That crying and howling sound was one of mixed sorrow and joy, with tears pouring down like rain.
Everyone inside and outside the hall who knew the true relationship between A Shiheng and this family seemed as if they had been cast with a body fixing spell.
Only Zhong Ruochen, who stayed inside the hall and dared not move a step, suddenly clenched her ten fingers tightly and secretly bit her lower lip.
The housekeeper Li, who had run down the steps, wiped his tears again while crying out in grief and joy. He stamped his foot to report the good news. “Master, madam, the young master has passed!”
Wen Jianhui’s voice trembled with surprise and disbelief. “Old Li, are you sure he really passed? You did not make a mistake, right?”
Housekeeper Li, with tears and snot running, said, “No mistake, he really passed!”
The throat of the outer Zhong moved as he asked the next question. “How was his ranking on the tribute list?”
This question was a bit greedy. Before they did not even believe he could pass. Now that it was confirmed he had passed, they naturally remembered the good news reported by Qi San.
“Good! Too good! There could not be anything better. It is the best under heaven!” Housekeeper Li became excited again. He danced with joy, tripped over his own foot, and fell to the ground. Yet he paid no attention to his own image and slapped the ground with both hands in a rather selfless manner. “Metropolitan examination leader! Master, madam, the young master has become the metropolitan examination leader, the one with full marks in all four subjects!”
People who were not real scholars actually did not understand the ins and outs of this. They did not know how impressive full marks were. Even most scholars had never seen such a thing in their lifetime. The people they usually associated with would not talk about such things at all. But they knew what the metropolitan examination leader was. They knew it was the top name in the metropolitan examination!
Because they did not understand, whether it was full marks or not was not important. For them, as long as it was the top name in the metropolitan examination, it was enough. The so called full marks was just icing on the cake. They valued the title of metropolitan examination leader more!
Even though housekeeper Li had personally run to see the list, he only heard passers by say that the metropolitan examination leader with full marks in all four subjects was very impressive. He did not know exactly how impressive it was, nor could he calmly ask slowly. As soon as he confirmed the results, he thanked heaven and earth, wiped his tears, and ran back.
Among those outside, only Zhong Ruochen, who was still standing inside the hall listening carefully, could be said to be the only one in this family who liked reading. She basically knew a bit about the ins and outs. When she heard that he had taken this session’s metropolitan examination leader with full marks in all four subjects, she was truly shocked quite heavily!
She began to feel inexplicably nervous inside. She did not know what kind of person her future husband, whom she had never met, really was. A person who could take the metropolitan examination leader with full marks in all four subjects must be how amazingly talented, peerlessly brilliant, and proudly unmatched in the world!
She somehow felt a bit ashamed of herself and inferior. She felt she might not be worthy of him. She did not know if he would even look favourably upon a woman from a merchant family like her, who was covered in the smell of copper coins.
Her family did not think this way, nor did they understand these things. The two words metropolitan examination leader were already enough to make them wild with joy. In a sense, they were a bit shallow.
Outer Zhong was already so excited that his whole face glowed red. He quickly went down the steps and helped the housekeeper up. “Since it is such great joy, do not cry and wail. Think carefully again. You did not see wrong with blurry eyes, right? Do not make it an empty joy.”
If A Shiheng had always had good results, it would be fine. Saying he passed, no one here would doubt it, nor would they confirm again and again. It was really because previously they had no confidence even in making the list. Suddenly saying he passed, and even saying he became the metropolitan examination leader, and a full marks one at that, was inevitably a bit exaggerated. It was natural to confirm repeatedly.
Housekeeper Li immediately looked as if he wanted to swear to heaven. “Master, it is correct, absolutely no mistake. The young master’s name is in the most eye catching place on the tribute list, standing alone at the top of the tribute list. Other people’s names are fist sized characters, but only the young master’s name is washbasin sized characters. The people around also saw it clearly. There absolutely cannot be a mistake!” He gestured with both hands to show the size of the characters, still very excited, with snot not yet wiped dry.
It had already been said so clearly. Slap! Outer Zhong suddenly struck his palm with his fist. He could finally let go of his extreme excitement. “What a good lad! He really gave me a surprise!”
Fame and profit, how many people cannot escape them.
In the past, at some occasions, they would inevitably run into some so called refined scholars. So what if you thought they were poor and pedantic? They would not compete with you in wealth. That air they put on could still make you uncomfortable. You would not dare lose your temper casually, otherwise it would seem you really had not read many books or something.
Now? He thought about it and felt a bit amused. He would find an opportunity to stimulate some people, ask how they did in the examinations when they studied, and then mention his son in law. That face would be slapped back…
Du Fei, who was still relatively calm on the side, suddenly waved his hand to signal. After the unrelated outsiders had withdrawn, he spoke. “If it was only making the list, it would be fine. Such an accident is unlikely to happen by accident. This requires real strength. It should, perhaps, not even count as an accident.”
The happy crowd immediately looked at him. Zhong Su stopped and asked him, “What do you mean?”
Du Fei said, “His situation, the outer lord also knows. He already caused a big stir before he even reached the capital, right?”
As soon as these words came out, housekeeper Li was stunned and instantly became much more clear headed.
Zhong Su also calmed down. After thinking for a moment, he understood the deeper meaning. He nodded and said, “Yes, it was not that he did poorly in the exams before, but that he could not show off. So this lad was hiding his true ability deeply and only released it at this moment to shock everyone with one cry! It seems we were confused. He was personally trained by the old lord. How could he be so unbearable! Very fortunate…” Before he finished speaking, he gave a cold glance at his wife. It was good he had not let this woman ruin things, otherwise he would regret it until his intestines broke.
The three women inside and outside the hall did not understand what riddle these three men were playing. But they all understood one point, because it had already been said straightforwardly enough. That was, A Shiheng had always been very talented and strong. It was only due to some reasons that he had been hiding his true ability deeply.
As an old married couple, Wen Jianhui naturally understood her husband’s look. She felt a bit guilty, but as long as her husband did not say it out loud, it was fine. If he really said it out loud, then it would be her husband’s fault. She was very confident that he could not win an argument with her.
At this time she did not care about this. Her future son in law was the metropolitan examination leader. It was enough to make her excited for a long time. She had already imagined a group of women envying her.
“Wow, brother in law is so amazing!” Wen Ruwei pulled her mother’s sleeve and muttered. Hearing her family say that her brother in law had played the legendary hand of hiding his true ability deeply, it felt very mysterious and tall to her. It made her even more excited, with her eyes shining.
Just then, the gatekeeper ran in from outside again. “Master, madam, people from the Liezhou guild hall have come outside. They say they are here to inform Young Master A about the palace examination matters and to report the good news!”
The whole family in the courtyard immediately looked at each other with joy on their faces. Now there would be even less chance of mistake. Even the officials had come to report the good news and were already arranging the palace examination.
“Yes, invite them to the front hall. By the way, send someone to the east courtyard to call Shiheng.” Zhong Su arranged it in one sentence and strode off.
Du Fei and housekeeper Li followed behind.
Wen Jianhui immediately lifted her skirt and ran down the steps, chasing after her husband.
Zhong Su looked back and could not help but frown. A woman lifting her skirt and running around was not proper at all. He scolded, “What are you joining in the fun for?”
Wen Jianhui muttered, “I have never seen such a scene of reporting good news. It is the first time it has happened in our family.”
The implication was that she wanted to see it.
For her, if she knew nothing, how could she chat with those women later? If they asked and she knew nothing, how could that work? She had to say something about scenes those women had never seen.
Zhong Su did not say much more. The main point was that as the mistress of the Zhong household, it was not improper for her to appear together.
On the other side, Wen Ruwei had already bounced into the hall. She ran over, grabbed her sister’s arm, and pulled her outside. “Sister, come quickly.”
Zhong Ruochen staggered and had no choice but to follow. She asked in confusion, “Weiwei, what are you doing?”
Wen Ruwei pulled her hard. “Did you not hear? The people reporting good news have come. Come on, hurry and go see.”
Zhong Ruochen was startled. Without permission from the adults, how could she casually show her face in front of outside men? This violated the rules for proper young ladies from great families. Besides, she was about to get married. If her husband’s family knew, it might not be proper. She was afraid her future husband would look down on her. She quickly stopped her feet and struggled. “I am not going. I am not going.”
“What a good opportunity. Do you not want to see what your brother in law who became the metropolitan examination leader looks like? Do you not want to see how lively the reporting of good news is? Most families cannot see such a scene even once in several lifetimes. How regrettable to miss it. I know what you are afraid of. We will not show our faces. We will hide in the back hall and secretly take a look…”
Wen Ruwei chattered on with a string of persuasion and stubbornly dragged her sister away together.
In fact, Zhong Ruochen was a bit moved by her words. She wanted to see her future husband’s glorious moment at this time and also wanted to see the person…
In the living room, Zhong Su had already regained his calm. Only the faint joy between his brows was hard to hide. Wen Jianhui once again showed the manner of a great household’s mistress. She greeted the guests with a slight smile she had once practised, looking dignified and grand.
The guests from the Liezhou guild hall soon arrived. There were nine in total, tall, short, fat, and thin, all wearing the clothes of minor officials.
Nine people bursting in at once. This did not look like coming to report good news. A bunch of people squeezing in through the door looked like a gang coming to fight.
There was no way around it. Once they saw where A Shiheng lived, they knew the opportunity to make some money had arrived. Besides, it was reporting earth shattering good news. The host family would definitely not be stingy. Everyone wanted to rush to come. Since they could not agree, they simply came together.
In terms of receiving such people, Zhong Su was an expert. He knew at a glance what kind of goods they were. But he was not annoyed. A great joy had descended from heaven. He was indeed happy.
“Outer lord, madam, the Zhong household has really produced a great noble person. The metropolitan examination leader with full marks in all four subjects. It is a once in a century sight!”
“Yes. When we came, we also heard the guild head and the escorting envoy Master Fu say that since the founding of the Jin Kingdom, only two such figures have appeared. Young Master A is the third. The entire Liezhou shares in the glory!”
“Tsk tsk. Basically one full mark is enough to make the tribute list. Four full marks, that is really incredible!”
“At this moment, Young Master A’s name and essays must already be placed on His Majesty’s desk for imperial review.”
“With this full belly of knowledge and strength, winning the top in the palace examination is no problem. The top scholar is already within grasp, something he can get with ease.”
“It is said that the two metropolitan examination leaders who once scored full marks later became top scholars without any surprise. Young Master A will surely be no exception.”
“That goes without saying! Which scholar in the world would dare not submit? The strength is right here!”
After the host and guests had greeted each other, the group of slick tongued fellows began to spare no words of praise. They praised so extravagantly that it was as if flowers were falling from the sky.
But this finally let Zhong Su and the others understand what a metropolitan examination leader with full marks in all four subjects meant.
It was simply not comparable to an ordinary metropolitan examination leader at all. It could even be said to be vastly different.
Its influence was already not limited to just one metropolitan examination result in the Jin Kingdom. This son in law of the Zhong family was afraid his fame would spread far beyond the Jin Kingdom and he would truly become renowned throughout the world!