I am collecting entries in reincarnation

Chapter 588

Xu family.

"You must have seen it wrong, how could my Qilin'er not be the first on the case?!"

If a boy came second in the exam, it would be a great joy in other families, but it was different in the Xu family. Even though Xu Wenjie was a Jinshi and had been in charge of the Xu family for many years, he was extremely nervous at the moment because it was related to whether his beloved son could become a disciple of a great Confucian scholar, and he actually lost his composure in a rare way.

Seeing Xu Wenjie's furious face, the servants were trembling with fear and lowered their heads like quails.

On the contrary, Xu Gongwang said calmly, "Father, I have my uncle here to take the test. He will never let me suffer any loss. I guess I am just not as skilled as others. Butler Wang, who is the first in the case?"

Steward Wang looked up at Xu Wenjie and saw the patriarch nodded before he said, "It's Fang Yun from Dongjia Village."

"Dongjia Village, Fang Yun?" Xu Wenjie read a few sentences, and then said, "It seems that Dong Qing, who made a big splash at the Kaiyuan Literary Conference a few days ago, is from Dongjia Village, but this Fang Yun..."

Xu Wenjie shook his head and said, "I've never heard of this name."

"Fang Yun." Xu Gongwang laughed, revealing a hint of amusement. Although he was young, this expression on his face did not seem abrupt, but rather showed a bit of maturity.

At this time, Steward Wang continued to report, "It's quite a strange thing. Dongjia Village is a small village with less than 200 households. This time, only three people took the boy's exam, and surprisingly, all three of them passed."

"All three of them passed?" Xu Wenjie was also a little surprised. To him, being a Tongsheng was naturally nothing, but this 100% admission rate was a bit exaggerated. He immediately frowned and said.

"Quickly compile a report on the situation in Dongjia Village for me. Such a thing could happen in such a small village. There must be a reason behind it!"

He was furious, but in this strange situation, he sobered up a bit. He turned his head and looked at Xu Gongwang and said, "My son, you only got second place this time."

Xu Gongwang said in a deep voice, "Father, don't panic. I think there's still hope. Although the teacher left a message saying I must get first place in the exam to officially join, he didn't say I'll be expelled if I don't. There may still be some twists and turns. As long as I study hard and achieve results, the teacher will naturally notice."

Steward Wang and the servants also hurriedly said: "Young Master is right, good things take time, good things take time."

Xu Wenjie's face turned slightly cold as he waved his sleeves, saying, "Go down, Steward Wang. You have to keep the Dongjia Village situation in mind. First, Dong Qing suddenly appeared, and then three people were listed on the red list. Fang Yun was able to defeat my son and take the first place. It's not easy, absolutely not easy!"

Just as the servants left with a sense of relief, a black flying bird landed in front of Xu Wenjie. He took a step forward and released a milky white light from his hand. Under this light, the black bird gradually turned into a ball of ink, and then condensed into words in the air.

Xu Wenjie looked at it carefully, then sighed and said, "This is fate, what can I do?"

The news that Dongjia Village had three successful candidates in the first exam spread like wildfire. It was a happy event for everyone, especially since the eldest son of the village chief had finally passed the exam. Naturally, the whole village would join forces to hold a wedding banquet.

There are less than 200 households in the whole village, but each household has three to five people. Some have more children and if the elders are still alive and have not separated, there may be ten people in a household. In addition, this is a big happy event, and many relatives from several surrounding villages have come to congratulate. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are thousands of people.

Dongjia Village really put a lot of effort into this, and every household contributed. Naturally, the village banquet did not have any dragon liver and phoenix marrow, abalone, sea cucumber, shark's fin, or bird's nest. It was just some home-cooked dishes with a little meat. The good thing was that they were comfortable and had the aroma of the wok. Anyway, Li Ming was very happy eating them.

He really didn't expect that Dong Yan would pass the exam this time. Perhaps too many people were affected by the mentality of the three consecutive poems. He did not perform well in the exam and had never seen Baoguang. In addition, it was the last time, and the pressure in his heart was finally reduced. He performed normally, which led to the result today.

"Congratulations, congratulations to Mr. Fang for winning the first prize! I told you long ago that you were the God of Literature!"

"Hey, when did you say that? When I bought the couplet from my husband last year, I even praised his calligraphy. I have a keen eye."

"Mr. Xiaoyong is also extraordinary. He passed the examination for Tongsheng at the age of fourteen. It is a sure thing that he will become a scholar or a juren in the future!"

"And Master Yan, he's truly a late bloomer. This time, he's finally solved a big problem for our village chief!"

"It's all thanks to Master Dong's good teaching."

Such words could be heard at any table in Dongjia Village, and before the results of the boy's test came out, although no one gossiped openly, no one had such a good look on their faces.

Fang Yun and her brother lived in poverty and no one cared about them. Dong Yan failed the exams many times. No one talked about him in person because he was the son of the village chief, but everyone talked about him behind his back. Even Master Dong was said by countless people to have been lucky in passing the exam and that he had no knowledge at all, otherwise how could he not have taught a scholar for so long.

But today, everything has turned upside down. You can only see smiling faces around you and everyone is complimenting you.

Fang Yun and Dong Yan naturally did not resent anything. This was just human nature.

He even drank with other villagers who were a little nervous, which made everyone else feel relieved and praised him.

"My lord, there are plenty!"

Even though he was just a little boy, he was no longer in the same class as these people.

That night, the moon was at its highest point in the sky, and even those who were drunk went home. Dongjia Village, which had been noisy all day, finally returned to its former tranquility.

Fang Yun, who had been drunk for a long time, suddenly sat up and opened his eyes. His bright eyes sparkled like stars and he didn't look drunk at all.

He sat for a while before lighting the lamp. It turned out that this brand new oil lamp was given to him by a neighbor in the village.

He took a deep breath, casually draped a long gown over his shoulders, walked out of the house, looked up at the night sky, saw a bright moon hanging high in the sky, sighed, and felt quite melancholy.

At this moment, he suddenly noticed a somewhat thin figure standing not far away. He looked over and felt that the figure was somewhat familiar. Without thinking, he asked, "Is it Brother Yong?"

The familiar voice came.

"Brother Yun'er, it's me. Can't you sleep too?"

Fang Yun replied, "I have to go to the Wen Academy to receive the Dharma tomorrow, so I can't sleep."

The figure also walked over leisurely, finally stopping about a meter away from Fang Yun and said, "Yes, from now on, you will be enlightened and have gained energy, and you will no longer be an ordinary person."

Fang Yun shook his head and said, "No. Being a Tongsheng is just the beginning. Passing the Xiucai exam is the true transcendence."

Li Ming smiled, looked at Fang Yun deeply and said, "Brother Yun'er, you seem to have changed a little."

Fang Yun was slightly startled, then said, "People change, often in just a moment. You're still young, so it's normal that you don't understand."

Li Ming laughed again after hearing this and said, "Brother Yun'er, you really treat me like a child. We have to get up early to go to the county town tomorrow, so you should get some rest." Fang Yun nodded, then said, "You should get some rest too. We might have to take care of each other later."

Li Ming said, "That's what should be done."

The next day, there was a difference. It was no longer an ox cart waiting at the village entrance, but a horse carriage. A middle-aged man with a long face smiled when he saw several figures coming out of Dongjia Village.

"My master has heard that Dongjia Village has produced three successful candidates on the list. Today is the day to officially confer the seals. My master said that Dongjia Village is quite far away, and he was afraid that the successful candidates would miss the time, so he specially asked me to wait here."

The village chief nodded at him and said, "Mr. Zhao has always been like this. He especially loves to support those poor students. Even my son was helped a lot by Mr. Zhao. Mr. Ma, it's still you."

The long-faced man said happily, "Village Chief, you still recognize me."

The village chief smiled and said, "I recognize you, of course I recognize you. Not only did you send me off the first time, but you also sent my son off the first time he came back from the academy. Of course I remember you. I trust Mr. Zhao and Mr. Ma. In that case, you should get on the car early and don't delay us."

Since the village chief said so, Li Ming and others naturally would not say much. Compared with the ox cart, the horse carriage is naturally faster. Moreover, this horse carriage is much more complete than the ox cart. Although it is not luxurious, it is definitely comfortable to sit in.

After Li Ming got on the carriage, he found that it was quite spacious, more than enough for three people to sit, and there were three boxes with the names of the three people engraved on them.

Mr. Ma said as he drove, "This is a small gift prepared by our family for the three young gentlemen. Please accept it."

"As the saying goes, one should not receive rewards without doing anything. It is a pleasant surprise that Mr. Zhao sent Mr. Ma to give us a gift. How dare we accept another gift? Please take the gift back, Mr. Ma, and tell Mr. Zhao that we appreciate the kindness." Fang Yun said this without even opening the box.

Mr. Ma said, "Hahaha, my master had expected you to say so. You are indeed a noble gentleman. But listen to me, my master. You are already a student, which is a great joy. This is a gift, so why not accept it? Moreover, although you receive a monthly allocation from the court after becoming a student, it is only a tiny amount of money. I am afraid it will be difficult to buy pens and ink. This amount of money will not be much for the three of you in the future, but it is very useful now. Please do not refuse it, my master."

Mr. Ma spoke in a logical and gentle manner, showing no sign of giving alms. Li Ming then advised, "Brother Yun'er, Brother Yan'er, we can't afford to offend him. Besides, if we let Mr. Ma take the things back, he won't be able to explain himself to us."

Hearing this, Fang Yun pondered for a moment and glanced at Dong Yan again. He had already held the box in his hands. Although he still looked like he was waiting for Fang Yun's decision, any discerning person could tell at a glance that he probably wanted it very much.

Fang Yun didn't force it, but said to Mr. Ma, "This is a great gesture from Mr. Zhao."

Hearing this, Dong Yan was delighted again and quickly said, "Thank Mr. Zhao for me."

Li Ming also said: "Thank you Mr. Zhao, thank you Mr. Ma."

Mr. Ma just laughed, then spurred his horse and drove towards Yuanji County.

Mr. Ma was an excellent driver, and the carriage drove fast and well. The three of them hardly felt any bumps in the carriage until they arrived near the county academy of literature, and were then respectfully invited to get off by Mr. Ma.

"My car is parked here. After you three gentlemen have received the seals, you can come to find me. I will then take you back." Mr. Ma laughed, and the three of them agreed.

The three of them then walked towards the Academy of Literature. Of course, it was not as lively as the day of the boy's examination, but there was still a pair of yamen runners guarding the door.

When the yamen runners saw the three of them approaching together, one of them immediately stepped forward and said, "Please show us your name tags."

The three of them also took out their name tags. After the yamen runner looked at them, he nodded and said, "Please follow me."

Then he led the three of them into the Academy of Literature. When they got there, they found that there were already quite a few students waiting inside. The yamen runner was kind enough to introduce them to the others.

"This is this year's top candidate, Fang Yun."

The eyes of other people immediately turned to look over. You have to know that the three people from Dongjia Village were originally unknown little people. Even Dong Yan had only a bad reputation for failing the exams many times. But today he suddenly turned things around and not only passed the exam in one go, but Dongjia Village also had a top candidate in the case, and this top candidate was better than Xu Gongwang's. Naturally, the value of this was 100%.

"Is this Fang Yun? Who's next to him?"

"Of course, it's probably the other two from Dongjia Village."

"Have you heard that the poem about the Threefold Treasure Light was written by Xu Gongwang and this Fang Yun?"

"Shh, they're still there, keep your voice down!"

These students may have known each other, or they may have become familiar with each other through chatting when they came earlier, but at this moment they were all whispering to each other.

Of course, the other half of the people turned their attention in another direction, to a young man who looked about the same age as Li Ming.

At this time, a middle-aged man who looked like a teacher came out from the inner hall and said, "Be quiet and follow me to choose the boy's robe. I will call each one to come over!"

The hall suddenly fell silent, and everyone looked at the man quietly with anticipation and excitement.

The man looked around and saw that everyone had quieted down, so he nodded with satisfaction and said, "Fang Yun, Xu Gongwang, come here!"

The young man and Fang Yun walked forward together and got out of the crowd.

When they walked up to the man, they looked at each other. Fang Yun was probably older and taller, so he felt like he was looking down on him.

Xu Gongwang looked at Fang Yun, smiled and said, "Go ahead, I'll follow you."

At the same time, he let Fang Yun go first. Fang Yun nodded at him and said, "Thank you."

But when the two passed each other, there was some inexplicable fluctuation in their eyes.

A moment later, the two men had changed into standard robes. The styles were naturally slightly different from the robes circulating on the market. Of course, the most eye-catching part was the word "Tong" embroidered on the chest to show their identity.

Then the man called out the other students one by one. During this process, the other people on the list also arrived one after another. When Li Ming was called, all fifty students were present.

Finally, Dong Yan had changed into his student robes, which meant that all fifty people had changed their clothes. Because the following seal-granting ceremony was very important, everyone also adjusted each other's robes to avoid breaking taboos.

Not long after, another man who looked like a teacher came over and announced that the time had come. He asked everyone to line up according to their ranking and go to the Wenyuan Square.

The three examiners were already sitting upright at this moment. Seeing everyone arrive, they stood up and led everyone to pay homage to the literary and Taoist sages.

(End of this chapter)