Chapter 178 Mission 016
In ancient times, there were often stories about reading by moonlight or reading by light in the snow, which was to show the difficulty and hard work of those poor children in studying. In fact, the bloody truth behind these stories was the extremely myopic eyes of ancient scholars.
Many people in ancient times had serious myopia. They did not know how to use their eyes correctly. They often studied late into the night. At this time, the lamps used by the best people were dim kerosene lamps, which were very harmful to the eyes.
So Jiang Xiucai and Zhang Xiucai stood by the window on the second floor of the restaurant and stretched their necks to look down. They could recognize that the thin figure running towards the restaurant was Jiang Xiucai's little book boy because his body was very conspicuous among the tall and strong men, but it was impossible to recognize whether the book boy's face was happy or sad.
The two remained anxious and waited until the little book boy went upstairs.
Jiang Xiucai saw his bookboy standing there timidly looking at him without saying anything, and his heart sank immediately: "No one on the list?"
The little bookboy hurriedly said: "Young master is so good at studying, he will definitely pass!"
Jiang Xiucai sighed deeply. Although he knew how difficult it was to pass the imperial examination, it was too discouraging to fail several times. Could it be that he, who was known as a genius since childhood, would really be lost in the provincial examination? Now that the country has been founded for nearly a hundred years, it is no longer as lacking in officials as it was when the country was first founded. Even a scholar can get an official position through connections. Now if you want to be an official, you must have the title of Juren, and you can only be a small official. If you want to achieve success in official career, you must be a Jinshi.
Zhang Xiucai followed Jiang Xiucai with a fluke mentality and asked: "Did you see my name?"
The little book boy shook his head: "I didn't see Mr. Zhang's name."
Zhang Xiucai looked very disappointed and sat on the chair in a daze. If he didn't pass this time, he would never have the chance to pass the imperial examination in his life at his age. Moreover, his family was not well off. Taking the provincial examination was a blow to his family's finances. Before this imperial examination, he had already told his family that it was the last one... It seemed that he could only try his best to keep his scholar's reputation in the future, and he could only hope that his grandchildren would pass the imperial examination.
At this time, Xiao Ying took a sip of tea slowly: "What about mine?" He knew very well that if Jiang Xiucai didn't pass the imperial examination, this young and smart book boy would never take the initiative to tell him his results, and he had to ask himself.
Sure enough, when he asked, the little bookboy glanced at Jiang Xiucai's face and congratulated him: "Congratulations, Mr. Shao, you have passed the Liyuan exam!"
The two people who were originally disappointed heard the little bookboy's words, and they looked up at Xiao Ying in shock.
They thought that Xiao Ying's previous words about passing the exam were just bragging, but they didn't expect that he was really confident! Not only did he pass the exam, but he also got the first place!
There were three people in the group, and neither of them passed the exam, but the other one got the first place with excellent results. This gap was really embarrassing.
But Jiang Xiucai and Zhang Xiucai were not the kind of people who were swayed by jealousy in their hearts. They knew very well that they were no longer in the same class as Shao Qingyun. If they didn't hug their thighs now, when would they? The two of them quickly suppressed their disappointment and forced a smile to congratulate: "Brother Shao, congratulations on your success! Congratulations!"
At this time, the official announcer also came...
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Shao's father, who had not held much hope, suddenly learned that his son had passed the exam and became a juren. He smiled so hard that his mouth couldn't close even if he wanted to. He kept saying, "May our ancestors bless us, may our ancestors bless us!"
The provincial examination was over, and those scholars who failed the exam left the city, but the new juren who made the list had to attend banquets, meet their teachers, and make friends with their peers, so they were very busy. Jiang Xiucai and Zhang Xiucai were also among those who failed the exam. They should have returned to Qingyang County earlier, but in order to take advantage of this good opportunity to get closer to Xiao Ying, they both stayed, even though Xiao Ying was so busy that he had almost no time to pay attention to them.
As a juren, Xiao Ying was very popular, and whenever he was invited to a banquet, he would always be the focus of everyone's attention. However, he was very good at dealing with people, and he was very popular. He also had a good network of connections, and his reputation as a genius spread.
If you want to go far and get promoted quickly, you can't just be stable and low-key, so Xiao Ying was very high-profile and had unlimited glory for a while.
Of course, as a poor boy with no one behind him, he knew very well how many hurtful arrows were hidden behind this glory, but he was confident that he could still deal with this little turmoil.
When he returned to Shaojia Village, Qingyang County, Xiao Ying was warmly welcomed by the villagers.
In this era, a juren had a very high social status. If a village could produce a juren, it was like having a talisman. No matter whether it was political resources or something else, the government above would always take care of the village with juren.
When Xiao Ying returned to the Shao family, the Shao mother, who was very glorious this time, said with a smile that she would set up a buffet to celebrate, and there was no trace of her previous calculus and stinginess.
Xiao Ying understood the desire of Shao's father and mother to show off, and did not stop them, but only told them not to accept too many gifts.
Although he had not yet started to serve as an official, many small businessmen and gentry gave him gifts after he passed the imperial examination. Some gifts should not be accepted casually. Accepting them would be a stain on his official files in the future, which would not be fatal but would affect his future.
Not only Shao's father and mother were excited about his success, but also his legal wife Wang Nianyun.
Wang Nianyun was almost kicked out of the Wang family in order to marry Shao Qingyun. Now Xiao Ying replaced Shao Qingyun and passed the imperial examination early, and he was also the first place in the imperial examination. Even a blind man can see that he will have a bright future. The Wang family was shocked and hurried to the Shao family with a large number of gifts to visit Wang Nianyun.
Wang Nianyun, who had not received any good faces when she returned home three times, was now praised by her sisters because her husband passed the imperial examination. She was valued and had high hopes by her parents. Large sums of gold and silver were sent to her in the name of completing her dowry. How could she not be excited?
If Wang Nianyun was excited and happy, then Su Ling, who was pregnant with Shao Qingyun's child, was terrified.
She was so uneasy at this time that she didn't even care about escaping when she was not closely guarded on the festive day.
Since her rebirth, Su Ling has always taken revenge as her life goal. She firmly believes that she was reborn with the mercy of the gods and wanted to change her tragic future.
However, she never expected that the things that changed the future since her rebirth would be so different now!
In the future, Shao Qingyun was supposed to hold a banquet on the day when she and her child were tortured to death. Now, her child has not been born yet, and Shao Qingyun has passed the imperial examination at a young age.
This change is too big! It is so big that Su Ling is a little confused. Is she really reborn? Instead of having a very real nightmare? Otherwise, why would reality change so much from what happened before her rebirth? She can change what she is able to change, such as divorcing Shao Qingyun, but things like whether Shao Qingyun can make the imperial examination list cannot be changed at all with her ability. How could it change so much?
Su Ling was confused with all kinds of speculations in her mind. The pride that was originally faintly born from predicting the future was suddenly beaten back to its original form, and she even felt more inferior in her heart. She was originally thinking about how to escape from here and raise the child by herself, but now she has begun to consider whether to agree to Xiao Ying's request to keep the child...
The Shao Qingyun who has passed the imperial examination now and the Shao Qingyun who will pass the imperial examination in a few years have completely different prospects. Shao Qingyun, who has passed the imperial examination before the age of 20, can be said to have a promising future.
Su Ling did not think that she had the ability and capital to compete with Shao Qingyun for the custody of the child, and even her grandfather would not help her.
At this time, Xiao Ying, who was being toasted by the guests who came to the banquet, did not expect that the heroine began to change her mind because he passed the imperial examination. He just felt that his father-in-law and brother-in-law who always tried to establish a relationship with him were really annoying.
If it weren't for Wang Nianyun's sake, Xiao Ying really wouldn't give face to the father and son of the Wang family. I don't know if these two people are trying to make up for their previous estrangement with Shao Qingyun. At this moment, their attitude of building relationships is so enthusiastic that it makes people feel sick. In front of so many guests, the head of the Wang family said: "I used to treat my son-in-law poorly. It's my fault. This small respect..." As he said that, he very skillfully took out a stack of banknotes from his sleeves.
Xiao Ying's face immediately darkened. Is this guy used to giving gifts to those officials? Looking at the tone of his mouth, it's not the tone of a father-in-law talking to his son-in-law, it's clearly the tone of bribery!
And in front of so many people, he, the father-in-law, "bribed" his son-in-law. Is he really stupid or is he trying to make trouble?
But no matter whether the old man was stupid or trying to make trouble, Xiao Ying had to smile politely, pretending not to see the stack of banknotes, and said tolerantly: "What did father-in-law say? You are busy every day and rarely at home. Mother-in-law is always worried about your situation outside (keeping a mistress outside). I understand very well in my heart, so how could I feel that I was treated unfairly?"
He lied with his eyes open, and the head of the Wang family didn't seem to blush at all. He laughed and nodded, and kept complaining about how hard it was for him to go out for business every day, how his family didn't understand him, and how they didn't know how to spend money without understanding that it was not easy for him to make money...
Xiao Ying listened awkwardly beside him.