On the first day of the eighth month of Jinghe Year Ten, the results of the Autumn Provincial Examination were posted.
Yingtian Prefecture in the Capital had been bustling since early morning.
Before dawn had fully broken, the long street outside the Examination Hall was already packed with people.
"They're here! They're here!"
Someone shouted, and every gaze turned toward the Examination Hall's gates.
The gates opened.
First, two squads of soldiers filed out and formed two rows outside.
Then an official in scarlet robes stepped forward, one pace at a time, holding a roll of yellow silk.
Four bailiffs followed him, carrying a large wooden board.
Yellow paper covered the board, densely filled with writing.
The scarlet-robed official stood on the steps outside the gates, swept his gaze over the sea of people crowding the street, and cleared his throat.
"Yingtian Prefecture Provincial Examination, Jinghe Year Ten!"
"The results are hereby posted!"
As his words fell, the bailiffs behind him raised the board and leaned it against the Examination Hall's screen wall.
For that instant, the entire street fell silent.
Everyone craned their necks, their gazes shooting like arrows toward the yellow paper.
Then the silence broke.
"I passed! I passed!" A candidate in his thirties suddenly leaped into the air, sending his hat flying and his loose hair tumbling across his face.
He did not care. He grabbed the sleeve of the man beside him.
"Brother, look for me-is that my name? Is it?"
"You passed, you passed! Stop pulling my clothes!"
"Hahahaha! Ten years by a cold study window, and today, at last..."
Before he could finish, he burst into tears, crouching on the ground with both hands over his face.
His shoulders heaved as he cried like a child.
For every person weeping with joy, another