Chapter 104: Provincial Top Scholar

Chapter 104: Jieyuan (Top Scholar)

Dinner was simple. Gu Daniu was free the next day, and the family agreed to go into the mountains to cut more bamboo shoots, and also to pick walnuts and chestnuts from the walnut and chestnut groves.

The walnut trees were fine, but the chestnut trees were deep in the mountains. Without a man by their side, Wang Xiuxiu and Chen Youyan didn't dare go in.

With that settled, they each went to bed.

The next morning, bright and early, the whole family woke up and got up right away. Yin Hongxue had to go to town for his lessons today, so he couldn't go to the mountains to help the family stock up on foraged goods.

Noticing he was a bit down, Gu Muan promised to pick the best-tasting walnuts and chestnuts for Yin Hongxue.

Since they were going to work in the mountains, breakfast was steamed buns and flatbreads, all made the day before, so they just needed a quick reheat in the morning.

After breakfast, Yin Hongxue was the first to set off. He slung his satchel onto his back and headed for the village entrance to wait for the cart. He'd barely opened the gate when he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Xiuxiu! Yan Geer, hey!"

"Gu Daniu!"

Excited shouts rang out from outside. Catching sight of Yin Hongxue, the shouts shifted: "Xue Geer! Where are your parents!? Where's your brother!?"

The newcomers were a whole crowd, all bursting with excitement. Yin Hongxue had a hunch and quickly turned to run back inside.

"Dad! Dad!"

The ruckus outside was so loud that everyone inside had already heard it. Chen Youyan came trotting out of the courtyard. Before he could get a word out, the crowd was already chattering happily.

"Yan Geer! Your lucky days are here! Chaoning passed the provincial exam and earned the title of juren!"

Gu Chaoning and Gu Wen were a step behind, with Gu Daniu and Wang Xiuxiu bringing up the rear.

At this, everyone froze, staring blankly ahead.

Chen Youyan asked, stunned: "Chaoning? Chaoning passed the provincial exam?"

Even kids knew how tough the imperial exams were. The family had sent Gu Chaoning to the provincial capital for the exam just to let him try and see what it was all about.

But now, their Chaoning, just twelve years old, had passed and become a juren on his first try?

Yin Hongxue stood there just as dazed, caught between the villagers and his own family, glancing from the villagers to the unruffled Gu Chaoning.

Brother Chaoning passed? Brother Chaoning became a juren?

Brother Chaoning is actually this amazing?

Seeing Chen Youyan and the others' reactions, the villagers couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"We swear it's true!" everyone started talking at once. "Someone from town just came by and told our village to get ready to receive the officials bringing the good news! Chaoning passed, and the lizheng's third son, Gu Rong, passed too!"

A juren was a whole different level from a xiucai—the messengers came all the way from the provincial capital!

The messenger was still at the lizheng's place and hadn't come over yet, so they'd rushed ahead to spread the news.

Just then, Zheng Yiyang came walking over from the distance. It was then that Chen Youyan and the others finally snapped out of it. Gu Daniu and Wang Xiuxiu hurriedly invited everyone inside for a cup of tea, while Gu Chaoning went to welcome Zheng Yiyang and the others in.

Gu Chaoning walked over, and before he could say a word, Zheng Yiyang clasped his hands and bowed, a faint look of respect in his eyes.

"I haven't yet congratulated Juren Gu on passing with flying colors!"

Gu Chaoning was only twelve, just twelve!

Zheng Yiyang's heart was pounding. He really hadn't misjudged things—he'd gotten in good with Gu Chaoning early on. How could he not reap the benefits later?

As they say, when one person achieves enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

Zheng Yiyang figured he might not be one of the Gu family's chickens or dogs, but he could at least count as a tree or a blade of grass by their front door, right?

So his congratulations were heartfelt, and he kept a low profile.

This was to feel out Gu Chaoning's attitude.

Gu Chaoning stepped forward and reached out to steady Zheng Yiyang's arm, and said with a smile: "Brother Zheng, your congratulations are enough—bowing like this makes us seem like strangers."

Just hearing the words "Brother Zheng" made Zheng Yiyang breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Good. Gu Chaoning, Juren Gu, wasn't the type to forget his roots the moment he gained power.

The two yamen runners trailing behind Zheng Yiyang heard Gu Chaoning call Zheng Yiyang "Brother Zheng" and refer to himself as "your younger brother," and they all looked at Zheng Yiyang with envy.

Gu Chaoning led them into the yard. Gu Daniu and Wang Xiuxiu chatted with the crowd, while Chen Youyan and Gu Wen had already gone inside to get their money pouch.

Yin Hongxue hurried to the village entrance and asked someone to pass a message to Painter Cen's place on Sweet Apricot Street, saying he wouldn't be coming to class today.

About ten minutes later, the lizheng showed up too. He told everyone not to do anything to embarrass the village when the officials arrived, then hurried off again.

As Gu Chaoning walked the lizheng out, he noticed the neighbors out front sweeping their doorsteps with big brooms.

Gu Chaoning was taken aback, then caught Song Niangzi's eye. He said with a smile: "Hello, Auntie Song."

"Oh, Chaoning, hello, hello. Auntie Song is just sweeping the front step, so when the officials come, they won't think our village looks shabby and get a bad impression of you and young Rong."

Gu Chaoning didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He thanked Auntie Song and looked up to see Gu Ershui already up on the roof, pulling down dry thatch and tossing it to the ground below.

Gu Chaoning: "..."

He couldn't help laughing. Even though it felt a little ridiculous, he had to admit his heart felt warm and fuzzy.

Gu Wen and Gu Daniu, seeing everyone cleaning their homes and front steps, also wanted to grab big brooms, but mindful of Zheng Yiyang and the others, they ultimately held off.

After about another fifteen minutes, the distant sound of drums and horns drifted over.

The people of Xiaohe Village craned their necks and poked their heads out to see. But no matter how curious they were, everyone stayed put at home, except for those the lizheng had allowed to wait at the village entrance.

Even from inside their homes, they could see a joyful procession coming their way. The trumpet and drum players had red silk tied to their instruments, and the group was twenty people strong.

As they walked, they came to a fork in the road. The procession split—one group going straight ahead, the other turning toward the Gu family.

As they got closer, everyone got more excited but also a bit nervous. Many pulled their heads back in, watching the procession pass by with its drums and horns from their courtyards before poking their heads out again.

The Gu family had been waiting for a while.

When the good-news procession arrived, one person stepped forward and said some auspicious, pleasing words, then handed over a wooden box.

"Juren Gu placed first in the provincial exam—he is the Jieyuan. These are the gifts the court has bestowed on the Jieyuan, along with Juren Gu's official identity token."

As for what exactly the gifts were, they didn't go into detail—that was for Gu Chaoning and his family to see for themselves.

The Jieyuan?

This statement stunned everyone even more, and some of the villagers watching couldn't hold back a gasp.

They'd thought Gu Chaoning passing the provincial exam and becoming a juren was already a huge deal.

But who knew he wasn't just a juren—he was the top scorer of the whole bunch!

The Gu family didn't dare peek inside right then; Gu Chaoning just took the box and put it away.

Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan brewed fresh tea in the kitchen and brought it out, and Gu Chaoning invited the officials to have some.

Gu Wen handed him a money pouch, and Gu Chaoning passed it along with a friendly attitude.

"Thanks for making the trip, everyone. Here's a little something for tea—consider it a token of good luck."

The leader gave the pouch a squeeze, and his smile turned a whole lot more genuine. After downing the tea to quench their thirst, the good-news crew didn't stick around long and headed off to meet up with the other group.

This time, they didn't just hang around the courtyard—they walked the visitors out of the village along with the lizheng.

The good-news team had barely left when more folks showed up from town—again two groups, one going to Gu Rong's and the other to Gu Chaoning's.

The newcomers started by congratulating Gu Chaoning, then passed along the county magistrate's delight and encouragement, and finally handed over the magistrate's rewards.

Once the county folks left, Zheng Yiyang and the others took the chance to say their goodbyes. But right after, villagers who were tight with the Gu family started showing up in groups.

No way they were making it to the mountain today.

Villagers came in waves, and the lizheng and clan elders showed up too. They brewed pot after pot of tea, and it wasn't until almost lunchtime that the Gu family finally got some quiet.

After everyone cleared out, Gu Chaoning finally pulled out the two boxes.

The smaller box was from the prefectural city, and the bigger one was from the county seat.

Gu Daniu, Wang Xiuxiu, Chen Youyan, and Gu Wen crowded around too, while Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan pushed to the front, squeezing next to Gu Chaoning for a closer look.

Gu Chaoning opened the box from the prefectural city first—that was the imperial reward.

On top was a deed for a house in town, plus a land deed for ten mu of farmland. Gu Daniu leaned in to check it out and said, "This isn't far from our village—it's just past Xiaoshi Village."

Gu Chaoning went quiet. Xiaoshi Village, huh... He didn't need to get his hopes up about that land.

At best, it'd be lower-grade or mid-grade land, since the whole village of Xiaoshi didn't have much high-grade farmland to begin with.

The town house deed, though, was a nice get. But Gu Chaoning, even with both his past and present lives put together, didn't know the town all that well, so he handed it to Yin Hongxue, who'd spent the most time there.

Yin Hongxue studied the address and mulled it over.

"Hmm... looks like it's around Dongping Street."

Dongping Street was in a pretty good spot. The town had four main streets: Xi'an, Dongping, Beijing, and Nanhua.

Tianxing Street was over near Xi'an Street, which was the complete opposite direction from Dongping, so Yin Hongxue didn't know that area well either.

They'd have to find time to head into town and check it out. They settled on going to the mountain tomorrow and checking out the house in town the day after.

Yin Hongxue happened to have the day after free, so the whole family could go see their new house.

After stashing the imperial rewards, Gu Chaoning picked up the big box from the county magistrate.

It had a bit of heft to it, and when he opened it, he couldn't help but chuckle.

The magistrate was a straight shooter—he'd given five silver ingots, totaling fifty taels.

There was also a scroll of calligraphy in the box, written by the magistrate himself. When unrolled, it had just four big characters: "Don't get cocky, don't get hasty."

The second Gu Chaoning read those four characters, his expression changed.

The county magistrate's name seemed to be Zhu Dao.

In his past life, he hadn't been as exceptional as he was now, but his exam path had been just as smooth—just one cycle behind. He'd passed the provincial exam and gone to the prefectural city, having no contact with the magistrate of Sui County.

Later, when he'd taken first place in the palace exam and stayed in the capital, he'd had even less to do with the Sui County magistrate.

Before, thanks to the magistrate's advisor, Gu Chaoning hadn't thought much of him. But now, seeing these four words of advice, his opinion of the magistrate had gone up quite a bit.

After all, the Great Qi had been thriving for over a hundred years since its founding.

In a hundred years, there'd been no shortage of prodigies.

The Great Qi had even produced a young zhuangyuan who aced all six exams before turning ten. But geniuses often fade like Zhong Yong, and that young zhuangyuan, finding the gap between expectations and reality at the Hanlin Academy too much to handle, passed away at twelve.

Beyond that, the Great Qi had seen other young prodigies, many of whom couldn't handle the letdown and faded into obscurity.