200: Chapter 200: He passed the imperial examination!

Seeing the two clumps of mold floating on the yellow noodles before him, Chen Mo felt so disgusted he almost vomited.

He hurriedly put the lid back on. He didn't understand what his current situation was—was this his own home, or someone else's?

At this moment, a shout suddenly came from outside the house.

It was a rough voice, the kind that immediately made one imagine a dark-skinned, filthy man.

"Hey! Yunxuan, hurry up and come out to help your old man carry a bucket of water. Stop just focusing on your studies!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo immediately walked out.

Outside the house was a paddy field where loaches and small shrimp were raised in the water, while rice grew above it.

This was dual-use water.

Yunxuan is my name? I am a child of a farming family.

Chen Mo speculated about the character he was playing.

A skin-and-bones man was holding a bamboo pole, poking at the mud buried in the water.

Chen Mo searched around, found a bucket, drew a bucket of water, and carried it over.

At this moment, in the murky mud, Chen Mo saw his own reflection.

Unlike his dark-skinned and thin father, he looked fair and clean, with a head of long, jet-black, shiny hair.

He looked a bit like one of those refined gentlemen sitting in a Jiangnan water pavilion, playing the zither and listening to the rain while a storm raged outside.

"Is the contrast really that big?" Chen Mo felt it was very strange.

After having Chen Mo carry one bucket of water, the old man hurriedly waved his hand and said, "You should hurry back into the house and study. You are the hope of our Chen Family from now on!"

Returning to the room, Chen Mo found a copy of the "Analects" from the Four Books and Five Classics under the tattered bedding on the stone bed.

It was a mandatory subject for the ancient imperial examination, just like the Gaokao.

Opening the "Analects," Chen Mo took a close look and discovered that the book was filled with dense notes.

"This guy named Chen Yunxuan really is diligent in his studies."

However, after flipping to a dozen pages later, Chen Mo realized something was wrong.

Everything after that was blank; this brother had only studied the first 10 pages.

A memory, as if brought by a transmigrator, entered Chen Mo's mind.

His vision followed an ink-colored lark rising and falling.

The scene was a grand, magnificent, and prosperous capital city.

Looking through the plaque at the city gate, it had a few large characters written on it: "Prosperous Chang'an"!

Walking into the city, the streets were wide and flat, capable of allowing several carriages to pass side by side.

On both sides of the street were rows of shops, with flags fluttering and bustling with activity.

All kinds of gorgeous and exquisite silks, porcelain, and gold and silver jewelry were displayed on the stalls; the colorful world was dazzling.

There were also various daily necessities of the ancients, a bit like a modern supermarket; entering for the first time, one would always feel a little shocked.

Just walking on the road, the fragrance of tea accompanied one the whole way.

Chen Mo soon saw a familiar person, Chen Yunxuan!

He was currently standing with several young men dressed in gorgeous clothes, eating candied haws and donkey rolls.

Then he whistled a few times at some pretty girls.

When the girls opposite heard the whistling and saw the young masters, they immediately shyly covered their faces with their sleeves and scurried away as if fleeing.

"Hehe! What did I tell you? The city is just different!"

"Look at this attire of mine, this outfit, how dashing!" Chen Yunxuan proudly raised his arms.

"Hey! Brother Yunxuan, is this really going to work? We lied to our parents and said we were going to the imperial examinations, but we ended up taking the money and spending it all on food and entertainment."

"What should we do if our parents find out?" said one of the chubby-faced youths.

"Idiot! Do you study? You should enjoy yourself while you're young, you know? Who says you can't enjoy life just because your family is poor?"

"Studying is useful, but do you know how many tricks there are in today's imperial examinations?" Chen Yunxuan pointed to the pavilion in the distance.

"In today's imperial examinations, many officials collude with wealthy merchants. There are power-for-sex transactions between them, and they directly usurp the quotas of ordinary candidates."

"For people like us who have no background and no money, unless we are talents like Fang Xuanling, it's impossible."

Hearing Chen Yunxuan's words, both youths nodded.

That reasoning was actually correct.

"You don't understand. We take the money and go take the exam, which means we've tried. Then we just tell our parents what I told you, and afterwards, we can just honestly farm or go into business, right?"

Chen Mo was speechless upon hearing this. Good grief.

He was actually playing the role of a good-for-nothing spendthrift.

His family was so poor that his parents were eating moldy noodles, while the son had taken the money to go out and squander it.

Finally, Chen Yunxuan suddenly showed a lecherous smile and leaned his mouth close to the two men's ears.

He whispered, "Hehehe, we are already 18 years old now. Since we've come to this Chang'an City... why don't we...?"

"Why don't we...?" The two youths were a bit confused.

"How about we check out a brothel? I've always heard people from the city who come to the countryside say that the women inside are all incredibly seductive, like man-eating beasts."

"Those who have been there say it's like a gentle sanctuary that makes people linger and forget to return."

The scene ended here, and Chen Mo didn't know if this Brother Yunxuan had gone or not.

He wasn't curious about that aspect; he just wanted to see what the difference was between a brothel and what is filmed in TV dramas.

It was a pity... he didn't get to see it.

"In other words, the studying was a lie. At this moment, Chen Yunxuan should have returned home after the imperial examinations."

At this moment, the old man wiped his sweat, pushed open the door to the room, and walked in, saying with a chuckle, "Oh my, Yunxuan, I heard that the messenger posting the results is coming soon!"

"In our village, there aren't many children who go to take the imperial examinations. Do you think it's possible that you passed?!"

The old man was laughing so hard at this moment that he couldn't sit still and even wanted to perform a couple of long jumps.

Chen Mo, however, became vaguely worried. This Chen Yunxuan hadn't even taken the imperial examination, let alone passed it.

Before long, only the sound of reins being pulled was heard, and a messenger's shout came from outside the house.

He announced, "Is Chen Yunxuan here?!"

"Quick! You passed! You passed!" The old man grabbed Chen Mo's sleeve and excitedly rushed out the door.

Then, pressing down on Chen Mo's forehead, the two of them knelt on the ground.

Watching the messenger, who was dressed in gorgeous black clothes, leap off his horse and take out a bamboo tube.

He opened it and took out an exquisitely crafted scroll from inside.

It felt a bit like the feeling of receiving an admission letter after finishing the Gaokao back then.

The scroll was unfurled, and the messenger loudly announced, "By the order of the Chief Examiner, I have come here to announce the results of this provincial examination."

"Congratulations to Chen Yunxuan for passing the provincial examination. This is the result of your hard work studying by the window."

"I hope you will continue to make persistent efforts, and continue to strive for the imperial court and the common people of the world!"

Chen Mo was stunned when he heard this.

I didn't even go to take the exam, yet I passed?

Something is wrong, this is very wrong...

Sure enough, the messenger's next sentence made Chen Mo understand.

"At the same time, congratulations to Scholar Chen for being snatched as a husband under the list by the Second Miss of the Su family from Jiangnan!"