Countless people thronged the places where the results would be posted at every street corner.
Examinees, their relatives, people there for the spectacle... all sorts gathered beneath the lists.
The imperial examinations were a major event!
For most people, entering official service through someone else's recommendation was all but impossible. The imperial examinations were their chance.
So even those who had not taken the examinations were curious about the results.
What was more, this was the year of five examinations in one year. Many Heavenly Prodigies would emerge in just such a year.
The spectators wanted to see exactly how many Heavenly Prodigies would appear in this examination.
Some busybodies even planned to record their names and later put together a news story to submit to the Great Wilderness Newspaper Office.
After all, the Great Wilderness Newspaper Office solicited news of every kind. For a good story, it would even offer several taels of silver.
Some farmers and laborers had already earned money that way.
And a topic like "Heavenly Prodigies taking five consecutive examinations" was undoubtedly among the most eye-catching stories.
Of course, aside from the results, the model essays released by the Imperial Court also drew considerable attention.
Each prefecture of the Great Wei Sacred Dynasty, its Eight Circuits, Thirteen Sects, Four Seas, Four Territories, Six Clans, and Six Kingdoms would release its own model essays from the Child Scholar Examination.
At such times, the common people would begin comparing them.
Your model essay was less elegant than ours, your handwriting was worse than ours, even the spacing between your characters was worse than ours, and so on.
In short, they compared everything, and the winning side felt as though it shared in the glory.
"There are six model essays!"
"In some years, there was only one. Sometimes