Having been away from home for a month, Changbai came back with sallow face and flaccid legs. After seeing his grandmother and parents, he straightly went into his room and fell into a deep sleep. And this time Sheng Hong didn't put on airs or tried to give him a lecture, because he had also taken this examination in the past and knew from the very bottom of his heart that provincial examination was totally different from county-level examinations for selecting Xiucai. This examination was a real torture.

The provincial examination took place at the provincial capital, Ji Nan and results would be published a few days afterwards. Therefore, before Changbai arrived at home, the good news had already been sent back to Deng Prefecture. Brother Changbai cracked the top 20, a rather good result. But Sheng Hong, in order to show he was rather experienced, didn't held a large, excess banquet; instead, he just invited some colleagues, friends and Teacher Zhuang to his home for a simple celebrating feast.

During the feast, listening others speaking highly of his son, Sheng Hong felt very proud. On his left was Zhifu whose son was a black sheep indulging in cock-fights and dog-racing and on his right was Tongpan whose son knew nothing except chasing after women. Thinking about this, Sheng Hong felt even more complacent.

[T/N note: Zhifu, "知府/zhī fǔ/" the highest government official of a prefecture. While Tongpan ("通判/tōng pàn/") refers to an official under Zhifu who administers grain delivery, lawsuit, water conservancy, etc. and has the duty of supervising Zhifu.]

And Wang shi, who was entertaining the madams and misses on the feast set specially for the harems, also felt proud because all the madams kept flattering her in various ways and those with daughters of the right age even hinted that they wanted to become in-laws with her. As for such hints, Madam Wang just played dumb, but when she told Sheng Hong about this, her sense of pride was all between the lines, like a farmwife who was appreciated for the cabbage she had been taking care of for years – it was all because of the merits of the soil.

But Sheng Hong refused and persuaded, "Don't rush it, my dear. Changbai is our first son and his marriage can never be taken too seriously. Just put it off and if he gets good scores at the triennial court examination the next Spring, we then can find him a wife with good reputation and powerful family."

Madam Wang hesitated, "What if he failed the exam? Do you mean that he could get married only after he becomes Zhuanyuan? I'm afraid at that time he may pass the right age for marriage."

[T/N note: Zhuangyuan: "狀元" No. One Scholar, title conferred on the one who came first in the imperial court examination]

Sheng Hong replied, "Just wait until the next year. If he fails the exam, I won't ask him to wait for another three years. You should think more for Changbai. I have no chance to enter the cabinet and at most I could be a third-ranked official. When Changbai becomes an official, respectable mentor or his peers would land him a hand in court, but still nothing helps him better than marrying a Miss from a powerful and noble family. And such literary families will only accept sons-in-law from Jinshi (someone who passes the imperial court exam) and above."

These were what Old Madam Sheng told him twenty years ago. At that time, he just passed the provincial examination and matchmakers went to their home to propose marriage, but Old Madam Sheng declined them all.

She told him that his father passed away ....

You may read the whole chapter on Flying Lines (click the link below) :D