Good Man Operation Guide

While Lin Shiheng was pouring out psychological counseling to his friend over here, selected officials were in the hall on the other side conscientiously correcting the exams submitted by the candidates. His Majesty, in a dragon robe, sat on the dragon throne with a light furrowed brow as he sat with a slight slant due to tiredness.

This time, because of the quarrels between the three clans, it was impossible for the Emperor not to be annoyed. If this hadn’t been the case, the handling of this incident also wouldn’t have been used as an examination question. He had casually gone down and looked through a few exams, but most of them were biased toward one side and only spoke for that side and that the best choice was to preserve the benefits of the city of their bias.

Who wants to see these sort of useless things?

If he wanted to sacrifice one party to save the other, would he have needed to drag it on until this point, at the risk of the dam breaking at any moment?

Now that the princes have grown up, while the Emperor had maintained a good balance over the years, just from this Yanjiang River incident, the princes, who used to be willing to act respectfully and brotherly, seemed to have stopped pretending. Instead, they started to oppose each other face-to-face.

An Emperor may be revered by thousands of people and have a harem of 3,000, but as he aged, he would progressively decline. On the other hand, the children that he had previously favored grew stronger bit by bit. Every time he saw how his sons dealt with each other, he felt gratified, but there was also loss and vigilance.

He was glad that his children knew how to compete, but he was also frustrated that those years when he had been as healthy as they are have also passed. He was getting old, so he also had to be vigilant towards what the princes would do if this rivalry between brothers should be directed upon the aged father.

***

In the resting room, Lin Shiheng coughed softly and went to open the doors and windows for a while, he then sat back in the chair after seeing that there was no one outside.

Zhao He was now immersed in the tension that his examination paper was probably being corrected at this precise moment, but seeing that his always quiet friend opened the doors and windows to check, he felt a little comforted.

“Brother Lin, don’t worry. With your knowledge and previous first-place ranking, you will definitely be able to take one of the top ranks.”

The young scholar smiled apologetically, “I naturally know that I will be able to rank.”

Zhao He, who was still thinking of comforting him with a few more words like ‘Don’t be nervous, you definitely can’, stared at his confident friend in front of him and didn’t know what else to say.

Although he thought that according to Lin Shiheng’s knowledge, he would definitely get picked. It was one thing for him to say it, but another for him to say it himself. Besides, hadn’t Brother Lin always been very modest?

He didn’t know whether he was too nervous to wait any longer or if he was too curious, but Zhao He couldn’t resist asking this question.

Lin Shiheng didn’t hide anything from him, but simply answered, “I’m sure His Majesty doesn’t want to choose between the three cities.”

Zhao He was stunned. Seeing the bland face of his best friend in front of him, he got up and ran to open the door and window to vigilantly look outside.

It wouldn’t have mattered if they were discussing it outside the palace, but this was the palace! His Majesty’s territory! If they were heard discussing His Majesty behind his back, what if they were taken care of?

“Brother Zhao doesn’t have to check. I have already checked it just before. No one is around this room. The two brothers who share this room with us have also gone to their acquaintances to discuss. They wouldn’t come back for a while.”

Unlike Zhao He, who was full of tension, Lin Shiheng was still very calm. He picked up the teapot on the table with his slender fingers and poured it into two teacups. His movements flowed without a hint of hesitation.

Although the other had already said this, Zhao He was still scared and ran back. “You’d better not continue what you were saying. After all, this is the palace, if anyone heard this, you’ll be punished.”

“When I spoke these words, naturally, I was confident that no outsiders would hear them.”

Lin Shiheng smiled, white jade-like fingers, he gently lifted the teacup and handed it to the Zhao He across from him. “If His Majesty wanted a trade-off, he would have already ordered a draining or had Yancheng or Beicheng relocated for refuge.”

“The reason for this delay was only because he didn’t want to sacrifice either side.”

Zhao He was no longer as anxious as he was just now, but sat down and nodded thoughtfully. “What Brother Lin means is that the longer this drags on, the worse it will be.”

“So, His Majesty was indecisive because he didn’t want any of the people of the three cities to be troubled.”

Zhao He immediately showed a look of admiration. “His Majesty is really kind.”

Seeing the admiration on his face, Lin Shiheng didn’t contradict his best friend, who had been taught to be loyal and patriotic by his elders and the people around him since childhood.

There was kindness, true, but it is unclear how much.

Of the three cities, two cities contained the maternal home of the first and second princes. Although the relocation of the city would cause no damage to human life, people were selfish. If the people in Nancheng were healthy and well, they may still be able to accept it. But right now, Nancheng is suffering from the plague. Even if the flood didn’t come, they still won’t be able to survive. So how could they not have resentment in their hearts if they have to leave their homes for a city whose people would die sooner or later and let the flood erode their homes instead?

If this was done, both First Prince and the Second Prince would have resentment in their hearts, and the closeness between the father and sons would end.

Yet, if the water was diverted to Nancheng, first of all, it would be unkind. After all, the old, sick, and disabled of Nancheng were already miserable, if the water was directly led over to the city, people would die. If this is done, even if the people wouldn’t dare to say anything on the surface, they would definitely secretly feel that the Emperor was cruel.

In particular, the maternal home of the Fifth Princes was also in Nancheng. If Nancheng was really destroyed, while the other princes may continue their competition, the fifth prince would completely fall from being a potential successor.

This was not because he lost his maternal home, but because in this case, the Emperor would be the enemy who ended his maternal family. So although they were father and son, Emperors were never stingy and judged those around them with the greatest malice.

In this case, it was no wonder the Emperor was in a difficult position.

Zhao He didn’t know what Lin Shiheng was thinking. After admiring that the Emperor was really benevolent, he then continued, “So if Brother Lin’s prescription really works, it would be a solution to His Majesty’s worries, and the results will naturally be good!”

With that said, he then realized something. “No wonder Brother Lin is so confident. His Majesty is so kind, then as long as there is a hint of a solution that can solve the problems of the people of the three cities, His Majesty would definitely use it!”

Although he perfectly misunderstood the circumstance, the good news was that his conclusion was still correct. Lin Shiheng didn’t say anything and just kept a gentle smile as if he tacitly agreed.

Even if the prescription doesn’t get used, the prescription was preceded by a slower and riskier way to balance the three cities. Although it was a risky answer for the examination prompt, scholars who were willing to propose to save all three cities were few and far between. Besides, every word he said was true and well-documented, so the result shouldn’t be bad.

[E/N: that is, he would stand out for being unique.]

***

Sure enough, after the initial corrections were completed, the scholars knelt down. According to the convention of this dynasty, the Emperor would then read and review the top answers selected by the courtiers before drafting up the top three.

The first person he asked was Lin Shiheng.

“The prescription you attached, is it real?”

The young scholar, who was slightly thin and pale, stood up. They couldn’t see any tension on his face. He replied, “This prescription is from an ancient book, and since it has not been tested, I do not know whether it is real or not.”

“Hmm.”

The Emperor was obviously impressed with the good-looking young man below, whose voice was clear and genial.

After all, the higher you were in the hierarchy, the more skillful you become in controlling your expressions.

“Although you don’t know whether this prescription is real or not, you have answered the main question well. Being so clever and talented, you have the talent of a top scholar. So I will appoint you as…”

Having said that, the Emperor suddenly paused.

He then remembered that he had planned to choose a good candidate among the scholars taking the imperial examination this time, someone with no background, to be his eldest daughter’s fuma.

(TNote: 驸马 fu ma = emperor’s son-in-law.)

When the ministers were discussing which one to choose as the Champion, he realized that the young man called Lin Shiheng, Lin Qinzhi, was just an ordinary peasant, just as he thought.

“I wonder if Subject Lin’s marriage has already been settled?”

Lin Shiheng’s face was calm, “Replying Your Majesty, I have yet to be betrothed.”

So, as a matter of course, he was named ‘Tanhualang’ and was regarded as a gift to the Princess.

(TNote: Tanhualang = candidate who came third in the Han-lin examination.)

This was also the rule of this dynasty, which was not well known by the masses. If marriage was to be bestowed to one of the scholars, it was generally not permitted to choose the first and second-ranked scholars. After all, there was no shortage of candidates whose fathers were currently officials in court. In such a case, if their results were decent, the Emperor wouldn’t mind selecting them as the Champion. However, among the top three, there would be at least one child of common birth in order to show that the court treated all equally.

While ‘fuma’ sounded prestigious, before the former dynasty had changed the rule that ‘fuma can’t join the court as an official’, if you married a princess, others would not refer to you as an official of the XX dynasty, but a fuma of XX Princess. In addition, unlike other women, princesses were often backed by the most powerful man in the world, the Emperor. What if you happened to meet one prone to jealousy? If a fuma kept a woman outside, leading the princess to complain in the palace, if the emperor favored this princess, inevitably, the fuma will have to be punished for disrespecting the princess.

When the late Emperor was still alive, his favorite, Princess Yuhe, was treated coldly by her fuma, who even brought a concubine back into his residence. In a fit of rage, the late Emperor allowed the two to divorce and rebuked the fuma for disrespecting the princess by exiling him, never to return to the capital. Although the fuma’s family was not implicated, the family gradually disappeared from the ranks of powerful families because they were denied the Emperor’s protection.

All while Princess Yuhe was safe and sound. After the fuma’s exile, the late Emperor specially and carefully helped her choose a fuma who was born of a humble family. After all, someone of common birth wouldn’t have a temper like those children of the rich and powerful, he would have no background to rely on and would only be able to rely on the princess. Then it would only be natural to be kind to the princess. So since then, Princess Yuhe had lived a fairly pleasant life.