Mingyao was in no mood to look at any account books. She hurriedly sent someone to gather news about Li Bai, while she herself went straight into the palace to see Li Longji.
It was she who had proposed recommending Li Bai in the first place, yet now she had completely forgotten all about it. She truly felt terrible toward Li Bai.
As it turned out, once she found Li Longji, she learned that Li Bai's reputation had already spread throughout the capital in recent days. Even if Mingyao hadn't come to ask, Li Longji would have summoned him in a couple of days anyway, which showed just how widespread Li Bai's fame had become.Had Mingyao simply taken the initiative to ask, or had Ming Zhi and Mingze not been kept in the dark about what Mingyao had promised, they would have remembered long ago, and things wouldn't have reached today's pass.
"Anyway, I don't care. When the time comes, Your Majesty, you must say that I recommended him, and that it was only because of that you thought to summon Taibai."
Breaking her promise left Mingyao feeling rather annoyed.
She had never done anything so lacking in integrity before. Should she go apologize to Li Bai?
It didn't feel quite right to keep up this deception. They had been on the battlefield together and spent so many days in each other's company; they could be considered comrades-in-arms. She truly was in awe of Li Bai's talent, which was why she had wanted to recommend him. Though the two had never explicitly stated it, they were already friends.
Friends ought to treat each other with absolute sincerity.
But if she told him the truth, would he view her as a person of broken promises and cut ties with her?
Mingyao was thoroughly torn, but Li Longji made the decision for her.
"Your own mistake, you go fix it yourself. I am only summoning Li Bai because Minister He recommended him. What does it have to do with you?"
Here is what had happened: Li Bai and several friends he had made in the capital had gone to visit Ziji Palace, where they happened to run into the third-rank official He Zhizhang.
Both were wild, unrestrained poets and heavy drinkers. Seeing that Li Bai possessed an extraordinary appearance, exceptional grace, and remarkable literary talent, He Zhizhang—despite the forty-two-year age gap—felt an instant kinship with him and invited him to drink together.
Only when the time came to pay for the wine did they realize they had no money on them.
Embarrassed, He Zhizhang had taken the golden turtle given to him by the emperor from his belt and used it as collateral to exchange for fine wine. This carefree, unrestrained demeanor of the old man who called himself the "Mad Guest of Siming" spread among the people as the celebrated tale of "trading the golden turtle for wine."
After several conversations, He Zhizhang boldly proclaimed that Li Bai was an exiled immortal from the heavens, and that his talent was beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Since He Zhizhang was both a leader in the literary world and a high-ranking official of the third rank, Li Bai's moniker as an exiled immortal naturally spread throughout the capital.
This had not even the slightest thing to do with Mingyao!
Li Longji looked at Mingyao with a smug expression, waiting for her to come over, act spoiled, and beg him so that he could reluctantly agree to her request. Instead, Mingyao simply sighed, let out a deflated "Oh," and turned to leave.
"Hey, hey, hey! Actually, I hadn't planned on summoning Li Bai right away. Since you mentioned it, I'll summon him tomorrow."
Although Li Bai was already gaining a small reputation, Li Longji was not in such a rush; he had planned to wait until Li Bai's fame grew even larger before granting an audience. Therefore, claiming that Mingyao had recommended him was entirely doable.
Li Longji's refusal had mainly been to tease Mingyao, never expecting that she would just give up straight away!
She wasn't as fun as when she was a little girl. Back then, she definitely would have hugged his legs and sweetly called him "Emperor Uncle."
That's right, when Mingyao was a child, she used to call Li Longji "Uncle."
Li Longji had been raised by her grandfather and was practically her grandfather's disciple. In his youth, he had been like a younger brother to Mingyao's mother, and being the emperor as well, it was completely natural for Mingyao to call him Emperor Uncle. When she was little, Li Longji had even teased her into calling him Daddy.
But Mingyao only stopped in her tracks and shook her head.
"It was Mingyao's mistake to begin with. I shouldn't have expected Your Majesty to help me out."
"Besides, the friendship between Taibai and me is that of gentlemen; I shouldn't deceive him like this. I'm going to tell him the truth. Mingyao will take her leave now!"
Logic was logic, and those were the words she said, but watching Mingyao's retreating figure, Li Longji still felt thoroughly displeased.
Now that she was grown, not only did she rarely act spoiled, but nowadays she wouldn't even let him help her of his own accord!
She was that eager to leave him.
She had wanted to go to the frontier, and he had let her go, yet she insisted on staying there all the time. Now, coming here for a visit, she was about to leave without even exchanging a few words with him.
"Come back, come back, come back!"
Li Longji hurriedly stood up and called out to Mingyao, who was about to step across the threshold.
"What's the rush?"
"Aren't I supposed to go apologize quickly?"
She had already been torn over how to cover it up and apologize, and the moment Li Longji refused, she had made up her mind. Naturally, she wanted to rush off and make amends now.
"There's no rush for just one day. Come here, let the two of us have a chat."
Although that was true, going to apologize the moment she thought of it showed more sincerity. It was her mistake to begin with, so naturally, she had to be earnest about it.
"Haven't you always wanted to go to the battlefield? I can't grant you that, but to compensate you, next year's martial examination will be handed over to you."
The martial examination?
The system of martial examinations originated during the Wu Zhou dynasty. Wu Zetian established the "martial examination" in the second year of Chang'an, "issuing an imperial decree to all prefectures in the empire to promote martial arts," and stipulated that under the auspices of the Ministry of War, examinations would be held annually for martial artists across the land, with passing candidates being granted military posts.
Compared to the civil imperial examinations, the martial examinations were far less valued, and those who entered through the martial examinations held a lower status than the scholars who entered through the civil examinations.
The examination subjects generally included horseback archery, foot archery, stationary archery, spearplay on horseback, weight-lifting, and wrestling. They placed a heavy emphasis on physical strength and martial skill, focusing primarily on spear techniques on horseback.
In other words, it was the kind of examination where Mingyao would be weeded out immediately if she participated.
"No, what they select is completely absurd. Why go select a bunch of brawny men who only have brute strength?"
Her own martial arts skills weren't great, so she actually appreciated people with genuine martial prowess, but she didn't view it as mere entertainment—was watching people brawl for days on end supposed to be fun?
Besides, selecting people who only knew how to fight left her feeling somewhat unenthusiastic.
"Then what kind of people do you want to select, and how do you want to select them? Submit a proposal for me to look at. If it's feasible, we'll just change it."
Li Longji's tone was entirely nonchalant. He was currently full of drive and ambition; if anyone felt a certain system was flawed, they only needed to bring it up to him—he was not one incapable of taking advice.
?
Mingyao's eyes lit up.
That's right! If she looked down on the single-faceted testing of the martial examinations, she could just go and change it!