Chapter 336 The Eighth Place Cried

Xu Wan got off the carriage and smiled at them, "Children, go and check the list."

The little devil hurried over to pick her up from the carriage: "Mom, let them go and see. I will accompany you to find the dean."

Zong Jincheng had already climbed to the second place in the school. In the past, he always thought that he could surpass Qin Ye one day. But later, he never waited for that moment and gave up. He thought without any hesitation: it must be that my poetry skills have not kept up. He would be on the right track after the Autumn Examination.

Xu Wan smiled and said, "Okay, let's go. I'll go find the dean and get an estimate of your ranking in the North Academy."

"Ah? This can be estimated?" Zong Jincheng blinked.

"I think so?" Xu Wan said uncertainly, "So I'm going to ask."

"Okay, I'll go with you!"

The other four boys went to look at the list. Zong Jincheng followed Xu Wan to the dean's courtyard. Before they went in, they heard the dean's loud laughter.

"In this autumn's imperial examination, my Qingbo Academy must shine brightly, for the Hanlin North Academy and the entire capital to see! Everyone should see! Oh oh oh oh oh oh!!!"

Xu Wan shook her head in embarrassment, feeling that the scene seemed familiar. She wanted to retract her foot that had just stepped over the threshold.

Zong Jincheng laughed and said, "Mom, listen, the dean must be so happy because of our good grades. Haha, this is the strength of our key class. We are the strongest and best boys, and we will definitely take the top spot in the autumn exam!"

Xu Wan sighed helplessly, then walked in with a smile and said, "Okay, it seems that the dean can estimate the ranking and has already started celebrating in advance."

"Dean! Dean! We are here!" Zong Jincheng started calling people as soon as he entered the yard. There were only three or two people in the yard, but his shouting created a noisy feeling.

Upon hearing the voice, the dean came out quickly and said, "Madam Zong, Jincheng, are you here to look at the list? Please come in, please come in."

The dean enthusiastically poured them some water. Xu Wan nodded to thank him, and Zong Jincheng followed suit. His manners were much better than before.

The dean said, "Jincheng, your progress is so rapid. As long as you improve your poetry, your ranking will rise rapidly."

Zong Jincheng smiled and said, "Dean, is this scary? Did we all do very well in the exam?"

"Yes!" The dean was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He said excitedly, "All five of you have already made it into the top six. This is really fast. Although there will be no joint examination before the autumn examination, we, the examiners, all think that you are strong enough to compete with the North Academy of Hanlin."

In the past, Qin Ye was always the top scorer in the joint entrance examination of their academy, and the others could not even make the list. But now it is different, these kids are also very good, especially the policy essays they write, with complete ideas and clear arguments, which makes many people feel ashamed.

Zong Jincheng and Xu Wan looked at each other. They didn't expect that the dean could actually estimate the results. They were both very happy and obviously more excited than before.

Xu Wan asked again: "Is there any hope of winning the autumn examination?"

The dean said with a smile, "Unlike the Boy's Examination, which required all the people in the country to come to Beijing to take the examination, the Autumn Examination can be held in all places, and the capital also holds an independent examination. Therefore, as long as you can compete with the Hanlin North Academy in normal times, you still have a great chance of passing the Autumn Examination."

Xu Wan smiled at Zong Jincheng and said, "Did you hear that? There is hope that you will be on the list, but the specific ranking will depend on your efforts in the next two months."

The little devil said confidently: "We will definitely be among the best this time, so whoever wants to be last can take the top spot."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The courtyard was filled with laughter.

Outside the courtyard, He Zheng's voice announcing the good news could be heard, and his voice was filled with joy: "Brother, come out and see, Brother Bai is indeed as steady as a mountain!"

Shen Yibai was mad: "He Zheng, you are not better than Brother Wen Xiu!"

Wei Xinglu said slowly, "It's almost good enough. Why should I do so well in the exam? I'm happy even if I get second to last!"

Zong Wenxiu was busy trying to smooth things over: "Stop arguing, we are all very strong..."

"Bang--"

Shen Yibai almost fell down. He turned around and said, "Hey, who is this? He's squatting in the corner without saying a word."

The young man was about 20 years old, and his face was covered with snot and tears. He stood up and shouted, "I am the eighth place that you guys squeezed out of the ranking every month, Ge Hong!"

Wei Xinglu exclaimed, "Eighth place? Isn't the one below us seventh place?"

Four young boys came over, and Zong Wenxiu kindly handed them a handkerchief.

Ge Hong didn't appreciate it at all. He slapped Zong Wenxiu's hand aside and cried, "Who wants you to be so kind? You are a bunch of little brats who use backdoors to steal other people's things!"

"Brother Wenxiu! Are you okay?" The three young boys hurried forward and saw that Zong Wenxiu's hands were red.

Shen Yibai's temper was flared up at the slightest touch, and he was ready to go up and fight: "Do you have any manners? Brother Wenxiu handed you a handkerchief, and you dared to hit him? If I don't teach you a lesson today, you won't know: the four little geniuses were once the four little playboys!"

Wei Xinglu was obviously also trying to take action, but He Zheng held them back and said, "Brothers, if you want to take action, do it later. Let's make things clear first. Ge Hong, what do you mean by saying that we stole your place? We all passed the exam honestly."

Ge Hong's eyes were red as he said, "I was always ranked in the top three, but you five children from powerful families ranked one higher every month. How could such a coincidence happen? If not a backdoor, what else could it be? Is it a big deal to be rich and powerful? Can you just take away other people's rankings?"

Zong Jincheng and Xu Wan came out of the courtyard and heard this. His four brothers were more angry than each other. He was about to go over and scold Ge Hong, but Xu Wan pulled his arm and reminded him, "Give them a chance to show their skills."

Even though the little devil is their eldest brother, the kids themselves can understand these things clearly. If the eldest brother has to handle everything, it will be difficult for the younger brothers to grow quickly.

It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.

Zong Jincheng understood what his mother meant, and immediately stopped where he was and watched quietly.

Shen Yibai was so angry that his head was dizzy. He howled, "You are totally unreasonable. Is it wrong for us to pass the exam based on our own abilities? What's wrong with surpassing you by one place in a month? If there were no only the college rankings, we could surpass countless students from the Hanlin North College every month!"

Wei Xinglu also agreed, "That's right. We are always making progress, so your ranking keeps falling. Learning is like sailing against the current. If you don't make progress, you will fall behind. Do you really need us to tell you this?"