Chapter 61: An Unsurpassed and Peerless Beauty.....

In the hearts of many capital residents, the Vermilion Bird Gate was the true core of the imperial city.

Unlike the area outside the Azure Dragon Gate, which felt unreachable and was filled with mysterious lords of sorcery, or the West District, which was dominated by military households, or the North District, where refugees roamed and a chaotic mix of people gathered, this place was safe, lively, and prosperous. Though its social circles were not entirely pure, they maintained a certain threshold; though it gathered wealth and nobility, it still retained a strong, down-to-earth atmosphere. Many people said that only this place could truly represent the face of the capital.

Zhang Rui had precisely this feeling when he stepped outside. It was not yet the *Mao* hour when he left his residence, yet the major streets and alleys were already bustling. The stars in the sky had vanished, but the mortal world's lanterns remained unextinguished. A continuous stream of carriages and horses moved back and forth amidst the surging crowds. Finding himself amidst all this as he hurried to report to his new company, he experienced a vivid illusion of being transported back to his past life, commuting to work in the capital.

"I should have taken a sedan chair after all." Standing before the gates of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhang Rui straightened his attire, looking somewhat disheveled.

Walking through the city in formal official robes, passing through four bustling streets while having to stop elderly locals along the way to ask for directions, was truly not a pleasant experience.

"Is the lord here to report for duty at the Ministry of Personnel?" The bailiff at the entrance had a very pleasant attitude, coming forward to inquire from afar.

"Ah, yes." Zhang Rui smiled and returned the courtesy. "Trouble you to lead the way, official. This is my first time here."

"Think nothing of it..." The bailiff smiled and patted his chest, clearly an open-and-shut sort of person. This made Zhang Rui breathe a slight sigh of relief, as he had feared encountering someone who would exploit their position in the yamen to make things difficult. Such occurrences were actually not uncommon, and being able to make things hard for ranked officials from various regions could deeply satisfy the psychological petty pleasure of some low-status individuals. From the looks of it, the atmosphere in the Ministry of Personnel was quite good.

Meanwhile, the bailiff smiled while sizing Zhang Rui up. The chief had already given instructions yesterday to keep a low profile over the next few days, as several officials returning to report for duty were people they couldn't afford to provoke. In particular, one whose surname was Zhang was rumored to have offended a major figure, and the higher-ups had received word to completely crush him. He and his men needed to keep their eyes sharp and stay far away so as not to be implicated by such an unlucky fellow.

Judging by the description of age and appearance, the young official before him matched at least seventy percent.

"May I ask how to address you, my lord?" the bailiff asked warmly.

"No need for such formal titles, my surname is Zhang!" Zhang Rui replied with a smile.

Oh, now it was nearly ninety percent certain.

"This way, my lord." Beaming, the bailiff led him all the way to the main hall of the Ministry of Personnel. By this time, he noticed that there were quite a few officials waiting inside the hall just like him.

"Please have a seat, my lord," the bailiff said with a smile. "Every three years is the busiest time for the Ministry of Personnel. I'll go pour you a cup of tea."

"No need to be so courteous." Zhang Rui quickly waved his hand. "Looking around today, there are numerous colleagues from other regions who have come to report for duty. Official, please attend to your own matters; there's no need to trouble yourself on my account."

"Very well." Without pressing the matter, the bailiff smiled and said, "In that case, I'll take my leave. Please rest assured and wait, my lord. Ministry officials will be calling out names shortly."

"Very good, very good. Thank you for the trouble, official."

"Just part of the job, you're too polite, my lord..."

"Eh? Junior Brother Zhang?"

Just as he parted ways with the bailiff, Zhang Rui turned around and heard someone calling him. Raising his head in a daze, he saw a tall official in green robes waving at him. The style of his official robe matched his own, and judging by his age, he was only slightly older than Zhang Rui. Coupled with the form of address, Zhang Rui knew he had run into an old classmate.

"When did Senior Brother arrive?" Zhang Rui hurried forward, wearing an expression of someone seeing a long-lost friend!

Even though he didn't recognize the man, calling him Senior Brother certainly wouldn't be wrong.

"Just got here, just got here..." The man laughed heartily. Seeing dissatisfied glances cast their way from the surroundings, he reined it in slightly, lowered his voice, and said, "I wonder where Junior Brother Zhu has gotten to. After reporting for duty today, the three of us brothers must have a proper gathering!"

All three brothers had arrived...

Zhang Rui felt inwardly ashamed, yet he didn't refuse. With a smile, he replied, "We certainly must have a good gathering. Tonight, we drink until we're thoroughly drunk!"

***

"Good, good, good..." The man rubbed his hands together with an expectant, smiling expression.

He seemed to be a rather simple-minded person, wearing all his thoughts plainly on his face.

"Back in that cohort at the White Deer Academy, the three of us understood nothing at all. Clearly, the senior brothers of that year with much stronger foundations didn't dare to step into the arena, yet we three reckless fellows rushed straight into the capital. Thankfully that incident happened... cough, cough... you could say fools rush in where angels fear to tread, haha."

Zhang Rui was momentarily stunned, roughly guessing what matter the man was referring to. Walking over to a corner with him, Zhang Rui lowered his voice and asked, "Does Senior Brother know what the situation was behind the scenes?"

"You don't know yet?" The man looked at Zhang Rui with amusement.

"Ah, the place your younger brother was assigned to is far too remote, and I've been terribly busy with official duties day in and day out. I'm not afraid to make a laughingstock of myself before Senior Brother, but in the three years of my tenure, I've only laid eyes on my superior twice, and I've hardly seen any of my other colleagues. I'm completely cut off from news of the official world."

"So that's how it is..." The man nodded. "Indeed, the post Junior Brother was assigned to back then was rather too remote." Mentioning this, a trace of complacency flashed in the tall man's eyes.

His own family had a few minor connections. After passing the imperial examinations, he had pulled strings everywhere, and the post he was assigned to was none other than the fertile land of Donglin County in Taiyuan. As long as the weather cooperated, his performance records wouldn't look bad, and there were plenty of kickbacks to offer superiors in tribute during ordinary times. Over the past three years, he had managed to pave the way with numerous connections and even inquired about some of the events from back then.

Come to think of it, the three of them could be considered quite lucky back then. In that year's spring examinations, the emperor was selecting a son-in-law for Princess Yueyao. Numerous aristocratic families had prepared for over a decade for this opportunity, and a multitude of handsome talents had emerged from all regions. The competition that year was so fierce it rivaled the rivalry between northern and southern examination boards. The top scholars from various regions in previous years had prudently held back and refrained from entering the trials, but the three reckless fellows had noticed nothing at all and simply arranged to travel to the capital together for the examinations.

It was true that fools had good fortune; the talented young men with inside information from various regions didn't participate that year, which actually lowered the competition considerably. Aside from the fierce competition at the very top, the quality of the middle and lower tiers dropped drastically. Many Ministry of Rites officials reading the essays could barely stomach looking at them, yet they were forced to sift through garbage to find gold, barely managing to fill the quota of successful candidates.

Coupled with the untimely tragic deaths of over a dozen top-three reserve candidates, Zhang Rui and the others—who had originally only secured third-tier rankings—were suddenly elevated to the second tier, instantly reaching the pinnacle of their lives.

Listening as the other man slowly explained the circumstances of those years, Zhang Rui's face twitched. So the reason he had managed to pass the imperial examinations and become an official back then was thanks to that top scholar murder case? Now that the case of the top scholar was likely about to fall squarely on his own head, could this be considered karmic retribution?

"Is Lord Zhou Zhijie present?"

A Ministry of Personnel official in the front hall called out in a clear voice. The tall man chatting with Zhang Rui quickly turned around. "This subordinate is here!"

"Junior Brother, this elder brother will be right back." With that, Zhou Zhijie hastily straightened his attire and headed toward the front hall.

Zhang Rui had just watched him leave and hadn't yet had time to sort out his thoughts when he suddenly noticed that the surrounding discussions had abruptly ceased.

Noticing the anomaly, Zhang Rui alertly scanned his surroundings. The triennial evaluation was a rare opportunity for communication among officials, especially local officials stationed in various regions. The camaraderie of former classmates naturally blossomed into mutual alliances during this period, and classmates meeting from afar always had endless things to say.

At this moment, the hall had grown so eerily quiet that Zhang Rui immediately sensed something was amiss.

Soon... following the gazes of all the officials, Zhang Rui found the source.

It was a green-robed official who had just hurried into the hall, wearing a seventh-rank official robe just like himself. Logically speaking, the arrival of an ordinary seventh-rank official shouldn't have caused such a massive stir.

Yet, at a single glance, Zhang Rui could tell this person was somewhat different.

Too damn... good-looking!

Being men themselves, how could someone grow up to be this handsome?

How should he describe it? His face was as smooth and flawless as jade, as fair and pristine as if enhanced by eight layers of filters. His brows and eyes were picturesque, his long and curved eyebrows flowing naturally like mountain streams, and his bridge of nose was straight and well-defined, forming a striking contrast with his lips. Such striking handsomeness was paired with a tall stature and a resolute demeanor, carrying the masculine vigor a man ought to possess.

One simply couldn't find a single flaw. Was this fellow some kind of treasured masterpiece crafted by Nüwa herself?

Zhang Rui's gaze turned unfriendly. In this life, he hated two types of people the most: first, those born into wealth, and second, those born with good looks. The former could at least be caught up with through effort, but the latter belonged purely to the category of class enemies.

"Zhang... Junior Brother Zhang?"

The handsome man noticed that everyone's gazes seemed to be somewhat evasive, yet upon spotting Zhang Rui, he immediately grew somewhat excited.

Crap... they knew each other too?

Zhang Rui took a breath, utterly failing to understand what on earth he had been up to during those years. Even under system automation, his behavioral logic should have had some rhyme or reason, right?

What on earth was there to deal with regarding a person like this?

"Trust you've been well since we last met, Senior Brother..." Zhang Rui forced a smile onto his face.

He could only pray they weren't terribly close, and best of all, that he wasn't the kind of moronic character who used to deliver love letters for the guy...

***

"Cui Yan?"

Inside the Ministry of Justice, Senior Assistant Minister Shen Yuan, who had just received the news, furrowed his brow deeply. "I have an impression. Three years ago, I read his essays. Though the brushwork was immature, the reasoning was exceptionally sound. He is a rare, practical talent, and among numerous essays, I gave him a top-tier rating."

"The Senior Assistant Minister only remembers that?" an elderly man beside him chuckled with a smile. "Naturally. Before the trouble broke out back then, you temporarily journeyed to Taiyuan on family matters, and I suppose you haven't laid eyes on Cui Yan in person since."

"Is there something wrong with him personally?" Shen Yuan asked doubtfully.

"He is exceptionally good-looking."

Shen Yuan: "........"

Just as Shen Yuan felt a wave of impatience, a thought suddenly struck him, and he looked at the old man with a frown. "How good-looking?"

"Better-looking than all the top scholar reserve candidates of those years combined," the elderly man said with a smile.

"Meaning he was also one of the top scholar reserve candidates?"

"Yet he comes from a non-aristocratic background," the old man said softly. "Back then, many people gloatingly anticipated that he would likely be the very first one to die."

"Oh?" Shen Yuan understood instantly.

The emperor's son-in-law was to be chosen from among the top scholar candidates. The top scholar position had traditionally been awarded to the person with the finest scholarship and the most handsome appearance. Aristocratic families had prepared for years, yet an outsider with no background had overshadowed them all—if he didn't die, who would?

"Yet the outcome was the exact opposite," the old man said with a smile. "All the other candidates died, and he alone survived!"