Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After the metropolitan examinations concluded, a minor military uprising broke out in the capital.

On the night the Emperor passed away, a faction led troops to storm the palace gates.

While chaos erupted within the palace, the capital itself was far from peaceful.

Bandits took advantage of the military unrest to infiltrate the city and pillage the homes of the wealthy.

However, the high-ranking officials and nobility in the eastern and western districts had large households with numerous guards and servants. Despite attacking all night, the bandits failed to break through the gates of most of those estates.

A few of the quicker-witted bandits immediately turned their sights toward the South City.

The commoners in the South City were weak and few in number; a family of four or five could be cut down with a single blade.

Though ordinary families didn’t have much silver to their names, the bandits figured it was better than coming away empty-handed.

Xie Zhixue and several other officials who had previously run up tabs at my shop sent word to me in advance. They warned me to keep my doors and windows tightly shut, and some even sent over a few guards.

Having heard the news early, I immediately gathered the nearby neighbors and the scholars staying with them to take refuge in the wonton shop.

The Chen Family also sent many guards to the Golden List Tower.

Seeing the large crowd gathered in the vicinity, the bandits didn’t dare to force their way in. Thus, the night passed with more alarm than actual danger.

Meanwhile, the situation in the palace was finally settled.

The instigators were several princes born to Consort Liu.

Dissatisfied with the Emperor’s decision to have the Crown Prince succeed the throne, they had attempted to hold the Emperor at swordpoint to force him to alter his final edict.

Fortunately, the Crown Prince had been prepared. He had sent the succession edict long ago to the commander of the army stationed a hundred miles outside the capital, ordering him to come to the throne’s defense.

Seeing the Crown Prince so composed and steady, the Emperor passed away in peace.

Following this, the New Emperor ascended the throne.

The rebellious princes were executed, Consort Liu took her own life, and the entire Liu Family was sentenced to execution.

Blood flowed like a river at the execution grounds, and for many days, everyone in the capital lived in a state of constant anxiety.

But in the blink of an eye, this gloom was washed away by the joy of the metropolitan examination results being posted.

Whether by coincidence or not, this year’s Zhuangyuan was once again a scholar who had run up a tab at my wonton shop.

During the palace examination, when the New Emperor heard him mention that he had lived at the South City Market Entrance due to his family’s poverty and had even run up a tab at Song Zhu Wonton, the sovereign burst into laughter.

He pointed at Xie Zhixue, who had already risen to the rank of Vice Minister of Revenue, and joked:

“To produce two Zhuangyuan in a row-that shop of yours truly is a land of auspicious omens.”