Chapter 731 - Little Shitou's Springtime
When Yu Fan obtained first place in the imperial examinations, he was still quite young. His master, Great Scholar Yuan, proposed that he take the Hanlin Academy's internal examination to receive a temporary position as an academician there. Ever since the previous dynasty, there was an unwritten rule that said: 'A graduate of the imperial examinations who is unable to pass the Hanlin internal examinations cannot become an official of the central government.' Therefore, the temporary position at the Hanlin Academy had also been called 'excellent prospect', as whoever was able to get there was destined to have a bright future in officialdom.
Since Yu Fan had a beautiful running script and he had his older sister, Yu Xiaocao, as a connection, he had been chosen as one of the members of the emperor's inner ministerial circle and was in charge of drafting edicts. Later on, he also held several instructor positions at the imperial family's academy.
On one particular day, the emperor had Yu Fan organize the doc.u.ments in the imperial study. After they were split up into appropriate categories, the emperor would read and evaluate them. Just as Yu Fan was laser focused on his work, a little eunuch came in.
The little eunuch wasn't very tall and looked to be around twelve to thirteen years old. He had a fair and pretty face with a pair of large bright eyes that roved around with blatant curiosity. He looked extremely lively as he strolled quietly around the imperial study. From time to time, he would reach out inquisitively to touch things. Suddenly, Yu Fan flipped one of the doc.u.ments in front of him and the little eunuch was so startled that his face turned white. The eunuch froze, as if someone had shot a freeze ray.
Afterwards, the eunuch discovered that Yu Fan, who was reading through the imperial doc.u.ment, hadn't actually spotted him. He started acting like a little monkey again and stood on his tiptoes to head out of the study.
"Little Huizi, please pour a cup of tea for me." Yu Fan didn't even raise his head as he requested a drink.
The little eunuch froze in mid-movement and looked quite hilarious. When he turned his head around to look at Yu Fan, he noticed that the scholar still hadn't looked in his direction. The little eunuch stiffly left the imperial study and patted his chest once he was out with a frightened expression on his face.
His eyes flickered and he headed towards a certain destination. Before long, he came back with a pot of tea and appeared at the entrance of the imperial study. This time, he boldly entered the room and approached Yu Fan, who was behind the stack of imperial doc.u.ments.
When he saw that the cup next to Yu Fan's hands was empty, he clumsily lifted the teapot and began to pour tea into the cup with great effort. From his posture alone, one could tell that he wasn't used to doing this type of work and was quite unfamiliar with it.
"Oh no!" The boiling hot tea splashed out of the teacup as it tumbled in and a few drops hit the eunuch's fair, white hand. He cried out in surprise and his hand trembled. Tea spilled onto the desk and doc.u.ments that were neatly stacked there.
"What to do, what to do? I will be hit to death by my imperial...the emperor!" The little eunuch placed the teapot on a chair by the side of the table and began to use his sleeve to wipe the liquid off of the doc.u.ments in a frazzled manner. However, before he could begin, Yu Fan grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.
Yu Fan looked at the words written on the paper. Because it had become wet, the ink began to smudge and rise off of the doc.u.ment.
"You...what are you trying to do?" The little eunuch retrieved his hand and backed up a few steps, using his hand to cover his own face.
