Chapter 107 - 93 Prince Consort (4K)
The Imperial Palace banquet was more complex than Li Ang had imagined. A group of scholars who had passed the final examination first took the palace carriages, entered through the Vermilion Bird Gate, passed along Chengtian Gate Street, dismounted from the carriages inside Chengtian Gate, and then walked on foot through the Taiji Gate, the Left Yanming Gate, the Vermilion Gate, and the Liangyi Gate, finally arriving in front of Liangyi Hall, where they lined up to wait.
The scale of the Imperial Palace was truly immense. As Li Ang stood amidst other scholars in the chilly wind, he looked around, his gaze wandering in awe at the palatial buildings adorned with carved beams and painted rafters. Standing in the vast, desolate square in front of the hall and gazing at distant towers aglow with lights, an absurd feeling belatedly rose in his heart.
Just a few months ago, he had been distraught over his family’s bankruptcy and the debt of one hundred strings of coins.
Now he was about to meet, as the Academic Palace Top Scholar, the sovereign of Yu Country, who wielded the greatest secular power in the land, to be encouraged and rewarded. It all felt surreal.
Li Ang shook his head, trying to clear his mind of these chaotic thoughts.
Whispers of light conversation floated from those around him, as the budding scholars of the Academic Palace murmured to each other, full of expectation and longing.
A scholar wearing a turban could hardly conceal his excitement, as if he wished to emblazon the poetry line, "To express my loyalty on the Gold Platform, I would guide the Jade Dragon to die for you," across his face.
The tall and burly recommended candidate from the Ministry of War clenched his fists tightly, his face pale and his lips trembling—a stark contrast to his fearless manner earlier in the day when he had pounded a wooden box so hard that his hands bled.
Even those born to governor’s families, like Yong Hongzhong and Ji Linglang, looked up at the sky and mentally rehearsed their speech and behavior to avoid any breach of etiquette that might disgrace their families when they ascended the hall.
Meanwhile, the Hu Ren, barbarians, and Desert People scholars, with their hair, eyes, and skin colors different from those of the Central Plains, softly repeated something to themselves—probably the flattering remarks and poetry they had prepared in advance.