Xue Shao handed the bundle to Pan Yun and entered with only Xi Jin.
Feng Hongde had made even a literary examination into a bustling affair. The examination ground was open to the public, with only ropes strung up as barriers.
Quite a few people wanted to become Feng Hongde's live-in son-in-law, and many had signed up, but not every applicant could pass. They first had to clear the preliminary selection.
The preliminary selection was simply based on faces and height.
That alone eliminated many people.
Feng Hongde also used the first round to weed out many candidates he disliked, including quite a few whose looks and height met the requirements.
Xue Shao had learned from Huang Quan that most of those people were sons of local gentry.
In Huang Quan's words, "Those gentry send in a legitimate younger son, or even a concubine-born son, to marry into the Feng Family. They only need to return him to his original lineage after Feng Hongde dies, and they'll reap both fame and profit. At Feng Hongde's age, how many more years can he live? By then, the Feng Family will have only an orphaned daughter left. Won't everything be theirs to decide?"
Huang Quan was local as well. Though his family was not particularly wealthy, they were still a middling landlord household.
So he knew he would be rejected. Though he had once been tempted, he had never taken the initiative.
It was also because he knew his place and had introduced Feng Hongde to several outstanding men from elsewhere that Feng Hongde liked him greatly. Not only did he let him mooch meals at the other residence, he even paid him.
Because Xue Shao was the highest-quality candidate, Feng Hongde was delighted. He not only rewarded him with ten taels