Firecrackers Were Falling from the Sky

Xie Cheng'en was so angry that his eyes turned red and tears streamed down his face. How could there be such a shameless woman in the world?

The clothes of those lackeys were all torn to shreds, and their faces were covered in soot.

Zhou Wanwan couldn't hold back any longer:

"Hahaha... It's like firecrackers are going off in the sky."

Perhaps it's a wish that you'll soon pass the imperial examination and become scholars, and I'm congratulating you in advance?

Everyone gritted their teeth, when they heard the sound of gongs and drums not far away.

That was the official procession announcing good news, the gongs clapping loudly and clearing, shouting all the way, "Congratulations—Young Master Zhou! You've passed the imperial examination and become a scholar!"

The messenger carrying the good news rushed over.

Zhou Wanwan smiled faintly and said, "Young Master Zhou? It seems my brother passed the imperial examination and became a scholar!"

Xie Cheng'en snorted and said, "It's just good luck. He only won one. What's there to be proud of?"

Then the constable shouted loudly, "Congratulations to all twenty-six gentlemen of your household for passing the imperial examination with flying colors!"

Everyone fell silent. Xie Cheng'en's eyes widened. "You mean how many? Twenty-six people? That's ridiculous!"

Those around him nodded in agreement, saying, "I've never seen a family produce 26 scholars. How many do you think an entire county produces?"

"Could it be that they cheated?"

Everyone was whispering among themselves, and Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said:

"That's utter nonsense. Everyone was carefully checked before entering the examination room."

Besides, where can you cheat in an exam hall? Go ahead and do one, let me see.

Xie Cheng'en sneered, "If it weren't for cheating, how could he have gotten 26 places?"

Zhou Wanwan said speechlessly:

"That's naturally because our academy is so great."

"By the way, why haven't any officials come to bring you good news yet? Could it be that you didn't pass the exam?"

Xie Cheng'en sneered, "What's there to be proud of? My good news will arrive soon."

Zhou Wanwan waited with them for quite a while, but no good news came their way.

The four constables who delivered the good news were overjoyed to see the fifty taels of silver in their hands.

How could an ordinary family afford so much?

The messenger called out loudly at the door:

Gu Sinian ranked first in the college entrance examination, Zhou Wanwan ranked second, and Zhou Qingyan ranked third!

Three outstanding students passed the exam together, a family's literary fortunes are flourishing! Congratulations!

Zhou Wanwan pouted. She thought she would get first place! But she was still outdone by Gu Sinian.

Zhou Fusheng, standing next to her, was also dumbfounded. "Wanwan, didn't you do poorly on the test? How did you become second?"

Zhou Wanwan sighed and said, "I really didn't perform well; I got one question wrong."

Zhou Fusheng hissed and said:

"If you perform well, won't you become the top student?"

Wow! You guys are really something. I wonder if I'm one of these 26 people?

Soon, they called out Zhou Qinghe and Zhou Qingchen's names. Zhou Qinghe smiled and said, "Phew... that scared me to death! I thought I hadn't passed the exam this time!"

Zhou Qingchen patted his chest and said, "I thought I answered terribly, but I didn't expect to pass!"

Zhou Fusheng stood to the side, looking dejected, and said, "Does that mean I'm the only one in our family who didn't pass the exam?"

Then the messenger announced loudly, "The last one, Zhou Fusheng."

Zhou Fusheng's face lit up with a smile, "What? I passed the exam? To think that I only studied for a little over half a year and already passed the county-level exam, am I dreaming?"

Xie Cheng'en stomped his feet in anger, while Zhou Wanwan stood beside them, waiting for a long time before saying:

"Really? There are about ten of you, and none of you got it?"

That's quite embarrassing. Take Xie Cheng'en for example; his family hired the best tutors in the capital, but they couldn't teach him anything. What a pity."

Xie Cheng'en was so angry that he turned around and went back into the house.

The lackeys slunk away in disgrace.

Liu Su'e said with a smile:

Let's have hot pot tonight and celebrate!

I never imagined that everyone in our family would pass the imperial examination and become a scholar!

Of the more than thirty people from the entire village who took the exam, more than twenty passed and became scholars, which is a very high probability.

Just as they finished preparing the hot pot, Shen Yu'an walked over happily and said, "This time, Yunxi County has really made us proud. Nobody expected that Yunxi County would produce so many scholars."

Zhou Wanwan laughed and said, "I'm afraid Cheng Xiao is furious."

Shen Yu'an said with a smile:

"It's more than just being angry! This time, Qingshui County only produced three scholars."

Moreover, all three scholars were at the bottom of the rankings.

"But tomorrow the prefect is going to host a banquet for all of you scholars, are you going?"

Shen Yu'an was worried that Zhou Wanwan would be taken advantage of if she went.

Zhou Wanwan looked at Shen Yu'an and said, "Do you think he'd be that kind? He'd be a second Zhou Bapi, okay?"

Shen Yu'an coughed and said, "He told me to let you know whether you want to go see him or not is up to you."

Zhou Wanwan smiled and said, "Of course we'll go! It's not easy for the prefect to treat us to a meal, shouldn't we go and see him?"

Shen Yu'an looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Then you must be careful after you go."

Zhou Wanwan nodded. Old Scholar Tree was also worried about something going wrong, so he immediately sent out an advance team.

That evening, dozens of trees appeared in the prefect's residence.

Those trees were no ordinary trees; they roamed freely, gathering all the information they could find.

The next day, Zhou Wanwan led a group of people to the prefect's residence.

As soon as the group arrived in front of the prefectural government office, they saw that more than a hundred scholars had already gathered there, chatting in twos and threes.

Someone lowered their voice and said:

Have you heard? This time, Dongshan Prefecture is holding an examination for scholars.

Qingxi County had over forty students pass the exam in one go; I don't know how they teach there."

Someone nearby immediately scoffed:

"What's so great about Qingxi County? It's just a poor, remote place where people rarely even have a penny to their name; they're dirt poor."

Unlike our county, where families are well-off and whose literary tradition has always been far superior.

Others chimed in, "Exactly, it's just a matter of luck that they won a few more. Qingxi County is ultimately not a respectable place."

Cheng Chao replied loudly:

"Qingxi County may indeed be quite low-class, but aren't you even lower-class?"

From the top ten on the list, they're all from Qingxi County. Look at your counties, the most any county has has only 15 scholars.

If I were you, I wouldn't even have the face to show my face.

Oh right, Qingshui County and Xiangyun County, there are only 3, right? Tsk tsk tsk!

The three scholars from Qingshui County all lowered their heads. Suddenly, someone next to them said, "Wait a minute! Cheng Chao, your father is the magistrate of Qingshui County. Are you so ruthless that you'd even betray your own father?"

Cheng Chao sneered and said, "I'm from Yunxi County now. I've even transferred my household registration to Yunxi County."

Everyone was speechless. Someone couldn't help but mock, "You're not a scholar, what are you doing here today?"

Cheng Chao, standing behind Zhou Wanwan, said, "My master came in second place in the imperial examination, so naturally I must stand by and serve her."

Everyone was speechless...