The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 380 Jie Yuan
Lin Zhixiao and his two sons braved the rain and hurried to the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall, only to find that many people were already waiting. The bustling crowd surrounded the notice board tightly, just as the saying goes: Don't say you leave early, there are people who leave earlier than you.

Lin Zhixiao glared at his two sons in annoyance, blaming them for being delayed on the way to buy buns. Fortunately, Lin Zhong and Lin Fu were both very strong, and they shamelessly squeezed in, finally making up for their mistakes and sending their father to the front.

"How can this be? Where did these barbaric slaves and servants come from? They are so rude. How dare they come here and make trouble? It's so annoying!" A scholar was probably squeezed and his clothes were soaked by the rain from his rain gear. He couldn't help but shout angrily, and several of the scholar's companions also frowned and looked at Lin Zhixiao and his son.

Lin Zhixiao hurriedly clasped his fists and apologized. The scholar was obviously still angry and scolded, "Whose servants are you? You are so uneducated. Let your master come out and talk to you."

Although Lin Zhong and Lin Fu were only servants of the Jia family, as the saying goes, a third-rank official is in front of the prime minister, and the Jia family is at least a noble and famous family. They don't take ordinary poor scholars seriously. However, the scholars in front of them were dressed very ordinary, and it seemed that their family background was not very good, so they wanted to retort.

Lin Zhixiao was mature and prudent. He quickly used his eyes to stop his two hot-tempered sons and apologized again with a smile.

"Brother Laizhi, forget it. Why bother with them?" A scholar with thick eyebrows and big eyes nearby waved his hand and advised.

Upon hearing this, the scholar whose clothes were wet decided not to continue to argue, for fear of appearing too petty and losing his composure, so he ignored Lin Zhixiao and his two sons and continued to chat with other scholars.

There were four scholars in this group, and judging from their accents they all seemed to be from Suzhou Prefecture. They knew each other very well and talked as if no one was around, citing scriptures and making extensive references. Regardless of their talents, their eloquence was quite good, especially the scholar with thick eyebrows and big eyes, who spoke eloquently and slowly, with a deep voice that was very infectious. He was clearly the leader among the four.

The four men addressed each other as they talked. Lin Zhixiao listened for a while and basically figured out the names of the four scholars. The leading scholar with thick eyebrows and big eyes was named Zhang Pu, with the courtesy name Tianru. He was also the oldest of the four, probably around 27 or 28 years old.

The scholar whose clothes were wet before was named Wu Changshi, with the courtesy name Laizhi. He was rather thin and had slightly inverted triangle eyes. The fat and fair scholar was named Yang Tingshu, with the courtesy name Weidou. The last scholar was tall and thin, with some acne on his face, in his early twenties. His surname was Wu, his given name was Weiye, with the courtesy name Jungong.

At this time, the autumn rain finally stopped, and the focus of the four scholars' discussion shifted from current affairs to the provincial examination.

The scholar named Wu Changshi glanced at the tightly closed gate of the Imperial Examination Hall and frowned, saying, "Today is the day of the dragon, and the results should have been announced. Why is there no news at this hour?"

Zhang Pu said calmly, "Brother Laizhi, don't worry. We will definitely not be the first place winner anyway. It is enough for you and me to be on the list."

Lin Zhixiao was secretly shocked when he heard this. This man seemed humble, but in fact his tone was quite arrogant. He spoke as if they would definitely pass the provincial examination. You have to know that there were nearly 20,000 people taking part in the Nanzhili provincial examination, but in the end only about 100 candidates were admitted. It was truly a situation where thousands of people were trying to pass a single-plank bridge, and in the end 99% of them would fail.

At this time, Wu Changshi smiled and agreed: "Brother Tianru is right. I'm afraid that the first place in this provincial examination will go to Brother Weidou."

The plump scholar Yang Tingshu next to him immediately waved his hand and said, "The first place must go to Brother Jun Gong. I am far inferior to him!"

"Brother Weidou, you are too modest. The top scorer in this provincial examination will be either you or Brother Tianru. There will be no one else." Wu Weiye, who had pimples on his face, said modestly.

Listening to the four people praising each other, Lin Fu couldn't help but teasing, "Brother, we just saw a cow dead on the street on the way here. It turned out that it was killed by four shameless scholars."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a burst of laughter all around, but the four scholars still looked calm, as if they were used to such situations, or if they really had the confidence to be arrogant.

"You can't talk about ice with a summer insect, and how can a sparrow understand the ambition of a swan? He is just a small servant, why should we care about him? We are just waiting for the results to be announced." The leading scholar Zhang Pu said calmly.

"That's right." The other three scholars echoed, not even looking at Lin Fu, which made the latter so angry that he stared blankly, thinking: "If I don't make the list later, I will show you how to humiliate you sour guys, bah!"

At this moment, the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall suddenly opened, and a team of officials filed out. The scene suddenly became lively, and someone shouted, "The results are out."

In an instant, everyone rushed to the notice board. At this time, there were at least thousands of people gathered in front of the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall. It was really lively and bustling with people standing shoulder to shoulder and waving their sleeves.

"Back off, everyone back off!" The officers shouted loudly while holding water and fire sticks, forcing the crowd back outside the cordon and clearing a path.

A moment later, several clerks carefully walked out of the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall carrying a long list. The originally bustling scene suddenly became quiet. Almost everyone held their breath, staring at the list in the hands of the clerks, with nervousness, eagerness, desire... all kinds of emotions intertwined and sublimated, as if the heart was about to jump out of the body.

This is no wonder. The provincial examination was undoubtedly a watershed in the imperial examination and a threshold for achieving class leap. If you passed the provincial examination, you would become a juren, which meant you could become an official and join the scholar-official class. Even if you did not become an official, there were many benefits to being a juren. You did not have to pay taxes or serve in the military. People in the surrounding area would respect you and some would even register their land under your name to avoid taxes, allowing you to live a life without worries about food and clothing.

As soon as the clerks posted the list on the wall, everyone's eyes were immediately fixed on it, searching for it, including Lin Zhixiao and his son.

"I won, I'm the 111th. Haha, I won!" Suddenly someone started laughing excitedly, and finally fell to the wet ground, holding his head and crying.

A total of 111 successful candidates were selected in this year's Nanzhili provincial examination. In other words, this lucky guy happened to be the last one, and he was lucky enough to make the list. No wonder he was so ecstatic.

"Tsk tsk, this kid is so lucky." Everyone talked about it and cast envious glances.

"Good, I won!" The scholar named Wu Changshi suddenly clapped his hands and laughed, "I am ranked 60th on the list. I am so ashamed!"

"I also won, luckily I got ninth place!" said the tall and thin scholar Wu Weiye with a smile, even the pimples on his face looked radiant.

Lin Zhixiao and his son were shocked. Is this true? Two of the four scholars passed the exam, and both ranked high. No wonder they were so ostentatious.

"Congratulations to Brother Laizhi and Brother Jungong!" Zhang Pu and Yang Tingshu hurriedly congratulated their two companions.

"Happy with joy..."

Lin Zhixiao was a little anxious at this time, because he had already looked through half of the names on the list and still hadn't found Jia Huan's name. He no longer paid attention to other people, but just widened his eyes and searched intently, fearing that he had missed it. However, he searched from the bottom of the list to the top, but still couldn't find Jia Huan's name. His heart sank to the bottom.

"Dad, did Master Huan San pass the exam?" The brothers Lin Zhong and Lin Fu were not very literate, and seeing their father's serious expression, they could not help but ask.

"Shut up!" Lin Zhixiao shouted in a low voice, and searched the list carefully again. He still couldn't find Jia Huan's name. He felt disappointed and thought to himself, "Could it be that Third Master Huan failed the exam this year? Unless...!" Lin Zhixiao's mind moved, and finally he cast his gaze on the top position on the list.

Just like the current college entrance examination, the top XX people in the province's total score will be temporarily blocked, and the announcement of the results of the provincial examination, metropolitan examination, and palace examination in Dajin will also be "blocked", temporarily hiding the top five and waiting for the auspicious time to announce them.

It is said that the reason why the college entrance examination scores are blocked is to prevent hype about the top scorers, but the purpose of "blocking" the top five in the imperial examination of the Jin Dynasty is exactly the opposite. Imagine that the list of all successful candidates is released, and only the top five are left. Wouldn't it attract more attention? When the auspicious time comes, it will be opened, which will further boost the already boiling atmosphere. Therefore, it is undoubtedly a great honor to be in the top five of the list, and the exposure will naturally crush other candidates on the list.

Lin Zhixiao searched carefully twice, but did not find Jia Huan's name from the last to the sixth place on the list. Naturally, he suspected that Jia Huan was in the top five. He was both excited and nervous for a moment.

At the same time, Zhang Pu and Yang Tingshu also looked solemn, without any of the confidence and composure they had when they were talking just now, because neither of them found their names on the list at the back, and now they could only hope to be in the top five.

"Brother Tianru and Brother Weidou are definitely in the top five. Maybe one of them will be the champion. I would like to congratulate you two classmates here first." Wu Changshi said with a smile.

Wu Weiye, who ranked ninth in high school, also agreed with a smile and congratulated Zhang Pu and Yang Tingshu in advance.

"How dare we!" Zhang and Yang clasped their fists repeatedly, obviously very nervous. After all, it was very difficult to get into the top five. If they didn't, it would mean they would fail the exam.

About half an hour later, a drum sound was heard, and a clerk sang loudly, "The auspicious time has arrived. The emperor's grace is great. In the seventh year of the Qiansheng reign of the Jin Dynasty, a total of 111 people were selected on the second list of the Nanzhili provincial examination. The auspicious time is XX year, September, XX day, XX hour and 3 quarter."

As soon as he finished speaking, another clerk came forward and unveiled the red silk covering the top five names on the list.

There was an instant bang, and the whole place was boiling!!!
The fat white scholar Yang Tingshu's face instantly turned red, and he excitedly waved his fist and shouted: "I got it, I got it!"

"Congratulations, Brother Weidou, for being the second highest ranked player in high school!" Zhang Pu said with a smile.

Yang Tingshu smiled and said, "Congratulations to Brother Tianru for winning the fifth place!"

Lin Zhong and Lin Fu were dumbfounded. The four scholars in front of them were so amazing that they were all on the list. Except for Wu Changshi who was ranked 60th, the other three were in the top ten, ranking second, fifth and ninth respectively.

"Dad, you...what's wrong with you?" Only then did Lin Zhong and Lin Fu realize that their father Lin Zhixiao was shaking all over as if he had epilepsy. They were shocked.

"Matched...in!" At this time, Lin Zhixiao pointed at the list with trembling lips, as if he was about to die, and uttered two words with difficulty.

Lin Zhong and Lin Fu suddenly came to their senses and asked hurriedly, "But Master Huan San was successful."

Lin Zhixiao nodded and uttered two more words: "First—name!"

Lin Zhong and Lin Fu were stunned for a moment, then cheered and jumped for joy: "We won, Third Master won, hahahaha, first place!!!"

For a moment, all the eyes around were cast on the father and his two sons, including Zhang Pu and the other four.

I saw that the first character on the list was raised by one, and it was written - Jia Huan!
"Jia Huan? I seem to have heard this name somewhere before."

"Hey, you don't even know Jia Huan? The emperor himself issued an edict to commend him as a model of filial piety and a role model for sons."

"Ah, it's him. I remember now. It is said that he is a student of Lin Ruhai, the governor of Yingtian. He is a man of both civil and military talents at a young age. He is highly regarded by Lord Lin. He also participated in the investigation of the Yangzhou smuggling salt case and even led troops to suppress pirates."

"This boy is from the Jia family, one of the four great families in Jinling. Although he is a concubine's son, he has been extremely intelligent since he was young. He is a rare child prodigy in the world. He passed the imperial examination before he was ten years old, and he was the third place in the boy's examination!"

"Wow, awesome!"

Listening to the discussions and exclamations all around them, Lin Zhong and Lin Fu couldn't help but puff out their chests with pride. If they had tails, they would probably stand up too.

Lin Zhixiao was also very proud at this time, with a big smile on his face. He didn't expect that Master Huan San not only passed the exam, but also won the first place. It was so amazing, it was simply the God of Literature who came down to earth!

"Excuse me, are you Jia Jieyuan's family members?" Some people couldn't help but come over to ask.

Lin Fu said proudly: "That's right, this year's top scholar Jia Huan is our Third Master, hehe!"

Fortunately, Lin Zhixiao was mature and steady. As more and more people gathered around him, he hurriedly clasped his fists and bowed, then took his two sons out of the crowd and hurried to Taipingli, Zhuque Street, to report the good news to Jia Huan.

Zhang Pu frowned as he looked at the three Lins who had emerged from the crowd. Wu Changshi snorted coldly, "This Jia Huan is from the Rongguo Mansion, and is just a son of a nobleman. How could he be at the top of the list? Is there something fishy going on? I heard that the examiner this time, Mei Hanlin, is the son-in-law of the current Minister of War, Wang Ziteng. The Wang family and the Jia family are closely related through marriage."

The plump and white Yang Tingshu shook his head and said, "Brother Laizhi, what you said is wrong. The sons of noble families are not necessarily unlearned. Since Jia Huan was able to become the top three in the boy's exam and obtained the title of scholar before he was ten years old, he must have some extraordinary qualities."

Zhang Pu nodded and said, "What Weidou said is very true. I have also heard of this boy named Jia Huan."

Wu Weiye said calmly, "As the saying goes, seeing is believing, hearing is not. This Jia Huan has a great reputation, but is he worthy of the reputation or not? We will know the answer at the Luming Banquet tomorrow."

The four of them looked at each other and smiled.

(End of this chapter)