Do not serve two lords. It is a saying about the conduct of a loyal subject. Serve the new emperor, and you betray the old emperor; insist on serving the old emperor and you invite the new emperor's wrath.
Few picked up their brushes. Most could not even bring themselves to grind ink. Sunlight hung on the walls of the examination hall.
It seemed one could even hear the faint sound of the wall's shadow tilting. Together with the silence of thousands.
"......"
The metropolitan examination question was solemn. It had already been approved by the emperor, a kind of imperial decree. This held true regardless of whether the person reciting the question still had parents.
This was a time when the remnants of the previous dynasty had not yet faded. Most had once served the old emperor. Among the questions likely to be faced in the present era, this was the most vicious.
'Truly as foul as the Wilderness Sun Annihilation.' Hwa Yeon-bi of the Martial Dragon Society surely was not the only examinee to think so. She sat where she could see Mungok's back.
The appearance of a slender scholar. She wore a wide-sleeved robe and even a square cap over her tied-up hair.
Sarak.
She picked up the brush. First, she wrote her name.
Hyeokryeon Hwa.