Chapter 255 The Top Scholar's Parade Through the Streets (Second Update)
This year's imperial examination was truly a major upset. First, Prince An failed to become the top scholar, and then the grandson of Grand Secretary Yuan failed to make it into the top three.
Xiao Liulang and Ning Zhiyuan, two dark horses who emerged from humble backgrounds, completely stunned all the candidates present.
The three most popular candidates were Prince An, Yuan Yu, and Wang Yuan, a talented scholar from a scholarly family in Jiangnan. Everyone guessed that the three of them would be the top three, with Prince An as the top scholar, Yuan Yu as the second-best, and Wang Yuan as the third-best.
They guessed all of them wrong.
In fact, Xiao Liulang and Ning Zhiyuan's grades have always been very stable, especially Xiao Liulang. Except for the provincial examination, he was the top scorer in all other examinations. It was only natural that he could become the top scorer. However, he encountered the more popular Prince An, who overcame all obstacles and never came in second place.
Who would believe he would lose to Xiao Liulang?
The Zhuang family has so many highly learned people, yet their children can't even beat a poor country boy.
Well, it's not their turn anyway, they can just sit back and watch the show.
The top three in the first-class examination—the Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua—were awarded the title of Jinshi, the highest honor in the palace examination.
Seventy-two people were selected from the second class and were granted the title of Jinshi (进士).
The remaining 135 people were all Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) and were granted the title of Jinshi.
Du Ruohan ranked thirteenth, an improvement of two places compared to the provincial examination, which he was quite satisfied with.
Feng Lin ranked 176th in the provincial examination. He didn't have much confidence at the time, and he was too nervous during the palace examination, so he didn't perform well. He had expected that he would not pass the second class of the imperial examination. Sure enough, he ranked 200th.
Although I had expected it, I was still disappointed when I actually saw it.
As for Lin Chengye, he ranked 123rd in the provincial examination, but this time he actually made it into the top 100, ranking 99th.
Lin Chengye was very satisfied with his results. He was not a gifted candidate. He was able to get to where he was today entirely because of his hard work and the guidance of Xiao Liulang. His father's initial expectation for him was just to pass the provincial examination and become a Juren. Now that he had passed the provincial examination all the way to the capital, even if he was only a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) on the supplementary list, it would be enough to make his father happy for three days.
He was also very happy, finally he didn't have to go back to inherit his vast fortune.
The three top scholars were announced by the emperor himself, and then announced by a special announcer. After the announcement, the announcer led the three scholars to the steps in front of the emperor's throne to receive the list of successful candidates.
The top scholar was the one who received the bow, while the other two followed behind and bowed.
The three's positions were also significant. The top scholar was positioned in the center, slightly ahead of the other two, standing on the head of the giant turtle carved in the center of the first imperial road stone, a position known as "standing out from the crowd".
The emperor stared at Xiao Liulang's face, which was almost inches away, for a long time. Xiao Liulang lowered his eyes and calmly allowed the emperor to scrutinize him.
"Your Majesty?" Eunuch Wei whispered a reminder.
The emperor grunted in acknowledgment, withdrew his gaze, and handed the list of successful candidates to the announcer, who then passed it on to Xiao Liulang.
After receiving the list of successful candidates, Xiao Liulang led all the successful candidates in a final bow to express their gratitude to the emperor.
After the results of the imperial examination were announced in this dynasty, an important event was the parade of the top scholar. All the successful candidates changed into the official robes issued by the court and, led by the newly appointed top scholar, paraded through the Imperial Street of the capital to receive the congratulations of the people.
Among them, the top scholar's robe was made of Zhu brocade, also known as Fei Luo brocade, the only one in true red.
The second and third place winners wore blue brocade robes, while the remaining scholars wore dark blue official robes.
The emperor bestowed hairpins upon Xiao Liulang and the other two. The three wore the imperial hairpins on their official hats. To be honest, Xiao Liulang and Prince An were both exceptionally handsome. Wearing the hairpins did not make them look effeminate; on the contrary, they were dashing and beautiful, surpassing all others.
The third-ranked scholar, Ning Zhiyuan, was somewhat disappointing. He was dark-skinned and thin, with an ordinary appearance. A flower hairpin in his hair made his dark skin look even more unbearable to look at, directly breaking the fine tradition that all third-ranked scholars were handsome men.
The Imperial Guards led the way, followed closely by officials from the Ministry of Rites, who beat drums and gongs.
Xiao Liulang rode ahead of everyone else, leading more than two hundred scholars on gleaming horses in a grand procession, receiving cheers and admiring glances from all the people.
He returned to the capital, and in this way, he no longer allowed any evasion or retreat.
He stood completely in the sunlight, standing before everyone.
The Imperial Guards had already filled the entire Imperial Street, but even so, they could not stop the enthusiasm of the people. People kept rushing in, and the Imperial Guards used their bodies as a dam to hold them back.
They could stop people, but they couldn't stop what people were holding.
The people originally came for Prince An, but who would have thought the newly appointed top scholar would be so beautiful! Is she really human? Is she a celestial being descended to earth? Is she the God of Literature?
"Top scholar! Look at me, look at me!"
"Top scholar! Look this way!"
One of the bolder girls even screamed at the top of her lungs.
Some people called for Prince An, but it didn't sound quite right.
The titles "Top Scholar" and "Third Scholar" sound quite natural, but "Second Scholar"... why does that sound so strange?
One of the girls, whether from excessive nervousness or slurred speech, suddenly blurted out "ungrateful wretch!" which turned Prince An's face black on the spot!
Feng Lin was initially not very happy, but amidst the cheers and congratulations, he suddenly felt a surge of excitement. This was what it meant to bring glory to the family.
So what if they became Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations)? The entire capital city came to celebrate for them; all the hardships were worth it.
Suddenly, a sachet fell into Feng Lin's arms.
Feng Lin was startled at first, then picked up the sachet and looked in the direction from which it had flown.
"above!"
A girl wearing a veil waved to him.
Feng Lin's face flushed red instantly.
This was the first time in his life that a girl had given him something.
Studying is wonderful, passing the imperial examination and becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) is wonderful.
There was only one top scholar and only one Prince An, so everyone was vying for one of them. Instead, they went after other successful candidates. Feng Lin was hit by a sachet several times, and his face turned as red as a monkey's bottom, which made the girls burst into laughter.
Many sachets fell on Prince An's body. He neither deliberately caught them nor deliberately threw them away.
"Give it to me if you don't want it." Ning Zhiyuan, riding beside him, took the sachet from his saddle. "It's all top-quality thread, it can fetch a good price."
Prince An: "..."
Xiao Liulang received the most sachets, but he didn't take any of them and threw them away without any politeness. Moreover, he kept a cold face the whole time, which really broke the hearts of the girls!
These days, top scorers are so hard to hook up with!
The young lady might not actually do anything outrageous, but it's a tradition for the top scholar to parade through the streets on horseback. If she could actually win a Jinshi degree, that would be ideal; if not, it's still good to have some fun.
Xiao Liulang seemed somewhat distracted.
So many women come to see her, why doesn't she come?
I told her not to wait for the results to be released before I left home, did she really not come to check?
He hesitated to speak, actually wanting to tell her about the new top scholar leading the other scholars in a parade through the streets, but he was too shy to say a word.
Too.
She wasn't a girl from the capital and didn't know there would be a parade.
That's why she didn't come.
What if they come?
Do you want to take a look?
don't want.
Thinking "no" in his heart, he tightened his grip on the reins, slowly looking around at both sides of the street, first at the crowds on the street, and then at the side rooms upstairs in the shops.
"The top scholar is looking at me! He's looking at me!"
"Nonsense! He was clearly looking at me!"
"It's me!"
"The top scholar—"
With just a glance, he caused a terrible commotion. The Imperial Guards almost failed to stop him, and dozens of sachets suddenly flew over. Xiao Liulang trembled and dared not look into the crowd again.
She really didn't come.
How ridiculous, what am I disappointed about?
Snap!
Another sachet landed steadily on his saddle. Without even looking at it, he intended to throw it away as well. However, as soon as he picked it up, he felt that something was wrong with the feel of it.
He paused, looking at the sachet in his hand. The stitches were very fine, but the thread ends were on the outside.
His heart skipped a beat, and he looked up in disbelief at a teahouse on his right.
He suddenly tightened the reins and stopped the horse.
No Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) could surpass the newly appointed Zhuangyuan (top scholar in the imperial examination).
When he stopped, all the scholars behind him had to stop as well.
The Imperial Guards responsible for escorting him along the way had to stop, and the entire procession and the whole street stopped for one person.
Xiao Liulang held the sachet in his hand and looked at the girl in the teahouse.
The girl was dressed in a green dress, with a slender figure and beautiful features. The red birthmark on her left cheek was like the rosy clouds on the horizon, or like a begonia petal falling in the wind, so beautiful that it touched people's hearts.
Gu Jiao leaned against the windowsill, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at him, her lips slightly curved.
Xiao Liulang's mood suddenly improved, the coldness in his eyes melted away, and he smiled.
She's already incredibly charming with a straight face, but when she smiles, it's like ice and snow melting, everything coming back to life, and the first rays of dawn appearing!
The stunning beauty of that moment is beyond words.
Not only the girls, but even the men were completely captivated.
Then, everyone saw Xiao Liulang hang the only sachet he had received that day on his waist.
The rich girls were absolutely green with envy!
New top scorer, didn't you refuse to accept sachets? Why are you making an exception? Why didn't you just refuse to the end?!
And why are you laughing? You're not allowed to laugh!
Just when the girls thought this was enough to drive them to despair, something even more desperate happened.
The newly appointed top scholar actually removed the hairpin bestowed upon him by the emperor.
Everyone was stunned. Could it be? The top scholar wasn't going to give her the hairpin?
No, no, no! They won't allow it!
At such a joyous occasion, could I ask for a monthly pass?
(End of this chapter)
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