Chapter Thirty-Two: The World Went Mad Long Ago!

[Page 1 of 3]
【The topic is loyalty?】
【"What could be difficult about that!"】
【In an instant, your mind overflowed with the fruits of the past few months of training!】
【"Loyalty is the duty of every citizen of Great Ming; to be disloyal is to be no citizen of Great Ming at all!"】
【"And why is that?"】
【"Because His Majesty opened the heavens and carved out the earth! His Majesty harmonized the Yin and Yang! His Majesty molded the clay to create mankind! His Majesty severed the legs of the giant turtle to stabilize the four poles! ...His Majesty tasted the hundred herbs! His Majesty defined the Eight Trigrams! His Majesty slew Chiyou! ..."】
【"His Majesty was born before Heaven and Earth; He neither increases nor decreases, is neither defiled nor immaculate, and exists in all of the past and the future..."】
【"His Majesty has billions of incarnations. He once manifested as Emperor Yao to govern the world, then abdicated to Yao Chonghua, possessing the noble virtue of yielding the throne for the sake of the nation—His merit is boundless!"】
【"His Majesty once manifested as Emperor Shun to govern the world, then abdicated to Si Wenming, possessing the noble virtue of yielding the throne for the sake of the nation—His merit is boundless!"】
【"His Majesty once manifested as Yu the Great, then passed the throne to his eldest son, Qi, establishing the foundation of the state. This method has been passed down for over four thousand years, securing the legitimacy of our lineage. He is truly the founding ancestor of our civilization, the one and only!"】
【"At the end of the Xia Dynasty, His Majesty manifested as Tang of Shang, overthrowing the mandate of Xia and establishing the six-hundred-year foundation of the Shang Dynasty!"】
【"At the end of the Shang Dynasty, His Majesty manifested as the three figures of King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou, overthrowing the mandate of Yin and securing the eight-hundred-year reign of the Zhou Dynasty!"】
【"During the Spring and Autumn period, His Majesty simultaneously manifested as the Five Hegemons; during the Warring States period, He simultaneously manifested as the Seven Heroes... In the ages between, His Majesty manifested as Li Er, Kong Qiu, Meng Ke, Xun Kuang, Gongsun Long, Sun Wu, Sun Bin, and other sages, each transmitting their own schools of thought. Truly, He is the pillar of civilization!"】
【"The First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han—they were His Majesty!"】
【"The Founding Emperors of Tang and Song—they too were His Majesty!"】
【"The heaven-born pride Genghis Khan—still His Majesty!"】
【"His Majesty’s lineage is eternal! For a thousand generations, He shall unify the realm!"】
【"There cannot be two suns in the sky; in this subject’s heart, there is only His Majesty, the one and only sun!"】
【...】
【After finishing the piece, looking at your own slightly manic handwriting, you slowly recover from your state of agitation...】
【"A paper full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears! Everyone calls the author a fool, but who understands the meaning within?"】
【Haha!】
【You let out a desolate laugh: A life spent playing with ink and brush, half a lifetime wasted at the tip of a pen, learning a head full of love for the country and the world, carrying a heavy burden of soaring ambitions! Yet, in the end, one must submit to the ineffable Great Old Ones, to the point of writing such madness...】
【Humiliation! Utter humiliation!】
【But, so what?】
【The ruler in the darkness seems to mock you: What’s wrong? You won't submit?】
【Will you submit or not! Do you accept it or not!】
【If you don't submit, you cannot become an official! If you don't submit, you cannot be a dog!】

[Page 2 of 3]
【"Kneel down obediently and cry out your loyalty!"】
【He let out a grotesque laugh and vanished, leaving you behind, unable to distinguish reality from fantasy, your face still stained with tears...】
【When it came time to submit the paper, the examiner looked at the tear-streaked face with surprise and asked with concern, "What is this..."】
【"Oh, I was just too moved!"】
【You smiled and wiped away the tears, your tone manic: "During the exam, whenever I thought of His Majesty’s infinite kindness toward all the people under heaven, I could not help but be overwhelmed with emotion."】
【"Moved, my eyes filled with hot tears..."】
【Tsk!】
【The examiner couldn't help but exclaim: "Good, good, good! With such a loyal subject in Great Ming, why worry about the peace of the world? Why worry about His Majesty lacking good officials to assist Him?"】
【"I find you quite agreeable!"】
【"Many thanks for your praise, my lord."】
【...】
【A few days later, the grading was complete!】
【The officials of the Ministry of Rites personally reviewed the papers, weeding out those that were obviously pretentious or fake. In the end, out of the thousands of papers from candidates across the country, only two or three hundred remained.】
【The authors of these papers were the "quasi-jinshi" qualified to participate in the Palace Examination.】
【You were among them, and without a doubt, you had snatched the title of "Huiyuan," the top candidate!】
【Why? Because you were too loyal!】
【That paper, devoid of any sense of artifice, brought every examiner to tears: Such loyalty is beyond words! Beyond words!】
【"Too mad! Too mad! We need such madmen right now!"】
【After reading your paper personally, the Minister of Rites sighed: "It doesn't look like an act..."】
【As the saying goes, the casual performance of an abstract genius is a peak that even a lifelong troll can barely reach. Your mad prose clearly could not have been written by a normal person...】
【"Any disloyal person would leave traces of discord between the lines, but... Zhou Liang doesn't have that feeling!"】
【"Look at his shattered logic! Look at his abstract metaphors!"】
【"And! And this manic, clawing handwriting!"】
【An old examiner also sighed: "When I went to collect the papers earlier, I happened to see Zhou Liang’s state... He was so moved that his face was covered in tears. That is the best expression of his loyalty!"】
【"I have decided; he shall be the Huiyuan!"】
【With a wave of the Minister of Rites' hand, the top candidate for this examination was decisively determined!】
【...】
【When the results were posted, the thousands of candidates from the thirteen provinces and the two capitals were immediately divided into two camps!】

[Page 3 of 3]
【One camp was joyful, the other sorrowful.】
【Some clapped their hands in surprise: "Ah! Good! I passed!", then immediately went mad, crying, laughing, and rolling on the ground...】
【Some were filled with grief and choked with sobs: "The imperial examination of Great Ming... what has it become!"】
【No matter how well normal people disguise themselves, they cannot feign that specific scent of madness. Thus, after this round of testing, they were all exposed and could only slink away to wait for the next opportunity...】
【A performance to prove one's sincerity—it was confirmed that they were true trolls!】
【As the saying goes, if loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely not loyal. Therefore, as long as they did not twist their own spirits, they would certainly be rejected by the ruling class of Great Ming!】
【Only madmen are accepted here! Only loyal subjects are accepted here...】
【"Brother Zhou! You’ve placed first as Huiyuan!"】
【Someone with a sharp eye spotted the top of the list and let out an exclamation!】
【In an instant, everyone present turned their gazes toward you, whether they had passed or failed, all looking at you in utter astonishment!】
【Then, the experienced repeat candidates felt their pupils shrink and slowly moved to shield you...】
【It wasn't that they had issues, but that they were afraid you had them...】
【Huiyuan! What kind of person places as Huiyuan? That is one hundred percent a true madman! And now, with the joy of passing, wouldn't that trigger an immediate breakdown?】
【In past years, every Huiyuan had been a madman, so the experienced candidates were naturally afraid of you losing your mind...】
【However, to their disappointment, you did not go mad on the spot. Instead, you were abnormally calm, as if you had known all along that you would place first.】
【Looking at your name at the top of the list, your calm heart only stirred with a few nonsensical, rambling thoughts.】
【"It’s close... finally, it’s close..."】
【Whether you were the Huiyuan or not mattered little to you; what mattered was that you finally had the chance to meet that living god, to see the holy face of the God-Emperor...】
【He once strangled a hundred thousand rebels with a hemp rope!】
【He once punched a million treacherous officials and citizens in the capital to death!】
【He once slaughtered Luoyang, Shenyang, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Yingtian, Xi'an...】
【Unlike the image from the stories your parents told, unlike the golden giant shadow in the divine visions, and unlike the ultimate chimera described by the provincial instructors.】
【He, in a moment, would reveal his true face to you for the very first time...】