Half past the hour of Chen, the vermilion doors of the examination hall opened wide. The crowd instantly surged forward like a tide. The people standing at the very front strained their voices and shouted, "Here they come! The results are being posted!"
The crowd rubbed shoulders and bumped heels, squeezing together into a tight mass. Everyone was packed like sardines, and shouts rose and fell in succession.
Ten yamen runners wielding curved blades rushed out from the examination hall, struggling to hold the crowd back at a distance of five steps from the bottom of the stairs.
A moment later, a gray-haired Confucian scholar dressed in green robes slowly walked out of the examination hall, holding a yellow silk roster. His heavy footsteps beat against the hearts of the thousands of students, making them feel increasingly anxious.
All eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the scholar's hands. Even before the list was fully posted, the crowd began to push forward.
Song Qiming and Song Gaoli stood together. When the first name in the first row on the far right was revealed, both of them froze on the spot.
After briefly recovering his senses, Song Gaoli excitedly threw his arm around Song Qiming's shoulders and patted him incessantly. "First place! Qiming, you are the Jieyuan!"
Oh my god, his good brother was the Jieyuan. He wasn't dreaming, was he?
Song Qiming nodded in a daze, his eyes and ears going blank. In an instant, the bustling noise around him vanished without a trace, leaving only the sound of his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
Standing nearby, Lanxi immediately turned around and struggled to squeeze his way out, his whole body aching from being crushed in the crowd.
Four or five people away in the front row, He Feixuan stared at his name on the list, taking a deep breath and swallowing hard. Sure enough, he was the Yayuan; Song Qiming was ranked above him.
Hearing Song Gaoli's excited voice, Wang Xu turned his head to look, a flash of jealousy in his eyes. He had been in the Upper House for less than a year and had already surpassed everyone. He was still so young, yet he was the closing disciple of a third-rank imperial official. All the good things and halos had fallen onto one person's head; how could one not be envious and jealous?
The two, having snapped back to reality, began searching the yellow roster for Song Gaoli's name, scanning row by row and column by column from right to left, terrified of missing it.
The further back they looked, the more Song Gaoli's heart sank.
Under the eaves opposite the examination hall, Song Shixue stood on her tiptoes, looking for Song Qiming. "Why hasn't brother come out yet? I'd better go in and take a look."
She had barely taken two steps forward when a disheveled Lanxi came running toward her.
Seeing him, Song Shixue stopped and immediately asked, "How did it go?"
Lanxi panted and replied, "First place! The eldest young master is the Jieyuan." In just that short moment, he had almost been squeezed to suffocation.
Song Shixue's eyes widened in pleasant surprise. Looking utterly disbelieving, she turned to Song Jinzhao. "Sister! Brother is the Jieyuan!"
The corners of Song Jinzhao's lips curled up, and she gave a soft nod of acknowledgment.
A thirteen-year-old Juren was an absolute boy genius. In modern times, he would be a provincial top scorer, with Tsinghua and Peking University fighting over him.
With his results, becoming a Jinshi was practically set in stone. She didn't need to worry at all anymore.
On the other side, Song Qiming and Song Gaoli, still squeezed in the crowd, simultaneously widened their eyes and blinked furiously to see more clearly.
The two exchanged a glance, countless emotions flashing through their eyes. Song Gaoli seemed unable to digest this massive good news. His grin stretched from ear to ear as he suddenly jumped up and laughed heartily at the sky, "I passed! I passed! I passed!!! Ahhhhh~~"
His shrill screams hurt the eardrums of the crowd. One by one, they turned their heads to stare at the jumping and bouncing Song Gaoli. Had he gone mad?
Song Qiming watched his joyful appearance, his eyes curving into a smile. Last place in the prefectural exam, last place in the college exam, and now last place in the provincial exam. His level of excitement was even stronger than if he had placed first three times. He was simply the chosen one.
Song Gaoli's mood could not calm down for a long time. While everyone around watched him go crazy, someone suddenly grabbed the clothes on Song Qiming's shoulder. "Has the Jieyuan Master been betrothed? My daughter is sixteen, right in the prime of her blooming beauty. Her dowry includes a thousand mu of fertile land, ten shops, and a three-courtyard mansion in the bustling market."
Bright, glittering eyeballs sat within the middle-aged man's wrinkled eye sockets. His posture, like a hungry wolf pouncing on a sheep, gave Song Qiming a fright.
The surrounding onlookers immediately began to clamor, their expressions filled with extreme envy.
This was Master Guo of the grain estate in the south of the city. He had no sons, only one daughter. Not only was she as beautiful as a celestial maiden, but her reputation for talent was also widely known. Marrying her was equivalent to obtaining the entire Guo family fortune.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, Song Qiming quickly pulled Master Guo's hand away. "I am still young and have no plans to take a wife for the time being."
Master Guo refused to let go, arguing, "We can arrange the engagement first and marry in a couple of years."
Song Gaoli, whose excitement had been interrupted and cooled down, stepped between the two to separate them. "Good sir, my brother is only thirteen, and your precious daughter is sixteen. In a couple of years, she'll be eighteen. It really is a bit inappropriate."
Master Guo's chest pressed against Song Gaoli's. "What's inappropriate about it? A wife three years older brings a gold brick. The thirteen-year-old Jieyuan Master is absolutely perfect."
On the left, another wealthy master dressed in silk rushed out. "Jieyuan Master, my daughter is twelve this year. Marrying in a couple of years would be absolutely perfect."
Song Qiming waved his hands repeatedly. "Thank you all for your flattering attention, but I am still young and have no plans for engagement or marriage at the moment."
He forcefully pushed the crowd aside and squeezed his way out.
Song Gaoli was just about to follow closely behind when he was stopped. "And what about this Juren Master? I see you are of the perfect age. Are you married?"
Song Gaoli's face stiffened for a moment. He raised his hands and said, "My family elders are not present, so I cannot make decisions regarding marriage. You two noble masters should look elsewhere."
The two quickly squeezed out of the crowd, running as if a bandit were chasing right behind them.
