Zhuzhu, however, was sharp-eyed. She looked at her brother's head and called out in a baby voice, "Brother, your head is red. You passed the exam!"
"Really?" The old man's hands were shaking with excitement and his face was red.
Tai Yongning quickly supported his grandfather and replied, "Grandpa, I did pass the exam, but I was last on the list..."
The old man doesn't care what place you get, as long as you pass the exam.
"Oh, thanks to our ancestors, our Yongning passed the exam and became a scholar!"
The other villagers didn't dare to breathe, for fear of missing a word.
They only knew that Yongning stayed in the provincial capital, and thought that he was traveling with the teacher, but they never thought that he was going to take the examination for the scholar!
"Really? Really?"
"Does our Tai family have a scholar?"
"Go find Uncle San quickly and open the ancestral hall. We must open the ancestral hall!"
"Smoke is coming out of our Tai family's ancestral tomb!"
Just then, Yang Lihua came out of the yard. A village woman grabbed her and shouted, "Step-grandfather's wife, look! Your son is a scholar! Master, the scholar!"
Yang Lihua was extremely surprised. She stepped forward and grabbed Yongning's arm. She choked and wanted to say something, but tears came down first.
She once thought her son would be crippled and face a life of hardship. Unexpectedly, he not only recovered but also passed the imperial examination and achieved success.
May God bless you, may our ancestors bless you!
Tai Yongning raised his hand to wipe his mother's tears, and his eyes also turned red. He tried his best to suppress his sadness and coaxed her, "Mom, your son is a scholar. Are you happy? Although he ranked last, your son saved three years of hard work. The next time he takes the exam, he will be able to become a juren!"
Yang Lihua nodded vigorously after hearing this. "I'm happy, Mom is happy! My son's sleepless nights and all the hard work he endured weren't in vain. My son has worked so hard."
Tai Yongfeng was standing aside, and after a long while, he didn't hear Yongning mention the key point. He was so anxious that he jumped up and down and shouted, "Auntie, you don't know that among Mr. Wu's four disciples, only Yongning passed the exam to become a scholar. The other three young men all failed!"
"Mr. Wu said Yongning was lucky, and his essay just suited the examiner's temperament! This time, Yongning is the only new scholar in the entire Tai'an County!"
Uncle Tai San was running so hard that he almost lost his shoes. When he heard his grandson's words, he was so happy that his beard stood up.
"Haha, seriously? Oh, our Yongning is number one in Tai'an!"
As he spoke, he held onto his old brother and wouldn't let go. "I'm telling you, Sixth Brother, this time we must open the ancestral hall and hold a grand banquet for the guests! If you dare to talk about being low-key or modest again, I'll hit you with my pipe! Our Yongning is so successful, you must spread the word about it!"
"With Yongning, a scholar, here, no one will dare to bully our Tai family anymore! We can all hold our heads high and walk around without having to be so cautious! This is a great occasion, don't worry, I'll pay for the banquet!"
"Oh, oh, Third Brother, don't get so excited!" The old man's arm was on fire from being grabbed by his elder brother, and he responded with a smile and tears, "Before, Yongning was a Tongsheng, which was really not worth showing off. Now he is a Xiucai, so of course we have to celebrate. Let's prepare now, and make sure everyone knows that our Tai family has a promising boy!"
"Haha, that's right!" Uncle Tai finally let his old brother go and turned to instruct the whole village, young and old, "Come on, cheer up. Clean up your own houses and the roads in and out of the village in the next two days. Water them when necessary and pave the ground when necessary! Let's prepare a banquet to entertain our guests!
"This is a scholar that our Tai family only produces once in many years. We must promote him!"
"Yes, Chief!" All the villagers responded excitedly as if they were injected with chicken blood, and they couldn't wait to find a broom and start waving it.
Tai Yongning bent down and hugged the chubby sister, and gave her a big kiss on the face.
Zhuzhu giggled and kissed her brother back, "Second brother, Zhuzhu's money will buy you pens and paper!"
"Okay, when your second brother becomes the top scholar and an official, I will give you a box of silver!" Tai Yongning did not refuse his sister's feelings, and coaxed the fat girl to laugh so hard that her eyes were curved into slits.
Old Master Tai greeted his eldest daughter-in-law, "We have to be more formal with our banquet this time. After all, Yongning is a scholar, and our family is considered a scholarly family. We don't understand the etiquette of the banquet, so you can handle it. Just don't let people look down on us. We can't bring honor to Yongning, but at least don't let him down."
"Don't worry, Dad. I will write a plan tonight and show it to you and Third Uncle. The banquet will probably be scheduled for three days later, not too early, because we need to send invitations to the Min family, the Wu family, and the homes of several senior brothers in Yongning in advance." Yang Lihua had been thinking about it for a while. It can be said that she already had an idea of how to host the banquet.
The old man waved his hand, not intending to get involved at all. "Alright, you're the boss. Everyone will follow your instructions!"
At this point, it was decided to hold a banquet three days later to celebrate Yongning's success in becoming a scholar.
On the morning of the second day, the Tai family's carriage entered the city. Old Master Tai took Yongning to personally invite Mr. Wu, and then they had to go to the Song family, the Qi family, and the Teng family.
This exam was very sudden, it could almost be said to be a temporary decision made by the court. Many students who lived far away did not have the opportunity to rush to the provincial capital, and even more people heard the news when the exam had already started.
Few people, like Yongning and others, stayed in the provincial capital to take the exams one after another.
This requires us to praise Mr. Wu for his wide network of contacts, which has secured good opportunities for his disciples.
Yongning also seized a good opportunity. Although his essay was immature in style, its viewpoints were in line with the examiner's thinking. In the end, he was put on the list and ranked at the tail end of the scholar team.
Song Hui, Teng Yu and Qi Ming have better skills than Yongning, but their luck is a little worse. They can only accumulate experience and wait for the next test.
In fact, Mr. Wu didn't expect Yongning to break through the siege. When he got the post, he smiled and told the old man that he wanted to share in his disciple's good luck.
Regardless of whether they were jealous or envious, the Song, Teng, and Qi families all showed respect to Yongning, the new scholar. The heads of the three families said they would definitely bring their children to the banquet to share in the joy...
Yang Lihua took Zhuzhu and went to the Min family in person to send an invitation, and told Mrs. Min that the large embroidery had been completed.
Mrs. Min did not go out, and the Tai family did not have time to tell Manager Min, and of course she, the mistress, did not receive the news.
Suddenly she heard that the young man from the Tai family had gone to the provincial capital and passed the examinations for both the student and the scholar at once. She was also surprised, and secretly raised the status of the Tai family.
At least when Yang Lihua said goodbye, Zhuzhu was stuffed with two boxes of snacks and a box of new toys, and was taken out of the second door by Miss Min's hand.
The housekeeper who served Madam Min personally also addressed her as Madam Tai and Miss Tai, which was much more respectful than the usual "Sister Tai"...
Yang Lihua was just like usual, neither humble nor arrogant, gentle and polite.
She did not blame the Min family for doing so, because everyone in the world was like this. It was rare not to step on others, and climbing to the top was their nature!
Two days passed in a flash, and everyone in Taijia Village was so busy they almost ran out of energy. There wasn't a speck of chicken manure in every yard, not a single fallen leaf or weed on the road, and even rat holes were dug three times!
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