Chapter 167

One was the inexplicably helpful Fang family.

The other was the not so familiar Jiang family.

Jiang Sheng was stunned where she stood, looking left and right. Her instinct told her that neither were good to provoke, but her eldest brother's matters urged immediate attention, and the exam had to come first.

She pursed her lips, her gaze shifting between the Fang steward and Jiang Chengyuan, eventually settling on Jiang Chengyuan.

Before she could utter "Brother Jiang", the nearby Yuan clerk suddenly looked elated.

Everyone looked back, only to find that the Anshui Magistrate had arrived.

He was already eight chi tall, and now strode over meteor-quick - in but the blink of an eye, he was at the entrance to the Examination Hall, towering before the three carriages.

"Your Excellency..." The Yuan clerk bowed with hands clasped, wanting to recount the events.

He Chengzhang waved a hand, interrupting him. "No more need be said, let the examinees enter first."

Everyone was startled.

"All matters are postponed; let the examinees enter first - do not delay the provincial examination." He Chengzhang's expression was stern, his voice like a bell, directly suppressing all other sounds on the scene.

Jiang Sheng's nose soured, as she suddenly regretted silently cursing the magistrate for having night diarrhea, all over a few pieces of wood.

"Quickly, into the Examination Hall now." He Chengzhang's voice brooked no dissent.

Xu Mo and the examinee lying on the ground both reacted, immediately grabbing their exam baskets and getting up.

Sun Quanzhou was unhappy, pointing at Xu Mo and yelling, "Your Excellency, he is the culprit, the villain! Why let him take the exam, why?!"

"Why?" He Chengzhang sneered coldly. "Because he placed first in the two previous examinations, because he became a private tutor at thirteen, because he can come take the provincial exam without even participating in the qualifying exam!"

Rendered silent with shock by his words, the entire scene fell into mute stillness.

Who could have imagined that the youth who looked no older than thirteen or fourteen was actually so outstanding? "But, but he was the ringleader..." Sun Quanzhou still struggled unwillingly.

The corner of He Chengzhang's mouth lifted in a chilling smile. "Whether or not he was the ringleader remains to be verified. You committed assault in broad daylight before an exam - the evidence is ironclad. Men, take him to the municipal prison for immediate interrogation!"

The Yuan clerk's blood surged excitedly as he took the order, rushing forward and twisting Sun Quanzhou's arms behind his back in one move.

At the same time, the gates of the Examination Hall slowly closed, and Xu Mo took one final look back at his younger siblings before resolutely proceeding to his own exam grounds.

Jiang Sheng waved her arms desperately outside until the sturdy gates of the Examination Hall shut completely, before bouncing back to her brothers' side.

"Fortunately eldest brother is fine." The young girl patted her chest, still flustered.

Zheng Ruqian stroked her little braid. "Eldest brother has heaven's favor - misfortune is sure to turn to fortune for him. Don't worry too much. When eldest brother brings back another top rank, it'll scare those petty villains to death."

Jiang Sheng nodded earnestly.

Beside them, Chang Yan endured and endured, but couldn't help interjecting, "Second brother, the top rank of the provincial exam isn't called top rank, it's called champion."

The provincial exam was also known as the local exam. The top local exam candidate was called champion.

After the local exam came the capital exam, and the top scorer there was called metropolitan champion.

The capital exam was followed by the palace exam, and the top palace exam candidate was called zhuangyuan.

If someone consecutively attained all three top ranks, they would be called Three Champions - a talent unrivaled through the ages, a prodigy destined for greatness. In the hundreds of years of the Dayu Dynasty’s history, only three to five such figures had ever emerged.

Those truly cognizant of the imperial examination system and its difficulty knew not to pin such lofty hopes on Xu Mo.

In their knowledge, safely passing each stage and eventually becoming an official court gentleman was already like battling through thousands of soldiers - terribly difficult, comparable to tilling fields bare-handed.

But Jiang Sheng thought otherwise. In her heart, eldest brother was the most incredible person in the whole dynasty - even more amazing than those so-called prodigies.

"Eldest brother will definitely clinch the champion rank, and might even attain Three Champions!" The little girl clenched her fists encouragingly.

Chang Yan and Wen Zhiyun pressed their lips together without comment.

Jiang Chengyuan, however, couldn't help but speak up. "Attaining Three Champions is extraordinarily difficult. Don't go dreaming, little Jiang."

Jiang Sheng glared.

She really wanted to argue with this person - she wasn't called Ginger, or Little Ginger Slice, she was called Jiang Sheng.

But she thought about how her second brother still had business with Leisure Residence, and this man was the owner of Leisure Residence, so she reluctantly held her tongue.

She only softly grumbled, "Jiang Sheng believes in eldest brother - eldest brother is the best."

Zheng Ruqian went over to rub her little head, a smile stretching his emaciated cheeks. "I believe in eldest brother too." "We also believe in eldest brother." Chang Yan tilted his head, echoing Wen Zhiyun's words.

Jiang Chengyuan was frozen where he stood, at a total loss.

Attaining the champion rank was already difficult enough - Three Champions was a once-in-a-century sight. Were these siblings crazy, blindly believing in such a preposterous thing?

He did not notice that deep down, a thread of muted envy was sprouting, gradually expanding into something massive.

Outside the Examination Hall, after the examinees entered, over ten clerks wielding long blades stood guard around the perimeter.

This both protected the Examination Hall and prevented any troublemakers from making noise to disturb the examinees.

Most examinees' family members left reluctantly.

The minority who refused to leave retreated several steps, waiting at a slight distance.

Jiang Sheng also didn't want to leave. It just so happened Zheng Ruqian hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so she pulled her brothers to a wonton stall nearby to sit.

Just like that year when Xu Mo took the qualifying exam, the siblings sat outside eating wontons while awaiting the results - oddly uniform across the land, there was always a wonton stall at the examination hall entrance.

After filling up, Zheng Ruqian finally remembered the roast duck he'd painstakingly transported back.

"I've got to go to Leisure Residence." He bounced up, not forgetting to pinch Jiang Sheng's little braid. "You should all come with me."

Anyway, Xu Mo's exam this time would confine him for a full three days. They could wait outside, but not merely wait.

Jiang Sheng and her two brothers didn't object.

And so, they saw the neatly-attired Jiang Chengyuan again at Leisure Residence.

Initially spotting Jiang Sheng, he even felt a hint of delight, thinking the little Jiang chunk had come looking for him.

But as he walked over, he heard clearly that they'd come to find Shopkeeper Hao.

"Uncle Hao, it was so difficult for my second brother to transport this roast duck, he's thin as a rail now. You received the hard-earned goods right?" Little Jiang Sheng gestured animatedly as she spoke.

Shopkeeper Hao stroked his beard cheerfully. "Received them, received them."

He praised Zheng Ruqian, "Keeping them chilled with ice was ingeniously thought of. I'd originally reckoned the roast duck wouldn't keep long, yet unexpectedly they're still fresh now!"

Zheng Ruqian clicked his tongue. That was ingeniousness alright. A hundred roast ducks were only four taels of silver, but half a carriage load of ice cost a full ten taels - simply heart-wrenchingly expensive.

But this he could not say.

Business was business - he and Shopkeeper Hao had agreed on two taels of silver per duck, so that was that. Extra profit went to him, and extra costs were on his head too.

Moreover, this trip to Danyang Prefecture let him grow and understand much.