No matter how much Yao Jinrong disagreed, the verdict was already handed down. After being paraded in shackles for three months, Yao Jinrong was given one hundred strokes of the cane and sent to the frontier to serve in the army.
On the day his plagiarism was discovered, the Yao family expelled Yao Jinrong from their ranks. During the time Yao Jinrong was publicly shamed and exiled, not a single member of the Yao family came to visit him.
His concubine mother also completely lost favor. After seeing all the concubines, Yao's father finally calmed down and reconciled with his wife.
The first wife had suffered greatly at the hands of the concubine in her early years. Now that she had regained favor, she immediately took revenge and fought fiercely with the concubine.
When Yao Jinrong was punished, the students cheered. And because the essay "Not Following the Rules" was so well written, people's attention turned to the true author of the essay, Xia Qingzhai.
This student is extraordinary.
He's only fifteen now, and it's said he was only fourteen when he wrote that article!
Next year he will be able to finish his mourning period and take the provincial examination. He and Xu Yincheng, the top scorer this year, both came from Yunyang County School. Will he be the next top scorer next year?
Time passed slowly amidst everyone's anticipation, and August of the seventeenth year of Xinglong finally arrived.
In that year, Emperor Xinglong specially appointed Jin Wenting, the son of the Regent Prince and commander of the Xishan Camp, as the chief examiner of the Yunzhou Prefecture Examination, assisted by officials from various departments, to supervise the Yunzhou Prefecture Examination.
Within Yunzhou Prefecture, all scholars, tribute students, and imperial students from the prefecture were eligible to take the exam. They packed their belongings and headed to the provincial capital to await the examination.
The provincial examination was usually held in August in autumn, so it was also called the Autumn Examination. Because the results were announced in mid-September, which is the season when osmanthus flowers are in full bloom, it was commonly known as the "Osmanthus List". Furthermore, because the results were announced on the days of Yin and Chen, it was also called the "Dragon and Tiger List", all of which have auspicious and elegant meanings.
In August, Jin Wenting led the examiners to the examination hall.
On the same day, Tong Su followed the group of students waiting in line for the exam and stepped into the college examination hall.
In September, the results of the provincial examination were released.
In the seventeenth year of the Xinglong reign, Xia Qingzhai topped the list in the Yunzhou Prefecture Examination!
Before the list of successful candidates was released, Tongsu had already returned to Yunyang County. Soon after, the county government sent a congratulatory message with gongs and drums. Xia's mother was overjoyed and took her to pay respects to Xia's father. The entire county school also celebrated for her.
That night, a sneaky wolf sneaked into Qingzhai's room again, knowing the way well to find Tongsu.
At that moment, Tongsu was just about to take a bath. Seeing that he still wanted to go to bed, she chuckled and asked someone to fetch two more buckets of water to help him wash as well.
Wolf fur dries quickly, and he was warm all over. After a quick wipe with a highly absorbent towel, he was basically dry. He then openly moved next to Tongsu and placed his wolf head on her mouth, whimpering sweetly.
"You've come to Yunyang County, could it be that your master has come too?" Tongsu asked with a smile as she wiped his fur.
"Awoo?" Black Wolf looked completely innocent.
"I never expected the chief examiner to be your master. You probably don't know, but I asked him for a favor two years ago—last year's academy exam questions, the preliminary exam happened to include 'not following the rules,' and after the exam, he broke with convention by showing the answer sheet to the public. I asked him to help with all of that. You wouldn't believe it, he looks so fierce, but he's actually a pretty good person."
"Awoo awoo awoo!" That's right, that's right, he's great!
Tong Su: "I haven't seen him these past two days. Do you know where he is?" As she spoke, she took off the towel and wiped the wolf fur with her hand—it was completely dry.
"Awooo!" I shake my head. I'm just a wolf, I don't know anything! It's late, let's sleep, hold me tight!
However, just as he buried his head into the mattress, Jin Wenting suddenly felt an uncontrollable stretching sensation in his body—
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