Farmer girl swaps husbands: buys a sickly villain and pampers him

Chapter 182: Listed
The officials posted the notice.

Everyone craned their necks to look at the names on the list.

Zhong Lanhua and Zhang Zhaodi jostled each other, neither willing to give way.

"You're wasting your time looking here. How could your good-for-nothing son possibly pass the imperial examination? If it were that easy to become a scholar, everyone would take the exam," Zhong Lanhua said sarcastically.

"Oh dear, your son-in-law can pass the imperial examination, but our clean-cut and handsome son-in-law can't? Heaven has eyes."

"Alright, stop arguing, quickly check if their names are there," someone nearby tried to mediate.

Zhong Lanhua and Zhang Zhaodi exchanged a cold snort and craned their necks to look at the names on the list.

Jiang Yihuan had no interest in listening to their argument; she had been searching for Xiao Yanci's name since the beginning. She started with the first name and kept searching, her expression growing increasingly grim.

Zhong Lanhua, who barely knew any characters to begin with, was even more confused now. She tugged at Jiang Yihuan beside her and urged, "Have you found it yet?"

Just as Zhang Zhaodi was about to ask Jiang Jing and Zhang Yingdi next to her, she heard Zhang Yingdi point to the middle and say, "There, our Wang Shu's name is over there!"

"Wang Shu is on the list?" Zhang Zhaodi asked in surprise. "Look carefully and make sure it's true?"

Jiang Jing chimed in from the side, "It's my brother-in-law's name."

“And there’s Zhong Chushan, Chen Buyu…” Zhang Yingdi said, “but their names are near the end. Our Wangshu’s name is in the thirties!”

"Anyway, they're all on the list, which means they've all won, so it's all the same," Zhang Zhaodi said happily.

“That’s different,” said the middle-aged woman beside him. “The higher the ranking, the higher the position. Your son-in-law is ranked in the thirties, which means he’s very strong!”

"Thank you so much, everyone is very strong." Zhang Zhaodi smiled from ear to ear.

She was happy, and seeing Zhong Lanhua's sour face next to her made her even happier.

"Your son didn't pass the exam? Don't be discouraged, he can take it again next time. Your son was completely exhausted when he came out of the exam room and almost didn't make it. It's a blessing in disguise that he survived."

“Who said our Brother Xiao didn’t pass the exam?” Jiang Yihuan pointed to his name on the list. “His name is over there.”

Zhang Zhaodi looked in the direction she was pointing, but couldn't recognize it. She asked Zhang Yingdi next to her, "Take a look, is this Xiao Ci's name?"

Zhang Yingdi said, "It's his name, but it's the last one."

"Last place? Hahaha... They were bragging about him like he was some kind of future top scholar, incredibly talented, but he came in last place." Zhang Zhaodi laughed exaggeratedly.

Zhong Lanhua was furious.

She rushed up to the officials and said defiantly, "There's something wrong with this list, there's something fishy about it, have you falsified it?"

Jiang Yihuan was surprised that Zhong Lanhua was so bold as to dare to question the government.

She quickly stepped forward and grabbed Zhong Lanhua: "Mother, don't talk nonsense."

"I also want to ask, why are the rankings on the list like this?" Xiao Yanci stood not far away, looking angrily at the names on the list.

He clearly came in first place in his previous life, so how could he possibly come in last place this time?
The exam questions were exactly the same as in his previous life, yet he answered them even better. Even with the unexpected turn of events involving Zhou Wangshu, there's no reason for this result. There's only one possibility: there's something wrong with this list.

Xiao Yanci stepped forward to question the process, and those candidates who were not on the list also began to doubt the fairness of the approval process.

Upon seeing this, the official was furious: "You are a scholar, yet you are ignorant and shallow. Instead of looking for the reasons within yourself, you dare to slander the magistrate!"

“If the grading is fair and impartial, what is there that you wouldn’t dare tell us?” Xiao Yanci said. “I demand that the contents of our exam papers be made public.”

“Yes, putting aside others, the fact that people like Zhong Chushan and Chen Buyu could be on the list makes one question the fairness of the exam,” a student said.

“We also demand that our exam papers be made public. Even if we are truly inferior in skill, we must understand why we failed.”

Magistrate Chen walked out of the county government office.

Everyone stopped talking and bowed in the direction of Magistrate Chen.

"You want to make the exam papers public? I am an upright official, and there is nothing I wouldn't dare to agree to. Guards, bring out all the candidates' exam papers."

When Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu arrived, the county government office was already in an uproar, and the exam papers had been made public.

The exam papers of Zhong Chushan and Chen Buyu, which were looked down upon by the other students, became the focus of attention. When they saw the two students' papers, they had to admit that their defeat was not unjustified.

Unbeknownst to them, the incompetent fools they looked down upon had made rapid progress. Not only were their answers more insightful than theirs, but their beautiful handwriting alone showed that they had put in considerable effort behind the scenes.

The hundreds of people on the list certainly lived up to the scrutiny. Only Xiao Yanci was an exception. The content of his exam paper was quite good, even ranking first. However, his handwriting was messy, sometimes large and sometimes small, sometimes thick and sometimes thin, and the paper had an unusual smell, which gave the examiner who graded it a lot of trouble.

"I heard that you were unwell during the exam days, and to avoid leaving any marks, you didn't even go to the outhouse and relieved yourself on the spot. Your spirit is admirable, but your behavior is despicable. Do you know that the servants who clean your place were so disgusted that they didn't eat for days? If it weren't for the fact that you did a really good job on the exam, you wouldn't have gotten last place."

Magistrate Chen disliked Xiao Yanci, who was causing trouble, and showed him no mercy, directly revealing his embarrassing incident in front of everyone.

Xiao Yanci's face was grim.

He had tried his best to ignore the matter these past few days, but now it had been brought up again. It felt like digging up a dead person from a grave, which was particularly disgusting.

Xiao Yanci specifically looked at Zhou Wangshu's answer sheet.

He realized he had underestimated Zhou Wangshu.

Although Zhou Wangshu's answer sheet was mediocre and not particularly outstanding, such mediocrity was already quite rare and was enough for him to be awarded the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the county-level imperial examination).

However, he did not lose.

He was just unlucky this time.

Next time, he must be careful and never give the other person the chance to act so arrogantly.

Xiao Yanci had no choice but to accept this outcome.

Seeing that Xiao Yanci had stopped making a fuss, Zhang Zhaodi knew that the matter had been settled.

She said to Zhou Wangshu, "My two godson sons are really amazing. They usually seem so carefree and irresponsible, but they've all turned out to be incredibly talented!"