The next morning, everyone in Cuiwei got up early and went to see the announcement of the results together.
I thought they had made preparations and were close to where the results were announced, so it should be easier to see the results.
Unexpectedly, when they passed by, not only was the notice board already crowded with people, but even more clever vendors had already set up their stalls.
Chen Cui and her friends bought breakfast and ate it, and asked the vendor about something.
After asking around, I found out that many people had been waiting all night, and had already left their homes as soon as the curfew was over.
Not long after, an official came over with a gong and ordered everyone in front of the list to move out of the shooting range. The person at the back came up with a long table and started posting.
After the posts were completed and the lists could be viewed, people in front of the list began to scramble to get forward.
Chen Cui had never personally experienced the announcement of the results, but this time she really gained some experience. She thought that if she had known earlier, it would have been better to wait until later, when all the anxious people had finished seeing the results.
Of course, she came here so early because she was anxious to verify whether the belts she had hastily made were effective and to save Mei Ruochu's ranking. Even though she could have seen everyone's Q-version figurines on the screen and thus learned the test results, she couldn't resist this anxiety and wanted to come and see for herself.
Fortunately, several teenagers surrounded her, otherwise her shoes would have been stepped on and fallen off.
Later on, they didn't let Chen Cui go forward and get squeezed, saying that they could just squeeze in and take a look.
Lao Buyu looked at the lively and crowded scene and couldn't help but laughed and joked, "This scene is nothing. The big deal will come when the provincial examination results are announced... Then it won't be them protecting us. It will be us protecting them."
Chen Cui reacted for a moment and said with a smile, "Master, are you talking about 'catching a son-in-law under the list'?"
"Catching a son-in-law under the list" means that on the day the results are announced, the whole family of wealthy gentry will go out to compete to select a candidate as a son-in-law. The word "catch" is of course exaggerated. It is impossible to really say that the hemp rope tied up the person and caught him. But it also reflects the grand occasion.
There seems to be a small plot in the original book, saying that after Mu Yunchuan passed the imperial examination and became famous in the provincial capital.
The local wealthy gentry all wanted to make friends with him, and some even extended an olive branch to marry him.
Mu Yunchuan was very good at maneuvering. He neither offended anyone nor agreed to any marriage proposal. He withdrew from the dispute safely.
Three years later, several young men in my family will take part in the provincial examination, and I don’t know what the situation will be like.
Shen Cui was lost in thought when she heard her fat son's cheers.
Soon they squeezed out again, all with happy expressions on their faces.
Wei Shu nudged Mei Ruochu with his shoulder, "Brother Mei! I said he was too modest!"
"Brother Mei hid it too deeply." Fat Mu couldn't help laughing.
It turned out that they were dispersed as soon as they squeezed in, so they changed their strategy and formed groups of two.
Wei Shu was with Wei Xi, and Mu Erpang was of course with Mei Ruochu.
But Mei Ruochu did not start from the top of the list like the Wei brothers, but pulled Mu Erpang to look at the "red chair".
After looking everywhere, he naturally couldn't find Mei Ruochu's name.
Later, they met Wei Shu and Wei Xi again in the crowd, and only then did they realize that they had seen Mei Ruochu's name at the top of the list!
A few people squeezed to the top of the list again, and sure enough, Mei Ruochu's name was at the first place!
Wei Xi also ranked high, at eighth, while Wei Shu was exactly at twentieth place.
All three of them passed the exam!
Mei Ruochu was really nonchalant. Even now, several people still hadn't noticed that something went wrong with his college entrance examination. They really thought he was being too modest.
He no longer concealed the truth and told everyone the whole story.
Only then did they understand why he kept saying that his ranking was not very good.
It's a good thing that he said it now. Wei Shu and Wei Xi's mentality is not as good as his. If they had known it earlier, they would not have been in the mood to have fun during the days waiting for the announcement of the results. I'm afraid they would have lost their appetite and couldn't sleep at night.
Lao Buyu guessed, "I think the academician has learned about the situation and realized that the damage to the paper was not your fault. So he stopped talking about the paper and only considered the content."
Lao Buyu actually guessed some of them correctly.
The day before, the academician realized that he had made an error, so he asked other principals and his colleagues to work overtime overnight.
Those mountain chiefs and their assistants who had specially joined together to order his wine did not show any dissatisfaction. Even the mountain chief Li, who was said to be reciting poetry while drunk, simply put down his wine glass and no longer showed any sign of drunkenness.
After a series of comparisons and discussions, Mei Ruochu's poems and essays were unsurprisingly still the best in this college entrance examination.
But as to his specific ranking, it still depends on the opinion of the academic official - because writing the test questions well is only one aspect, and there were indeed problems with his paper, so it is actually reasonable not to give him first place.
Finally, the academician thought deeply and said, "I just sent someone to check again. The examination room suddenly leaked. It was indeed the negligence of the people below. They said they didn't expect such a heavy rainstorm, so some old tiles were not replaced. It was not this boy's fault. We can even infer that he had finished writing the paper early, otherwise his handwriting would have been soaked. Such a phoenix-colored phoenix chapter was completed in such a short time, which proves that this boy is quick-witted and far beyond ordinary people. Why don't we just ignore this paper?"
In fact, this was also a kind of compensation from the academician. After all, he almost let an outstanding student miss the title of scholar and he needed to spend two more years to take the exam again. Especially when I think back to my own early years of scientific research, during which I also encountered various hardships, I can empathize more and more.
The other presidents and staff members had no objections either. After all, they were just there to help mark the papers, and the presentation of the papers was only within the scope of the provincial education commissioner's examination. They were only responsible for examining the candidates' actual abilities and knowledge.
In terms of real talent and knowledge, this unfortunate candidate is naturally far superior to others.
So Mei Ruochu became the first in the college examination!
…………
After seeing the results, several people wrote letters to the old headmaster and Wei's parents to announce the good news. After having them delivered, it was time to go back to the village to pack up.
Chen Cui originally planned to go back with Zhou to pack up the things, as most of the things in the old academy house were old items and did not need to be transported back and forth. All I need to do is clean up the system output and valuables, and with the help of someone like Zhou who is careful and efficient, that will be enough.
However, the decorative books that the Wei family had sent to the academy earlier did need to be brought back, but since they were sent by the Wei family's servants, they naturally knew where they were and they just needed to follow them.
The rest of the people could just stay in the courtyard rented by Wei Shu temporarily, and wait for her to come back and move to the new location together.
Mu Erpang naturally refused. Although there were servants from the Wei family following them, they were outsiders after all. How could he feel at ease letting his mother and sister-in-law go on a long journey?
He didn't mention anything that worried him, he just said he wanted to go back to see Zheng and the others, "My grandma, grandfather, and uncle must have missed me. If I move away this time and then go back to the county town, it will be for the next county exam. It's a good opportunity for me to go back and spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with them."
Wei Shu and Wei Xi also said that they wanted to go back. Although Wei Yuanwai from the county town was not particularly close to them, he was still a relative and had taken good care of the two brothers in the past. They won't be going back to the county town in the future, so they should at least go and say hello in person.
As for Qingzhu Academy, Wei Shu also had to go and inform Ling Qingming in person to save his remaining face.
Mei Ruochu and Mu Erpang were inseparable every day, and now he had developed a habit of it. He smiled and said, "Without Hanshan's little snoring, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep at night."
Mu Erpang smiled and jumped onto his back, hanging on him, "I already told you that I was snoring because I was tired from climbing the mountain that day!"
So only Lao Buyu was left. He used to be unruly and didn't like any restrictions, but now he would definitely go wherever Cuiwei's large army was.
Everyone had their own ideas, and Chen Cui did not interfere, so they went back together.
After several days of traveling, the group returned to the village in mid-to-late July.
On the day she returned to the village, Shen Cui felt more and more that her decision to move the academy was the right one - they had been away for so long, but there were still people coming and going in front of the academy!
There was no one in the academy and no one was watching over it, and the effect of the village head's words had almost passed, so no one knew who had taken down the wooden signs and notices at the gate of the academy that read "No approach by strangers" and "No admissions at this time".
Fortunately, she hid the coveted academy plaque before she left, otherwise the signboard might have been lost!
Chen Cui was speechless, but she didn't show anything on her face. Others came up to her and asked her where she was going. Has the student passed the college entrance examination?
She answered openly, "I didn't go anywhere. I just accompanied the students to take the college entrance examination. They did well and all passed."
Her answer was subtle enough, and she did not mention Wei Shu and the others' rankings. But just this light sentence was like pouring a drop of water into a boiling oil pan, which immediately created an explosive effect.
"All three of them passed the exam at once? Your academy has produced three scholars?"
"Oh my God, how many scholars have our village produced in the past hundred years?!"
"Yes, and in the past, most of the scholars in our village were like the one in the private school at the entrance of the village, who passed the exam when they were in their forties!"
"With this Dalang from the Mu family, doesn't that mean there are four scholars here?"
After these people got furious, some of them didn’t know who to pass the news to, while others stayed and clamored, and started to want to send their children to Cuiwei Academy again.
Chen Cui already knew that it was useless to reason with these people, so she said, "Our academy has decided to move to Qingzhou Prefecture. If you really want your children to come to Cuiwei, then you can take your children to the prefecture later to participate in our academy's enrollment examination."
"Why do you have to go to the capital to take the test? You are here anyway, can't you take the test on the spot?"
The enrollment thing was originally made up by Chen Cui, so she continued calmly: "Qingzhu also holds spring enrollment at a specific time every year. Although our academy has been established for a short time, everything should have a rule. And the enrollment is of course not only for the village, but for students from all over the city, so we have to enroll students in the city. As for the Shuxiu, we also have to follow the standards of those academies in the city."
Now no one dares to look down on Cuiwei, which has already produced three scholars, and no one would say things like "How can your family be compared with Qingzhu Academy?" Everyone subconsciously feels that there is nothing wrong with comparing the two academies.
For many people in the village, the farthest place they have ever been to in their lives is the county town. Asking them to go to Qingzhou Prefecture, where they don't even know where the gate leads, they can't afford the travel expenses alone. Not to mention having to compete with everyone in the entire city.
In addition, Cuiwei now has three young scholars. If they take the examinations in the future, they will become juren and jinshi. That means you can become an official!
They did not dare to act rashly, and the noise suddenly died down. Only people murmured, "I'm afraid Chen Cuihua is stupid. She gave up this Feng Shui treasure land that produced four scholars..."
Everyone thought about it and it made sense. The Feng Shui treasure land was right here, so why would they go so far away?
Then, someone came rushing to buy the Mu family’s old house.
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