The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 139: Result Release for the Autumn Imperial Examination

After leaving the note in the carriage, the movement in the stable stopped for two days. However, on the morning of September 15, something happened.

This time, what appeared out of thin air was not graffiti but a whole bag of gold and silver. Needless to say, Ding Xiu used Sun's Mansion as a "pit!”

How could Sun Shaozong not figure out what the big bag was? It was from the Qian Ning Mansion. To avoid getting into trouble, he had to hide it all.

As for whether to return it to Ding Xiu in the future, he’ll leave the matter to the future.

Because he had to deal with this bag of gold and silver, Sun Shaozong went out much later than scheduled. When he got to the Imperial Examination Hall, he saw that the street was already blocked by people.

Zhao Wuwei led several Yamen runners to push and shove the people for a long time but failed to open a path.

He didn’t know how many people and scholars were hidden in the crowd. He did not dare to do anything randomly.

Seeing this delay, Sun Shaozong hurriedly called Zhao Wuwei to the front of the carriage and gave orders in his ear.

After getting the instruction from Sun Shaozhong, Zhao Wuwei suddenly stiffened his loins. He threw the wheels of a whip dance on the street as if they were on the ground and said loudly, "Lord Sun is here for the Autumn Examination Parade. Please don't delay your future!"

When the leader called out, it was much more useful than the sign of the Central Judicial Office. Although the Inspector was a temporary position, there was no binding force when the result was going to be released. But who dared to make a fuss in this situation?

So they saw that the crowd made way for a passage more than two meters wide in a minute or so.

The carriage of Sun Shaozong successfully reached the gate of the place of the Imperial Examination.

Lin Delu and Zhou Da had been waiting outside the gate for a long time.

As soon as Sun Shaozong got out of the carriage, Lin Delu immediately went up to him and asked for instructions, "Lord, the time is almost up. I'm afraid all the examiners and Lords here are all anxious for the release. What do you think..."

After the examiners entered the Imperial Examination Hall, the front door of the hall was sealed to show that they were allowed to enter but not leave. Others could enter and leave through the side door, though.

Only when the Central Judicial Office [or the Ministry of Rites] sent people to unseal the Imperial Examination Hall on the release day could all the examiners then come out.

"Then begin to unseal now."

With these words, Sun Shaozong walked slowly up, cleaned his hands with a copper basin, twisted three sandalwood sticks and lit them, and bowed himself to the incense burner.

Two petty officials beside him immediately shouted at the top of their voices, "The auspicious time has arrived, and the Imperial Examination Court is unsealed!"

Sun Shaozong stretched out his hand and tore the seal on the main door. Several officers immediately came forward and slowly pushed the two vermilion doors open.

He saw a group of red and blue officials waiting behind the gate. Regardless of their positions and personalities, they were all dignified and calm.

Sun Shaozong gave a salute and said, "You have worked hard for the country for more than a month, and you have done a lot of good deeds. We have prepared a banquet to celebrate tomorrow."

Although he reserved the main table at the Luming Feast, he represented the ”landlord” of the Central Judicial Office at this time, so he regarded himself as the Master.

After saying these cliches, Sun Shaozong stepped aside, and the examiners, led by Zhang Qiu, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, rushed out, looking steadily forward, and went on to their official sedan chair.

This time, it was not necessary for the Yamen Runners to open the way, and the crowd spontaneously gave way.

Only after the examiners left would the list of successful candidates be posted. At this time, if someone dared to stop the examiners' sedan chairs, it was estimated that they would have to be dragged down to fight in groups by impatient candidates for the civil service examination.

The sedan bearers seemed to have the wind blowing under their feet, and soon they carried the sedan chair and scattered like birds.

At this time, four petty officials were carrying a scroll.

Surrounded by a group of soldiers, he left the main door and hung the scroll on the screen wall in front of the door with a stick.

"The auspicious time has come. Release the names now!"

With Lin Delu's shout, the four petty officials simultaneously removed the pole, and the scroll more than three meters wide was stretched down.

The screen wall seemed to be noisy suddenly. People were pushing each other around, crying, and cursing. It was really lively!

It was not that the quality of the scholars was too weak. The main reason was that some couldn’t get ahead. Most of them were big, round-figure domestic slaves. To congratulate their Master ahead of time, they naturally have to do everything they could.

The first wave of people watching the list was either happy or angry, then they squeezed out of the crowd, and it was then the turn of those weak scholars to fill up.

Compared with those rich servants, their behavior was naturally much more polite, but their reactions after reading the list were ten times more intense than those of the rich servants.

Some were ecstatic, some looked forward to self-glorification, some cried bitterly, some called the sky unfair, and some questioned if there was an inside story of a plot or a shady deal.

Of course, most of them were left feeling dejected and staggered.

If the scene was painted, there was absolutely nothing wrong with hiding the background and naming it the ”Tomb Sweeping Painting.”

However, this was also normal. After all, more than 2000 candidates took the examination, but only 137 were successful. The admission rate was less than 1/18, so the losers naturally accounted for the vast majority.

It was said that the admission rate in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas would even exceed 50 to 1, which was simply a death examination area.

Looking at the scene in front of the screen wall, Cheng Rixing couldn’t help sighing, "It's so ugly in the face of fame and fortune. I really feel sad."

Sun Shaozong looked at him scornfully and said to him that if he fell off the list at the Spring Examination next year, he might not be much better than those below.

After waiting for about half an hour, he watched the crowd gradually dispersed. Although some candidates could not accept the fact that they were defeated, they shouted that there must be something behind the scenes, but they did not attract the approval of others.

Sun Shaozong was also a little relieved, so he shouted to Zhao Wuwei and said, "Leave some people here to avoid any accidents in the afternoon."

After saying that, he was ready to take Lin Delu, Zhou Da, and others back to the Yamen to do business.

Unexpectedly, just getting on the carriage, before Zhang Cheng shook off his whip, he saw a splash from the opposite tavern and that someone had jumped off the building!

"Sigh!"

Seeing this, Cheng Rixing couldn't help sighing again, "The word "fame" is really harmful."

His voice dropped, but he heard someone in the tavern yell again, "Oh no, the candidate Master wants to jump off the building!"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned. It's common for the scholar who did not succeed in the exam to jump off the building and hung himself, but why did the scholar who successfully got on the list want to jump off the building?

Sun Shaozong picked up the curtain of the carriage, jumped out of it quickly, and said, "Go with me to see what happened!"