Chapter 175 Chapter 175 Luming Banquet
The newly-appointed candidates came to the yamen, showed their invitation cards, and were then led by the yamen clerks to the place where the Deer Singing Banquet was held.
Everyone sat down according to their ranking.
As the champion of the provincial examination, Fu Wenxiao naturally sat in the front row, closest to the local officials and examiners.
The chief examiner of the provincial examination in Nanjun Province this time was Lord Qian, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the deputy examiner was Lord Liu, the Attendant Reader of the Hanlin Academy.
Lord Qian is in the middle, and Lord Liu is on his left.
The two were surrounded by other examiners and local officials.
Fu Wenxiao raised his eyes and glanced over the two examiners, the chief and deputy examiners, and gave them a humble and calm smile.
Somehow, Lord Qian and Lord Liu's expressions became a little stiff.
Especially when Fu Wenxiao led the candidates to pay their respects to the examiners, the two men's fingers tucked in their sleeves trembled slightly and their faces twitched uncontrollably.
Fortunately, they reacted in time and concealed the expressions on their faces, so when the candidates looked up, no one noticed anything unusual.
The two men stiffly asked everyone to take a seat.
Their eyes were vague, trying hard not to meet Jie Yuan's gaze, but it was difficult because they were sitting so close. Every time they raised their eyes, they could see Fu Wenxiao's handsome face, which was so familiar that it made them shudder.
Soon the banquet began.
As the top scholar, Fu Wenxiao was the focus of attention at the banquet. Many people talked to him and toasted him, and the scene was full of joy.
The local officials looked at Fu Wenxiao with kindness and were all very friendly.
Those who can get along in the officialdom are all smart people. They know that these candidates have a bright future, especially Fu Wenxiao, the top scorer in the provincial examination. They will not offend him and all want to make friends with him.
Fu Wenxiao responded calmly and politely, making people feel like they were in spring breeze. Everyone who toasted and talked to him had a look of satisfaction on their face.
An official looked at the candidate for a while, then smiled and said to the examiner, "Sir Qian, our champion is not only good-looking, but also well-mannered. I heard that he comes from a remote county in Qing'an Prefecture. It's really amazing that a noble son can come from a poor family."
Such a person will definitely have a bright future.
If we hadn't heard that this top scholar was already married, we would have wanted to make him our son-in-law.
When Lord Qian and Lord Liu heard this, they immediately wanted to spit on him.
What do you mean a noble son comes from a poor family? If this person came from a poor family, they wouldn't be sitting here today.
Although there are noble sons in poor families, such a person could never be raised by a poor family alone. He was taught by a contemporary great scholar, with the royal family's wealth and treasures, and the emperor of the Daqing Dynasty carefully cultivated him for more than ten years...
Others also praised Fu Wenxiao.
The two listened to the people around them praising Fu Wenxiao, and they were not surprised. Putting aside other things, Fu Xiao was indeed an excellent person, with outstanding literary talent, elegant demeanor, proper manners, and good manners...
All the compliments can be applied to him, after all, even saints have praised him.
Lord Liu suddenly smiled and said, "Fu Jieyuan is indeed a talented person, and his articles are unforgettable. It is no wonder that Lord Qian chose him as Jieyuan. We also think that he is the best candidate for the title."
He also started to praise.
"Exactly."
The examiners present all nodded, saying that they could not find any problems with Fu Wenxiao's paper. He was much better than the others and he must be the top scorer.
If he had not been chosen as the top scholar, I really don't know who could have been better than him.
When Lord Qian heard Lord Liu's words, his face twitched slightly.
He knew that Master Liu was a student of the imperial tutor Yao Zhengqian, who was in the emperor's heart, and even the princes had to be careful to win him over and not offend him easily. He also didn't expect that the deputy examiner would choose a student of Yao Zhengqian this time, and he always felt that this move had a deeper meaning.
Lord Qian knew that he was sent by the third prince, but what about Lord Liu?
Who sent him here?
At this time, Fu Wenxiao led the candidates to toast the examiners.
Lord Qian looked at the handsome young scholar in front of him and sighed inwardly. Even though he knew that he was the son of the Duke of Zhenguo, he still couldn't help but admire him. This boy was truly outstanding, and it was no wonder that the saint had once doted on him so much.
Unfortunately, the Third Prince disliked Fu Xiao, the son of the Duke of Zhenguo, otherwise he would not have sent him to Nanjun Province to be the chief examiner of the provincial examination and let him come to find out about Fu Xiao's situation.
Although Lord Qian is the chief examiner this time, he cannot interfere in the provincial examination at will. After all, Lord Liu, a student of Emperor Yao, is also there. Lord Liu is the most noble official in the capital. If he raises a negative opinion, Lord Qian will also have to consider it.
Therefore, in this provincial examination, Lord Qian did not deliberately lower Fu Wenxiao's ranking.
Moreover, he really couldn't hold himself back. Fu Wenxiao's paper was excellent, and his essay was unique. In addition, he had a good reputation in the provincial capital, and Lord Liu and others were watching. If he acted rashly, the consequences would be disastrous.
Lord Qian never thought of ruining this provincial examination, for fear of being held accountable by the emperor after returning to Beijing. Even if the third prince would be dissatisfied with him, he would have no choice.
Thinking of this, Lord Qian felt a little choked up, and looked at Lord Liu with some unfriendly eyes.
I don’t know what Emperor Master Yao is doing and why he would interfere. Could it be that... the saint told him to do so?
Thinking of this, Lord Qian's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly suppressed it. Seeing that Fu Wenxiao actually toasted him, he felt his scalp tingling.
Mr. Qian tried hard to calm down, praised Fu Wenxiao's essay in public, and asked with a smile: "I wonder if Fu Jieyuan will go to Beijing to take the exam next spring?"
Fu Wenxiao said loudly: "Thank you for your concern, Master. I have decided to give it a try."
After hearing this, Lord Qian felt relieved and made a decision quickly, still talking to him with a smile on his face.
**
This time he stayed in the provincial capital for more than two months and bought so many things that it took Yu Li a long time to finally pack everything up.
When people are busy, time passes quickly.
Soon I heard that Fu Wenxiao, who had attended the Lu Ming Banquet, had returned.
As soon as Yu Li walked out, he saw Fu Wenxiao getting off the carriage. His body was a little unstable. A servant next to him wanted to help him, but he pushed him away.
Seeing Yu Li, he walked over and hugged him with his arms.
When the servants around saw this scene, they quickly moved away, thinking to themselves that Mr. Fu seemed to be really drunk, otherwise why would he do this in public?
Yu Li was hugged by him and instantly smelled the strong aroma of alcohol on him. He was a little surprised. Was this man drinking?
As she took him back to the room, she asked, "Have you been drinking?"
He hummed.
When I returned to the room, a bowl of sobering soup was delivered from the kitchen.
The servants of the Wang family were very experienced. They knew that Fu Wenxiao would definitely drink when he attended the Lu Ming Banquet, and as the top scorer in the exam, he would definitely be toasted by everyone, so it would be considered good if he could come back standing.
Sure enough, when Mr. Fu came back, he was not only drunk, but his steps were also unsteady.
Fu Wenxiao kept hugging the person tightly. Although Yu Li could push him away, every time she did so, his face turned gloomy and he looked sad and lost. It was so pitiful to see him like that. In the end, Yu Li had no choice but to let him hold her.
She reached out and took the hangover soup on the table and fed it to him.
Fu Wenxiao drank it obediently, and after he finished, he continued to hug her and rubbed his face against her neck.
Yu Li felt a little itchy from being rubbed by him, and asked, "How much did you drink?"
He looked like he had drunk more than the last time Fu Lieyun left. At least at that time, although he was drunk, his steps were still steady.
"I don't know." He said vaguely, "They all came to toast."
"Can't you refuse?" Yu Li was a little envious. She couldn't even drink when she wanted to, but he could drink like this. It was really like a match made in heaven.
One day she would find a deserted place and drink eight or ten jars of wine, so that she wouldn't be able to affect others even if she got drunk.
He shook his head, "It's hard to refuse. The Master is watching from above."
Yu Li could only sigh, "Well, go get some sleep first and talk about it when you sober up."
They will be going back to the county town tomorrow, and they can't let him go back with a hangover and a headache.
Yu Li tried every means to persuade him, asking someone to prepare water and taking him to take a bath. Finally, he got him to change into clean clothes and put him to bed, letting him take a nap and sober up first.
The next day, when Fu Wenxiao woke up, he sat there in a daze.
Yu Li leaned over to look at him, "Xiao brother, how are you? Do you have a headache?"
Fu Wenxiao stretched out his hand and rubbed his solar plexus. He looked not very energetic and his face was a little pale. He said, "I feel very uncomfortable. I want to vomit..."
Yu Li massaged the acupoint on his head and said, "Don't drink so much in the future."
He hummed softly, leaned back and smiled at her. His clear and light smile and deep and gorgeous facial features were both dignified and fragile, making him hard to refuse.
Yu Li was a little stunned, and then he held her in his arms and rubbed her. He especially liked the back of her neck, buried his face there, and kissed it carefully, leaving tiny marks on it.
This place is relatively hidden and is covered by hair, making it difficult for ordinary people to see.
Yu Li felt an itch on the back of his neck, so he tilted his head and shouted, "Don't hug me, I can't press your head anymore."
"A-Li smells so good..." He said vaguely, "It's okay, I'll just hold you for a while."
Yu Li patiently held him for a while, then firmly pushed him away, urging him to get up, wash up, and have breakfast.
They are going back to the county town today and don't want to drag it out with him.
After breakfast, the two of them took a car full of luggage to the pier to catch a boat.
On the way back, Mr. Wang still rented a boat to take everyone back to the county town, and several of Yu Jin's cargo ships also went with them.
The two days on the boat passed quickly, and we arrived at the county town in the evening of the second day.
When they got off the boat, they found that there were many people on the dock. They were all waiting there and rushed over when they saw them.
"Congratulations to Mr. Fu for passing the imperial examination and becoming the top scorer."
"Fu Jieyuan, congratulations."
"Fu Jieyuan..."
“…”
These people all came for Fu Wenxiao, the top scholar. Of course, the other candidates who came with him were also warmly congratulated by those people, but not as enthusiastically as they were for Fu Wenxiao.
When the results of the provincial examination were announced, someone specially copied a copy and sent it back to Shanping County.
The provincial examination has always been a big event, not to mention that the top scorer of this provincial examination actually came from Shanping County. The businessmen doing business in Shanping County immediately had someone copy a copy of the list and send it back to the county seat so that the people in the county seat would know about this great event.
Therefore, before Fu Wenxiao returned to the county, the news that he had passed the imperial examination had spread throughout Shanping County, and everyone knew about it.
So when they got off the boat, this is what happened.
Even the county magistrate came over in person, happily pulling Fu Wenxiao aside and praising him non-stop.
Magistrate Zhang was indeed very happy. He had already been happy once last year when Fu Wenxiao won the top three places in the imperial examination. He did not expect that this man was so competitive that he was chosen as the top scorer in the provincial examination this year.
This is his achievement. As the county magistrate, he has a good way of educating people.
County Magistrate Zhang now looked at Fu Wenxiao like a treasure and held him tightly.
Finally, Fu Wenxiao lost his patience and said tactfully, "Master Zhang, I just came back and my family is waiting anxiously. I won't chat with you any more. I'll invite you to drink some other day."
"Okay, okay, I'm waiting for your wine."
Magistrate Zhang agreed readily and even asked the yamen runners to stop those who wanted to come and talk to Fu Wenxiao, allowing Fu Wenxiao to get away.
And considerately, he asked the yamen runners to help them send the luggage back.
The people in charge of delivering the luggage were Ge Yayi and others.
Several people were also very excited. On the way to Shuying Lane with their luggage, they couldn't help but talk about Fu Wenxiao's success in the imperial examination.
"I didn't expect Mr. Fu to be so capable. He actually won the first prize in the provincial examination... He is worthy of being the man chosen by Boss Li."
"Yeah, the boss's vision is never far behind."
"Hey, only a man this powerful can control her, right?"
"That's not right. I think no matter how powerful a man is, he can't control Boss Li! Fu Jieyuan is indeed powerful, but he is just a weak scholar. It's just that Boss Li doesn't bother with him."
“Indeed…”
Ge Yayi and others sighed incessantly.
Anyone who has personally experienced Yu Li's beatings will not doubt her abilities. No matter how good Fu Jieyuan is at studying, he cannot beat her.
Her beating hurts a lot.
Looking back, when Li Laoda was just a country girl, she dared to hit even the officials. Now her husband passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. If he became an official in the future, Li Laoda would be the wife of an official. I'm afraid there is nothing she dare not hit.
A woman like Li Lao Da, I'm afraid no one can control her.
But after all the sighing, most of them were still happy.
After all, they decided to follow Li Lao Da. The better Li Lao Da does, the more secure they will be in the future, which is also a happy thing.
**
Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao went home first.
It was already dark, but it did not affect the liveliness of the Fu family. When the people in Shuying Lane learned that they had returned, they all ran to the Fu family to congratulate them, not caring at all that it was already very late.
Even the Song family was visited by people.
Song Xiucai - now he should be called Song Juren. When the news of his passing the imperial examination came, everyone who knew him found it unbelievable. After all, he was too young, and it was said that his knowledge was not the best among all the scholars. Yet, he passed the imperial examination.
Later I heard that he was able to pass the provincial examination thanks to Fu Wenxiao's guidance on his essays, which enabled him to gain a lot that year and was lucky enough to be on the list in this provincial examination.
No matter it was luck or not, as long as he could make the list, he would be a juren for sure.
When this news came out, countless people were upset.
Especially the people in Shuying Lane. They had a lot of unpleasantness with the Fu family because they despised Yu Li for doing the job of slaughtering pigs. Fu Wenxiao no longer paid much attention to them since then.
Later, when they saw Song Xiucai and others shamelessly visiting Fu Wenxiao and asking him to give them advice on their writing, most people still couldn't bring themselves to do it and chose to avoid them.
As a result, Mr. Song actually passed the imperial examination!
They were filled with remorse, wondering if they had followed Song Xiucai's example and shamelessly visited Fu Wenxiao to ask for advice on writing, would they have been able to pass the imperial examination?
Not only were the scholars disappointed, but their families were even more distressed and regretful.
"If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have said anything about Madam Fu killing a pig..."
Compared with her man's future, what does it matter if Madam Fu is a pig butcher?
Why do they dislike others killing pigs? Mr. Fu doesn't care about his wife killing pigs, so why should they, as outsiders, say anything about her?
Now that the relationship with the Fu family was not good, her man was too embarrassed to visit the Fu family to seek advice, and she missed the opportunity to become a juren in vain.
-
After finally sending the guests away, Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked at the two children who had returned home with joy and said with a smile, "Li Niang, Xiao Ge'er, you've worked hard! I made braised pork noodles for you, come and have some."
She was naturally delighted that Fu Wenxiao passed the imperial examination, but she was not surprised either.
Yu Li ran over and pulled her, saying coquettishly: "Mom, I missed your cooking so much in the past two months."
Every time she went out, she missed her mother-in-law so much that she felt she never wanted to be separated from her in this life.
Zhou smiled and said, "Then you can eat more later."
The two went to wash up first, and then sat down to eat.
Zhou sat beside them with her two children and kept them company, talking to them.
After talking about the provincial examination, Zhou suddenly asked, "Xiao brother, when will we return to Beijing?"
Because she was so impatient, she even used the word "return to Beijing".
Although she is from Qingshi Village, she has lived in Beijing for more than 30 years of her life and has regarded Beijing as her second hometown.
Fu Wenxiao said, "Maybe in half a month. I just passed the imperial examination and I have some things to deal with here."
There are a lot of things to do after passing the imperial examination, and you can't just walk away like this.
Zhou nodded and said, "You are right. A few days ago, the village chief came to me and discussed with me about holding a wedding banquet after you passed the imperial examination."
Speaking of this, Zhou found it funny.
In fact, the village chief was quite conflicted. On the one hand, he felt that Fu Wenxiao was still young and might fail the exam this time. On the other hand, he was hoping that he could create another miracle like he did last year. Maybe he could really pass the exam.
Even though the results hadn't come out yet, the village chief would come to the county town from time to time to find Zhou, asking her in subtle ways whether she wanted to hold a banquet in the village if Fu Wenxiao passed the imperial examination.
If Fu Wenxiao can pass the imperial examination, it will be a big event for Qingshi Village, and a wedding banquet will definitely be held.
Fu Wenxiao said, "Well, we have already done it during the scholar period, so let's do it too during the juren period."
Of course he understood the village chief's thoughts. During the three years when he was recuperating in Qingshi Village, he did receive favors from Qingshi Village, and he had to repay this favor no matter what.
Zhou smiled and said, "Okay, the village chief should be here tomorrow, we'll tell him then."
**
The next day, the Fu family was still very lively, with people coming to congratulate them one after another, and there were also many businessmen who came with large sums of money.
Fu Wenxiao refused all of these.
He was not short of money, nor did he want to protect these businessmen. If he accepted their money, it would mean that if they had difficulties in the future, he would need to free up his hands to help them.
The village chief came in the evening.
He knew that the Fu family must be very busy and there must be many people visiting them, so he was tactful not to disturb them during the day.
But he didn't expect that even though he chose to come at this time, there were still so many people visiting the Fu family. It was obvious that they had the same idea as him, thinking that there were too many people during the day and it would be better to come later.
As for whether it would disturb the Fu family's rest, there was nothing they could do about it. Otherwise, when they came during the day, the Fu family would have no time to deal with them.
When Fu Wenxiao saw the village chief coming, he stood up to greet him personally.
The village chief was dressed like a country bumpkin, wearing the most ordinary brown robe and black cloth shoes. His face was dark and full of wrinkles, and he didn't fit in with the scholars in long gowns.
However, Fu Wenxiao still came to greet him personally and solemnly welcomed him into the house.
When the village chief saw those scholars, he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet. When he saw Fu Wenxiao's actions, he was so excited that he almost fainted. It was his son who supported him and kept him steady.
After Fu Wenxiao welcomed the village chief in, he began to see the guests off.
Everyone knew it was getting late and they shouldn't disturb them any further, so they all stood up and said goodbye and left.
It was just dinner time at the Fu family. Zhou invited the village chief and his son to have a meal at her home before she brought up the matter of holding a wedding banquet.
The village chief said excitedly: "Xiao brother, everyone is very happy that you passed the imperial examination this time. They said they must hold a banquet to celebrate. What do you think?"
Fu Wenxiao smiled and said, "I have no objection. You guys can decide on this matter." Then he changed the subject, "But I hope to have a wedding banquet as soon as possible. I plan to go to Beijing in the middle of the month."
"Go to Beijing?" The village chief was stunned. His mind was confused for a moment. "Why do you want to go to Beijing suddenly?"
Fu Wenxiao said calmly: "Of course I will go to Beijing to take the exam and participate in the joint examination next year."
The village chief and his son were speechless.
They originally thought that it was a great joy that Fu Wenxiao passed the imperial examination, but they didn't expect that he actually wanted to take part in next year's imperial examination.
Would this be too rushed?
"this……"
The village chief wanted to say something, but then he thought of the miracle created by Fu Wenxiao. He was the top three in the imperial examination last year and the top scorer in the provincial examination this year. Any one of them would bring honor to the family.
Maybe he can really pass the imperial examination next year?
The village chief was now convinced by Fu Wenxiao, and he also understood why Mr. Wang valued him so much.
Such a talented young man will surely have a bright future.
"That's fine." The village chief said quickly, "We'll try to pick an auspicious day, and you can go back and join us then."
Fu Wenxiao nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard, it's not hard." The village chief grinned, his dark face smiling like a flower, "You don't know, now everyone in the village is eager to contribute, even the married girls in our village have come back specially, saying they want to help..."
In the past, there was no scholar with any achievements in Qingshi Village, so it was inevitable that people looked down upon them.
Take married girls for example, when they are wronged by their husband's family, even if their family members come to seek justice for them, their family members just perfunctorily respond and do not take it seriously. Not to mention when it comes to land, irrigation and other issues, when conflicts between neighboring villages arise, the other villages are not afraid of Qingshi Village at all and just start fighting, and Qingshi Village always loses.
Things are different now. There is a juren in Qingshi Village now. Those girls who married into other villages have become more confident in their husband’s families, and their husband’s families dare not bully them.
Even when Qingshi Village and the neighboring village had a dispute over irrigation, those people did not dare to beat others unreasonably. Instead, they would discuss things with them in a friendly manner and even give in.
The villagers have been deeply touched by this change since last year.
Therefore, when the news of Fu Wenxiao's success in the imperial examination came, the people of Qingshi Village were as happy as if it were New Year's Day.
Of course, if some people are happy, there will naturally be others who are sad.
Needless to say, the people who were feeling uncomfortable were the old man and his wife from the Yu family, as well as the people from the main branch of the Yu family.
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