Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court-Chapter 361: On This Day, the Protagonist Was Fiercely Scolded for Several Hours New
After all these chapters, In the Years When I Was a Father—the heartfelt story of Qi Sheng’s journey—has finally been completed today. Thank you for following along through every twist and emotion. Please support on Ko-fi, every bit helps with translation and maintaining this website. Stay tuned for more heartwarming stories ahead!
Even the Minister of the Imperial Stables failed.
The old emperor began assigning the task to the next person, but—
“This one says he was injured by local thugs and can’t work for the time being.”
“This one says he accidentally fell down the stairs and needs to rest in bed.”
“And this one says he’s tired of being an official and wants a few days off to indulge in nature?! Why doesn’t he just drown himself while he’s at it!”
The old emperor slammed the memorial onto the table, his palm hitting the surface with a loud “Pa!”
“One by one, they all just shirk responsibility! Asking them to go test the waters for some information is like asking for their lives! Talking big about how they’d endure humiliation for their emperor—what a load of crap!”
The commander of the Jinyiwei lowered his head, unable to suppress a silent grumble.
But this isn’t just “enduring humiliation” anymore. You offend sixty to seventy percent of the officials in one go, most of them high-ranking. Who wouldn’t be scared?!
Take the Minister of the Imperial Stables, for example. Yesterday, the entire Censorate mobilized just to impeach him. From yesterday to today, every time an official saw him, they either rolled their eyes or threw passive-aggressive jabs. Some even pulled petty tricks to make his work harder. The Jinyiwei had already caught thirteen such incidents!
Under these circumstances, anyone who still dared take on an imperial mission was basically signing up to die.
After cursing a while, the old emperor sighed with emotion, A grand imperial court, and not one man to share his emperor’s burden.
Was he really going to have to do this himself?
The old emperor imagined the potential embarrassment and swiftly pivoted to another line of thought: Could it be that not a single loyal subject exists in the whole imperial court?!
Just then, a eunuch entered. “Your Majesty, Princess Wanshou requests an audience.”
“Wanshou? What is she doing here at this hour?” The emperor was already irritable and his tone turned impatient.
“Shall I ask the princess to return, then?” the eunuch asked quickly.
“…No need. Let her in. I’ll hear what she has to say.”
Upon his command, Princess Wanshou entered shortly afterward, dressed in her official robes. She bowed respectfully and exchanged greetings before saying, “Does Your Majesty intend to include mathematics in the state academies?”
The “state academies” here included institutions like the Imperial Academy and the National University.
The old emperor nodded. “Naturally. I plan to establish a mathematics curriculum. Going forward, a portion of time from the classics and archery departments will be reallocated to the mathematics class.”
Princess Wanshou glanced at her father and carefully chose her words, speaking with composure and poise: “At present, the mathematics department lacks a teacher. I believe my skills in the subject are sufficient and humbly request Your Majesty’s permission to teach.”
—In state academies like the Imperial Academy and National University, instructors were typically appointed from among officials.
The old emperor was just about to consider it when—
Princess Wanshou looked him squarely in the eye and added seriously, “Half salary.”
“!!!”
What was there to think about anymore?
“Granted!”
Princess Wanshou’s heart surged with emotion. She almost burst into tears. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
After performing another formal bow, she exited the room. The moment she crossed the threshold, tears flowed freely down her cheeks.
Three years in the civil service had truly shaped her. Three years ago, she would never have imagined having the courage to actively seek an official position from her own father.
Nor would she have imagined that—she actually wanted to stay in government service.
“Bit by bit, increasing my worth gradually… that should work, right…”
A smile slowly spread across her face.
She knew her position was given on a whim. free𝑤ebnovel.com
What’s given on a whim can be taken back just as easily. So she worked hard to produce results—from her earlier proposal to revamp the tax collection system, to today’s request to become the mathematics instructor—each one was a way to add value to herself.
To her father, “being useful” trumped everything.
—Just like how he supported the teachings of Nüjie (Precepts for Women), insisted the inner palace must not interfere in politics, and yet often discussed state affairs with the elder Princess Fangling.
If she didn’t want to leave the official world, then she had to become indispensable.
Princess Wanshou slowly wiped the tears from her face, telling herself over and over again: “Gao Huachun, if you don’t want to return to the inner residence, then you must become useful.”
The snow on the ground was dazzlingly bright—so bright that nothing could remain hidden.
[Ah…]
Startled, Princess Wanshou turned her head on instinct—only to see Xu Yanmiao looking over sheepishly, eyes darting about in embarrassment.
[I’m done for, I’m done for. Why did I have to come to Wuying Hall right now, of all times? Of course I’d run into Princess Wanshou talking to herself. So awkward!]
Princess Wanshou’s face flushed red. She gave Xu Yanmiao a brief bow in greeting, then quickly left the scene.
After she departed, Xu Yanmiao swallowed hard and stepped into Wuying Hall.
A moment later, the emperor’s surprised voice echoed from inside the hall: “You say you have thoughts about the mathematics department?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Xu Yanmiao’s eyes sparkled even more brightly after saying that. “Just some very simple ideas!”
And with that, Xu Yanmiao launched joyfully into a full-on education overhaul proposal—
“I’ve heard that the National University, the Imperial Academy, and the Four Subjects Academy hold annual exams called the Yearly Exam. But yearly exams alone aren’t enough! These students don’t feel enough pressure! So why not hold a Ten-Day Exam every ten days? A Monthly Exam every month? A Quarterly Exam—no, call it a Term Exam! The yearly one is a good tradition—we should definitely keep that!”
“And a graduation exam—no passing, no diploma!”
“Also, every time a teacher finishes a class, they should have the option to start the next session with a pop quiz, or not—that way students will always stay on their toes!”
“And another thing! Teachers rarely assign homework after class, but mathematics is a subject where if you don’t practice, you fall behind! I request Your Majesty to issue a decree requiring teachers to assign at least ten problems each day for students to take home and complete.”
Xu Yanmiao’s face was full of righteous fervor, as if all he could see was the glorious future of the nation and its students.
“One more thing—teachers and parents rarely communicate. Most parents have no idea how their children are performing. If a student is troublesome, teachers usually can’t be bothered to go inform the parents. And if the student is excelling, teachers are too embarrassed to say, ‘Your child is doing wonderfully.’ So—why not! Hold a parent-teacher meeting once a month. Pick a venue where the teacher and the parents can meet. At least one guardian from each family must attend, and the teacher can inform them of the student’s academic performance. How about it?”
“And students are starting school too late in the day…”
The old emperor couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity—and looked at Xu Yanmiao with a very strange expression.
What a ruthless plan! If I were a student, I’d be outraged… But I’m the emperor, and this is all to help me test others for the civil service. 🙂
The old emperor hesitated, “That might be difficult… It’s too early in the morning. The teachers are still attending court.”
Xu Yanmiao, however, remained full of confidence.
[—Your Majesty, perhaps you’ve never heard of… morning self-study?]
What followed was a sweeping nationwide reform of the imperial examination system. Mathematics once again surged into popularity and prestige.
Contemporary mathematics scholars began arriving in the capital, adding their bricks to the grand structure of the subject’s revival.
The Four Subjects Academy accepted students of commoner status, and though it offered a mathematics track, past policy made it hard to fill the class. Most students entering the academy would default to Confucian studies; if not that, then law or calligraphy. Math? Who cared! You could learn that on the job in the Ministry of Revenue. Didn’t want to study it? Your clerks would know enough anyway.
But now, after hearing that the imperial exam would test arithmetic, the math department filled up overnight. Not only was it full—they had to expand enrollment. From one class, it became four. Each class had one hundred students.
Some of them came in thinking math was the easiest way to graduate, and had heard that the learning environment was relaxed. But once they entered the academy… many of them were left speechless.
“What’s with these ten-day exams, monthly exams, term exams, and annual exams?! Weren’t they already abolished, leaving only the yearly test?! And what the hell is a pop quiz?! Just kill me already!”
“And after every exam, the scores get posted?!”
“What’s this about homework? At least ten problems a day?!”
“Why are there even parent-teacher meetings?! My family lives far away, in another province—they can’t come!”
“Huh? Huh?! Xu Shentong said that for students from other provinces, their parents can come once every one to two years, and the court will provide food, clothing, and lodging along the way?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine—they also said that if your family really can’t make it, it’s okay not to attend.”
“Yes, but… they also said the teacher will write a letter to your family every month.”
“It’s fine, really—my family can’t read!”
“County offices offer letter-reading services…”
“AAAHHH—”
That was the sound of a student completely breaking down.
“Hiss——”
“Even for other majors, the graduation exam must include math, or you can’t take the civil service exam?!”
“Even the imperial princes and princesses have to take math exams?!”
“Xu Shentong has no grudge against us—so why is he doing this to us?!”
Cries of anguish rang out from academies everywhere.
—Because, let’s face it: for a portion of people, math is really hard.
And just like that, mathematics became a red-hot subject overnight. Books on math that barely sold before were now completely sold out.
The most popular were: 《Nine Chapters》, 《Zhui Shu》, 《Sea Island》, 《Ji Gu》, 《Sun Zi》, 《Ji Yi》, 《Zhou Bi》, 《Five Cao》, 《Three-Tier Numbers》, 《Math in the Five Classics》, 《Zhang Qiu Jian》, and 《Xiahou Yang》.
These twelve major texts were the core sources for exam questions.
Twelve massive tomes—students were on the brink of insanity.
—Especially students from other departments, because besides math, they still had to study the required texts for their own majors!
“Hahahaha——”
“Hahahaha——”
On this day, from households of officials all across the land, came waves of schadenfreude-laced laughter.
Loud and grating.
The students looked at their heartless fathers or grandfathers and stomped their feet in outrage: “Father!”
We’re out here busting our brains studying math, and you’re just having a good time?!
The elders: “Hahahahahaha——”
Good thing we already graduated—hahahahahaha!
Then came a message from the emperor, delivered by an official envoy: “Following Xu Yanmiao’s proposal and with the Crown Prince’s support, mathematics will now be added to all officials’ performance assessments. Those who fail will be penalized.”
The elders: “…”
They were all in their fifties, sixties—even seventies or eighties—and now they had to learn math?!
[Smile slowly fades.jpg]
That day, across official residences everywhere, erupted a furious roar:
“XU! YAN! MIAO!”
They snatched copies of Nine Chapters from their children, flipped through a few pages in a panic, and quickly realized they couldn’t make heads or tails of it. One by one, they stood with hands on hips, gnashing their teeth and cursing Xu Yanmiao for hours on end.
—At this point, even if you were Bai Ze or the Jade Emperor himself, it wouldn’t help!
Too cruel! This was just too underhanded!
Xu Yanmiao, you’re an official yourself! You’re going to be tested too—aren’t you afraid you’ll fail?!
When these words reached Xu Yanmiao…
[Not at all. I got a 147 on the college entrance math exam.]
Xu Yanmiao made a little victory sign in his heart.
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