Chapter 386: All Thanks to Zhi’er’s Hard-Won Success
The fox has finally shown its tail—its true intentions laid bare.
Madam Chen didn’t say a word. She merely looked at the elder uncle and elder aunt with a faint smile, one that curled at the edges of her brows with the sharpness of a woman unafraid to speak her mind, yet tinged with unmistakable disdain.
Hmph. “Let my man gain some experience”? What a pretty excuse. Wasn’t it obvious? They wanted to use her son—use her Ping’an—to pull strings for their own benefit. And they even had the face to say it out loud?
Back then, when her son had wanted to study in the village school, they claimed they had no money and refused. When her son wished to learn basic literacy from them, they said they had no time. Every door had been shut in her child’s face.
But now—now that her son had finally achieved something, now that he had earned the title of huiyuan through his own effort—they suddenly wanted to “borrow his name”? Where were they before?
Backdoor favors? At their age, did they still have the nerve to ask for such things? Even if one were willing to crawl through backdoors and connections, it was useless if one had no ability of their own. And it wasn’t as if they hadn’t tried before—hadn’t they bragged that a friend’s teacher was a county school instructor involved in writing exam questions? Yet even with that, he hadn’t managed to pass the exam for xiucai.
Look at her son. Had her son relied on connections? Had he walked any backdoor path? No—every step he took, he carved out with his own hands.
Thinking this, Madam Chen felt a fierce, unstoppable surge of pride. The more pride swelled in her chest, the more determined she became to protect her son’s good name. He had just become huiyuan—if the family immediately used his status to hand out gifts and seek favors, how would others look at him?
And besides, accepting gifts and pulling strings was never good for a young scholar’s future. It could ruin him before he even set foot in officialdom.
Thus, Madam Chen’s refusal was absolute.
“Second Brother,” Uncle Zhu Shouren said, seeing that he couldn’t sway Madam Chen and aiming instead at Zhu Father. “A tiger is hunted by brothers; father and son go into battle together. We share the same blood. My Jun-er and I are both kin to your Ping, of the same roots and same branches. How could we not help him in officialdom later? Ah, Second Brother… the official world is perilous.”
“Shouyi, listen to your elder brother,” Old Master Zhu added after his eldest son’s prodding.
“You child, how can you be so thoughtless? Would we ever harm you?” Old Madam Zhu rose to her feet as she spoke, her tone heavy with reprimand.
With both parents pressuring him, Zhu Father began to waver. His resolve faltered under the barrage from the old house, and he seemed on the verge of giving in.
At that very moment, a rapid barrage of knocks—pi-li-pa-la—sounded urgently at the gate.
Just when Uncle Shouren’s goal was within reach, his face twisted with irritation as he turned toward the door. A heartbeat later, the door burst open.
“Shouyi—!”
A crowd of villagers rushed inside as if floodwaters had burst through the gate, breathless and shouting Zhu Father’s name.
“What’s going on?” Madam Chen released the pinch she had locked onto her husband’s thigh, stood up, and asked.
“What else? Hurry, hurry! Tidy up! Another group of messengers bringing good news is coming!” the elderly man in the lead panted, slapping his thigh, his face flushed with excitement.
“Yes, hurry, Shouyi’s family. They’ve already reached the east end of the village—we ran over as soon as we saw them!” another villager added breathlessly.
Before they had even finished speaking, Madam Chen heard the distant crackle of firecrackers from the village entrance. Her expression brightened instantly.
“Quick, quick—Juan’er, boil water, make tea!” Madam Chen ordered her daughter-in-law, joy radiating from her face.
“Second Sister-in-law, what’s Juan’er boiling water for? I’ll do it! That’s why I came! My left eyelid has been twitching all morning—I knew something good was coming! Turns out it was for Ping!”
Before Madam Chen could respond, the fourth aunt dashed toward the kitchen with the determination of someone who’d fight anyone who tried to stop her.
The third uncle and third aunt also started helping clean up. Even Zhu Pingjun rolled up his sleeves to fetch water. The villagers who had come to deliver the news joined in without hesitation.
In an instant, the ones standing idly in the courtyard—Old Master Zhu, Old Madam Zhu, and the elder uncle and aunt—looked embarrassingly conspicuous.
Cleaning the yard in preparation for a celebration—this was something the people of Xiahe Village were very practiced at. After all, this wasn’t the first time good news had come from the Zhu family.
Soon, the courtyard was spotless. And not long after, the celebratory procession arrived.
But this time—this time was different from all the rest.
The procession was enormous—nearly a hundred people strong. A dragon dance, lion dance, drums and gongs thundering through the air. Red flowers hung everywhere along the path, bathing the entire village in a sea of jubilant color.
Villagers gaped, awestruck, crowding in layer upon layer around the Zhu household.
And it wasn’t just Xiahe villagers. People had followed the procession from town… even from Anqing Prefecture. Some had come from as far as Fengyang and Ying Tianfu.
“Look! Look there—that’s the County Magistrate! Even the Prefect is here! This is the first time in history!” cried a well-traveled onlooker perched on a tree outside.
A stir rippled through the crowd like a wave. The Prefect himself had come! The second son of the Zhu family had truly soared to the heavens.
Then—
“By Heaven’s Mandate, the Emperor decrees:
On the fifteenth day of the third month, in the thirtieth year of Jiajing’s reign, during the xin-hai grace examination—
Zhu Ping’an has been awarded First Place in the First Rank of the Palace Examination, granted the title of jinshi, and appointed Zhuangyuan.
Thus this edict is proclaimed.”
“Congratulations to the honored Zhu household! Zhu Ping’an, young master of this home, has achieved the title of Zhuangyuan, his name shining atop the Golden Roll!”
The announcer’s voice boomed across the courtyard, carrying clearly all the way to the villagers gathered outside.
A moment of stunned silence fell. Then the crowd erupted like a detonated powder keg—shouts, gasps, cheers tumbling together.
Zhuangyuan?! He actually became Zhuangyuan?!
In a shadowed corner, Uncle Shouren swallowed hard, his eyes glued to the imperial announcement as if he might snatch it and carve his own name onto it. If only it were me… if only…
Madam Chen, listening intently from nearby, heard the words “Zhu Ping’an” and “Zhuangyuan.” Her mind blanked. My son… my son became Zhuangyuan?! Her eyes rolled upward, and she nearly fainted from joy.
Fortunately, Zhu Father reacted swiftly. Before anyone else noticed, he caught her as she fell and pinched the flesh between her thumb and index finger.
“Ow!” Madam Chen gasped back to awareness. Seeing her husband pinching her, she glared at him fiercely. Oh, Zhu Shouyi, you’re bold now, huh? You dare lay hands on me?!
“Congratulations to the honored Zhu household—Zhu Ping’an has achieved Zhuangyuan…” the announcer repeated.
Madam Chen froze mid-glare. The words washed over her again—Zhuangyuan! A wave of joy crashed through her like molten lava, and her eyelids fluttered upward again—she was about to faint again.
Before she could, Zhu Father pinched her once more, bringing her back to consciousness. After two rounds of this, her heart finally adjusted; she could now withstand the tidal wave of happiness without fainting.
But then a cry rang out: “Ah! Someone fainted—fetch a doctor!”
It wasn’t Madam Chen—it was the fourth aunt.
She had just set down the freshly brewed tea, taken one breath, heard the news… and promptly collapsed.
Why is she even more excited than I am? Madam Chen wondered with exasperation as she hurried over.
Thankfully, a village doctor from a neighboring village happened to be among the crowd outside. The villagers shoved him through the door.
He knelt, pinched the fourth aunt’s philtrum, waking her, then checked her pulse. When he opened his eyes again, he wore a smile.
“Congratulations, congratulations,” he said warmly. “She’s with child. It’s nothing serious—just needs rest.”
With… child?
The fourth aunt blinked in disbelief, grabbed the doctor’s sleeve, and made him repeat it. When he confirmed it again and again, tears spilled from her eyes.
Ping became Zhuangyuan… and now I’m pregnant? Doesn’t that mean this child is blessed because of Ping? All these years without movement—and now, the moment Ping reaches the heavens, I become with child? This must be Ping’s fortune shining on us!
Ancient people believed in such things. And the fourth aunt believed it wholeheartedly.
“All thanks to Ping’s success,” she whispered, stroking her belly as tears streamed down.
Her husband, the fourth uncle, placed a trembling hand over hers and nodded vigorously. He had arrived at the exact same conclusion.
To outsiders, of course, this sounded ridiculous—but everyone simply laughed. They all understood.
“In the future,” the fourth aunt declared solemnly, patting her stomach, “this child shall be named Zhu Dazhuang—the Great Zhuangyuan.”