Second Place in the Metropolitan Examination
"Madam, Madam, the young lady has passed! She has passed!" In the capital, Xiaole ran through the gates of the Earl of Suiping's Residence without any hindrance, and went straight to the front of the old lady's courtyard.
The old lady and Lady Zhu had been waiting anxiously for a long time.
Zhao Ruxi, on the other hand, remained as steady as Mount Tai, facing the pond and Dianjiang, who was dressed in red beside it, painting a picture titled "Springtime Leisurely Outing".
Her paintings mainly feature grand and majestic landscapes, but she doesn't like to limit herself too much. She hadn't mastered landscape painting yet and felt there was still room for improvement, so she always painted landscapes whenever she had free time.
But now that she felt she had hit a bottleneck in her landscape painting, she simply turned around and tried other painting techniques.
This painting still uses her landscape painting techniques, but the overall atmosphere is different. She has captured the leisurely and languid feeling of spring. The little girl in the painting has a lively expression and is reaching out to pick an iris flower by the pond. In terms of figure painting, she uses a combination of Chinese and Western techniques, incorporating the three-dimensionality of Western painting methods while using the ink and brush techniques of traditional Chinese painting.
After seeing her paintings, Gong Cheng had an epiphany and incorporated Western three-dimensional techniques into his original works, making the horses more three-dimensional and lifelike. Zhao Ruxi originally intended to leave the figure painting technique to Wu Zong, but now that she had a reputation for landscape painting, she didn't need to continue innovating in figure painting. On the other hand, Wu Zong was famous for his figure paintings, and if he also incorporated Western techniques into his original works, it would take his paintings to the next level.
However, since Wu Zong took over the affairs of the Court of Judicial Review from Zhang Changshen after the border turmoil, he has become increasingly busy and seems to have no time or mind to paint. At this time, Zhao Ruxi was itching to try his hand at painting and created this style of painting.
"Congratulations, host, your Wisdom Points has increased by 1000," the system announced.
This wasn't a conscious system calculation, but rather an unconscious part of the statistical scoring. Zhao Ruxi's actions were considered innovative, yet the system still awarded her one thousand points.
However, Zhao Ruxi is now wealthy and earns many points every day, doesn't value these thousand points much anymore.
She looked up from the painting, about to call Dianjiang back, when Caidie came running in, panting, shouting, "Miss, you've won! You've won second place!"
"Second?" Zhao Ruxi frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed.
She had always been number one in the modern world, and her writings during this period had been consistently praised by Peng Guoan and others. Her expectations for herself had risen again, and subconsciously she still hoped to pass the imperial examination with top honors. However, the Great Jin Dynasty was full of talented people, and it was not surprising that some people wrote better articles than her.
"The old lady and madam want you to come over," Caidie said again.
"Alright, I'll be right there." Zhao Ruxi put down her brush, washed her hands, and instructed Yicui to wash the brush she had used. After the paint on the paper dried, she put the painting away before going to the old lady's courtyard.
Because Zhao Ruxi was still among the top performers, Xiaole waited until the final list of successful candidates was released before returning to report the news, which happened almost exactly after the yamen runner who came to deliver the good news.
When Zhao Ruxi went to the front, Lady Zhu had just sent away the yamen runner who had come to report the good news, and was talking happily with the old lady.
Seeing Zhao Ruxi enter, the old lady quickly took her hand and said, "You know now, right? You came in second place."
"Okay, I understand," Zhao Ruxi said.
She then asked, "Did your uncle get it?"
Zhu Hehuai was originally a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination), but he failed the previous year's examination. This year, he took the metropolitan examination with her.
"You passed! You passed!" Lady Zhu's face was full of joy. "You came in thirty-seventh. The ranking isn't bad. It's all thanks to you; otherwise, who knows how you would have done?"
Zhu Family's two maternal uncles had been a great help when investigating her family background. They were kind people and had always been good to Lady Zhu. Zhao Ruxi wanted to repay them, and knowing that Peng Guoan and his colleagues would occasionally comment on articles sent from outside, she mentioned it to Peng Guoan in a letter. Peng Guoan then specially found Zhu Hehuai's article to correct and even met with Zhu Hehuai once.
Zhu Hehuai learned from Peng Guoan that Zhao Ruxi's writing was far superior to his own, so he set aside his maternal airs and frequently sent people to deliver his articles to Zhao Ruxi for critique. After Zhao Ruxi had been providing feedback for a while, Peng Guoan said that he had made great progress. He then became even more diligent in seeking Zhao Ruxi's advice.
That's why Lady Zhu said that.
"This is double happiness for us, haha!" the old lady said Gao Xing, then turned to Matron Jin and instructed, "Quickly send someone to the Zhu Family to offer congratulations to Uncle Zhu Family."
Lady Zhu thanked her brother on his behalf.
She had already sent someone to deliver the congratulatory gift herself. But her mother-in-law's intentions were another matter. Her mother-in-law was just trying to save face for her.
After expressing her gratitude, Lady Zhu turned her attention back to Zhao Ruxi, sighing, "Alas, it's a pity she fell just short; otherwise, she would have been the top scholar."
She had initially worried that Zhao Ruxi wouldn't pass the exam, but now she felt sorry that Zhao Ruxi hadn't gotten first place.
"So many people have studied for over ten or twenty years, and our Miss Xi is so much better than them. What more could you possibly want?" The old lady retorted, scolding Lady Zhu.
Zhao Ruxi quickly smoothed things over. "I know Mother's regret. But if you ask me, getting second place would be even better than getting first place."
"What do you mean?" the old lady asked immediately upon hearing this.
"You may all leave," Zhao Ruxi instructed the servants in the room, then winked at Qingfeng.
After the group left, Qingfeng and Matron Jin stood guard at the door.
Zhao Ruxi then lowered her voice and said, "If I were both the top scholar in the provincial examination and the metropolitan examination, and my essay in the palace examination was also excellent, do you think the Emperor wouldn't have a reason to criticize me if he didn't appoint me as the top scholar? Not to mention others, even Her Highness the Eldest Princess would probably go to the palace to argue with him."
The old lady and Lady Zhu both nodded, lost in thought.
"But if he were to appoint me as the top scholar, the court officials and male candidates would certainly feel terrible. They would then complain about the Emperor, that a woman had ridden over them. Anyone who puts the Emperor in a difficult position will inevitably suffer; only by making him feel indebted will it benefit us. Now that I've come in second place, the Emperor won't be in a difficult position, and it's more beneficial for my father and my future. Isn't that better than that troublesome, empty title?"
The old lady and Lady Zhu both nodded in agreement, finding the reasoning very reasonable.
"You have such a broad perspective and are so thoughtful. We just didn't know how to think about it," the old lady said.
"Alright, now that you've passed the exam, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you're a shoo-in for the Jinshi degree in the palace examination. Do you have any thoughts on the upcoming appointment to an outside post?" Lady Zhu asked.
Zhao Ruxi shook her head. "This is not something we can consider. I will go wherever the Emperor sends me."
She paused, then added, "Grandmother, Mother, if anyone asks you, just say this. If anyone mentions Eldest Brother, say that he is an upright official who never shows favoritism."