Chapter 10, The Fated Success (Part 2)

Thus, while the young master Zhang, who is completely unfamiliar with traditional Chinese characters, is drooling and snoring in his sleep, thanks to the connections of a chief examiner and three deputy examiners, his status has unknowingly transformed into that of a scholar who ranked seventh in the provincial examination of Shandong in the year of Xinyou of the Ming Dynasty, and a successful candidate who has consecutively appeared in the capital's newspaper. He has indeed obtained the qualification to participate in the imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty in the year of Yichou. Moreover, our chief examiner Zhang Ruitu has a buy-one-get-one-free offer, instructing the three deputy examiners to complete the examination papers for young master Zhang. It can basically be said that the young master Zhang, who is dreaming of marrying the fierce tiger Xiong Hu and avenging past humiliations, is not far from achieving the top three in the high school examination.

Ah?! The chief examiner Zhang Ruitu almost cried out, thinking to himself, "Your Excellency, how could you be so difficult to deal with? You have sent me this gentleman who is not even a scholar. How can I let him participate in the examination? How can I ensure he passes?" Fortunately, Zhang Shitou did not mention that our young master Zhang does not even know his own name; otherwise, our chief examiner, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhang Ruitu, would have surely jumped off a building.

"It is well said, please wait a moment, I will go in and take a look." Zhang Ruitu nodded, stepped out, and re-entered the examination room of our Young Master Zhang. Our Young Master Zhang, fearing that he might inadvertently reveal his identity through careless words, simply lay on the table pretending to sleep, snoring loudly, which made Zhang Ruitu hesitant to wake him. He could only approach Zhang Shitou, the trusted servant of Young Master Zhang, clasp his hands and smile, saying: "This young brother, may I ask your master's surname and given name? Where does he come from? What is his background? I need this information for registering your master, and I hope you will kindly enlighten me."

"Sir, what is the matter with you?" Zhang Shitou asked, puzzled by Zhang Ruitu's dazed expression. Zhang Ruitu quickly regained his composure, thinking to himself that he had expended countless efforts to curry favor with the Grand Minister to attain the position of Deputy Minister of Rites. He was now only one step away from entering the cabinet and becoming a minister. He absolutely could not let this matter ruin all his hard work; that would be too regrettable. Damn it, no matter the cost, he had to find a way to ensure that the Grand Minister's instructions regarding this matter were carried out properly! With this in mind, Zhang Ruitu gritted his teeth and said, "Thank you, young brother. I know what to do now. Please wait a moment; I will be right back."

"Let me, the young master, take the exam paper? Do they dare?" Young Master Zhang scoffed disdainfully, saying, "The exam paper is not a problem at all; what is currently troubling these examiners the most is how to ensure that this young master qualifies for the examination."

"Good, good, thank you for your hard work, Master Zhang." The three deputy examiners nodded in agreement, and after a brief division of labor, they each went about their tasks. Zhang Ruitu then called Wang Zhijian back and asked in a low voice: "Master Wang, if I remember correctly, when you served as the governor of Hangzhou, the current educational commissioner of Shandong, Master Xie, was seemingly serving as the governor of the neighboring Huzhou. What is the nature of your relationship? Is there any unresolved enmity between you?"

"Oh, it's just a trivial matter." Zhang Ruitu pointed to another deputy examiner and said, "Master Chen, you are the Director of the Imperial Academy, this should not be difficult for you, right?"

Indeed, Young Master Zhang's ominous words turned out to be true. When Chief Examiner Zhang Ruitu informed the three deputy examiners that Young Master Zhang had no academic title whatsoever, all three deputy examiners were left dumbfounded, exclaiming in unison, "What? The esteemed official sent this candidate who doesn't even have the title of a scholar? How are we supposed to conduct the examination?"

What Master Zhang said is indeed correct; this is precisely the reasoning. The three deputy examiners nodded in agreement, deeply convinced. One of the deputy examiners, Wang Zhijian, furrowed his brow and said: "Master Zhang, but this matter is not just a simple trouble. All candidates who participated in this examination and registered at the Guozijian are already present—this means that the candidate sent by the Nine Thousand Years must have definitely not registered at the Guozijian beforehand. What shall we do about this?"

... ...

After leading our Young Master Zhang into the examination room, Zhang Ruitu and the three deputy examiners realized the tricky nature of the situation. Two and a half of the three exams had already been conducted, and now there were not only no examination papers left, but also no available examination rooms. How could this candidate, sent by the esteemed Ninth Prince, be examined? However, our chief examiner Zhang Ruitu is a clever man. He briefly consulted with Wang Zhijian, the deputy examiner with the best relationship among the three. Wang Zhijian immediately offered up his own room and invited our Young Master Zhang inside, providing him with fragrant tea and wet wipes for his comfort. Then, the chief examiner and the three deputy examiners gathered in Zhang Ruitu's room to discuss how to handle this tricky matter.

To know what happens next, please refer to the following chapter "Fated Rivals"

Oh, so this is what you were asking about," Zhang Shitou suddenly realized and replied with a smile, "If you had made it so clear earlier, it would have been much better. Our young master has no official title; he is neither a candidate for the imperial examination nor a successful candidate, and he is not even a scholar.

Note: Zhang Ruitu was a successful candidate in the imperial examination in the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli era (1607), ranking third in the palace examination. He was appointed as a compiler and junior grand secretary, later also serving as the vice minister of the Ministry of Rites. He ingratiated himself with Wei Zhongxian and, in 1626, was conferred the title of Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion and concurrently served as the Minister of Rites, entering the cabinet as a prime minister. Zhang Ruitu was also skilled in calligraphy and painting, renowned for his "Vajra Pestle" brush technique, and many of the inscriptions for Wei Zhongxian's ancestral hall were written by him

"That is when our family's Eleventh Lady was born," Zhang Shitou replied, even more confused. Zhang Ruitu was almost in tears and had no choice but to clarify, saying, "Young brother, I am asking what titles your young master holds. For example, is he a jiansheng or a juren?"

Understood. Zhang Shitou nodded and lowered his voice to say: "Young Master, you scared me to death in front of Jiuchiansu today. Fortunately, you are blessed and have a great fate; otherwise, it could have implicated the Master and the eleven ladies. But now that we are in the examination hall, and you cannot write, what will we do if a few examiners really hand you the exam papers to write on?"

Wang Zhijian was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly clasped his fists in response, saying, "Good, everything will be at the discretion of Lord Zhang. Once the matter is accomplished, Lord Zhang should certainly take the primary credit in front of Jiucheng. I will be content to share in a bit of the glory." Zhang Ruitu nodded with a smile, fully aware that this matter was essentially settled.

"Gentlemen, this matter is quite difficult to handle, but we must ensure it is done well," said Zhang Ruitu, the chief examiner of the imperial examination, lowering his voice and getting straight to the point. "Today is the last day of the examination, and the esteemed Grand Eunuch Wei has suddenly sent a candidate into our examination hall, which proves that this candidate must be closely related to the Grand Eunuch! Therefore, we must find a way to allow him to participate in the examination and ensure that he passes! Otherwise, we will offend the esteemed Grand Eunuch Wei."

"Shh, keep your voice down," Zhang Ruitu first made a gesture for silence, then said with a stern face: "Indeed, this candidate has no official titles; he is neither a candidate for the imperial examination nor a successful candidate. By rights, he should not be qualified to participate in the joint examination. However! This candidate is sent by the esteemed Wei Gonggong, who holds a unique status. Therefore, no matter how difficult or troublesome it may be, we must allow him to participate in the examination, and he must pass! Otherwise, I believe there is no need for me to explain what will happen to everyone, right?"

Zhang Ruitu was overjoyed upon hearing this and said, "This could not be better. I can handle the records of the degrees from the Ministry of Rites all by myself. As for Lord Xie, I would trouble Lord Wang to send a letter to Lord Xie tonight, mentioning the matter of Young Master Zhang and the Nine Thousand Years. I would ask him to supplement Young Master Zhang's degree. I believe Lord Xie will certainly not make things difficult for us and will help us complete this matter perfectly. Once this is accomplished, when the Nine Thousand Years rewards merit, how about we split it evenly?"

Indeed, we can be flexible regarding the preliminary examination, but the final examination is another matter altogether. Zhang Ruitu initially agreed with the opinions of the three deputy examiners, then gritted his teeth and said: "No matter how difficult it is, we must find a way for him—finding a way for this young master Zhang Haogu is equivalent to finding a way for the esteemed Jiucheng! Therefore, we can only succeed, we cannot fail!"

Having said that, Zhang Ruitu turned around and exited the room. As soon as the door closed, the snoring of our young master Zhang abruptly ceased. He raised his head and beckoned Zhang Shitou to come forward, then whispered in his ear: "Shitou, you answered very well just now. I will continue to sleep for a while. If anyone asks you anything else, you can answer truthfully. However, if someone asks about the relationship between me and the esteemed Wei Gonggong, you must not answer. Just smile and pretend to be clueless. Do you understand?"

"You are too polite, sir." Zhang Shitou, who was somewhat courteous, replied, "My young master’s surname is Zhang, given name is Haogu, he is twenty-one years old this year, and hails from Linqing Prefecture in Dongchangfu, Shandong—he is the son of the eleventh wife of our family’s Master Zhang."

The three deputy examiners shuddered simultaneously, recalling the various tortures of the Eastern Depot prison, and their legs involuntarily began to weaken and tremble. Wang Zhijian gritted his teeth and said: "Master Zhang, even if we want to help him, forcing him to pass the preliminary examination will not work. There will still be the palace examination in the future, and identity verification will definitely be required. If he is exposed at that time, our heads will not be safe." The other two deputy examiners echoed his sentiments, also worried that our young master Zhang might pass the preliminary examination but struggle with the palace examination.

The chief examiner's words are indeed correct, and we, the officials, will certainly do our utmost. The three deputy examiners unanimously agreed, deeply resonating with Zhang Ruitu's statement. Wang Zhijian then cautiously inquired, "Chief Examiner, what exactly should we do? This young gentleman is from Shandong, and even if we were to coordinate with the Shandong educational authorities to forge his credentials, we would not have enough time."

"It doesn't matter, we can take our time with the forgery of credentials; the key is to get through the current situation first." Zhang Ruitu, a man who had held high office for many years, was adept at the art of deception, especially the practice of deceiving superiors while keeping subordinates in the dark. After a brief calculation, he devised a plan. He instructed, "Here’s what we will do: there are only two hours left and three candles to burn, and the examination is about to conclude. It is certainly too late for Young Master Zhang to complete the exam paper. Instead, let the three gentlemen exert themselves; each of you will tackle one set of exam questions, and you must finish all three sets of questions within the two-hour timeframe. As for the matters in the examination room, I will take care of them. But remember, this must remain a secret known only to the four of us; not even the eighteen examiners should be made aware of it."

The eleventh wife of Lord Zhang gave birth to him?" Zhang Ruitu was taken aback and said with a bitter smile, "Young brother, I am not asking which wife your young master was born from, but rather what his background is"

The relationship between myself and Lord Xie is relatively acceptable; although it cannot be described as a life-and-death friendship, at least we have not had any conflicts in local governance matters.

"No problem," said the deputy examiner with the surname Chen, patting his chest and laughing. "I can immediately send someone back to the country to have the registration for this candidate, who is nine thousand years old, completed. However, Lord Zhang, you must first ask this candidate where he is from, what his name is, and whether he comes from the ranks of the examination students or the recommended scholars. Only then can I proceed with the matter."