Several days passed, and the day for announcing the spring metropolitan examination results finally arrived.
The capital once again grew lively. Every inn housing examination candidates had secretly prepared red paper banners, ready to hang slogans such as “A Jinshi Laureate from Our Inn” the moment the rankings were posted. The innkeepers along this district were all secretly competing, hoping to utterly outshine their rivals through this occasion.
Within the Ye residence, Zhao Baozhu was somewhat nervous, but Deng Yun and the Fang brothers were even more anxious than he was. Several days in advance, the group had already begun planning to send a servant ahead to reserve a good spot outside the Confucius Temple. When the time came, they intended to bring a large crowd with them so that nobody could possibly squeeze ahead of them beneath the rankings board.
Hearing their plan, Zhao Baozhu was both exasperated and amused. With such a grand display, those who knew would understand they were simply going to see the rankings first; those who didn’t might think some wealthy family was going there to snatch a son-in-law beneath the examination board!
Now that Steward Li had returned to the main household, these young men had become increasingly unruly once gathered together.
After much persuasion, Zhao Baozhu finally convinced them to give up the idea of bringing a whole group of servants along. Thus, on the day the rankings were posted, early in the morning Fang Qin, Fang Li, and Deng Yun rode together with Zhao Baozhu in a sedan chair toward the Confucius Temple.
Sure enough, when they arrived, the place was already packed with excitement. Every examination candidate, whether rich or poor, had come early to gather beneath the rankings board. A vast sea of people surged everywhere, and with Zhao Baozhu’s small frame, there was truly no way he could squeeze to the front by himself.
Fortunately, Fang Qin, Fang Li, and Deng Yun were each tall and broad-shouldered. The three surrounded Zhao Baozhu in the middle and effortlessly pushed through the crowd, escorting him all the way to the very front.
Before the gates of the Confucius Temple, beside the statue of Confucius, stood an enormous wooden frame, the place where the rankings would soon be posted.
Zhao Baozhu grabbed the back of Deng Yun’s clothes with both hands and pinched him.
“Deng Yun, make sure you look at the very top first!”
Already irritated from being crushed by the crowd, Deng Yun replied: “I know, I know! Stop messing with me—”
All of them had already assumed that Ye Jinghua’s name would certainly appear at the very top of the rankings.
The title of huiyuan for this examination session belonged to none other than him.
Fang Li and Fang Qin stood guarding Zhao Baozhu’s left and right sides, their expressions tense as well. They did not wait long before, in the morning light, two scholarly officials in dark cyan robes emerged from within the Confucius Temple, carrying in their hands a crimson scroll painted with golden auspicious clouds.
That is the list of successful jinshi!
The moment Zhao Baozhu saw that flash of red, his heart clenched sharply, and his breathing grew rapid. Fang Qin, Fang Li, and Deng Yun also tensed along with him. For a moment, the front of the Confucius Temple was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone craned their necks, eyes blazing as they stared at the officials hanging the scroll onto the frame, as if their gazes could burn holes through them.
Deng Yun, impatient by nature, watched the two fuss with the scroll for so long that he couldn’t help muttering under his breath: “D*mn it, what are they dawdling for? Two idiots!”
Zhao Baozhu quickly tugged at his sleeve, cursing officials in front of the Confucius Temple? Did he have a death wish!
But in the very next instant, the two officials finally finished hanging the scroll and released their hands. The vermilion scroll immediately unfurled like a waterfall.
“!”
Everyone present sucked in a sharp breath.
Zhao Baozhu widened his eyes and immediately looked toward the very top on the left, the first place!
Under the gold-threaded words “First Class,” three inked characters were written, “Ye Jinghua.”
It really was the young master! Zhao Baozhu clenched his fists, shouting a great “Good!” in his heart!
“Y-young master passed!” Deng Yun’s excited voice rang out immediately after.
“He’s the huiyuan!” Fang Li said.
Fang Qin also saw those three characters, hanging high above all the candidates. He let out a long breath. The upheavals of these past months had been too dramatic, now, Ye Jinghua, after taking first place in the provincial exam six years ago, had once again seized the top rank. At last, the Ye residence’s reputation was firmly established!
They rejoiced for a moment, but then immediately turned to the other side. Deng Yun twisted his head and said anxiously: “Where’s Baozhu? Where’s Baozhu? Hurry and look!”
Fang Qin frowned and scolded him: “Why are you shouting? No sense of order at all.” Then he gave instructions: “Fang Li, start from the bottom of the third class. I’ll check the first class. Deng Yun, you look from the middle.”
Ye Jinghua’s name was easy to find, just look straight at the very front. But Zhao Baozhu’s was different; no one knew where it might be hidden among the many names.
Zhao Baozhu himself was also looking, but he was too nervous. The inked characters on the list all turned into little black ants, wriggling and flashing before his eyes, like the foreign picture scrolls sold at the Western stalls.
Around him, the voices of other candidates kept ringing out. Some were wildly excited, shouting “Passed! Passed!” while others, unable to find their names, burst into tears on the spot.
Zhao Baozhu was so nervous his hands trembled. He bit his lower lip, telling himself to stay calm, and continued to look name by name.
Just then, Fang Li’s voice suddenly rang out: “Found it! Passed! Passed!”
Zhao Baozhu froze and turned his head. Before he even saw it, he heard Fang Qin’s excited voice: “Yes… yes! He passed, twelfth place in the third class!”
In the next instant, Zhao Baozhu’s vision blurred, and his body suddenly lifted into the air. A pair of arms tightly wrapped around his waist and hoisted him up!
“He passed, he passed! Really passed! Hahahaha!” Deng Yun directly lifted him up, easily raising Zhao Baozhu into the air and spinning him once. “Baozhu! Zhao Baozhu passed the jinshi exam!!”
“Ah!” Zhao Baozhu cried out as his view suddenly rose. Sure enough, he found his name in the third class: “I… I really passed?”
Deng Yun was even more excited than he was: “You really passed! Zhao Baozhu, you’re a jinshi now!!”
Only then did a dazed smile appear on Zhao Baozhu’s face: “I’m a jinshi?”
Seeing this, Fang Qin stepped forward to stop Deng Yun: “Put him down quickly, don’t make him dizzy.” His own face was also smiling.
Only then did Deng Yun set Zhao Baozhu down. His face was flushed red with excitement, sweat covering his forehead. He grabbed Zhao Baozhu’s face and planted a firm kiss on his cheek: “Good boy! You’ve really brought honor to your big brother!”
Then he gave Zhao Baozhu two hard slaps on the back, almost knocking the breath out of him.
“Ow!” Zhao Baozhu cried out in pain.
Fang Qin was practically frightened to death by Deng Yun. He immediately pulled Zhao Baozhu to his side and glared at him: “What are you doing! How is this proper, grabbing and hitting like that!” At the same time, he signaled with his eyes: Have you forgotten who he is?
Only then did Deng Yun remember Zhao Baozhu’s relationship with Ye Jinghua. His expression turned sheepish as he scratched the back of his head.
He hadn’t thought that far, he simply felt proud of Zhao Baozhu like a younger brother. He had just been too excited. He quickly clasped his hands together and apologized to both of them: “Sorry, sorry, I was just too happy.”
Fang Qin shot him a glare and said in a low voice: “When the young master comes back, you’ll have your punishment.”
Deng Yun just grinned shamelessly.
After checking the list, everyone was in high spirits, their hearts finally at ease. There was no need to keep squeezing under the board. Deng Yun slung an arm over Zhao Baozhu’s shoulders, chin lifted high as if he himself had won first place, and as he led Zhao Baozhu out, he boasted to passersby: “This is my brother, he passed! He made it!”
“He passed the jinshi! Did you pass? Ah, all good, all good.”
“He passed! My brother!”
Many people around them were relatives of candidates. Those whose sons or brothers had passed were also delighted and happy to congratulate Deng Yun. For a moment, Deng Yun was radiant, his eyebrows practically flying into the sky.
Zhao Baozhu, held by the neck, protested and looked up: “Who’s your brother?”
His parents only had him as their son!
Deng Yun grinned shamelessly, his face thicker than city walls: “You call us ‘Gege’ all the time, aren’t you my younger brother?”
Before Zhao Baozhu could respond, Fang Li muttered sourly from the side: “When did he ever call you brother? He only calls us that.”
Deng Yun immediately raised his brows and glared at him, waving him off: “You two brothers aren’t enough? Why are you competing with me? Get lost!”
Fang Li’s face darkened at his arrogance. Fang Qin, half amused and half exasperated, advised: “Just shut up! There are still plenty here who didn’t pass, stop making people resent you.”
As if jinxed by his own words, an unpleasant voice suddenly rang out from the crowd: “How is it Ye Jinghua again as huiyuan?”
Though not loud, they were all sensitive to Ye Jinghua’s name and immediately heard it. Turning to look, they saw a candidate in white standing at the right corner of the list. His companion beside him tugged nervously at his sleeve, signaling him not to speak recklessly.
But the man looked indignant, shaking off his companion’s hand and raising his voice: “What did I say wrong? No matter how talented he is, his provincial first place was six years ago. He steps into the exam hall and immediately takes first place again? What does that mean? Do you take us all for fools!”
With that shout, nearly everyone present heard him. The noisy crowd instantly fell silent, even those crying over failure stopped.
Zhao Baozhu’s face darkened immediately.
In the distance, the two officials responsible for posting the list also changed expressions. They represented the chief examiner and the Hanlin Academy, this candidate’s words were essentially questioning the fairness of the exam right in front of them, like slapping them across the face. One of them spoke sternly: “I advise this juren to speak cautiously. The names on this list have been judged by all examiners and sealed by His Majesty himself. By speaking so, are you questioning His Majesty?”
Hearing this, Zhao Baozhu inwardly exclaimed in approval. As expected of an official in charge of examinations, he had struck the key point immediately. Anyone with sense should shut up the moment the emperor was mentioned.
Yet that juren had no such sense. He choked for a moment, then stubbornly lifted his chin: “I am not questioning His Majesty! His Majesty’s wisdom is evident to all of us. It’s just that certain petty people are too cunning, using deceitful words to mislead the ruler and smear the reputations of us upright men!”
The “petty person” he referred to clearly meant Ye Jinghua.
Zhao Baozhu was nearly furious to death. His face turned completely dark, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, knuckles cracking as he stared coldly at the speaker.
One day, he would cut out the tongues of these people! Despicable to the extreme, if Ye Jinghua didn’t take the exam, they said he was guilty; if he did and took first place, they accused him of cheating! In the end, they were just jealous of Ye Jinghua’s talent and his status as the prime minister’s son. If they had the courage to say it openly, fine, but instead they dragged in talk of “misleading the ruler,” clearly trying to dump filth onto Ye Jinghua!
Zhao Baozhu’s eyes burned with anger. These people studied not to improve themselves, but to cloak their vile intentions in grand-sounding excuses, twisting narratives to slander others!
Fang Qin, Fang Li, and Deng Yun were just as furious. Deng Yun’s veins bulged on his forehead, his shoulder muscles tightening as he gritted his teeth: “Wait here, I’ll go have a word with him!”
“Wait!” Fang Qin immediately stopped him, face stern. “If you go now, you’ll only give him more reason. He’ll turn around and say our Ye residence bullies others with power.”
Deng Yun froze and gritted his teeth: “Then what do we do?” He glanced at the man standing proudly ahead, his eyes reddening with anger. “Just let that b*stard keep showing off like this?”
Fang Qin clenched his jaw as well, unable to think of a solution.
Just as they were at a stalemate, Zhao Baozhu’s voice suddenly came: “Move aside.” The three of them froze and turned to look, only to see Zhao Baozhu stepping forward from behind them, his face dark and composed: “I’ll go say a few words to him.”
