Chapter 1 Entering the Capital for the Imperial Examination
Qingyang Prefecture, Qinghe County.
Before dawn, Ye Jianshan got up early to get ready.
His maternal grandfather's urging voice could be heard from the doorway: "Xiaoshan, get up quickly, don't keep the Wen family's boat waiting."
Ye Jianshan responded, "Grandfather, I'm up. Is my mother up yet?"
Old Man Ye only pushed open the door when he heard his grandson get up, and pointed to the next room: "Your mother probably didn't sleep all night, your maternal grandmother has already gone to wake her up."
Ye Jianshan scratched his head: "Grandfather, my mother is so angry, do you also think I shouldn't have gone to the capital?"
Old Man Ye gave him a thoughtful look, shook his head, turned his back to look out the window, and after a moment said, "I have to go, sooner or later."
Since the news of Ye Jianshan passing the imperial examination came, the entire Qinghe County was in an uproar.
This is a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examinations). Their town hasn't produced a Juren in many years, not to mention that Ye Jianshan won first place in the provincial examination this time, becoming the Jieyuan.
Speaking of Ye Jianshan, not only in Qinghe County, but also in Qingyang Prefecture, everyone knows him.
Because this person is definitely a genius in the imperial examinations, and might even achieve the highest score in all six levels.
Since Ye Jianshan took the exams at the age of thirteen, he has always ranked first in every exam, whether it was the county exam, the prefectural exam, the provincial exam, or this township exam.
He was exceptionally talented, a well-known prodigy, as he was the youngest person to achieve the titles of top scholar in the county, prefecture, and provincial examinations, as well as the top scholar in the provincial examination.
As soon as the results of the provincial examination were released, the county magistrate of Qinghe County was so happy that he helped organize a three-day banquet. This was all due to his achievements during his tenure. When he was evaluated, Ye Jianshan's status as the top scholar in the provincial examination would be listed first, and he might even get an excellent grade, which would lead to a promotion.
Everyone was happy, except for Ye Jianshan's mother, Ye Yun.
Ever since Ye Jianshan decided to go to the capital to take the imperial examination in February of next year, his mother has never smiled.
Ye Jianshan lost his father at birth and lived with Ye Yun at his maternal grandparents' house from a young age. His maternal grandfather was a pig butcher and made a living by butchering and selling pig meat.
He has three maternal uncles. His eldest uncle is a constable in the county and is now the head constable.
My second uncle followed his maternal grandfather in slaughtering pigs and selling meat. Years ago, he opened a meat stall in the county. His maternal grandfather had retired and was now able to look after the stall, leaving the physical work of slaughtering pigs to my second uncle.
His third uncle and his mother ran an embroidery workshop together. His mother taught students embroidery, and his third uncle helped manage it.
The family gradually moved from Yejiacun to the town, and finally settled in the county seat. They were not particularly wealthy, but they were a well-off family.
Because of this, although Ye Jianshan had no father, he never lacked meat to eat from a young age, and his clothes were always quite nice.
The matter of reading also came naturally. When Ye Jianshan was three years old, Ye Yun began to hold him and read to him, and continued to teach him until he was six years old before sending him to a private school.
Ye Jianshan had actually suspected his mother's identity. Her superb embroidery skills and ability to teach him to read and write were definitely not something an ordinary farm girl could do.
He thought his mother was counting on him to be successful and become the top scholar in the imperial examination, but his mother suppressed him until he was thirteen years old before he was allowed to take the exam.
Ye Jianshan originally thought that his mother wanted to temper his temper and lay a solid foundation before he took action, but last night when he thought about it, a terrible idea suddenly popped into his head.
His mother seemed to have been against him participating in the imperial examinations from the beginning.
Every time he got first place in an exam, his mother wasn't as happy as the rest of the family.
Ever since he said a few days ago that he would go to the capital to participate in the imperial examination, his mother has not come out of her room.
Ye Jianshan was also aggrieved, not understanding why his mother was so unhappy. The other family members also deliberately changed the subject and pretended nothing had happened, intentionally ignoring this.
For a moment, Ye Jianshan was unsure whether he should go to the capital or not, which is why he asked the question.
Hearing his grandfather's reply, Ye Jianshan felt relieved: "I must go. I'm still waiting to come back as the top scholar in the imperial examination."
Old Man Ye laughed so hard his face wrinkled up when he heard this: "Good, good, good. My grandson is promising and can definitely do it. But health comes first. If you need anything, just ask your third uncle. He's been traveling all over the country these past few years and has seen a lot. I feel at ease with him with his grandpa."
"Okay, is my mother really not coming with me? She went with me when I went on the imperial examinations before."
This is also where Ye Jianshan's dilemma lies. Before each exam, his mother would accompany him and take good care of him. After the exam, she would also have a doctor examine him as soon as possible.
But when the results of the imperial examination came out, his mother became unhappy again.
A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.
"The capital is too far away, your mother won't go, it's too much trouble."
Old Man Ye sat at the doorway, puffing on his pipe.
Ye Jianshan thought about it and realized that made the same sense.
Just before boarding the ship, Ye Jianshan finally spotted his mother in the crowd.
Ye Jianshan waved happily: "Mother, I'm leaving now. I'll come back as the top scholar for you when I pass the imperial examination!"
As soon as he said that, the surrounding crowd started to cheer.
"Shanzi has ambition!"
"Shanzi is smart, he'll definitely be able to do it!"
"Stay strong, Da Shan! We're waiting for you to come back!"
The little girls on the shore were waving handkerchiefs, their eyes red from crying.
Every girl in this county has a crush on Ye Jianshan.
He was good-looking and became a scholar at the age of sixteen. At that time, Ye Jianshan had just participated in the autumn imperial examination, and the threshold of the Ye family was almost worn down by people coming to propose marriage.
Ye Yun rejected them all.
Hearing the jeers from the people on the shore, Ye Jianshan blushed deeply. When he saw his mother waving to him from afar, he was so happy he almost jumped for joy.
When Ye Lei saw him come in, he quickly pulled his hand and made him sit down: "It's windy today, don't stay in the wind for too long, or you'll get a headache."
Ye Jianshan was still grinning foolishly.
“I saw my mother waving at me.”
Ye Lei poured him a cup of tea: "Your mother only has one son, and everything she does is for your own good. You must not resent her. This is what she gave me. She saw that you had been gone for several months and her eyes were red with reluctance. She was too embarrassed to come and see you, so she asked me to give this to you."
Ye Jianshan was delighted: "I knew my mother wouldn't leave me without something. I'll look at it later. I'll go say hello to Uncle Wen first. I haven't seen them yet since I came up here."
The boat that Ye Lei found belonged to the Wen family of Qinghe County. They were heading north to transport goods, so they invited Ye Lei and Ye Jianshan to come along, so they could look out for each other on the way.
Ye Jianshan and Wen Wenzhang, the second young master of the Wen family, were classmates. They started their education at the same private school.
But Ye Jianshan, at sixteen, was already a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination), while Wen Wenzhang, at seventeen, was still a Tongsheng (a student who had taken the imperial examinations) and had failed the Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level examinations) exam several times.
Fortunately, he has a good attitude; otherwise, having such a genius by his side would have caused internal strife. This trip to the capital was also to broaden his horizons with his father. If the imperial examinations don't work out, he'll try another path. He plans to go into business with his father in the future.
"Dashan, I'm here, come in quickly."
Wen Wenzhang waved enthusiastically to Ye Jianshan, and the voice of the wealthy Wen could be heard.
"Master Ye and Manager Ye have arrived. Quickly, let them in."
Ye Jianshan and Ye Lei exchanged a glance, smiled, and walked over.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries upon entering, Ye Jianshan realized that there was another person in the room whom he did not recognize.
Master Wen stroked his beard and proudly introduced the man: "Brother Gao, this is the child prodigy from Qingyang that I told you about. He took the exam four times in just three years and came in first place every time. This autumn exam, he was the top scholar. Maybe he will also come in first place next spring and achieve the highest score in all six exams."
Ye Jianshan said modestly, "Uncle Wen, you flatter me."
"Don't be modest when you see a mountain."
Ye Jianshan looked up and met the gaze of the "Brother Gao" that Uncle Wen had mentioned, and cupped his hands in greeting: "This student greets you."
The man Uncle Wen mentioned, Brother Gao, remained silent.
Not only did he remain silent, but his gaze never left Ye Jianshan's face ever since Ye Jianshan entered.
Their eyes widened, as if they had been frightened by what Master Wen had said.
Master Wen also sensed something was wrong. He exchanged a glance with his son, then waved his hand in front of Gao Han: "Brother Gao, what's wrong?"
Ye Jianshan also touched his face: "Sir, is there anything dirty on my face?"
He's not so handsome that he could make fish sink, geese fall from the sky, moon hide, or flowers blush, so that people can't take their eyes off him at first glance.
He could still indulge in a narcissistic fantasy if he looked like his mother, but his family all said he looked like his deceased father.
Ye Jianshan didn't care about appearance. It was fine if he inherited his dead ugly father, at least his features were decent. Although he didn't inherit his mother's beauty, as long as it didn't interfere with his imperial examinations and marriage, it was fine.
Besides, he's not bad-looking, not ugly.
Ye Lei became somewhat wary. His sister had said that Da Shan looked like his deceased father. Could this person know that old ghost?
Wen Wenzhang brushed Ye Jianshan's hand away from his face and looked at it carefully: "No, Dashan's face is clean."
Everyone looked at Gao Han with some confusion, wondering what was wrong with him. He kept staring at Ye Jianshan, and his expression became serious.
If you look closely, some of them are still trembling; they're trembling with fear.
What was Gao Han thinking? His hands were trembling slightly.
Master Wen patted Gao Han on the shoulder: "Brother Gao, snap out of it."
Gao Han, who was nearly fifty years old, was so frightened that his legs went weak and he slid off the chair and knelt down. He knelt in the same spot where Ye Jianshan was sitting, which startled Ye Jianshan so much that he jumped up.
Kneeling before a younger person is believed to shorten one's lifespan.
His actions terrified everyone in the room.
Gao Han was immediately snapped out of her daze and quickly said apologetically, "Sorry, sorry, I was just lost in thought."
Master Wen had someone help him up. Once he was seated, Gao Han apologized again, and everyone was relieved to see that he was alright.
Then Gao Han asked, "Is this student's surname Ye?"
Ye Jianshan stood up and bowed, saying, "My surname is Ye, my given name is Jianshan, and I have not yet chosen a courtesy name."
"Very well, I am truly surprised to have met a sixteen-year-old top scholar. I apologize for my rudeness. I offer you this tea."
Master Wen was somewhat surprised. Gao Han's attitude had changed too quickly. Before, he had been fawning over this young master from the capital, but now he was fawning over Ye Jieyuan.
He even offered to drink tea as an apology.
Ye Jianshan was apprehensive; this Lord Gao was far too approachable. He quickly took a sip of tea.
Afterwards, Ye Jianshan was even more puzzled. This Master Gao didn't dare to look him in the eye when he spoke to him, and deliberately avoided his gaze.
Ye Jianshan was still confused when he left, and asked his uncle, "Third Uncle, this Master Gao is very strange."
"It is indeed strange. Although you are indeed a child prodigy, he is very knowledgeable and experienced. He shouldn't be so respectful to a junior like you."
Ye Lei has seen a lot of people, but every time he meets an official, they all look down on him.
Ye Jianshan touched his face again and went back to look in the mirror.
"There's really nothing there. Is that Master Gao some kind of pervert? Why is he staring at my face like that?"
Ye Jianshan opened the package his mother had given him, completely bewildered.
Inside was just an ordinary gold hairpin and a letter, instructing him to take the hairpin to the Guo family for help if he encountered any trouble. The letter said that the man was a friend of his father and could save his life.
Ye Jianshan wasn't too surprised; his mother had always had some tricks up her sleeve, and she was quite mysterious.
He carefully placed the hairpin close to his body. There were so many powerful and influential people in the capital; if he offended one, he wouldn't even know how he died.
This is indeed a good thing.
His mother still cared about him after all.
Ye Jianshan fell asleep peacefully, but Gao Han, on the other side of the cabin, couldn't sleep.
He's seen a ghost today!
A note from the author:
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[Pre-order] "After Becoming the Top Scholar, I Discovered I Was the Emperor's Brother-in-Law"
After years of diligent study, Ji Yanxing finally went to Beijing at the age of eighteen.
He was the youngest son of the Ji landlord family. His father was fifty years old when his eighteen-year-old mother gave birth to him, finally leaving an heir for the Ji family.
But the old man passed away before he grew up. Fortunately, the Ji family was wealthy and could afford to support his studies and ensure he had enough to eat and wear.
He lived up to expectations, becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination at the age of eighteen, and then discovered during the palace examination that the emperor treated him differently.
"As expected of my nephew, you are my uncle! You really are my little uncle!"
Ji Yanxing: ??? How are we alike?
So he also has an older sister who is the Empress Dowager, and the emperor sitting on the dragon throne who is seven years older than him is his nephew.
Good heavens, then he'll be able to do whatever he wants in the capital.
Tremble, corrupt officials! The righteous young imperial uncle is online protecting his son!
The copy was written on November 24, 2024.
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