Chapter 97: Head of Case 1/2

Although the county exam consisted of five sessions, each session did not last overnight, and examinees could rest at home for a few days in between, so most examinees were in good condition.

But Yao Zhenfu was different. During this period, he couldn’t eat or sleep well, and he had lost weight.

This county exam was already his last chance!

His father said that if he couldn’t pass the county exam, he would either have to go and paddle a boat or work in the fields.

He would never paddle a boat no matter what. Paddling a boat would definitely be in the county town, where he would run into his former classmates. If he let those classmates see him become a boatman, he would be too ashamed!

As for working in the fields… he didn’t want to.

Not to mention anything else, just the “fertilizers,” he didn’t even want to touch them, just seeing them made him nauseous.

Yao Zhenfu came out of the examination room with empty eyes and walked forward in a daze.

Mr. Yao saw his son at a glance and squeezed over, saying, “Ah Fu, Dad is here.”

Yao Zhenfu turned his head and looked at Mr. Yao.

Mr. Yao asked, “Afeng, how did you do in the exam?”

When Yao Zhenfu heard Mr. Yao ask like this, he suddenly got angry, “You only know to ask me if I did well! The county exam is not just about knowledge, it also depends on connections! Look at Li Qingzhi, he has a good relationship with Magistrate Gou, so the bailiffs are all polite to him, Magistrate Gou even values him…”

Yao Zhenfu angrily complained for a long time, pushing all the blame onto others.

Mr. Yao remained silent.

Yao Zhenfu complained again, blaming Mr. Yao for not helping him find connections.

Jin Moli also came to pick up Yao Zhenfu. Now, hearing Yao Zhenfu say this, she became more and more annoyed.

She couldn’t compare to Jin Xiaoye in many aspects now, only Yao Zhenfu could give her some face in the county exam, but seeing Yao Zhenfu like this…

Having been married to Yao Zhenfu for many years, Jin Moli still knew something about Yao Zhenfu. At this moment, she realized something, “Did you not do well in the exam?”

Yao Zhenfu said, “If we had money at home to let me use connections…”

Mr. Yao felt guilty when he heard this, but Jin Moli said, “This is just the county exam. If you need connections for the county exam, how can you pass the provincial and imperial exams?”

“Why not? I was recommended for the first session, but later I wasn’t recommended, it must be because Li Qingzhi secretly intervened, he didn’t like me, maybe he said something to Magistrate Gou!” Yao Zhenfu said, even believing himself, “Before, Jin Liushu, wasn’t it because Li Qingzhi said something bad to Magistrate Gou that he had to go and build a new dock?”

Mr. Yao and Jin Moli were both half-believing and half-doubting.

Yao Zhenfu then spoke again, saying that Magistrate Gou was unfair.

It’s not just him who feels that Magistrate Gou is unfair, Fang Zijian is also very dissatisfied with Li Qingzhi being recommended for promotion every time.

In addition, there are scholars participating in the county exam from the side of Hong Hui. These people have learned some things about Li Qingzhi from Hong Hui, and even seen Li Qingzhi’s manuscripts.

Li Qingzhi’s handwriting is so ugly, and he hasn’t read many books, why is he recommended for promotion every time?

These people already didn’t like Magistrate Gou, now they gathered together to chat, talking bad about Magistrate Gou all day, feeling more and more that Magistrate Gou is not a good person.

Magistrate Gou, who was manipulated by others, has been very busy recently.

He had to worry about the construction of the new dock, and he was also in charge of the entire county exam.

He not only had to set the questions, but also had to be present throughout the exam. After the examinees finished, he had to grade the papers.

He enjoyed looking at Li Qingzhi’s papers, but some of the essays written by the examinees were so poorly written that it gave him a headache.

Fortunately, this was the last session, and he would soon be relieved.

Magistrate Gou didn’t know how miserable he was, he was in a good mood right now.

Finally finished the exam, he could relax for a few days.

And then… in April he would participate in the provincial exam, and then the imperial exam…

Li Qingzhi was one of the first to leave the examination room.

At first, Li Laogen came to pick him up, but later found it boring and stopped coming. Only Jin Xiaoye came to meet him at the entrance of the examination room.

The two returned to the Jin family embroidery shop together, where he saw several familiar faces.

Mrs. Xu, Sister Wang, and Fang Jinniang were all there, even the two old ladies who stitched shoes were there!

Pulling up a chair, Li Qingzhi sat down next to the two old ladies without any sense of estrangement.

After the shop opened, Li Qingzhi went to study. He rarely chatted with Sister Wang and the others, coming and going early and late almost every day.

Adding to this, the government officials and clerks in the county town were also very polite to Li Qingzhi… Sister Wang and the others felt that Li Qingzhi was different from before.

But now that he was sitting like this… the familiar Li Qingzhi they knew was back!

Sister Wang immediately asked about the county exam.

Li Qingzhi had been talking to Li Xiucai for a while before, but he didn’t socialize much. Now that he couldn’t contain his desire to chat, he started talking, occasionally asking Sister Wang and the others about the latest gossip.

When Sister Wang heard him ask, she opened up and talked endlessly, “You don’t know, the goods from our Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Shop are selling very well in the prefectural capital, and we’ve taken on many more orders! With the weather getting warmer, we plan to make some short-sleeved clothes for children, as well as fans and shoes…”

Generally speaking, by the fourth month of the lunar calendar, people could wear single-layer clothing, and those who worked outdoors might wear short sleeves.

It was already March!

They needed to prepare items suitable for summer sales.

Li Qingzhi said, “I have some free time recently. I can draw some new patterns for you. With the hot summer sun, you can also make some beautiful hats to sell.”

Li Qingzhi found some interesting patterns from his memory and planned to draw them for them to make. He also suggested making several styles of hats.

Seeing Li Qingzhi mention this, Jin Xiaoye also became interested and chatted with Li Qingzhi.

They chatted until Sister Wang and the others were ready to go home. At this point, Sister Wang suddenly said to Li Qingzhi, “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you something! The story you wrote for Magistrate Gou has been adapted into a new play by the local drama troupe. Many people in the county have gone to see it recently, and the troupe has made a lot of money with this new play.”

Li Qingzhi was somewhat surprised, “The new play came out so quickly?”

Magistrate Gou had previously said that he wanted to turn those stories into dramas, but Magistrate Gou was so busy, and it would take some time to adapt the stories into dramas… Li Qingzhi thought it would take a long time for this to happen.

“People are still complaining that they are slow! Now one has come out, but who knows when the others will come out.” Sister Wang complained, and then began to complain that she was too busy and didn’t have time to see the new play.

Sister Wang had been quite busy lately. Qu Yunqing went out to do business, and she had to take care of the house and work here.

Speaking of which, Qu Yunqing used to come to find Li Qingzhi every day for a month, but Li Qingzhi was too busy studying and didn’t pay attention to him… Later, Qu Yunqing bought a batch of goods from Jin Xiaoye at a low price and left Chongcheng County.

Li Qingzhi knew that Qu Yunqing wanted to use him to establish connections with the county government, but he didn’t understand Qu Yunqing’s intentions, so he naturally remained cautious.

In the next few days, Li Qingzhi had a very pleasant time.

He went to Li Xiucai’s place in the morning, looked at Li Xiucai’s collection of books, and chatted with him. In the afternoon, he stayed at home, did some housework, taught his children, and chatted with the people in the embroidery shop.

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

At this time, Magistrate Gou had finally finished reading all the papers and selected twenty-one people to pass.