Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 874 Someone is Having Ulterior Motives (1)

Chapter 874: Chapter 874 Someone is Having Ulterior Motives (1)

The results of the first round of the re-exam came out the following day, and Mo Qingze’s name appeared high at the top of the list. Of course, the purpose of this exam was to decide the top thirty; the ranking was quite arbitrary and one’s name appearing at the top didn’t necessarily mean their essays were better than the others. Therefore, just looking at the list, it was impossible to tell who might win the title of Champion Scholar.

However, due to Mo Qingze’s consistently outstanding performances, among all the scholars, he still had the loudest calls for winning the top honor.

After learning the results, Qingze simply nodded and didn’t say much, continuing to shut himself in and study. He reviewed some of the rough and disjointed knowledge, as well as some content that seemed unrelated to the imperial examination.

The other members of the Mo Family also carried on with their respective duties, and life went on as usual without any significant changes.

Compared to the tranquility of the Mo Family, the other twenty-nine scholars living in the capital and waiting for the final round of the palace examination weren’t so fortunate. All the unmarried young men became the sweet pastry in the eyes of onlookers, especially for the official families with unbetrothed daughters at home.

Most of these officials held relatively low ranks and the idea of marrying their daughters into high-status and wealthy families was unrealistic. Instead, they thought of picking a promising scholar as a son-in-law; should he achieve success, the Yue Family would naturally rise with the tide. And even if he didn’t stand out, it wouldn’t be too bad—they wouldn’t lose out anyway.

There were many people with this mindset, so those twenty-nine scholars, no matter their family backgrounds—aside from a few old men over fifty with their own grandchildren—other eligible bachelors became targets of interest.

Whether these individuals were already betrothed was not a concern for these officials. Even some scholars who sensed where things were heading claimed they were unmarried in order to secure a connection with a powerful family. Having the support of a Yue Family could save them from struggling for ten or even dozens of years. In this world, there were always plenty of people who wanted to be a Chen Shimei!

As night drew close and the first lights appeared, near the Imperial palace, the lights in Zhuque Lane lit up like stars in the night sky. One by one, exquisite lanterns were lit on every family’s porch. Ordinary families that saved lamp oil would have been pained to see such extravagance, likely wishing they could snuff all the lights themselves.

What seemed extravagant was nothing to those living in Zhuque Lane. For dwelling there were some of the most powerful and prestigious officials of the court, whose luxury and affluence the common households outside could hardly imagine.

At that moment, a luxurious carriage approached majestically from the main road of Zhuque Lane and came to a steady halt in front of a gate bearing the plaque "Zhao Mansion."

The coachman quickly jumped down from the carriage, opened the door, and with a hunched back, respectfully said to the person inside, "Master, we’ve arrived!"

After speaking, he immediately knelt down, curled up on the ground, his arched back just a step lower than the carriage’s shaft.

The next moment, a middle-aged man clad in the official robes of a Second Grade Official, with a prominent general’s belly, lifted the carriage curtain and looked out. This man was none other than Mr. Zhao Fengnian, the head of the Zhao Mansion and the Chief Minister of the Imperial Temple.

Mr. Zhao stepped on the coachman’s back as if he hadn’t noticed the man kneeling there at all, and, though he weighed nearly two hundred pounds, he stepped down from the carriage without a wobble.

He didn’t even glance at the coachman who was still lying on the ground as he hurriedly entered the grand gate of Zhao Mansion.

The young coachman then grimaced as he stood up, unconsciously raising his hand to rub the part of his back that had been stepped on.

Half a month on the job and he still wasn’t used to it!