Yang Mengchen felt a quiet sense of satisfaction.

Her fourth brother possessed Inner Strength and had trained unrelentingly. Together with the rare medicinal herbs she had found with the help of Xiao Guai, Xiao Bai, and Xiao Jin, and following the medical secrets of Doctor Luo, she had developed special medicinal pills for her brothers to take.

Not to mention these past nine days, they would be fine even if several more nine-day periods were to come.

However, the medicinal herbs were too few, so she couldn't give them to her cousins as well, but she had developed other medicines. Although the effects were not as good as her brothers', they were still capable of enhancing her cousins' physical strength, so they fared much better than the other examinees.

"Big brother (Chengrong cousin), ninth sister (cousin)!" Upon seeing the siblings, the bright eyes of Yang Chengyou and the others shone, and gentle smiles appeared on their handsome faces.

Shi Qing and Xia Song (Yang Chengrong's attendants) hurriedly stepped forward to take over the brothers' bedding and examination baskets, and Shi Qing asked with a smile, "Fourth Young Master, how do you feel?"

"Not too bad," Yang Chengyou replied with a modest smile.

The faces of Shen Yuzhe and the other two were also relaxed, suggesting they had most likely performed well in the exams.

"Let's head back," Yang Mengchen said with a smile: "Aunty Luo has prepared lots of delicious foods to console you all, and Uncle Luo, Third Brother Luo, and Sixth and Seventh Brothers, along with the other three cousins, are all waiting at home."

When the group returned to the Luo family's sideyard, everyone was surprised to see them, as they had all immediately heard the news from the examination halls.

Luo Jingyao couldn't help but say, "You don't look like you've just come out of the exam hall."

Although he had never taken part in the government examination himself, he was aware of the system and had seen firsthand what those candidates looked like when they emerged from the hall. Apart from a very few who still seemed normal, the majority were half-dead. How could they appear as spirited as these four?

"It's all thanks to our cousin," Shen Yuzhe said with a smile: "She has always insisted that we strengthen our physical training. Before the exam, she taught us coping strategies, prepared palatable and easily-digestible food for us, so we felt no pressure at all. Inside, we ate well and slept well, so naturally, we were in better condition than the others."

Yang Mengchen shook her head: "It's all thanks to fourth brother and the diligence and open-mindedness of our cousins. It has nothing to do with me."

"Mengmeng is blessed with deep good fortune, and those around her are also fortunate by association," Lady Luo said with a smile brimming with intent.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Early the next morning after breakfast, several brothers and sisters said their farewells to Doctor Luo and his wife, and with Luo Jingyao, they took a carriage home. First, their family was awaiting the news. Secondly, there were many things at home that they couldn't ignore.

Thirdly, regarding the announcement of the examination results, Xiao Hongtao and Doctor Luo would certainly inform them immediately.

The families were very pleased to see the siblings return.

Afterward, Yang Chengyou and the other three went with Old Hai and others to the study room, rested for a day, then continued to study diligently, unconcerned about whether or not they had passed the exam.

The Yang family continued with their usual tasks, everyone calmly going about their business as usual.

However, the villagers were secretly praying that Yang Chengyou would pass the exam. After all, having a Scholar in the village would reflect well on them all.

On the day of the results half a month later, just as dawn was breaking, Wei Lin personally rushed over to the Yang family in his horse-drawn carriage: "Congratulations to Great-grandpa Yang, and congratulations to Old Lady Yang, the Fourth Young Master has come in first place!"

"He passed?"

Old Master Yang looked at Wei Lin in a daze, taking a while to come back to his senses.

The rest were the same.

"The master personally told me that the examiners unanimously agree that the Fourth Young Master's essays were brilliant and truly deserving of the title of government-subsidized student," Wei Lin confirmed with a vigorous nod. "The other three young masters also passed as Scholars, although their rankings were further behind."

The Yang family was immediately thrilled, and all the servants couldn't contain their joy. After all, their own prosperity depended on the glory and rise of their masters, didn't it?

Old Hai and the other seven felt both happy and surprised.

They had anticipated that Yang Chengyou would pass as a Scholar without issue, but they never expected him to be first. Although Yang Chengyou was naturally talented, he had started his education late and for only a brief time. The fact that he passed as a Scholar was already commendable, but it turned out even better than they had expected.

And that the other three had also passed as Scholars was beyond their expectations.

"Fourth brother (brother), congratulations to you!" Yang Chengrong and his six brothers collectively congratulated Yang Chengyou.

Yang Chengyou replied with a calm and composed expression, "Congratulations to us all!"

Yang Mengchen, on the other hand, wore a subtle smile, her eyes sparkling with bright starlight.

In fact, she had been the first to know about the examiners' decision to honor her fourth brother as a government granary student, as Birdy had told her at the first opportunity. But she had told no one this.

She had looked up the examination records for Dong Chu, and the positions for government-subsidized students were fixed in number, with only one allocated per county school.

The recipient of a government granary student place would receive eight measures of grain and five taels of silver as scholarship money from the county government each month, as well as be enrolled in the county school, bearing the responsibility of providing guarantees for junior scholars sitting for exams.

Wei Lin reminded with a smile, "Old Master Yang, the messenger will soon arrive bearing the good news, so you'd better prepare."

"Indeed, indeed, we should prepare," Old Master Yang said hurriedly as he instructed Yang Chaoyi, "Chaoyi, go seal up a few big red envelopes, and tell the Butler to get the firecrackers ready."

Yang Chaoyi and Uncle Heng hurried to carry out the tasks.

Too excited to care about breakfast, the neighbors heard the commotion and rushed over, all congratulating Yang Chengyou.

At noon, the sound of gongs and drums approached from afar, accompanied by the intermittent noise of firecrackers, the laughter of children, and the sound of villagers rushing over.

The Officer arrived at the Yang family's home and handed the good news to Grandpa Yang, who happily accepted it. Yang Chaoyi then handed the red envelopes to the two Officers.

The two Officers, seeing that it was five taels of silver (as Yang Mengchen had asked Yang Chaoyi to give), couldn't stop saying auspicious phrases out of joy.

After all, when they delivered good news to ordinary families and received a string of coins, it was already quite generous. They didn't expect that a simple farmer's household would give five taels of silver straight away. How could they not be overjoyed?

After sending off the Officers, the village people congratulated the Yang family and Yang Chengyou, every face beaming with excited joy.

Especially the Clan Leader, the Elders, as well as the village leader and the Lizheng, who were all grinning from ear to ear. Yangliu village finally had a Scholar, and not just any, but a first-ranked government granary scholar. From then on, Yangliu village could hold its head high.

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