Chapter 110

Early the next morning, Shen Cui and the others got up especially early to go and see the announcement of the exam results.

They thought they were prepared, and the place where the results were posted was nearby, so they should have an easy time checking the list.

But unexpectedly, when they arrived, not only was the bulletin board already crowded with people, but even clever vendors had set up stalls to sell their goods.

Shen Cui and the others bought breakfast and asked the vendors for information.

Through their inquiries, they learned that many people had stayed up all night waiting, and as soon as the curfew was lifted, they had already left their homes.

Before long, an official with a copper gong came and asked the crowd to step back a bit.

Then another person brought a long table and started posting the results.

Once the posting was complete, people could look at the results.

The crowd in front of the bulletin board started jostling to get a better look.

Shen Cui had never experienced the announcement of exam results personally before, and this time she truly gained some insight.

She thought it would have been better to come later when the impatient people had finished looking.

Of course, she had come so early because she was anxious to see if the hastily made belts had really made a difference, to try to improve Mei Ruochu’s ranking.

Even though she could have checked the exam results from the holographic screens, her impatience had driven her to come and see for herself.

It was fortunate that a few young men surrounded her in the crowd; otherwise, her shoes might have been trampled.

Later, they didn’t let Shen Cuiwei squeeze forward anymore. They said a few of them could squeeze in to see.

Lao Buyu looked at the lively and crowded scene and couldn’t help but joke, “This scene isn’t anything yet. Wait until the provincial exam results are out; that’s when it gets crazy… It won’t be them protecting us; it’ll be us protecting them.”

Shen Cuiwei chuckled and responded, “Is it like what Confucius said, ‘catching husbands under the list’?”

“Catching husbands under the list” refers to the day the exam results are announced when wealthy local families come out in full force to choose husbands for their daughters.

This “catching” is obviously exaggerated; they’re not actually tied up with ropes. But it reflects the excitement of the event.

In the original book, there’s a subplot about Mu Yunchuan, who became the top scholar (jinshi) and gained great fame in the provincial capital.

Local wealthy families wanted to befriend him, and some even extended olive branches, seeking a marriage alliance with him.

Mu Yunchuan, being diplomatic, neither offended anyone nor accepted any marriage proposals, gracefully stepping back from the fray.

Three years later, when their own young men participate in the provincial exam, who knows what the situation will be like.

While lost in thought, Shen Cuiwei heard her chubby son cheering.

Soon they all squeezed out again, each with a happy expression on their faces.

Wei Shu bumped into Mei Ruochu with his shoulder and said, “Brother Mei! I told you he was being too modest!”

“Brother Mei hides his talents too well,” Mu Erpang couldn’t help but laugh.

It turned out that they had just squeezed in when they were dispersed by the crowd, so they changed their strategy and paired up.

Wei Shu and Wei Xi went together, and of course, Mu Erpang went with Mei Ruochu.

But Mei Ruochu didn’t start looking from the top of the list like the Wei brothers did; instead, he pulled Mu Erpang to look at the ‘red chair’ area.

After looking around, they naturally couldn’t find Mei Ruochu’s name.

Later, they met Wei Shu and Wei Xi in the crowd, and only then did they find out that they had already seen Mei Ruochu’s name at the top of the list!

The group squeezed back to the top, and sure enough, Mei Ruochu’s name was at the top!

Wei Xi’s ranking was also good, eighth, while Wei Shu landed squarely at twentieth.

All three of them had passed!

Mei Ruochu really seemed indifferent. At this point, the others hadn’t even realized he hadn’t done well in the academy exam.

They truly thought he was being too modest.

He didn’t hide it anymore and explained the whole story to everyone.

Now they understood why he had been saying his ranking wasn’t good.

It was fortunate that he only revealed it now.

Wei Shu and Wei Xi didn’t have as good a mentality as him.

If they had known earlier, during those few days before the announcement, they wouldn’t have been able to enjoy themselves at all.

They would have truly been unable to taste food and sleep at night.

Lao Buyu guessed, “I think it’s because the education commissioner understood that the damage to the paper wasn’t your fault. So, they didn’t consider the appearance of the paper, only its content.”

Lao Buyu’s guess was partly correct.

The day before, the education commissioner realized his mistake and, along with other school administrators, worked overnight to correct it.

Those administrators, even though they were specifically appointed by the commissioner, didn’t show any dissatisfaction.

Even Li, who was supposed to have been drunk and reciting poetry, put down his cup without any sign of drunkenness.

After a series of comparisons and discussions, Mei Ruochu’s essay was still the best among this round of academy exams.

But as for the specific ranking, it depended on the commissioner’s decision—because although writing the test well was one aspect, his paper did indeed have issues. Not giving him first place would still be justifiable.

Finally, the commissioner thought carefully and said, “I just had someone check again. It turns out there was a sudden rainstorm in the exam room, which was a mistake by the staff below. They didn’t expect such a heavy rain, so they didn’t replace some of the old roof tiles. The fault doesn’t lie with this student. We can even infer that he had finished his paper early; otherwise, his handwriting might have been ruined by the rain. Writing such a splendid essay in such a short time proves his extraordinary talent and quick thinking. Why don’t we disregard the appearance of the paper?”

In fact, this was also a form of compensation in the education commissioner’s heart. After all, he had almost caused an excellent student to miss out on the title of scholar, which would have required an additional two years of preparation for the exam. Especially when he recalled his own experiences during the imperial exams in his youth, encountering various hardships, he empathized even more.

The other school administrators and examiners didn’t object. After all, they were only there to help with grading, and the appearance of the paper was within the education commissioner’s scope of assessment. Their responsibility was to evaluate the true abilities of the candidates.

And in terms of true abilities, this unfortunate student far surpassed others.

So Mei Ruochu became the top of the list in this round of academy exams!

……

After checking the results, they each wrote letters to the old headmaster and the Wei family parents to share the good news, had them sent out, and then it was time to go back to the village and tidy up.

Shen Cuiwei had only planned for herself and Mrs. Zhou to go back and tidy up. Most of the things in the old academy residence were old items and didn’t need to be transported back and forth.

They just needed to sort out the system-generated items and delicate things, with Mrs. Zhou’s meticulous help being sufficient.

As for the decorations and books that the Wei family had sent to the academy earlier, they did need to be brought over again, but since they were delivered by the Wei family’s servants, they were confident in their hearts, and having them accompany them was enough.

The rest of the people could temporarily stay in the small courtyard rented by Wei Shu, waiting for her to come back and move to the new location together.

Mu Erpang naturally refused. Although the Wei family’s servants were with them, they were still outsiders.

He couldn’t rest assured leaving his mother and sister, two women, to travel far away. He didn’t mention his concerns, just saying he wanted to go back and see Zheng’s family. “Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle must miss me. We won’t be back in the county town until the next county exam. It’s just right to go back and spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with them.”

Wei Shu and Wei Xi also said they wanted to go back for a visit. Although the Wei family in the county town wasn’t particularly close to them, they were still relatives from their hometown, and they had taken care of the two brothers a lot in the past.

They wouldn’t be going back to the county town in the future, so they should go and say goodbye in person.

And as for the matter of Qingzhu Academy, Wei Shu also needed to personally inform Ling Qingming, completing that last bit of courtesy.

Mei Ruochu had been inseparable from Mu Erpang day by day, and now it had become a habit. He smiled and said, “Without Han Shan’s snoring, I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep at night.”

Mu Erpang laughed and jumped onto his back, hanging onto him. “I already told you, it was because I got tired from climbing the mountain that day!”

So, only Lao Buyu was left. He used to be wild and unruly, not liking any constraints, but now, wherever Cuiwei’s team went, he would definitely follow.

Everyone had their own thoughts, and Shen Cuiwei didn’t interfere, so they all returned together.

After a few days of travel, in mid to late July, the group returned to the village.

On the day they returned to the village, Shen Cuiwei increasingly felt that her decision to move the academy was correct—everyone had been away for so long, yet there was still a constant stream of people coming and going at the academy gate!

Because there was no one in the academy to manage it, and the effect of the warning signs and notices posted at the academy gate had passed, Shen Cuiwei didn’t know who had taken them down.

Luckily, before she left, she had hidden away the tempting academy signboard, or else they might not have been able to keep the signboard at all!

Shen Cuiwei felt speechless in her heart, but she didn’t show it on her face. When others eagerly came up and asked where they had been and if the students had passed the academy exam, she answered openly, “We didn’t go anywhere; we just accompanied the students to take the academy exam. They did well and all passed.”

Her answer was already quite subtle; she didn’t mention Wei Shu and the others’ rankings. But even such a light remark was like a drop of water poured into a boiling oil pot, immediately causing an explosive effect.

“All three of them passed the exam at once? Your academy produced three scholars?”

“Oh my god, our village has only produced a few scholars in the past hundred years, right?”

“Yeah, and most of the scholars from our village were like the one in the village private school, taking the exam in their forties or fifties!”

“Adding the eldest son of the Mu family, isn’t it that our village has produced four scholars in succession?”

After these people exploded, some didn’t know who to pass the news to, while others stayed and kept discussing loudly. Some even started thinking about sending their own children to Qingzhu Academy.

Shen Cuiwei knew it was useless to reason with these people, so she said, “Our academy has decided to move to Qingzhou Prefecture. If you really want to send your children to Qingzhu Academy, then take them to the prefectural city and attend our academy’s enrollment exam.”

“Why do we have to go to the prefectural city to attend the exam? You’re right here; can’t you conduct the exam on the spot?”

The enrollment matter was something Shen Cuiwei made up on the spot, and she continued without changing her expression, “Qingzhu also holds a spring enrollment every year at a fixed time. Although our academy was established recently, we should have regulations for everything. And this enrollment is not only for the village; it’s open to students from the entire prefectural city, so we have to conduct it in the prefectural city. As for the standards, they should follow the standards of the academies in the prefectural city.”

Now that no one dared to underestimate Qingzhu Academy, saying things like “How can your academy be compared to Qingzhu Academy,” everyone subconsciously felt that comparing the two academies side by side wasn’t a problem.

Many people in the village had never been to a place farther than the county town in their lives.

Letting them go to Qingzhou Prefecture, where they didn’t even know which direction to go, would cost them too much in terms of travel expenses.

Not to mention that they would have to compete with people from the entire prefectural city.

Moreover, with Qingzhu Academy now producing three young scholars, in the future, they might even become jinshi or juren, eligible for official positions!

They didn’t dare to act rashly anymore, and the noise immediately died down.

Some people muttered, “Shen Cuiwei is probably not stupid to give up this auspicious place that has produced four scholars in succession…”

Thinking about it, it made sense. With such a good feng shui place here, why would they seek far and wide?

Then, there were people competing to buy the Mu family’s old house.