Chapter 157: Little Trio 2/2

Xu Qifei also stayed. He originally wanted to leave, but Zhu Xunmiao repeatedly persuaded him to stay, so he stayed. These days, he diligently copied the “Lonely Scattered People’s Collection” and sold the copies for money.

After coming to the provincial capital, Xu Qifei didn’t go out much, but his nephew was out all day.

This time, when Xu Qifei came to take the provincial examination, his elder brother asked his nephew to come with him to take care of him.

But this young man, who was about the same age as Xu Qifei, couldn’t handle the task of taking care of people and was always running around outside.

If he hadn’t caused trouble and hadn’t gone to places he shouldn’t have gone, Zhu Qian would have sent him back to Chongcheng County long ago.

Early in the morning on the day the results of the provincial examination were posted, Zhu Xunmiao dragged Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei to the prefectural yamen so they could see the posted list as soon as possible.

“Brother Li, I know you don’t like crowds, so I’ll help you look!” Zhu Xunmiao said to Li Qingzhi.

He didn’t think he could pass the exam himself. After all, Li Xiucai’s two sons had failed the exam many times, and he felt that their knowledge was better than his.

However, he was very interested in checking the list!

“Well then, thank you very much,” Li Qingzhi said with a smile.

During the prefectural examination, Zhu Xunmiao had been very nervous, but it was different this time during the provincial examination.

Probably because he felt he wouldn’t pass, Zhu Xunmiao was in a particularly good mood.

For this reason, Li Qingzhi thought Zhu Xunmiao might actually pass the examination.

Zhu Xunmiao belonged to the type of student who was smart but not hardworking. Such students sometimes performed poorly suddenly, while other times they performed exceptionally well.

The three of them, plus a servant from the Zhu family and Xu Qifei’s nephew, arrived near the prefectural yamen together.

Actually, Li Qingzhi didn’t mind squeezing in to see the list, as he quite liked interacting with people.

But he didn’t think it was necessary—instead of jostling with others, it was better to eat on the side.

While Li Qingzhi was buying some food and eating, Zhu Xunmiao suddenly shouted, “I passed! I passed! Brother Li, you’re ranked first!”

As Zhu Xunmiao shouted, he squeezed out of the crowd and excitedly rushed towards Li Qingzhi. “Brother Li, I’ll treat you. Let’s go to a restaurant and have a good meal!”

Li Qingzhi replied, “Thank you very much!”

“Let’s go… wait, they’re still inside.” Zhu Xunmiao realized that Xu Qifei and his servant were still in the crowd after speaking.

It was at this moment that the Zhu family’s servant rushed out. “Young Master, you passed! You passed!”

“What? I passed?” Zhu Xunmiao was dumbfounded.

“Yes! Young Master, you passed!”

“In what place?” Zhu Xunmiao immediately asked.

The servant replied, “Last place!”

Zhu Xunmiao: “…” That ranking is a bit low! But passing is already good enough!

He was a Xiucai! A Xiucai under twenty years old!

Zhu Xunmiao was extremely excited and then squeezed back into the crowd—he wanted to see his name.

Zhu Xunmiao passed, but Xu Qifei did not.

After a while, he came out of the crowd, first congratulated Li Qingzhi, and then sighed, “I didn’t pass after all.”

In fact, Xu Qifei had already prepared himself for the fact that he wouldn’t pass the Xiucai examination.

But Zhu Xunmiao passing while he didn’t… he felt somewhat disappointed.

Zhu Xunmiao took a long time to come out, and then, with Li Qingzhi and Xu Qifei, went to a big restaurant and ordered a table full of dishes. “I really didn’t expect to pass…”

Before taking the examination, Zhu Xunmiao had spent most of his time with Li Qingzhi, who had analyzed Cheng Xuezhen’s preferences for him.

According to Li Qingzhi, Cheng Xuezhen liked people who followed the rules.

Although he thought he probably wouldn’t pass, Zhu Xunmiao took the exam very seriously, completely according to Cheng Xuezhen’s preferences.

He answered the questions very seriously, every word written neatly, not aiming to stand out, but just aiming not to make mistakes.

Not to mention anything else, his handwriting this time was much better than before, and his answers… should be okay?

Excited, Zhu Xunmiao even called for wine: “Tonight, we won’t return until we’re drunk!”

Li Qingzhi said, “I won’t drink. I have to go back to Chongcheng County this afternoon.”

It was still morning at this time, and Li Qingzhi had already planned to return with the boat from Juewei Zhai to the provincial capital to deliver goods.

“You’re in such a hurry to go back?” Zhu Xunmiao asked.

Li Qingzhi replied, “Is there any point in drinking if I don’t go back and tell my family that I ranked first?”

True! Zhu Xunmiao imagined how his father would react when he found out he passed the Xiucai examination, and he didn’t feel like drinking anymore. He just wanted to go back and show off, and maybe let his father brag to others—he was the first one in their family to pass the examination!

“How will you go back, Brother Li?” Zhu Xunmiao asked.

Li Qingzhi said, “I’ll take the Juewei Zhai boat back.”

Zhu Xunmiao had originally planned to return tomorrow, and Zhu Qian had already arranged for a boat to pick him up tomorrow.

But if Li Qingzhi wanted to go back urgently… “I’ll go with you and take the Juewei Zhai boat back.”

Since Zhu Xunmiao had decided to go back, Xu Qifei couldn’t stay in the provincial capital, so he made the same choice.

It was still early, so the three of them had a meal together and then went back to pack up.

Zhu Xunmiao had been very excited all along, and Li Qingzhi was also quite happy.

He had even won three top rankings, which meant he had achieved a “small Three Yuan,” which was definitely worth celebrating.

On the other hand, Du Yongning was feeling very upset.

Du Yongning didn’t go to the list to see it crowded. Although most candidates were clean, some didn’t like to bathe or wash their hair.

Therefore, as soon as he squeezed into the crowd, he couldn’t stand the unpleasant smell.

He found a nearby teahouse to drink tea and sent his servant to check his ranking, then guessed whether he was second or third.

It should have been second, he thought he had performed exceptionally well this time, and his essays were far better than before!

However… his servant told him that he had placed eleventh.

Du Yongning didn’t believe it at all. “Impossible! Are you sure you didn’t read it wrong?”

“Master, I couldn’t have read it wrong,” the servant said. He didn’t believe it at first, so he checked it several times and even counted it.

“No, I have to go see for myself!” Unable to bear it, Du Yongning decided to go see for himself.

As he approached, he heard someone discussing Li Qingzhi: “Li Zixiao really did rank first this time!”

“I guessed it early on!”

“Li Zixiao is truly amazing!”

…

As if that wasn’t enough, Du Yongning’s ears were sharp, and he heard people discussing him.

“Du Yongning looked so sure he would get the top ranking in the provincial examination, but what’s the result? He didn’t even make it to the top ten!”

“He’s just someone who thinks highly of himself but doesn’t have much real ability.”

“I heard he submitted articles to the ‘Anjiang Anthology,’ but unfortunately, he wasn’t selected at all.”

…

Du Yongning had been very high-profile since he arrived in the provincial capital.

He hosted many gatherings and even went around giving people his poetry collections.

He did indeed promote his reputation widely, and many people knew him, but his ostentatious manner also caused some people to be displeased with him, and they discussed him privately.

“What are you guys talking about?” Du Yongning shouted!

The people originally spoke about him when they thought he wasn’t around, but they didn’t expect him to come over… They were momentarily stunned.

They were all scholars and had their own dignity. Being caught discussing others privately… These people didn’t dare to argue with Du Yongning and left with embarrassed expressions on their faces.

By this time, Du Yongning was already furious.

He didn’t expect others to see him like this!

But even so, Du Yongning still suppressed his anger and went to see the posted list.

Then… he found out that he was indeed eleventh!

The people in front of him were all those he thought were inferior to him. He even told one of them to learn from him.

Du Yongning felt extremely embarrassed. He gritted his teeth and quickly ran back to his residence.

Taking a deep breath, Du Yongning said to his servant, “Go call the boat, I’m leaving the provincial capital and going to Linhu County!”

He couldn’t stay in the provincial capital anymore, he had to leave immediately!

As for where to go… of course, it was Linhu County that he had wanted to go to for a long time!

Now he had no face to go home.

Following Du Yongning to the provincial capital were not only his servants but also several other servants.

Now that Du Yongning had given the order… these people quickly packed up their things and found a large boat for Du Yongning. They carried Du Yongning away from the provincial capital, heading towards Linhu County.

Hexing Prefecture had several county towns, and Chongcheng County was the closest county town to the provincial capital.

Heading north from the provincial capital and entering the jurisdiction of Hexing Prefecture, the first county town you would pass was Chongcheng County.

Going further north from Chongcheng County was the prefectural city of Hexing Prefecture. If you wanted to go to Linhu County, after reaching Chongcheng County, you had to head northwest.

Du Yongning and his group didn’t set off until almost noon. It was possible for them to arrive in Linhu County on the same day, but they would definitely arrive late. By then, whether it was the boatmen or the passengers, they would all be very tired.

Du Yongning himself didn’t want to spend too much time on the boat, so he decided to rest overnight in Chongcheng County before going to Linhu County.

Li Qingzhi was from Chongcheng County. He had some grudges and dissatisfaction towards Chongcheng County, but Li Qingzhi had ranked first in the provincial examination, so he would definitely want to show off more in the provincial capital and wouldn’t be in a hurry to return to Chongcheng County—based on what he observed, Li Qingzhi was working hard to promote his reputation, just like him.

If Li Qingzhi wasn’t in Chongcheng County, it was okay for him to stay there for a while.

Du Yongning reluctantly decided to stay in Chongcheng County for one night, but he didn’t know that Li Qingzhi, who he thought wouldn’t return to Chongcheng County so soon, had already boarded the boat and was ready to go home.

There was a strong aroma of braised meat on the Juewei Zhai boat, which smelled particularly good… Li Qingzhi even felt a little hungry.