Chapter 179

After someone exclaimed in shock, everyone in front of the list rushed towards the top.

The top four on the list were as follows: the top scholar was Mei Ruochu, the second place was Mu Hanshan, the third was Shen Aoshuang, and the fourth was Wei Xi.

Although they were from different counties or villages, they were all from Qingzhou Prefecture.

“There must be something wrong… ” Someone shouted, “The main list of the provincial exam only admits less than sixty people in total, distributed among various prefectures. How is it possible that so many people from Qingzhou Prefecture alone have passed, and their rankings are so good?”

“Yeah, the literary style of Qingzhou Prefecture has always been mediocre at best!”

“It’s absolutely impossible! There must be something wrong!”

Some of the scholars who didn’t have their names on the list looked like they were going crazy.

In the early days, the people of Cuiwei had also seen people lose control in front of the list, but the provincial exam was different from the previous exams.

It was not only held once every three years, but it also determined whether they could make the huge leap from a scholar to a jinshi.

So, many of them were far more “crazy” than they had imagined.

Mu Er Pang and the others hadn’t squeezed to the front to see it yet, but they already knew their rankings from the shouts of the crowd.

Different from before, when they surrounded Cui Fei and laughed and shouted, they just exchanged meaningful glances with each other, and then each subtly smiled.

The scholars who had just criticized them for being from a small academy saw that they were silent at this moment and stopped them, saying, “Gentlemen, your classmate almost became a supplementary candidate. If it weren’t for those people in front… this gentleman wouldn’t have to sit on this ‘red line’!”

The other party said indignantly, as if they were trying to drag them into their ranks, showing solidarity against a common enemy, and then stared at them without blinking.

The situation was indeed a bit awkward. Mu Er Pang and Mei Ruochu looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

Cui Fei had to speak up, “I have little knowledge and shallow learning. I failed the exam last year. I thought I couldn’t even make it to the supplementary list this year. Being able to be on the main list is already a stroke of luck.”

Cui Fei meant that he had failed the exam once before, so this time he didn’t have much hope.

Being able to pass and get on the main list was already satisfactory for him, so don’t count on him for causing trouble.

The scholar who was waiting for their response misunderstood the key point and stammered, “You… you’re only in your second year of exams…”

For a moment, they didn’t know how to react.

But in the end, the people who occupied the top positions on the list were the “big threats,” so that person didn’t bother them anymore.

Mu Er Pang and the others finally managed to break free.

Since they only didn’t know Wei Shu’s ranking, and his ranking had always been in the middle, they didn’t need to squeeze forward.

Viewing the list from the back was just as good.

In a short while, they found Wei Shu’s name, ranked twentieth.

“I’ve almost been stuck with this ‘two’ several times,” Wei Shu couldn’t help but mutter with a smile.

As they took a moment to check Wei Shu’s ranking, more and more people gathered at the top of the list, making it almost impassable.

Many scholars were instigated by others, expressing their dissatisfaction one after another, whispering and criticizing, firmly believing that there must be something fishy going on.

Some even said they would go to the capital to petition the emperor.

Finally, someone couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up, “The chief examiner of this year’s exam is Minister Wang! His reputation is not as resounding as Elder Shen’s, but it is still well-known. He is indifferent to fame and wealth. He wanted to retire from office two years ago. Do you think he would play tricks in an exam like the provincial exam?”

“Yeah, even if he wanted to play tricks, he wouldn’t have put so many people with similar household registrations in such prominent positions. If they were scattered all over the list, who could find the flaws?”

Most of the people present were scholars who were not young and had a certain ability to discern.

Especially many of those who stayed here to speak out were well-known on the list—those who failed the exam had long left this sad place or were mingling with those at the top of the list.

If something went wrong with these people, wouldn’t the efforts they had made to pass the exam be in vain?

Even if it wasn’t invalidated, it might be criticized behind their backs.

They would be said to have passed the exam by cheating, and their jinshi status would be considered illegitimate!

Rumors are frightening and can destroy one’s reputation. How could they just sit back and ignore it?

“That’s right, if Minister Wang dared to rank them like this, it proves that he is upright and fearless, judging only by talent, regardless of other factors!”

After a calm analysis from someone, more people on the other side began to echo and support.

Those who failed the exam were not as knowledgeable as those who passed, and there was really no evidence at the moment, just groundless speculation, so for a while, everyone didn’t know how to refute it.

Finally, someone spoke up and asked, “What you said makes sense, but how do you explain the top four all being from Qingzhou Prefecture?”

The first person to stand up to refute them sneered, “Why does this need to be explained? Can’t Qingzhou Prefecture produce four talented individuals?”

“Yeah, although Qingzhou Prefecture is not as good as Linnan Prefecture, it is also a respectable place in this province. You all have read the works of the sages. Haven’t you heard of ‘after being apart for three days, you should look at each other with new eyes’? Can’t Qingzhou Prefecture have a flourishing literary scene this year?”

“That’s right, don’t look down on Qingzhou Prefecture, okay?”

Among the group of those who failed the exam, there were also people from Qingzhou Prefecture. When they heard this, they all spontaneously thought, “Yes, they are from Qingzhou. Why should we believe outsiders? We shouldn’t look down on our hometown.”

Therefore, these people quickly became “traitors,” saying, “Yes, you outsiders may not know. The top few on the list are very famous in our prefectural school…”

After the earlier snow-viewing poetry gathering, Zhao’s son’s poetry society published their poems and made them into a poetry collection to increase sales.

Later, Zhao’s son used their resumes as a selling point for publicity. The poetry collection sold quite well.

So, many scholars from Qingzhou Prefecture who were not in the prefectural school had heard of them to some extent.

The person then reported Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang’s resumes.

The scholars who were preparing to petition the emperor visibly decreased in number.

Mu Er Pang and the others didn’t want to cause trouble at first, so they didn’t step forward to clarify their identities.

Later, as two groups of people argued, they didn’t have the chance to speak up. They simply came forward directly.

Listening to all this, Shen Cui and Lao Buyu, who had been on the sidelines for so long, not only learned about their rankings but also listened to the whole process.

Shen Cui couldn’t help but sigh, “I thought before that this year’s exam was difficult because of Minister Wang, and they might all suffered a lot. Now I realize that this is actually a great fortune for them.”

Lao Buyu also sighed, “It’s said that ‘fortune and misfortune depend on each other.’ This situation is probably what it means.”

If it were not for a chief examiner with a less experienced background or someone who didn’t want to cause trouble, they would definitely not risk provoking the scholars by ranking them according to the true level of the Cuiwei students.

Only Minister Wang, who is upright and fearless, would do so.

He would not hesitate to upset the scholars and would rank them purely based on their talent, not caring about other factors.

After saying this, Shen Cui whispered with concern, “But many people still don’t know the truth. If they find out about the relationship between the education official of our Qingzhou Prefecture and Minister Wang, will it cause new controversies?”

At present, those people have no evidence and dare to speculate like this. If they knew that the education official of Qingzhou Prefecture, Liu, was half a student of Minister Wang, wouldn’t they be even more targeted?

Lao Buyu said, “What we can think of, Minister Wang can’t? He has been standing in the court for many years and must have some means. Let’s just wait and see for now.”

Shen Cui also thought about it. Minister Wang dared to rank them like this because he truly only judged by talent and wasn’t afraid of causing trouble.

But it didn’t mean he would be willing to let so many young people cause trouble without cause.

After some time of contemplation, Shen Aoshuang unexpectedly spoke up, “Headmaster, there’s no need to worry about this. Even if Minister Wang does nothing, we…”

He paused unclearly, and no one could hear him clearly. Then he continued, “And now we should go back and prepare for tomorrow’s Lu Ming Banquet.”

The so-called Lu Ming Banquet is a banquet held on the day after the exam results are announced for the newly appointed scholars.

This kind of banquet is presided over by local authorities and is not only attended by scholars but also by officials inside and outside the curtain. It is grand and lively.

At this grand banquet, the young men not only need to clean up, but those who performed well in the exam may also be called upon to recite poetry or write articles in front of everyone.

At that time, everyone present would be at least a scholar of the same year. If their poetry or articles were not outstanding enough, it would definitely be embarrassing.

This is actually a kind of assessment, so it’s not yet time to celebrate or worry about other things.

After hearing this, everyone was suddenly alert.

Later, Shen Cui led everyone back to Scholar Lane first, and soon the people who came to report the good news arrived.

Although they already knew their rankings, the process still needed to be followed.

Shen Cui distributed lucky money to each group of people who came to report the good news.

Because there were six waves of people reporting good news, the scene became quite grand, and neighbors nearby opened their doors to watch the excitement.

Shen Cui didn’t have time to care about these neighbors who usually kept to themselves and had never met before.

She asked the young men to quickly go out and find a bathhouse to wash up.

When they came back from outside in the afternoon, it was time to prepare the clothes for tomorrow.

Shen Cui didn’t have to worry about this. When they went out earlier, Cui Fei had bought gifts for everyone in the academy, including new clothes.

After all, Cui Fei thought at that time that it would be no problem for others to pass the exam, so they must be going to the banquet.

When the results came out later, they might not want to celebrate and buy new clothes because of their emotions.

So he specially prepared them. It’s just that he didn’t expect to end up passing as well, so he didn’t buy any for himself.

As for himself, he didn’t lack food and clothing.

When he went out, his luggage was packed by his Sister and Sun Ruowei. Any clean item he took out would maintain his status as a scholar.

Shen Cui didn’t care what they wore and asked them to read for a while and then prepare to go.

He went out to buy dozens of red envelopes and started to put varying amounts of lucky money inside.

Then he distributed them to everyone to distribute tomorrow.

The next morning, the government sent someone to invite the young men to the banquet.