The Prime Minister’s Darling-Chapter 508 - 255 Parade of Top Scholars (Second Episode)
Chapter 508: 255 Parade of Top Scholars (Second Episode)
Chapter 508: 255 Parade of Top Scholars (Second Episode)
This year’s Palace Examination produced quite a shock. First, the An County King did not come first, and then the grandson of Minister Yuan unexpectedly did not make it into the top three.
Xiao Liulang and Ning Zhiyuan, these two dark horses from humble families, left the rest of the candidates stunned.
The initial frontrunners had been An County King, Yuan Yu, and the talented scholar from the literati family of Jiangnan, Wang Yuan. Everyone speculated that these three would make the Class Alpha, An County King would be the champion, Yuan Yu would be the first runner-up, and Wang Yuan would be the second runner-up.
Their guesses were all wrong.
In fact, Xiao Liulang and Ning Zhiyuan’s performances had always been steady, especially Xiao Liulang. Except for not coming first in the College Examination, he had always been at the top in every other examination. It should’ve been no surprise for him to become the champion, but he had to contend with the An County King who had an even stronger backing, and who had never finished second.
Who would have believed that he could beat Xiao Liulang?
It’s absurd to think that children of grand households who had the benefit of brilliant tutors couldn’t compete with a poor country boy.
Well, it doesn’t matter to them; they could just sit back and watch the show.
The top three of Class Alpha, the champion, first runner-up, and second runner-up, were all bestowed with the title of Jinshi, which is the highest honor in the Palace Examination.
Seventy-two names made up Class B, all of whom were bestowed with the title of Jinshi Chuanshen.
The remaining one hundred and thirty-five were all Tongjinshi, who were granted the title of Tongjinshi Chuanshen.
Du Ruohan ranked thirteenth, an improvement of two ranks from the Provincial Exam, thus he was quite pleased.
Fen Lin, who had been the 176th in the Provincial Exam, didn’t have much confidence to begin with. Combine that with his nervousness during the Palace Examination which hampered his performance, he was not surprised when he didn’t make Class B Jinshi. Indeed, he ended up being ranked 200th.
Despite his prior anticipation, he could not help but feel disappointed when he saw the result.
As for Lin Chengye, who was 123rd in the Provincial Exam, he actually managed to make it into the top 100 this time around, landing at the 99th spot.
Lin Chengye was quite satisfied with his performance. He was not a gifted exam taker, and he relied on perseverence and Xiao Liulang’s guidance to get to where he was. His father’s initial expectations were for him just to pass the Imperial Examination, and making it all the way to the capital city to become a Tongjinshi from the sub-ranking was enough to make his father ecstatic for days.
He himself was also thrilled, as this meant that he no longer had to return home to inherit the family fortune.
The top three of Class A, announced by the Emperor himself, were then led by a herald to stand in front of the Emperor’s throne to receive the Jinshi plaques.
The champion was the most important person, whilst the other two stood behind him offering their respects.
The positioning of the three was also particular. The champion stood in the middle, slightly ahead, on the giant sea turtle head carved right in the centre of the first Imperial Road stone, which is also known as monopolizing the turtle head.
The Emperor studied Xiao Liulang’s face which was almost within reach, while Xiao Liulang lowered his gaze, allowing the Emperor to inspect him unperturbed.
“Your Highness?” Eunuch Wei reminded him softly.
The Emperor hummed in response, retracting his gaze and passing the plaque to the herald who then handed it to Xiao Liulang.
Upon receiving the Jinshi plaque, Xiao Liulang led the Jinshi candidates in another round of expressing their gratitude for the Emperor’s grace.
After the announcement of the Palace Examination’s results, an important tradition took place: the parade of the champion. All the new Jinshi candidates changed into their official Jinshi robes issued by the court, and paraded along the Imperial City’s main street under the champion’s lead, accepting the congratulations of the public.
The champion’s robe was red brocade, also known as scarlet Luo brocade- the only bright red color.
The first and second runner-ups wore green Luo brocade gowns, while the rest of the Jinshi wore dark blue official robes.
The Emperor also gave Xiao Liulang and the others hairpins adorned with flowers. Honestly speaking, both Xiao Liulang and the An County King were exceptionally handsome. Wearing the flower-adorned hairpins did not make them seem feminine, instead, they looked even more exuberant and as splendid as peach and plum trees, standing out among the group.
Ning Zhiyuan, the second runner-up, somewhat paled in comparison. Being lean and with an average appearance, the hairpin made his dark skin look even more appalling, breaking the tradition of all second runner-ups being handsome men.
The Imperial Forest Army led the way, followed by officials from the Ministry of Rites banging gongs and drums,
Xiao Liulang rode ahead, leading more than two hundred Jinshi, riding on their shiny horses. It was an imposing spectacle, as they accepted the cheers and attention of the public.
He was back in the capital city, in such a manner, and there was no room for evasion or withdrawal.
He stood under the sunlight, exposed to everyone’s gaze.
The Imperial City’s guards were already lined along the entire length of the main street. Despite this, they could not contain the enthusiasm of the crowd. People kept pushing through, but the guards stood their ground.
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They could stop the people, but not the items in their hands.
The crowd had originally come for the An County King, but who would have thought that the new champion would be so beautiful! Is he really a person? Are they sure he isn’t a celestial being descended to earth? Isn’t he? He must be the god of literature, right?
“Champion! Look at me! Look at me!”
“Champion! Look this way!”
Some bold girls even started shouting.
There were also shouts directed towards the An County King, but they came across rather odd.
Shouting “Champion” and “Second Runner-up” was natural, but shouting “First Runner-up”… that just sounded strange?
A girl, who didn’t know if it was due to being overly nervous or having a stutter, ended up messing up her words, shouting out “white-eyed wolf-” and turning the face of the An County King pale!
At first, Fen Lin was not too pleased, but amidst the cheering and congratulations, he suddenly felt his blood boil. This was what it meant to bring honor to your family. What if he was only a Tongjinshi? The citizens of the whole capital had come to celebrate for them, which made all the hardships worth it.
Suddenly, a sachet landed in Fen Lin’s arms.
Fen Lin was first startled, but then picked up the sachet and looked towards the direction it came from.
“Up there!”
A girl wearing a face veil waved at him.
Fen Lin’s face turned beet red.
This was the first time a girl had given him a gift.
Reading is great, becoming a scholar is even better.
There’s only one new top-scholar and one Prince An. Everyone can’t grab for two, so they’re snatching at the other scholars instead. Fen Lin got several sachets thrown at him repeatedly, his face had turned as red as a monkey’s buttocks, provoking rounds of laughter from the ladies.
Several sachets landed on Prince An. He didn’t make an attempt to catch them, nor did he intentionally toss them away.
“If you don’t want them, give them to me.” Ning Zhiyuan, walking beside him, took the sachets from his saddle, “These are made of top-quality thread, they can be sold for quite a sum.”
Prince An: “…”
Xiao Liulang received the most sachets, but he didn’t take even one, throwing them away without any scruples, keeping a frosty face throughout the event. He really crushed the ladies’ hearts!
Why is the top-scholar of this age so hard to please!
Miss worth a thousand gold may not really do something out of bounds, it’s just a tradition during the scholar parade. If they could take a scholar home, that would be great; if not, it would still be fun trying.
Xiao Liulang seemed a little distracted.
All these women came to watch him, but why not her?
He told her not to wait for the examination results, but would she really not come to watch?
Back then, he wanted to tell her about the scholar parade, but his shyness kept him from uttering a word.
Indeed.
She wasn’t one of the girls from the Capital City, how would she know about this parade?
That’s why she didn’t come.
But what if she did?
Should I take a look?
No.
Even though he convinced himself not to, he nonetheless tightened his grip on the reins, slowly looking towards the crowd on both sides of the street, first at the crowds, then at the rooms above the shops.
“The top-scholar is looking at me! He’s looking at me!”
“Nonsense! He’s clearly looking at me!”
“It’s me!”
“Top-scholar—”
A mere glance stirred a terrifying commotion, the guards barely managed to hold the line, and several dozens of sachets suddenly flew at him, which made Xiao Liulang shudder and he dared not look at the crowd again.
She really didn’t come.
How absurd, what was he disappointed about?
Pop!
Another sachet landed steadily on his saddle. He didn’t bother to look, intending to discard it, but as he held it, it felt different.
He paused, looking at the sachet in his hand. The stitches were fine, but the end of the thread was visible on the outside.
He felt a tremor in his heart and looked up incredulously towards a tea house on his right.
He suddenly pulled hard on the reins, halting his horse.
No scholar could walk ahead of the new top-scholar.
Once he stopped, all the scholars behind him had to halt as well.
The guards escorting along the route also had to stop, the whole procession, the whole street stopped for one person.
Xiao Liulang held the sachet in his hand, his gaze rested on a young girl above the tea house.
The lady was dressed in green, with a delicate slim figure and painterly features. The red birthmark on her left cheek reminded one of the morning glow of the sky, or a piece of begonia petal swirling in the wind. It struck the heart with its beauty.
Gu Jiao leaned on the window sill, her hands propping up her chin, her lips curling slightly.
Xiao Liulang’s mood suddenly lifted as the frost in his eyes melted, he cracked a light smile.
Even with a tight face, he was already enchanting, let alone when he broke into a smile, it was like the dissolving of ice and snow, the revival of all life, and the coming of the dawn’s light!
This moment of stunning beauty was beyond words.
Not only the ladies, even men were astounded.
Subsequently, everyone saw Xiao Liulang tie the only sachet he kept for the day to his waist.
The girls were eaten with jealousy!
New top-scholar, didn’t you say you wouldn’t take any sachets? Why did you make an exception? You should have just outright refused!!!
And, why on earth did you smile? You can’t smile!
Just when the ladies thought things couldn’t get worse, something more devastating happened.
The new top-scholar actually unfastened the crown flower he had been rewarded.
Everyone was stunned. What? Would the top-scholar really be giving his crown flower to her?
No, no, no! They wouldn’t allow it!
