Chapter 145: Love in the Ancient Planes 5

After being educated by Yuan Qingci, Lu's courage, which had grown, shrank back.

She originally thought that she would have a good life after her son passed the examination to become a scholar.

Who knew that this good life was just a dream, and she could only watch helplessly.

Lu originally wanted to show off her power in front of the Jiang family, but now it is completely over.

After all, they, mother and son, still have to rely on others for financial support, so it is better to be low-key.

Lu has been doing this for 3 years.

This year Yuan Qingci was 15 years old, and his hair was untied and tied up like a little girl. It was time

to tie up his hair. With his hair tied up, he began to look like an adult.

Jiang Lan has been very low-key these years. After all, there is nothing to worry about for a child.

She usually works in the fields, mows the grass, fetches water, fishes, and herds, and her skin is tanned to a healthy wheat color.

Jiang Lan's appearance is obviously not in line with mainstream aesthetics.

The ones being praised now are fair-skinned young ladies with delicate skin and tender flesh. People like her are praised for being a bit cool at best.

But when ordinary people live, they value the ability to work and the health of the body. Beauty is secondary. There is

no shortage of people who like a strong and healthy young lady like Jiang Lan in the village.

It's a pity that she got married so early, which made many aunts beat their chests and regret that they acted too late.

It's not that no one has tried to steal her away from her in recent years, but Yuan Qingci's reputation as a scholar is too great, and if others want to compete with him, they have to test their own abilities.

Jiang Lan is already 18 years old,

which is considered an older leftover woman in the folk. Yuan Qingci is only 15 years old and is still busy taking exams.

Before leaving, Yuan Qingci found Jiang Lan and handed her a silver hairpin.

He now looks like a teenager, and he was taller than her now, even though he used to be short and thick.

"Sister Lan Lan, I bought this hairpin with the money I saved from copying books in the bookstore. It will look good on you. I will leave for the provincial capital early tomorrow morning. I plan to stay there for half a month. I will come back after the announcement of the results of the autumn examination. You have to wait for me..."

He lowered his eyelids, but did not say the next sentence.

Jiang Lan accepted it without hesitation. She has fed this little guy a lot of things over the years. It can be said that he can grow so tall because of her occasional feeding.

"How are you going? It's a long way, is there anyone to go with you?"

In ancient times, transportation was not well developed, and it took a lot of time to travel.

In addition, the probability of a weak scholar being robbed outside was very high, so safety was also a big issue.

"It's not that hard to travel with the dean and several classmates in a carriage."

Jiang Lan took off the purse hanging on his body, put it in Yuan Qingci's hand, and carefully reminded:

"This is the silver I saved. Although it's not much, it can help in an emergency. When you go out, remember to be careful with your words and actions, don't cause trouble, and be wary of others. Be careful with what you take in."

Yuan Qingci is indeed taller than Jiang Lan, but every time he stands in front of her, he still feels that he can't get rid of the shadow of the short stout figure he used to be.

He really wants to refuse the silver she gave him, but reason makes him hold the purse in his hand.

"You...you must wait for me to come back. I will work hard to get into high school."

Jiang Lan nodded sincerely, with unwavering confidence in his eyes.

"You will definitely pass the exam. Lifting a man is just a piece of cake."

Yuan Qingci was stunned for a moment, and did not take her words seriously. She asked back: "My father took exams all his life and only passed the exam as a scholar. Why do you believe that I can pass it?"

For ordinary families, the cost of studying every year is sky-high.

Passing the exam as a scholar is just a place to get started, and passing the exam as a lifter is half a step into the official career.

Although he passed the exam as a scholar at the age of 12, which was considered glorious for a while, he himself was not completely sure about the exam as a lifter.

There were many people who complimented him, and many people who hoped that he would pass the exam, but among all of them, only Jiang Lan was sure that he would pass the exam.

"Because you are Yuan Qingci, a rare imperial examination genius, who always passes every exam!"

Imperial examination genius... who always passes every exam...

Yuan Qingci smiled, and felt that Jiang Lan was a little naive and cute, and at the same time his heart was warm.

He lost his father when he was young, and suffered a lot of indifference and contempt along the way. Only Jiang Lan stayed with him all the way and stayed by his side.

Even for this expectation, he had to go all out.

There was a difference between men and women, so Yuan Qingci couldn't stay any longer, and could only say goodbye to Jiang Lan in a hurry.

Jiang Lan breathed a sigh of relief. The plot was finally going to unfold, but he didn't know what choice Yuan Qingci would make in the end.

...

The sweet-scented osmanthus was fragrant, and the golden list was coming. The list-announcing column outside the tribute courtyard was surrounded by people waiting to see the list.

The inner circle had long been occupied by servants from the aristocratic families of the prefecture. Yuan Qingci and his classmates could only wait outside, craning their necks and waiting for the list to be announced.

With a creak, the gate of the tribute courtyard opened. The leading yamen runner knocked on the gong and cleared the way in front. The yamen runners behind him followed with a roll of golden embroidered list in their hands, and two yamen runners with swords were guarding behind them.

Everyone consciously made way for a passage, and the originally noisy crowd suddenly quieted down. Everyone held their breath and watched the yamen runners post the list.

After a while, the yamen runners finished posting, and the onlookers swarmed in like a swarm of bees.

"I got it, I got 75th place! I got it!"

"Congratulations, I got 88th place too, congratulations!"

"Brother Yao, you got 37th place, congratulations!"

"Not me! Not me! Why is my name not on the list!"

This provincial examination admitted 92 people on the main list and 17 people on the secondary list, a total of no more than 109 students.

However, the number of students participating in this provincial examination exceeded 10,000, and the admission rate was almost one in a hundred, and the competition was extremely fierce.

Some were happy while others were sad. Those who passed the exam were smiling and hugging each other, while those who failed cried bitterly and were even sad and hopeless.

"I have studied hard for decades, from gray hair to white hair,

but there is no hope of getting on the gold list. It's so unfair! It's so unfair!" A candidate with a head full of white hair was so excited that he bumped his head against the gray wall next to the golden list.

Blood splashed in an instant, scaring the candidates around.

The guards on the side came out expressionlessly and dragged away the person lying on the ground, who was unknown whether dead or alive.

The guards were no longer surprised by such things.

The provincial examination was originally a battle of one-plank bridge with thousands of troops. It was normal for candidates to go crazy and die after failing repeatedly.

The matter of the white-haired candidate was just a minor episode. What the candidates cared about most was their own results. The list was packed with people.

Yuan Qingci and several classmates squeezed to the front row with great effort and began to look for their names. They looked from the back to the front, but they couldn't see their names. The more they looked, the more disappointed they felt.

Could it be that they didn't pass this time?

After failing once, they had to wait for another three years. They were very depressed.

Yuan Qingci had expected that the provincial examination would be difficult, but he was still a little disappointed.

"Qingci, Qingci, you passed, you passed the 12th place!"

"I... passed?"

Yuan Qingci was stunned in place, and couldn't believe it for a moment that he could really pass.

Seeing that Yuan Qingci passed the exam at such a young age, the onlookers wanted to make friends with him. They congratulated him and exchanged name cards.

Yuan Qingci looked at the stack of business cards in his hand and couldn't help but lower his eyes.

Reading changes your destiny, this is how it feels.