing him to briefly doubt his own methods.
He had already employed the most brutal interrogation techniques. A normal person would long ago have been unable to form coherent sentences, only staring blankly and answering questions. Could it be that Liu Guanglin possessed an exceptionally fast healing rate and ironclad willpower?
The guard didn't believe it, because Liu Guanglin had cried out for his parents and answered every question immediately after just a few lashes during the first interrogation.
There must be something else he hadn't extracted. That was what the interrogating guard thought, and he resolved to get to the bottom of it.
Seeing the man walk over to select interrogation tools, Liu Guanglin stiffened, fear rising in his eyes. He desperately pulled another consciousness within him to the surface to take his place.
The ancient person sharing his name, whom Liu Guanglin had transmigrated into, had not actually died when Liu arrived, nor was there a complete body swap. Instead, the original soul remained dormant within the same body.
During the earlier interrogations, Liu had fainted from the pain. In his unconscious state, he vaguely sensed the presence of the original host's soul. Without much thought, he pushed the original soul forward to temporarily relinquish control of the body, letting the original host endure the interrogation. Only after the session ended and the pain began to dull did he switch back.
Actually, if he weren't afraid the original host would dominate the body for too long and push him out, turning him into a wandering ghost, Liu wouldn't want to switch back at all. Even with numbness setting in, it still hurt!
'Who are you?'
'What do you intend by seizing my body?'
'...You actually tricked my parents out of their money and abandoned them in Zhaozhou, coming alone to Qiong'an yourself. You... you! Scoundrel! I don't care what kind of demon you are, get out of my body!'
The original host, upon regaining consciousness during the process, had likely received a synchronized feed of everything Liu had done with his body since transmigration, angrily questioning him.
When Liu first discovered the original host was still there, he had been overjoyed.
He figured he could let the original host take the heat first, trying to convince the captors that he had left and the original host had returned. Liu guessed they had captured him for knowledge belonging to another era, likely orchestrated by that female transmigrator. If he could make them believe he had already gone back, and that keeping him imprisoned was useless, his chances of escaping were high.
So he started playing the mystic to the original host, claiming he had chosen this body for trials and cultivation, promising great benefits once his trials were over, attempting to persuade the original host to act as if the transmigrator had departed when faced with the interrogators.
He even advised that since they shared one body and dual souls, only by working together could they escape.
But who knew the original host wasn't so easily fooled. Upon learning what Liu had done with his body, he flew into a rage. Even though he was pushed out to bear the torture, he gritted his teeth and refused to say a single word.
Even so, pushing the original host out to take the interrogation wasn't always successful. Liu Guanglin, who had never suffered hardship from modern times to ancient times, felt himself on the verge of madness.
If not for the resentment and unwillingness toward the mastermind behind his current predicament keeping him from giving up completely, he might have long ago found a way to end his life, perhaps biting his tongue like ancients did, or finding an opportunity to dash against a wall. Though more likely, under their watch, he wouldn't even be allowed to die.
Unknowingly, the original host stopped cursing and questioning him, sitting quietly as if nonexistent. Even when pushed out repeatedly to endure interrogation, he showed no reaction. This attitude strangely bred a sense of unease in Liu.
Days passed in a blur. Liu Guanglin, in his daze, confessed to everything down to stealing a needle from someone's house at age four in his past life. Finally, on a certain day, the person who came to the cell didn't come to interrogate him. After studying him for a while, they lowered him from the wooden interrogation rack, moved him to another cell, and applied something to the wounds inflicted during the torture.
The substance smelled somewhat cool, but applying it felt like slapping chili peppers onto open wounds, burning, painful, and itchy. Yet externally, the wounds appeared completely healed.
"Are you... are you going to let me go...?" Liu Guanglin paused, then rejoiced, hastily asking. But upon opening his mouth, he realized his throat was parched, his voice too faint to hear.
Still, it was detected. The person who heard him didn't do anything else. After a moment's thought, they gave him a drink of water, then instructed the others, "Apply it carefully. Don't let anyone discover he was interrogated."
Others...? Had someone he met in Qiong'an noticed he was missing and searched everywhere, forcing them to release him?
Sure enough, building a reputation was useful!
Liu Guanglin was ecstatic.
But once his wounds were fully concealed, he found himself brought to a vast plaza right outside the Imperial Academy. Rows of chairs surrounded the perimeter, while the center featured a raised platform significantly higher than ground level.
Many people were already seated in the surrounding rows. Since it was outdoors and unseparated from outside the Academy, many commoners had gathered nearby to watch and join the spectacle.
"What's going on?"
"Is it a lecture at the Academy?"
"I don't know... Lectures are usually held inside the halls. Why gather us here today?"
"..."
The confused onlookers murmured among themselves. The Chancellor of the Imperial Academy also appeared, speaking solemnly with a eunuch dispatched from the palace. After discussing, the Chancellor nodded and gestured for them to proceed.
The eunuch ascended the platform, drew a bright yellow silk banner from his sleeve, and unfurled it.
"His Majesty inadvertently learned that during the Spring Metropolitan Examination in February, a scandal emerged among the metropolitan examination candidates. Due to this matter, scholars have debated heavily regarding this year's Palace Examination top scholar. However, subsequently, another individual approached His Majesty to report that the rumor was deliberately fabricated, and that the person who created the scandal used despicable means to plagiarize others' poetry to tarnish their reputations..."
After finishing the preamble, the eunuch concluded, "Therefore, His Majesty has decided to hold this disputation today. You, present here, will determine whether those poems were indeed authored by a single person."
"How can there even be such people?!"
No sooner had the eunuch announced it than a scholar in the crowd blurted out in shock.
Gu Zhixin mingled with the crowd watching from the outer edge. At first, he watched with keen interest, but after the eunuch's announcement, he paused. The description carried a strange sense of déjà vu, and a familiar name seemed poised to surface in his mind.
However, people tend to trust what they see with their own eyes, so Gu Zhixin didn't immediately connect it to someone he knew.
If the reigning monarch's gaze had casually swept over Gu Zhixin's location, he might have recognized him as one of the people standing by the Yangchun noodle stall on the day the metropolitan results were posted, sharing the story of Liu Guanglin and Yang Sheng's poetic collision, and heavily criticizing Yang Sheng, saying, "This man lacks virtue and is unfit to associate with."
But Gu Zhixin, whose name hadn't even made the metropolitan list, certainly couldn't enter the Imperial Academy. Like countless gossiping commoners, he squeezed in from the outside to watch.
When he saw a bowed figure led onto the platform, Gu Zhixin scrutinized the person closely and was greatly startled. "...Brother Liu?!"
...
Yang Sheng was also present today.
Since the disputation was scheduled precisely on a rest day specially chosen by An Lin, and the date had been hinted at in advance, not only Yang Sheng but many Grand Secretaries were curious enough to attend, though only Yang Sheng had been explicitly instructed by the Emperor to come.
Upon seeing Liu Guanglin appear, Yang Sheng instantly understood why the Emperor insisted he attend.
But even he couldn't prove those poems were plagiarized by Liu. Even presenting the unique couplet habits exclusive to close classmates wouldn't explain how Liu managed to copy poems from someone in Linfang, a thousand miles away where he'd never been. How could the Emperor prove it?
Yang Sheng's gaze focused intently on the platform.
As for Liu Guanglin on the platform, even if he were stupid, hearing the eunuch's words would make him realize he wasn't facing freedom, but public execution.
He didn't even know what the aftermath of the execution would be.
Despair inevitably welled up in Liu.
The Chancellor of the Imperial Academy took the place of the eunuch announcing the edict, picked up a stack of papers from the table on the platform, drew one out, and read it aloud.
These were all poems Liu Guanglin had publicly composed, collected together.
"The first poem is titled 'On Willows'." After reading the entire poem, the Chancellor couldn't help but praise, "Just speaking of the poetry itself, it is indeed a rare masterpiece."
Scholars below murmured in discussion.
"The imagery of willows and flutes blends exquisitely!"
"Moreover, it's written from the perspective of a lady in Jade Tower, longing for her lover while playing the flute. Truly graceful and moving."
"..."
At this point, the Chancellor drew out a second poem, his eyebrows shifting with slight surprise. "This second poem also happens to be about willows, titled 'To a Friend Returning Home'."
After reading it, the discussions below grew louder.
Because the difference between the second poem and the first was stark. The first was graceful and longing; the second suddenly turned grim and fierce, even using the metaphor "flying catkins killing spring."
"...I prefer the second one. It's very majestic."
"But a single person writing two poems with such divergent styles isn't entirely unreasonable, is it?"
"..."
If divergent styles for two poems were acceptable, what about the third, fourth, fifth, all with wildly different styles?
How many people in this world write poetry that alternates between graceful, heroic, melancholic in a boudoir, leisurely pastoral, unrestrained jianghu, reflections on court fluctuations, and anecdotes of reclusive life?
More importantly, Liu Guanglin was only in his twenties, yet his reflections on court fluctuations were deeper than those of veteran ministers like Song Jinyuan!
The world does have geniuses, and they aren't unfamiliar with genius, but this had long surpassed explanation by mere genius.
Song Jinyuan, who had praised Liu Guanglin before the Emperor, stood with several other old ministers who came to join the spectacle on the outer ring of the plaza, hands clasped behind his back, his expression unreadable.
Some of these poems Liu hadn't even written before the Palace Examination. Probably after failing to secure a place in the top three, needing good poetry to salvage his reputation quickly, he suddenly "wrote" so many new ones post-examination.
If he had written them all before the examination, Song Jinyuan wouldn't have recommended him to the Emperor without suspicion; he would have investigated first.
Song Jinyuan pondered, weighed, and considered. After a short while, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure ascending the platform. Grand Secretary Song's eyes widened slightly. He recognized the figure as his granddaughter, who had vanished after entering the palace. Wait, why would she be here???
Song Ling stepped onto the platform, shot Liu Guanglin a fierce glare, then turned around and addressed the crowd below openly. "I won't hide it from you all. I am the one who exposed Liu Guanglin to His Majesty for plagiarizing others' poetry and deliberately fabricating scandals to tarnish reputations."
"It so happened that I obtained a poetry collection through chance circumstances. Later, upon hearing the poems circulating under Liu Guanglin's name, I discovered his compositions matched exactly with those in the collection I had seen!" Song Ling said, taking out the poetry collection she had worked overtime to compile and deliberately aged. "Later, out of curiosity, I confronted this man. I found that after he recited the first half of a poem, he eagerly recited the second half from the collection. When asked to compose a new poem, he failed to do so, and Wen Miss Yiqiu witnessed this firsthand and can testify. If anyone still doubts it, he can compose a poem right now to test against me!"
Song Ling launched her attack confidently.
She had actually prepared two poetry collections. One was the one she currently held, with the original authors of all plagiarized poems clearly marked. The other she hadn't brought out, but on it, she had memorized every poem from her nine-year compulsory education textbooks that she could remember, plus many famous classical poems.
If Liu Guanglin dared to compose a poem on the spot, perfect. As long as he recited any poem she had memorized, she could crush him right there!
And it would be an ironclad hammer, leaving zero room for reversal!
Liu Guanglin was unaware of Song Ling's backup plan. Under the gaze of the crowd, he panicked, opened his mouth, and subconsciously really wanted to recite a relatively obscure poem to refute her, gambling that she hadn't memorized it.
But the moment he opened his mouth to speak, Liu Guanglin suddenly found his body refusing to obey his will.
He suddenly lost the ability to vocalize, to move, to control this body anymore!
"Indeed, these poems are plagiarized," he heard the original host say hoarsely. "Not a single one of these poems was written by 'Liu Guanglin'."
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