Lord Zhuang finally let go of the worry he had been feeling upon receiving this news, fearing he might be used and dragged into controversy.
Zhuang Changhe said, "Father, my brother-in-law is not such a person."
As soon as Lord Zhuang heard this, he became angry. "Your brother-in-law has been accepted into the Hanlin Academy, and you? What have you achieved?"
Zhuang Changhe wasn't as lucky as Ma Peng, having dropped back more than twenty places in the final imperial examination. "Father, I don't want to go to the Hanlin Academy. It's better for me to start working at the Ministry of Rites to gain experience earlier." Naturally, his father could have used his connections to secure him a position in the Hanlin Academy, but he didn't like that idea.
