Chapter Summaries

While Rong Zheng took his exam, Ye Yun hired Yao Jizheng and Madam Ding to tend the household’s thirteen mu of land, giving the struggling family steady work. The villagers soon heard about the arrangement and debated whether Rong Zheng would pass his exam and gain scholarly honors.

• Ye Yun visited Madam Ding and offered to hire her and Yao Jizheng as farmhands for seventy wen per person per day.
• Madam Ding accepted the offer, and Yao Jizheng agreed to begin work before Rong Zheng returned to sign the contract.
• Yao Jizheng and Madam Ding started tending Rong Zheng’s thirteen mu of land the next day.
• A neighboring villager learned that Rong Zheng had hired the couple to manage all his fields.
• Villagers discussed Rong Zheng’s wealth and argued over whether he would pass his exam and become a tongsheng.

Rong Zheng returned from the county town and reunited with Ye Yun, while the household discussed Yao Jizheng’s employment and Ye Chen’s schooling. In the county, Xu Huaqing secretly downgraded an outstanding exam paper to protect his nephew Xu Qi’s chance of becoming the case champion.

• Rong Zheng returned after six days away, embraced Ye Yun, and agreed to draw up Yao Jizheng’s farmhand contract with the village chief.
• Wang Zhang-shi and the village chief visited to ask Rong Zheng how his exam had gone, and he said it went not bad.
• Rong Zheng and Ye Yun shared an intimate reunion that left Ye Yun’s lip split; the next morning, Rong Zheng told Ye Chen he could delay attending school for now.
• Xu Huaqing reviewed the exam papers and found one that he considered the finest, but recognized that his nephew Xu Qi’s paper was also highly recommended.
• Xu Huaqing placed the outstanding paper among the merely recommended papers instead of accepting it, hoping to preserve Xu Qi’s chance at the case champion title.

Pei Guangshen discovered that the education official had demoted an exceptional examination paper to favor his nephew Xu Qi, and he corrected the rankings. More than twenty days later, Rong Zheng and Ye Yun learned that Rong Zheng had placed first in the county examination and left town together.

• Pei Guangshen and Qian Shumian found an exceptional paper in the recommended stack and realized that the education official had favored his nephew Xu Qi.
• Pei Guangshen reviewed the remaining papers, awarded first place to the deserving candidate, placed Xu Qi eleventh, and summoned the education official to reprimand him.
• Rong Zheng and Ye Yun arrived in town to see the county examination results, and Rong Zheng spotted his name at the top of the list.
• Rong Zheng lifted Ye Yun so he could see the results, and the bailiff announced that Rong Zheng was the top scorer from their town.
• Rong Zheng took Ye Yun's hand and left as the crowd searched for the county's first-place candidate.

Rong Zheng received official congratulations and rewards after placing first in the county examination, and his village and classmates celebrated his success. At school, he learned that Xu Qi had placed eleventh and that the county magistrate had taken action against Xu Huaqing.

• Rong Zheng returned to the village and told Ye Chen that he had taken first place in the county examination.
• Two bailiffs arrived at Rong Zheng's home with twenty taels of silver and the Four Treasures of the Study, while the village chief and villagers celebrated his achievement.
• Wang Zhang-shi, the neighbors, and Yao Jizheng brought Rong Zheng congratulatory gifts, and Ye Yun prepared sweets and return gifts for the visitors.
• Rong Zheng went to school, where Teacher Zhao and his classmates congratulated him; Huang Yi shared the mutual guarantee group's exam results.
• Rong Zheng treated Huang Yi, Fang Zihao, and Chen Yujie to lunch, where they discussed Wei Xing's failure, Xu Qi's eleventh-place result, and rumors that the county magistrate had acted against Xu Huaqing.

Rong Zheng took the four-day prefectural examination, finished confidently, and returned to the inn. He declined Fang Zihao’s invitation to visit pleasure houses, reaffirming his commitment to his husband, while Huang Yi chose to stay with him.

• Rong Zheng saw guards catch a candidate with a hidden cheat sheet and enter the examination compound after passing his own search.
• A lantern-carrying boy led Rong Zheng to his cramped cell, where he took the three-session prefectural examination over four days.
• Rong Zheng completed his papers in good form, checked them, and handed them in before leaving the examination grounds.
• At the inn, Fang Zihao invited Rong Zheng, Chen Yujie, Mu Han, and Huang Yi to visit the city’s pleasure houses.
• Rong Zheng declined because he had a husband, and Huang Yi decided not to go with the others.
• Rong Zheng told Huang Yi that a scholar’s romantic spirit showed through his writing, leaving Huang Yi thoughtful.

After collecting the profits from Realm of Wonders and Strangeness, Rong Zheng declined Feng Xuanwen’s invitation to study in the prefectural city because of his family and the high costs. As he considered how to earn a living, the vendors’ calls inspired him to think about starting a business.

• Rong Zheng met Feng Xuanwen at the Distant View Bookshop, where Shopkeeper Sun divided the five volumes’ profits between them.
• Feng Xuanwen declined to write another story and told Rong Zheng he planned to resume studying for the academy examination.
• Rong Zheng and Feng Xuanwen split the remaining profits, and Feng Xuanwen treated Rong Zheng to lunch at the Delighted Phoenix Pavilion.
• Feng Xuanwen invited Rong Zheng to study with him in the prefectural city, but Rong Zheng refused because he had family responsibilities and could not afford the expenses.
• Rong Zheng pondered ways to make a living and, after hearing the street vendors, considered going into business.

Rong Zheng made master stock duck after remembering a recipe from his modern life, and the neighbors praised the result. He planned to try selling it at a stall in town, though Ye Yun noted that the first batch had been costly to make.

• Tao Miao brought duck meat to Ye Yun, who returned the favor with a bowl of pig's trotters.
• Rong Zheng remembered how to make master stock duck and asked Ye Yun to buy six ducks so he could test the recipe.
• Rong Zheng prepared the stock and braised three ducks while Ye Yun helped with the cooking.
• Rong Zheng shared the finished duck with Wang Ze's family, and they praised it and encouraged him to sell it.
• Rong Zheng told Ye Yun he wanted to make a larger batch to sell in town, and Ye Yun estimated that the first pot had cost around four hundred wen.

Rong Zheng passed the prefectural examination as its top candidate, becoming a tongsheng and earning farmland as a reward. The chapter revealed that the prefect had chosen him over a celebrated academy student after weighing their papers, while Rong Zheng remained unaware he had nearly lost first place.

• Ye Yun accompanied Rong Zheng to the prefectural examination results posting, where Rong Zheng was announced as the top candidate.
• Rong Zheng returned home with Ye Yun and received ten mu of irrigated farmland from the prefect as his reward.
• Villagers congratulated Rong Zheng and Ye Yun, while Rong Zheng took pride in topping two examinations and gaining confidence in his scholarly ability.
• Before the results were posted, the prefect compared Rong Zheng's paper with Wen Yan's and debated which candidate to rank first.
• The deputy examiner praised Rong Zheng's answers, and the prefect chose him as the top candidate, hoping he might achieve the minor triple first.

Rong Zheng told Teacher Zhao he planned to stay in town for now rather than accept sponsorship or study at White Deer Academy, though he hoped to move to the prefectural city by next year. After a farewell meal with his mutual guarantee group, he returned home tipsy and grew intimate with Ye Yun.

• Rong Zheng told Teacher Zhao he would postpone the academy examination and remain in town while preparing for future exams.
• Teacher Zhao urged Rong Zheng to study at White Deer Academy and mentioned that merchants and local gentry might fund him, but Rong Zheng declined their support.
• Rong Zheng treated his mutual guarantee group to a meal, where Fang Zihao and Mu Han took their examination failures in stride and Chen Yujie and Huang Yi announced they would study in the prefectural city.
• Huang Yi invited Rong Zheng to visit him at White Deer Academy if he came to the prefectural city, and Rong Zheng agreed.
• Rong Zheng returned home reeking of alcohol, saw Ye Yun after his bath, and pulled him onto the bed for a kiss.

Rong Zheng and Ye Yun opened their braised-duck stall in town, where customers quickly bought most of their stock. They sold out by two in the afternoon and returned home to Ye Chen’s warm welcome.

• Rong Zheng, Ye Yun, and Ye Chen prepared more than twenty ducks and loaded them onto their new stall cart.
• Ye Yun collected a market plaque, and Rong Zheng set up the stall on the town’s busiest street and offered samples of their Superb Braised Duck.
• A manservant bought a large order for his young master, and other customers began buying duck parts as well.
• The young master enjoyed the duck so much that he sent the manservant back for more, but the stall was nearly sold out.
• Rong Zheng and Ye Yun sold out by two in the afternoon and returned home, where Ye Chen had heated water and kept rice warm for them.