After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"Dong dong dong, dong dong dong! qiang qiang qiang, qiang qiang qiang!..."

"Bang! Bang!" Several cannon salutes could even be heard outside.

Immediately afterwards, there was another burst of suona music.

Everyone frowned and turned to look out the window.

Suddenly, a great commotion erupted on Datong Street!

Qin Zhongxi narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, then relaxed his brows and smiled:

"Hehe, someone from Datong Street must have passed the imperial examination, and the government has come to deliver the good news."

Lou Jizuo and Liu Pu, two scholars who had experienced the "report of victory," immediately smiled knowingly and said:

"I wonder which family made it onto the list of successful candidates; I should go and bask in their talent."

The group immediately burst into laughter.

They were chatting and laughing.

Everyone got up and walked to the window to look down.

On the long street, three people rode tall horses at the front, holding up colorful flags and banners, followed by a troupe of suona players playing gongs and drums.

The group walked and stopped intermittently, firing cannons and playing music, creating an unparalleled spectacle.

People lined both sides of Datong Street to watch the excitement... Shouts, discussions, applause, laughter... all mingled together, and the street suddenly became incredibly lively.

Whether it was the Moon-Viewing Pavilion or the surrounding restaurants, on the first and second floors, everyone stuck their heads out of the windows to watch the excitement and share in the joy.

Especially those carrying babies, upon seeing this line, quickly pried open their child's chubby fingers, made the child put their hands together in a gesture of sincere worship of the "God of Literature," and bowed, hoping that their child would also absorb some of the scholarly aura...

The second floor of Xianyue Pavilion.

Qin Zhongxi, Lou, Liu and the others all smiled at what they saw.

Even the Prince of Anfeng, one of the oldest princes in the Great Liang Dynasty, smiled slightly, looking at the victory-reporting team with the eyes of someone who had seen a promising junior. He silently hoped that the Great Liang needed many talented people so that its revival could be hoped for...

At this time.

The three men on horseback, carrying colorful flags, raised their voices and, accompanied by the sound of suona horns, shouted loudly as they walked:

"The Great Liang Dynasty ~ Tianqi ~ 12th year ~ Dingmao year ~ Imperial Examination ~ Southern Zhili Provincial Examination ~ Shangyuan County ~ Datong Street ~ Ning Prefecture ~ Ning Family South..."

After a long string of greetings,

The three of them shouted in high-pitched voices:

"Winning the top prize!"

"The top scholar in the imperial examination!—"

On the second floor... everyone's eyes froze, and their faces suddenly stiffened!

……

……

Night fell.

Gongyuan Street.

Crane Cry Tower.

The restaurant was almost completely packed with scholars!

Inside the Cloud Crane Pavilion!

Ning Nan stood in the center, looked at the pale-faced, white-bearded old man opposite him, and snorted!

"How about it?" he shouted abruptly.

The old man swayed and stumbled back two steps.

The few people who passed the imperial examination this year, including Li Youzhi, Lu Jing, Guo Zhong, and Cheng Yitian, no longer showed any of the smugness that comes with success.

He stood behind a young man in purple robes and a melon-shaped hat with a gloomy expression, his face pale and astonished, somewhat incredulous.

"Bang!"

Ning Nan lifted his foot and placed it on the stool, his eyes bloodshot, and roared at the crowd outside the door:

"Forget about the old scholar! Let's find someone who has passed the provincial examination!"

His voice was loud and clear.

An uproar immediately erupted both inside and outside the private room!

"You won?"

"We won!"

"Who's winning?"

"Who else could it be? It's Ning Jieyuan!"

"Even the old scholar Tong could lose?"

"Heh, didn't Li Youzhi, Lu Jing, and Guo Zhong all lose? Tong Xiucai is over sixty and still can't pass the imperial examination. Although he's a bookworm and can recite the entire 'Collected Annotations of Zhu Xi,' how impressive is that?!"

"Could it be... that he really is..."

What do you think...?

"I heard he wasn't last in the county exam? How come Mo Yi is so amazing?"

"Let alone the quiz on classical texts... even the casual answers just now... Li Youzhi and Lu Jing both lost... and the policy essay was a particularly crushing defeat..."

"Tsk tsk tsk, then tomorrow, Nan, Nan..."

"Nancheng Daily!"

"Yes, yes, yes, just one issue of the Nancheng Daily, and Li Youzhi and his ilk's reputations would be completely ruined, wouldn't they?"

"Hehe...they signed and put their fingerprints on it..."

"Ha, could it be that Ning Baixuan truly possesses the talent of a top scholar?!"

"Hmph... What do you think?"

"Bah! Lou Jizuo truly deserves to die!"

"Scholar Liu, Elder He, and even Emperor Wenzong of the Northern Dynasties all praised him highly. I don't understand why you would slander this talented man from both the North and the South like this?"

"Brother Cao...you were the one who cursed the most just now..."

"Ha! I, Cao, was blinded by the jealous and incompetent official Lou Jizuo, and was filled with righteous indignation for a time, but now I have naturally come to my senses..."

"A mere county magistrate, yet he dares to imitate Li Linfu! A honeyed tongue and a treacherous heart... trying to oust the talented scholar of my Great Liang..."

"Jealousy, huh...jealousy of Ning Baixuan's great name..."

"What a truly incompetent official! No wonder Her Majesty the Empress demoted him to the lowest rank!"

"I knew it! How could the Marquis of Jingbei, a hero for so long, make such a foolish mistake in his old age?"

……

There was much discussion at Heming Tower.

……

Inside the private room.

The students from Bailu Academy stood on one side of the private room, staring at Ning Jieyuan in the center of the room, somewhat dumbfounded.

They never imagined that... Brother Ning would become the top scholar in the imperial examination, and Sister Gongsun, in her joy, would go out to reward the messenger, which would immediately attract those who had previously wanted to "come and learn from Brother Ning's scholarship."

These people had been shouting that if Brother Ning passed the imperial examination, they would definitely come to ask for his advice... Now that Brother Ning has become the top scholar in the provincial examination, and they have heard that Brother Ning is here, how could they let this opportunity pass? They came straight here, blocking the door with a menacing air...

What shocked the students even more was that...Brother Ning...actually accepted it...

At Brother Ning's wave, everyone retreated to the side of the private room.

Too many people came to provoke her, and everyone was worried that their junior sister was showing too much face, so they shielded Gongsun Heng behind them.

Gongsun Heng was dissatisfied, but she knew that everyone meant well. However, she was really unhappy, so she stood on the stool, pulled down her clapper to cover her face, and stared at her master from a height that was a head above everyone else. She gritted her teeth and her face was flushed with excitement!

Ning Nan, his mouth dry, took the tea offered to him by the manager of Heminglou and gulped it down.

The tea was fragrant and refreshing, and my stomach felt comfortable immediately.

"Snapped!"

He slammed the teacup on the table and wiped the tea from the corner of his mouth.

"How is it?"

He glared at the students outside the door and roared:

"Is anyone else here? Still playing?"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

At this moment, the white-bearded old scholar seemed to have thought of something; his face trembled, and he shouted loudly, "I've thought of something!"

He pointed at Ning Nan and said sternly:

"It is said that when a bird sees a person with an unfriendly expression, it will fly away, circle back and examine the situation before landing!"

Ning Nan replied without hesitation:

"People should act when they see an opportunity and carefully choose their place in the world."

He sneered:

"Scholar Tong, this saying comes from the Analects of Confucius, 'When the color is bright, it rises; when it soars, it alights.'...Ah...I have said before that anything that can be memorized by rote is fine with you, sir."

He then pointed to Li Youzhi and the others, whose faces were deathly pale.

"It would be better if these scholars and officials didn't bother to make a fool of themselves!"

The old scholar, with white hair and beard, and a flushed face, screamed:

"I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept this! I could read poetry at three, compose essays at four, recite the Analects at seven, read the Thousand Character Classic to my grandfather, and read to Yu Jun... I passed the county-level imperial examination at eighteen and could recite the entire Zhu Xi Annotated Collection... Why... forty years... forty years without passing the provincial-level imperial examination... why..."

As they talked...

The old scholar, Tong, burst into tears. The man, over sixty years old, suddenly pointed at Ningnan and wailed:

"You relied on your great-uncle..."

The old scholar was already rambling incoherently.

Ning Nan shook his head and said, "Then you're not convinced by me."

"Huh??" Old Scholar Tong was taken aback... It's not that I'm dissatisfied with you...

Ning Nan sighed, pointed to the platform beside him, and said to the old scholar:

"Fine, take your certificate and go... I won't damage your reputation... You won't be in tomorrow's *South City Daily*..."

When the old scholar Tong heard that the other party was willing to return the name card he had just signed, he was not happy. Instead, his whole body turned cold, and his mouth trembled, but he could no longer cry.

"I have a question for you." Ning Nan frowned, looked at the heartbroken old man, and suddenly asked.

Old Scholar Tong was taken aback.

Ning Nan asked earnestly, "You've spent your whole life studying, but have you ever done anything for the people?"

Upon hearing this, the old scholar Tong sneered and said:

"Ning Jieyuan! Although I am just a scholar, I have lived an upright life! I have been a private tutor all my life. I am sixty-three years old this year, and I have seen three elderly people in the village off in their final days and raised five orphans in the village who had no father or mother!"

"I've written petitions for the poor people in the surrounding villages who had grievances but nowhere to turn, and I've redressed countless injustices! I've probably received more beatings on my backside than even the best scholar Ning received from his parents... Hmph! When it comes to doing practical things for the people, even the best scholar can't lecture me..."

The old man's voice was stubborn, frank, and passionate, his conscience clear and his righteous indignation refuting the other person's words...

……

……

In a corner of the private room, behind Hongfeng, a figure in a bright yellow mandarin jacket stood gracefully against a pillar.

She used an open folding fan to cover the lower half of her face, revealing only two shimmering eyes that were fixed on the top scholar who had just debated with a group of scholars and swept aside seven candidates from the Southern Zhili region, as well as several well-known scholars. Her eyes kept darting around.

On either side of her, two almost identical 'men' dressed in black striped vests were closely protecting her.

Seeing the young scholar rendered speechless by the old woman's retort, she smiled and her eyes crinkled.

"You got what you deserved, huh? Hmph! Judging others by your own standards, judging others by your own petty... um... judging others by your own narrow-minded standards... Hmph!... Let's see how you get out of this mess!"

At this moment, the top scholar in the audience calmly said:

"There you have it."

"Um???"

She was startled, the old man was startled, and those nearby who heard the other's words were also startled, wondering what they meant: "What do you mean?"

Ning Jieyuan, who was in the audience, shrugged, scoffed at the old man, and laughed, "Old Scholar Tong, you never really wanted to be an official, so how did you manage to pass the imperial examinations?"