Words That Guard the Kingdom

The emperor of Great Xia opens a special imperial exam to recruit talent, only to discover that powerful families have already rigged the results. Disguised among the people, he sees a connected noble submit a blank paper and still rank first, while a truly gifted poor scholar fails. When he exposes the fraud, the empress and corrupt ministers launch a palace coup to protect their own. With loyal forces at his side, the emperor crushes the rebellion, restores the rankings, and gives justice back to every scholar in the realm.