Jing Xingzhi’s Daily Life in Ancient Times - Chapter 78
Wu Mingrui was anxious at home, and many students were even more anxious and ran to the places near Gongyuan, they would know whether they had passed or not as soon as the red list came out.
Zheng Juelun was one of these people. Several of his classmates sat in the same room with him and said complimentary words to him.
Zheng Juelun’s “fame” was gained through examinations from the Fu Xue Academy, and was recognized by many teachers from the Fu Xue Academy. To be honest, his level was definitely not low.
More than half of the students at the Fu Xue Academy still believed that Zheng Juelun would be the one in the first place. When facing a future first place, it would not be a loss of face to please him even a little bit.
“The red list is out!” someone shouted excitedly.
Then the crowd became restless and pushed forward like crazy, hoping to see the names on the red list as soon as possible.
On the tall buildings near Gongyuan, many students who were usually very reserved had stretched their necks and tried to narrow their eyes to focus.
The government office servant drew out his machete to scare away the crowd, and with great difficulty posted the three red notices on the wall.
The first two are posted on both sides of the newly painted white wall, and the last top ten list was posted in the middle.
There were dozens of names on other papers, but there were only ten names on the final top ten. The handwriting was much larger, so the guests who paid heavily for high seats on the second and third floors near the Gongyuan could vaguely see the names clearly.
There happened to be a student beside Zheng Juelun who had good eyesight.
“First… Jing Xingzhi.”
“Second, Li Hua… what? I can’t see the last word clearly.”
As soon as the student with good eyesight reported the two names, Zheng Juelun’s face darkened: “Who is this Li Hua? Where did he come from? ”
Jing Xingzhi became so famous that Zheng Juelun didn’t even dare to say anything. But could a new person who appeared out of nowhere be better than him? Zheng Juelun didn’t believe it.
But he was not sure who Li Hua was, he might be someone with good relationship with the court. After Zheng Juelun figured it out, he asked anxiously: “What about the third one?”
“Third…”
“The third one should be Xun Bai. His name is easy to recognize.”
Xun Bai was the second-best student in their academy.
Zheng Juelun was going crazy. As the best of their academy, how could he not know the level of Xun Bai? No matter how well Xun Bai performed, he, the master of writing, must perform even better! Moreover, he could always defeat Xun Bai because his qualifications and understanding were much, much better than Xun Bai’s!
Li Hua could be second place, it was okay. After all, he was an unfamiliar opponent. But being beaten by Xun Bai for third place, Zheng Juelun really didn’t accept it.
Zheng Juelun stared at the person who reported the top ten rankings with narrowed eyes, gritted his teeth and asked, “Where’s fourth?”
“Fourth…” Fourth was not him either.
The man with good eyesight was a little afraid of being beaten. Why did he take the initiative to do this? Needless to say, Zheng Juelun failed to live up to his expectations and was only in fifth place. It was really an embarrassment to their academy!
Although Huanshui Academy was strong in previous years, it only tied with their government academy in the competition among the top ten. The top three in every previous session were theirs, and they often occupied more than five of the top ten positions. As a result, this year, people from Huanshui Academy took the first place! Such a shameful result for their academy!
However, being stared at by Zheng Juelun, this man felt angry and could only tell the name honestly: “The word in the fourth position seems to be Wu Mingrui.”
Zheng Juelun’s nostrils were boiling and he asked angrily: “What about me?”
“You, you, No. 5.”
“You’re blind!” Zheng Juelun cursed angrily, rushed out of the private room, turned around and went downstairs.
The person who reported the name must have been blind and got the name wrong. He was very impressive and his articles were excellent, how could he be ranked fifth!
He must be the first place!
Even if… Jing Xingzhi was the first place, he should be the second best!
Zheng Juelun rushed out of the teahouse and rushed into the crowd recklessly.
But now, many of the people crowded under the tribute wall were able-bodied servants. Zheng Juelun was squeezed back and forth like a cake. It took him a while to get to the front of the crowd.
.
Arriving in front of the tribute wall, Zheng Juelun wished he had never squeezed in.
Zheng Juelun looked at the ranking of the top ten in a daze, and saw with his own eyes that he was ranked fifth… fifth, when had he placed as a fifth in an exam?
Was it when he was ten years old, competing with his fifteen-year-old seniors to make a fuss?
Or when he was a new scholar entering a government academy, he wanted to compete with the outstanding students who are about to take the exam?
There was no way that Xun Bai could be better than himself among the four people in front. But how could he be a fifth?
As if giving Li Hua some background as an excuse, Zheng Juelun found a reason why he was left behind.
The reason was very clear – it must be for Jing Xingzhi, the disciple of the headmaster of Huanshui Academy, but he quarreled with him in Taibai Tower and the officials in the court actually repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with him for his opinion of the two prefectures, this situation might affect his ranking.
Zheng Juelun had previously thought he was extremely talented in literature, so he was not afraid of this exam. There would be a marking officer who would stand up for his article! So, he was not afraid of the darkness in these officialdoms!
He also knew in the future of Hanbei Prefecture, he would have to rely on himself as the number one to win fame outside. If he was the one with the highest level in the academy, but he was ranked behind in the provincial examination, even if he could get good results outside in the future, the people in the government would not praise him much.