"It's their own fault." Xu Mingyan said in a cold tone.

Zhao Chengmo frowned and asked, "Will it have any impact on you?" He was still a little worried about Gu Lingze.

When Xu Mingyan heard this, he also looked at him.

Gu Lingze raised the corner of his lips and smiled, "You owe money and you pay it back. If you kill someone, you pay with your life. This principle is eternal."

The results of the provincial examination would be posted at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall ten days after the end of the examination. During this period, Gu Lingze had been writing furiously - copying the Tao Te Ching for Master Zhang.

Xu Mingyan told Master Zhang about Zou Yingguang's affairs, but he did not explain them in detail. However, Master Zhang guessed that Zou Yingguang must have committed sins and done evil things, which led to his end.

The reason why he accepted Zou Yingguang as his disciple was only because Master Zhang's brother-in-law owed Zou Guanghong a favor, and he had no choice but to agree reluctantly.

There wasn't much affection between the two of them as master and disciple, so Master Zhang didn't seem to be concerned after hearing this.

When Aunt Tao opened the door, she saw Gu Lingze lying on the bed with his arms and legs spread out, mumbling something, while Zhao Chengmo was sitting at the desk, writing non-stop.

Gu Lingze could draw talismans with a brush, but writing with his wrist suspended was too tiring, so Zhao Chengmo volunteered to be his ghostwriter.

"You!" Aunt Tao said with a smile and put the freshly made purple sweet potato sponge cake on the table.

When Gu Lingze smelled the fragrance, he turned over and sat up, ran to the table, picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.

"Zhao boy, you should also take a rest and try the snacks that Auntie just made."

After Zhao Chengmo finished writing the last sentence, he put down his pen, straightened his back, walked to the table and poured a cup of tea for Gu Lingze who was eating snacks.

Aunt Tao said jokingly: "You always spoil him like this. If he can't get married, you will have to support him."

"Yes, I will." Zhao Chengmo lowered his head at the moment, and his expression could not be seen clearly, but he answered without hesitation.

Gu Lingze just took a sip of tea and spat it all out, followed by a violent coughing fit, with his entire face filled with blood.

Aunt Tao patted his back. Seeing that he had recovered, she teased him, "You finally have a place to live for the rest of your life. Look how happy Lingze is."

But Aunt Tao did not take Zhao Chengmo's words seriously. After all, there was no affection between the two of them.

Zhao Chengmo was fine, he seldom had any expression and he didn't talk much. Gu Lingze always did his own thing in front of him and just now he was lying on the bed with his back facing up.

Aunt Tao was also young once, and any boy or girl would feel shy when seeing her sweetheart. Although these two were almost inseparable, there was no ambiguity in the atmosphere when they were together.

So Aunt Tao didn't think too much about it. She waited for them to finish eating, then took the plate and went out.

There were only two of them left in the room. Gu Lingze felt the atmosphere was a little awkward, so he cleared his throat and said, "Let's continue."

"Um."

Zhao Chengmo walked to the table and sat down. For some reason, Gu Lingze felt a little embarrassed to lie on the bed as carefree as before.

So he moved to the soft couch by the window, and continued to recite the contents of the first volume of "Tao Te Ching", but his eyes were looking out the window unnaturally.

So he didn't see Zhao Chengmo who was writing, with a gentle smile on his lips.

On the day when the results were announced, Gu Lingze and his friends got up early and had dinner with Master Zhang in the lobby.

Aunt Tao was anxious and put down her chopsticks after eating two bites. Xu Mingyan smiled, picked up her bowl and scooped two spoonfuls of red bean soup.

"Mom, don't be so nervous. We'll go and check the list after dinner."

Aunt Tao said anxiously: "Many people have been waiting since early morning. I'm afraid we won't be able to squeeze in soon."

"If we go there now, it will just be crowded and we won't be able to see anything." After hearing what he said, Aunt Tao could only suppress her anxiety temporarily.

Suddenly, the sound of gongs and drums came from afar, accompanied by the sound of bustling crowds of people coming towards this side.

Because I was still some distance away, I couldn't hear clearly what was happening. After a while, I heard that someone had won the prize, and the person who brought the good news came to ask for the reward.

Gu Lingze smiled and said, "Looks like we don't have to go."

The people sitting in the lobby were all looking outside the door, but their movements stopped at the street next door.

A candidate who had just heard Gu Lingze's words said sarcastically, "It's not even dark yet, and someone is already having a pipe dream. How ridiculous."

Gu Lingze ignored him. It was just a waste of time to argue with such a person.

When the man saw that there was no retort, he thought that the candidate was timid and guilty. Just as he was about to speak, Zhao Chengmo's eyes were fixed on the candidate. The man suddenly felt a chill all over his body and swallowed his words.

Aunt Tao couldn't sit still anymore and wanted to stand up several times. Uncle Xu patted the back of her hand soothingly and advised her to wait a little longer.

The top ten in the provincial examination would have people come to report the good news and ask for rewards. Other inns would become bustling with people who had won the exam, but Sanyuanlou would remain quiet.

The shopkeeper lay on the table sighing, and the waiter was also in low spirits.

At this moment, there seemed to be some movement coming from somewhere.

This time it was very different. It was even louder than before. There were sounds of blowing and beating, as well as obvious cheers. It was mixed together and very lively.

The shopkeeper quickly asked the waiter to go to the door and check. As soon as he ran to the door, he saw three dancing lions appear in front of the door.

They were jumping and bowing in a naive manner, and everyone was watching and clapping. The momentum of this band seemed to be particularly strong, and they were blowing hard with their cheeks puffed out with all their might.

The people beating the gongs and drums at the back were also working extremely hard, and for a moment, no one in the hall could hear what the people around them were saying.

Shopkeeper Wang's eyes were shining with excitement and his face was flushed. He kept saying something, but no one could hear him clearly. They could only see his mouth moving.

At this time, the lion dance spit out three embroidered balls and retreated to the side, and the surrounding blowing and beating sounds also stopped.

A man in festive attire and a red scarf ran into the hall and loudly congratulated, "Congratulations to Mr. Xu Mingyan from Donglin Village, Xuyang County, for winning the first place in the Beiyong Prefecture's provincial examination."

"May I ask where Master Jie Yuan is?"

Xu Mingyan was still in a daze. Aunt Tao and Uncle Xu were so happy that they didn't know what to do. Only Gu Lingze quickly raised his hand to indicate that everyone was here.

In the end, Zhao Chengmo gave enough rewards to send these people who brought the good news away.

Master Zhang patted Xu Mingyan on the shoulder, nodded comfortingly and said, "Not bad, not bad."

Shopkeeper Wang also came to congratulate them and wanted to refund all the room fees they had paid for the past few days, but Gu Lingze politely declined.

Some people in the lobby congratulated them generously, but some returned to their rooms with a look of dissatisfaction on their faces, including the candidate just now.

Only then did Xu Mingyan come to his senses and bowed deeply to his parents and Master Zhang.

"Thank you, Dad and Mom, for your daily care, and thank you, Teacher, for your teachings." The three of them quickly helped him up.

Several people went to look at the list at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall and saw that Xu Mingyan's name was written first.