Just as Yan Qingqing was about to leave, A-Wu rushed in, his face beaming with joy, and exclaimed, "Madam, Madam, congratulations!"
The messenger from the prefectural city has arrived with good news: our fourth young master has passed the imperial examination.
Yan Qingqing was overjoyed upon hearing this. Hard work pays off, and Li Xiangkang's efforts had finally been worthwhile. The child could finally rest easy.
As Yan Qingqing walked back, she asked, "What place did you get? Have you prepared the congratulatory money?"
Ah Wu quickly replied, "The messenger who delivered the good news said that I came in twenty-third place. The young mistress of Xiqian has already prepared two whole baskets of money."
The young mistress said that once the villagers who came to watch the excitement arrive, they will start scattering lucky money.
The officials who delivered the good news were also given rewards.
Yan Qingqing laughed and said, "Good, good, your young mistress is becoming more and more reliable."
Although the fourth young master did well on the exam, that child has always been proud and arrogant; I wonder if he'll be unhappy.
Ah Wu exclaimed and replied, "Definitely not. What family has a child who passes the imperial examination before the age of ten? If Fourth Young Master is unhappy about this, how are the others supposed to live?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing stumbled, but fortunately Mu Xi caught her in time, preventing her from falling.
Yan Qingqing looked at A-Wu in disbelief and asked, "What did you just say? What did Fourth Young Master get?"
A-Wu replied, somewhat bewildered, "A scholar."
Yan Qingqing took a deep breath and asked again, "Wasn't he going to take the preliminary examination for the imperial examination? How did he suddenly become a scholar?"
Ah Wu wanted to cover his face when he heard this. Could it be that their lady had no idea that Li Xiangkang had taken the county, prefectural, and provincial examinations in a row?
Passing the county and prefectural examinations makes one a student of the lowest rank (童生), and passing the provincial examination makes one a scholar of the highest rank (秀才).
For a child who has only studied for two years and is not even ten years old, passing the preliminary examination is already quite impressive. If he were to pass the county-level examination, it would be an incredible stroke of luck.
Seeing that Yan Qingqing was still in shock, A-Wu said, "Our Fourth Young Master is aiming to pass the imperial examination."
Otherwise we wouldn't have come back so late.
The fourth young master took an extra exam in the outer city.
Yan Qingqing thought about Li Xiangkang's tireless study and his exceptional talent, and felt that it was only natural for Li Xiangkang to pass the imperial examination.
So I quickened my pace to get home.
Behind them, Old Mrs. Li and Madam Xu also heard the conversation between A-Wu and Yan Qingqing.
They were both shocked and genuinely happy.
The Xu family has always been on good terms with Yan Qingqing, and if Yan Qingqing does well, their family will only get better.
Grandma Li was happy because Li Xiangkang was their grandson, a legitimate member of the Li family, and a grandson with whom she could never sever ties.
Thinking of this, Old Mrs. Li also ran out of Li Xiangjin's house in a flash. She wanted to find Old Mr. Li and tell him the good news.
Then she could go with Grandpa Li to see his eldest grandson.
The reason why Old Mrs. Li didn't go herself was because she was afraid. Besides, even if she went, she might not be able to get into Yan Qingqing's house.
Seeing Old Madam Li's flustered appearance, Madam Xu found it somewhat amusing.
However, she first went home to prepare a congratulatory gift, and then went to Yan Qingqing's house to offer her congratulations.
Yan Qingqing followed A Wu home. The official who brought the good news hadn't left yet. Upon seeing Yan Qingqing, he quickly bowed and said, "This humble servant greets Master Mingzhao. Congratulations, Master Mingzhao! Congratulations, Master Mingzhao! Congratulations on passing the imperial examination and becoming a scholar."
Moreover, the fourth young master was not yet ten years old, and even the provincial education commissioner remarked that he was a child prodigy with a bright future.
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "You two officials have had a long journey. You flatter me, Your Excellency."
He doesn't deserve the title of child prodigy. This child studies day and night, and his achievements today are the result of hard work.
Although Yan Qingqing knew that Li Xiangkang had a photographic memory, she was still unwilling to accept others praising him.
There's a saying, "praise can be devastating," and she certainly didn't want that to happen to Li Xiangkang.
The two officials who came to deliver the good news admired Yan Qingqing even more after hearing her words.
They had all heard her legend before, but now that they had met her in person, they knew that there was a reason why the Li family was able to prosper.
Yan Qingqing then had Ruyi reward the two constables with a purse each, to thank them for their hard work along the way.
The two were naturally pleased after weighing their purses. Yuan Huiniang had already given them a reward, and now Yan Qingqing was giving them another one. Their errand was truly worthwhile.
The reward money from the Li family alone is enough to match their annual salary.
Besides, there are other companies too.
Yan Qingqing originally wanted A Wu to take the two officials downstairs for tea and a rest.
However, the two men cupped their hands in greeting to Yan Qingqing and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Master Mingzhao, but we have official duties to attend to and need to go to the next house to deliver good news."
"I hope that when your son passes the imperial examination again, it will be the two of us who will bring the good news."
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "In that case, I'll take your kind words."
"Would you two be able to disclose how many people from Chengyang County made the list?"
One of them spoke up, saying, "This is good news, so it's convenient to reveal it. There are a total of seventeen students in Chengyang County who passed the preliminary examinations, seven of whom passed the county-level examinations, and two of whom passed the provincial-level examinations."
The son of Ming Zhaoshuo holds both the titles of Tongsheng (a student who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations) and Xiucai (a scholar who passed the highest level of the imperial examinations). There are only two such individuals in the entire prefectural city, and both are from our Chengyang County.
Regardless of Li Xiangkang's abilities, this achievement is quite remarkable for a county.
Yan Qingqing thought for a moment and then asked, "Are Han Yu, Xu Hui, and Ding Xiu among them?"
One of them replied, "Yes, yes, Young Master Han passed the imperial examination and became a Juren, achieving the second-best score in our prefecture."
Young Master Xu, like the Fourth Young Master, was a student who passed the imperial examination at the same time.
As for Young Master Ding's grades, they weren't very good; he barely passed the preliminary examination and became a student.
However, it is not easy to make it onto the list.
After all, there are countless students taking the exam.
Yan Qingqing nodded upon hearing this; Han Yu was indeed a talented person.
It's truly remarkable that he achieved second place in the entire prefecture. After all, he had been imprisoned for a period of time, which had a significant impact on his physical and mental well-being.
If this hadn't happened, Han Yu would definitely have come back with first place, and would have been the undisputed champion.
I heard that he came in first place when he took the provincial examination. What if he becomes the top scholar in the palace examination?
This legendary feat of achieving the highest honors in three consecutive imperial examinations is likely to unfold in the Great Yan Dynasty.
It's a pity, though, that they missed out by just one place.
Leaving Xu Hui aside for now, what surprised Yan Qingqing the most was Ding Xiu. Yan Qingqing had heard from Li Xiangkang that he originally did not plan to take the exam, but was later spurred on by Master Ding and Madam Ding.
I really didn't expect him to pass the exam.
Li Xiangkang, who was standing nearby, was happy for his two classmates when he heard that they had both won.
After seeing off the messenger who brought the good news, Yan Qingqing had three congratulatory gifts prepared and sent to the Han, Ding, and Xu families respectively.
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