Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 47 It sucks
tuberculosis?!
Upon hearing those two words, Chen Yingda was so frightened that he immediately covered his mouth and nose and took three large steps back in a defensive posture.

"Wow--"

The young scholars also quickly rose to their feet, each as agile as ape, and retreated swiftly away from Yan Maoqing. Some even managed to retreat outside the hall in the blink of an eye.

In this era, this thing is practically synonymous with an incurable disease, and it is also contagious. If someone is unfortunate enough to get it, their life is basically over!
Some people couldn't help but recall Yan Maoqing's attention-seeking cough during the announcement ceremony.

No, it's not a cough, it's a sneeze!
However, what difference does it make? Both are caused by the deficiency of lung qi and the invasion of pathogenic factors, so they are essentially the same.

So Yan Maoqing already had tuberculosis back then?
That makes sense. If one couldn't bear it any longer, who would dare to sneeze in front of the Emperor during the imperial examination? Would anyone dare to joke about their future?

At this moment, some people even sincerely thanked Yan Maoqing.

We are grateful that he has been absent from library classes these days. If this guy had concealed his illness and insisted on attending classes, many of them might have suffered as a result.

This is my benefactor! Thank you so much, brother, for sparing my life!

"Hahaha, this time it's definitely going to work! I'm going to get out of this quagmire!"

Watching everyone scatter as if avoiding a plague, Yan Maoqing was inwardly laughing uproariously.

Unexpected?

In just five or six days, he successfully obtained a medical certificate personally issued by Xu Shen, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, and even deliberately misdiagnosed the illness as tuberculosis.

As is well known, this disease is not only incurable but also contagious. Patients basically have to rely on medication to stay alive for the rest of their lives, and even then, they often don't live long.

This was thanks to his consistent patronage of Fulingtang, opened by Xu Shen's eldest son Xu Cheng, and the generous financial support from Duke Guo Xun!

In the first few days, Yan Maoqing first established a friendship with Xu Cheng.

Then he revealed his true intentions and made his demands to Xu Cheng.

At first, Xu Cheng naturally dared not agree, but when Yan Maoqing persisted in reasoning with him and appealing to his emotions, and gradually increased the consultation fee from ten taels, twenty taels, thirty taels, fifty taels, and finally directly to one hundred taels, he was finally moved.

There's a saying from later generations, isn't there?

"When profits reach 10%, they will become restless; when profits reach 50%, they will take risks; when profits reach 100%, they will dare to trample on all human laws; when profits reach 300%, they will dare to risk being hanged."

So Xu Cheng transformed himself into his lobbyist, turning to persuade his father, Xu Shen, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

"Father need not worry, this man has already ruined his reputation in the court, no one will care about him."

The statement that "the cabinet and the six ministers made him rank last in the palace examination, and they were naturally eager for him to retire and return to his hometown" is misleading.

"Now that he has been flogged in court, he must have already incurred the emperor's displeasure. Our actions are precisely to curry favor with the emperor, and we will not only be without fault but also meritorious."

"Father, this money is free. Everything is perfectly logical and there is absolutely no risk. Even if we don't accept it, the Imperial Hospital has plenty of people to take it!"

What do you mean by "Your daughter-in-law is pregnant again, and this time it's probably a boy. Your son wants him to study and take the imperial examinations so he can bring honor to the family. There will be plenty of money to be made in the future. Father, you don't want your grandson to waste his life like your son, do you?"

Yan Maoqing's "devil's whisper" was thus conveyed to Xu Shen through Xu Cheng's mouth, and finally it stirred his heart.

So yesterday, on a sunny afternoon, which was also Xu Shen's day off.

He quietly arrived at the back room of Fuling Hall with the official seal of the Imperial Medical Academy, where he wrote down the medical record, affixed the seal, and exchanged money for goods with Yan Maoqing...

this moment.

Yan Maoqing has already begun to envision a bright future.

Once he returns home, there's no need to worry about his reputation. He submitted that answer sheet, and was flogged for it. He can simply tell everyone that the answer sheet was actually a satire of metaphysical practices, which is why he was flogged and dismissed. Besides, there were plenty of corrupt officials dismissed in the Ming Dynasty.

They still returned to their hometowns and lived comfortably by relying on their official titles, and could even educate people and mislead the younger generation.

Those below don't care about such things. Those who have been selected as probationary scholars are considered the most brilliant scholars in the hearts of the people, and they are naturally filled with awe.

Then... the first thing I did after returning to my hometown was to get married to my fiancée, with whom I was already engaged, as soon as possible.

Yan Maoqing remembered meeting this fiancée once before; her figure and appearance were impeccable, at least at the level of a local beauty.

As for her family background, it was naturally much better than the Yan family's; she was definitely a rich, beautiful, and successful woman.

Originally, Yan Maoqing had no chance of marrying into such a high social class, but after he passed the imperial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations), they immediately became a good match. In fact, it was his prospective father-in-law who took the initiative to find someone to act as matchmaker.

Later, when Yan Maoqing passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, the two families' statuses were completely reversed.

The reason they didn't get married before going to Beijing was because his fiancée's mother suddenly passed away due to illness.

These days are different from later generations.

Influenced by the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism, there was no compromise that allowed for holding a wedding in the same year as the death of an elderly family member. They were forced to postpone their weddings, just as Zhang Juzheng's "reinstatement after mourning" in history caused much controversy.

Now that I think about it, my fiancée's mourning period should be almost over...

There's a saying: "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may!"
Just as I was thinking this.

"Grand Secretary Xia, the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy, has arrived!"

Just then, a shout came from outside the door.

Today was another day when the Emperor claimed illness and did not attend the morning court session, so the session ended a little earlier than expected, and Xia Yan arrived earlier than anticipated.

Accompanied by the announcement, Xia Yan strode into the Hanlin Academy.

However, he noticed that many of the junior scholars were not sitting properly in the classroom waiting for his arrival, but were actually wandering around the courtyard. Xia Yan's brows immediately furrowed.
"Disorder during breaks is outrageous!"

"Your Excellency..."

The junior scholars in the courtyard immediately fell silent, bowing and standing to one side, none of them daring to explain the current situation.

"Please forgive me, Your Excellency!"

Chen Yingda, as if seeing a savior, hurriedly bypassed Yan Maoqing and ran from the hall to the courtyard, kneeling down in front of Xia Yan from afar.

"The events of today are indeed due to certain reasons. Your Excellency, please allow me to explain in detail..."

Only Yan Maoqing harbored doubts:
"The morning court session and the Hanlin Academy both require the morning roll call at 5:00 AM."

"Recently, the Tartars crossed the pass and marched south, looting and killing people. It is said that hundreds of thousands of people have suffered as a result."

"Shouldn't the imperial court be discussing countermeasures carefully during the morning court session? Why did it end so quickly?"

"I originally had a bit of a plan to take advantage of the court being so busy and having no time to deal with it that I could get away with it. But it seems that no one in the court is really taking this matter seriously."

"It's rotten. The court is indeed rotten to the core from top to bottom... I left at the perfect time."

(End of this chapter)