Chapter 44: You Are My Companion

In the second year of Qingli, spring, March.
It had already been a month since that great political storm shook the imperial court.
During this past month, many more events had transpired.
However, all these court upheavals were temporarily unrelated to Su Ze.

Following the presentation of the map via the Dengwen Drum, Su Ze had taken up temporary residence in Zhang Yaorao's mansion.
Although Zhang Yaorao's moral character was mediocre, he had genuinely passed the imperial examinations on his own merit and possessed a vast collection of books. Su Ze thus immersed himself in seclusion there, dedicating his time entirely to reading.

As a relative of imperial concubine Lady Zhang, Zhang Yaorao had also suffered from the ostracization of his peers over the years, and deep down, he deeply appreciated Su Ze as a capable scholar.
Furthermore, instructed by Lady Zhang herself, Zhang Yaorao acted as the matchmaker, and the marriage between Su Ze and Zhang Chulan was officially arranged.

Zhang Daocheng was overjoyed by this development.
Because the Lü family had fallen from power, the persecution of Song Qi had come to an end. The Emperor withdrew the investigation into the corruption scandal at the Imperial Academy, and Su Ze's status as a provincial examination graduate was officially restored.
If he couldn't pass this imperial examination, he could always try again in the next!

When he entered the palace, the usually aloof Lady Zhang had even praised Su Ze a few times, mentioning that the Emperor remembered Su Ze's name and that his future son-in-law had boundless prospects ahead of him.
How could Zhang Daocheng let slip such a magnificent match, especially since his own daughter had set her heart entirely on Su Ze?

The match-making and the exchange of betrothal gifts were all smoothly handled under the auspices of Zhang Daocheng and Zhang Yaorao. The only thing that brought Su Ze a sense of relief was that the second year of Qingli lacked the solar term of the Beginning of Spring, and according to folk legends, women who married in such a year were prone to becoming widows. Therefore, the official wedding date was set for the following year.

Thus, Su Ze, who had transmigrated just over a month ago, now found himself with a fiancée.

Lü Yijian's timely stroke provided a graceful exit for both the monarch and his subjects.
The Emperor's investigation into the Lü family ultimately stopped at Lü Gongbi.
The punishment meted out to Lü Gongbi was the most severe since the ascension of the Emperor: all official documents and records of his entry into public service were revoked, reducing him from an official to a commoner, forever barred from holding public office.
The young aristocratic scions who had associated with Lü Gongbi were likewise stripped of their official status.

Zhao Zhen still felt unsatisfied and personally issued an imperial decree ordering the individuals involved in the case to return to their native places of origin, banishing them completely from the city of Bianjing.

However, one thing that Su Ze genuinely admired was that Zhao Zhen ordered Kaifeng Prefecture to trace the rightful owners of the properties illegally occupied by Lü Gongbi and his associates, granting the original owners a full year to redeem their houses at the original purchase prices.
By returning the real estate to the victimized commoners, the Emperor truly lived up to the character of "Benevolence" (*Ren*).
If it had been certain Daoist-obsessed emperors or his wealth-obsessed grandson, those properties would undoubtedly have been confiscated and annexed by the imperial household.

Zhao Zhen retained Lü Yijian's title of Co-administrator of the Secretariat-Chancellery as chancellor, but since Lü Yijian had suffered a stroke and was incapable of conducting affairs, his removal from the chancellorship was merely a matter of time.

Nevertheless, the greatest beneficiary of this political storm was not the New Party in direct confrontation with the conservatives, but rather the politically neutral Commissioner of Military Affairs, Yan Shu.

Since the chancellor was unable to handle state affairs, Zhao Zhen bestowed upon the incumbent Commissioner of Military Affairs, Yan Shu, the additional title of Vice-manager of Governmental Affairs.
Thus, Yan Shu became a chancellor simultaneously wielding authority over both the Government Affairs Office and the Bureau of Military Affairs. The previous chancellor to concurrently oversee both institutions had been Kou Zhun during the Zhenzong era.

Although Yan Shu remained politically neutral, his son-in-law Han Qi was a core member of the reform faction, and he himself was both a mentor and friend to Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu. The shifting winds at court were already apparent to any astute official.

Yet, the subsequent personnel appointments once again reflected the Song imperial family's unique art of checks and balances—the strategy of "counterbalancing different opinions through contention."

Xia Song, the leader of the conservative faction who had previously been demoted due to setbacks in the northwestern military campaigns, was recalled to Bianjing and appointed as Deputy Commissioner of Military Affairs.
Wang Gongchen, the Censor-in-Chief who had been implicated in the scandal, was personally protected by the Emperor and allowed to continue leading the imperial censoriate and remonstrance bureaus.

Judging by this move, the Emperor did not entirely support the New Policies—at least not in the manner of the later Shenzong reforms, which completely purged the conservatives from the imperial court.

Speaking of Wang Anshi, the palace examinations were also held during this month.
This session's palace examination was personally formulated by the Emperor. Ordinarily, the grading officials for the palace exam were the same examiners from the Ministry of Rites examinations, but because Lü Yijian had fallen ill with a stroke, the chief grader for this session was changed to the Commissioner of Military Affairs, Yan Shu.

The palace examination differed from the Ministry of Rites exams; it consisted of only a single essay topic, namely political discourse (*celun*), and the issues debated in Song dynasty political essays were invariably tied to the practical challenges facing the imperial court.

For instance, the topic for this palace examination—personally set by the Emperor—was titled: *Answering Heaven with Substance, Not Literary Ornamentation*.

This subject was a direct response to the frequent natural disasters plaguing the realm since the Qingli era, coupled with the court's sluggish disaster relief measures. Often, relief arrived long after the calamities had passed, while local officials merely used flowery prose to whitewash peace and prosperity, failing to implement substantive rescue operations. The essay required participating scholars to propose practical solutions.

Naturally, most participants in the palace exam were young scholars who had never served as local officials, meaning their essays were largely confined to abstract discussions.

However, amidst this sea of abstract discourse, the grading Commissioner Yan Shu noticed an exceptional essay authored by none other than Wang Anshi.

Yan Shu ranked Wang Anshi's essay as the top submission, but when it came time for the Emperor to finalize the rankings, a political taboo was inadvertently triggered.

It turned out that Wang Anshi had included the phrase "The young ruler and his associates" in his text.

This phrase carried a historical allusion originating from the *Classic of History*, where the original text read: "The young ruler and his associates, the young ruler and his associates shall proceed."

Its original meaning was: "The young sovereign from this day forward must live in harmony with his ministers." It was meant as an admonition advising the emperor to maintain harmony with his ministers in order to govern the country well.

Who could have foreseen that this phrase would touch upon a forbidden taboo? One must remember that the founding Emperor of the Song, Zhao Kuangyin, had originally been a high-ranking general under Chai Rong of the Later Zhou dynasty. Before his death, Chai Rong had entrusted the orphan emperor to Zhao Kuangyin using similarly phrased託孤 (deathbed consignment) words.

Because Wang Anshi's use of the literary allusion violated this taboo, his ranking was lowered to fourth place, while the top honor of *Zhuangyuan* was seized by the younger brother of Yan Shu's son-in-law, Yang Zhi.

Of course, there was another circulating rumor in the court suggesting that Yan Shu's son-in-law Yang Cha had wanted his younger brother to capture the top rank, and that Yan Shu had deliberately circled Wang Anshi's controversial sentence and presented it to the Emperor, ultimately resulting in Wang Anshi's demotion in rank.

Regardless of the rumors, the spring examinations of the second year of Qingli had drawn to a close.

The subsequent rituals of the newly minted Jinshi—such as "parading through the imperial streets" and the "banquet at the Qionglin Garden"—had nothing more to do with Su Ze, who had skipped the Ministry of Rites examinations as a provincial graduate.

On the other hand, Wang Anshi, having successfully attained his Jinshi degree, did not forget his friend Su Ze. After making numerous inquiries, he finally tracked down Zhang Yaorao's residence. Managing to extricate himself from the flurry of activities reserved for new metropolitan graduates, he invited Su Ze and Zeng Gong, who had failed this examination, to gather at his home once more.

Su Ze readily accepted the invitation. The reason he had previously gone into hiding to avoid Wang Anshi was twofold: first, out of fear of implicating him, and second, to ensure Wang Anshi could focus undisturbed on his exam preparations.

Now that the dust had settled and Wang Anshi had placed fourth in the top tier just as he had in history, Su Ze naturally no longer needed to avoid him.

The storm triggered by the subversive writings had finally subsided. After reading for a while, Su Ze locked his chamber door, picked up a book at random, and silently chanted to enter the Peach Blossom Spring.

Following a brief wave of dizziness before his eyes, Su Ze stepped once more into the Peach Blossom Spring—only to find that the landscape within had completely transformed!