The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 527 Huiyuan
At about nine o'clock in the morning, the door of the Ministry of Rites finally opened. The candidates who had been waiting eagerly suddenly became agitated and rushed to the wall of the list like a tide. The soldiers in charge of the guard were like they were facing a great enemy. They raised their long spears across their chests to form a blockade. The leading officer warned loudly: "Do not cross the line. After reading the list, please leave from the right immediately. Do not stay for a long time. Those who deliberately disrupt order will be severely punished!!!"

After the crowd quieted down and waited for about a cup of tea, an official from the Ministry of Rites in a scarlet robe finally walked out slowly, followed by four clerks in black uniforms carrying a list.

The official from the Ministry of Rites didn't waste any time. He instructed the clerk to post the list on the wall and left. All the candidates' eyes were fixed on the list, and those who were far away wished they could grow a pair of eagle eyes.

Jia Huan and others were not closest to the list wall, but not too far away either, so they could barely see the names on the list. They saw that the most conspicuous place at the top of the list read: Jia Huan!
"Jia Huan, the first one is Jia Huan Jia Ziming!"

"But is it Jia Huan, the winner of the Nanzhili provincial examination?"

"Nonsense, there's only Jia Huan, who else could it be besides him?"

"Oh my goodness, why is it that guy again? It seems to be five yuan, it's really amazing!"

The crowd exploded with a roar. The small three prizes were the highest honor in the boy's examination, while the big three prizes were the highest honor in the imperial examination. From ancient times to the present, some people had won the small three prizes, and some had won the big three prizes, but there had never been a person who won all three prizes. Now Jia Huan not only won the small three prizes in the boy's examination, but also won the first place in the provincial examination and the second place in the provincial examination. He only needed to win the first place in the palace examination to become a "full prize". Of course, the achievement of "five prizes" was beyond the reach of everyone else, and no wonder it caused such a sensation.

"Congratulations, Ziming, for topping the list again and winning five yuan!" Liu Yi said sincerely.

Jia Huan was also very surprised at this moment. He had expected to be in the top ten, but he didn't expect to get first place directly. Lao Wang's full-mark eight-part essay contributed greatly to this. He said modestly: "It was just luck. Congratulations to senior brother."

Liu Yi ranked third in this imperial examination, which was also very remarkable. All the classmates in Diecui Academy congratulated the two of them, feeling envious and proud of them!
"Hahaha, I got the pass too, I got the pass too, I'm ranked 248th." Huang Cong, a die-hard test taker, suddenly burst into crazy laughter. As he laughed, tears streamed down his face and he cried with joy.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Huang, you have finally reached the shore. Your merits are complete and you have become a Buddha right now!" Jia Huan said jokingly with a smile.

"Thank you, thank you Ziming, the word 'come ashore' is really novel and appropriate. Haha, damn it, I, old Huang, have finally come ashore!" Huang Cong cried and laughed, danced with joy, looked crazy, and almost rolled on the ground a few times.

Huang Cong was nearly 40 years old and had taken the imperial examinations for five times in a row. He had failed the first four times. Not only did his wife at home despise and scold him, but he himself had also lost confidence for a time. He had been planning to wait for a vacancy in the Ministry of Personnel, but it happened that an extra special examination was held, so he decided to give it one more try. Unexpectedly, he passed this time. Although a juren could also become an official, he could only reach the seventh rank at most, which was incomparable to a jinshi. No wonder he was ecstatic.

"Congratulations, Old Huang. This time your wife will look at you with new eyes!" Li Baidu congratulated with a smile, but his expression was a little depressed because he failed the exam this time.

Jia Huan was most concerned about Lu Xiangsheng, so he asked in a low voice, "Did Jiandou win?"

Lu Xiangsheng had already looked through the list, but did not find his name. He shook his head with a disappointed look on his face. Perhaps he was still not giving up, so he looked through it again. Suddenly he grabbed Jia Huan's hand and said excitedly, "I got it. I'm number 95!"

When everyone heard the sound and looked, they saw the three words "Lu Xiangsheng" written behind the 95th place. Because it was on the second to last row before the column change, it was not very eye-catching, so Lu Xiangsheng missed it when he looked for it for the first time.

"Congratulations, Brother Jiandou!" Jia Huan smiled sincerely.

Lu Xiangsheng's ranking in the provincial examination was not high, so he was not very confident of passing the imperial examination this time. He came with the mentality of gaining experience for the first time, but he did not expect to pass it in one go and even made it into the top 100. He was so excited that he gave Jia Huan a tight hug.

Everyone congratulated Lu Xiangsheng and expressed their envy. This time, a total of thirteen people from Diecui Academy took part in the imperial examination, four of them passed, and the remaining nine were not on the list.

Zhang Pu looked at the eye-catching name at the top of the list with mixed feelings, but he soon forced out a happy smile, walked towards Jia Huan, and said with a cupped hand, "Congratulations to Jia Huiyuan, you are worthy of being the top scholar in Nanzhili and the most talented person in Jiangnan!"

Jia Huan smiled and said, "I dare not. Mr. Zhang is overpraising you."

"Congratulations, Jia!"

"Congratulations, Brother Ziming!"

Regardless of whether they were convinced or not, the candidates from Donglin Academy came forward to congratulate Jia Huan out of politeness, including the cynical student Wu Changshi.

This time, a total of seven people from Donglin Academy were selected, while only four from Diecui Academy. However, considering that the number of candidates from Donglin Academy was five or six times that of Diecui Academy, the actual selection rate was much lower than that of Diecui Academy. In addition, Jia Huan won the first place and Liu Yi also made it into the top three, while the highest ranking of Donglin Academy was Zhang Pu, who ranked seventh.

So, in fact, Donglin Academy has fallen behind. It can be predicted that after this imperial examination, Diecui Academy will surely become more famous, and more people will choose to study at Diecui Academy. This is the advertising effect brought by the imperial examination.

…………Today is the first day of March, the day when the results of the imperial examination are announced, and also the day of the grand court assembly, so Jia Zheng went to court before dawn. After the court assembly, he returned to the Ministry of Works to sit in the yamen, but his father Zheng could not sit still. His mind had already flown to the Ministry of Rites, but he was embarrassed to skip work to see the results, as that would be too embarrassing!
So Jia Zheng was itching for the whole morning and had no intention of dealing with official business. An hour passed and he only read two pages of documents. He did drink two pots of tea and went to the toilet five or six times.

"It's already two quarter past four in the morning. The results should have been announced long ago!" Jia Zheng took out his pocket watch and took a look at it. He muttered to himself, and suddenly he felt the urge to pee. There was nothing he could do as he had drunk too much tea, so he quickly got up and prepared to go to the toilet.

As a result, an official wearing a third-rank scarlet robe walked in. It was Xu Kai, the Minister of Works, Jia Zheng's immediate superior. Zheng's father was so frightened that he immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, Lord Xu!"

Xu Kai stroked his beard and smiled, "Congratulations, Lord Jia, your son has won the first place in the imperial examination. It is a cause for celebration."

Jia Zheng shuddered all over, suppressed his ecstasy, and said modestly: "It was just luck. I don't know where my son got the good fortune to win the first place in the imperial examination."

Xu Kai joked: "Master Jia is too modest. If your son picks up another top scholar, it will be an unprecedented six yuan."

Jia Zheng was very proud and coughed softly, saying, "It's good enough for him to be ranked second, how dare he expect to be ranked first."

Xu Kai laughed and said, "How can the first place in the imperial examination not be ranked second? Well, I will not delay Lord Jia any longer. I am afraid that the good news has already arrived at your house. I will allow you to take a day off and go back to your house to make arrangements!"

Jia Zheng was secretly delighted, but pretended to refuse on the surface. After Minister Xu left, he immediately slipped away and got on the carriage to rush back to the mansion.

At this moment, outside the gate of Rongguo Mansion, the chief steward Lin Zhixiao was waiting with a group of servants. At about nine o'clock, a fast horse finally arrived. The man on the horse was Lin Zhixiao's son Lin Fu.

Before Lin Fu even got off his horse, he shouted happily, "I won! Third Master won! I'm the first member! The good news will come soon!"

Lin Zhixiao could not help but be overjoyed. While asking people to prepare for the reception, he personally went to the back house to report in hastily.

At this time, almost all the female family members were present in Jia's mother's room. Jia's mother sat in the middle, while Daiyu, Baochai, Baoqin, Xiangyun and the three springs sat around her. Li Wan and Wang Xifeng stood on one side, while Mrs. Xing, Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue, Mrs. You, Qin Keqing and others sat on both sides. Jia Baoyu, Jia Lan and Jia Cong did not go to school today, and were all waiting for the results of the joint examination in Jia's mother's room.

Now that the two titles passed down from the Jia family's ancestors have been lost, and most of their descendants are playboys and mediocre, Grandmother Jia obviously places all her hopes on Jia Huan, the illegitimate son, so she attaches great importance to him and calls everyone to wait together. The atmosphere in the room is solemn and tense.

Just as everyone was anxiously waiting with their own thoughts, the maid at the door started shouting, "Housekeeper Lin is here, quickly open the curtain!"

As the door curtain was lifted, Lin Zhixiao walked in joyfully. Mrs. Wang and Wang Xifeng's hearts sank when they saw him. As expected, Lin Zhixiao knelt down and said happily, "Madam, Madam, great joy! Master Huan San has passed the imperial examination and won the title of first place!"

"Ah!" The girls all exclaimed in unison, all beaming with joy, and said in great excitement, "Congratulations, Grandpa, and Madam!"

Grandmother Jia was so happy that she clapped the armrests of the armchair and said repeatedly, "Good, good, good, Huan'er has really done a good job. May our ancestors be blessed, may our ancestors be blessed."

"Amitabha!" Mrs. Wang chanted the Buddha's name, feeling mixed emotions in her heart, and Wang Xifeng also forced a smile.

"Uncle Huan got five yuan!" Jia Lan and Jia Cong looked at him in admiration, but Jia Baoyu looked depressed. He thought, this guy Huan San is so fierce that he always gets first place.

At this time, the sound of gongs and drums came from the street, and someone could be heard shouting loudly: "Good news! Congratulations to Master Jia Huan for winning the first place in the imperial examination in the eighth year of Qiansheng!"

Grandmother Jia smiled and said, "I think this is the first group of happy envoys. There are still several more to come. Steward Lin, please go and receive them well and reward them generously."

Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Of course, since Huan has won the first prize, no reward is too much."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was another round of festive drum music: "Good news..."

The second wave of happy envoys arrived, and the enthusiastic sound of firecrackers rang out, deafening and echoing throughout the entire Rongning Street.

(End of this chapter)