Chapter 57: The Case Breaks

After finishing their meal, Wei Guangde and his two elder brothers headed out toward the county government office to check the examination results. Their father and uncle stayed home to wait for the news; since they lived nearby, word would reach them quickly once the roster was posted.

Upon arriving outside the county office, they found a sea of people. Not only had the hundreds of candidates who sat for the county examination gathered there, but many were accompanied by their families and close friends. Coupled with hawkers roaming about and shouting out prices for their wares, the normally quiet and solemn entrance of the county office had transformed into a bustling marketplace.

Along the way, Wu Dong and Wei Guangde were recognized by quite a few acquaintances, to whom they naturally offered cupped-fist salutes without pause.

Bolstered by the strong and sturdy Wei Wencai, Wu Dong had also built up a fine physique during the past year at Bengshan Fortress. The three of them squeezed forward while exchanging greetings with those around them, quickly making their way to the front of the yamen.

The results had not yet been posted, so most people were simply standing about in small groups, chatting idly. Nevertheless, the crowd was visibly divided into two distinct circles.

As they drew closer, Wei Guangde noticed the two factions, both of which he recognized.

Even from a distance, while Wei Wencai and Wu Dong were still elbowing their way through the throng, a figure from the group on the right already stepped forward and bowed toward them from afar.

This person was none other than Zeng Yuanshu. His relationship with Wu Dong was exceedingly close; not only were they fellow students, but they were also of the same literary generation.

Although Zeng Yuanshu knew that Wu Dong had given up the imperial examinations, such was fate: lacking full brothers, Wu Dong was destined to enter a military career and eventually succeed his father's post.

The faction on the left, naturally, belonged to the Zhang family. Wu Dong led the others straight toward Zeng Yuanshu's side, showing no courtesy whatsoever to the Zhang clan.

Today, that fellow Zhang Haochu was conspicuously absent, leaving only two other young masters of the Zhang family in attendance.

"Brother Zeng, trust you have been well."

Wu Dong approached and greeted Zeng Yuanshu with a cupped-fist salute.

"Ever since you went off to Bengshan Fortress, I haven't been able to find a drinking companion all this past year."

Zeng Yuanshu smiled as he spoke with Wu Dong, then greeted Wei Wencai and Wei Guangde as well.

"What brings you here to check the results?"

Zeng Yuanshu was quite curious. He had learned during their drinking session last time that Wei Wencai had long since abandoned his books. As for Wei Guangde, he was still young and could take the exams or leave them; at the time, hearing that the boy had only just begun studying the Four Books, Zeng Yuanshu knew there was little hope for him to pass the imperial examinations within three to five years.

"My cousin Guangde took part in this session as well," Wu Dong said with a smile, resting a hand proudly on Wei Guangde's small shoulder.

"Guangde took the county examination too? Splendid. How did he do?"

Zeng Yuanshu was quite surprised to hear that Wei Guangde had sat for the county examinations over the past couple of days.

To be honest, back at the wine table, knowing the background of the two Wei brothers—especially hearing that Wei Wencai had lost all ambition for scholarly honors—Zeng Yuanshu had held them in rather low regard.

Even though he had later generously lent out his essays when Wei Guangde came to borrow them, that was entirely out of consideration for Wu Dong, given their friendship of a decade.

"Just so-so. My teacher simply told me to try my luck and get familiar with the county examination," Wei Guangde replied with a shy smile.

"I only returned to Pengze yesterday afternoon. In that case, your cousin and my brother are of the same cohort this session."

With that, Zeng Yuanshu pulled forward a boy standing behind him, who appeared even younger than Wei Guangde.

"Guangde must be thirteen this year, right? This is my brother, Zeng Yuanrui, twelve years old this year. The two of you can grow closer in the future."

As he spoke, Zeng Yuanshu introduced his younger brother, Zeng Yuanrui, to them.

"You've been studying over at Jiujiang Academy; how did the prefectural examination go for you this year?"

Once the formal greetings were concluded, Wu Dong finally asked about Zeng Yuanshu's activities over the past year.

After Wu Dong left Pengze County for Bengshan Fortress earlier that year, Zeng Yuanshu had also used his connections to go and study at Jiujiang Academy.

Ordinarily, official academies had no place for uncertified candidates, but his family was wealthy. Although he lacked the formal status of a enrolled scholar, attending as an auditor was entirely feasible. Furthermore, Zeng Yuanshu was still young, merely twenty years old, making him one of the youngest at the institution.

With family wealth at his disposal, Zeng Yuanshu was generous and frequently hosted the licentiates.

After all, these individuals had already passed the prefectural examination and possessed extraordinary erudition. As for why he had not gone elsewhere in Jiangxi—particularly to academies in Nanchang—well, before earning the rank of a licentiate, Zeng Yuanshu lacked the standing to roam about freely. Perhaps had he been a few years younger, he might have gone sightseeing.

The idle chatter slipped away in the blink of an eye. While the crowd was still conversing, the gates of the yamen swung open. Several bailiffs, armed with water-and-fire staves, strode to the front to disperse the scholars crowding the entrance, clearing a path. Two clerks followed closely behind, carrying a large red notice board out of the gates.

The movements of the two clerks were nimble. With the assistance of the bailiffs, they quickly posted the roster for this county examination—commonly referred to as "releasing the rolls." The red placard displayed two rings of examinees' seat numbers.

Because the county examination was held over consecutive days, and to prevent cheating or favoritism by revealing identities beforehand, the candidates' names were omitted until the tests concluded. Only their seat numbers were recorded, and examinees determined whether they had passed by checking their assigned numbers.

The roster featured two concentric rings of seat numbers: the inner ring contained twenty numbers, the outer ring thirty, with a large character meaning "Passed" inscribed in the center.

As soon as the roster was posted, the crowd surged forward relentlessly. However, several retainers from the Zeng family braced themselves fiercely at the front, preventing anyone from jostling their young master and his companions.

"I passed! Top right of the outer ring!"

Just as Wei Guangde was nervously scanning the seat numbers on the placard to locate his own, Zeng Yuanrui suddenly shouted out in excitement beside him.

"Congratulations, congratulations."

Wei Guangde instinctively offered a cupped-fist bow. Zeng Yuanrui's elder brother, Zeng Yuanshu, was likewise overwhelmed with joy upon hearing the news.

Amidst the chorus of congratulations, Wei Guangde finished scanning the twenty numbers of the inner ring; his own tag, Heaven-Sequence Twelve, was nowhere to be found.

To say he was disappointed would be an overstatement.

Wei Guangde had made up his mind long ago: if he failed to make the inner ring, passing just the preliminary round meant there was no need to continue with the subsequent tests anyway. Since he could still take the prefectural examination regardless, he might as well use the time to study diligently and prepare for the second examination two months later.

This was, in truth, just Wei Guangde comforting himself. Although he had no idea whether he would make the cut at all, he had harbored such thoughts from the very beginning.

Having scanned the inner ring, his gaze moved to the thirty positions of the outer ring. With a fluttering heart, he looked over them one by one, proceeding clockwise from the twelve-o'clock position.

"Second Brother, how is it? Did you find your tag?"

Having congratulated Zeng Yuanrui, the eldest brother shifted his attention back to his own sibling.

He had forgotten to ask earlier what his brother's seat number was, and now he had no idea what to look for. "What was your number again?"

"I'm looking," Wei Guangde replied.

His gaze had already shifted from the twelve-o'clock position down to the six-o'clock mark. Having perused half of the outer ring, he still hadn't spotted his tag.

Not there.

Why wasn't it there?

Wei Guangde cried out in his heart as he continued scanning further down.

"I passed! I passed..."