Chapter 700: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 700: The Father of the Girl Found a Son-in-Law (1)
The two official messengers were indeed here to bring good news. After dismounting and bowing to the county Princess Mo Yan first, they then saluted Mo Qingze, addressing him as "Mo Scholar," and respectfully handed him the congratulatory letter.
Mo Qingze opened the letter with an indifferent expression. Upon seeing the ranking listed, a flicker of obscurity appeared in his eyes.
Mo Yan, not noticing her father's strange demeanor, hurried over to see. She immediately saw her father's name at the top, followed by the examination result—101st place in the provincial exams!
The autumn examinations are held every three years, with usually the top 200 out of thousands of scholars in the capital being selected as "juren" (graduates). Being in the 101st position is neither too good nor too bad; however, this ranking does not provide an advantage in the following spring exams.
The spring exams are open to all juren from the entire Great Chu, which has 15 provinces, each selecting more than 200. To be a juren, one must be quite capable. Except for a few who may not feel confident and choose to wait another three years for the spring exams, there will still be 2,500 juren competing for 103 spots as "jinshi" (scholars). The competition will be intense.
Mo Yan couldn’t judge her father’s performance compared to other scholars, so she couldn’t tell if his result was typical or not. However, making it into the top 200 out of 3,000 scholars was already a significant achievement, fulfilling her father's wish.
As for the spring exams, even if he doesn’t succeed next year, he can try again in three years. It’s not too critical.
Mo Yan politely invited the two messengers inside to rest and offered them some refreshments before they left. The messengers, fearful of seeming greedy, declined, saying they had to deliver good news to other households. Mo Yan didn’t insist but gave each messenger a red envelope.
The messengers were overjoyed, and when they opened the envelopes halfway, finding five taels of silver inside, their smiles widened. They thought the new county Princess was indeed generous, and even if they didn’t get extra rewards from other households, this errand was worth it.
Soon, Mo’s home was bustling with visitors coming to offer congratulations. Some families, eager to send their children to school, even brought them along to bask in the newly minted juren’s good fortune, hoping it might bring some of the luck to their own children.
By evening, the house finally quieted down after a lively afternoon. Mo Yan decided to celebrate with her family that night and prepared several of her signature dishes.
When the dishes were ready, Mo Yan handed over the task of cooking the rice to Li Xiu, then went to the study to discuss the banquet with Mo Qingze.
Upon hearing his eldest daughter’s suggestion, Mo Qingze agreed without much hesitation, smiling faintly, “Earlier, when you were granted the title of county Princess, I had planned to hold a banquet once the fuss died down. But since you were worried about attracting unwanted attention, we didn’t have it. Now that we have these two happy events together, it won’t seem excessive, and it will save the villagers from having to give two gifts.”
Mo Qingze did not realize that his daughter was unwilling to celebrate grandly because she felt the title of county Princess was obtained through scheming, and she was already feeling uncomfortable about not returning it. Celebrating with a banquet was the last thing on her mind!
This time, Mo Yan didn’t refuse. She nodded and said enthusiastically, “Yes, let’s do it as you say. We’ll celebrate both events together! We’ll have a buffet-style banquet. Anyone from the village who wants to come for the feast is welcome. We’re not short of provisions!”
(The End of this Chapter)
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