Having a Baby Before Marrying a Wicked Husband - Chapter 77

Enemies are particularly hostile when they meet. The stepmother had always detested Yan Cai intensely, and recent events regarding the temple blessings had only fueled her resentment further.

Seeing Yan Cai now, she didn’t even bother to put on a pleasant face, her expression dark and ominous. Jiang Manxing, feeling guilty for betraying the Jiang family, had a sudden chill in his heart due to the hostile gaze of his stepmother.

Brother Yan is always such a gentle person, and he doesn’t quarrel with these people, but that doesn’t mean he, Jiang Manxing, is going to let them bully him at will. Jiang Manxing, with his slender frame, stood protectively in front of Yan Cai, looking fierce.

Initially prepared for confrontation, Yan Cai felt perplexed: What was going on? Why couldn’t he understand?

Jiang Manxing: “Brother Yan, don’t be afraid! As long as I’m here, they won’t dare to bully you!”

Simpleton. Yan Cai chuckled, it’s not certain who bullies whom. Last time, when he toppled the sedan chair, Madam Fu might have had nightmares for several days. Look, everyone seems quite worn out. However, it feels good to know that someone cares.

Manyue, your idiot younger brother, is starting to look like a man.

Jiang Manyue and Jiang Mantian walked out one after the other, neither of them paying attention to the other. Jiang Manyue walked confidently, while Jiang Mantian seemed even more confident than him.

Confident and assertive strides.

Madam Fu could tell from his son’s demeanor that he must have done well in the exam. Just by looking at his expression.

“Son, can you surpass him?” It was self-evident who “him” referred to.

Apart from Jiang Manyue, there was no other imaginary rival.

“Of course.” Jiang Mantian’s fiery gaze remained fixed on Jiang Manyue. Among the examinees, he seemed to have been singled out as the only target.

This was the shadow that had loomed over him for many years, one he longed to shatter, disperse, and dispel. The name Jiang Manyue had weighed on him for twenty years.

In a blink of an eye, it would be the day they were conferred with their titles. Before reaching this stage, he would be delighted to trample on Jiang Manyue.

At his age, achieving the title of Jinshi should have been his moment to shine, yet because of one Jiang Manyue, people’s attention towards him had suddenly diminished.

He is one month younger than Jiang Manyue and is the youngest in this examination!

Jiang Mantian’s expression contorted, and his resentful gaze happened to catch Yan Cai’s eye. He turned his head, snarling menacingly at Jiang Mantian.

What are you looking at? I’ll bite you to death!

Jiang Mantian shivered, and Yan Cai had already retracted his snow-white teeth, smiling brightly as if the threat from earlier had nothing to do with him.

That guy had been glaring for so long; Jiang Manyue had noticed long ago. However, he wasn’t in his twenties and didn’t have the inclination to compete with Jiang Mantian’s youthful arrogance. Whether he did well or not in the exam would be known tomorrow, so he kept a calm mind.

However, he noticed all of Yan Cai’s little actions. Jiang Manyue had his own set of double standards: Jiang Mantian was full of youthful vigor and competitiveness, while Yan Cai was lively, cheerful, adorable, and kind.

That evening, several examiners selected the ten best test papers to be presented to the Emperor for further review. Emperor Taifeng would then officially approve the ranking of the top three.

Emperor Taifeng browsed through the papers for a while, his eyebrows furrowing deeper. Huh, why wasn’t Jiang Manyue’s paper here? Although it wasn’t his favorite, it was still an excellent piece. It was well-grounded, practical, showed deep understanding of many issues, and proposed many effective solutions.

Compared to most civil officials who were ignorant of border warfare, it was rich in content and knowledge. Emperor Taifeng actually had his doubts. Firstly, Jiang Manyue was young; if he was a bit immature, it would make sense, but his words were mature, showing no signs of being a newcomer at all.

Furthermore, how could a scholar know so much about military matters? If it was from reading books, it wasn’t very likely. These were not things one could simply learn from books.

Of course, it could also be that Jiang Manyue was exceptionally skilled at theoretical discussions on paper. Regardless, it was a very innovative and substantive answer sheet. Emperor Taifeng believed it shouldn’t be outside the top ten.

“Is this all?” The Emperor shook those few papers; some were still puzzled. But some were already feeling a little guilty.

One of the papers, recognized by other colleagues, was placed outside the top ten by him. However, he didn’t go too far; he just said a few words.

“It is unseemly to talk about warriors. Those vulgar people are not worthy of being compared with us. It’s unrealistic to casually suggest increasing military spending; the matter of military expenses is not so simple. Moreover, with the treasury empty now, it shouldn’t be wasted on potential wars that may or may not happen.”

The Minister of Revenue present deeply concurred. Money matters were his biggest headache. Everyone was clamoring for funds, disaster relief needed money, repairing the palace needed money, promoting cotton cultivation needed money…

So when he saw the words “increasing military expenditure,” the Minister of Revenue wasn’t too pleased. Other departments were now discussing how to reduce expenses.

“Forget it. His essay isn’t that great anyway. These other essays are much more elaborate and eloquent,” remarked the Deputy Minister of Revenue. He didn’t particularly favor this practical style of writing. He preferred beautifully crafted prose. “Besides, the handwriting isn’t good either. It lacks elegance and appears too wild and arrogant. A person’s handwriting reflects their character. He’s probably not good company.”

“Very well then. Let’s leave it out.” Initially, the individual discreetly set Jiang Manyue’s exam paper aside into another stack, even though some doubted, they gently skipped over the matter to avoid embarrassing him in public.

It wasn’t about failing the exam; it was just a lower ranking, nothing to be too upset about.

The individual breathed a sigh of relief. The Minister of Rites had refrained from participating in this year’s imperial examinations to avoid suspicion. However, Jiang Nan had quietly approached him. He didn’t make any other requests, just asked him to be a bit stricter with Jiang Manyue.

He knew Jiang Manyue was the son of Minister Jiang, and he knew the two had fallen out. Therefore, the strained relationship was normal.

Given the choice between Jiang Manyue, still a young nobody with no future, and Jiang Nan, already a second-ranking official in the court, he naturally chose the latter, giving Jiang Nan a favor.

He even ensured Jiang Nan’s other son’s exam paper made it into the top ten.

He had thought everything was under the radar. A nobody like Jiang Manyue wouldn’t be noticed by anyone. Yet, the Emperor actually brought up that essay himself.

“Yes, this one.” He proactively retrieved Jiang Manyue’s answer sheet from among the stack of exam papers.

“This essay is quite good. I like it very much,” the Emperor praised Jiang Manyue as he pointed to his paper. Then he examined another essay about the relationship between rulers and the people, “It’s noble. It’s beautifully written!”

“Then…what about this one…”

“No, I like this one the most.” Emperor Taifeng pulled out another paper, and strangely enough, its theme was about how people consider food their utmost priority, how to ensure people have food to eat, and how to ensure that people can harvest food from their land…

It was odd. Clearly, Emperor Taifeng’s inclination was evident. He had been promoting various agricultural developments, from cotton cultivation to the recent acquisition of potatoes, chili peppers, and tomatoes from Yan Cai. It was all about emphasizing agriculture.

However, many of the essays this time didn’t touch upon this point. Some were reluctant to blatantly flatter, fearing they might flatter the wrong person by accident. Others simply didn’t understand. For something they had no clue about, it was better not to mention it at all, lest they expose their ignorance and become a laughingstock.

Most of those who could pass the exam were wealthy scholars from prestigious families. These scholarly candidates mostly had no understanding of agricultural matters whatsoever, so how could they write about it?

On the contrary, Zhang Yun, a farmer’s son with innate advantages, deliberately avoided this topic. As for Lin Zhu, coming from a less affluent family, he was considered a poor relative of the Lin family. Moreover, being influenced by Lin Shu’s deep interest in food, his mind naturally absorbed various thoughts about food.

How wonderful it would be if everyone could eat their fill. Lin Zhu thought to himself. He had experienced famine, witnessed his mother nearly starve to death, and eventually sought refuge with a distant relative, where he met Lin Shu.

To cultivate the land, to enable the people to produce more and better food…

It was precisely this unintentional flattery that happened to touch the emperor’s heartstrings, even if there were many opposition voices in the court against his innovations, Emperor Taifeng and Lin Zhu seemed to be on the same mind.

“As for these two essays…” the Emperor frowned. He liked both of them very much. “Comparatively, I prefer Jiang Manyue’s essay…”

“Your Majesty prefers this one, so the second place is…”

“No, wait.” The Emperor interrupted, “No, no. Although I like this piece, with its content, even if it secures the top spot, it wouldn’t be a disgrace. However… there’s a very important issue that I’m sure none of you have overlooked.”

Several examiners were stunned, realizing they had overlooked something. Oh no, the Emperor had found their problem first, and they were still in the dark.

Shaking his head, the Emperor muttered to himself about a bunch of old men who couldn’t see even this. At this moment, the Emperor seemed to forget that he was of similar age to these old men.

“Tell me, among these three, who has the most pleasing appearance?”

“Naturally, it’s Jiang Manyue,” they all chimed in unison. This was perhaps the most indisputable fact of the entire examination. Even if all the candidates were combined, Jiang Manyue’s appearance alone would suffice to define his reputation it.

In the imperial examinations, there was an unwritten rule that the third-place winner, usually known as the “Tan Hua Lang” (the title conferred to the third-place scholar), was typically the youngest and most handsome among all the candidates. Otherwise, the peony banquet held in his honor might not be as impressive.

“Zhang Yun is a bit too dark and sturdy.”

Everyone paused for a moment, imagining the image of a dark and powerful man plucking a beautiful and delicate peony flower. Suddenly, a nauseating feeling churned in their stomachs, making them feel like vomiting.

Not beautiful, not beautiful, really not beautiful.

Even making Jiang Manyue the top scorer and the handsome Lin Zhu the third-place winner would hardly create the elegance expected of a third-place scholar.

Thus, Jiang Manyue, solely because of his exceptional looks, was demoted from the second place to the third.

As for Zhang Yun, he completely parted ways with his comical act of “the strong man plucking the peony flower.”

When the rankings were announced, Jiang Manyue remained extremely calm, but Jiang Mantian was on the verge of going crazy.

Why was he second to last? What was wrong with his essay!? Clearly, he had written it very well. Jiang Mantian was so resentful that he almost lost his composure in public, almost uttering words of injustice against the Emperor.

However, no matter how angry he was, nobody cared. The Emperor was pleased, considering this year’s third-place winner to be of exceptional quality.

Even though he was aggrieved by Yan Cai and looked down upon Jiang Manyue, he always wanted to reward Yan Cai with a few beauties, men and women of his choice.

It’s not like Emperor Taifeng didn’t mention this matter. Yan Cai only said that if he wanted a second spouse, it could only be someone of Jiang Manyue’s level.

Emperor Taifeng fell silent for a moment. No matter how much he despised Jiang Manyue, he had to admit that such a caliber of person like Jiang Manyue was rare.

Jiang Manyue remained calm and composed, knowing that if he did well in the exam, there would be rewards.

The reward was open-ended, and Jiang Manyue chose the benefits of engaging in a certain well-known sport.