Chapter 161 [VIP]
"Good news? What good news?"
"Our eldest and second eldest uncles both won!"
Wang Ying's head buzzed, as if she had been struck by an electric current. Suddenly, a ding-dong sound rang in her mind: "Experimental field upgraded to level six."
Ignoring the experimental field, the family rushed to the door, where they saw several minor officials from the government office standing there. Chen Qingyan and his group had already come out.
"Congratulations, young master! Congratulations to both of you on achieving such high honors."
Liu Changyi recognized the man and stepped forward, asking, "Has the final list of the provincial examination results been released?"
The minor official bowed and said, "He's out. Young Master Chen Qingyan ranks first in Jizhou Prefecture and third in the entire country."
This is the best result for Jizhou in nearly ten years! Before that, there was Liu Changyi's uncle, Liu Yaozhi, who ranked second in the national examination that year.
Chen Qinghuai quickly asked, "What rank did I get?"
"Young Master Chen Qinghuai ranked fourth in the prefectural examination and twenty-first in the entire country."
Chen Qinghuai's face lit up with joy. It was pretty much as he had expected. He had answered two questions a little less well, but he was already very satisfied with this ranking!
Liu Changyi also asked, "What about me? Have you seen that I passed the exam?"
The clerk scratched his head slightly embarrassedly, "I didn't look carefully. Young Master Liu, you can take a look for yourself later."
Liu Changyi slumped his shoulders in disappointment. Although he had expected it, he was still very sad. The thought of having to endure the torment of the provincial examination again made him shudder.
Chen Qinghuai patted him on the shoulder, "Go and take another look later, maybe they missed it."
"It's alright, I know my own limitations. I didn't expect to pass this time anyway. It's good that you and your older brother passed."
Normally, the government office does not announce the good news of passing the imperial examination; only those who pass the metropolitan examination are sent to announce the good news. But the Chen family is different. It is a great honor for two people from the same family to pass the imperial examination, not to mention that Chen Qingyan has achieved such good results. The prefect specially sent someone to invite them to his residence for a chat.
The two hurried back to change their clothes. Li and Fang Ling were so happy that they shed tears. After her excitement subsided, Wang Ying quickly took two strings of cash and handed them to the clerk as a reward. No one should go back empty-handed after such an event.
"Thank you, sir." The clerk grinned from ear to ear after receiving the reward, showering the servant with flattering words. Anyone with eyes could see that the Chen family was about to change their allegiance.
Because passing the imperial examination and becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations) qualified one to become an official, even if it meant being appointed as a seventh-rank county magistrate, a position that ordinary people could never achieve in their lifetime.
The family was happily preparing to celebrate, but Liu Changyi looked somewhat dejected after his initial joy. They had all taken the provincial examination together, and he was the only one who failed. He was certainly disappointed.
Seeing this, Chen Qingyun went over and tugged at his sleeve to comfort him, "It's okay if you didn't pass. You can take the test again with Songdi next time."
"Um."
Chen Qingyan and Chen Qinghuai changed their clothes and followed the clerks to the government office, while the others sat together and ate a meal.
During this time, Li said, "I don't know if my nephew passed the exam or not. I was too embarrassed to ask earlier."
Wang Ying said, "Then let's go take a look later, just like going for a walk."
"Okay!" Everyone agreed, eager to see Qingyan and Qinghuai's names on the honor roll.
After the meal, the whole family split into three carriages and headed towards the yamen (government office). There was still a crowd gathered around the place where the notices were posted.
There are fewer people now. When the list was first posted this morning, it was packed with people, including the scholars who participated in the provincial examination, their relatives, onlookers, and yamen runners maintaining order.
Now that everyone has finished reading, those who passed the exam can go back to celebrate, and those who didn't can go back to regroup and prepare for the next provincial exam.
When the carriage came to a stop, Cao Kun, being taller, squeezed through to take a look. "I see it! My cousin's name is third!"
Soon after, Liu Changyi and Chen Qingsong squeezed in and carefully looked at the list.
Two hundred successful candidates for the imperial examinations were written on a large red cloth. The first place was Liu Junshan from Suzhou, the second place was Huang Yuanzhou from Yangzhou, and the third place was Chen Qingyan from Jizhou.
Liu Changyi whispered, "I've heard of Huang Yuanzhou before. He's a very famous scholar. I didn't expect him to get involved this year as well."
As Chen Qingsong continued reading, he suddenly pointed to the tenth place and said, "I know Cai Jingqi from Laizhou. He's Qinghuai's classmate and good friend. I didn't expect him to pass the exam too!"
Looking further down, Chen Qinghuai is ranked twenty-first, which is quite high overall.
Chen Qingsong started looking for his cousin Li Bingchen's name, but couldn't find it after searching around. However, when he saw the end of the list, he suddenly exclaimed "Ah!"
"What's wrong?"
"Brother Changyi, you won too!"
"Where is it? Where is it?!"
"Last one..."
Liu Changyi looked closely and saw that the 200th place was indeed Liu Changyi from Jizhou Prefecture. A surge of surprise and joy welled up in his heart, and he was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes.
His mother and master always said that he couldn't concentrate on his studies, even though he had tried his best, and now he has finally achieved results.
Standing on the periphery, Chen Qingyun was startled when she saw him squeeze out of the crowd with a frantic expression. "What's wrong with him?"
"I got it! I got it! Qingyun, I got it!"
Really?
Liu Changyi wiped his face with his sleeve. "It's true, the crane was last in line."
Even the last place is a height that many people can't reach in their entire lives. You have to know that the number of people who take the provincial examination varies every year. This year, a total of 21,000 people took the provincial examination nationwide, and who knows how many more will take it next year. Those who can pass are the best of the best.
Madam Li said, "Go back quickly and tell your in-laws the good news. They probably don't know yet."
The two boarded the carriage and hurriedly left.
The others continued to stand on the periphery and wait to see the results. As the crowd gradually dispersed, everyone was finally able to step forward.
After searching around, Madam Li couldn't find her nephew's name. She sighed in disappointment, "Bingchen has already taken the exam four times. I'm afraid he won't take it again after this year."
The Li family had produced three scholars who passed the imperial examinations in the past, but the family began to decline in the father's generation, and now, more than fifty years later, not a single scholar has passed the imperial examinations since...
However, it was also a great joy that their son and Qinghuai passed the exams, and everyone went home happily.
Fang Ling couldn't stay a moment longer. She went back and packed all her luggage, ready to leave first thing tomorrow morning.
Li and Chen Rong helped her pack her things. "There are still more than two months until the New Year. Why not wait until after the New Year to leave?"
Fang Ling shook her head, "After the New Year, Qing Huai still has to go to the capital to participate in the imperial examination. It will take another half a year to go back and forth. I don't know how Ying'er's cough is doing."
"Once you leave, who knows when we'll see each other again."
Fang Ling put down what she was holding and sighed, "To be honest, I don't want to leave either. The time I've spent here has been the most relaxed I've had in all these years. I don't have to worry about the children's food, drink, or toilet needs, I don't have to worry about household chores, and I don't have to worry about my husband's official duties."
"But once you become a mother, you're tied down for life. You'll miss your child whenever you're away, and you can't relax even if you want to."
The aunt and sister-in-law both understood what she meant: "We just hope that we will have a chance to get together again."
"Yes, you all have to be there for Qinghuai's wedding. No one can be missing."
*
In the evening, Chen Qingyan and Chen Qinghuai returned from the government office. They received two calligraphy scrolls from the prefect to encourage them to continue their efforts in the imperial examination, as well as a yellow stone inkstone and a box of Huizhou ink.
Although the items weren't particularly expensive, they were significant because this was their first encounter with officialdom since they started studying.
Chen Qingyan is alright, but Chen Qinghuai is a bit green. However, he is still young and needs to gain more experience in the future.
During dinner that evening, the two told everyone about their meeting with the prefect. "When we arrived, the prefect was writing calligraphy. The one he wrote for me was: 'Unmoved by external influences, unswayed by material things, one can then undertake great affairs of the world.' The one he wrote for my elder brother was: 'As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement.'"
This prefect is quite interesting. The words he gave to Chen Qingyan clearly pointed to the story of how he was framed back then, but eventually rallied and won the championship.
Chen Qingyan continued, "After accepting the calligraphy, he pulled us aside and started chatting about his school days."
Prefect Lin was not a native of Jizhou; his hometown was in Yizhou, thousands of miles away.
As a relatively backward prefecture, Yizhou had extremely scarce educational resources. The Lin family was considered wealthy in the area, but even they found it difficult to hire a tutor.
Because there were only four scholars in the county where they lived, two of whom were over fifty years old and could not read the words in the books, while the remaining two ran two private schools. Prefect Lin began his studies under one of the scholars.
Because of his exceptional intelligence, he passed the imperial examination at the age of fifteen and came to study at the Yizhou Prefectural School. There were still not many scholars there, and the school only had one instructor who had passed the provincial examination and was quite old.
Every time he went to ask the tutor for advice, he had to kneel in front of the door beforehand and wait. Only when the old man was in a good mood could he receive some guidance; if he was in a bad mood, kneeling all day would be of no use. He studied diligently in this way and finally passed the imperial examination, eventually becoming a Jinshi and rising to his current position as a fourth-rank prefect.
Before leaving, Prefect Lin pulled the two aside and said, "You two children must cherish this opportunity to study, strive for the imperial examinations, and become officials together in the court in the future!"
Chen Qinghuai's imitation was so lifelike that it made everyone burst into laughter.
Wang Ying stroked her chin, thinking, "Prefect Lin is from Yizhou, which should be in the Bashu region in modern times. Perhaps they would like the chili peppers grown in the experimental field."
*
After dinner, Wang Ying prepared to go into the experimental field to take a look, but she didn't have time to check the upgrade message that suddenly popped up during the day.
Chen Qingyan and Yuanbao followed them in, running around on the ridges of the field, picking flowers and cucumbers, having a great time.
Wang Ying smiled and glanced at the two of them, then raised her hand to bring up the virtual screen and opened the information about the experimental field.
As soon as I clicked on it, a series of notifications flooded in:
Chen Qingyan ranked first in the county examination, gaining 20,000 experience points.
Chen Qingyan ranked first in the prefectural examination, gaining +30,000 experience points.
Chen Qingyan ranked first in the imperial examination, gaining +30,000 experience points.
Chen Qingyan ranked third in the provincial examination, gaining +100,000 experience points.
The experimental field has been upgraded to level six, and the first reward is: crop growth speed can be increased to five times (accelerated growth consumes experience). This reward is somewhat useless; Wang Ying usually doesn't use any option that consumes experience.
After all, leveling up is not easy, and gaining experience is even harder. Don't be fooled by the fact that you can gain tens of thousands of points at once. But if you think about it carefully, Chen Qingyan can only take the provincial examination once. This experience is a one-time deal; once it's used up, it's gone.
If you exchange crops, you need 1,000 catties of wheat to exchange for 1,000 experience points. 100,000 experience points would be equivalent to 100,000 catties of wheat. The experimental field can only be harvested three times a year, with a maximum yield of 10,000 catties of grain. Without speed-up mode, it would take ten years to level up, which is really not worth it.
Reward 2: The time spent in the experimental field is now unlimited (Note: No experience is consumed for the first two hours, and 300 experience per hour thereafter).
Wang Ying thought to herself, "This damn experimental field! I thought it had suddenly become more generous, but it turns out I still have to use experience points. 300 experience points per hour, if I stay in there all day, that's 7200 experience points! Who would be willing to use that!"
However, it can still be used in case of an emergency, so you don't have to worry about running out of time in the experimental field.
Reward 3: The experimental field will have a display function enabled (the experimental field can be placed in a specific area, allowing others to see what is planted in the field and harvest it).
Wang Ying frowned slightly. This reward was a double-edged sword. He could buy a piece of land to temporarily set up the experimental field so that others would not suspect the source of his vegetables.
However, if others covet this land, he might not be able to keep it with his current abilities, so he doesn't need it right now.
These rewards are currently useless. Wang Ying closed the screen in disappointment. It seems she still needs to level up. She wonders how much experience her husband would gain if he passed the imperial examination...
A note from the author:
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