Chapter 88: On the Grand List That Year (4500 words, two chapters in one)

"Brother Li is back~"

"Brother Li, Brother Li~~~"

"What delicious food did Brother Li bring us~"

As soon as Li Han returned to the yard, a group of little boys and girls in the yard rushed towards him.

"Hehehe, don't fight or grab. Everyone gets a share. Everyone gets a share. Xiaohua, distribute these things to the children. There's food and clothes." Li Han said happily.

"Yeah, I have new clothes to wear ~ Thank you, Brother Li ~" A little girl jumped up happily and clapped her hands.

"Brother Li, when I grow up I also want to join the army and go to the Blood Pagoda like Brother Li and make a lot of money." A little boy ran up and looked at Li Han expectantly.

"I want to join the army, too."

"I want to join the army, too."

Following the excitement of a little boy, many people in the courtyard also shouted the same thing.

"You fools, what's the point of joining the army? It's dangerous and exhausting."

Li Han smiled and patted his head.

"Besides, you can't join the army just for the money. There are many ways to make money, not just joining the army. If everyone in our Wu country joins the army just to make money, then Wu country will be finished sooner or later. Okay, okay, go pick out your new clothes, go go."

Driven away by Li Han, the children left somewhat unhappy.

Being a soldier means having free food and lodging, and being able to send money home, it is such a wonderful thing. However, after receiving their new clothes, they immediately became happy again.

"Just come back every time, no need to buy so many things."

In the kitchen, a woman named Ye Ye walked out.

Ye Ye was a pretty girl wearing an apron and looked very virtuous.

It's that hairstyle that's tied into a single ponytail and rests on the shoulders, which gives people a dangerous feeling.

"It's okay, it's okay. The children are happy." Li Han said with a smile.

Ye Ye wanted to say something, but just shook his head: "The rice is almost cooked, let's eat first."

Li Han nodded: "Okay."

The older children brought out rice buckets and vegetable bowls and served food to the other children one by one.

The lunch was not very sumptuous, but it was definitely not shabby. There was meat, vegetables, and egg drop soup.

After lunch, the younger children in the yard helped wash the dishes, while the older ones had already gone out to work or become apprentices.

In the afternoon, the children returned to their small beds in their rooms to take a nap. The courtyard suddenly became quiet, which made people feel a little uncomfortable.

Ye Ye and Li Han sat in the yard. Ye Ye glanced at Li Han and said, "You really don't need to buy so many things in the future. It's not easy for you soldiers to earn military merits, not to mention that you are a warrior. I heard that all kinds of body-building herbs and weapons and protective gear are very expensive.

You have been using your military merits to exchange for money these years. Look at yourself. The clothes you are wearing are all patched up with pieces of cloth. "

"It's okay, Sister Ye Ye. I don't have to pay for food and drink in Xuefutu." Li Han said with a simple smile, "And the medicinal materials Xuefutu gave me for body building are also enough. As for clothes, we all wear military uniforms in Xuefutu and rarely wear casual clothes."

Ye Ye shook his head:

"You don't have to lie to me. Although I don't know much about military affairs, how can an army, even a Blood Pagoda, have enough of everything? Especially as your realm increases, the natural resources and treasures you need are also increasing.

There must be a lot of things among them that require you to exchange for military merits.

As for home, everything is fine. Many children in the yard have grown up and are able to go out to work.

You can achieve more, and it’s time to think about yourself.”

“…”

Li Han lowered his head.

Li Han wanted to say something, but Ye Ye had already changed the subject: "By the way, today is neither New Year nor a festival, why are you back?"

"Hehehe..." Li Han scratched his head, feeling a bit proud. "One of my brothers is taking the imperial examination. Today is the day when the results are announced. Several of us in the barracks wanted to come out together."

"Someone from the military camp took part in the imperial examination, and he passed?" Ye Ye said in surprise.

"It's more than just passing the imperial examination... my brother..."

"Sister Ye Ye, Brother Li Han, it's so lively outside, the results have been announced, the number one scholar has come out..."

Just when Li Han was about to introduce his brother to Sister Ye Ye, a child ran in and said.

"Sister Ye Ye, let's go and take a look..." Li Han stood up hurriedly, looking anxious.

"Okay..." Ye Ye chuckled and reached out to tuck the hair around his ears.

Li Han looked at the bracelet on Ye Ye's left wrist, was slightly stunned, and then his smile became even brighter.

"Haizhi, why are you back today?"

In the residence of the Minister of War, Xiong Wentian looked at his son.

"Master, what you said is, Haizhi came back because he missed us, right? Isn't it normal for him to want to visit us?" Mrs. Xiong said with a smile.

"Humph!" Xiong Wentian snorted coldly, "The military law of Xuefutu is strict, and they can only come out a few times a year. If it's not an important matter, they can come out casually. Don't treat it as a joke."

"Master, what you said is a joke. My son has left the military camp..."

"Dad, Mom." Xiong Haizhi interrupted his mother, "This time, I came out for something. One of my brothers is taking the imperial examination, and today is the day the results are announced. I will go back after I see the list."

…

A courtyard in Wudu.

Guangyin and Hutao, who had a few days off, temporarily left the Xuefutu military camp.

They bought a two-story courtyard house, which was not cheap, but not too expensive either.

After Guangyin and Hutao cleaned the yard, it became their home.

On this day, Guangyin got up very early, paced back and forth in the yard, and kept looking at the time in the courtyard.

Guangyin has never felt time pass so slowly.

"Brother Guang, Brother Guang"

Just when Guangyin was becoming more and more anxious, Hu Tao rushed into the courtyard.

"Brother Guang, the results are out."

…

In the Xu Mansion, two young beautiful women sat together.

In front of the two young and beautiful women was a big white goose.

Compared with four years ago, this big white goose is taller, with a longer neck, snow-white feathers, and very human eyes.

This big white goose even has eyelashes. If you look closely, it looks very delicate.

The big white goose was flapping its wings in the yard, which was a bit inconsistent with its graceful appearance.

"What's wrong?" Wang Feng looked at Chen Suya, "Xu Ming is back today. Why do you look so nervous? Are you unhappy?"

"Of course I'm happy to see Ming'er."

Chen Suya smiled and shook her head.

"It's just that I haven't seen Ming'er for four years. These four years are the time when the child grows the fastest. I don't know what Ming'er looks like, and whether he recognizes me as his mother. As a mother, I don't have much ability. Ming'er is so outstanding, I'm really afraid of holding him back."

Wang Feng smiled and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? No matter what he looks like, he is still your child. No matter how much time has passed, it is impossible for a child to not recognize his mother. Besides, you were able to support Xu Ming to do what he wanted to do. For Xu Ming, this was the greatest support for him."

Chen Suya smiled and nodded: "Thank you, Sister Wang, for your comfort."

"You really underestimate yourself. The most precious thing for a person is to know what he should and shouldn't do."

Wang Feng sighed.

"When Xu Mingcai was famous throughout Wu Country and ranked 50th on the Qingyun List, you were still embroidering in Xiaochun Courtyard as usual, without competing or fighting, and you were far better than the women in the world.

Little did they know how arrogant the people in Xu State Mansion became after Xu Ming was summoned into the palace and favored by His Majesty.

Xu Guofu will eventually get into trouble."

Chen Suya was shocked: "Sister, you can't say that."

"You can't say anything nonsense?" Wang Feng smiled, her voice was dignified without anger, "I am the mistress of Xu Guofu, why can't I say anything nonsense?"

Chen Suya: “.”

"Okay, let's not talk about this annoying thing anymore." Wang Feng changed the subject, "The results should be announced soon, let's go take a look."

"Yeah." Chen Suya stood up.

Just as Chen Suya and Wang Feng were about to leave the courtyard, Chunyan came running over breathlessly, "Madam, someone is coming from the Fifth Madam's palace!"

"Here comes the visitor, what's the big fuss? Are all the masters in the Xu family dead? Can't they receive the imperial edict from the palace?" Wang Feng said coldly.

Chen Suya, Chunyan: "."

"Madam, this is not an imperial decree from the palace, it's the Minister of Rites who came to congratulate you, Master Xu, you passed the imperial examination!"

When Xu Ming walked out of the palace, he still didn't see Xu Pangda.

There was no way. When entering the palace, the four hundred tribute students were divided into five batches and entered the palace one after another. Xu Pangda was not seen in Xu Ming's batch.

After Xu Ming finished the interview, he was taken to the Ministry of Rites Examination Hall.

As Xu Ming walked out of the Imperial Examination Hall, there was already a sea of ​​people outside, surrounding the Hall completely. How could Xu Ming possibly find Xu Pangda?

There are many stewards of officials or wealthy businessmen who would approach people and try to get close to them, asking their names and praising their daughters for all their merits.

If it weren't for the fact that the list of successful candidates had not been released yet, they wouldn't know who ranked higher and everyone would want their daughter to marry a Jinshi who ranked in the top two, so they would be relatively reserved.

Otherwise, many of the four hundred people would have been tied up and carried away.

Xu Ming, like other tribute students, squeezed out of the crowd and walked towards the nearest notice.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

"Blood Pagoda! Blood Pagoda is coming!"

Following the shouts from the crowd, many people made way.

An official holding a golden list in his hand walked towards the notice board, escorted by ten blood-floating monks.

However, before the gold list was posted, the results of four hundred tribute students were posted first.

Everyone ignored the three hundred and ninety-nine people and looked at the first person.

"Huiyuan——Xu Ming."

When everyone saw this name, they suspected that they had read it wrong.

Xu Ming? Xu Ming, who had been in Xuefutu for three years, passed the exam and became the top scorer? !

For a moment, many people were a little dazed, and even suspected that the grading was wrong, or that the examiner was biased.

But soon, this idea was dispelled from everyone's mind.

The names on the examination papers are sealed and will only be revealed after the scores of the four subjects are assessed.

Moreover, the test papers of the 400 tribute students will be made public, and everyone in the world can see which one is good and which one is bad.

It is impossible that the imperial court would treat the imperial examination as a joke or treat the people of the world as fools.

"Wait, so Xu Ming has already won two prizes in a row?!" someone asked, "If Xu Ming wins the first prize again, wouldn't it be..."

"How can it be easy to win three first prizes in a row? The selection of the palace examination is decided by His Majesty, the six ministers, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of the Central Secretariat." Another person interrupted.

"But I heard that His Majesty likes Xu Ming very much." Another person said.

"What's the point of His Majesty liking him?" A scholar smiled. "During the palace examination, all the tribute students need to take the Yinsheng Pill. Everyone has the same voice. And they answer questions behind a screen. The tribute students only have numbers but no names. Who can recognize them? Even if His Majesty wants to favor Xu Ming, he can't do it."

"Stop talking, the gold list has started to be posted."

One person's voice drew everyone's attention back.

Officials began to post the golden list.

There are three copies of the gold list.

The official posted the first one first, which was the third class - all Jinshi graduates, a total of 202 people.

When seeing their names in the third place, many people sighed, and some even regretted it.

If I didn't have a high school, would it be better? Four years later, would I still be able to get a second-class score? Now that I'm in high school, I can no longer take the exam.

The second group, the second class - Jinshi graduates, a total of 194 people.

"I'm the second place in the second class! Hahaha! I'm the second place in the second class!" a man shouted excitedly.

"Who is the second place in Class 2?!" asked a middle-aged man.

Man: “Me!”

"Tie him up, tie him up!"

"Huh?"

Before the man could react, four or five people shouted and tied him up with red bands, and carried him away like a crab.

"I'm eighty-third, hahahaha."

“Tie him up!”

"Who is Wang Chuanlu?"

"Who's calling me?"

"Wang Chuanlu, my master's daughter is 28 years old, beautiful as a flower, well-educated and well-mannered. Please meet her."

When the second place list was posted, many people had already started looking for a son-in-law.

We’ll talk about whether it succeeds or not later, let’s just tie the man up first.

The official in charge of posting the list just smiled and shook his head, waiting until almost all the sons-in-law had been found before picking up the last piece of gold list.

At the same time, almost everyone in front of the notice boards in Wudu fell silent.

The first class was awarded the title of Jinshi, three people.

Everyone's eyes turned from bottom to top——

The third place winner is Yu Ping'an.

Second place: Xu Pangda.

Number one scholar - Xu Ming.

Xu Ming? Number one?!

Xu Ming is only a teenager?

Fourteen-year-old Xu Ming really won three prizes in a row?! "Brother Yu, what's your name?"

"Hush"

In the crowd, the little girl with twisted hair jumped up happily when she saw Brother Yu's name, but before she could finish her words, the man gently covered her mouth.

Yu Pingan smiled gently and rubbed the little girl's head: "Let's go."

“Oh.”

While everyone was shocked, Yu Ping'an took a look at the number one scholar's name, quietly squeezed out of the crowd, and limped forward.

"Brother Yu, why are you the third place in the imperial examination?" asked the little girl.

"Because the second and first place winners are better than Brother Yu." Yu Ping'an said with a smile.

"But in my heart, Brother Yu is the best!" The little girl pouted.

"Yeah." Yu Ping'an nodded and pinched the little girl's nose. "As long as you think so, then Brother Yu is better than the top scholar."

On the other side of the crowd, a little fat boy looked at the words "Xu Ming" behind "Top Scorer".

"Who says you are incapable? When you pass the imperial examination and become a noble, I believe that the title you get will be much more important than the title of Duke Xu in my heart."

The little fat boy couldn't help but think of what his fifth brother said to him that year.

The little fat boy smiled happily, touched his belly, and squeezed out of the crowd.

"Fifth brother, I didn't take part in the examination either. I wanted to wait for you to take part together."

Outside the crowd, Xu Ming looked at the names below him with the same surname as himself. The words that the fat boy said to him that year echoed in his ears. Xu Ming curled his lips and turned to leave.

"Xu Ming!"

"Ponda!"

Xu Ming and Xu Pangda had not taken a few steps.

In front of Xu Ming, Li Han and the other two waved at Xu Ming.

In front of Xu Pangda, Xu Zheng shouted to his son.

On the gold list stands that year.

There are two young boys.

But their brows are so similar? They both looked back at the same place.

(End of this chapter)