After the exam, I waited in the county for the results to be released.
Anyway, I have a place to stay, so I'm not worried.
Pan Jinhua and Li Qingjing went back to stay at the shop.
These days, Yan Min not only went to the temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha, but also burned a lot of paper money, asking her ancestors for blessings. Pan Jinhua was also somewhat absent-minded; she was indeed concerned about this result.
On the contrary, the three who took the exam were the most calm, not caring at all, and just waiting for the results to be released.
On the day the results were announced, Li Qing actually took Bai Sha with him and went to the announcement office before dawn to wait for the results to be posted.
Fortunately, they arrived early. By the time Li Qingyao and his group got there, it was already packed with people, and they couldn't squeeze in no matter what.
No amount of strength could help; the crowd was completely blocked, and no matter what you did, you couldn't push through. There were even people arguing because they wanted to squeeze in.
The three of them gave up, found a roadside stall to sit down, and decided to wait until the crowd dispersed before going to check again.
When the yamen runners came to post the notice, the crowd was so eager that they wanted to rush up and snatch the notice to take a good look.
"Back off! Back off!"
The yamen runners, looking fierce and menacing, chased people away, which freed up some space at the notice board.
Li Qing and Bai Sha were also squeezed and suffered terribly, but fortunately they were at the front, so they could leave after they finished looking at the list.
The constables quickly pasted the plasters and then left. The two men immediately rushed to the front. They had already planned that one of them would look from the front to the back, and the other from the back to the front.
In order to see the rankings, Bai Sha had memorized the names of the three people clearly.
"Got it!"
Li Qing actually started reading from the back. As soon as she saw the first name, she recognized it and was overjoyed. She quickly continued reading forward.
"I won! I won! Fourth place!"
"I passed! That's wonderful, Dad, Mom, I passed!"
"I'm not here! How could I not be here!"
"·····"
Suddenly, a lot of shouting came from the side. The two of them looked quickly and squeezed out together after confirming that they could see clearly.
"Second Young Master, Young Master Yao has won! He's in fourth place!"
Bai Sha shared the news with Li Qing with a delighted expression.
"Well done! Qingyi is on the list too, but Qingduan isn't."
"I passed the exam too?!"
Li Qingyi was pleasantly surprised. They happened to see two people coming out and went up to call them when they heard this.
Li Qingduan patted his younger brother on the shoulder, quite surprised. The two of them had discussed the exam questions the next day and felt that their answers were similar, so it was very uncertain whether they could pass.
"Wow, you actually made the list!"
"Qingyi is Sun Shan, hahahaha, he just happens to be at the bottom of the list."
"Qingyao, you're fourth!"
"Really?"
Li Qingyao was also a little excited. It wasn't that he didn't care about the ranking; being in the top ten would be great. He would work harder in the prefectural examination and definitely get the title of Xiucai.
Who is at the top of the list?
Li Qing actually mentioned a name, and Li Qingyao immediately understood. This person was already over thirty years old, had taken the exam several times, and had rich experience in the county-level examinations, so it was normal for him to rank first.
"Don't just stand there, let's go back and tell Grandma and Aunt the good news!"
Yan Min's eyes reddened upon hearing this, but she didn't cry. This was only the first step on the path to the imperial examinations; the road ahead was still long.
Pan Jinhua smiled and said, "This is great news! Qingyao and Qingyi both won. We should give them some celebratory money."
Yan Min had already prepared everything. Upon hearing Pan Jinhua's reminder, she quickly went to the door to scatter the offerings. When the neighbors heard that a child from this family had passed the county examination, they also sincerely came forward to congratulate them.
Yan Min agreed with a beaming smile, and was happy to give out the celebratory money. The people she hired at home also received celebratory money.
The Cao family also sent people to her house to offer their congratulations.
Most importantly, she inquired about Li Qingyao's marriage from Yan Min.
In fact, after Madam Cao discussed Li Qingyao's marriage with Yan Min last year, she felt that Li Qingyao's side might be inappropriate, and she also talked about it with Cao Qian when she got home.
However, Cao Qian was very stubborn. He thought highly of Li Qingyao and believed that it was a good thing for a man to have ambition. He insisted that Madam Cao ask again if the Li family was willing to get engaged first, and that they could get married after Li Qingyao passed the imperial examination.
This inquiry was essentially an explicit statement.
Our Cao family is interested in arranging a marriage between our families. What do you think?
Yan Min was somewhat at a loss. Her family consisted of an orphan and a widow, while the Cao family was the county magistrate of Shao County. If it really came down to a marriage, she couldn't refuse.
Having no other choice, she had to go to Li Qingyao and explain the whole story.
"Madam Cao asked me once before, but I didn't understand her thoughts at the time. However, she refused on the grounds that you should focus on the imperial examination and only consider marriage after you have passed the provincial examination."
Who knew they would send someone to our door to ask this? What should we do?
"Mother, there's no need to worry. The fact that the Cao family has taken a liking to our son proves that he does have potential."
As for the marriage, the Cao family isn't the type to use their power to force others. Mother will prepare generous gifts in a few days and refuse again.
Yan Min felt somewhat relieved after hearing her son's words.
Before Yan Min could respond, the Cao family started making a scene.
"Miss, I just heard from the old woman that the county government released the results today, and Young Master Li Qingyao came in fourth place. Madam sent someone to congratulate him and inquire about Young Master Li's marriage. It seems she wants you to arrange a betrothal with him!"
"What?! Are you serious?"
Bihe was initially overjoyed, as her young mistress's marriage was finally settled, and with a scholar at that.
She rushed back to deliver the news, but to her surprise, the young lady didn't seem happy at all.
"Yes, yes, what's wrong, Miss? I heard that Young Master Li is quite learned, and Master thinks highly of him..."
"Hey! Miss, where are you going?!"
Before Bihe could finish speaking, Cao Ying ran out. Coming to her senses, Bihe quickly followed after her.
Cao Ying rushed into Madam Cao's courtyard, where Madam Cao was looking at the dowry accounts she had prepared for Cao Ying.
When Cao Ying was young, Madam Cao was already preparing her dowry. If Yan Min was interested, the marriage might happen in the next few years, so Madam Cao wanted to check the account books to see if there was anything that needed to be supplemented or replaced, so she could make preparations in advance.
"Ying'er, why did you come over in such a hurry? Please sit down and rest, have some tea."
Seeing Cao Ying rush in, Madam Cao was not only not annoyed, but also worried that she might get a stitch in her side from running so fast.
Cao Ying hesitated and looked around. Madam Cao understood and dismissed the servants.
"What's wrong, Ying'er? They've all gone downstairs. Is there something you want to tell your mother?"
"Mother, are you going to marry me off to Li Qingyao?"
"I wondered what it was about?"
Madam Cao laughed out loud, "She's grown up now. She knows that young ladies shouldn't speak so frankly about these things, so she told the servants to leave before she spoke."
"Mother, isn't that right?"
"Yes, yes, Li Qingyao is quite talented and ambitious. Your father thinks highly of him."
"Haven't you met him? He's handsome and about your age; he's certainly a good match."
"But my daughter doesn't like him."
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