Chapter 529 - 198: Rankings Determined (3)
Chapter 529: Chapter 198: Rankings Determined (3)
Gong Yuanxiu watched as everyone left, one by one. They greeted both Xu Yanlin and Yuan Shixin but pointedly ignored him. Their blatant disregard couldn’t have been more obvious.
Gong Yuanxiu burned with shame, but what could he do?
’He had only himself to blame for ending up in this situation.’
As his mind wandered, he saw Mr. Xu, who had just left, turn around and come back.
Gong Yuanxiu’s heart skipped a beat, a flicker of hope in his eyes. But Mr. Xu wasn’t there for him; he was there for his own dear nephew.
Mr. Xu didn’t pull Xu Yanlin aside to speak privately. Although the final rankings were set, unexpected issues could still arise before the official announcement. It was best to be cautious.
So, Mr. Xu spoke in front of everyone. "Regarding the search for that person, don’t act on your own. Wait until you’re out of the examination hall, and we’ll discuss it, you and I."
"Uncle, there’s no need to discuss it. Before I came, my parents and grandparents all instructed me that since the person might be in Xinghuai Prefecture, we should trouble Mr. Sheng and ask him to post notices for the search."
"That’s making too big a fuss."
"But Grandmother is gravely ill. The Imperial Physician said it’s a sickness of the heart that requires a medicine for the heart."
At the thought of his mother, Mr. Xu’s heart ached. Then, thinking of his sister, who had been missing for nearly twenty years with her fate unknown, his hesitation vanished.
"I’ll speak with Mr. Sheng about it shortly. You just stay in the examination hall for one more day. I’m leaving now. When you get out, we’ll have a proper talk."
"I will see you out, Uncle."
"No need. Your uncle is still young; I don’t need you to see me out."
Uncle and nephew parted ways at the entrance to the examination room, and Xu Yanlin quickly returned inside.
As soon as he entered, Yuan Shixin asked, "Your family still hasn’t given up?"
The Capital City was the heart of the empire, home to countless talented and eccentric individuals, so naturally, it had its share of bizarre stories.
But in the Capital City, one particular story stood out as the most bizarre of them all.
It was the story of the Xu family’s young mistress, who vanished right before her wedding.
The Xu family was no ordinary clan. They were a house of founding heroes of the dynasty, accomplished in both literary and martial pursuits.
The family had helped the first emperor conquer the realm through military merit, but after the dynasty was established, the Xu family wisely retired at the height of their power. They not only relinquished their military authority without fuss but also abandoned the martial path for scholarly pursuits, with the entire family changing its course.
Everyone in the Capital City had originally thought the Xu family would struggle after leaving their comfort zone, but that wasn’t the case at all.
That family’s minds were truly something else.
From the nearly eighty-year-old matriarch down to the six-year-old children, it was as if their minds had been divinely blessed; they were all incredibly sharp.
Not only did they produce a stream of Advanced Scholars, but some were even chosen as the Champion Scholar, the runner-up, or the third-place scholar in the imperial examinations.
Looking at them, which of the Xu family’s sons wasn’t impressive?
Born into such a family, a daughter of the Xu clan could truly have anything she wished for. Her life was smooth sailing, without a single grievance.
Yet, this very girl, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, vanished in her fifteenth year!
The entire Xu family went mad, turning the world upside down to find her.
But even after practically tearing apart several neighboring provinces, they still found no trace of the girl.
She had vanished without a trace, leaving neither a living person nor a dead body behind, plunging the entire Xu family into mourning for many long years.
Now, hearing that twenty years had passed and the Xu family still hadn’t given up the search, Yuan Shixin couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.
’What kind of fate did that girl have?’
’On one hand, you could say it was a bad fate—who knows where she ended up, and her life couldn’t have been easy. On the other hand, it was a good fate, to have a family that never stopped searching for her.’
Yuan Shixin couldn’t help but pat Xu Yanlin’s shoulder. "You’ll find her. Heaven is watching. It won’t let the old madam go on without seeing her daughter forever."
"I hope so."
The two of them finished a cup of tea and headed to the back to rest together.
Life as an examiner was simply no way for a person to live.
Back in the Capital City, the decision was made one day that they would supervise the examinations in Heyuan Province, and by the next, they were on their way to Xinghuai Prefecture.
It was a grueling journey. They could only rest when there was a torrential downpour; the rest of the time, even if they were sick, they had to force themselves to push on.
They had barely made it to Xinghuai Prefecture by the fifth day of the eighth month and entered the examination hall on the sixth. From then until now, it had been an endless cycle of proctoring and grading papers. They worked day and night, and each had lost more than ten pounds since leaving the Capital City.
They were utterly exhausted. Now that the grading was done and the rankings were set, they no longer had to worry about someone swapping exam papers or the local magistrates arguing with them over the results. Their official duties were nearly complete, and they could finally go back and get a good night’s sleep.
At the thought of sleep, both men couldn’t help but yawn at the same time and got up to head to the back.
They had been assigned private rooms in the examination hall, but the rooms were no different from decorations. In a whole day, they spent less than four hours inside them.
This time, they were going to sleep straight through to the next day. No one was to wake them for any reason.
The two walked off, talking as they went. No one asked Gong Yuanxiu if he wanted to go back and rest with them.
Seeing everyone treat him as if he were invisible, Gong Yuanxiu furiously kicked a table.
But he kicked it too hard. It felt like his toenail had broken, and he yelped in pain, hopping around like a frog while clutching his foot.