Chapter 93

Jia Mu and the others had not yet recovered from the soul-shaking saber strike of Jia Cong.

They then heard Jia Cong say: "Old Matriarch, that Wang family boy followed Sister Yuanyang and snuck into the inner courtyard, yet the matron guarding the inner courtyard gate didn't discover him. If he had disturbed the sisters in the garden,

the consequences would be unthinkable. Such derelict servants must be severely punished; in the future, the inner courtyard needs alert servants to keep watch."

Jia Mu glared at Jia Cong. The birthday gift he had given yesterday had earned her face, and she had felt some joy in her heart, but who knew that such a troublesome matter as Lady Wang Zhangshi would occur.

Today was even more outrageous; someone actually snuck into the inner courtyard to stir up trouble with him, only to be thoroughly humiliated by this boy, who even drew his saber.

He even made Wang Ziteng, who came to offer birthday wishes, look disheveled. They were relatives, and it made everyone's face look awkward. Seeing her second daughter-in-law's eyes red, Jia Mu felt a wave of irritation.

Why is this "evil obstacle" so capable of causing trouble? But for the events of these past two days, one couldn't pick out a single flaw in Jia Cong, so she could only hold her breath inside.

Hearing him say that the matron of the inner courtyard was derelict in her duty, she also felt lingering fear. If an outsider were allowed to sneak into the inner courtyard and let her precious granddaughters in the garden suffer any mishap, ruining their reputation, what would she do!

She took the opportunity to vent all her pent-up frustration, ordering Yuanyang to identify the matron who guarded the second gate today, have her seized outside Rongqing Hall, beaten with twenty heavy strokes, and sent to a farm outside the city to make a living.

Jia Cong saluted Jia Mu, saying only that he had already made an appointment with his classmates to go to the Ministry of Rites to see the results of the Academy Examination, and then turned and left.

As he walked, he was still carrying that cold, flashing waist saber, making the eyelids of Jia Mu, Lady Wang, and the others twitch.

Jia Cong tried to squeeze forward, wanting to get closer to the east wall where the list was posted, but there were simply too many people, and after only a few steps, he was chest-to-back with others.

The Provincial and Metropolitan Examinations in the Divine Capital are both posted at the Confucian Temple in the east of the city, while the Academy Examination results are posted on the east wall of the South Courtyard of the Ministry of Rites.

Compared to the "thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge" of later generations, it is even more terrifying.

So he gave up the idea of moving forward and found a slightly more relaxed spot in the corner to wait.

Because of the Wang Yi matter, Jia Cong missed the agreed time with Cai Xiaoyu, Cui Anzhi, Liu Xiaoping, and others, so after arriving at the place, he couldn't find the traces of these three people.

To the east of the South Courtyard of the Ministry of Rites, there is a long wall, and in front of it is a wide, flat, and tidy open space that can accommodate thousands of people. Usually, the ceremonial rites for the Ministry of Rites to receive envoys from foreign lands are often held here.

Because this place is spacious and the long wall in the South Courtyard is flat and faces the sun, it has always been the place for posting the Academy Examination results.

More than a hundred years ago, the Mongol Yuan ravaged the north, and the Han people moved south to defend the country. The essence of the northern literati gathered in the south to avoid the flames of war, so the Han academic tradition was not slaughtered by foreign races, but instead became more prosperous.

In the Yongzhou Academy Examination, out of a hundred people, only a handful are selected, and the subsequent Autumn and Spring Examinations are even more fiercely competitive at each level.

Although one couldn't see the list clearly from this place, Jia Cong was not in a hurry. It had been many days since the Academy Examination, and whether he passed or not was already decided; there was no need to be anxious for a moment.

Yongzhou is the most prosperous place for northern literature and education. This Yongzhou Academy Examination had thousands of students participating, but according to the quotas allocated to each prefecture and county in previous years, only two hundred people would eventually be admitted.

The path of the imperial examination has always been level by level, in a pyramid shape. From the Academy Examination to the Metropolitan Examination, the higher one goes, the fewer people are qualified to participate, and those who make it onto the Golden List are one in ten thousand.

The Academy Examination is the stepping stone for the Great Zhou imperial examination. Only after passing the Academy Examination can one participate in the subsequent Provincial and Metropolitan Examinations, and even the Palace Examination.

As the stepping stone for the imperial examination, although it had already gone through two rounds of elimination in the County and Prefecture Examinations, the base of final participants was still extremely large.

By the time the Great Zhou was founded, the academic cultivation in the south had accumulated more than in the previous dynasty, and some sparks moved north, further driving the prosperity of northern literature and education.

By the time Jia Cong arrived at the east wall of the South Courtyard of the Ministry of Rites, it was already a sea of people.

At this time, the sound of gongs came from under the east wall, one after another; this meant the posting of the list was about to begin.

The dense crowd surged with commotion like a tide, and countless voices discussed excitedly and nervously. The noise of thousands of people gathered together, scaring the birds in the sky far away.

This grand spectacle of watching the list truly opened Jia Cong's eyes, and even his anxious mood about watching the list was diluted a lot.

"Of all pursuits, only studying is noble."

The thousands of child students present, from their childhood studies to their bitter reading as youths, and their persistence even in old age, all their years of effort are for this very moment!

There were even more students who were solemn and pious, muttering to themselves, as if praying to the gods and Buddhas in the sky to bless them with their names on the list.

At this time, several Ministry of Rites servants wearing red clothes and blue jackets, after the gongs and drums finished, each carried a wooden brush with paste, two held up the red gauze list paper, and four guards with sabers followed to protect them.

Under the east wall of the South Courtyard of the Ministry of Rites, there were already hundreds of government bailiffs deployed by the Qinian Prefecture and Zhen'an Prefecture, holding water and fire sticks to maintain order.

A battalion of elite cavalry from the Xiaoji Battalion had also been deployed to guard the area around the Ministry of Rites government office. After all, there was a gathering of thousands of people, and if a riot occurred, the consequences would be unthinkable.

At this time, the servants climbed up the ladder, brushed the paste on the east wall, and began to post the list, and according to the admission ranking, they posted the list from low to high.

The place where Jia Cong stood was far from the east wall, and he could only see the servants posting the list, but he couldn't see the text on the list at all.

When the servants posted the first part of the list, the crowd watching the list surged forward like a tide. Hundreds of yamen runners held their water and fire sticks horizontally to block the restless crowd, all of them exhausted and covered in sweat.

Someone in the crowd saw their name on the list and shouted with ecstasy: "I passed! Ancestors bless me! I passed!"

Immediately after, in the dense army of list-watchers, people kept shouting with the ecstasy of passing the exam, and the people around looked at these lucky ones with envy.

But more people did not find their names on the first part of the list posted.

Although there were still three parts of the list not yet posted, the anxiety in these people's hearts went without saying.

Immediately after, the servants posted the second part of the list, and the same scene happened again, with some happy and some sad.

The entire crowd watching the list presented two worlds of ice and fire; some were ecstatic, some sighed and lamented, some were ashen-faced, and some were full of ambition.

At this time, Jia Cong heard a familiar voice shouting not far away: "I also passed, I passed 102nd!"

He looked toward the place where the voice came from and saw a student shouting excitedly not far away. It was none other than Cui Anzhi, and the two people beside him were vaguely Cai Xiaoyu and Liu Xiaoping.

Jia Cong shouted a few times at Cui Anzhi, but his voice was quickly drowned out by the deafening noise of the crowd around him. How could he be heard? Because at this time, the servants were posting the third part of the list.

Cheers rose and fell in the crowd, more surging than the momentum brought by the first two parts of the list.

The students who could make it to the second list were all the outstanding ones who passed within the top hundred in this Yongzhou Academy Examination, and their articles and knowledge were also the best among these candidates.

Students have always gathered in groups of fellow townsmen and classmates. The more people in their small team who pass, and the higher their admission ranking, the more glorious and decent they are in front of other groups.

The fierce disputes between different parties in the imperial court today, such as regional factions, political views, and new versus old, were not formed overnight; they already showed signs and sprouts in the early stages of the imperial examination like the Academy Examination.

Students who could make it to the second list mostly had some appeal and literary fame among their fellow townsmen and classmates.

These people all called friends and companions to come and watch the list.

When their names appeared on the second list, the momentum of cheering and jumping naturally far exceeded the previous parts of the list.

Until the first three parts of the list were posted, Jia Cong did not know whether his name had appeared on these three parts, because he was really too far away and couldn't see clearly at all.

Finally, the first list of the Yongzhou Academy Examination, under the gaze of everyone, was posted on the east wall of the South Courtyard of the Ministry of Rites. Countless hot gazes gathered on the first list.

(End of chapter)