The Imperial Examination ended, and all the candidates’ examination papers were collected.
Hong Enshou immediately looked for Xiao Yuan’s examination paper.
In truth, even for the chief examiner, it was not easy to locate a particular candidate’s paper.
By this time, the imperial examination system was already quite mature.
Not only were names hidden, but in order to prevent examiners from recognizing a candidate’s paper by their handwriting, copying was required.
After candidates submitted their papers, their names would be concealed, then specialized copyists would transcribe each candidate’s paper before the examiners graded them.
After so many procedures, it was usually impossible to distinguish who had written which paper.
However, from the start of the examination, Hong Enshou had intent on identifying Xiao Yuan’s paper. When collecting papers, he had one of his confidants collect Xiao Yuan’s, marking it beforehand, and had it marked again during copying.
Thus, Hong Enshou easily found Xiao Yuan’s examination paper.
He read through it and felt that Xiao Yuan’s answers were very moderate and stable.
Moderate and stable meant that it was neither brilliant nor flawed.
However, such a paper was almost impossible to score well.
As he was reviewing Xiao Yuan’s paper, another examiner loudly praised another paper: "Brilliant, this essay is brilliantly written..."
Hong Enshou leaned over for a look and indeed found it well-written.
Looking back at Xiao Yuan’s paper, it now seemed less impressive.
He decided to look at other papers first.
After reviewing all the papers, it was time to decide the rankings.
This Imperial Examination would select one hundred sixty Advanced Scholars. The examiners first discussed and picked out one hundred sixty papers.
Then they would select the top ten papers to present to His Majesty for personal review.
At this time, Hong Enshou placed Xiao Yuan’s examination paper among the top ten.
When discussing the rankings, the deputy examiners actually had a low opinion of Xiao Yuan’s paper.
They felt that it was generous enough for the paper to be selected at all, and that placing it in the top ten was really not quite appropriate.
Hong Enshou then pulled aside two deputy examiners who were closer to him and whispered: "This candidate was recommended by Prince Su..."
With just this sentence, the attitudes of those deputy examiners immediately changed.
After another round of discussion, Hong Enshou finally placed Xiao Yuan’s paper in the first position.
The top ten papers were selected and sent into the palace.
Coincidentally, two days earlier, Emperor Taichu had gone to visit the Noble Consort at night, had some wine during the meal, and later, for some reason, argued with the Noble Consort. In a huff, he went to another palace and, feeling somewhat drunk on the way, admired the moon by the lake for a while, resulting in illness the next day.
For the past two days, Emperor Taichu had been drinking bitter medicinal brews, yet still felt unwell.
On this day, just after taking his medicine and feeling drowsy, Prince Su came to the palace to pay his respects and attend to the emperor’s illness.
Upon hearing Prince Su’s arrival, Emperor Taichu hurriedly called him in and asked him to sit beside him and talk.
While the father and son had spoken only briefly, the eunuch delivered the ten examination papers.
Emperor Taichu, with a severe headache, felt annoyed at the sight of the papers. Looking over at Prince Su, he said, "Never mind, Eldest, you review these papers for me. Since they qualified for selection, they must be decent. Just make sure they’re not far off, and that will be good enough."
Prince Su hurriedly demurred.
Emperor Taichu laughed and said, "No harm, just go ahead and review them."
Prince Su only glanced over the ten examination papers briefly.
In fact, what he called looking wasn’t thorough at all; he merely took a quick look and then said to Emperor Taichu, "Father Emperor, since Mr. Hong has chosen these few, it shows they wrote good essays and have good learning. As your son is shallow in knowledge, I can’t discern anything more, so let’s just settle it this way."
Emperor Taichu wasn’t interested in reading the papers; since Prince Su said so, then so be it.
He then ordered the eunuch to return the papers and told Mr. Hong Enshou that his selections were excellent and to post the list as it was.
Mr. Hong Enshou was actually very anxious on his end.
He was afraid Emperor Taichu would have thoughts upon seeing Xiao Yuan’s paper, but shortly after the papers were sent in they were returned, and a young eunuch even said Mr. Hong did a good job, to post the list according to the ranks he suggested.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Hong Enshou immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly arranged for someone to transcribe the list.
The Xiao Family was also anxiously waiting.
Both Mr. Xiao and Mrs. Xiao had their hearts in their throats.
On the contrary, Xiao Yuan was carefree; not concerned in the slightest, he ate and drank as he pleased.
Several scholars from Qingyuan came looking for Xiao Yuan to hang out, and he joined them for a literary gathering, but after finding it dull, he no longer went out.
Later, Anning focused on discussing strategies with Xiao Yuan.
After all, there was still the imperial examination to come.
To save time, the imperial examination required writing only one policy essay.
Nowadays, the Dajing Dynasty was relatively peaceful, just frequently troubled by natural disasters. The most worrisome were the floods, especially since the Yellow River had greatly diverted its course in the previous years, causing much suffering to the people.
Anning and Xiao Yuan focused on writing policy essays about this topic, as well as the recurring issue of pirates in the south, which had troubled the Dajing Dynasty for many years. They also discussed how to manage the coastal population and how to resist the pirates.
Time passed imperceptibly.
Before long, the day to post the examination results arrived.
Early that morning, Mrs. Xiao sent someone to check the results, but after a long wait, and well after the third drum, the person sent hadn’t returned.
It was almost time for lunch when the servant who went to see the list finally returned.
He looked extremely disheveled, his hat missing, his hair a mess, his clothes torn, and one shoe lost. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ Nove1Fire.net
Yet, he was visibly excited.
"Mr. Xiao, Mrs. Xiao, the young master has passed, top scorer as the Advanced Scholar, the young master got the top scorer!"
Mr. Xiao stood up swiftly: "Really got the top scorer? Good, good, quickly set off firecrackers, hurry to the door and set them off, and bring out two baskets of celebration money to toss out."
Mrs. Xiao also hastily ordered preparations to await the arrival of the official who would bring confirmation of the good news.
The official delivering the good news came quickly.
Mr. Xiao couldn’t hide his joy, his mouth opened wide, perhaps even grinning until his cheeks hurt.
Xiao Yuan was very proud, saying to Anning, "See, I told you I could definitely pass, and you were still worried. In my opinion, that’s entirely unnecessary."
Anning could only smile and nod in agreement: "Yes, we really worried for nothing. My husband is so capable, of course he would pass. This time as the Advanced Scholar, and next time as the top scorer. Just be careful when you parade through the streets on horseback after you get the top scorer, don’t accept things thrown by girls, and don’t you dare glance at other women."
Xiao Yuan patted his chest confidently: "You like me so much that you couldn’t live without me, how could I possibly look at another woman? All the women in the world combined aren’t as good to me as you are, nor do they cherish me as much. I just need you alone."
Anning didn’t even know how to respond.
She wanted to ask Xiao Yuan, where is your face, do you have no shame at all?