Second Place Again
"Are you tired? Go ahead and eat something, then take a bath and get a good night's sleep." Lady Zhu said with concern as she watched her daughter get off the carriage, her face full of exhaustion.
The essay question in the third session of the prefectural examination could not be finished in one day. Even if Zhao Ruxi could finish it, she did not want to attract too much attention, so she handed in her paper a day early. Therefore, she stayed in the examination room overnight and did not hand in her paper until about noon the next day.
In modern times, she often stayed up all night to meet deadlines for blueprints. But in ancient times, life was so healthy and green; she went to bed as soon as it got dark and got up as soon as it got light, never staying up all night.
Having spent the entire night in the exam hall, even though I could sleep on the desk, it was still very uncomfortable, and I felt like I couldn't take it anymore when I came out.
She agreed, ate something, took a shower, and went to bed.
"Sigh, this is how the prefectural examination is. If we have to take the provincial, metropolitan, and metropolitan examinations as well, wouldn't we be spending days in the examination hall? We won't be able to eat or sleep well. It's not only tiring, but also very inconvenient," Lady Zhu said to Zhao Yuanxun.
Although there were female examiners in the examination room who would accompany the female candidates to the restroom, the watchful eyes of several male examiners made the female candidates feel uncomfortable no matter what they did. Even if they wanted to rest their heads on the table to sleep, they had to maintain proper etiquette and manners. So even though the examination rooms for girls were much smaller and simpler than those for boys, the psychological burden they experienced was incomparable to that of the boys.
"Our family is quite well-off, and Miss Xi has quite a few businesses under her own name. She can earn in several years what others earn from selling just one painting, so why does she need to work so hard?" Lady Zhu continued.
After Zhao Ruxi auctioned the painting to the palace, she gave Lady Zhu ten thousand taels of silver. Lady Zhu used it to buy three shops in the capital and a large estate in a surrounding county, intending to use it as part of Zhao Ruxi's dowry when she got married.
The original estate of the Earl of Suiping's Residence processed rice into dried vermicelli. Instead of selling it in the capital, the vermicelli was transported to the Jiangnan. Southerners have always loved rice, and these vermicelli were convenient, quick, and tasted great, making them especially popular with the locals.
Seeing the high profits, Lady Zhu simply ordered the manager to collect rice locally for processing, and also bought several small shops, opening rice noodle shops following the model Zhao Ruxi had used in the capital.
After inquiring whether the Xu Family planned to sell roasted nuts and seeds outside of the capital, she opened a roasted nuts and seeds shop next to a Jiangnan rice noodle shop.
The manager Lady Zhu sent to Jiangnan was also very capable. He discovered that the rice noodle shop and the roasted nuts business were doing very well. After returning and reporting back, he opened these two shops in the surrounding cities and towns of Jiangnan as well.
Although some locals followed suit, they couldn't learn the brine recipe or the secrets of quartz sand in a short time. As a result, this one skill alone has earned the Earl of Suiping's Residence a lot of money in the past six months.
After the family split up, the household expenses were reduced by more than half, which made their finances much better. With these additional incomes, the Earl of Suiping's Residence went from being in debt to having a small surplus. Every year, the surplus money was used to purchase family property, Earl of Suiping's Residence's life improved again.
This doesn't even include the property held by Zhao Ruxi, or the dowries of the old lady and Lady Zhu themselves.
Now that her husband has obtained an official position, Lady Zhu speaks with great confidence.
"Miss Xi has her reasons for doing what she wants. She doesn't mind the hard work, so let's not nag her," Zhao Yuanxun said.
Lady Zhu nodded. "I was just saying that; I certainly can't actually try to persuade her."
Two days later, the results of the prefectural examination were to be released. The couple were listening to the news from the old lady's quarters when they heard the servant's excited voice coming from the courtyard gate. "Old lady, lord, madam, the results are out! Our daughter came in second place!"
Lady Zhu stood up and said happily, "Come in quickly."
The same clever servant was sent to check the list again. After entering the room, he bowed and, without waiting for his master to ask any questions, explained the situation in detail.
He added, "The exam papers were also posted along with the list. I listened to everyone's discussion for a while, and everyone was convinced of the girl's ranking. They all praised the girl's writing, and no one had any objections."
As he spoke, he pulled a stack of papers from his pocket and handed them to the maid beside him. "These are the rankings I copied down, along with the two articles posted by the first-place winner."
Lady Zhu was very satisfied with this servant.
She gestured to Matron Zhou: "Give him a high honor."
The gift was a full ten taels of silver, and the servant was overjoyed. It was worth it to copy the article in the crowded throng; that was no human endeavor.
The three of them took turns looking at what the servant had copied back, and found that not only could they not judge the quality of the articles, but they also didn't recognize any of the names on the list except for Xu Chongwen.
"Alright, you all wouldn't understand anyway. Hurry up and send it to Miss Xi; she must be getting impatient," the old lady said.
Lady Zhu hurriedly instructed her maid to deliver the list and the article to Slender Bamboo Courtyard.
She then instructed Matron Zhou, "Prepare a gift and send it to the Xu Family to congratulate Young Master Wen on passing the imperial examination."
Matron Zhou responded and went out.
Watching Matron Zhou's departing figure, Lady Zhu sighed, "Young Master Wen passed the imperial examination with flying colors, and his ranking wasn't low either. The Xu Family couple has finally made it through their long wait."
Xu Chongwen ranked thirty-first in the prefectural examination. Passing the prefectural examination meant becoming a student of the lowest level of the imperial examinations. At his age, it was quite remarkable to pass the lowest level of the imperial examinations; at least his future prospects were promising.
"Indeed," the old lady said. "The Xu Family has made quite a bit of money in the past six months. Not only did they buy Tenth Madam Zhao's courtyard, but they also bought a shop in the north of the city. They've accumulated a modest fortune. Xu Chongwen has now passed the imperial examination, so he won't have to worry about marriage."
"How could I not worry?" Lady Zhu laughed. "The other day, someone from the Zhao Family asked me about Young Master Wen. Judging from their manner, they're just waiting for him to finish the preliminary examination before asking someone to arrange a marriage. Xu Xue has had several matchmakers come to her door. The Xu Family couple are quite patient, wanting to wait until Young Master Wen passes the preliminary examination before arranging marriages for the brother and sister, so they'll have more confidence."
Hearing the chatter between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and thinking of his four nephews and nieces of the same age from the second wife's side, who were not only without prospects for officialdom but also without marriage prospects, Zhao Yuanxun couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
In Slender Bamboo Courtyard, Zhao Ruxi saw the copied ranking list, but she didn't think much about her second place.
She had only focused on the Four Books and Five Classics for about half a year, and even then, she hadn't spent much time on them. To achieve second place in the prefectural examination was already a testament to her good memory and high comprehension. There were many intelligent people in ancient times.
She looked through the list and found that Xu Chongwen had passed the exam, and she was very Gao Xing for him.
"Miss, are the names of those two from the Capital Women's Academy on the list?" Qingfeng craned his neck to look at the list and asked.
Zhao Ruxi had finished looking at the list and handed it to Qingfeng: "I didn't see him. I guess he didn't pass the exam."