The Prime Minister's Darling

Chapter 385: End of Chapter 198 (One more update)

On the fifteenth of February, the third round of the examination came to an end. The candidates spent an exhilarating yet unbearable night at the Imperial College, finally released from the Exam Site on the sixteenth after another stringent body search.

There were many people outside the Imperial College.

Gu Jiao arrived early and got a good spot.

The gates of the Imperial College opened and the candidates began to trickle out.

Gu Jiao had only been able to greet Xiao Liulang once during the county-level examination, having missed the rest – the prefectural exams, college and rural exams – because she was out of town for her own exams.

This was Gu Jiao’s first time waiting for him amidst a sea of people after an examination, much like family members waiting outside an exam site during college entrance exams in her past life.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait too long before she saw Xiao Liulang, with his bundle, came out.

He was easy to spot amidst the crowd.

Not because he was using a crutch, but due to his demeanor and appearance, simply extraordinary.

Gu Jiao smiled unconsciously, corners of her lips curving up.

Xiao Liulang also spotted her at a glance. He walked towards her through the crowd, a sparkle in his eyes brighter than the stars of the Milky Way.

“How did it go? Did it go well?” Gu Jiao took the bundle from his hand. The bundle wasn’t heavy, so she put it directly in her own small basket.

Xiao Liulang nodded: “Yes, it went smoothly.”

The weather had been freezing cold during the first two exams, but fortunately, it was sunny for the third one.

“Why did you come?” Xiao Liulang looked at the little dumpling next to Gu Jiao.

Little Jingkong, with his arms folded across his chest and chin raised, harumphed: “You think I wanted to come? I got a rare day off, if not for accompanying Jiaojiao, I wouldn’t have come!”

That little bugger, Xiao Liulang rubbed the little guy’s buzz cut, which was starting to become prickly.

The group turned towards the alley at the other end where Liao Quan was already waiting.

The trio got on the horse-drawn carriage.

Little Jingkong sat across from Xiao Liulang, hands still folded across his chest, his face serious as he observed him.

Xiao Liulang, puzzled by the scrutiny, asked, “What’s the matter? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Little Jingkong said seriously, “I want to see how well you did on your exam and if you really tried your best.”

When he was waiting outside earlier, he had observed the candidates coming out. There were frustrated ones, the despondent ones, the indifferent ones, but none looked joyful.

He was observing to see which category his brother-in-law fell into.

Xiao Liulang gave Little Jingkong a strange look.

Gu Jiao leaned in, whispering in his ear, “He now has good friends, he says if you don’t do well on your exams, it would be embarrassing for him in front of his classmates.”

Xiao Liulang: “…”

Gu Jiao casually said, “You’ve already finished your exams, it doesn’t matter now!”

Xiao Liulang let out a sigh of relief. His wife sure knew how to make him feel better.

Wait, wife?

Why would he have such a thought!

Before he finished reeling, Little Jingkong threw another bombshell: “Jiaojiao bet 1000 taels that you will top the Provincial Exam!”

Xiao Liulang was dumbfounded: “…!!”

Gu Jiao looked up to the sky. I didn’t see it, I didn’t hear it, I wasn’t there!

The Medical Hall was still at the investment stage, having just started mass-production of medicines or, more accurately, having just expanded into a small pharmaceutical factory. Xiao Liulang was curious where this 1000 taels came from.

Gu Jiao: It all came from Gu Chenglin.

Xiao Liulang palmed his forehead. It was just nine days of exams, not like the old days of the children’s and rural tests which would take two months each time. Why did he still feel like the house was being turned upside-down?

“So, did you really do your best on your exam?” Little Jingkong asked seriously.

Xiao Liulang took a deep breath: “Yes.”

He truly did his best. Thankfully, else he would have wasted those 1000 taels.

However, the Imperial examination was not like Arithmetic, or Astronomy, where there were standard answers; right is right, wrong is wrong. It held a high degree of unpredictability, so ranking first wasn’t guaranteed.

Luckily, it was just 1000 taels. Suppose he didn’t rank first, by enrolling a few more students like Lin Chengye, working hard for a year or two, he could make it up.

Turns out, he was celebrating prematurely.

Little Jingkong nodded seriously: “You’d better have done your best. Our neighbors have also bet that you’d rank first.”

Xiao Liulang was taken aback again: “How… how much did they bet?”

Little Jingkong, the local tycoon-in-embryo, calmly said: “Not much, adding up to seven or eight thousand taels.”

Little…tycoon…local….seven…eight…thousand…taels….

Xiao Liulang clutched his chest: “…”

Upon returning to Bishui Alley, the old priest called Xiao Liulang over.

The old priest already knew the exam questions. Although the Court forbade leaking the exam questions, as soon as the examination began, the questions would be disseminated within two hours by all sorts of means. Therefore, no candidates were allowed to enter the exam venue after the examination had started.