Chapter 324 Number One

The place where the Gu family was working today was very far away, so when they got the news, the yamen runners had already entered the yard under Zhao Xinger's arrangement.

Gu Jiayue and Gu Yuchuan were both in the academy, so they arrived a little earlier, but they arrived almost at the same time.

Seeing that everyone from the Gu family had arrived, the leader, Chen Ahda, quickly stood up. He signaled the younger brothers behind him to begin playing music. He then pulled out a gold-plated document from his pocket. "Congratulations to Gu Yuchuan, a member of the Gu family from Taohua Village, Annan County, for winning first place in this year's county exam!"

In fact, it was just a small county exam, and there were no such rules in previous years.

The county exam was merely the starting point of the imperial examination. Even if you achieved first place, what good would it do? You would only have the title of a student. It simply meant you didn't have to take the prefectural exam and could directly participate in the academy exam, held in April of the same year or the following year.

But who made Zheng Qinghe the magistrate of Annan County this year? And who made Gu Yuchuan's grades so outstanding?

Zheng Qinghe was not only cherishing the talent, but also remembered that Annan County was an educationally poor county. It was not easy to produce such a good seedling, so he must publicize it widely.

For ten years, a full ten years, no one in Annan County has been able to make the test paper so perfect.

That's why Chen A Da led the yamen runners to beat drums and gongs.

Gu Yuchuan took the gold-plated red good news, and even though he had been the Prime Minister for more than ten years in his previous life, his hands were still shaking.

This life is still very different from the previous one.

In his previous life, he walked for two hours to the county town to see the results, and no yamen runners came to deliver documents to announce the good news.

The Gu family was also happy, but not really for him, but because they finally had someone to rely on and had finally escaped the fate of being a peasant.

Unlike today's family, who are happy for him but feel sorry for his hard work, his first reaction after being happy is to throw a big banquet and then accept gifts!

Gu Yuchuan turned his head slightly and saw his mother crying and telling the villagers who came to watch the fun how hard it was for him to stay up late to study every day.

The other family members also had proud expressions on their faces.

The whole family was immersed in joy. Fortunately, Gu Yuchuan had experience from his previous life and knew to give some money to the yamen runner who came to announce the good news.

He reached out and felt around, but found he had no money.

Looking at his family, they also came back from outside with him and definitely didn't have any money on them.

Just as she was about to say wait a moment and he made an excuse to go back to the house to get the money, her aunt squeezed over and threw a red envelope into his hand.

Looking at the heavy red seal in his hand, Gu Yuchuan's heart, which was already beating faster, tightened even more.

He smiled self-deprecatingly.

Boy, you are really much luckier than me.

He handed the red envelope to the leader Chen Ada and politely asked him to sit down.

The women of the Gu family also came to their senses and, under their grandmother's arrangement, began to kill chickens and cook to entertain the yamen runners who came to announce the good news.

The village chief and clan elders arrived late and sat in the yard.

After a while, more than ten dishes were served on the table, and Gu Yuchuan, along with the men of the Gu family, the village chief, and the elders, entertained the yamen runners.

In fact, the monthly salary of the yamen runners was not much, just enough to barely fill their stomachs.

Following the previous county magistrate, they could still make a lot of money every day. But since Zheng Qinghe came, they haven't dared to embarrass the people and collect money casually for a long time. So life has become very tight.

Looking at the table full of meat, they had no time to be polite and started to eat with their bowls.

Soon, only leftovers were left on the table, and the group of people were eating with their mouths full of oil, feeling very satisfied.

Chen Ah Da held his bloated belly and drank tea made from wild chrysanthemums. He felt that this was the life of a god. Thinking of the silver in his arms, his heart was filled with joy.

Hey, it’s a pity that Gu Yuchuan from the Gu family doesn’t have to take part in the provincial examination, otherwise he would be able to come and announce the good news again.

"By the way, have you heard? Someone organized cheating in this county exam."

After dinner, it was time to chat. Chen Ada thought that the Gu family was far away from the county town and might not know much about what happened in the county town, so he took the initiative to talk about it.

Gu Yuchuan raised his eyebrows slightly, but quickly calmed down. "Oh? There is such a thing."

Another bailiff nodded. "Who says not? They're so bold, actually scheming against Lord Zheng. They deserve it!"

So this is what happened.

Before the exam, Zhu Dachang actually bribed the county magistrate to secretly tell him the exam questions.

However, the examination questions for this year's county examination were written by Zheng Qinghe alone, and after they were written, they were kept in a locked cabinet.

No one knew how the county magistrate got the key, but he secretly took out the exam papers and asked Zhu Dachang to copy a copy.

Zhu Dachang was not stupid. He divided the test questions into several parts and found several scholars with good knowledge to help him solve them.

If this matter ends like this, then no one will know about it.

But no one expected that Zheng Qinghe had added a third of the test questions to prevent them from being leaked, and picked them out by drawing lots right before the test.

When he was correcting the test papers, Zhu Dachang's test paper happened to fall into Zheng Qinghe's hands. Looking at the test paper whose answers were seriously inconsistent with the questions, what else was there to be unclear about?

Zheng Qinghe was very angry. He ordered an investigation and found out that the county magistrate and Zhu Dachang were the responsible persons.

After listening to Chen Ada's story, Gu Yuchuan's hands, which were pretending to drink tea, paused.

It was true. Even Heaven was going to take him away! Before his backup plan could even take effect, Zhu Dachang was caught cheating on the exam.

"How did Lord Zheng sentence Zhu Dachang?"

Chen Ah Da: "I happened to be on duty that day, and it seems I was sentenced to three thousand miles of imprisonment and was forbidden from taking the imperial examinations for generations."

"So what about his family's property?"

"He's the only one who committed the crime. It has nothing to do with his parents or relatives. It might not even reach the point of confiscating his property."

Chen Ah Da then remembered that the man in front of him had some entanglements with Zhu Dachang. He rolled his eyes and kindly reminded him, "His father has been doing business in the county for many years. I heard he has many connections in the prefecture. I advise you to stay away from him."

Gu Yuchuan didn't dwell on this topic, but smiled and nodded.

Anyway, in just a few days, the Zhu family will no longer exist in the entire county.

What's cheating on an exam? Compared to treason, it's just a drop in the bucket.

After resting for a while, Chen Ahda and his friends said goodbye.

After the yamen runners had left, the villagers who had come to watch the excitement felt embarrassed to stay any longer and also stood up to take their leave. After a day of bustling activity, the Gu family finally quieted down.

Grandpa was happy and had drunk a few more glasses of wine during the meal. Now, with a rosy face, he pulled Gu Yuchuan and talked about his youth.

Grandma was also happy. She stared at her second grandson with her eyes and couldn't stop looking at him.

Others, children were cleaning the yard, and women were clearing the dishes. Everything was so harmonious.

But suddenly, a call for participation made the Gu family, which had finally quieted down, lively again.

"Ah! Mom! Something seems to be flowing out! It hurts!"