The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Six days after the Spring Equinox in the twenty-second year of Yonghe.

When news of the banquet for the third-ranked scholar reached the palace, it was just as the lanterns were being lit.

A row of newly made glass palace lanterns hangs under the corridor of Fengyi Palace. The candlelight shines through the colorful glass pieces onto the bluestone slabs, creating a dazzling and beautiful scene.

But the atmosphere inside the hall was completely out of place with the lights that filled the corridor.

The Empress sat on the phoenix throne, holding a cup of rose dew in her hand, her fingertips slightly white.

She was a person who valued her appearance very much, and had never lost her composure in front of others in the more than twenty years she had been in the palace. But at this moment, even the makeup could not cover the gloom between her brows on her well-maintained face.

Kneeling on the ground was an inconspicuous little eunuch, one of the Empress's spies planted at the palace gate to gather information.

He had just returned from outside the palace and gave a detailed account of what happened at the Yuyuantan Flower Viewing Banquet.

He spoke in great detail.

The Crown Prince arrived in private, the scholar named Su Shi composed a poem and a verse, the Crown Prince presented his jade pendant to the guests in public, and the entire room erupted in uproar.

After listening, the Empress remained silent for a long time, then waved her hand, signaling the eunuch to leave.

The palace doors closed gently, and the candlelight flickered twice as the night breeze seeped in through the cracks.

"An unknown scholar, two poems, and your elder brother gave away his jade pendant."

The Empress put down her porcelain cup, the bottom of which tapped softly on the rosewood table.

Her tone was calm, but those who knew her well knew that the angrier she got, the softer her voice became.

She raised her eyes to look at the Second Prince Zhou Xun, who was sitting below her, and the two exchanged a glance for a moment.

The Empress then realized that her vague unease over the past few days had not been wrong.

Zhou Xun had just returned from training at the western suburban camp today, still wearing his black military uniform which he hadn't had time to change out of, with grass clippings and dust from the horse farm clinging to his cuffs.

He had come to pay his respects to his mother, but he didn't expect to hear this news as soon as he entered the door.

He sat on the embroidered stool, his brows furrowed, holding the teacup in his hand for a long time without taking a sip, but the lid of the cup was creaking loudly as he squeezed it.

"Brother, that was a brilliant move."

He put down his teacup, his tone carrying three parts resentment and seven parts wariness. "The banquet for the third-ranked scholar is the focus of a thousand people. People from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy are present. He presents the jade pendant in public. In less than three days, the entire literary world of the capital will know that His Highness is courteous to scholars and humbles himself before them."

"And those scholars from humble backgrounds would flock to it even more. Even a wandering scholar without official rank could obtain the prince's personal jade pendant, let alone a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) from a proper examination system?"

"This will greatly increase your prestige among the civil officials, while we can only win over these scholars through marriage, hereditary titles, and real money. It's not only expensive and laborious, but they may not even appreciate it."

The Empress nodded slightly, her expression growing increasingly somber.

That wasn't all she was worried about.

She had already had those two poems by Su Shi copied down, and she had just read them through under the lamp.

With her literary skills, although she might not be able to write such poems, she could still distinguish between good and bad.

This Su Shi was no ordinary talented scholar; he was a great talent whose legacy will be passed down through generations.

Such a talented individual was snatched up by the eldest prince.

She slowly got up, walked to the window, and stared at the row of colorful glass lanterns under the corridor for a moment before suddenly turning around.

"That Su Shi, was he staying at the Great Bao'en Temple?"

"Yes." Zhou Xun also stood up. "It is said that he is a traveling scholar who is staying at the temple to study in preparation for the imperial examination next spring."

After a moment of contemplation, the Empress suddenly said, "Tomorrow, accompany me to the Great Bao'en Temple to offer incense. I haven't been feeling well since the beginning of spring, so it's only right that we go to the temple to pray for blessings."

Zhou Xun was taken aback for a moment, then understood what his mother meant.

He had intended to say that he had arranged to meet with people from the Grand Commandant's office the next day to discuss military affairs in the northern border, but seeing the Empress's unquestionable gaze, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and lowered his head to reply with a "Yes."

Seeing that he responded reluctantly, the Empress's expression softened slightly. She walked up to him and smoothed the grass clippings off his clothes, her tone becoming gentler.

"Xun'er, I know you are not convinced. You entered the fourth rank at the age of sixteen, and you won a spear and a tiger in the spring hunt. All the generals in the court cheered for you. In terms of martial arts and military achievements, your elder brother is far inferior to you."

"But you must remember, you can conquer the world but not govern it. Your father has been valuing civil administration more and more in recent years. The fact that he sent your eldest brother to the cabinet to observe politics is the clearest signal of this."

"That position is never something you can get by force alone; you also need people's hearts."

"Your elder brother excels at winning over scholars. You can't use your weakness to attack his strength, but you also can't just stand by and watch him gather all the talented people in the world under his command."

"I always felt that Su Shi was no ordinary man. A commoner scholar could outshine all the talented men at the third-ranked scholar banquet. If your elder brother were to take him in, it would be like adding wings to a tiger."

"Even if we can't win him over, we should at least see what kind of person he is and whether there are any other talented people around him."

Zhou Xun remained silent for a long time before finally nodding slowly: "I understand, son. Tomorrow I will accompany Mother to the Great Bao'en Temple."

At the same time, in the meditation room of the Great Bao'en Temple in the southern suburbs.

Daoyan sat by the window, with a well-worn copy of "Zuo Zhuan" in front of him and a cup of tea that had long since gone cold beside him.

A ragged young beggar knocked on his door, put down a bamboo basket, and turned to leave.

The bamboo basket contained a bunch of freshly picked wild vegetables and a rough pottery tea canister. Daoyan picked up the tea canister, weighed it in his hand, and then pulled out a paper strip as thin as a cicada's wing from the bottom of the canister.

The message above, written in neat small characters, contained three pieces of news: the news that the eldest prince had given Su Shi a jade pendant at the third-place banquet had reached the palace; the lanterns in the Phoenix Palace were lit until late at night; and the second prince was rushing back from the western suburban camp tonight to pay his respects to the empress.

At the end of the note was a line of small print, written by Lu Changfeng himself: "Sir, your prediction is correct. The Empress has decided to go to the Great Bao'en Temple to offer incense tomorrow."

Dao Yan held the paper to the oil lamp and lit it, watching it turn to ashes.

He picked up his glass of cold tea, took a sip, and his gaze fell on the bare branches of the old plum tree outside the window.

He didn't consult fortune tellers or draw lots; he simply knew the Empress would come the moment the news of the third-place scholar's banquet reached the palace.

Su Shi befriended the eldest prince at the banquet for the third-ranked scholar, which the empress could not possibly tolerate.

The Great Bao'en Temple was a royal temple, so it was only natural for the Empress to come and offer incense and pray for blessings.

As a monk in the temple who interprets divination slips, he would naturally be summoned to interpret the slips when the Empress arrived.

All of this was within his expectations.

He got up and walked to the Buddhist shrine, took out a yellowed fortune-telling book from the drawer, flipped through it, and put it back, a very faint smile appearing on his lips.

Tomorrow's fortune telling session will be no ordinary one.

He silently rehearsed the possible conversations for tomorrow several times in his mind, deducing every possible reaction path and coping strategy, then blew out the oil lamp and returned to the meditation cushion to sit cross-legged.

The meditation room was quiet and still in the darkness, with only the occasional very slight clinking sound of the sandalwood prayer beads in his hand.

The next morning, the gate of the Great Bao'en Temple opened half an hour earlier than usual.

The abbot received the message from the palace before dawn.

The Empress is coming to offer incense today, and the Second Prince will accompany her.

Although the Empress's incense offering was not as grand as the Emperor's personal visit, the scale of the event was by no means lacking.

The area in front of the mountain gate was swept three times, and the incense table in the main hall was re-laid with bright yellow brocade. The elders of the Discipline Hall checked the ordination certificates of all the novices overnight.

Even the few half-dead potted plants in front of the Sutra Repository have been replaced with newly arrived Podocarpus macrophyllus.

The monks who were in charge of receiving guests were busy all morning, their feet barely touching the ground, with a hint of anticipation amidst the tension.

After all, the Empress's personal visit to the temple was a great honor, and it greatly benefited the temple's reputation and incense offerings.