The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

Chapter 163

Three people could only hide in a corner and wait for the crowd to disperse. However, Li Yi had secured the best viewing spot early in the morning. Although he still couldn't see the list clearly, there were people up there working for him.

"Master, the second place, the top examinee, is Zeng Kang from our academy."

Li Yi nodded, "Hmm, not bad."

With his background, as long as his performance wasn't too poor, he had a great advantage in the palace examination. There shouldn't be any problem with him becoming a successful candidate in the imperial examination. In that case, Mingwei's child could safely come back, right?

Oh, but they still have to wait for another year to return.

The pedestrians outside took a long time to disperse. Even after receiving the news, Li Yi didn't leave. The child had been studying at home all along, and he hadn't seen him yet. Today, he should take a look.

The steward understood what he was thinking and stood by the window, looking outside. It took a while for him to spot the three people slowly approaching and he smiled, "They don't seem to be in a hurry at all."

Upon hearing this, Li Yi stood up abruptly and squinted his eyes to look outside, "Which one is it?"

The steward pointed at the tallest one among the three and said, "That one."

Liu Yizhu stood under the list, staring at his name for a long time. He repeatedly checked the information written above, let out a sigh of relief, and then stared at the person in front of him for a while.

Tang Jue chuckled and put his arm around him, "With that look in your eyes, it seems like you want to devour him."

Liu Yizhu snapped back to his senses and glared at him. Seeing Zhong Liangyu still looking at the list, he nudged Tang Jue, "How about Liangyu?"

Tang Jue shook his head. He hadn't even finished reading half of it, and his eyes were already tired. He didn't feel like looking anymore. Well, it didn't matter anyway, his name wouldn't be on it.

Liu Yizhu turned around and looked around. He happened to meet the gaze of two pairs of eyes staring at him from the opposite second-floor window. After hesitating for a moment, he bowed respectfully to the two.

Li Yi smiled and withdrew his gaze, sitting back in the private room, "I heard the child looks a lot like him."

"Yes."

As long as he was sensible, Langyue shouldn't make things too difficult for him.

Tang Jue looked at Liu Yizhu bowing to someone but didn't see anyone, "Who did you bow to?"

Liu Yizhu shook his head, "I don't know."

If it was someone from the Wei Wei family, judging by their age, it should be her long-awaited grandfather.

If not, it didn't matter to bow, after all, he was an elder.

Zhong Liangyu ran over with a smile, excitedly saying, "I made it on the list!"

"What's your ranking?"

"One hundred and thirty-four."

Tang Jue held back a laugh, and Liu Yizhu nudged him. Even if he was the last one, it was still better than Tang Jue, who didn't make the list at all.

"Congratulations, congratulations."

Zhong Liangyu grinned, "Congratulations to you too."

The two of them left hand in hand, leaving Tang Jue disgruntled in place. He was sure that after another three years of study, he would definitely make the list. Hmph!

Tang Shan received the news but wasn't too disappointed. He instructed his servants to prepare the carriage and headed to another residence.

Li Mingwei gently stroked her already showing belly and saw him walk in with a smile. She thought Tang Jue had gotten lucky.

"Where's your mother-in-law?"

"She's in the room. Why are you so happy? Did Tang Jue make it on the list?"

"That prodigal son, how is it possible?" Tang Shan said disdainfully, handing the letter in his hand to Li Mingwei. "It's your family member, the one from the Zhong family, who also passed."

Li Mingwei quickly read the letter and nodded in approval. She calculated the dates and figured that the palace examination should have already taken place a few days ago. If he could secure a top three position, she would be satisfied.

Tang Shan sat across from her, his tone filled with envy. "You just have to wait for good news."

He sighed. "I wonder what our Jue'er will do."

Li Mingwei shook her head and chuckled. Both of them were astute individuals, so there was no need for pretense in front of her.

Tang Jue soon received a letter from Shuhua Academy, instructing him to report there soon. He looked at Tang Guanshi in astonishment. "This is... Shuhua Academy, the one in the suburbs of the capital, the Shuhua Academy of the Li family?"

Tang Guanshi couldn't conceal his joy on his face and repeatedly nodded. "Yes, it's that Shuhua Academy."

Tang Jue held his chest, impressed by his father's capabilities. He wondered if his father had spent a hefty sum to secure his admission.

Today, he could finally hold his head up high before the two famous individuals. With an air of superiority, he entered the room and threw the letter onto the chessboard in front of them. He crossed his arms and never once lowered his head.

The two individuals, whose chess game was disrupted, were somewhat annoyed. Nevertheless, they reluctantly opened the letter to take a look. Zhong Liangyu raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Tang seems to have quite a wide network in the capital."

Liu Yizhu glanced briefly, thinking that it must be the help of Weiwei.

Since the palace examination results were announced, many people had inquired about Tang Jue's place of residence and sent letters of congratulation. Some of them came from well-connected families, and he had managed to gather all the information. Former King's concubine, huh~

Liu Yizhu was about to explode. He, the top scorer, was useless. He was only fit for knocking on the Li family's back door.

Tang Jue gazed at him after a long silence, and then glanced at his despondent face as he slumped in the chair. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Sir Top Scorer, what's wrong? Are you going to cry?"

Of course, he wanted to cry!

Unfortunately, at this moment, he couldn't find a place to cry.

Zhong Liangyu shook her head helplessly. "He's been like this lately, locking himself in his room and not coming out. Today, I managed to persuade him to come out and play a round of chess."

Tang Jue touched his forehead and then his own. "Is he running a fever or something?"

"Look at his eyes. He's so excited about his top scorer title that he can't sleep."

Liu Yizhu opened Tang Jue's hand. What's there to be excited about? Right now, he felt like dying.

He had come to the capital with high hopes, thinking that as long as he made it onto the imperial examination list, he wouldn't disgrace her and could return home in glory. But what happened? After half a year of bitter struggle, he still wasn't worthy.

Some things seemed unchangeable no matter how hard he tried.

Seeing his bloodshot eyes, Tang Jue furrowed his brow and looked at the letter from Shuhua Academy. He murmured softly, "Is your sister-in-law surnamed Li?"

Liu Yizhu glanced at him numbly.

Tang Jue chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I knew it. Why is my father so good to my sister-in-law? It turns out it's for my sake."

Zhong Liangyu was puzzled. "What do you mean? What's wrong with the surname Li?"

"Do you know who established Shuhua Academy?"

"Yes, it was Minister Li. I heard he was extremely knowledgeable and had taught the previous emperor and the current one. Later, for reasons unknown, he resigned from his official position and opened an academy. Students from Da Chu are scrambling to attend his classes."

Zhong Liangyu smiled and said, "I heard that Minister Li is also deeply devoted. After his wife passed away, he never remarried or took any concubines. He single-handedly raised his daughter. The academy was even named after his late wife."

"Really?" Tang Jue nodded with a mischievous grin and then said, "So, your sister-in-law's surname is Li."

Li?

"Don't tell me it's the same Li as Minister Li."

"Hey!" Tang Jue clapped his hands and put his arm around Zhong Liangyu's shoulder. "I've been thinking about the same thing. Do you think they are the same person?"

Suddenly, Zhong Liangyu understood why Liu Yizhu looked so desperate.

He probed, "Yizhu, your sister-in-law didn't tell you before, did she?"

Liu Yizhu didn't want to speak.

"Tsk~" Tang Jue shook his head with a tinge of heartache. "Look at his suicidal appearance. Does he seem to know?"

He turned around and called Tang's steward, "Go and fetch a doctor."

The top scholar, who had only held his title for a few days, had already disappeared. It was truly an unexpected turn of events.