Jing Xingzhi’s Daily Life in Ancient Times - Chapter 100

Just as Xun Bai took a sneak peek at Zheng Juelun, the messenger who brought the news came to the door, beating gongs and drums.

“Congratulations to Mr. Xun Bai of Hanbei Prefecture, happy to announce the eighty-eighth place!”

“Congratulations to Brother Xun!”

“Xun Bai, you are amazing!”

Eighty-eighth place was the best result in Hanbei Prefecture at the time, and it was not bad in previous years. Xun Bai was so happy that he could hardly close his mouth.

“Same joy! My classmates, there will be good news for you later!” Xun Bai smiled and cupped his fists in return, unable to hide the joy on his face.

Zheng Juelun glanced at him lightly, feeling numb in his heart.

Even the always second-place candidate was hit, was there hope for him?

Zheng Juelun had been a bit decadent since he was hit hard in the provincial examination. He read and drank all day long, not knowing whether he spent more time drinking or reading and writing articles.

He doubted his abilities and felt that he was so bad.

Looking at Xun Bai, Zheng Juelun couldn’t help but think of the man who defeated him. When he thought about the gap, he felt that life was even more gloomy.

Zheng Juelun took a look and laid on the table with his eyes wide open, staring at the white clouds on the horizon.

When Xun Bai saw that Zheng Juelun didn’t respond, half of his joy disappeared and he became a little unhappy.

But taking the initiative to provoke was not his style. Xun Bai felt relaxed and simply chatted about interesting things: “I wonder what the results of the one-day master, who only took the test for one day, will be? It’s really interesting!”

At first, the “One Day Master” only circulated in a small circle, but after leaving the examination room, many people spread the word by word of mouth. Even some jokingly said that they were that person, so it spread among the people.

Even after trying it for a month, everyone had not forgotten the legendary “One Day Master.”

Today, those who were waiting for the news may not have known who was most likely to win the first place this year, but they definitely knew there was such a legendary figure, and they had high expectations.

Of course, almost everyone was waiting to see the joke and watch the legendary figure fall off the list.

As soon as Xun Bai mentioned it, the room burst into laughter.

Zheng Juelun was a little upset when he heard their laughter, and said impatiently, “Others only took the exam for one day, and it’s normal to fail. What’s the joke?! Besides, that person left early because he had something to do at home. How could you laugh like this?”

“Brother Juelun, those who neglect the examination should definitely fail!”

“That man clearly didn’t take the exam well; didn’t he just make us laugh on purpose?”

“What can be more important than the exam? If it was really urgent, why should he have taken the exam…”

Most of the people in the box still had no hope of passing the exam, so they were all frustrated.

What a frustrated person wanted most, of course, was that others were the same as him, so his mind inevitably became a little gloomy.

Zheng Juelun only had one mouth and lost his previous prestige. He could only listen to the noise of these people.

Hearing them was simply annoying, Zheng Juelun stood up unsteadily, picked up his wine jar, and was about to leave.

As soon as he walked away with his front legs, the joy came with his back legs.

“Congratulations to Mr. Zheng Juelun of Hanbei Prefecture, on the fifty-eighth nomination!”

“Congratulations to Master Zheng Juelun of Hanbei Mansion! Who is Master Zheng? Come and receive the good news!”

With a big smile on his face, the messenger waited eagerly for the rightful owner to come and reward him with money.

But the students from Hanbei Prefecture looked at each other in confusion. Finally, Xun Bai said, “Zheng Juelun just left, holding a wine jar. He probably hasn’t left this street yet.”

When he heard the news, he quickly led the others to chase after him.

On the way, the messenger stopped Zheng Juelun: “Are Zheng Juelun from Hanbei Mansion, Mr. Zheng?”

Zheng Juelun nodded, feeling a little dizzy as he looked at the cheerful red hat.

He thought to himself, ‘Does this outfit look familiar?’

The man nodded when he saw Zheng Juelun and immediately said, “Congratulations to Mr. Zheng Juelun of Hanbei Mansion, for being nominated fifty-eighth! Congratulations!”

Zheng Juelun suddenly woke up, his eyes widened. He pointed at himself and asked, “Me? Fifty-eighth?”

There were several prefectures in the Jiangnan area, and the Li Dynasty had a vast territory with abundant resources, making it difficult to pass the imperial examination. In previous years, Hanbei Prefecture’s top candidate only ranked fiftieth in the general examination.

Zheng Juelun had been fifth in the provincial examination, and even without Xun Bai’s presence, he would only have been fourth. How could he possibly be in fifty-eighth place?

The messenger smiled and asked, “Could it be that there are two people named Zheng Juelun from Hanbei Prefecture? If so, this one should go look for the other!”

“No, no, it’s just me,” Zheng Juelun finally responded. He took the good notice from the messenger’s hand and, in his excitement, gave him his wallet.

The messenger squeezed it happily, thinking to himself, ‘This drunken master is really generous and benevolent! If I met another one, this year my mother will have money to make clothes!’

“Thank you, Mr. Zheng. I’ll go see you off!” the messenger quickly thanked him and left before Zheng Juelun could fully recover from his daze.

Zheng Juelun, still holding the good notice, was so happy he almost lost his sight. Once the joy wore off, Zheng Juelun finally remembered the mistakes he had made.

— While others stayed up late reading books and practicing, what was he doing?

He was drinking and acting recklessly.

— What was he doing when others were concentrating on the exam?

He had brought wine into the examination room. If his wife hadn’t secretly poured it out for him, he would have brought two jars!

‘I still made it to fifty-eighth despite being half-drunk. If I had studied properly… What could my rank have been?’

Zheng Juelun regretted his actions, squatting on the street, his head in his hands, crying in frustration.

“Jealousy misled me!”

Zheng Juelun sobbed loudly on the street, attracting the attention of many frustrated people who thought he had failed the exam. However, they quickly noticed the good notice in his hand.

A failed man shouted, “You’re still crying after winning?! We haven’t even cried yet!”

Coincidentally, Zheng Juelun was squatting under a teahouse.

Liu Fang noticed him, patted Jing Xingzhi on the shoulder, and said curiously, “Someone’s crying down there.”

Jing Xingzhi looked down, recognized the person, and said, “That’s Zheng Juelun.”

Liu Fang immediately remembered him and said to Jing Xingzhi, “Cover Ah Deng’s eyes.”

Jing Xingzhi was confused, but did as he was told, covering Little Ah Deng’s eyes with a smile.

‘Does this have to be inappropriate for children? So exciting!’

Jing Xingzhi thought it was sudden but smiled all the same.

However, he was stunned by Liu Fang’s actions.

Liu Fang picked up a teacup and poured it out the window.

Underneath, Zheng Juelun, who seemed to have a vacuum around him, was drenched with the tea, while no one else was splashed.

Zheng Juelun was momentarily dazed, then looked up with angry eyes.

But when he raised his head, all he could see were the windows of the teahouse’s second and third floors. There were many places where mischief could be committed. Zheng Juelun was a bit confused.

Nobody would just look up for no reason, and the people in the box were too many and too distracted to testify against the culprit.

Zheng Juelun cursed the people upstairs and walked away, wet and embarrassed.

Jing Xingzhi looked at Liu Fang helplessly: “Why do you still remember him…”

Liu Fang had never met Zheng Juelun, but had only heard his name once. Unexpectedly, the unlucky brother Juelun was remembered in just one moment.

Hey, it was all fate.

‘Brother Juelun, don’t blame my wife, it’s your own fault. Who told you to bully me? My wife had bullied you gently like this, and he was already very good.’

“It’s an advantage for him,” Liu Fang didn’t want to make a fuss, so he didn’t drop the cup altogether. Otherwise, Zheng Juelun would definitely have had another hole in his head.

“Let him go. He was crying so hard just now. I don’t know what happened,” Jing Xingzhi said generously.

Jing Xingzhi was petty when it came to holding grudges, but he was also usually big-hearted. It sounded contradictory, but in fact, it was just about treating different people differently.

Even if he only intended to harm those around him, he would hold grudges.

But he could easily let go of those who occasionally interfered with him.

Anyway, these people couldn’t make any waves; they were all little shrimps who had gone astray. He stopped fussing with them. If he had time to fuss about things, he might as well have gone home and changed diapers.

In the blink of an eye, fifty-eight people passed by.

The neat and complete lists were also copied down, and each was sold into the shops along the street for one tael of silver.

Those who could afford to sit in teahouse’s private room didn’t mind a tael of silver, and most of them bought one.

The name of the person ranked first naturally attracted the most attention.

First place: Jing Xingzhi.

Most people had a very superficial understanding of this name. They knew that Jing Xingzhi came from Jiangnan and Hanbei Prefecture and was a new disciple of the old imperial master Fang Qichen. They never thought that he could be so powerful at such a young age!

Only the students from Hanbei Prefecture were stunned: No. 1, No. 1!

How many years had it been since anyone from Hanbei Prefecture had climbed to the top of number one?!

Was this the power of self-confidence!