The main hall was completely silent.

Emperor Jinghong on the throne, the ministers below, and the well-behaved scholars standing at the bottom—so many people, except for those at the very top, all held their breath.

"Announce the results!"

"yes."

Eunuch Huang stepped forward, picked up the imperial edict from the dragon table, and began to read it aloud.

"The top scholar is Jiang Shaoming from Xinyuan Prefecture."

The second-place finisher was Cui Mingxuan from the Cui family in the capital.

The third-ranking scholar, Geng Hang from Jiangnan Prefecture.

..."

Without uttering a single wasted word, Eunuch Huang simply read out the result in a straightforward manner.

The ministers below him had different expressions, some happy and some sad.

He wanted to say something, but seeing the emperor's serious expression, he swallowed his words.

The following matters will be handled by designated personnel.

Before long, only a few ministers remained in the vast palace as the Emperor left with Eunuch Huang.

"Alas, Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

An elderly man from a noble family shook his head, sighed, and left.

“We need to face reality and think about our future generations.”

"Let's go back."

...

The adults, their faces grim, hurried away.

The grand spectacle of the top scholar riding through the streets on horseback only occurs about once every three years.

This time was no different; the busiest main street in Beijing was packed with people on both sides and above.

The teahouse and the second floor of the restaurant were already full of people, mostly women from wealthy families.

Jiang Shuyun and the others were also in a private room upstairs. Gu Zheng knew that the results of the palace examination were out today, and he brought Shao Yun back from the military camp.

Madam Gu also brought the women of the household out to watch the excitement. She booked two private rooms and reserved one for the Jiang family.

"Father, you're here?"

"No, it should be soon."

Jiang Shuyun had walked along with the procession before, but this time, her husband Shao Ming came riding a tall horse.

The names of the top three winners of the imperial examinations have already been announced from the palace, and almost everyone in the capital knows about them.

This time, betting activity has become quite lively in various circles.

Many popular candidates failed to win, while Jiang Shaoming, an unknown figure, became the top scholar.

Many people didn't pay much attention to this name, only knowing that he was the top scorer in the autumn imperial examination of a certain prefecture.

Since arriving in the capital, Shao Ming has hardly made any public appearances and has not participated in any banquets.

Regardless of what people from all sides thought, a group of people had already crossed over at one end of the long street.

"Look, the top scholar is even younger and more handsome than the third-ranked scholar!"

"Is this top scholar an adult? He doesn't look very old."

"The second-place scholar is from the Cui family in the capital, the third-place scholar is from Jiangnan, so which family does the top scholar come from?"

...

Various discussions continued, and Jiang Shuyun and the others heard them as well.

"Dad, did you ask Master Zhao and the others to protect my older brother? Don't let him get captured by anyone."

Shao Yun watched as his elder brother, dressed in the auspicious robes of a top scholar, rode a tall horse and slowly approached from afar, truly eye-catching.

"Master Zhao and the others are here, it's alright, no one would be that bold."

Jiang Shuyun also knew some things about this era. She knew that the so-called "choosing a son-in-law after the imperial examination" was something that had been discussed beforehand.

"Shao Yun, he's here! Brother Shao Ming is here. Uncle Jiang, quickly draw this scene so we can show it to Aunt Jiang and Sister Chu Yue when we get back."

Gu Zheng was also drawing, but his skills in simple line drawing were not yet up to par, so he drew rather slowly.

"You're already drawing, so draw it yourself. Don't worry about whether it's good or bad."

"I understand, it's already being drawn."

The drawing paper in front of Gu Zheng already had a lot of content, but it was a little messy.

"Big brother, big brother..."

Shao Yun waved to the line downstairs, not knowing if his older brother could see him.

People on the second and first floors were throwing handkerchiefs, flowers, and even hairpins and jewelry into the parade. It's unclear whether anyone might get hurt.

Mrs. Gu next door heard Gu Zheng and his family's conversation clearly and thought to herself, "My little Qi is so thoughtful."

"Is your Xiaoqi very familiar with the Jiang family?"

“Yes, my grandfather’s Bailu Academy is located in Xinyuan Prefecture. In recent years, Xiaoqi has been going to his grandfather’s place and has been interacting with the Jiang family a lot.”

Madam Gu knew what her friend was thinking. Her eldest daughter was almost twenty years old and still unmarried. How could she not be anxious?

“Your Xiaoqi has changed so much in the past few years. Compared to a few years ago, she seems like a completely different person.”

This child has a good nature, but he was almost led astray. However, you can rest assured now.

Xiaoqi now has her own set of standards for speaking and acting.

Madam Zheng was speaking from the heart. She and Madam Gu were close friends and had maintained a good relationship for many years.

There was no pretense or pretense between the two; they were both able to speak the truth.

"Don't rush things, the more you rush, the more likely you are to make a mess of things."

Since things have come to this, let's take a closer look; there are bound to be those who refuse to believe in such superstitions.

Madam Gu spoke cryptically, but Madam Zheng understood perfectly.

"Don't your two companies plan to develop the business further?"

Madam Zheng was somewhat tempted, but then she thought of the Gu family. Although Madam Gu didn't have a biological daughter, she did have a concubine's daughter.

"No, that's not appropriate."

Madam Gu couldn't say that her seventh son had taken a liking to someone else's daughter. She couldn't reveal it before things were settled, lest it ruin the girl's reputation.

Madam Zheng thought that Madam Gu felt her illegitimate daughter was not good enough for the top scholar, but she didn't expect the Jiang family to have such high standards, and her heart started to race again.

The procession had passed, and Jiang Shuyun was about to head back.

"Uncle Jiang, Shao Yun and I are going to find Brother Shao Ming. We'll go back together in a bit."

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!