The Academy Posts the Results

Back in Little Banyan Village, as soon as Matron Ruan and her companion left, Madam Xie began to chide Xu Xi. "Why did you say those things? You're a young lady-can't you be a little gentler? If you really do have to return to the marquis's manor, the elders won't like you behaving like that. You'll have a hard time there."

Xu Xi smiled. "If I don't make myself clear now and they start putting me through all sorts of trouble once I'm back at the manor, I'll be even more miserable. Besides, that's just how I am. If the people at the manor can't stand it, they'd better not take me back in the first place. Either way, I won't live at their beck and call. If they really make things difficult for me, I'll stay at the academy instead of going back, or I'll simply come back here."

She stepped forward, slipped an arm through Madam Xie's, and said coquettishly, "Auntie, you wouldn't stop wanting me, would you?"

She had the original owner's memories and felt close to Xu Yongyi, Madam Xie, and their family from the bottom of her heart, with no emotional barriers between them.

At her display of affection, Madam Xie couldn't help laughing. She tapped Xu Xi on the forehead and said with fond exasperation, "You, honestly. Whatever am I to do with you?"

"I agree with Sister." Xu Xue raised her hand. "I think I should be like her: strong-willed and not living at other people's beck and call."

Madam Xie actually approved of their attitudes. She herself had the same sort of temperament. Besides, women had a hard time in this world; if they were too soft, they could only wait to be bullied. With the sisters as they were, she could rest easy when they married.

Early the next morning, Xu Xi and Xu Xue set out with Xu Yongyi for the county seat to see the results. When they reached the Women's Academy, quite a few people had gathered at the gate, but there were clearly less than half as many as the day before. Evidently, only the few dozen who had taken the examination yesterday had come to see the list.

The academy gates were still shut, and it wasn't time yet, so the three could only wait. Fortunately, the gates opened before long, and out came Madam Cui, whom they had seen the day before. A maid followed behind her, holding a sheet of red paper, and two burly matrons accompanied them, presumably to protect Madam Cui.

Everyone was excited to see the four emerge. But these people had all been selected the day before, and none were rash in their words or conduct; even their family members had a certain degree of decorum. Thus, although they were excited, they didn't all crowd forward at once. Instead, they made a little room for the four to post the list on the wall.

Madam Cui looked around, evidently very pleased with the scene, before instructing the maid, "Read out the names on the list first, then post it."

The maid obeyed, unfolding the red list and reading out the names.

The crowd outside hadn't been particularly noisy to begin with, and had grown even quieter as soon as the women emerged. So even though the maid didn't read the names very loudly, everyone could hear her clearly.

"Xu Xi, Xu Xue, Zhong Chunying, Liu Lu'er..."

Caught off guard by the sudden sound of her own name-and in second place, no less-Xu Xue stared blankly for a moment before it sank in. She immediately exclaimed, "Sister, we..." But when she saw Xu Xi's warning look, she quickly covered her mouth and swallowed the rest of her words.

Fortunately, the scene was quiet enough that she hadn't dared shout loudly, however excited she was. With people still running over and others exclaiming in surprise, her voice didn't stand out.

Xu Yongyi was beside himself with excitement too. Grinning at Xu Xi, he murmured, "They made it, they made it..." He looked as though Xu Xi and Xu Xue had placed first in the imperial examinations.

Although Xu Xi had received a system notification the day before, she hadn't known whether Xu Xue had been admitted, so her heart had still been hanging in suspense. Hearing both their names now, she felt a weight lift from her heart, and a smile appeared on her face. Even so, she didn't forget to listen intently to the names the maid read out.

She had a good memory and had made a point of remembering. She had retained the faces and names of eight or nine out of ten of the candidates who had entered alone the day before.

The names the maid read out were evidently arranged in the order in which they had entered yesterday, which was why Xu Xi and Xu Xue were first and second. Xu Xi compared them one by one with the names she remembered and counted them as well. In the end, she found that the Women's Academy had admitted forty-six people rather than the fifty originally announced. Twenty-one had been rejected, probably because their academic abilities were insufficient or because they had displayed certain undesirable qualities while answering the questions.

A third of those present had not been admitted, so naturally some rejoiced while others despaired. After the maid finished reading the list and posted it on the wall, the surrounding crowd gradually grew louder. Those who hadn't heard their names shoved desperately toward the front, hoping they had simply missed them.

Xu Xi took Xu Xue by the hand and said to Xu Yongyi, "Uncle, let's go sit in a teahouse for a while and come back later."

Xu Yongyi hesitated. "Shouldn't we look at the names on the list again to make sure?"

Xu Xi smiled. "Did you two hear my name and Xiaoxue's just now?"

Both Xu Yongyi and Xu Xue nodded.

"One person might have misheard, but all three of us couldn't have. Since we all heard them, there can't be any mistake. There are so many people here now. Those who failed want to look at the list, and those who passed want to go into the academy and ask questions. It's a mess. Let's not join the commotion. We'll sit in a teahouse for a while, then come back," Xu Xi said.

Over the past few days, the decisiveness Xu Xi had shown had been thoroughly convincing. Even Xu Yongyi felt from the bottom of his heart that his niece had indeed seen the world in the city with his scholar brother, and that she spoke and acted more capably than he did. Xu Xue's admission to the Women's Academy could be said to be entirely thanks to Xu Xi; her handling of the marquis's manor had also been quite remarkable.

Neither he nor Xu Xue objected. They immediately followed Xu Xi through the crowd and found a nearby teahouse, where they sat drinking tea and eating pastries. After a quarter of an hour, when things over there had presumably quieted down, they returned to the Women's Academy.

By then, the crowd had indeed dispersed, though a few people were still looking at the list in twos and threes. They had presumably arrived later.

The academy gates were open, with two matrons standing guard.

Xu Xi went up to them, handed over the wooden tokens they had received on the day of the examination, gave her own and Xu Xue's names, and asked, "May I ask you two matrons when we should report? What do we need to bring? Are there any academy rules?"

"So you're the two Miss Xus." The matron was very courteous to them. She collected their tokens, rummaged through a box, and found two other tokens, which she handed to them.

Xu Xi took hers and saw that it was identical to the one she had returned, except that her name was engraved on it. Apparently, it served not only as a pass for entering and leaving the academy, but also as an academy identification token. Unless the matrons guarding the gate failed to recognize her, no one could impersonate her and enter the academy, even with the token.

"Please take good care of these tokens, young ladies. You'll be punished if you lose them," the matron said.

She then handed Xu Xi a sheet of paper. "The academy's enrollment date and requirements are all written here. Take it home and read it at your leisure." With that, she handed another sheet to Xu Xue.