Chapter 265: Chapter 111: If Rich and Noble (2)

The conversation then turned to the upcoming prefecture and academy examinations.

Naturally, everyone present intended to take the prefecture and academy examinations.

The rules of the current dynasty were different from those of the last.

In the previous dynasty, if a student passed the county examination, he earned the title of candidate, and that title was permanent. Even in death, he would still be honored as one.

Under the current dynasty, however, the candidate title was only valid for three years. If you failed to pass the prefecture examination within that time, the title was revoked. To pursue the examinations again, you had to start over from the most basic Child Examination.

Likewise, if you passed the prefecture examination but not the academy examination, that qualification also remained valid for three years. If you still hadn’t passed the academy examination after three years, it was taken as a sign that your scholarship was lacking, and you had to start over from the very beginning.

In other words, you were sent right back to square one, forced to retake the Child Examination.

This aspect of the current dynasty’s examination system was widely criticized. But alas, it was a decision from the higher-ups. No matter how hoarse the people below screamed themselves, if those in power refused to change it, the rule would stand. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Given the circumstances, scholars had no path of retreat. They could only clench their fists and surge forward in one great effort.

Succeed, and all would be well. Fail, and it was simply a matter of ill fortune. You would have to try again the following year.

All the candidates were, of course, planning to take the prefecture examination—all but one, that is. Li Cun.

Someone at the banquet brought up Li Cun.

On the day of the results, Li Cun had suffered a febrile seizure in the public hall. After being rushed to a clinic, he had another. The two successive seizures had terrified the crowd of townspeople who had followed them.

The situation was critical, and the clinic’s doctor didn’t dare treat him. The Wang Jun brothers had no choice but to quickly send someone to the Wang Family residence to fetch the senior physician they had brought from the Prefecture.

The senior physician had accompanied them to Qingshui County. Their mother, fearing her son and daughter might fall gravely ill during the journey, had specially hired him as a safeguard.

After their grandmother’s birthday banquet, their mother had returned to the Prefecture with their sister, but she had left the senior physician behind for the two of them. She worried that the doctors in a small place like Qingshui County might not be skilled enough and that any illness they contracted could be dangerously delayed.

But setting that aside, the highly-paid physician proved his worth. It was he who used golden needles on Li Cun’s acupoints and personally stood vigil for a full day, managing to pull him back from the clutches of King Yan.

The doctors who took over his care later all said that if not for the life-saving intervention of that highly skilled physician, Mr. Li’s mind would have surely been damaged by the fever.

Even if his mind had been spared, it wouldn’t have been surprising for the fever to leave him blind, deaf, mute, or with a crippled leg.

It could be said that the Wang brothers had single-handedly saved Li Cun’s future in the imperial examinations.

But even though his life was saved, his constitution had been severely weakened. He would need at least three months of careful recuperation to ensure there were no lasting complications.

Therefore, Li Cun would naturally be unable to participate in the upcoming prefecture examination.

Some felt it was a great pity for Li Cun, while others were secretly pleased.

After all, the Prefecture only allocated seven or eight Scholar positions to Qingshui County each year—fewer than ten in total.

Furthermore, when the officials in the Prefecture graded the exams and determined the rankings, they generally wouldn’t disturb the order set by the County Magistrate, so as not to undermine his authority and make it difficult for him to govern his county.

In other words, if Li Cun had been able to take the prefecture and academy examinations as planned, he would have almost certainly secured one of the Scholar titles for himself.

That meant everyone else would have had to compete for the remaining spots. The competition would be fiercer. Naturally, one less rival meant a better chance for everyone else.

At the mention of Li Cun, the crowd couldn’t help but glance over at Zhao Jing.

As everyone knew, this whole fiasco had started because of a woman.

A woman whom Li Cun had desperately wanted to marry, but who had ended up becoming Zhao Jing’s wife...

Zhao Jing felt their gazes fall upon him, but he acted as if he hadn’t noticed.

He took a small sip from his cup, drinking about half of the wine, then set it down.

The Lord County Magistrate’s gaze fell upon him. Zhao Jing naturally stood and said, "I must trouble you, Your Lordship, to issue the necessary documents and travel permits. My brother-in-law and I will be departing for the Prefecture in the coming days."

As soon as Zhao Jing spoke, Wang Jun, Chu Xun, Huang Chen, and Ding Shutian all chimed in, "We are also heading to the Prefecture to seek our fortunes."

"We should travel together. It’ll save us the trouble of being waylaid by mountain bandits."

"If we go together, we can look out for one another on the road..."

The Lord County Magistrate rarely saw such a harmonious scene.

This was his fourth year serving as the "parent-official" of Qingshui County. Including this round, he had now presided over three county examinations.

But at the celebratory banquets after every previous examination, the candidates couldn’t even maintain a semblance of conviviality. They would trade barbs right in front of him, going back and forth. When tempers flared, they’d roll up their sleeves, looking like they wished they could start a brawl on the spot.