Chapter 301

Early the next morning, on the eaves of the county guesthouse, several magpies were chirping.

In the lobby, as usual, a dozen people were eating breakfast.

Suddenly, a young man looking like a servant rushed in, panting and shouting, "The... the list is posted! The list is posted!"

The list is posted?

Everyone stood up with a *whoosh*, not even bothering to finish their meal, and ran out.

Fearing that if they ran a step slower, there would be no place for their own candidates on the list.

"Who is the first place?" The innkeeper hurriedly pulled the young man and asked.

The young man scratched his head, "I don't know either; there were too many people, I couldn't squeeze in at all, so I just came back to report the news."

Soon the candidates upstairs all got the news and ran downstairs one after another.

They rushed toward the Prefectural Academy in a hurry.

Master Yan was so nervous that his palms were sweating, but he still put on a calm posture and said to the restless students beside him, "What's the rush? There are too many people right now, and you won't see anything even if you go. Let's fill our stomachs first, and it will be the same if we go later; anyway, the rankings have already been set and won't change."

Just as he finished speaking.

He saw the guard he had sent to watch the list rush in, shouting excitedly, "I saw it, I saw it! The first place is Young Master Jiang Zhan!"

*Buzz*, the scene immediately boiled over.

Whether they were from Xiushan Academy or other families, they couldn't help but cast envious, jealous, and hateful eyes at Jiang Zhan.

Does God have to be so biased?

Good-looking, so young, and even his literary talent is so outstanding; he has taken all the benefits.

Simply not human!

"Did you see clearly? Is it really Jiang Zhan?" Master Yan grabbed the guard; although it was within his expectations, he still couldn't believe it and confirmed it again.

The guard nodded affirmatively, "It is absolutely true, I checked carefully according to the seat number you gave me, if you don't believe me, you can go see for yourself."

Go then.

Master Yan was refreshed and waved his hand domineeringly, "Let's go, we'll go see the list too!"

The students: "..."

Didn't he just say it was useless to go early? Didn't he say to fill our stomachs first?

Truly a fickle man.

Master Yan didn't care about this and pulled Jiang Zhan away.

Jiang Zhan looked back at his sister-in-law, and Du Ruo nodded at him, signaling him to go first and that she would follow.

With Master Yan as the leader, everyone ran out with a *whoosh*.

The lobby soon became deserted.

"Let's go, Third Uncle, let's go see too, the sooner we see, the sooner we can rest assured." Du Ruo turned to Master Jiang beside her and smiled.

Master Jiang nodded, "Okay."

His originally tense body had completely relaxed after hearing that Jiang Zhan had won first place.

As for himself, if nothing unexpected happened, he should also be able to pass.

Just don't know what the ranking is.

A group of dozens of people came to the gate of the Prefectural Academy in a grand manner, but were stunned by the scene before them.

People, all people, dense crowds of people.

Everyone was squeezing in the same direction, roaring and pushing, as if what was hanging in front was not a list, but delicious brains.

Like a zombie siege!

"This, how can there be so many people?" Not to mention Du Ruo and the others, even Master Yan, an experienced old man who had led teams for many years, saw it for the first time.

Although it was lively when the list was posted in previous years, it had never been as ridiculously crowded as this time.

And more people were continuously running over from all directions.

This scene is really a bit indescribable...

Eerie.

To avoid injury to the students, Master Yan hurriedly took everyone away first and found a nearby teahouse to sit down, intending to wait until there were fewer people later.

The teahouse waiter diligently served tea, fruits, and snacks.

Bian Dou Dou took out a piece of broken silver and tossed it to him, curiously asking, "Little brother, is there always this many people watching the list every year?"

"The guest doesn't know." The waiter smiled and put the silver into his pocket, patiently explaining, "There are naturally many people watching the list, but this year there are especially many, even much more than on the day of the exam. All in all, it's because of money."

Money? Everyone looked at each other.

"How do you say that?" Bian Dou Dou hurriedly asked.

Anyway, it's not a secret that can't be told, so the waiter told them everything.

Speaking of which, it also has to do with Jiang Zhan.

The matter of the bet between Jiang Zhan and Duan Xiu previously spread throughout the city, and Duan Xiu's childhood friend Shen Jing Bin took this opportunity to open a gambling house, betting on who would eventually win the crown of the prefectural top scholar.

Now it's good, almost half of the people in Fengyang Prefecture ran to join in the fun.

Those with money bet money, and there were many who bet tens or hundreds of taels.

Those without money bet their presence, and one or two taels was also a gesture.

Of course, everyone knows that Duan Xiu has a scholarly family background, and his grandfather, Elder Duan, was the top scholar who won first place in all three levels of the Imperial Examination back then; with his guidance, Duan Xiu naturally couldn't be bad, so most people bet on Duan Xiu to win.

They thought it was an easy thing like picking up money, but after the red list was posted early this morning, people went crazy.

The first place is actually not Duan Xiu!

It's not Duan Xiu, and to make matters worse, it's Jiang Zhan, who was competing against him!

You say this matter is a mess.

So all the people in the city ran to see the list; the so-called "not seeing the Yellow River, not giving up," not seeing the red list, not giving up, this is still holding onto the last glimmer of hope, hoping that someone saw it wrong, or it was a rumor...

"So that's how it is." Everyone present understood; no wonder there were so many people.

Everyone subconsciously looked at Jiang Zhan.

Jiang Zhan lowered his eyes and took a sip of tea without speaking.

"Serves them right, who told them to look down on people?" Bian Dou Dou looked gloating, hugging his two fat arms and snorting, "Really think family background decides everything? That Young Master Duan is afraid he forgot, there is a kind of person in this world called a genius!"

*Cough, cough. *

Seeing Bian Dou Dou speaking without restraint, Master Yan hurriedly coughed twice, "Alright, alright, it's not A-Zhan's business, the bet wasn't proposed by A-Zhan either; everyone bears their own karma, we don't need to worry about these."

The students nodded and said yes, eating while waiting.

Saying they were eating, in reality, few people could eat; Jiang Zhan's ranking was out, but everyone else's hearts were still hanging, not knowing how they did and whether they passed.

Waiting like this for about an hour, the sun was already high, and they settled the bill and left.

At the gate of the Prefectural Academy, the crowd finally dispersed for the most part.

Although it was still a bit congested, it was finally not as exaggerated as before, and with the guards clearing the way, everyone soon squeezed to the front and looked up eagerly.

The prefectural exam list does not write names, but seat numbers; all the seat numbers that passed are written in circles, first the inner circle and then the outer circle.

And the seat number of the first place is at the top of the inner circle.

A-character number six.

It is exactly Jiang Zhan's seat number!

Master Yan's heart was completely put at ease; if it weren't for so many people, he would almost have had tears in his eyes.

"Well done!" He patted the young boy's tender shoulder beside him, feeling comforted in his old age.

Jiang Zhan was also very happy.

But he knew that this was not the final victory; this was just the first place in the first round, there were two more rounds behind, and others might not necessarily have no chance to overtake him.

For example, Duan Xiu.

Duan Xiu was only one seat away from him, so Jiang Zhan knew his seat number.

He had already seen it just now; Duan Xiu was second place.

Chasing so closely, if he performs poorly in the second round of exams, then Duan Xiu might climb above him and become the new first place.

It is not yet time to relax...

After seeing Jiang Zhan's ranking, Master Yan hurriedly went to check the results of other students one by one.

The results came out in a while.

Of the ten candidates from Xiushan Academy, they passed, among which the first place Jiang Zhan and the fourth place Xiao Liangchen were both ranked high. Master Jiang, who tagged along, also did quite well, sixteenth place.