Inside the Imperial College, the morning light broke, and a ray of warm sunlight filtered through the window lattice and shone onto the desk in the wing room.

Xue Jiyan, the third son of the Xingyuan Marquisate, had a scholarly air between his brows and was gentle and elegant. He was holding a yellowed copy of the "Book of Rites" and reciting it seriously with his eyes fixed on it.

On the other side of the desk, Jiang Lun leaned against it, his eyelids heavy, yawning continuously, and looking reluctant.

His uncle Jiang Wensong repeatedly ordered him to be "imprisoned" in the academy, away from the poetry gatherings and fine wine he longed for. He was told to concentrate on preparing for the exam until the end of the spring examination without any distraction.

The uncle's intention was very clear. He specially arranged Jiang Lun's room next to Xue Jiyan's, intending to use Xue Jiyan's diligence and love of learning to inspire Jiang Lun, so that he could also cultivate his character and concentrate on his studies.

Inside the academy, the sounds of reading and reciting are endless, which is a vivid portrayal of the saying "A day's plan begins in the morning".

The tribute students knew that time was precious, so they seized the opportunity and studied hard.

At this time, the sound of wheel wheels rolling over bluestone slabs broke the tranquility of the early morning, and the servants of the Imperial College began to clean the courtyard busily.

Among this group of people, there was one who was also a tribute student who was about to take part in the spring imperial examination. His name was Yan Boxi, and he was from Ningcheng, Ganzhou. He was holding a bucket of water and carefully watering the green plants under the corridor.

In the Imperial College in the capital, the holy place of learning that students all over the world dream of, not all the tribute students who work tirelessly here come from wealthy and powerful families.

There are many students who, although their ancestors served as officials in the court and even have royal relatives, have gone through several generations of reproduction and division, with a large population and dispersed assets, and their reputation is no longer what it used to be. They just carry the name of their ancestors, but live a life no different from that of children from poor families.

Yan Boxi is such an example.

His great-grandmother, Princess Xiangnan, was once the jewel in the crown of Emperor Taizong of Zhou. She married the second son of the Minister of the Central Secretariat and was extremely popular at the time.

However, after the marriage, Princess Xiangnan caused unrest in the family because she was disrespectful to her parents-in-law and her brother and sister-in-law. In addition, the brothers of the Yan family were at odds with each other and they were not in harmony with each other, so she was eventually reported to the emperor by the censor.

Emperor Taizong ruled the country with benevolence, filial piety, and rites. Upon hearing the news, he was furious and moved Princess Xiangnan's lineage out of the capital and sent them to Ningcheng, Ganzhou, their fiefdom.

After that, Princess Xiangnan became extravagant and even minted copper coins privately in her fiefdom. When Emperor Taizong learned about it, although he took into account the relationship between father and daughter, he still ordered the cancellation of all preferential treatments, and her status plummeted from then on.

Although there were many descendants who passed the imperial examinations, most of them were sent to remote places to serve as officials. After five generations, the Yan family had long lost its glory.

Many tribute students had already returned from the dining hall after breakfast, and they greeted each other politely as they passed by.

"Brother Yan, good morning."

"Brother Wang, Brother Li, good morning."

"Brother Yan, it's getting late, let's go to the dining hall for breakfast."

Yan Boxi smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

When everyone else had gone away, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, replaced by an indescribable sadness.

In fact, he deliberately chose to be the last one to go to the cafeteria for dinner, for no other reason than that he always paid the lowest amount for meals every month.

His breakfast was extremely simple - just a bowl of light white porridge, a steamed bun, and a few pickles.

Because of this, in order to save his own face, he always rushed to eat when the canteen was about to close.

When Yan Boxi was born, his father was the magistrate of Hongyang County. Due to unsatisfactory performance evaluations every year, his father was dismissed from office and became unemployed when he was ten years old. The family had to return to their hometown Ningcheng.

Since then, the family's financial situation has deteriorated, and the entire family has been living in a dilapidated tenement and struggling to make ends meet.

During the most difficult days, his mother even had to go to the homes of local wealthy families to wash clothes. In the cold twelfth lunar month, her hands were covered with frostbite.

Yan Boxi experienced the fickleness of the world since he was a child, so he made up his mind to study all year round after he started to learn, regardless of the cold or heat, without a single day's interruption.

It was not until three years ago that he passed the imperial examination and was recommended by the local prefect to go to Beijing to take the imperial examination, and the burden on his family was slightly alleviated.

During the three years he studied at the Imperial College, his life was still poor and hard. In order to cut down on expenses, he chose to live in the most remote house in the academy. In the dead of night, he could occasionally hear the barking of wild dogs.

The head clerk of the academy was very impressed by his talent and hard work, so he arranged for him to do some odd jobs in his spare time to earn some living expenses.

So every morning, he would clean the yard and trim the flowers and plants with his fellows, exchanging his hard work for a meager reward.

After finishing his work, Yan Boxi scooped water to wash his hands and prepared to go to the dining hall for dinner.

When he looked up, he saw several servants carrying food boxes on the corridor, heading to the west wing of the academy one by one. The environment there was quiet, the location was excellent, and naturally the cost was not low.

No need to guess, these food boxes are breakfast prepared for the third son of Xingyuan Marquis Mansion and the son of the Jiang family.

Yan Boxi looked at the servants' backs as they walked away, and his stomach involuntarily made a rumbling sound of hunger, which brought his thoughts back to the present.

He hurried to the dining hall. As he walked along the quiet path outside, a hoarse call broke the silence around him.

"Mr. Yan, please stay!"

Yan Boxi turned around and found that the person calling him was Manager Liu from the Beijing Ancient Books Store. The other party waved to him, indicating that he should come closer to talk.

"Manager Liu, didn't we agree that I would come to find you after the Spring Examination?" Yan Boxi asked with some confusion.

Shopkeeper Liu smiled awkwardly. "Master Yan, a customer mistakenly thought your copy of the painting "Auspicious Snow in Winter" was the original and paid a high price for it. This is the commission we agreed on. Please keep it."

Yan Boxi took the silver note handed to him by Manager Liu, on which was clearly written a face value of one hundred taels. He looked at the note in surprise and joy, his excitement beyond words.

He had been in the capital for three years. During this period, he not only copied a large number of poetry and documents for the study, but also, because Manager Liu discovered that he had outstanding skills in calligraphy and painting, he asked him to copy famous works of the previous dynasty in order to make them indistinguishable from the originals.

Although not every imitation is flawless, and some are only sold at low prices for people to enjoy in their spare time, this time someone actually regarded his imitation as the original and bought it at a high price, which was really beyond his expectations.

Shopkeeper Liu continued, "Mr. Yan, I'd like to work with you after the Spring Examination is over... But if you pass the imperial examination, I wonder if you'll still be interested in my small business."

Yan Boxi replied modestly, "What are you saying, Manager Liu? I have been in Beijing for the past few years thanks to your care. No matter what the outcome, I am willing to lend a helping hand."

After a quick chat, Yan Boxi carefully put the banknotes into his pocket and hurried towards the dining hall.