Top Scholar

Chapter 465 A Glorious Victory (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Inside the Henan Guild Hall, the sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments lingered.

In the hall, dozens of tables were set up with abalone and shark fin banquets. In addition to the candidates from Henan, the guests included officials from Henan serving in Beijing, wealthy merchants and gentry, and even famous courtesans from Beijing were invited to accompany them and add to the festivities.

The crowd surrounded Jiao Huangzhong and Liu Ren, showering them with sycophantic praise. At this moment, a senior official from the Ministry of Works raised his cup and said obsequiously, "Both of you gentlemen are exceptionally talented, and with the patronage of your father, I think you're more than capable of becoming the top scholar or runner-up in this imperial examination!"

"Thank you for your kind words!" Jiao Huangzhong took a sip of the wine that the courtesan Xiao Yunxian was holding in his arms, and said with anticipation, "The palace examination will not be anonymous. The emperor will not refuse my old man this favor."

"Oh my, young master, you've not only secured the top spot in the provincial examination, but you're also destined to be the champion!" Xiao Yunxian said with admiration, "What a blessing this servant has to be able to drink with two champions!"

"You just found out?!" the crowd jeered. "We might as well let Master Huiyuan comb your hair tonight, and your value will increase a hundredfold!"

“Then I’ll have to give Huiyuan Gong a big red envelope,” Xiaoyunxian said with a smile.

"That makes sense. We're not sure who'll get the better deal between us!" The charred yellow ball was about to swell into a 'charred yellow ball'.

"Hahaha, you're right!" The room erupted in strange laughter, the noise almost lifting the roof off, and no one immediately heard the crackling of firecrackers outside.

Until the messenger's extremely penetrating voice rang out:
"Good news! Master Ma from Runing, Henan, whose given name is Lu, has achieved the highest rank in the Wuchen imperial examination, ranking 349th. He has been summoned to the Emperor in the Golden Palace!"

Sitting in the far corner, Ma, the scholar, stood up in disbelief. He was a stubborn man who had always disliked the way Jiao Fang and his son behaved, so he hadn't gone to pay his respects. He thought he was sure he would fail the exam this time, but he never expected to actually pass.

"Congratulations!" A group of officials, wealthy merchants, and some candidates offered their congratulations to him.

But half the people remained silent, looking at the sallow complexions.

"Brother Junqing, you got into the Imperial Examination thanks to my father. If it weren't for his insistence on adding fifty more places, you wouldn't have had a chance to pass." Although Jiao Huangzhong was very unhappy, since the other party had already passed the exam, he still had to give him a chance to fawn over him.

"I understand." Ma Lu nodded and sat down, refraining from arguing.

But when others advised him to take the opportunity to soften his stance and say a few kind words to Young Master Jiao, he refused.

"I know... Got it!" Jiao Huangzhong spat and muttered, "What's so great about getting second to last place? Even if you make it to the palace examination, you'll still only be a junior scholar."

"That's right, once everyone's rankings are out, let's see what he has to be so arrogant about!" The other candidates who had paid their respects at Minister Jiao's residence echoed this sentiment.

Grand Secretary Jiao has already promised them that they will definitely pass the imperial examination; now they are just waiting to see what their ranking will be.

"No matter what, as long as I pass, I'll definitely be better than Brother Junqing." Liu Ren made a witty remark, which drew another round of strange laughter from the hall.

But perhaps it was too unlucky, because for a full hour after Ma Lu, no one else came to report the good news...

The atmosphere at the banquet inevitably became stagnant.

"Could something have happened at the examination hall, causing a delay in the reporting process?" someone speculated.

"No," Liu Ren shook his head and said, "Didn't you hear the firecrackers going off one after another outside? Those are people going to various guild halls to announce good news."

"Indeed." One of the candidates, who couldn't resist going out to check, returned and said, "Just now, the Fujian Guild Hall reported that one hundred people had already registered!"

"..." The atmosphere became even more tense.

"It seems... that our Minister Jiao has arranged for you all to be ranked among the top 100!" said a fellow official, trying to comfort the candidates.

"It should be..." the candidates forced a smile and said, "Your Excellency is so kind to us."

"Of course!" Jiao Huangzhong forced a smile and raised his glass, saying, "Don't worry, my father promised not to miss a single one!"

"Yes, yes, we can never repay the kindness of the Grand Secretary..." The scholars quickly raised their cups in flattery.

But after another half hour, there was still no good news...

The lookout outside came in again to report: "The messenger has gone to the Fujian Association again and has already reported that they are in fourth place!"

This isn't just adding insult to injury; it's a bolt from the blue!

"Damn it, are all the reporters who came here dead?!" Jiao Huangzhong couldn't keep up the act any longer.

"Don't worry, Young Master Jiao, no one else will be short of the top scholar and the second-highest scholar title for you and Young Master Liu..." the fellow official from the same hometown said, forcing a smile.

"Hey, short my ass!" Jiao Huang grabbed a piece of stew and threw it at his fellow villager.

"It's come to this point, and you still haven't figured out there's a ghost?!"

As he spoke, he slammed his hand heavily on the table, causing cups and saucers to overturn and roosters to crow! Jiao Huangzhong ignored him completely, stomped out of the hall in a huff, and went to wait for him at the entrance of the guild hall himself.

"Brother Yunde, what exactly happened?" Liu Ren also came out.

"How the hell would I know?" Jiao Huangzhong spat fiercely. "Let's see if they dare to take our first and second place too!"

"Okay..." Liu Ren nodded.

A moment later, a loud, rousing sound of wind and percussion rang out again. The two then saw another group of messengers, playing music and making announcements, approaching from the street corner—

Two officials in green robes rode on horseback, followed by four men carrying a red silk wooden frame. On the frame was a yellow silk banner with the words "Second Place in the Imperial Examination" written in gold powder, stamped with the vermilion seal of the Ministry of Rites. Suona horns and gongs sounded on both sides as the procession made its way towards the Henan Guild Hall.

"At least they didn't dare to delay us brothers..." Jiao Huang snorted, his expression slightly relieved. "Thank God..." Liu Ren breathed a long sigh of relief, at least he didn't have to take off the sign above his head.

Before the words were even finished, the messenger team arrived in front of the two men, but they didn't even glance at them, continuing straight ahead...

"Hey, here it is!" the people in the guild hall shouted loudly.

"Stop!" Jiao Huangzhong shouted angrily.

"What's wrong?" The music and music stopped abruptly, and the two officials from the Ministry of Rites on horseback turned around.

"What's wrong? I should be asking you that!" Jiao Huangzhong angrily pointed at the victory report and demanded, "It's clearly our Golden Flower invitation, why was it sent elsewhere?!"

"This isn't yours, is it? This is the Henan Guild Hall, but we're going to the Zhejiang Guild Hall," the Ministry of Rites official said, frowning.

"How is that possible?!" Jiao Huangzhong persisted, "Open your eyes wide and look, isn't the second place written as Liu Ren from Yuzhou, Henan?"

"That's not right, it's clearly Shao Rui from Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang!" the two officials from the Ministry of Rites said in unison. They then had someone forward the report of victory.

"Ah..." He was stunned to see another person's name written on it through the yellowish-brown glass.

"Now you've given up, haven't you?" The official from the Ministry of Rites shook his head and ordered the music and festivities to continue towards the Zhejiang Guild Hall.

His head was buzzing from the yellowish-brown discharge, and he opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word. He was momentarily speechless...

Liu Ren pointed to the plaque above his head that read "Second-Rank Scholar" and said angrily, "Whoever hung this up for me, take it down right now!"

"Hey, hey..." The guild manager, who had flattered the man to the point of making a fool of himself, quickly set up a ladder and, together with his staff, took down the plaque that had cost a lot of money.

He couldn't help but whisper to the waiter, "Go ask the Zhejiang Guild Hall if they want it, and give it to them at a discount."

"Huh?" The guy was stunned. You can do that?

"Oh no, we're definitely going to lose a lot of money this time. Every loss is a loss," the manager lamented.

"Understood." The waiter nodded, noticing that the foreman remained seated on the archway with no intention of leaving. He asked curiously, "What are you still doing here, just watching the scenery?"

"Wait a bit." The steward watched as the last group of messengers marched out of Xuanwu Gate in a grand procession, approaching with fanfare. He sighed and said:

"So as not to have to go down and then come back up..."

~~
Some rejoiced while others grieved. The Henan Guild Hall was nearly wiped out, while the Sichuan Guild Hall set a new record since the founding of the People's Republic of China!
Besides Cheng Qichong, who ranked 330th, seven other newly appointed Sichuan scholars also passed the imperial examinations.

Lin Zhihong, ranked 300th!
Shi Tianzhu, number 282!

Xiao Tingjie, ranked 250th!
Baiyun Mountain ranked 108th!
Xia Bangmo, ranked ninety-seventh!

Liu Henian, ranked 48th!

Feng Xun, ranked 45th!
In addition, eleven of my fellow townsmen from previous exams also passed this time, namely—

325th place: Su Jin, Jiading Prefecture; 288th place: Zeng Yu, Luzhou.

215th place: Xu Wenhua, Jiading Prefecture; 195th place: Yang Zui, Tongchuan Prefecture;

170th place: Jiang Wanshi, Shunqing Prefecture; 130th place: Wang Ruzhou, Chengdu Prefecture;

103rd, Tang Sheng, Xuzhou Prefecture; 88th, Du Yi, Tongchuan Prefecture;

72nd place: Zhang Jin, Chongqing Prefecture; 60th place: Zhao Chun, Chongqing Prefecture;

Zhang Yizhuang, ranked 55th, from Shunqing Prefecture!

This brings the total to nineteen successful candidates in the imperial examinations, setting a new record since the founding of the People's Republic of China!
Although this was also because there were the most places available this year, the Sichuan Guild Hall was still transformed into a sea of ​​joy!

Even more astonishingly, the good news showed no signs of stopping—

"Good news! Master Su from Luzhou, Sichuan, whose given name is Man, has achieved the 36th place in the Wuchen year imperial examination and has been summoned to the Emperor's palace!"

Upon hearing the good news, Su Man was completely stunned. He had only ranked twentieth in the provincial examination, far behind a large number of his peers. So when he heard that Shi Tianzhu, who ranked third in the provincial examination, had only ranked over 280, and Feng Xun, who ranked fourth, had only ranked forty-fifth, his heart sank.

Chun Ge thought he was 99% sure he would fail this time, but he actually passed and ranked so high!

"Haha, congratulations, big brother!" Su Lu excitedly picked up his older brother and spun him around happily in the yard.

"Our Su family has produced a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination)! Our mission is accomplished! Hahaha!" He was genuinely overjoyed. It was highly unlikely that he would pass the exam, but his elder brother had. This was simply wonderful!
"Thank you so much, little brother." Su Man squeezed Su Lu's shoulder tightly, his voice trembling. Without the special tutoring Su Lu gave him after arriving in the capital, he would never have achieved what he has today!
But it wasn't over yet; today was destined to be the most glorious day in the history of the Sichuan imperial examinations—

Yet another group of messengers arrived at the entrance of the guild hall, loudly announcing the good news:

"Good news! Master Zhu from Luzhou, Sichuan, whose given name is Zihe, has achieved the tenth place in the Wuchen imperial examination and has been summoned to the Emperor's palace!"

P.S. I'll post it first and then edit it. There's already a lot of material, right? Please vote with monthly tickets!!

(End of this chapter)