The cannon fodder original wife's bad story

Qin Qingdong rolled his eyes back, "You certainly know how to bend and stretch, taking advantage of the situation. Fourth Brother is filial, and the Grand Secretary also guided us in our studies, earning him a reputation as a mentor. This marriage, being between equals, was naturally arranged by the Duke. Who would have thought you—"

Song Guanzhou looked back with his phoenix eyes, "What about me?"

"...cold and aloof, stubborn, and constantly bickering and causing trouble with Si Lang..."

After a thorough accusation, Song Guanzhou was finally let off the hook. Song Guanzhou concluded, "Husbands and wives always have to work things out. After I married into the government, my parents passed away one after another, so I was a bit burdened. But now it's all right. Look, you've seen the error of your ways and can still laugh and talk with me."

Back then, Qin Qingdong was the person who hated her the most, without exception.

The two chatted and laughed, waiting for Xia Feng to bring good news. As the sun grew scorching and noon approached, Linxi and Aru rushed in one after the other, calling out, "Fourth Young Mistress—"

Upon hearing this, Ren Dong and the others quickly got up, and Aru rushed over, panting heavily.

Chun Ge stepped forward and patted his arm, "Hurry up and tell me, Brother Lu, did Young Master Cousin pass all the tests?"

Aru nodded, then shook his head.

Linxi quickly said, "Congratulations, Fourth Young Madam! Congratulations, Fourth Young Madam! Young Master Xu is on the list, while the Xiao family's cousin... failed the exam this year."

Upon hearing this, Song Guanzhou's expression was a mixture of joy and worry.

“Cousin Xu made the list, while cousin Xiao failed…” Looking at Qin Qingdong, Qin Qingdong seemed used to it. “Si Lang will try again next year. He has a good foundation, but he probably didn’t perform as well this year…”

These were just words of comfort, for the time being.

After eating the honeysuckle, Aru brought over a full cup of warm tea. Taking a breath, he began to recount, "Of the dozen or so young men who came to see the young mistress's arithmetic that day, only the young master and the third young master Huang made it onto the list."

These words startled Song Guanzhou.

"They're all from Longen Academy, yet so many failed the exam. By the way, how many people were admitted this year?"

Aru touched his head, completely forgetting.

Linxi, standing beside him, replied with a smile, "Young Madam, Second Young Master, only one hundred and twenty were selected this year."

Hey!

Qin Qingdong sat up straight. "This year's examination only selected so few, a hundred fewer than last year." It was supposed to be a special examination, and next spring should have been another year of provincial examinations.

Thinking about this, he understood.

"If Xiao Silang fails to make the list this year, he might as well try again next year."

Song Guanzhou listened intently, "The third young master of the Huang family? Is it Huang Zhi?" Aru nodded quickly, "That's him, young mistress. The eldest son of the Liu family also failed the exam—"

How cruel.

Meanwhile, outside the east wall of the Ministry of Rites' examination hall, a large crowd of people was thronging in layers. At the very back, someone was loudly reading out names. Those who couldn't squeeze in to hear the names shouted with barely suppressed joy, "Read it again! Was that Zhuang Wenqin just now?"

The answer came in unison, "Yes, it's Zhuang Wenqin."

Zhuang Wenqin, in his forties, suddenly collapsed to the ground, muttering to himself, "I passed the exam! I passed the exam!" Overjoyed, he burst into tears, and acquaintances quickly helped him up, saying, "Congratulations, Zhuang Sheng! Congratulations, Zhuang Sheng!" But with such a comedy, there is also a time of sorrow.

Still unable to understand, he asked again, "Is it Li Jiu?"

The person reading the list inside answered, "It's Li Jiu, the 'Jiu' in acupuncture." Different pronunciations, different futures. Li Jiu covered his eyes and cried bitterly, "Last year it was also Li Jiu who got the title, and this year it's Li Jiu who made the list again, but I, the ninth one, am always useless."

He fell to the ground, and no one could help him up.

Such joys and sorrows became the norm. Xiao Bei, having heard what Aru and Linxi had said, was still somewhat unwilling. He dragged Xu Lingbai to the front, and the two of them watched from beginning to end. Second to last, they saw Xu Lingbai's name. As for Xiao Bei, it was truly all for naught.

"Congratulations, Ling Bai."

Xu Lingbai stammered, his face flushed and his tongue agape. He was on the list while the other had failed, and he couldn't utter a single word. "Fourth Brother—"

"So what? We'll try again next year! If one of us passes, it'll be better than both of us failing." With that, she led Xu Lingbai out of the crowd. Qi Yueniang, Zhang Fanghui, and Xu Lingqiao, accompanied by mistresses and maids, stood by the carriage, eagerly awaiting their arrival. Upon seeing the two emerge, Zhang Fanghui stepped forward, "Husband..."

"No problem, we can come again next year."

Zhang Fanghui looked regretful, but her face was obscured by a veil, so it wasn't clear. She could only whisper, "Husband, don't be discouraged."

"Don't worry, your husband has the sense to take responsibility. Fortunately, Ling Bai made the list, so the Duke's mansion didn't come away empty-handed this year!"

After saying that, he congratulated Xu Lingqiao again.

Xu Lingqiao thanked him in return. Xiao Bei looked at the shy and taciturn brother and sister and said sincerely, "Regardless of anything else, you two have depended on each other for survival. Now that Lingbai has achieved fame and success, Lingqiao also has someone to rely on. It can be said that your hardships have finally come to an end."

Xiao Bei failed the exam, but instead comforted everyone.

Not far away, Huang Zhi and Liu Furan were doing the same. Liu Furan shook her head and smiled bitterly, "Congratulations on passing the imperial examination. As for me, my talent is shallow. I failed the imperial examination twice."

Huang Zhi was overjoyed.

Seeing her close friend fail the exam, Liu Furan felt regret and her joy diminished considerably. Feeling uneasy, she managed to say a few words before getting into her car and leaving.

Huang Dalang was overjoyed and couldn't wait to parade around and let everyone know that his brother had made the list.

It took Huang Zhi several attempts to suppress his arrogance before he finally calmed down the stubbornness in his mouth.

"Hurry back, Father and Mother are waiting for news."

Huang Zhou pulled Huang Zhi away, but Huang Zhi searched for someone in the crowd. Huang Zhou was puzzled and pressed his shoulder to look for him. "Who are you looking for? Fu Ran has returned too. Let's go."

Huang Zhi knew exactly who he was looking at.

Unfortunately, there were too many people, and I didn't see the person I wanted to see. I rode back, but in a secluded place, I saw two carriages with two or three women wearing veils standing in front of them. On the side were the two young masters of the Duke's mansion and the heir Pei Chen.

It's Xu Lingqiao!

He tried to go over, but Huangzhou grabbed his horse's reins. "Don't be reckless. Now that you're on the list, do you still want to go around criticizing others?"

This year's imperial examination has admitted fewer candidates than the previous one.

Joy is rare; sorrow is the norm in human life.

Huang Zhi was dragged away by Huang Zhou. "The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is really making a name for itself. Two years ago, Pei Silang passed the imperial examination and was all the rage. Now I hear that a cousin of his has also passed the exam. The feng shui is really good."

Huang Zhi could hear clearly as he spoke into the wind.

"He is the cousin of the fourth young mistress of the Pei family. He is a man of noble character and a rare talent."

"Then you two should associate more often in the future. It's quite a coincidence that you might both serve as officials in the same court!" Huangzhou, unaware of anything else, suddenly asked, "That woman at the villa this spring—"

Huangzhou immediately shook his head vigorously, "She's just a prostitute, don't ask her anything! The trouble you and your second brother caused—"

"It's just me."

"What?" Huang Zhou didn't understand. He spurred his horse forward a few steps and caught up with his third brother. "What did you say?" Huang Zhi repeated, "That night it was me, she was a good girl—"

"Don't mention it again! It's perfectly normal for a man to have a casual affair; just forget about it!"

"Big brother-"

"What? Yunzhi hasn't even married into the family yet, and you're already looking for a courtesan...?"