Chapter 386 - Chapter 386: Chapter 382: Winning the Middle Game_1 (1/2)

Chapter 386: Chapter 382: Winning the Middle Game_1

Turns out, Jiang Jie had to breathe through his mouth for a whole day and night. Had it not been for the medicine Wang Yingbao gave him, the stench would have made him sick.

Yingbao knew that the foul smell could potentially make one ill, so, she asked her brother to take some incense to the examination hall.

However, burning incense was of no use as his examination cubicle was right next to the toilet.

Fortunately, his younger brother persevered and managed to finish answering all the examination questions without any unusual struggles.

Li Xu was not as affected, but his lack of rest at night left him fatigued.

Upon their return, Jiang Sanlang immediately boiled water for them to bathe and rinse. The water was mixed with herbal liquid and flower petals provided by his daughter.

After bathing, Jiang Jie and Li Xu ate a bit before falling asleep.

The two didn’t wake up until the next day.

Then, it was time to wait for the results of the examination.

Wei Zhan and Wen Hengyin came over and invited Jiang Jie, Jiang Wu, and Yuanbao to go out and play, and even visit nearby Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries.

Li Xu and Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, accompanied old man Wu for a walk around the prefecture city while inquiring about the affairs of the new regime.

The reason why the new Zhou Dynasty could quickly take over half of Daqian’s territory was due to the dissatisfaction of many local officials with the dictatorial ways of the Xiao Family and the Emperor’s weakness and absurd behavior, which led them to defect to the new Zhou Dynasty. The second reason was that Daqian had always been suppressing its military generals and exploiting its people, thereby exposing its vulnerabilities to the enemy and providing an opportunity for the new regime.

Many military generals from different regions flocked to pledge allegiance to the new Zhou emperor because he gave them opportunities for nobility and promotions, ensuring that their families were well fed and clothed, free from worries about food and clothing, even offering a life of wealth and honor.

Furthermore, when the barbarians attacked and captured the capital city along with the emperor and all his relatives and court officials, it provided the perfect opportunity for the rise of the new Zhou Dynasty.

Though the Prince of Dai had claimed his throne in the Shu Region, his powers were still limited, and he had very few useful allies. Although he still had some former officials and remnants of the Xiao Party who were willing to die for him, their help was like trying to douse a raging fire with a cup of water.

Now, seven out of the fourteen districts of Daqian have fallen into the hands of the new Zhou Dynasty, including Taiyuan Prefecture, Daname Prefecture, Kaitede Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Hejian Prefecture, Longde Prefecture, Jianglin Prefecture, and others, basically surrendering to Dazhou.

Besides, the new Zhou Dynasty issued new laws permitting even the children of merchants to participate in the imperial examinations, provided no one within their previous three generations had committed any criminal offences.

Jiang Cheng, Li Xu and others also found out that the new Emperor was from the royal family of the former Zhou Dynasty, and his great grandfather was once a crown prince.

The reason why people trusted him so much was that miracles were frequently seen all over the country. Even the renowned Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl from Jingzhou had descended and bestowed a divine decree, designating Zhou Rui as the ruler of the world.

It was rumored that the emperor of Dazhou was a person who had been favored by divine spirits. He had once used the Divine Gourd bestowed by the heavenly gods to save the lives of an entire city.

When Yingbao heard these rumors from her cousin, she somehow found them peculiar.

A month later, the results were finally out.

Both Li Xu and Jiang Jie had their names on the list, and were even within the top twenty.

Jiang Sanlang was ecstatic.

His son, just eleven years old, had passed the entrance examination and even ranked amongst the top twenty. Did this mean his son could become a top scholar in the future?

My god! A top scholar! That would mean he would really be a wenchu star.

In the past twenty years, there hasn’t been a single top scholar from their entire county, right?

Very soon, a stream of messengers arrived to announce the good news. Jiang Sanlang gave each of them a red envelope with ten taels of silver. He even ordered more than ten tables of banquet from the largest restaurant in the prefecture city to entertain the guests who came to celebrate.

The lord of the Wei Family personally came to congratulate and even invited Jiang Jie and Li Xu to be his guests.

During the banquet, the Wei family lord called out several of his teenage daughters and asked each of them to toast to Jiang Jie.

This infuriated Lady Wang greatly. That night, she gathered a group of people, stormed into the old man’s courtyard, wrecked his room and scared his new concubine out of her wits.

Lady Wang pointed at him and cursed, “Stop dreaming! Do you really think your illegitimate daughters have a chance with the Jiang Family?”

That was not the point, actually.

What if the Jiang Family really did allow one of these illegitimate daughters to marry in? Wouldn’t her own son have celebrated for nothing?

The lord of the Wei Family drew back his neck and didn’t dare utter a word.