Zhou Shuren, “.”

No chance!

Seeing Zhou Shuren’s expressionless face, Zhulan curled her lips and said, “You don’t have to answer, I understand.”

Zhou Shuren, “.”

He didn’t want to answer. He was so sad. What did the top student fear the most? The top student was the academic god. Wu Ming was a genius academic god and a very smart academic god. No matter how much the fate of the big guy changed, he would still be the big guy!

In Wu Ming’s carriage, the servant was extremely nervous. To ease his nervousness, he poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to the young master, “Young master, Master Zhou, and Madam Zhou are so kind to you.”

The servant had experienced too many calculations in the backyard of the mansion and was the most distrustful of human nature. However, his concept was broken in the Zhou family. Master Zhou and the young master were rivals, and the Zhou family not only did not frame him but also took care of the young master meticulously.

What he didn’t expect was taken into consideration by the Zhou family Madam. This time, the Zhou family Madam was afraid that the young master would catch a cold again, so the carriage was tightly wrapped, and the young master’s cloak was newly made!

He was on guard in vain!

Wu Ming held the teacup, and not only were his hands warm, but so was his heart. The Zhou family gave him the warmth he most desired, and also let him know that people’s hearts were not all black, there were also good ones.

He performed better in this imperial examination than in the provincial examination, all thanks to the care of his aunt. He will always remember this kindness in his heart.

Time passed little by little, and soon the first ray of sunshine shone on the earth, and the sky finally brightened.

Zhulan drank a lot of ginger tea, but there was no other way. The wind outside was freezing, and the temperature in March was not very high. The carriage was not very warm, and Eryue, who was guarding outside the carriage, was so cold that he kept moving on the ground!

The closer the time was to the announcement of the results, the more tormented the people waiting. The time for the announcement of the results was set every year. When the gong sounded, Zhulan concentrated her mind and said, “The results are out.”

Zhou Shuren held Zhulan’s hand and said, “You wait in the car. The boss and I will go down to take a look.”

Boss Zhou huddled in a corner like a quail. He actually wanted to stroll outside with Er Yue. Ever since he and Li Shi kept seeing his parents getting along, his parents no longer avoided him. To be more precise, they just treated them as if they didn’t exist!

Unfortunately, his body was too delicate and he couldn’t stand the cold wind outside. He could only bite the bullet and huddle in a corner of the carriage to avoid the cold.

After hearing what his father said, Boss Zhou hurriedly got out of the carriage.

Zhulan shook her head, “I want to go too. I want to witness this honor with you.”

Zhou Shuren: “Okay.”

It was a pity to witness him becoming the second place!

Zhulan tied her cloak and wrapped herself tightly, then followed Zhou Shuren out of the carriage. The two of them met up with Wu Ming and went to look at the list. Wow, the list was full of people. Zhulan was not tall and was some distance away from the city wall. She could not see the names on the list clearly and could only see the moving heads.

Zhulan was speechless. The results of the imperial examination were announced. Could the court be more generous and write the names bigger? One hundred and fifty people were selected in each session. One hundred and fifty names, but they were only written on two sheets of paper, which were less than a foot long and half a foot wide. Zhulan seriously suspected that it was a bad taste.

There were so many people standing under the list, mainly servants and other servants, and guards with strong backgrounds were leading the way!

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren looked at each other and decided to wait for a while.

Fortunately, the number of candidates for each exam was limited. After waiting for a while, those who failed the exam left one after another. Those who passed the exam either shared their joy with their family and friends or waited on the side to see who the first-place winner was!

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren arrived at the list and looked at the name at the top of the first sheet of paper with confidence.

The servant of Wu Ming’s family was literate, and he said excitedly: “Sir, you are the champion.”

Wu Ming loosened his tightly clenched hands, turned sideways, and said, “Your nephew has lived up to the care of my uncle and aunt.”

Zhulan, “.”

Actually, you can live up to it, really!

Zhou Shuren saw his name just below Wu Ming. Except for the first place, who was the champion, the others were all Gongshi. The ranking was really unimportant. What was important was the result after the palace examination.

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, “My nephew has won first place in the exam at such a young age. We must celebrate today.”

Wu Ming smiled and said, “I, your nephew, also congratulate your uncle for winning the title of Gongshi.”

When the tribute students who stayed behind met Wu Ming, they all had complicated expressions on their faces.

Because among these people, except for the young Gongshi who was born with a cheat, the others are all over 30 years old, and the oldest was about 60 years old!

At a young age, Wu Ming achieved the title of Huiyuan. While others envied and admired him, some people’s minds started working quickly.

A 40-something scholar stepped forward and said, “Sir, are you looking for a wife? I have a 14-year-old daughter who is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. I think she is a perfect match for you!”

Once the first one begins, there will be a second one.

Zhulan watched Wu Ming being surrounded. Although Wu Ming was mature beyond his years, he could not handle such enthusiasm. His face flushed and he didn’t know how to start.

Zhou Shuren looked happy. He also wanted to vent his anger for getting second place. Hey, young man, this was just the beginning!

Zhulan saw that Wu Ming couldn’t bear it anymore, so she pulled Zhou Shuren’s sleeve to signal him to stop watching.

Zhou Shuren coughed and stepped forward. “Marriage requires the consent of the parents and the matchmaker. We appreciate your attention. How about we talk about it after the old lady arrives in the Capital?”

Wu Ming exhaled, bowed, and said, “I appreciate your kindness, but the marriage will be decided by my grandmother, please forgive me.”

Zhou Shuren continued, “It’s getting late. We have something else to do so we have to go first.”

A Gongshi stopped him and said, “Please leave your address so that we can visit you later.”

What a good son-in-law, we can’t let him go like this.

Zhou Shuren left his address with a smile. These people who could make it this far were all capable people. No one could predict what the future would be like. Well, more friends were better than more enemies.

When Zhulan and the others returned to the carriage, they all knew that Huiyuan was a young man and an unmarried one at that.

Boss Zhou was sitting in Wu Ming’s carriage. Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were in the same carriage. Zhulan pulled Zhou Shuren’s beard and whispered, “Our family can’t stay quiet this time. Wu Ming has become a hot commodity. I see that many servants of officials are eyeing Wu Ming. I’m sure we will be overwhelmed with visiting cards tomorrow.”

Zhou Shuren laughed, “This is nothing, the results of the palace examination are really scary.”

Zhulan’s eyes sparkled, “In the play, there is a scene of catching a son-in-law from the list. Will someone really catch a son-in-law after the palace examination results are announced?”

Zhou Shuren said, “There is no such thing in this dynasty, but there was in the previous dynasty. The previous dynasty had loose control over merchants, and merchants especially liked to arrest sons-in-law under the list. In this dynasty, some officials took a fancy to the sons-in-law and summoned them by relying on their official status. As for others, they dared not join in the fun, so arresting people under the list does not happen.”

Zhulan was quite disappointed, but then she became happy again, “I just looked around carefully. Among the 150 people on the list, there are not many young people. The candidates from official families are probably engaged even if they are young. Among those from grassroots families, Wu Ming seems to be the only young man!”

Zhou Shuren was silent and said, “Zhao Bo hasn’t married yet either.”

Zhulan: “We think we forgot something. We forgot to look at Zhao Bo’s name. I don’t think I noticed Zhao Bo just now.”

She and Zhou Shuren were so busy watching Wu Ming and having fun that they completely forgot about Zhao Bo.

Zhulan continued, “I only looked at the first and second positions, not the ones after that. Did you look at them?”

Zhou Shuren: “No.”

Zhulan was speechless. Well, neither of them paid attention to Zhao Bo.

(End of this chapter)

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