"When it gets hot in April and May, the plague will surely rise. By then, the Eastern Barbarians will be a true hell on earth."
"In that case, I must guard my Emerald Isle well." After taking over Chrysanthemum Island, Yue Fuguang decisively renamed it Emerald Isle, hoping that by next year, the barren island would be covered in green plants, becoming a vibrant piece of emerald lying on the vast blue sea.
"As for the other countries, a few days ago, during the North Li Festival of Missing Relatives, nobles were assassinated. The news should have reached the emperor's hands by now."
"Today is the twelfth of February. Great Yan is holding the spring imperial exams, and at the same time, it's the birthday of the Goddess of Flowers in Southern Yue and Southern Zhao. Something will happen tonight."
"Only Western Qiang remains, and their turn will come within the next two days."
Yue Fuguang clicked her tongue. Damn, this Panshan organization's actions were no different from that old dowager empress who declared war on eight countries at once!
Were they too arrogant, or just courting death?
No matter how mysterious they were, no matter how deep they hid, if all six countries united desperately to dig them out, they wouldn't be completely without a chance of victory.
The only variable was that the countries might suspect each other and fail to work together. That gave Panshan the chance to grow strong, dare to challenge all six countries at once, and not fear full-scale retaliation.
Yue Fuguang's guess was right. Panshan's methods were covert and measured, making it truly impossible for them to be hunted down by a unified six-nation alliance.
"System, can you still not find out where Panshan's nest is, or who their leader is?"
It shouldn't be like this. The system was already at level six. Couldn't its data search cover all six countries?
"Host, first of all, I am a merit system. Merit systems do not provide such services."
"So the system just doesn't have this function." Or was it just that her merit system didn't have it? Yue Fuguang suspected the latter.
The system ignored Yue Fuguang's grumbling and continued defending its own 'inability.' "Secondly, the gossip system was too severely damaged. It's difficult to repair."
"Besides, if the auxiliary system finds out we've merged dual databases, the gossip system will definitely be completely blocked. Then we won't be able to use it at all!"
What System 07 didn't mention was that during the repair of the gossip system, it had unintentionally recovered a fragment of data—scattered records about past events.
After reading that data, it felt it should behave more cautiously. The best course was to persuade the host to lie low as much as possible.
After all, the more the gossip system was repaired, the greater the chance the auxiliary system would detect data fluctuations. That was why it had recently been reluctant to use the gossip system to query matters requiring too much algorithmic computation.
If it hadn't been for the merit energy transformed from incense offerings shielding them, the dual-database merger would have been exposed long ago.
After all, quite a few taskers had failed in this mission. Why was it that when it came to her host, tasks were completed quickly and well?
With roughly similar identities and starting points, the outcomes were vastly different. Not only would the systems verifying the tasks investigate, but the failed taskers would also pay attention.
But because the host had not yet 'graduated' from the first minor world, bound by system rules, it could not tell her yet.
Kept in the dark, Yue Fuguang still asked persistently, "Is it because we're too far from Panshan's nest that you can't find it? If we get closer, might we be able to dig them out?"
The system thought about it for a moment and found it reasonable. "Indeed, distance is one limiting factor."
Yue Fuguang felt relieved. According to her plan, when she started sowing next month, she would definitely begin a nationwide touring performance... that is, a touring rain-making session. That would be her chance.
While Yue Fuguang and the system were discussing Panshan, the Crown Prince hadn't been idle either. He urgently reported Zhou Bo's matter, the Chen family, Bai Huaku, and Panshan's schemes in detail to Emperor Mingxi.
By the time Emperor Mingxi received the message from the Crown Prince, the unconscious Zhou Bo had already woken up and could return to his examination cell to continue his tests.
As for the Chen family, except for Chen Mingyu, who was still in the examination hall, everyone else had been thrown into prison.
The third and final session of the exams finally passed without further incidents. Yue Fuguang silently breathed a sigh of relief—she hadn't triggered any sudden tasks.
When she finally returned to her Bright Moon Pavilion, it was already the seventh day after the spring exams.
Although she hadn't participated in grading papers over the past few days, as the deputy chief examiner, the decisions on who to admit and how to rank them had to be discussed and decided with the Crown Prince.
After several days of continuous effort from everyone, over three thousand exam papers were finally fully reviewed. Yue Fuguang had followed the entire process from start to finish.
Today was the last day of grading. Inside the grading chamber, candlelight flickered. Sealed paper scrolls lay spread across the desks.
Several examiners sat around, having reached a critical moment in determining the rankings.
Twenty exam papers lay before her and the Crown Prince. The examiners largely agreed on the other rankings, but the debate over the placement of three candidates was exceptionally fierce.
Yue Fuguang could see that Minister of Rites Ji Hongming was so agitated that he was nearly spraying saliva onto the face of the official opposite him.
Having studied at the Hongwen Academy for three years, Yue Fuguang's skill with classical texts was mediocre due to her lazy and erratic attendance. Still, she asked a key question, "Gentlemen, regarding the policy essay on managing drought relief, how did all three of them write?"
In her view, flowery language didn't matter. She preferred pragmatic people—those suited for governance.
As for the rhetorically brilliant and exceptionally talented, they could be thrown into the Hanlin Academy to compile books or teach. That would be good enough.
Empty talk harmed the nation. Having literary talent without the ability to govern a region meant only that a person could study well, not that they were the talent the court needed—someone capable of governing the country and benefiting the people.
"Your Excellency," Ji Hongming stepped forward first, bowed, and said, "The essays of the top three candidates are all exceptionally written. It is only in their strategies for managing the drought that their views differ sharply, leading to a deadlock."
He paused for breath, swept a glance at the other examiners, and continued slowly, "All three policy essays address the drought topic, but their underlying frameworks are entirely different. That is the crux of our dispute. As to who should take the top spot, we await the decision of Your Excellency and His Highness the Crown Prince."
Before Ji Hongming could continue, another examiner, Minister Hu, clasped his hands and said, "Your Excellency, I believe this particular paper should be ranked first. Its writing, every word and sentence, aligns with the teachings of the sages."
"The measures it proposes—reducing meals, offering sacrifices to heaven, punishing corruption, selecting virtuous officials... are all perfectly proper, with no errors..."
Before he could finish, Ji Hongming coldly interjected, "Yet if you look at a thousand years of disaster relief memorials, they are largely the same. In an ordinary year, this would be a stable, superior strategy. But this year's drought is not limited to one province or one region. Nor is it confined to our Great Yan alone. I fear this approach suffers from failing to move beyond clichés."
Minister Hu's face turned ugly at being interrupted. Seeing Minister Hu defeated, Minister Wang quickly said, "Your Excellency, I recommend this paper for first place."
"Its writing is grand in vision, pointing directly at the core issues. It proposes using official positions to attract merchant investment, with the people building and officials supervising. It aims not only to manage the drought but to reshape the entire landscape. We..."
"However," before Minister Wang could finish, Minister Hu sharply interrupted, "A nationwide survey, a decade-long dedicated effort, merchant shares and government funds—all require enormous resources. It involves systemic reform and upsets entrenched bureaucratic interests. I fear it is more than the current court can bear. The argument is most valuable, but also most dangerous."