Provincial Exam Champion
Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu had already sent people out to gather information. Upon hearing the news of these two passing the imperial examinations, they were extremely uneasy. Although Zhao Ruxi had ranked very high in both the prefectural and provincial examinations, within the top ten, he should have been quite confident in passing the provincial examination.
But this is the provincial examination, and so many people fail at this hurdle. You must know that the son of Lord Wang from the front street is already over forty years old, and he has finally passed the provincial examination and become a Juren.
Even though Zhao Yuanxun and his wife had a double dose of optimism about their daughter, believing her to be exceptionally intelligent, they still couldn't believe that Zhao Ruxi could pass the exam so easily after only one year of schooling, and even achieve such a high ranking.
I haven't received any good news yet; there's only one possible outcome: I failed the exam.
Lady Zhu said, "It's alright. Anyway, our Miss Xi doesn't rely on studying for her future. Her painting skills are comparable to those of a master, which surpasses many others. The imperial examinations are held every three years, and there are top scholars every year, but in all these years, our Miss Xi is the only painting master who can be compared to Mister Kumu."
"Yes, yes, yes," Zhao Yuanxun quickly chimed in, "And it's better that she didn't pass. If she had, the child would have had to work so hard for the imperial examination, and just thinking about it makes my heart ache. A delicate girl like a flower, wouldn't it be better to stay home, eat, drink, and play? With painting alone, she's already more than capable of surpassing others. Why would she need to work so hard? It's good that she didn't pass, it's good that she didn't pass."
The couple were more comforting themselves than comforting each other. After saying all that, their sense of loss had just begun to dissipate when the old lady sent someone to inquire again.
The two hurried to the old lady's courtyard and repeated what they had said to her.
Meanwhile, Xiaole had looked at the list several times but couldn't find his daughter's name. He was just as disappointed as Zhao Yuanxun and his wife.
Let's not even talk about the girl failing the exam and the ten taels of silver reward being out of the question. Because of Zhao Ruxi, he received over twenty taels of silver this year, enough to buy two or three acres of good farmland in the suburbs. He was grateful, and even without the reward, he hoped the girl would do well and pass the exam.
Thinking this, he sighed, stopped looking at the rankings, and turned to look at his friends who had spent the night with him.
Some people were overjoyed, dancing with excitement, clearly having won; others, like them, looked dejected, obviously having failed. Some, however, were still unwilling to give up, their eyes practically glued to the list, scrutinizing each name one by one.
It was so crowded everywhere that Xiaole could barely move, let alone squeeze out. Besides, it wasn't good news, so he wasn't in a hurry to go back and report it.
He patted Wumo, the servant boy from Lord Lu who had slept next to him the night before and was his closest friend, and asked, "How is it? Your young master didn't make the list either?"
Wumo nodded, her face full of dejection.
His son had already taken the provincial examination once before, but failed. This time, the chances of him passing were quite high, and the whole family was hopeful. But in the end, his son's name was not on the list.
Knowing full well that her young master was unlikely to pass the exam with top honors, Wumo still clung to a last glimmer of hope.
He said, "Not necessarily. The list of successful candidates hasn't been posted yet. Maybe my young master got into the top three, instead of failing."
Xiaole was stunned. "Huh?"
He turned to look at the list, then pointed at it and said, "Isn't this the complete list of successful candidates?"
Wumo looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Your family sent you to check the list, didn't you know the rules for posting the list? When the yamen runners come to your house to announce good news, they announce it from the end to the beginning, leaving suspense; the list is also divided into two parts, one is the red list and the other is the white list. The white list is for the fourth to the last person, and the red list will be posted later, only showing the top three."
He patted Xiaole on the shoulder reassuringly. "Although the hope of making it onto the honor roll is very slim, what if our master does something right? As long as the honor roll hasn't been posted, we still have hope."
"Really? That's wonderful!" Xiaole's dim and dejected eyes suddenly lit up with hope, and the corners of her mouth turned into a smile. "This is the first time I've seen the results. I didn't even know the provincial examination results were posted like this. The prefectural and provincial examinations didn't have this rule."
Wumo patted his shoulder, but in her heart she felt more and more that Xiaole was a fool.
I heard there's a "Red List," and that's why I'm so happy. But it's a "Red List," and there are only three spots, and they're the three most outstanding individuals.
The young master of the Xiaole family is just the son of a minor official, with no reputation whatsoever. Is it possible for him to pass the provincial examination with top honors? He'd be better off going back to sleep and dreaming about it.
Because the prefectural and provincial examinations had caused quite a stir, and because of Zhao Ruxi, even the Prefect of the Capital, Lord Zhang Li Lord Zhang, had been dismissed from his post. Therefore, when Xiaole chatted and boasted with everyone last night, she didn't dare to mention that her mistress was the Layperson Zhiwei, that she was female, or even the four words "Earl of Suiping's Residence." She only vaguely mentioned Zhao Yuanxun's official title, for fear of causing trouble for the Earl of Suiping's Residence and Zhao Ruxi.
The capital city was vast, and officials of all ranks were as numerous as hairs on a cow. When people heard that he was a sixth-rank official from the Court of Judicial Review surnamed Zhao, they quickly racked their brains and realized that they didn't recognize the name. They then paid no attention to him and subconsciously assumed that Xiaole was the young master's page.
Xiaole had no idea that Wumo viewed him this way. He went from extreme frustration and disappointment to great anticipation, hoping that the soldiers would stop dawdling and quickly post the red notice.
His daughter ranked second in both the county and prefectural examinations, and sixth in the provincial examination. Recently, she has also received guidance from a teacher at the Imperial Academy. Perhaps she can pass the provincial examination with flying colors. Even if she doesn't become the top scholar, she has a good chance of getting second or third place.
Fortunately, the soldiers seemed to have heard his thoughts. After posting the three white notices, they went back into the examination hall, took out a piece of red paper, applied paste, and pasted it in front of the white notices.
Xiaole had a good spot and sharp eyes, and he immediately spotted the three characters "Zhao Ruxi" written at the top. Overjoyed, he patted Wumo's shoulder vigorously, laughing and jumping, "Ahhh, she passed! She passed! My girl passed the provincial examination with top honors! Ahhh, that's amazing! She passed! She passed!"
There were only three names on the red list, which could be seen at a glance. Before Wumo could even feel disappointed for his young master, he was slapped hard on the shoulder, almost falling over. Then he heard Xiaole scream.
He was stunned for a moment before looking at Xiaole in disbelief. "What? You won? Your... your daughter? Not your son? Are you out of your mind?"
"Haha, I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy, it's my daughter. My daughter is Zhao Ruxi, also Zhao Zhiwei, a famous painter in the capital, a top student of Mister Kumu, the one whose painting sold for 25,000 taels of silver." Xiaole no longer held back and shouted out everything he had wanted to say for a long time.