Chapter 1820: It makes no difference whether you are summoned or not

The candidates left the examination room in rows, with Changzhong in the middle. By the time Changzhong was able to leave, Yang Xiu was almost staggering on his feet, and in the end he resisted the urge to lend a hand. As the two of them approached, if he helped Yang Xiu, people would think too much, and his kindness might not only save himself, but might also ruin Yang Xiu.

Fortunately, the examiner found that Yang Xiu could not hold on, so he sent someone to help Yang Xiu walk out.

People were coming and going outside the examination room. Chang Zhong walked out of the examination room feeling relaxed. He smiled when he heard his elder brother's voice, "Brother."

Boss Zhou came over with his servants, and seeing that his younger brother was in good spirits, he smiled and said, "Let's go home! Mom is waiting for us at home!"

Chang Zhong raised his foot and paused, then glanced at Yang Xiu who was being sent out. He called the servant brought by his eldest brother and gave him some instructions before leaving with his eldest brother.

When Yang Xiu was about to fall, someone held him up. He looked to the side and saw that the person was dressed as a servant. "Thank you."

Li Er lowered his voice and said, "My master saw that you were in pain, so he was kind enough to leave me to take you to the clinic."

Yang Xiu's heart moved, "But it's Master Zhou."

Li Er nodded, "Yes."

Yang Xiu couldn't bear it any longer. He owed Master Zhou a favor. "Excuse me."

Changzhong was already sitting in the carriage drinking soup, "The soup at home is still the best."

The meals prepared in the examination hall this year were pretty good, with two dishes and one soup. The soup was optional. Some people were afraid of spilling the soup so they didn’t ask for it, while others were afraid of having to go to the toilet, so only a small number of people asked for the soup.

Boss Zhou took the empty bowl from his younger brother and said, "The test room has egg soup, but you drank the soup made from an old hen. How can it be the same?"

"It's nice to have a bowl of egg soup in the examination room."

At least this year there are fewer candidates who are sick than in previous years.

Seeing that his brother didn't want to drink anymore, Zhou Laoda said, "It's free this year only. The Ministry of Rites won't give you money for next year's preparations."

Changzhong smiled and said, "This little money is nothing if I can participate in the Spring Examination."

Boss Zhou signaled his younger brother to take a rest for a while as it would take some time before they could get home.

It wasn't originally Boss Zhou's turn to pick up the girl today, but Zhou Shuren had errands to run and he couldn't bear to leave his wife waiting outside, so he finally asked Boss Zhou to come and pick up the girl.

Changzhong felt a little sleepy after drinking the soup. During the Spring Examination, he had to concentrate highly for fear of making typos on the test paper. Now that everything was over, he fell asleep listening to the sounds of horse hooves and rolling wheels. When Changzhong woke up, his clothes had been changed and his father had returned from the yamen.

Changzhong woke up and signaled that he wanted to take a shower. When he was refreshed, he arrived at the main courtyard. His parents were waiting for him to have dinner, and half of the dishes on the table were for him to nourish his body.

Zhou Shuren motioned for his son to sit down and said, "Eat first."

Changzhong was indeed hungry, so he picked up the bowl after his father picked up the chopsticks.

Seeing her son eating his meal in big mouthfuls, Zhulan said hurriedly, "Slow down, no one is competing with you for food."

Changzhong slowed down his pace after he felt full. "It's still more comfortable at home and I can eat as much as I want."

In the examination room, he only ate until he was half full. Eating too much would make him sleepy and affect his thinking, and he would even have to go to the toilet. He was in the period of growth, so he would not be hungry.

After dinner, Zhou Shuren did not ask about the exam questions. He was already very dissatisfied with the fact that the exam only consisted of eight-part essays. "How confident are you?"

Changzhong straightened his back and said, "My son is 80% sure."

He is familiar with all the questions in this year's spring examination. If he is not 80% sure, he can go back to study again.

Zhou Shuren thought about the examiner's preferences this year and could add another 10%. He smiled and said, "Good son."

That is why it is said that the children of officials in ancient times had advantages, and Changzhong had trained himself according to the examiner's preferences.

The Spring Examination is over, and the servants in Zhou Hou Mansion finally stopped walking in a cat-like manner. Now they just have to wait for the results of the examination.

The betting outside has changed again. The ratio of betting on Zhou Changzhong to win the top prize has become one to fourteen, which means that it is not optimistic that Changzhong will win the top prize.

Chang Zhi was thinking about Yang Xiu. In his mind, Yang Xiu was his powerful enemy, so he sent people to keep an eye on Yang Xiu.

Then Changzhi discovered that someone approached Yang Xiu, not to be his son-in-law, but to be his matchmaker.

After Chang Zhi found out, he stopped paying attention to Yang Xiu. Given the precedent of Liu Mingsheng, it was better not to have anything to do with Zhou Hou Mansion. He also took Yang Xiu's jade pendant from his younger brother and gave it back.

In Changzhong's courtyard that day, the fourth prince was lying on the rocking chair without any image. Originally, they were young and shouldn't like rocking chairs, but after trying it once, they fell in love with it. The fourth prince said, "I'm betting all my wealth on you, you better live up to it."

Changzhong paused while eating a walnut. "All your assets?"

The fourth prince coughed and said, "Not counting the property my mother gave me, I have saved five thousand taels of silver myself."

The property that his mother had given him had to wait until after his wedding, and now it was all managed by his elder brother, the Crown Prince, who also collected the annual income for him. It was sad to think that he, the fourth prince, only had five thousand taels of silver.

Changzhong asked, "What did you bet on?"

The fourth prince said, "I bet on you to win the first place in the imperial examination, and I bet on you to win the third place in the imperial examination."

These two had the highest odds, so he bet money half and half. If he won, he would become rich.

Changzhong found that the people holding him seemed to be of high status, "Wu Shangheng also held me as a hold."

The fourth prince curled his lips, "He is very rich."

Wu Shangheng spends ten thousand taels at a time!

Changzhong wanted to help. He felt a lot of pressure this time. This was because his relatives and friends trusted him!

The fourth prince said secretly: "The third prince also bet on you."

Changzhong, "???"

The fourth prince laughed, "Yes, it's my third son. He is much poorer than me. Over the years, the Du family has been supporting him. His mother was not favored in the harem, so she didn't give him any rewards. The Du family doesn't have much wealth either. I heard that the third son took out all his money to pledge you."

Changzhong, "Your Highness can shut up now."

He didn't want to listen anymore, for he was really afraid that it would reveal who had detained him.

In the Hanlin Academy, Changzhi came to find Gu Sheng. Seeing that Gu Sheng was calculating accounts, he really didn't want to peek, but he still read the whole thing. This was due to his habit of scanning the book and remembering the key points.

Gu Sheng raised his head when he heard the cough and tried to cover the paper but froze in his tracks. "Sir."

Changzhi thought for a moment and said, "It's OK now."

However, Gu Sheng felt that it was not enough, and after being deceived by Wu Shangheng, he also took out a thousand taels to bet on Master Changzhong.

Fortunately, Chang Zhi didn't know that Gu Sheng had mortgaged Chang Zhong, otherwise he would be speechless. With people outside speaking ill of Chang Zhong, the people around him would be able to take advantage of Chang Zhong to make a fortune!

Suddenly it was the day before the announcement of the results of the Spring Examination. Changzhong found that people were secretly looking at him wherever he went!

When they came to the main courtyard for dinner in the evening, Zhulan felt a little conflicted. Her son was not nervous, but she was so nervous that she had no appetite.

Zhou Shuren was very calm, as if he was the only one awake. Seeing his daughter-in-law just drinking the soup, he said, "My son must have won the first prize."

Zhu Lan's eyes lit up, "Did the emperor hint to you?"

Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and said, "Based on my understanding of the Emperor, he has not summoned me to the palace in the past few days. It is obvious that he is afraid that I will discover something."

Zhulan pondered in her heart, agreed with Shuren's words, and suddenly smiled, "I don't need to be nervous anymore."

Changzhong, "."

Dad really understands the Emperor, so it makes no difference whether the Emperor summons me or not!

(End of this chapter)