These are the three great joys of life: meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examination.
Every candidate's face was filled with anticipation, though some were dejected, knowing they hadn't done well and therefore hadn't held out much hope.
When an examiner emerged carrying a red cloth, everyone knew the real results announcement was about to begin. The red cloth quietly unfurled over the huge plaque, listing from top to bottom those who had truly succeeded in the spring examinations. Only the top thirty were worthy of ranking.
Although there were only so many official positions, as long as one ranked well in the exam, one would be considered a proper scholar, and there would still be certain taboos associated with it.
For an ordinary person, even becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) is something they dream of, after all, the title of Juren is not bad at all.
Zhang Zihe looked it over from top to bottom and finally found his name on the red cloth. He never expected that he would be able to win the third place in the imperial examination on his first attempt.
Zhang Zihe was immediately delighted, but as he continued reading, he noticed Wang Mingyang's name was also on the red cloth, ranked thirty-first. This seemed odd, since only thirty people were accepted; what was the reason for the thirty-first position?
Zhang Zihe squeezed next to Wang Mingyang, "Brother Wang, what's the deal with this ranking? Is there some kind of trick to it?"
Wang Mingyang scratched his head and said, "Don't ask me, I'm totally confused too. Does this mean I passed or failed?"
Some were happy while others were sad, but in any case, the fact that the name appeared on the red cloth meant that it had caught the eye of the imperial court. Zhang Zihe immediately prepared to drag Wang Mingyang out for a few drinks.
However, just as Zhang Zihe was about to leave with Wang Mingyang, they discovered that someone had already come knocking on their door.
"You must be the third-ranked scholar, Young Master Zhang. My master invites you. If it's convenient, would you do me the honor of having a cup of fine wine?"
Zhang Zihe glanced at the man's clothes and said, "Your master is overstepping his bounds. Openly befriending a top scholar like him is probably not a good thing."
The man smiled slightly, "It's just inviting Young Master Zhang for a drink. My master thinks there shouldn't be any problem. It just depends on whether Young Master Zhang is willing to do so. Of course, you can bring a friend along if you'd like."
Zhang Zihe laughed heartily, "How many people would dare to refuse an invitation from the prestigious Liu family? In that case, I'll go with you."
These eight prominent families in the capital were Liu, Bai, Li, Wang, Liu, Zheng, Sun, and Wu, collectively known as the Eight Great Families.
These people controlled almost every aspect of the entire Daqian Dynasty.
These eight families were intertwined, and almost none of them existed independently within the dynasty; they were all more or less connected with other people.
The fact that someone could come to invite a third-ranked scholar meant that this person must hold a high position in the Liu family. Zhang Zihe didn't dare to refuse, otherwise offending one of the eight great families in the capital would sound like courting death.
Meanwhile, Ning Ye had already returned to Qingmei Village.
After burying all the remains, Ning Ye also arranged all other matters to ensure there would be no problems.
However, when Ning Yezhen returned home, he felt that the smell of gunpowder in the air was a little too strong. He didn't know if it was his imagination or what.
As Ning Ye changed into casual clothes to look for Lin Qinshu, he discovered an extremely conspicuous figure in the small garden, a figure that Ning Ye could not ignore at all.
At this moment, Lin Qinshu and this figure are talking, seemingly enjoying each other's company, but who can know what the truth is really?
Ning Ye was also a little flustered, after all, the person who came was none other than Hua Yingyue, and he didn't know how this woman suddenly came here.
Although nothing actually happened between the two, Lin Qinshu's keen intuition would certainly not believe that nothing had happened between them, after all, Hua Yingyue was simply too outstanding.
Almost any woman, upon seeing Hua Yingyue, would probably subconsciously feel that her man must stay far away from this woman, otherwise problems are bound to arise.
Ning Ye knew that hiding things wouldn't do any good, so he might as well come out openly and listen to what these women were talking about, lest he suffer a terrible fate later.
"My lady, I've been looking for you for ages! I never expected you to be entertaining guests here."
Upon hearing Ning Ye's voice, the two of them turned their heads at the same time. "Young Master Lin, you are really heartless. You won't even send me a letter if I don't come to you. Do you think I'm not good enough for you?"
Lin Qinshu said slowly, "Husband, didn't I tell you that you can discuss anything with me directly? Why did someone have to come to our door?"
Ning Ye said firmly, "My wife, what you two were talking about just now was definitely not these things. Stop lying to me. I really didn't have any other thoughts. If you don't believe me, I'll take my heart out and show it to you so you can see if it's true or not."
Hua Yingyue chuckled, "Young Master Ning is quite the joker. It seems you're quite adept at making oaths."
"Miss Yingyue, what are you up to by causing trouble here? Do you just want to see me suffer? If that's the case, I advise you to save your breath and not ruin the relationship between my wife and me."
Lin Qinshu laughed too, "Alright, husband, we weren't talking about anything just now. It's just that Miss Yingyue is a little anxious about what she wants, so she came to see for herself."
Ning Ye breathed a sigh of relief. "Miss Yingyue, didn't I already say? There's simply no extra grain to brew wine right now. At the very least, we won't be able to give you anything until next week."
"I know, but it's alright. I brought a lot of food with me this time. I hope Young Master Ning can start work soon and not keep me waiting for so long."
They've already delivered the raw materials to his door; if Ning Ye were to refuse again, it would be quite disrespectful.
“Alright, then no matter how much grain you send, I will use that as a benchmark. How much you receive before summer will depend on how much grain you have.”
Hua Yingyue smiled slightly, "I brought a full 10,000 shi this time. I think that should be enough for you to use for a long time."
The sheer number surprised Ning Ye. After all, he hadn't expected a courtesan to be able to amass such a vast amount of grain; he had assumed it would be at most a few thousand.
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