Chapter 326: Law That Defies Belief

Chapter 326: A Law That Challenges Conventional Wisdom

The incense had burned more than halfway, with just a small stub left before it would burn out, but Ji Yuntang still hadn't turned in her paper.

Mei Zhuyu held a stack of exam papers the students had turned in, but his eyes kept drifting to Ji Yuntang's seat.

He leaned over to Cheng Rushan and whispered:

"Headmaster Cheng, what's up with the Princess of Ye? Why's she taking so long to hand in her law paper this round?"

"Wasn't she always the first to finish before?"

Cheng Rushan shook his head. "Beats me, but from how she's been writing nonstop this round, maybe she'll surprise us again."

"Anyway, time's not up yet, so no need to rush. Let's just wait it out."

This round, Ji Yuntang turned in her paper very slowly. She kept revising and polishing the laws she'd written on the paper.

It wasn't until one of the proctors called time that she finally handed in her work.

When Mei Zhuyu saw Ji Yuntang's paper, he was totally floored!

Others had written just two or three laws, tops. Jiang Yunheng, who wrote the most, had jotted down five, but that was still only around three hundred characters.

But Ji Yuntang had written a full ten laws.

She'd filled three whole sheets of paper, with dense but clear content, all in the plainest language, so anyone could understand it easily.

Mei Zhuyu took the paper and read it word for word. When he finished, he was blown away.

Because it completely flipped his understanding of the law on its head.

This dynasty's legal system was extensive, the most famous being the "Court Code," which the late emperor had the Ministry of Justice compile over three years, and it had been in use ever since.

But the laws Ji Yuntang wrote were completely different from every single article in the "Court Code."

It was like she'd created a whole new set of laws, something like this:

"Criminals who intentionally harm others, commit murder, assault, rape, abuse, robbery, false imprisonment, or traffic children and women should, in addition to paying fines to the victims, serve a reasonable prison sentence."

"Those with especially bad cases should apologize publicly, seek the victim's forgiveness, and then pay appropriate compensation. Murderers should be sentenced to death outright."

"Anyone who intentionally sells toxic or fake goods, disrupts prices in the capital, disturbs market safety, or illegally takes over others' land or property should, in addition to paying a fine, serve prison time. In severe cases, they should be kicked out of the capital and banned from doing business for life."

"Officials who take bribes, abuse their power, or neglect their duties should be fired, pay fines, and be permanently banned from reemployment. In severe cases, their property should be seized, and they should be exiled three thousand li."

"..."

Mei Zhuyu read through each article, feeling both excited and a bit conflicted.

These were things Ji Yuntang wrote that they'd never thought of before.

But he could see every article was written from the common people's perspective, helping them and fighting for their rights.

Mei Zhuyu couldn't help but admire Ji Yuntang's vision. He felt deep down that if Ji Yuntang were a guy, she might have done great things in reforming the government, with building a career being the bare minimum.

Whether or not Emperor Jingyang adopted what she wrote, this level of thinking was something many men couldn't reach.

For that alone, she deserved a perfect score.

Mei Zhuyu picked up his brush, ready to give Ji Yuntang a perfect score, but Cheng Rushan pressed his hand down to stop him.

He said, "Master Mei, hold on. Since this round is closely tied to the laws of the Dongchen Kingdom, why not first have the three princes here take a look and see what they think of the laws written by the Princess of Ye?"

"That way, regardless of whether it can be adopted, they can give the emperor an account. What do you think?"

Mei Zhuyu thought for a moment and understood Cheng Rushan's intention.

The reason the law exam had changed its format this round, asking examinees to write the laws they envisioned, was actually because Emperor Jingyang had a hidden agenda.

On one hand, he felt that the "Court Code" compiled by the late emperor and the Ministry of Justice had been in use for too long, and some articles had gradually become outdated as time passed.

Therefore, Emperor Jingyang wanted to use the law competition to gather ideas and let these learned and cultivated examinees help him improve the "Court Code" system.

On the other hand, Emperor Jingyang wanted to see which examinees were leaning toward the royal family and helping them devise strategies.

And which ones were truly standing from the perspective of ordinary people, fighting for their interests.

If the common people benefited, naturally some officials would lose their own interests.

Emperor Jingyang needed to have a balance in his mind to weigh the relationship between the two.

What he wanted was simple: not to let the common people gain too much, nor to let the court lose too much.

That way, both sides could remain loyal to him and to the Dongchen royal family for a long time.

The laws written by the examinees were the most direct way to see what each of them was thinking.

At the same time, it would allow Emperor Jingyang to predict in advance whether this person was loyal to the royal family and whether they could be used by him in the future.

With these two factors, the law competition was no longer just about law, but about who was more loyal to the royal family.

The legal articles Ji Yuntang wrote were all biased toward the common people.

If Mei Zhuyu gave her a perfect score, it would certainly offend the Crown Prince and Prince Qi, among others, and harm the interests of the royal family.

So, fundamentally, giving the priority to score to the three princes present was the wisest decision.

With this in mind, Mei Zhuyu put down his brush and handed the answer sheet to Luo Jingshen.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, since this round is about improving the laws of the Dongchen Kingdom, it would be most appropriate for you to review it first."

Luo Jingshen did not stand on ceremony and directly took Ji Yuntang's answer sheet.

When he saw the first line, he immediately became furious. He stood up and slammed the table, saying:

"Outrageous! This is complete nonsense! I have never seen such heretical and rebellious stuff!"

"'The people are the masters,' 'the people advocate for human rights'—what kind of nonsense is this? She has no regard for our court!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Feizhou took the answer sheet from him and read it.

After reading it, he sneered, "Doesn't the Crown Prince think the Third Sister-in-law's ideas are quite unique?"

"Our dynasty's laws need improvement. Although what she wrote is bold and reckless, I think it might not be impossible to implement."

Luo Jingshen knew that Luo Feizhou was deliberately opposing him. Suppressing his anger, he said, "Does the Fifth Brother think Father would agree to something like this?"

Luo Feizhou shrugged. "Who knows? This is just a normal exam. Anyone can express their own opinions. Whether it passes or not is still unknown. There's no need for the Crown Prince to be so angry, is there?"

"If you think the Third Sister-in-law's writing is bad, just give her a low score. But I think what she wrote is very interesting. I imagine the common people would be very supportive. I'm willing to give her ninety-nine points."

Luo Feizhou's words reminded Luo Jingshen of something serious: as the crown prince, he could not afford to lose the people's support.

Although he looked down on commoners in his heart, Luo Jingshen also understood that while ordinary people seemed insignificant, the power they could unite was very strong. Throughout history, there had been several real cases of popular uprisings overthrowing feudal princes.

------------