Do You Know?: Rule the World.

Chapter 35 High School Champion
Gu Tingye glanced at Zhao Han with a nonchalant look, and laughed: "Brother Zhao, you worry too much. Although I am a scoundrel, I will never neglect my studies for the sake of women."

"I'm going there to study. The academy is full of men, so where would women come from? Besides, I don't have any homosexual tendencies."

Zhao Han hesitated to speak. He remembered clearly that Gu Tingye was bewitched by Zhu Manniang when he was in Bai Ludong Academy.

This woman looks weak, but in fact she is as vicious as a snake and has caused Gu Tingye a lot of trouble.

"Zhong Huai, you should still act with caution. Your status as the legitimate son of Ningyuan Marquis can easily attract people with ulterior motives."

Gu Tingye put down his wine glass, put away his joking expression, nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will only study peacefully this time and won't even touch a woman's hair!"

"Don't forget what you said today."

Zhao Han let out a breath, and that was all he could say.

After three rounds of drinks, the night grew darker. The two said goodbye under the moonlight and each boarded their carriage back home.

At this time, inside the Imperial Examination Hall, the nine courtyards were brightly lit, the vermilion lacquered gates were tightly closed, and the imperial guards stood with spears in hand, looking solemn and stern.

The sealed examination papers must be sent to the Transcription Office, where they will be copied by the transcriber with a red pen.

It will be sent to the review office again, where the review officer will check the red and black scrolls word by word to ensure that the transcription is correct.

If there are any errors, they will be marked with a yellow pen and reported for correction.

The test papers that have been read correctly will be sent to the editing office, where the editing officer will number the test papers to prevent the examiners from identifying the candidates.

After completing this process, the original paper is sealed and the red paper is sent to the examination hall to be reviewed by the chief examiner, deputy examiner and co-examiners.

The chief examiner for this year's spring examination was the Minister of Rites, Mr. Han Zhanghan, and the deputy examiner was the Vice Minister of Works, Hai Yanping.

One was of the second rank, the other of the third rank, and the co-examiners were all Hanlin scholars and officials from the six ministries who were well versed in classics, poetry and prose.

The examiners will mark the test papers as pass, rough, or fail, and will also write a brief comment.

Pass means qualified, rough means average, and no means unqualified.

In the examiner's room, candlelight flickered.

Han Zhang sat alone in the main hall, with a pile of red-colored papers in front of him that had been marked as "pass" by his fellow examiners.

Sometimes he stroked his beard in deep thought, sometimes he picked up his pen to make comments, and sometimes he uttered an exclamation.

In the east and west wing rooms, several examiners were busy marking the test papers meticulously.

They would often argue over a policy paper, even getting red in the face and slamming the table, secretly cursing each other's clans in their hearts.

In this way, half a month passed and finally the day of the results announcement arrived.

Yulin Lane, Sheng Mansion.

As Sheng Wei walked out the door, he said, "Brother Sheng and his men have already entered the Bian River. They will arrive in a couple of days. Today, I will have to go with you to see the list on his behalf."

"Nephew, are you nervous?"

Zhao Han smiled and shook his head.

"The ink is dry, the writing is done, and there's no point in getting it right. It's better to save your energy."

Sheng Wei laughed out loud when he heard this and patted him on the shoulder: "My dear nephew, you are very understanding. It's getting late. Let's get in the carriage quickly."

Soon, three carriages slowly set off towards the Imperial Examination Hall.

When Zhao Han and others arrived, although the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall was still closed, there was already a lot of noise and traffic outside.

There were candidates and their families looking at the list, as well as many wealthy merchants waiting here to find a son-in-law.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Pinlan couldn't wait to lift the curtain and jumped down lightly.

"Brother Zhao, I'll go help you check the list!"

She turned around and saw Shulan holding the hem of her skirt and slowly getting off the carriage with the help of a maid. She couldn't help but urge her, "Second sister, hurry up!"

After saying that, she directly took Shulan's hand.

"Girl, there are so many eyes watching you outside, can you please behave yourself?"

Although Shulan said this, she couldn't help but quicken her pace after getting off the carriage.

Sheng Wei and Zhao Han stood beside the carriage, watching the two girls disappear into the bustling crowd, shaking their heads and chuckling. It was precisely dawn.

The vermilion lacquered gate of the Imperial Examination Hall slowly opened with a heavy creaking sound under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

When the officials from the Ministry of Rites stepped over the threshold holding the yellow list, the crowd surged forward like a tide.

Several elderly scholars were squeezed to the front row, their fingers tightly grasping the corners of their clothes, their foreheads covered with fine beads of sweat.

"Silence—" The solemn voice of the officer penetrated the noise, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

Everyone held their breath unconsciously, their eyes fixed on the yellow list in the officer's hand.

Zhao Han stood on the edge of the crowd and saw Pinlan's petite figure nimbly squeezing to the front.

Shulan followed closely behind her, her creamy cheeks flushed slightly from running, and her eyes sparkled with a long-lost joy.

Soon, the yellow notice was slowly unfolded, and the yamen runners shouted at the crowd to retreat with long sticks.

Only after the list was posted and the officers left did people dare to rush forward and scramble to check it.

"Dad, Mom! I won, I won!"

"34th place in Class 2!"

A scholar in a blue robe suddenly squeezed out from the crowd.

He clasped his hands together, looked up to the heavens, and chanted repeatedly, "34th in the second class. Heaven has mercy on me. After ten years of hard study, I have finally lived up to this ambition!"

Some people around him bowed to congratulate him, while others were secretly sad. After wiping away their tears, they lowered their heads and left silently.

An old scholar with gray hair shook his head and sighed, "This is the fifth time I've failed the exam. Fate is so unfair..."

After saying this, he left tremblingly on his crutches.

"Why didn't I win? This shouldn't be the case. Where's my name?!"

"impossible!"

A candidate stood in front of the list in disbelief.

He looked from beginning to end, and then from end to beginning again, his eyes scanning every name on the list.

Suddenly, he grabbed the sleeve of the person next to him and said, "Help me look, my name is Wang Fugui, am I seeing things? Why is there no name for me?"

At this time, Pinlan was standing on tiptoe. After seeing the list, she shouted excitedly.

"He won, Brother Zhao won, Second Sister, look!"

"Where? Where?"

Shulan narrowed her eyes, frowned slightly, and her eyes kept moving around.

"Look, he's the first in the first class, at the front, the champion!" Pinlan answered with unconcealable joy in her voice.

"I saw it, I saw it!"

"Brother Zhao is so awesome!" Shulan's face was filled with a smile as bright as spring flowers.

Just as the two were about to call Zhao Han over, they found themselves surrounded by a group of wealthy businessmen.

"What?! Huiyuan! Little girl, where is your brother? Is he married?"

"My daughter is only 28 years old. She is beautiful, gentle and virtuous. Her family has quite a bit of assets..."

"My daughter is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and is as beautiful as a flower. Hurry up and call your brother over. Let's find a place to meet her..."

"..."

"You guys go away. Brother Zhao is already married. It's the soon-to-be-appointed Lord Cheng Zhilang!" Pinlan blocked Shulan behind her and said bluntly.

After hearing this, a hint of pity flashed across the eyes of the wealthy businessmen, and then they turned their attention to another candidate who passed the exam.

After all, no one would dare to take the son-in-law of a court official home even if they had ten times the courage.

However, there were still many people staring at Shulan and Pinlan. They had no other thoughts but to see the true face of this year's champion.

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(End of this chapter)