Peach Blossom Decree Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Jinling City (31)

The tribute scholars around Lin Zikui were briefly thrown into a panic. They scattered back, exclaiming, “Hey! What’s wrong with him?”

The eunuch leading the way turned his head.

One of the scholars shouted, “He—he fainted!”

Xiao Fu, who had been watching the entire time, suddenly stood up.

The young emperor called out, “Royal Father?”

Without answering, Xiao Fu strode swiftly out of the Fengtian Hall, calling over his shoulder to Liang Gonggong, “Go summon the Chief Imperial Physician!”

“The head of the Imperial Physician Courtyard?” someone murmured in disbelief. Just one examinee fainting was enough to call the head physician personally?

Lin Zikui couldn’t keep his balance. He collapsed abruptly, his eyes still open, but he had no strength to get back up.

Xiao Fu reached up and casually flicked a few inconspicuous beads from his beaded crown. With a slight movement of his fingers, so quick that only the commander of the Brocade Uniform Guard stationed outside the hall caught it, the beads flew out.

Each bead struck the pressure points behind the heads of ten different examinees.

Commander Han: ?

Then came a series of thuds—

Thump, thump, thump…

More examinees toppled like dominoes!

Liang Gonggong’s jaw dropped. “Th-this… what on earth is going on!?”

The Prince Regent said calmly, “The divine might of Fengtian Hall weighs heavily and stirs the spirit. These tribute scholars have studied too hard and overexerted themselves. Someone—escort them all to the Imperial Physician Courtyard for proper treatment. This prince values talent—see to it that they are all fully recovered.”

Lin Zikui’s eyelids hovered between open and shut. He saw the Prince Regent walking out of Fengtian Hall, stopping directly in front of him. Before so many witnesses, the Prince Regent merely stood there, not bending down. The sharp line of his jaw looked like it was carved with a blade.

Immediately after, he ordered the eunuchs to lead all the scholars out of the palace—except those who had collapsed from exhaustion.

Xiao Fu stood so close, and yet felt so impossibly distant. In Lin Zikui’s dazed vision, everything felt surreal, like a lucid dream—so vivid, so absurd.

He stared at Xiao Zhaoling as if caught between waking and dreaming. His lips moved, as if to call his name, but in the end, no sound escaped.

Lin Zikui was taken to the Imperial Physician Courtyard. Xiao Fu instructed Liang Gonggong to have Chief Physician Zhang personally examine him. This level of attention made Liang Gonggong murmur to himself, “Looks like this Huiyuan Lin is destined to become the Zhuangyuan. What a bold one—he dares say anything during the palace exam.”

After checking his pulse, Chief Zhang turned to the Prince Regent—who had come in person to oversee Lin Zikui’s treatment—and reported, “Your Grace, the candidate has no serious issues. He’s merely mentally and emotionally overtaxed. A dose of calming medicine will be enough. I’ll prescribe a decoction—one packet should do.”

Xiao Fu remained expressionless, though his gaze held a trace of hidden worry. “When will he wake?”

The physician replied, “At most within the hour. As for the other candidates…”

But Xiao Fu was no longer listening. He turned slightly toward Liang Gonggong and asked, “Liang Gonggong, what did you think of Huiyuan Lin’s answer during the exam?”

Suddenly being singled out, Liang Gonggong: “…..”

“I—this humble servant… dares not comment recklessly.”

Xiao Fu said, “This prince cherishes talent. I have more questions for this student. He’ll wake soon, yes? When he does, bring him to my palace.”

With so many examinees having fainted while exiting the hall, Lin Zikui’s case didn’t stand out much anymore.

When those other students slowly woke up in the Imperial Physician Courtyard, they were still in a daze. None of them could figure out how they’d fainted. Anxious that collapsing in front of the emperor might affect their rankings, they quietly slipped some silver to a eunuch and asked, “When we passed out earlier… did His Majesty or the Prince Regent say anything?”

The eunuch replied, “Don’t worry. Chief Steward Liang himself sent people to bring you here. The Prince Regent spoke most graciously, said he treasures talent and instructed the physicians to treat you all with the utmost care. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

On the other side, when Lin Zikui woke up, the first thing he saw was a fair-faced eunuch standing in front of him, saying, “Lin Zikui? You’re awake? Then tidy your hair crown and come with me.”

Lin Zikui got up silently. Under the bright daylight, with red bricks and green tiles and the deep walls of the palace surrounding him, everything felt distant.

He didn’t know whether everything that had happened was just a dream or real. So he asked, “Gonggong, where are you taking me? Just now… did I make a fool of myself?”

Liang Gonggong gave him a look and said, “You? You were simply too bold and reckless. When you meet the Prince Regent later, remember to keep that mouth of yours shut tight. Know what should and shouldn’t be said—be careful of your own…” He lifted his chin slightly, hinting at beheading.

This Huiyuan Lin seemed to have caught the eye of the Prince Regent and was actually going to be summoned in person. If he didn’t end up in trouble, he might really be valued and given a chance. So Liang Gonggong gave him this bit of advice as a favor.

Lin Zikui’s expression grew even more dazed. “I’m going… to see him…”

Liang Gonggong immediately lowered his voice, “Lin Zikui, that’s His Grace the Prince Regent!”

Lin Zikui nodded, but his face had gone pale and his eyes were blank. His mind was a tangled mess of thoughts that he couldn’t sort out.

Zhao Ling often rose at the Mao hour, left the house, and wouldn’t return until midday for a meal.

The past two months, he had vanished entirely without a trace.

Yuanqing carried the air of a military officer, outstanding and upright. Yuanwu hadn’t been seen in months, and Yuanqing had said he was sent on a mission to another province.

Jinzun was a Turkic man, and the Prince Regent had once led troops in the borderlands.

All of these scattered fragments now seemed to line up with the truth.

He was the Prince Regent…

He actually was the Prince Regent…

At that moment, Xiao Fu was in the imperial study. The young emperor was also there beside him. The roster of examinees lay open in front of them, and the responses from each scholar had been carefully noted down by the young eunuchs. Because of the large number of candidates, the record-keeping was organized using the “Thousand Character Classic.”

Almost every tribute scholar had answered at least one question. Some answers were excellent, some average, and some poor. The weakest were relegated to the third class; the good ones entered the second class. Only the truly outstanding were considered for the top first-class ranks like Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua.

The young emperor seemed to have his own thoughts and had written a few names on a sheet of fine xuan paper.

“Royal Father, what do you think? For Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua, whom should we choose?”

Xiao Fu was still thinking about Lin Zikui. Even though he had already sent Chen Yuanqing to keep an eye on him in secret, he still couldn’t set his mind at ease.

Why had he fainted so suddenly?

Seeing that Xiao Fu remained silent, the young emperor called again, “Royal Father?”

Xiao Fu lifted his eyelids. “What does Your Majesty think?”

“These few examinees each had unique strengths. This Gu Yuanyou, for instance—quick-witted, articulate, and logical—there wasn’t a single flaw in what he said. As for Lin Zikui…”

If one wanted to nitpick, every word of his could be considered wrong.

Yet at the same time, every word he spoke was also undeniably true.

Xiao Fu asked, “Has Your Majesty truly considered the heartfelt words spoken by Huiyuan Lin?”

The young emperor nodded and replied, “I have. The idea of ‘the people are more important than the ruler’—it isn’t real just because I, the ruler, think it is. It has to be felt by the people themselves. But in the northern regions, not a single grain has been harvested this year. The grain distributed by the court has been reduced layer by layer through corruption. If the people can’t even eat their fill, aren’t they becoming less and less important?”

Xiao Fu then asked, “And what of Candidate Gu’s answer?”

Yuwen Xuan paused, looked over the eunuch’s recorded notes, and said nothing. His answer was flawless—concerned with country and people, but lacking urgency or critique. In this day and age, finding an official brave enough to speak the truth was like reaching for the heavens!

Xiao Fu asked again, “Whom does Your Majesty choose as Zhuangyuan?”

The young emperor glanced at Xiao Fu’s expression, then picked up the imperial brush and circled Lin Zikui’s name. “Royal Father, what do you think?”

“Your Majesty may decide,” Xiao Fu said, standing. “I shall return to my palace first.”

The young emperor jumped down from his chair. “Royal Father, aren’t you going to dine with me?”

“Not today. Let Scholar Zhao accompany you to finalize the Golden Roll,” Xiao Fu said, and with that, he departed. He had a residence within the palace called the Xuanji Palace, located not far from the Fengtian Hall, making it convenient for him to attend court early each day.

Liang Gonggong brought Lin Zikui into the back, and upon seeing Commander Chen already present in the Prince Regent’s palace, he immediately bowed and used his horsetail whisk to signal Lin Zikui.

When Lin Zikui saw him, his pupils shrank slightly, and he froze for half a beat before following along to bow. “Greetings… Commander.”

But Yuanqing only glanced at him, his expression without the slightest crack. Then he dismissed Liang Gonggong, saying, “His Highness instructed that gonggong need not remain here at Xuanji Palace.”

Liang Gonggong hesitated a little. “Then what about the tribute scholar…”

“His Grace knows what he’s doing. Liang Gonggong, please withdraw.”

“Yes, Commander Chen. Then I’ll take my leave.”

Xiao Fu disliked ostentation, and there were very few servants stationed in his Xuanji Palace. With many spies and ears in the palace, Yuanqing had already cleared the area. At this moment, besides the three of them, the room was empty. Lin Zikui looked at Chen Yuanqing, his lips pressed tightly together without speaking.

Yuanqing gave him a nod and lowered his voice to say, “Young Master Lin, Master is inside. There are too many mouths and eyes in the palace—I have no choice but to do this.”

Hearing that, Lin Zikui took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly.

It really was him.

This wasn’t a dream.

He had thought that now, as a successful candidate in the imperial exam, he was finally worthy of the Xiao family’s name.

Zhao Ling hadn’t dared tell his family about their relationship, but now Lin Zikui had something to stand on. He had the courage!

He had imagined that once he became the top scholar, with a mansion bestowed by the emperor, he and his wife would move in together—by a little bridge, flowing water, a poetic life.

And now, it all felt like some grand, absurd joke.

The summer palace was tranquil and verdant. The palace gates loomed quiet, and as the lattice door opened, Lin Zikui walked slowly, each step incredibly difficult, filled with dread.

He lifted the hem of his robe and was just about to kneel when Xiao Fu caught him in both arms. “What are you kneeling for, Lin Lang, when seeing me?”

Lin Zikui was trembling slightly. He slowly raised his head to look at him.

Xiao Fu smiled at him with a familiar warmth in his eyes. “Surprised?”

Without saying a word, Yuanqing quietly closed the door behind them and stood guard loyally outside.

Lin Zikui said nothing at all. He tried hard to suppress his trembling—but he couldn’t.

“Prince Regent,” Lin Zikui pulled his arms from Xiao Fu’s embrace and bent his knees, kneeling down.

“I, student Lin Zikui,” he gritted his teeth, his spine numb with tension as he bowed down completely—a full formal salute between subject and sovereign. Three kowtows, limbs curled tightly, and in a deep voice, he said, “Pay my respects to the Prince Regent.”

Xiao Fu’s expression froze instantly, his warmth dissipating.

He had imagined ten thousand possible reactions from Lin Zikui—yet not this one.

“Lin Lang doesn’t recognize me now? Just because I’m wearing these robes?” Xiao Fu was still dressed in ceremonial black court attire, a jade belt around his waist, and wide sleeves. He reached out to pull him up, but Lin Zikui remained motionless, his head lowered.

Xiao Fu didn’t move either, his expression unreadable. “If I take off these robes, stop being the Prince Regent…” As he spoke, he reached to untie his jade belt. Lin Zikui abruptly lifted his head, staring at him in disbelief.

If you’re loving the tangled fates and slow-burning tension in Peach Blossom Decree, help Ciacia keep the petals falling by buying her a Kofi.

Can’t bear the suspense? Join the Duo-a-cia Tier to unlock up to 5 chapters early—and get ahead of the drama before the next decree drops.