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“JiaoJiao, JiaoJiao!”
Little Jing Kong ran into the kitchen with his short legs.
Gu Jiao, who was cutting vegetables, turned to look at him, "What"s wrong?"
Little Jing Kong scratched his little bald head and asked, "What does it mean to proxy someone in the exam?"
"Hm?" Gu Jiao"s action of cutting vegetables halted.
Little Jing Kong said, "I just heard the guest who came to visit our house talking to brother-in-law. He asked brother-in-law to proxy his young master in the exam. Did he mean for brother-in-law to take the exam together with his young master? Like big brother Feng Lin and big brother Lin Chengye?"
Gu Jiao"s eyes turned cold. She put the kitchen knife on the chopping board, took off her ap.r.o.n and walked out of the kitchen.
In the study, Xiao Liulang looked faintly at the other party.
w.a.n.g Yun laughed, "Was I too abrupt with my words? Young Gentleman Xiao may not be able to accept it for a while, but if Young Gentleman Xiao were to a.n.a.lyze it, Young Gentleman Xiao would understand. I know more or less about Young Gentleman Xiao"s situation. You came from a county village and became a son-in-law to a peasant family, even marrying into the bride’s family. With your family’s financial status, being admitted to the Imperial Academy as a Jieyuan, I believe that Young Gentleman Xiao has made great efforts in private. This surnamed w.a.n.g absolutely admires Young Gentleman Xiao"s strength and believes that Young Gentleman Xiao can pa.s.s the metropolitan exam and become a Gongshi."
At this point, there was usually a but.
Sure enough, w.a.n.g Yun went on, "However, it may not be so easy for Young Gentleman Xiao to become a Jinshi. Metropolitan exam is presided over by the examiners, who only look at the examination papers, not the people. But after becoming a Gongshi, the palace exam will be held personally by His Majesty. At that time, all the examinees will sit in front of His Majesty, allowing His Majesty to see everyone"s faces."
He spoke of people’s faces, but his eyes landed on Xiao Liulang"s legs.
His meaning was very obvious. How could His Majesty choose to include a lame person to the list of successful examinees?
There were a total of three lists of Jinshi. The first list was the first cla.s.s Jinshi, which were the top scorer — Zhangyuan, the second rank— Bangyan, and the third rank— Tanhua, bestowed with the t.i.tle Jinshi Jidi. The second list, which was a princ.i.p.al list along with the first one, were the so-called second cla.s.s Jinshi, which included several names from the fourth rank to a certain number below, bestowed with the t.i.tle Jinshi Chushen. The third list was a supplementary list, consisting of the rest of the names outside the princ.i.p.al list, also known as the third cla.s.s Jinshi. They were bestowed with the t.i.tle Tong Jinshi Chushen.
The term Tong showed that it was already a different cla.s.s of Jinshi.
Even though this dynasty’s requirements for taking the imperial examination were already relaxed compared to that of the previous dynasty, after all, none of the scholars, who found their names in the princ.i.p.al list of Jinshi after the palace exam, were physically disabled or disfigured.
Didn’t that make things obvious enough?
w.a.n.g Yun smiled faintly, "Since you can"t pa.s.s the palace exam anyways, you might as well proxy my young master."
Xiao Liulang was unmoved, but w.a.n.g Yun continued to exhort, "Besides, Young Gentleman Xiao is still young, only eighteen this year. If you really want to become a Jinshi, you can still take the exam three years later. That way, you can study for three more years, expand your knowledge more, and have a greater chance of winning in front of His Majesty. Don’t you think so?"
Every sentence sounded like a consideration for Xiao Liulang, but with careful a.n.a.lysis, they actually held contempt for Xiao Liulang.
Gu Jiao"s eyes turned extremely cold.
Behind Gu Jiao, Feng Lin, Lin Chengye and Du Ruohan were also listening.
They had heard of this so-called proxy test taking but it was the first time they had really ran into it in person. Also, this man surnamed w.a.n.g was simply too loathsome, asking someone for their help with that kind of att.i.tude.
He just had to insult people and fool them into backing down in the face of difficulties, as if this could show how much status and wisdom he had.
w.a.n.g Yun continued, "The remuneration will definitely satisfy Young Gentleman Xiao. Young Gentleman Xiao can regard it as my young master buying Young Gentleman Xiao’s three years. In fact, it’s still Young Gentleman Xiao who will greatly profit from this. You can study for three more years, acc.u.mulating three more years worth of knowledge, while at the same time earning a sum of money that you can’t spend in a lifetime. Is there any reason not to do it? What’s more, Young Gentleman Xiao can also make friends with my young master. In the future, even if you fail to pa.s.s the exam and fail to become a Jinshi, my young master can seek a good official position for Young Gentleman Xiao!"
What a big tone!
He actually dared to speak about seeking an official position, who did he think he was?
Feng Lin"s face crumpled up.
Even Du Ruohan, who wasn’t very close to Xiao Liulang, also felt angry with this shameless person.
Xiao Liulang spoke with a bland tone, "You’ve said a lot, but how do I know if your young master is worth being friends with?"
w.a.n.g Yun revealed a proud smile, "My young master’s surname is He, the same surname as the Madame of the Duke Luo Estate."
……
When w.a.n.g Yun came out of the study, Gu Jiao and the rest were no longer in the main room.
w.a.n.g Yun cupped his hands to Xiao Liulang and said, "Young Gentleman Xiao might as well think it over. I"ll come back in three days to hear Young Gentleman Xiao’s reply."
Over there, the elderly woman felt depressed as the players suddenly ran away In the middle of the game.
Inside the kitchen, the runaway players Du Ruohan and Lin Chengye had a little meeting together with Gu Jiao and Feng Lin.
Several people were sitting on small wooden stools.
Du Ruohan: "The Duke Luo Estate is the only family in the capital that can contend with Marquis Xuanping Estate and the Zhuang Family. There used to be the Liu Family in the past as well. If this examinee surnamed He is really from the parental family of the d.u.c.h.ess, then he is really qualified to talk big."
With the power and influence of the Duke Estate, getting a small official position for Xiao Liulang was simply as easy as turning one’s hand over.
It was indeed faster than if Xiao Liulang relied on his own studies.
"Why do I feel that that man surnamed w.a.n.g looks familiar?" Feng Lin was deep in thought, propping up his cheek, "I think I"ve seen him somewhere before."
Du Ruohan frowned, "Now that you mentioned it, I kind of feel the same."
"He, Jinghong." Lin Chengye opened his mouth.
This name didn’t ring a bell in Du Ruohan’s mind, but Feng Lin suddenly remembered, "It"s him!"
"Who?" Gu Jiao asked.
"The top scorer in the college exam in Pingcheng!" Feng Lin exclaimed.
This happened when Xiao Liulang took the entry-level exams to become a Xiucai. Xiao Liulang was the top scorer for both the county exam and the prefectural exam. In the third one, in the college exam, he didn’t get the top spot because someone had switched his eight-part essay exam paper.
Feng Lin had paid special attention to the top scorer of the college exam, whose name was He Jinghong.
Of course he didn"t witness it himself.
Lin Chengye wasn’t in Pingcheng during that college exam. He knew He Jinghong only because He Jinghong also came to the provincial capital for the provincial exam in the sixth month.
He Jinghong even stayed in the same inn as him, Xiao Liulang and Feng Lin.
"I remember! I remember now! He stayed next door to us!" Feng Lin said, "At first, I didn"t know that he was He Jinghong. Then I overheard someone calling him. That man surnamed w.a.n.g is the steward of his family and has appeared with him several times."
Feng Lin, who couldn’t stop gossiping, babbled to Xiao Liulang, Du Ruohan and Lin Chengye that the one staying next door to them was the college exam top scorer.
Feng Lin said, "At that time, I was just joking. Could it be that this guy really bribed the examiner of the college exam to replace Liulang"s exam paper?"
This kind of speculation wasn’t without reason.
Xiao Liulang"s early performance was simply too excellent. No one else other than him could be the perfect candidate for the top scorer position. There were only two kinds of people who could profit from taking him down: one, people whose strength was barely enough to place below the quota line. As long as one person was taken down, they were sure to appear in the top 50 places, thus increasing their chances of becoming a Xiucai.
The other kind were people whose achievements were on par with Xiao Liulang"s. Overthrowing Xiao Liulang meant they could get the top spot for themselves.
But there was no evidence, so they could only forget about it.Raz P."s Thoughts
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