fairy family

Chapter 75: Wedding
Outside the county school.

A red list as big as a carriage was carried by eight brave men and hung on the wall of the county school where the results were posted. A festive red flower and red scarf were also hung on the list to temporarily cover it.

Circle after circle of people who came to see the list gathered in front of the wall. If the yamen runners had not been prepared, they would have separated everyone first.

Otherwise, if they all rushed forward, they might even push down the wall.

Dang Dang Dang!
The bailiffs banged on the gongs and kept shouting, "Back off, back off!"

"Can you afford to pay for dirtying the red list?"

Faced with the domineering yamen runners, the anxiously expectant candidates and their families had no time to care for a moment, and their eyes were all fixed on the list.

When more and more people gathered and the list was hung up, the yamen runners who were announcing the list looked at each other and suddenly tore off the red scarf covering the list.

pat!

The red scarf fell to the ground and there were sounds of firecrackers crackling at the gate of the county school.

The yamen runner who announced the results of the lawsuit puffed out his belly and shouted:
"The auspicious time has arrived. The results of the 871st minor examination are now announced!"

"The top candidate, there is a vacancy! Where is the vacancy?"

The sounds of firecrackers and shouts rang out from the mouths of the yamen runners.

But at this moment, the people who were looking at the list had no time to listen. Their eyes were only looking for their own names or their family members' names on the large red list.

When the sound of firecrackers stopped, someone clapped his hands and laughed:

"Okay, I won! I won."

The loud laughter immediately attracted the attention of people around.

Soon, several cheers rang out among the crowd watching the list:
"My son, you are on the list!"

"Dad, you're on the list too, right at the very end!"

The successful candidates and their families jumped up on the spot and surrounded the successful candidates. They were all overjoyed, causing the envy of people around them.

But more of them still had nervous expressions, and continued to search for names on the red list in panic. The more they searched, the more nervous and frightened their expressions became.

Although it was still chilly in spring, beads of sweat appeared on the foreheads of these people one after another.

Crack!

Suddenly, an old candidate glanced at the red list and his eyes became empty. Without saying a word, he fell straight to the ground.

The people around were in a commotion and quickly made way for the old candidate to avoid being trampled to death.

A yamen runner who was announcing the results saw this and cursed at the same time, but he rushed into the crowd as if he was familiar with the route, raised his hands, and gave the old candidate several big slaps in the face.

"Pah, there are crazy people like this every year. If you can't stand it, don't come to see it."

After a few slaps in the face, the old candidate slowly woke up and made a gurgling sound in his throat.

But he didn't have time to do anything. He didn't even cover his face. He immediately widened his eyes and looked at the red list again, searching for his name on it.

After searching again, no miracle happened and the man still did not see his name.

The old candidate's face suddenly turned pale, he could hardly breathe, his eyes began to roll up, and he was about to faint again.

The yamen runner next to him looked at him coldly and immediately raised his slap to slap him again.

This action scared the old candidate who was about to faint and he woke up quickly.

He shuddered, covered his face and shouted, "Stop hitting me, I'm not unconscious yet!"

"What a fool!" The bailiff grabbed the old examinee's clothes and hummed a few words.

After checking the man, the bailiff stood up again and looked at the crowd nearby to see if there was anyone else who needed first aid.

At this moment, bursts of crying and cursing were heard among the people who were looking at the list.

Among them was a young candidate who was originally full of confidence. Now his face was red and he was burning with anger. He shouted:
"Impossible, impossible, I have passed the third subject, why is my name not on the list! This is cheating!"

There was also a middle-aged candidate with a sallow complexion. He looked at the bright and eye-catching list with mixed feelings, but in the end he just sighed heavily:
"Again, I missed."

The middle-aged candidate tucked his hands into his sleeves, hunched over, and squeezed out of the crowd dejectedly like a dog that had lost its home.

In front of the county school, those who passed the exam all looked the same, overjoyed.

Those who failed the exam had different expressions and behaviors.

In addition to the bustling crowds of people looking at the list, there were also pairs of yamen runners at the gate of the county school. They were holding the county exam lists that had been copied long ago, and they were also holding gongs, cracking whips, red flowers and other miscellaneous items.

After these people whispered to each other for a while, they started shouting and running towards various places in and outside the city.

They wanted to congratulate those candidates who were on the list, to bring them some fame, and to take the opportunity to ask for good luck and get some reward money.

Among them, the number of people in the congratulatory teams for different rankings is also different.

The earlier the candidate is on the list, the more people will congratulate him/her; the later the candidate is, the more likely he/she will be congratulated. He/she will be alone and have to wait until the yamen runners have finished congratulating everyone else before it is the turn of the candidate at the end of the list.

In an instant, this year's county exam list spread to the entire market town and the crowd outside the market town at an extremely fast speed.

In the homes inside and outside the market, some people were celebrating and rejoicing, while others were in grief and sighing.

However, among the many families, there was one family whose atmosphere was the most bizarre. This family was the Fu family!
When the list was released, the Fu clan members who were gathered nearby widened their eyes and immediately sent people back to tell the clan members.

As a result, the news of the list began to spread within the Fu clan, causing many members of the Fu clan to talk about it.

This kind of discussion reached its peak when the people who came to congratulate stepped into the gate of the Fu clan.

There was a team of eighteen people, and they were carrying a gilded plaque with the words "First in the County Examination" in their hands, like a sedan chair.

At this moment, everyone was blowing and beating, and walking into the gate of the Fu clan with the sound of gongs and drums, they were here to present the plaque.

"Congratulations, nobles! Congratulations, nobles!"

"The son of a noble family, Yuque, ranked first in the county exam, and is the top of the list!"

The yamen runners and hangers-on were drinking loudly, and behind them were other people, as well as people from other clans who came to join in the fun.

These people poured into the Fu clan today and almost broke down the threshold.

After shouting several times and not finding Yu Que, the crowd, under the guidance of the nosy Fu clan members, rushed directly to the Fu clan ancestral hall.

"Son of a noble family, the top spot is still vacant, bring honor to the family!"

The yamen runners and hangers-on continued shouting until they reached the ancestral hall, then they looked at each other and stopped shouting.

Because today, the Fu family ancestral hall was decorated with soul flags and scattered with paper money inside and outside, and it looked bleak and white. All the clan members who came and went were dressed in mourning and had sad faces.

In addition, the two coffins were placed right at the entrance of the ancestral hall so that people outside could see them at a glance.

Today is the day when Yu Que's results are announced, and it also happens to be the seventh day after the death of Fu Ling and his mother.

Although if calculated specifically, the seventh day after the death of Fu Ling and her son is still half a day away, it is also appropriate to generally consider it as one day.

The red and white, the happy crowd and the sad crowd, all collided together at this moment, looking extremely strange.

Among them, even the most experienced yamen runners did not know for a moment whether they should continue to move forward and deliver the plaque of "First in County Examination" into the ancestral hall and be done with it, or they should look back and not disturb the funeral in the ancestral hall.

"Has the Fu family never thought that their own children might be on the list? That shouldn't be the case."

People kept muttering, "Oh my goodness, why can't the funeral be held any other time? Why has it to be held today?"

"Wait, this is the Fu family, but the top of this year's list is surnamed Yu!?"

Gradually, the people who came to congratulate and send good news reacted and shouted again and again:
"Where is Yuque's leader, Master Yuque?", "Damn you, did you lead me the wrong way?"

"That shouldn't be the case. This is the location written on the document. Take a look."

Bursts of noise arose in front of the Fu family ancestral hall.

The other families, who were originally envious, suddenly had expressions of watching a show and laughing at the joke.

At this time, inside the Fu Family Ancestral Hall.

The clan leader Fu Jin had his back to the crowd, kneeling in front of the densely packed tablets in the ancestral hall.

On his left and right sides are the coffins of his first wife and son.

Today's seventh day ceremony is presided over by Fu Jin himself, with the husband sending off his wife and the father sending off his son.

From midnight last night until now, he has not eaten a grain of rice or drank a sip of water, and his pressure has doubled.

Now hearing the noisy sound outside the ancestral hall, clan leader Fu Jin immediately knew that this year's top spot fell into Yu Que's hands.

His expression and body, which had been able to remain tense, suddenly began to tremble.

There was a ghostly aura surging around this person, his face was twisted and turned ashen, and he was full of hatred.

Fu Jin finally roared in a low voice:

"You little brat, why did you bully me? You are bullying me too much!"

You know, he only sent a letter to invite Yu Que to come to the ancestral hall in person for a gathering after he passed the list, but he did not ask Yu Que to send people to congratulate him directly to the ancestral hall.

However, on this point, Fu Jin was wrong about Yu Que.

The remaining clan residence in the county school was what he had submitted early on when he registered for the exam.

At that time, Yu Que's family was still living well in the Fu clan, so what he filled in was naturally the address within the Fu clan.

However, now, Yu Que is not in the Fu clan, but in the Alchemist Academy.

The yamen runners and hangers-on who came to congratulate him were unaware of this and were unable to correct the problem in time, so they ran to the Fu clan.

Suddenly, outside the Fu family ancestral hall.

A yamen runner saw that no one had come out to greet him for a long time, and suddenly shouted impatiently:

"Hey! Nobles, don't be so stingy. Even if you don't accept the plaque, you still have to come out and give me some money."

Seeing that they still wanted the Fu family to pay a reward, clan leader Fu Jin became furious and his body shook.

Wow, this person spit out a mouthful of blood, which sprayed into the brazier in front of him...

(End of this chapter)