Nangong Che and Nangong Ya had both performed exceptionally in the Palace Examination today.
No one challenged Nangong Che’s first place, but Nangong Ya’s ranking improved significantly, even being moved up to fifth place by Su Rong. If the results of the Palace Examination were announced, it would stir up a lot of discussions. Su Rong took the initiative to let every scholar present to look at these two exam papers, to see if their papers couldn’t match up with these two.
Half an hour later, everyone finished reading. For a moment, no one objected. Moreover, two cousins from the Cui Family respectfully greeted Nangong Che. "Brother Nangong, your talent is admirable. We admire you a lot."
Nangong Che promptly returned the courtesy, "You two from Cui family flatter me."
With this beginning, Nangong Che was surrounded by everyone, enlivening the Palace Examination.
Nangong Ya excelled over numerous scholars, but after all, she was a woman. Her accomplishments didn’t attract as much recognition as Nangong Che’s. Nevertheless, she was surrounded by many people as well.
After the lively discussions, Su Rong reminded everyone, "Don’t forget to attend the Jeweled Grove Banquet in three days."
Everyone quickly nodded in agreement, "Yes, Princess, we will not forget."
Su Rong ordered the Imperial Exam results to be posted, then left the examination hall with Zhou Gu and the Nanchu King.
The moment the three of them left, someone boldly praised Nangong Che, "Brother Nangong, you are truly incredible. The princess and her husband personally prepared ink for you. In the annals of history, you are the only one."
Nangong Che hurriedly responded, "It is my honour."
The moment the princess prepared the ink for him, he was astounded and didn’t know what to do. However, upon seeing the calm and clear eyes of the princess, the storm in his heart gradually subsided. He wondered, why would the princess personally grind ink for him? It could only be because of his essay, not because of his surname or him as a person; after all, he didn’t think that his surname or he himself had anything worthy of the princess.
The only explanation was his talent. Having had this honour, he must not disappoint her.
Especially in this Palace Examination, the news of the princess grinding ink for him would soon spread. His essay would also be circulated, hence he must write this essay well. When people evaluated his essay later on, they would also say that his essay didn’t disgrace the princess personally preparing his ink.
In that moment, numerous thoughts sprung in his mind, but he quickly calmed down and completely immersed himself in his essay, not daring to be distracted.
Therefore, he did not know the exact moment when the princess’s husband came and took over from her to prepare the ink for him, nor did he notice when an additional person was in front of him. His mind and heart were only focused on the exam paper, the questions, and the honour of not disgracing the princess who ground the ink personally for him.
"And the princess’s husband, he also prepared the ink for you personally, I saw it," someone said admirably. "Brother Nangong, you are indeed incredible."
"Indeed, Brother Nangong, your answers were remarkable. If it were me and the princess and her husband stood in front of me, I wouldn’t be able to write a single word."
"Exactly, I would probably be so excited that I couldn’t hold my pen."
"But Brother Nangong, you remained steady. Truly, it’s no surprise coming from you."
"..."
Everyone was surrounding Nangong Che, each taking turns to speak.
It had been a while since Nangong Che had received such admiration and attention from others. Perhaps he couldn’t say it had been a while, but ever since he was young, he had learnt that he was a Nangong. His family was too impoverished and weak. Although he wasn’t bullied because he was a Nangong, he didn’t receive much care or love either.
There were too many outstanding descendants in the Nangong family, and they did not lack him. The internal strife was rampant. He did not dare to show off his talents too much, lest he be pushed away and suppressed before even receiving attention from the head of the Nangong family.
When he ranked first in the provincial test, he felt the admiration from those around him for the first time, most of which was surprise and shock. After all, everyone thought that the Nangong surname was out of the game in the Nanchu Dynasty and could not turn around.
Today in the Imperial Exam, he truly experienced the admiration and jealousy of others. It seemed that he would rise above the clouds, and everything would go smoothly from then on, without any setbacks or hardships, let alone despair or darkness.
He passed this hurdle himself, but it was also because the princess was broad-minded and personally laid down a ladder for him.
Nangong Ya did not feel envious of Nangong Che. As a woman with the same Nangong surname, she knew how extraordinary it was for her to get this far. Although her talent was not enough for the princess to personally prepare ink, she was conferred as the second-class second rank by the princess, which was enough to make her name significant in the history of women’s examinations.
The two other women who also made it on the list performed quite steadily, placing at neither the top nor the bottom of the third class, which demonstrated their best abilities. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
One of the women was named Du Chunlan, and the other was Liao Zhuxi.
The two approached Nangong Ya and sincerely said, "Having improved so much in the Palace Examination, Nangong Ya, you are truly formidable."
Nangong Ya smiled at the two and whispered, "When I saw the princess, I was so moved that I became excited and somehow managed to perform exceptionally."
"We were also excited, but unfortunately we could not perform exceptionally," Du Chunlan whispered.
Liao Zhuxi nodded.
Nangong Ya laughed and whispered, "You two are different from me. I thought I didn’t have a chance, it was merely a trial. When I discovered there was an opportunity for me to display my abilities, I couldn’t contain my excitement."
The two instantly understood. Because she was a Nangong, the Nangong surname, which caused so much hardship for the people who couldn’t leave Nanchu for the past year, must have naturally made her bear much more than others.
Those who could seize this opportunity were few and far between, but she and Nangong Che had seized this opportunity. It could be said that their careers took a soaring leap, which was unexpected before this examination.
"Let’s go for a drink together," Du Chunlan invited the two, "Sister Liao likes to drink, I don’t know about Sister Nangong, do you drink?"
"I can have a couple of glasses," Nangong Ya replied.
"In that case, let’s go." Du Chunlan pulled the two along.
The three of them left together.
On Nangong Che’s side, someone also invited him to drink together. Nangong Che agreed readily. He was not a bookworm. These people would be his colleagues in the future, and getting to know each other in advance would be conducive to their future dealings in the officialdom.
As Su Rong guessed, after the Palace Examination, when the final list was posted, two people caused an unprecedented discussion. One was Nangong Che who topped the list, and the other was Nangong Ya whose rank had risen to second class second rank.
As their names were discussed, the essays of the top ten scholars were also copied and posted, and the original examination papers of all the scholars were sealed for preservation.
Nangong Xin sighed to her wet nurse, "These two really bring honour to our family."
The wet nurse stated with a smile, "A generous and accepting princess is truly great in her capacity."
Nangong Xin immediately smiled, "Yes, if she wasn’t so accepting, I wouldn’t be living such a good life today."
The wet nurse agreed, "Your years of hard work were not wasted..."
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