Chapter 874: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 874: Someone's Misguided Intentions (Part 1)
The results of the first round of the re-examination were announced the next day, and Mo Qingze’s name appeared at the top of the list. Of course, the purpose of this exam was to determine the top thirty, and the ranking itself was quite casual. Being at the top didn’t necessarily mean someone’s written essays or strategies were better than others’. Therefore, simply looking at the list didn’t reveal who might be the future Zhuangyuan.
However, due to Mo Qingze’s repeated outstanding performances, he garnered the most support among the scholars, and the call for him to be the top scorer remained the strongest.
After learning the results, Mo Qingze merely nodded, said nothing further, and continued to study behind closed doors. He revisited some of the more obscure and disconnected knowledge that he had struggled to understand previously, including some content that seemed unrelated to the examination.
The rest of the Mo family went about their daily lives without much change.
In contrast to the peace in the Mo family, the twenty-nine other scholars living in the capital, waiting for the final palace examination, were not as fortunate. Any young man who had not yet married became a target for those with unmarried daughters, especially for officials with daughters still in the home.
Most of these officials held low-ranking positions and knew it was unrealistic to marry their daughters into high-ranking families for wealth and status. Instead, they sought to find a promising scholar to marry their daughter. If the son-in-law rose to prominence, the family would naturally benefit; even if he didn’t, the marriage would still bring some status and security.
Many people thought this way, so the twenty-nine scholars, regardless of their family backgrounds, were eyed by others. Apart from a few elderly men over fifty, with grandchildren already, all eligible and unmarried young men became the focus of attention.
Whether these scholars were already betrothed wasn’t a concern for these officials. In fact, some scholars, sensing the interest, began claiming to be unmarried just to gain favor and connections. With the help of a powerful family, one could potentially save decades of effort. After all, there would always be people willing to become another Chen Shimei (a notorious figure in Chinese literature representing men who marry for wealth and status).
As night approached and the lights began to glow, in Zhuque Alley, near the palace, the lamps lit up like stars in the clear sky. Each household in the alley had delicate lanterns placed on their verandas. For the common folk, it might seem wasteful, as they might feel inclined to extinguish all the lights to save oil.
But for those living in Zhuque Alley, this kind of luxury was nothing. After all, the alley was home to the most powerful officials in the court, and the level of wealth and extravagance here was beyond the imagination of those from lesser backgrounds.
At that moment, a magnificent carriage slowly approached the main road of Zhuque Alley and came to a steady stop in front of a gate with a sign reading "Zhao Mansion."
The coachman quickly jumped down, opened the carriage door, and, although he appeared to be only about sixteen or seventeen, he hunched his back and respectfully addressed the person inside the carriage, saying, "Master, we’ve arrived!"
Without missing a beat, he immediately knelt on the ground, his back arched so that it was lower than the carriage's yoke.
The next moment, a middle-aged man in official attire, dressed in a second-rank official’s robes, pushed aside the carriage curtain and poked his head out. This man was none other than Zhao Fengnian, the head of the Zhao family and the Minister of Rites.
Zhao Fengnian seemed to disregard the coachman on the ground entirely, casually stepping on the coachman’s back with one foot. Despite his nearly two hundred jin weight, the coachman didn’t falter, and Zhao Fengnian stepped down smoothly.
Without a glance at the still-kneeling coachman, Zhao Fengnian hurriedly entered the Zhao Mansion.
The young coachman, who had just been stepped on, grimaced and stood up, instinctively pressing his hand against his back.
It seemed that working this shift for half a month had left his body a little unaccustomed to it!
[End of Chapter]
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