211, Laureate
211, Laureate
On the day when the results of the provincial examination were announced, Ye Zhuoran dragged them out early.
This time, Zhang Lingxuan had even sent someone to reserve a table at a nearby restaurant in advance. The four of them no longer had to wait by the roadside for the results as they had done in previous visits. Instead, they could sit inside the restaurant and wait.
If Lu Mingfei were alone, he wouldn't have come so early and waited here. The list would definitely be posted anyway, so he might as well wait until it was posted and then take his time to check it out. But he wasn't in a hurry, while the others were, so he had no choice but to leave early with everyone else.
"Why hasn't it been posted yet? It's so late." This was the nth time that Ye Zhuoran had come out of the balcony and looked in the direction of the Imperial Examination Hall.
"Stop walking around. Come and sit for a while. The list will be posted soon." Lu Mingfei was drinking a cup of tea in his hand. He really couldn't understand why Ye Zhuoran was so anxious.
"Hey, why aren't you anxious at all? Aren't you curious whether you made the list?" Ye Zhuoran walked back and didn't sit down. He reached out and took a sip of the tea on the table. Pointing at Lu Mingfei, he said, "I see. You must know that you will definitely make the list."
Lu Mingfei tried to clarify with a look of confusion, "I don't have the ability to predict the future, so how can I know if I will win?"
"You can do it, I know it. If you..."
"Don't talk." This time, before Ye Zhuoran finished speaking, Lu Mingfei directly covered Ye Zhuoran's mouth. He knew what Ye Zhuoran wanted to say without Ye Zhuoran finishing the rest of his words.
They are in the restaurant now, surrounded by people. If what they say here is heard by others and it gets out, who knows what kind of consequences it will cause.
After giving Ye Zhuoran a wink and knowing that Ye Zhuoran understood, Lu Mingfei released his hand that was covering Ye Zhuoran's mouth and said, "Please sit down for a while. I feel tired for you because you keep walking around."
"I'm not tired." Ye Zhuoran was dragged by Lu Mingfei to sit on the stool, but as soon as he sat down, he always felt as if there were nails pricking his buttocks. Not long after sitting down, he stood up again and went out to the balcony.
“…” Lu Mingfei looked at the person who stood up and ran out.
Zhang Lingxuan glanced at the person who was still sitting there calmly drinking tea, and stood up impatiently. He said, "I'll go take a look outside," and then left.
"I'll go take a look too." Fu Boming also stood up.
In the end, Lu Mingfei was the only one who could still sit there and drink tea.
Looking towards the Imperial Examination Hall from the restaurant where they were, they could see the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall.
When he saw a crowd surging ahead, soldiers clearing the way, and someone coming out from behind with a list, Ye Zhuoran, who was leaning over the railing and looking out, shouted, "The list is out! The list is out!"
Zhang Lingxuan stretched out an arm to hold Ye Zhuoran's waist, fearing that if he wasn't careful, this man would drag him down to the bottom of the building.
At this moment, everyone was paying attention to the notice posted downstairs, and no one noticed Zhang Lingxuan's action.
"Mingfei, come quickly, the list is out!" Fu Boming also shouted from outside.
The shouting outside made Lu Mingfei a little restless, so he had to get up and walk to the balcony. Standing at the balcony door, he looked at the street and saw that the street was full of cars, horses and people.
The nearby restaurants, teahouses, and second floors of shops were all filled with people, all with their necks turned towards the Imperial Examination Hall.
They were a little far away, but they could still see that some officers and soldiers seemed to have posted a notice on the wall in front of them, and many people rushed to the front to see the notice.
Looking at the huge crowds of people below, Lu Mingfei was really worried that a stampede might occur.
"Why don't we go downstairs and take a look?" Ye Zhuoran still wanted to run downstairs.
Lu Mingfei grabbed the man's arm and said sternly, "Don't go down there. There are too many people down there. Zhang Qi and the others will check the list and bring us the news."
They have already sent several people to the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall to check the list. They just need to wait here for a while and someone will bring the news up. There is really no need to rush.
And with so many people down there, even if you go down, you may not be able to squeeze to the front to see the list.
"Yeah, Zhuoran, don't go down. There are too many people downstairs. Let's wait here for a while." Even Zhang Lingxuan, who always doted on Ye Zhuoran, did not let this man do whatever he wanted this time.
Soon there was a noise coming from downstairs, as if someone had passed the imperial examination.
The people they sent here haven't returned yet, so everyone is waiting for news upstairs.
***
"Bang!"
After a while, the door of their box was kicked open from the outside.
Zhang Qi ran back and shouted as soon as he entered the door: "Brother, you won, you won!"
"Ming Fei won? Which place did he win?" Ye Zhuoran asked in surprise.
"No. 1! Right at the top of the list!" After Zhang Qi shouted, he also grinned.
"Congratulations, Mingfei, you passed the imperial examination and even won first place!"
Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming, who were present, congratulated their friend.
Lu Mingfei knew he should be able to pass the exam, but he hadn't expected his ranking to be so high. After accepting everyone's congratulations, he asked Zhang Qi, "Did you look at other people's scores?"
"No, no, I just saw your name on it, brother, so I ran back quickly." Zhang Qi scratched his head apologetically.
"It's okay. Fifteen and the others should be back soon." The Fifteen that Zhang Lingxuan mentioned was his servant.
"Then I'll go down and take a look." Zhang Qi threw down these words, turned around and ran out.
Before Lu Mingfei could even open his mouth to say anything, he saw Zhang Qi had already run away. He could only let Zhang Qi go down. Turning to look at the other three friends, he could only say, "Then let's wait a little longer."
"Mingfei, you're amazing! You won first place, the top of our provincial examination!" Ye Zhuoran grabbed his friend's hand and rubbed it back and forth, saying with a smile, "I have to take advantage of Master Jieyuan's blessing to see if I can also pass the exam."
Lu Mingfei looked at Ye Zhuoran touching and rubbing his hand, and he was in a state of confusion. Seeing that Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming both looked anxious, he could only reassure them to wait.
At this time, some people next door may have heard that someone here had won the first place in the exam, so they came over to congratulate him.
Out of politeness, Lu Mingfei could only deal with everyone with a smile.
However, the door of their box was soon surrounded by a crowd of people.
The waiter from the restaurant squeezed in and congratulated Lu Jieyuan on behalf of the restaurant and the owner, saying, "Master Jieyuan, our owner said that the tea in your private room will be waived."
"Thank you, boss." Lu Mingfei took out his purse and took out a piece of silver from it as a reward to the waiter.
"Thank you, Mr. Jie Yuan, for the reward." The waiter received the reward and left happily.
Lu Mingfei couldn't drive away those who came to congratulate him and greet him, so he could only stand there and accept everyone's congratulations and talk to them.
Both Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming saw that Lu Mingfei was not good at dealing with strangers, so the two of them could only come out to help Lu Mingfei deal with the situation.
When Fucai, Shiwu, Zhang Qi, and Fu Boming's servant Tiancai came up from downstairs, they saw that the door of their box was full of people.
The four of them struggled to squeeze into the box.
"Master, you won!" Fifteen shouted happily when he saw their young master.
Fu Boming's servant Tiancai saw his young master and called out, "Young master, you also passed. You are ranked 125th."
"Master, you are ranked thirty-eighth." This was said by Fifteen.
Only Ye Zhuoran's servant Fucai looked at their young master with an expression that looked like he didn't know what to say.
"What about me? I...didn't win?" Ye Zhuoran asked his servant, then looked at the other three people who came back to report the good news.
From the expressions on the faces of these people when they looked at him, Ye Zhuoran had already realized something.
"Young master, maybe I didn't look carefully. I will go down and take another look." Fucai said and turned to leave.
But before he could squeeze out of the crowd, he was grabbed by a hand from behind.
"No need to check, if I didn't pass, then I didn't pass. My failure this time was also expected." Ye Zhuoran had already anticipated this and knew that he would definitely not pass this time. He hadn't even finished the provincial examination paper this time, so it would be strange if he passed.
However, when he saw that all his friends passed the exam and only he failed, he still felt a little disappointed.
Knowing that Ye Zhuoran failed the exam, Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming put away the smiles on their faces and looked at Ye Zhuoran together.
Lu Mingfei dealt with the group of people who came to congratulate him for a few words, then walked over and said to his three friends, "Let's go over there and take a look at what's on the list." He also didn't want to deal with a group of strangers here.
"Okay, let's go." Zhang Lingxuan also wanted to confirm again whether Ye Zhuoran's name was really not on the list.
After confirming that they were ready to leave, Lu Mingfei came to the front to discuss with those blocking the door: "Thank you all for your congratulations, and I wish you all success. We have something to do here, so we need to leave. Please make way and let us out."
"Lu Jieyuan, we have a tea party the day after tomorrow, would you like to come?"
"Sorry, I don't have time these days. Maybe next time."
“…”
After rejecting invitations from several people, Lu Mingfei finally squeezed out of the crowd with a few friends.
When they got downstairs and passed the counter, Zhang Lingxuan paid for the tea in their private room before going out with a few friends.
When they came out of the restaurant, Lu Mingfei said to Zhang Qi who was following behind him, "Ah Qi, go back to the store and tell my mother and the others about this news. I'll go back later."
"Okay, I'll go back right away." Zhang Qi responded and turned around and ran back.
Seeing Zhang Qi disappear into the crowd, Lu Mingfei turned around and said something to Zhang Lingxuan and Ye Zhuoran, and they walked towards the entrance of the Imperial Academy.
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