Racing to Deliver the Good News
His name is already on the list; he's guaranteed to be the top scholar. Back then, his daughter's first-place finish in the county exam caused such a commotion. This time, winning the provincial exam is like an earthquake for the Great Jin. Since everyone will know anyway, he might as well shout it out now, to let out all the things he'd been holding back last night and finally feel some relief.
Last night, he listened to everyone bragging about their masters, and he couldn't say a word. He was so frustrated.
Now his daughter is the top scholar in the provincial examination, haha, she's the top scholar! She's better than all the men who took the provincial examination. Let's see who dares to show off in front of her now.
His shout caused an uproar among those looking at the list.
"What?"
"How is this possible?"
Everyone looked at the top of the red list, where the three characters "Zhao Ruxi" were clearly written.
"Zhao Ruxi? It must be someone with the same name, right?"
"Yes, it's definitely not that Layperson Zhiwei. Layperson Zhiwei is a teenage girl, and I heard she was adopted along the way. She didn't even have the chance to study in the countryside before, so how could she possibly pass the imperial examination, let alone be the top scholar?"
"Exactly! Being good at drawing can be attributed to exceptional talent; but without ten years of diligent study, no matter how intelligent you are, you could never become the top scholar in the imperial examinations."
Everyone unanimously denied it.
A voice, however, weakly said, "I did hear that a woman participated in the provincial examination; it seems to be Zhao Zhiwei."
However, this person knew that these words would easily anger the public, so he dared not speak loudly, only muttering softly, and did not cause any big waves.
Whether they passed the exam or not, no one wanted to admit that they or their masters were inferior to a little girl, so they unanimously denied Zhao Ruxi's existence and finally reached a consensus.
Since everyone thinks it's impossible, then it's definitely impossible.
Everyone felt relieved and was about to cause trouble for the kid who had been yelling earlier, but little did they know that Xiaole was clever. He had already decided to slip away quickly while he was shouting. Before he finished speaking, he took advantage of the moment when everyone was stunned and slipped out of the crowd.
After the list of successful candidates was posted, the dust settled for those who had passed and those who hadn't. Many people rushed back to report the news, some leaving while others squeezed in. The crowd was no longer as dense as before, and it had become much more dispersed, giving Xiaole an opportunity. Even Wumo, who was most attentive to him, couldn't catch him by the collar and realized that Xiaole had disappeared when she came to her senses.
Nobody seemed to care that Xiaole couldn't be found. Everyone was too busy dealing with their own joys and sorrows to bother with other people's business.
There's a reward for yamen runners to deliver good news. And the capital is different from other places; there are many wealthy families here, and it's common for powerful clans to give tens or even hundreds of taels of silver as a reward when they're Gao Xing —something that rural families can't compare to. Delivering good news is definitely a very desirable job.
Therefore, all the yamen runners from the prefectural government in the capital, except those on duty, were mobilized. They had received the news as early as when the list of successful candidates was posted, and they divided up the tasks to deliver the good news to the successful candidates with the highest efficiency and the fastest speed. The more places they visited, the more reward they would receive.
As Xiaole squeezed through the crowd and sprinted towards the Earl of Suiping's Residence, the three fastest teams of yamen runners had already divided up the tasks of delivering the good news to the top three runners. When Xiaole reached the alley near the Earl's Mansion, he saw the yamen runners coming this way.
Xiaole knew that if he reported the good news before the yamen runners, the reward would be significantly higher. However, if he reported it later, although the magistrate and his wife would give him a reward out of consideration for his hard work throughout the night, the reward wouldn't be much.
He panicked and ran as fast as he could, finally getting ahead of the yamen runners and rushing into the Earl's mansion. The gatekeeper saw him return and was about to ask him a question when he saw Xiaole grinning as he dashed inside.
"Hey, this kid..." The gatekeeper immediately Gao Xing up, "Judging from Xiaole's expression, our Earl's mansion probably has some good news to celebrate."
Just as the other gatekeeper was about to speak, the sound of gongs and drums came from the alley.
"Which family passed the imperial examination this time? Are there any other families in our area that took the provincial examination?" he asked.
His companion, however, ignored him and pointed at the approaching constables, stammering, "They're... they're here to see our household."
The Earl of Suiping's Residence and its neighbors occupy quite a large area, while this alley only has a few households. None of the other families had reportedly taken the provincial examinations; only their daughter had just finished and was waiting for the results. Considering Xiaole's demeanor when she entered, what else could the gatekeeper not understand?
He stood up, tossed out a sentence, "You stay here and guard this place, I'm going to report to the Lord and Madam." Before he finished speaking, he had already run far away.
The remaining gatekeepers cursed, "You scoundrel, always trying to take shortcuts!" There's a reward for reporting good news at this time.
After cursing, he muttered, "No matter how fast you run, you can't run as fast as Xiaole."
Logically speaking, a servant like Xiaole shouldn't be allowed to enter the second gate without his master's permission.
But today was special; even the old women guarding the hanging flower gate knew that Xiaole had gone to check the list of successful candidates.
When the old women saw him running back with a smile on his face, they knew there was good news. They also knew that the Lord and Madam were eager to know, so they didn't dare stop him and let him run inside. However, they still sent someone to follow him, just in case something happened and they were held responsible.
Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu comforted each other and then went to reassure the old lady, but they still held onto a sliver of hope. They stayed in the old lady's courtyard, not in the mood for anything else, chatting idly.
Just then, they heard a maid's joyful cry from the courtyard gate, and they could also faintly hear Xiaole's voice. Both of them stood up excitedly.
The old lady was drinking tea when she was so anxious she almost choked. It Daimao who took the teacup from her and patted her back, which calmed her down.
The old lady stood up and looked towards the door. She saw Xiaole run in, but he was so out of breath from running that he couldn't speak. Zhao Yuanxun and Lady Zhu kept asking him, "How is it? Did the young lady pass?"
Xiaole nodded vigorously.
You won? Really?
Xiaole nodded again.
"Haha, I won! I won!" Zhao Yuanxun Gao Xing he didn't know what to do.
Lady Zhu's eyes immediately reddened, and she covered her mouth with a handkerchief, tears streaming down her face.
"Yes... yes, she's the top scholar." Xiaole finally caught her breath. "Our young lady is the top scholar."
"What? What did you say?" Zhao Yuanxun grabbed Xiaole's shoulder. "What did you just say? Top scholar? You got first place in the exam, you're the top scholar?"
Xiaole nodded vigorously again.
"This... this... am I dreaming? Madam, pinch me." Zhao Yuanxun said in disbelief.
Just as Lady Zhu was about to reach out, a maidservant rushed in, shouting, "Madam, Lord, Madam, the yamen runners have come with good news! Our young lady has achieved the top rank in the provincial examination!"