Chapter 56: You’re Choosing Officials, Not a Son-in-Law

“Husband, how did the exam go?” Su Mingyue squeezed through the crowd.

She nearly scared Shen Xiuyan’s heart right out of his chest.

“Good heavens! There are so many people here—what are you doing?” He then turned helplessly to Cui Cui beside her. “And you too, couldn’t you stop her?”

Cui Cui was speechless. Cui Cui didn’t want to say a word.

Was this something a little maid like her could manage?

And besides, was her young mistress someone who could be talked out of things?

She was the type who would give her whole heart to someone she loved.

Could she possibly miss such an important occasion?

Go ahead and try to tell her that!

Receiving Cui Cui’s sharp look, Shen Xiuyan sheepishly pretended not to see it. “Come on, be careful. Let’s talk in the carriage.”

He carefully helped Su Mingyue into the carriage as though handling a fragile treasure.

Inside, facing Su Mingyue’s expectant wide eyes, Shen Xiuyan smiled and said, “It went alright. Felt about the same as usual. Whether I pass depends on the examiners’ preferences.”

“Wow~ If you say that, then I’m relieved. That means there’s definitely no problem!” Su Mingyue clenched her little fists.

Sometimes Shen Xiuyan seriously wondered where Su Mingyue’s blind confidence in him came from.

Even he didn’t believe in himself as much as she did…

Meanwhile, Su Mingyue was already holding her belly, giggling with delight. “So great. I just knew you could make it this far.”

Shen Xiuyan: “……”

His wife’s confidence was a sweet kind of pressure.

Three days later, when the results came out, Shen Xiuyan had already achieved a state of serene calm.

After all, with a wife so confident, his own ego had grown too.

At this point, he shamelessly thought, “Just a mere Jinshi, hardly worth caring about…”

Out of the thousand-plus examinees, only three hundred were selected. The difficulty was clear.

He still needed to stand out from among those three hundred. Though not as hard as placing first, even coming in third wasn’t exactly a walk in the park…

The pressure was intense. He resumed several days of high-intensity cramming.

Eventually, Shen Xiuyan gave in to despair and thought, “I heard the Emperor likes to pick good-looking scholars for third place. My looks should be enough, right…?”

He touched his face, ready to meet the Imperial Examination in his best form.

Yes—when you suspect your own ability might not be enough, you leave it to fate.

That’s how progressive modern thinking works…

A month of intense preparation later, Shen Xiuyan finally faced the ultimate exam—the Imperial Examination.

The Emperor presided personally. Candidates had to wait outside the palace early in the morning. Once their identity and residency were verified, they were escorted inside by guards.

Shen Xiuyan stood in the dense crowd, numbly following the tide of footsteps.

The early spring morning was still chilly, and his knees stiffened after standing too long. Fortunately, Mingyue had prepared knee warmers, saving his joints from suffering.

Candidates were led into the great hall and seated in order.

Shen Xiuyan quietly tidied his appearance and adopted his best posture, waiting for the exam to begin.

At this point, he hadn’t yet abandoned his strategy of winning the Emperor over with his looks.

Before the exam started, Emperor Deye finally arrived.

Everyone knelt in greeting. Shen Xiuyan once again appreciated the importance of having a wife.

See? Knee warmers came in handy again!

“Rise,” Emperor Deye waved a hand. “To reach this stage, you must be exceptionally gifted. I’m pleased that my Nanyue Dynasty has such talent. Now that everyone is present, let the exam begin.”

With the Emperor’s order, everyone returned to their seats, tense with anticipation.

No matter how chaotic his thoughts were before, the moment Shen Xiuyan received his exam paper, his mind went completely still.

He carefully read the questions, drafted his ideas on scrap paper, revised multiple times, and only then transcribed his final answer onto the exam sheet.

In fact, before the exam even began, Emperor Deye had already reviewed information on the more well-known and capable candidates.

Now, he looked around the hall, observing the scholars’ appearances.

Then he asked softly, “Lord Li, which one is Wu Jiping?”

Lord Li stepped forward slightly and pointed respectfully. Emperor Deye nodded.

“A man even the Grand Tutor praised must be quite learned—though he is a bit old.” Emperor Deye nodded thoughtfully.

Lord Li replied quietly, “There’s also a young genius named Lin Jiazhong. He’s very famous and highly favored. That’s him, Your Majesty.”

Following his gaze, Emperor Deye looked over. “Hmm, young indeed—but not very good-looking.”

Lord Li: “……”

You’re selecting officials, not sons-in-law. Why would looks matter?

“Right—where’s that Jieyuan surnamed Shen? Which one is he?” Emperor Deye continued, stroking his chin.

Lord Li: “Sixth row, seventh from the right, Your Majesty.”

“Mm, now this one’s not bad-looking.” The Emperor made a mental note.

Sigh, it was hard being Emperor. Who knew when it started, but somehow it had become an unspoken rule that the Third Rank Scholar must be attractive.

He couldn’t be the one to break that tradition. It would be an affront to generations before him.

So he was trying to find the best-looking one among those who truly had talent.

Being Emperor was so difficult!

Later, he descended from the dragon throne and walked slowly behind the examinees. As he passed, some trembled, some froze, and some even made mistakes in their writing.

He paused behind several individuals, observing their work.

Indeed, they were all genuinely talented. Their essays were excellent, and their calligraphy was commendable.

After reviewing them, he nodded in satisfaction and departed, leaving the Minister of Rites to oversee the exam.

After all, Emperor Deye was a very busy emperor—how could he have the time to wait for them to finish the entire exam?

Time ticked by, and finally, a voice rang out: “Collect the papers.”

The candidates were then escorted out of the palace.

The next day, the examiners handpicked by the Emperor each reviewed all the test papers, marking them with symbols based on a nine-rank system.

The highest rank was a circle. In the end, the ten papers with the most circles were selected and presented to Emperor Deye for final review and the selection of the top three scholars.

On the third day, all the examinees gathered again in the grand hall.

The candidates for Second Class and Third Class had already been decided. Now, Emperor Deye would personally choose three from the top ten to be awarded First Class.

The grand hall was especially silent.

Everyone kept their heads bowed, waiting for the verdict from the man above.

Emperor Deye was carefully reading through the papers. When he came to one in particular, his eyes lit up, and a pleased smile appeared on his face.

The essay on current affairs was so well written it could practically be used directly in policy, not to mention that several of the viewpoints matched his own thoughts exactly.

With this paper setting the bar, the others seemed lackluster by comparison.

He was eager to see who had written it.