Behind the red honor roll's curtain, Wei Zi stood as Provincial Top Scholar.
The Ministry of Rites runners divided into four parties of eight, each bearing a vermilion-lacquered wooden placard.
Yellow paper covered each placard, bearing the name of the candidate who had placed first in this Provincial Examination.
The runners wore red robes and red hats, with red sashes around their waists, and beat bronze gongs.
They set out from the Examination Hall, heading for the East Flower Gate, the Great Ming Gate, the Black Tortoise Gate, and the West Peace Gate.
The bronze gongs clanged, stroke after stroke, their sound passing through long streets and narrow lanes.
It passed through bustling crowds, carrying the glad news of this year's Provincial Top Scholar to every corner of the Capital.
In the street, several schoolchildren chased after the runners announcing the name, shouting as they ran.
"Provincial Top Scholar Wei Nisheng! Provincial Top Scholar Wei Nisheng!"
"The red roll's curtain falls; Wei Zi is Provincial Top Scholar."
It could not compare to the proclamation beneath the East Flower Gate when the top Palace Examination scholar was named!
Yet...
At all four gates, in all four directions, his name was heard.
Successive honors!!
Naturally, it deserved these words...
The red roll's curtain falls, startling springtime crows; the first-place name sets the Capital astir.
Outside the East Flower Gate stood the Wei Residence.
Wei Mingde had not gone out that day.
Not because he did not want to, but because he did not dare.
On the day the Provincial Examination results were posted, he was more nervous than anyone.
At that very moment, Wei Mingde sat in the Main Hall.
He held a cup of tea, neither drinking it nor having it replaced, simply holding it.
His gaze remained fixed on