After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 663 Failure
Both Jin Jiashu and Wu Ke failed the provincial examination.

The Wu family's servant looked at the list three times, but couldn't find his young master's name. He went to the teahouse to report the news in disappointment. Wu Ke, who was waiting for the news in the private room downstairs, had long expected that he might not pass the exam. After hearing the news, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Jin Jiashu, who was also waiting for news in the private room, did not speak, nor did he comfort Wu Ke. His own results were still unknown. Therefore, the only one who could comfort Wu Ke was Hai Jiao.

After a while, Zhou Xiaojian and Lu Ga Wa also arrived. They also failed to see Jin Jiashu's name on the list, but they saw it on the secondary list, and also saw Wu Ke's name.

Jin Jiashu ranked first on the vice list, and Wu Ke ranked third on the vice list. Both brothers were a little bit unlucky, and were only one step away from the middle list.

Wu Ke was slightly cheered up after hearing the news. Although the secondary list was not as good as the main list, he was ranked third on the secondary list, which showed that he was just a little short of the mark. As long as he worked harder, he would definitely pass the next exam. He was still young now, and he would be in his early twenties in three years. If he passed the exam, he would still be considered a young scholar, a young talent, and he would have a bright future. Even if he failed this exam, there was no need to be too sad.

He even came back to comfort Jin Jiashu. Compared to him, who was third on the secondary list, Jin Jiashu's first on the secondary list seemed even more unlucky. How different was this from the last on the main list? Perhaps it was just a matter of the examiner's thoughts.

The surprised expression on Jin Jiashu's face quickly disappeared. He calmly accepted the comfort from his classmates and friends without showing any disappointment or anger. Just as Wu Ke said, they are still young, and passing the imperial examination in three years will only be the age of adulthood. Compared with those old scholars who are still fighting for the provincial examination with gray hair, they have more time and there is really no need to rush. After all, he, a 17-year-old scholar, is also an outstanding young talent in Chang'an, better than many people.

Jin Jiashu calmed down and looked at the expression on Wu Ke's face, knowing that he was definitely not as happy as he showed at this moment. Even if he ranked at the top of the secondary list, he failed. After all, he could not compare to the glory of those who passed the main list. What was there to be happy about? Moreover, as the grandson of Wu Wen'an, Wu Ke shouldered the responsibility of revitalizing the family. He was also famous for his talent. However, he failed in the Shaanxi provincial examination. Who knows how people would talk about him. Moreover, Wu Ke had plans for his life after passing the imperial examination. Now that he failed, all his plans would be ruined. How could he feel good? Now he could still force a smile on his face, but it was just a forced smile.

Jin Jiashu paused and whispered a suggestion to Wu Ke: "We are on the vice list and rank high. I wonder if we have a chance to enter the Imperial College?"

Wu Ke was stunned for a moment, then reacted: "This... Logically speaking, he can go in, but entering the Imperial College only means that he will have more famous teachers to teach him. Now we have Teacher Xie..."

Wu Ke hesitated, but Jin Jiashu said, "Teacher Xie may also want to return to Beijing. Besides, there should be several teachers in the Imperial College who were your grandfather's former students, right? They probably hope that you can return to Beijing and are happy to give you more guidance."

Wu Ke was silent. This was a big deal, and he had never thought about it before, so he was unsure. But if he could go back to the capital, that would be even better. The Duke of Zhenguo Mansion had nothing to say about his cousins, but the capital was his hometown after all...

But when he thought that Concubine Sun and the Sun family were still in high positions in the capital, he became frightened and unsure of what to do.

Haijiao watched Jin Jiashu coldly and realized that Wu Ke calmed down with just a few words. He stopped repeating over and over again, "It's already great to be on the vice-list, there's no need to be disappointed and sad." He knew Jin Jiashu's intention clearly and had already guessed it.

To be honest, Wu Ke's words made sense, but if you repeat to someone who was just disappointed about not passing the exam that it didn't matter, the latter probably wouldn't be happy to hear it. Besides, Jin Jiashu's grades have always been good. He had done very well in the rehearsals before the exam, and he also wrote very well on the topics given by several teachers. The topic of this year's provincial examination was slightly off the mark when Xie Wenzai predicted the topic for two students. Jin Jiashu prepared very well in advance and tried to write several articles on similar topics. After the provincial examination, he went home and wrote down the essay he wrote in the examination room. After reading it, the four teachers Xie, Cao, Lu, and Zhuang all thought that he had a chance of making the list, but the final result was that he was only first on the deputy list. How could Jin Jiashu not be disappointed? Even Haijiao felt a little surprised.

But of course he would not say this in front of Jin Jiashu, so he could only whisper: "I will ask someone later to see if there are any mistakes or omissions in your essay that caused the examiner to reject it. Otherwise, how could an essay that my cousin, Grandpa Cao, Grandpa Lu, and Grandpa Zhuang all said could pass not be selected?"

Jin Jiashu said hurriedly, "If it's too much trouble, forget it. After all, my writing is not good enough, or I was careless and made mistakes. So many seniors who studied hard for ten years failed the exam, but they still continued to study hard. I am just a junior student, how can I dare to say that I will definitely pass? It is reasonable for me to fail."

Hai Jiao smiled and said, "It's okay. If you can't find out, forget it. If you can find out, you will know where to improve. You won't make the same mistake again in the next provincial examination. Isn't that a good thing?"

Jin Jiashu smiled and accepted Haijiao's statement that "he failed the exam not because his essay was worse than others, but because he made an error." But in fact, he had another guess in his mind, but he was not in a position to say it out loud at this time.

He changed the subject: "We came out today to check the rankings. Now that the results are out, we should go back and report to the teachers. I hope the teachers won't be too disappointed in us."

Wu Ke came back to his senses and remembered that he had to meet several teachers in a while, which gave him a headache. But before meeting the teachers, he had to deal with his cousin who was in the private room upstairs. His cousin had high hopes for him in this subject, so how should he tell her later?

Wu Ke walked ahead sighing, hoping that his sister would not cry in front of outsiders. Hai Jiao and Jin Jiashu lagged behind and walked out of the teahouse side by side. Looking at the scholars inside and outside the teahouse who were either overjoyed or crying, they looked at each other and felt a little heavy.

Hai Jiao whispered to Jin Jiashu, "Xiao Jin, you just asked Wu Ke about the Imperial College. Do you also want to study there?"

Jin Jiashu whispered, "He has the support of the old students of Wumen. If he wants to enter the Imperial College, it will definitely be easier than it is for me." If Wu Ke succeeds in entering the Imperial College as the third on the list of the Shaanxi Provincial Examination, he, the first on the list, will also be eligible to enter the academy. At that time, he will have a legitimate reason to go to Beijing. He wanted to use Wu Ke's hand to test the emperor in the palace.

Hai Jiao didn't know if he had guessed this, so he didn't say anything. Jin Jiashu turned around and looked at him, smiling slightly: "Brother Hai passed the provincial examination, so he will go to Beijing to take the imperial examination next year, right? If I can successfully enter the Imperial College, maybe I can go to Beijing with you!"

Haijiao blinked and said with a smile: "If you and I can go to Beijing together, it would be great, but the results of the provincial military examination have not come out yet, I dare not boast that I have passed..."

(End of this chapter)