This was an important moment and the group waited for their test results since morning. What Li Yuanying didn’t know was that the examiners had very different opinions on the ranking and they almost rolled up their sleeves to fight.

At first, everyone was quite calm and sat together marking the papers calmly. After all, the papers were anonymous, and everyone graded according to merit.

The examiners were all appointed by His Majesty, and the chief examiner is Ma Zhou. After His Majesty publicly announced that he was the chief examiner, he graciously stepped aside and became the deputy chief examiner.

But the real work was done by Ma Zhou. He is a man with many ideas. When Li Er first took over the throne, he assigned homework to all his allies and told them to write about their experiences. One man wrote well but he instantly knew that something was not right. How can a rough guy write something so refine?

The Emperor found out that his friend employed a ghost writer who happened to be Ma Zhou. THe then awarded Ma Zhou with an official position and often listens to his opinions.

One example is when they changed the way curfew was announced. In the past, the government had to send people to run around shouting about it. Ma Zhou found this a waste of effort and immediately propose that they use a drum as a signal instead. Since then, the opening and closing of the city gates has been based on drum sounds!

Ma Zhou is a person with active thinking. He came from a poor family but was full of vigor. He strongly recommended the paper he was marking as first rank as he thinks that the candidate could focus on reality, debate on current problems, and wrote with talent. The article was refreshing to read, and the ideas proposed feasible to be executed. No matter how you look at it, this deserves the first place!

When a good article is placed next to an ordinary one, the difference is very obvious!

But one man’s meat is always another men’s poison. Some thought that the tone was too arrogant, which was not in line with their pursuit of moderation and humility.

Everyone was initially arguing based on just personal preferences but after the ranking was done up and the names revealed, the disputes became very heated. Some even changed sides and agreed with the opposing side, not only could this person not get first place, but he should be deposed!

Although Ma Zhou agrees that the first place will be difficult to choose, he was determine to defend his candidate after hearing the debate that his candidate should be disposed off.

“Then let His Majesty decide!”

There’s no other way to do this. The article was written by Wu Mei, a former Lady of Talent serving the Emperor. The legendary story about the foolish King who lost his beauty still spread from time to time. Whether Wu Mei should be ranked first needs to be determined by the Emperor.

With Wu Mei as a target, no one cares about the ranking of others. Everyone else was ranked according to the first draft. Ma Zhou took this controversial ranking to the Emperor for approval.

Li Er read it.

This time, 25 people were selected for the Jinshi exam, 5 more than the original 20.

This was instructed by the Emperor because even if Chengyang and the others passed, they cannot serve as officials. Let’s not take up quota in vain. In order to keep talents within his grasp, he promised 5 more places which could be left empty if none were qualified.

Seeing Ma Zhou’s recommendation, the Emperor wasn’t very pleased. Mainly because Wu Mei used to be a concubine in his Royal Harem and now she ranks first in the Imperial Exam.

Even though Li Er thinks that Yuanying’s little story is complete nonsense, at this moment he can’t help but put himself in the shoes of the “Foolish King” who is now seeing his “beloved woman” living a more fruitful and wonderful life.

Letting him decide whether to let Wu Mei rank first is equivalent to slapping himself in the face!

His Majesty looked at Ma Zhou with dissatisfaction. How can he be so bold to actually do such a thing!

Unfortunately, His Majesty knew the situation outside better. Wu Mei’s article had been circulated widely, and basically everyone  in Chang’an who can read a little knows a few sentences from her article!

The main reason is because Li Yuanying has asked his performers to sing about it at his restaurant after publishing it in the library newspaper. Now everyone knows that this year’s imperial examination has produced an exquisite and excellent article!

If the first place needs to be given to someone else, it’s best to keep the essay a secret, otherwise both can be easily compared! Unfortunately, there is no other outstanding candidate this year,  none that can surpass this essay!

This matter is just as his brother had predicted. If the Emperor was gracious enough to allow this “special” group to participate in the exam, he needs to also have the tolerance to allow them to rank among the top.

One’s ability relies on 2 things – talent and hard work. Since Wu Mei’s talent and learning have reached such a level, what’s wrong with giving her the first place?

As for whether this will lead to other women scrambling to follow suit, there is actually no need to worry. The imperial court has called for talents for a long time but the majority of common men were still illiterate, what more women?

Then again, if a lady could study, it is not a bad thing. Most children are raised by women. Most daughters from aristocratic families were taught to be knowledgeable and wise, so that there will be less ignorant and stupid ones!

After making a decision, His Majesty looked carefully at the remaining rankings. He could not find Li Yuanying’s name in the front, and only saw it in the tenth place.

This ranking is not high, but definitely not a bad one. After all, there are many taking the exam. Yuanying ranking at number ten is enough to surprise many!

Continuing to read, Li Er found Wei Shu and Chengyang at the end of the list. Considering the age of these kids, it’s amazing that all four were on the list.

After finding out the names he was interested in, the Emperor returned the list without changing anything. Announce it to the public as it is.

Only then did the other examiners realized that all 3 female candidates were selected, and Li Yuanying was in top ten!

While Ma Zhou was checking with His Majesty, the examiners were frantically re-reading articles trying to find mistakes. In the end, they had to admit that the articles were fluently written without much fault to pick on.

Those who are chosen as examiners were all well-educated and trusted by His Majesty. They can’t deliberately find fault with others. They can only sigh that their students were untalented and can’t even compare with children in their teens.

Since there’s no objection, the list was released on time.

Although Yuanying and his friends came early, they didn’t get the front row and had to wait outside for people inside to pass on the news. For some reason, after the list was posted, the people who saw the ranking first fell silent, and everyone stared at the name at the top of the list in disbelief.

The people outside became anxious: “What’s wrong? Who’s at the top? Why won’t you say anything? Make way so that we can see too!”

Instantly those standing in the front row snap awake from their dreams and screamed in dismay: “How can this happen?” “Wu Mei? A woman?” “The top of the list is a woman?” “Impossible! How can this be?”

Some even burst into tears on the spot, thinking that God was being unfair. How could a woman take the top spot, but they couldn’t even get the last place!

Yuanying became excited and proudly told people to make way: “Make way, make way, everyone, the top of the list is here, let us go in and take a look!”

When the others heard him, they made way and he led his friends in to see the list. He looked at the top and it was indeed Wu Mei’s name!

This made him happy and he congratulated her: “Mei Niang, it’s really you, you got first place!”

Wu Mei couldn’t believe it. She look at the name on the list and was happy and bright. After she left the Royal Palace, her mother and sister wrote letters to fault her, asking why she was so foolish to throw away being a Royal concubine and follow a little devil.

Only she can tell how happy she is now.

Li Yuanying lived freely and unrestrained, doing whatever he wants. The most important thing was that he not only lived like this himself, he wanted everyone around him to live the same.

Maybe this happiness comes at a price, but so what, there’s no such thing as perfection in the world. At least at this moment, she believes in her choices and has never once regretted leaving the palace.

Wu Mei happily laugh together with Yuanying and started looking for his name on the list. After confirming that all four had ranked well, they left the crowd to regroup with Di Renjie and the rest. The devilish revisions they had these few months had proved fruitful. Everyone who took the exam this year was on the list. Di Renjie, who usually kept a low profile, unexpectedly ranked first in the Mingjing exam!

Yuanying has had the fantasy that all his friends would pass but he had not expected 2 of them to be ranked first. He held onto both the top candidates and ran to show them off to those who came to see the list, saying that he had a Jinshi top candidate in his left hand and a Mingjing top candidate in his right hand. No one more powerful than him in the world!

Seeing Li Yuanying’s arrogance, many wanted to put a sack on him and beat him up. Instantly their envy d hatred towards Wu Mei and Di Renjie lessened.

Soon, many came forward to congratulate them sincerely, especially classmates who had studied together. They were all very proud of Li Yuanying and the new Jinshi who brought glory to the Imperial Academy!

Yuanying loves the energy and invited everyone to have a buffet meal at his restaurant. Eat as much as you want and drink whatever you desire.

As soon as the results were released, the messengers ran around streets and alleys, and news that this year top candidate is a girl quickly spread throughout Chang’an City.

The restaurant also received the news. Not only is their boss the first ever Jinshi prince in Tang, they also have a Jinshi princess! What’s more amazing is that the top candidate is also from their family!

What must they do? Before Li Yuanying could instruct them to prepare a buffet, staffs had already started preparing for a banquet.

Chengxin has been obsessed with stage design recently. After hearing good news, she decorated the entire restaurant as a stage. She decorated the building with colorful silk and had a colorful door to welcome guests. She made the restaurant the most eye-catching  icon of the whole street. At a glance, you can tell that the boss is happy!

Su Qiniang followed Chengxin out to check out the progress of the colorful door. Seeing the workers busy and energetic, she was happy too.

“I never thought of such a day before.” (Su Qiniang)

Chenxin smilled too: “Who would have thought about such a day in the past?”

The happy days now, these are days they wouldn’t even dare imagine in the past.

Notes from the Author:

Little Prince: “I’m sooo happy today!”