Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 502 Roll Call

Fuqian Street, in the teahouse.

Song Ying lay on the windowsill, his eyes dazzled but he didn't see Yuan Qing and the others return.

She was about to sit back and wait to watch when she suddenly heard the crowd in the distance getting louder and louder, spreading towards this side like a wave, as if they were discussing something.

Soon, the news spread to the teahouse.

"How could this list be wrong?"

"I don't know. They say the ones posted earlier have been taken down, and they're going to call the roll instead..."

Listening to the chatter below, Song Ying was also curious. The college entrance examination was such an important matter, but something could go wrong. Moreover, the list had to be changed after it had been posted for a while.

This is a list that concerns the academic achievements of more than a thousand scholars, so it is not something that can be taken lightly.

"In the Gengchen year, the first place in the Shunqing Prefecture Provincial Examination was Lu Xu from Qingshui County, Yi!"

Daqian set up sub-circuit districts between provinces and prefectures, and officials were sent by the Censorate to inspect the local areas. The educational officials were responsible for the culture and education of a province and also had to hold titles in the Censorate, so the academy examinations presided over by them were also called provincial examinations.

A resounding voice came from the government office and echoed in the crowd for a long time. Although it was far away, Song Ying could still hear it clearly. It must be many loud-voiced yamen runners shouting in unison.

She raised her eyebrows and thought to herself that Lu Xu was really talented. Once he overcame his fear, he immediately got the first place in the exam!

"He's actually from Qingshui County! That's incredible! I heard the top scorer in the previous provincial exam was also from Qingshui County. No wonder the officials wanted to build the new academy there. It really is a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery."

"I've never heard of this candidate's name before. The college entrance examination is truly filled with hidden talents!"

"..."

Amidst all the discussions, Song Ying suddenly heard someone crying out, "I won! I won! Mother, I won!"

The crowd nearby was silent for a moment, and then they were in an uproar, looking for the person who was crying. They had just read out a name, and the one who shouted "I won" at this time must be Lu Xu, the first suspect in this case.

Song Ying stood upstairs, looking down from above, and soon found Lu Xu in the crowd. He was hugging Lu's mother, crying with joy.

Mother Lu was completely stunned and didn't react for a long time, but the excited Lu Xu didn't notice it at all.

The people around them congratulated him. Lu Xu wiped his tears with his sleeve, bowed to everyone and thanked them, and said, "Please make way for me. I need to go and see the Grand Master."

Everyone naturally made way. Lu Xu said something to his mother and headed towards the government office. Along the way, people kept congratulating him.

After he walked a long way away, Lu's mother finally reacted with a start and slapped her thigh: "Oh my God, my son finally passed the exam!"

Then, she was overwhelmed by the crowd's congratulations, and nearby shop owners warmly invited her to sit down in their shops to rest and wait for her son to come back.

Mother Lu felt proud and relaxed in the face of these strangers' enthusiastic help. She happily followed one of them and stopped after taking a few steps, muttering, "Oh, I have to buy some incense and candles to offer sacrifices to the Tianzun Master of Qingfeng Temple, and Taoist Master Yuanrong. I also have to thank him. This time is all thanks to him."

"Big sister, what Qingfeng Temple? Did your child go there to make a wish in advance?"

"Of course, who has a student taking the exam who doesn't go to a Taoist temple to pray for blessings from the gods before the exam? But I've never heard of Qingfeng Temple. Is it so effective?"

Mother Lu smiled like a flower. "It's really effective, but I'm not going there to fulfill a wish. My son used to get convulsive every time he had an exam and couldn't even get through the Dragon Gate..."

Soon after, the yamen officials were heard shouting in unison: "Second place in the provincial examination, Yuan Qing from Qingshui County, book!"

"Another one from Qingshui County! It seems Qingshui County is truly blessed with outstanding people and beautiful scenery."

"How come the first and second place winners are both from Qingshui County? Did the officer pronounce them wrong?"

"Go to hell! How could such an important thing be wrong? The master usually reads it out first, and those officers just repeat it. They will all make mistakes if they follow suit. Do you think you are such a fool?"

"How can there be no mistakes? Didn't they say earlier that the red list posted was wrong?"

"There's no mistake. This Yuan Qing is the top scorer in the last provincial exam. I heard he's very talented, and he's only fifteen years old..."

Listening to the chatter of the crowd below, Song Ying curled up the corners of his mouth. Second place! How impressive!

She leaned half of her body out of the window, but unfortunately she still didn't see Yuan Qing and the others coming back.

At this moment, the atmosphere at the gate of the government office was eerily quiet, completely different from the situation when everyone congratulated Lu Xu when he arrived.

Those gathered here were basically all candidates who were taking part in the academy examination. Many people had seen the previous dispute between Shen Jing and Bai Liang, and knew that Yuan Qing, the top scorer in the provincial examination, had failed.

Who would have thought that he just took the test paper to Tao Tixue to ask for punishment, and then the yamen runners came out and tore up the red list.

Just as everyone was stunned, the chief examiner of the academy examination, Tao Tixue, also came out and said in person that he had misjudged Yuan Qing's fabrication and that the list of successful candidates in the academy examination needed to be adjusted and the names had to be called out one by one.

Not only was Yuan Qing selected, but he also came in second. Now, except for Lu Xu who came in first, everyone else would have to drop back one place because of him.

Wait, that guy who was previously on Sunshan’s list will be dropped off the list and fail, right?

Thinking of this, everyone looked at the last person with sympathy.

He was a middle-aged man. As early as when Tao Tixue said that it was a misjudgment, he thought about the loss of his place as a student. At this moment, he did not have the ups and downs of emotions as before, but just had a numb face, but his heart was bleeding.

He had been taking exams for half his life and thought that his luck had finally turned this time, but the cooked duck still flew away.

Shen Jing didn't think that the candidate deserved sympathy at all. Who could he blame for his poor academic performance? He just felt that his friend got second place, but no one congratulated him.

He immediately shouted, "Brother Yuan, I'm here to congratulate you on your victory!"

With his opening words, the other candidates, whether sincere or not, congratulated Yuan Qing one after another:

"Brother Yuan, congratulations on your meteoric rise!"

"Brother Yuan, congratulations..."

Amidst everyone's congratulations, Yuan Qing walked up to Tao Tixue with his head held high, bowed and saluted smoothly, as if he was not affected at all.

"Student Yuan Qing thanks Grandmaster Zhu Yi for the blessing on his forehead."

Tao Tixue was a man of sentimental character. He had liked Yuan Qing's articles before, and after hearing the criticism just now, he admired Yuan Qing even more for his courage to point out the mistakes of his superiors in person.

Although he is satisfied, it is inevitable that young people will overestimate themselves when they are successful. It is still necessary to give him a warning to prevent this good seedling from going astray.

He remained sullen, "Your article still has some flaws. You must be humble and focus on your studies in the future."

The other candidates couldn't help but gloat over what they heard. So what if they passed? If they exposed the examiner's shortcomings like this and forced him to admit his mistakes in public, it would be a wonder if he could do well in the future.