Chapter 23: Negation

  After a long time, the written test also ended. Unlike the martial arts test, the written test requires separate review of the papers, so the results can only be announced three days later.

  Many people walked out of the palace with smiles and laughter, in groups of three to five, and this year's imperial examination can be considered basically completed, just waiting for the final results to come out.

  Han Jing came out afterwards, and his overall state was still pretty good. Although he didn't expect to get a ranking as good as Wu Shi's, he said to his sister that the essay test wasn't as scary as he had imagined, and his confidence had clearly increased a lot.

  The two siblings walked out of the palace laughing and joking, but at the entrance, they saw Han Yajing who had been waiting on the side for a long time.

  Han Yajing was overjoyed to congratulate Han Jing on the martial arts test, and then asked with great expectation how the literary test went, showing a good sisterly concern.

  "The results of the test will be out in three days, and you'll ask me how I did, but I'm not even sure myself." Han Jing's attitude towards Han Ya Jing had changed somewhat since he found out about Liu Shi's hypocrisy: "Let's just go home first, Father is still waiting at home."

  In this way, Han Yajing naturally didn't ask any more questions. As they came, the group of people got into two carriages and returned to their respective homes.

  After returning home, everyone in the mansion knew that their young master had achieved a good result of third place in the martial arts examination. The palace had already sent someone to congratulate him and even the rewards had been delivered early.

  Han Feng is quite happy, but it's not too unexpected either. In the past two years, Han Jing also entered the top ten, and this year he got third place, which is normal. After all, his son's only strong point is his martial arts skills.

  He asked again about the matter of Wen's trial, and learned that Han Jing had answered all the questions. He also put down his mind, and later didn't care much about the result of the trial three days later. Originally, he thought it was already very good for his son to be able to participate in the trial.

  Three days later, the results of the test were announced. Contrary to Han Jiangxue's expectations, Sheng Mengling's brother Sheng Yunhang indeed took first place, while Zhang Haicheng and Li Xinghua also ranked among the top.

  As for Mo Li, he is as low-key as ever. His ranking in the top 20 allows him to keep a low profile while also matching his identity, which is just about right.

  As for Han Jing, his results were indeed as expected, just like what Han Jiang Xue had told Qing Mu earlier. He scored a mediocre result, ranking 60th out of over a hundred people in the written exam.

  If it were someone else, such achievements would not be worth mentioning. However, this time, the master of the Han family, Han Feng, was overjoyed to the point of being unable to describe it. Not only did he reward all the slaves in the mansion with lucky money, but he also ran to the Han family ancestral hall to burn incense and kowtow to his ancestors.

  Liu's mother and daughter both praised Han Jing excessively, that proud look on their faces was beyond delightful.

  Taking advantage of the festive atmosphere, Mrs. Liu and her daughter suggested that such a big happy event should be celebrated with a banquet for relatives and friends, and it just so happened that their family had not held any celebrations in the past two years.

  Han Feng's heart moved as soon as he heard it, thinking that it would be good to take this opportunity to let everyone know that his son had really made progress, was sensible and had a future.

  "Dad, I think it's not necessary to make such a big fuss. This time, the exam was indeed a huge progress for me personally, but celebrating with a banquet just because of 60th place is really making a mountain out of a molehill. If word gets out, people will just laugh at us."

  Han Jing felt that something was not right, three days ago his father had not even thought of setting up a banquet for the martial arts test, but now he wanted to make a big deal out of it just because he got 60 points on the literary test. It really wasn't a good idea. His father was never one to show off, and it was clear that this was all due to Liu's mother and daughter egging him on.

  These two women are not kind-hearted, where can they really be happy for him? Once the father listens to their arrangements for the banquet, who knows what trouble they will stir up.

  "Jing Er is now truly becoming more sensible and understanding." Liu Shi smiled as she took over the conversation, "However, if we don't celebrate your achievement this time, people will laugh at us. Don't forget that you are still third in the martial arts exam and have made such a big breakthrough in the literary exam, it's not easy to achieve such good results. If we don't make a fuss about it, outsiders will think that the Han family doesn't value you as their eldest son, and that would be truly laughable."

  Han Feng nodded in agreement, smiling: "Your mother is right, this is a good thing, of course we need to make arrangements, what's there to laugh about? It's just the right opportunity for everyone to see that Jing Er is no longer the same as before."

  "But..." Han Jing still felt that this matter was not good for him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He glanced sideways at Han Jiangxue, who had been sitting beside him without making a sound, clearly wanting to hear her opinion.

  Before he could finish speaking, Han Yajing, who was sitting opposite him, took over the conversation and persuaded him to say: "Brother, don't worry, now that you've achieved such good results, outsiders can only praise you, where is it possible for anyone to dare laugh at you?"

  "Even if no one laughs at me, I still feel..."

  "Alright, alright, it's settled then. Everything will be taken care of by your mother, so don't worry about it anymore, Jing Er." This time, Han Feng directly cut off Han Jing's words and finalized the decision on the spot, not intending to discuss it further.

  Han Jing saw the situation and didn't think it was good to say anything else. Just when everyone thought that this matter had already been settled and there was no need to discuss it further, Han Jiang Xue, who had not spoken until now, finally spoke up.

  "Father, don't be in a hurry to make a decision. In my opinion, big brother is right, it's not suitable to handle this matter in such a high-profile way."

  Han Jiangxue reminded: "Brother's progress, we all see with our eyes and are happy in our hearts. Father wants to make a big fuss, it's also understandable. But I heard that this year's martial arts champion Song family and the literary champion Xironghou Mansion didn't plan to hold banquets to celebrate. Brother is only third in the martial arts exam, and his literary achievement is just ordinary, how can he take the lead alone?"

  "Moreover, just as the reputation of the eldest brother in the capital has slightly improved, the Han family suddenly comes up with a grand celebration for the eldest brother. Wouldn't it be easy for people to think that the eldest brother is the kind of person who is complacent and arrogant when he achieves a little success?"

  These words suddenly made Han Feng's heart alert, he was indeed too happy and almost overlooked this.

  "This is also right, Xue Er didn't say it but I almost forgot to consider it. Neither of us has ever hosted a banquet for our double trial, and if we do, it would indeed be easy for people to gossip, which would have a negative impact on Jing Er."

  The biggest drawback of this person is that he has a soft ear root, but the biggest advantage is also this point. He is easy to listen to and follow others' advice. The key is who can say more reasonable words and convince him.

  Seeing this, Liu nodded and said: "That's true, Snow is indeed considerate. As for whether to invite outsiders or not, it doesn't matter, our Han family can gather together as one big family after all. After all, Jing'er has made great progress in both literary and martial arts this time, it's really something to be happy about."

  Looking at Han Feng, Liu continued: "And as for the second lady, third lady and fourth lady, they have all sent gifts to congratulate us. If we don't respond in any way, it would seem petty."

  Mr. Liu's words sound reasonable, and family dinners are unlikely to have too many problems, and it is also a kind of social engagement that is not easy to decline.

  Han Feng was about to say that it would be better to change it to a family dinner, but Han Jiang Xue spoke out again in opposition before he could.

  "This isn't good either, Mother had thought that the Han family's relatives, old and young, big and small, added up to at least ten or twenty tables, how could it be enough? Moreover, this is only counting the close relatives in the mansion, if the news spreads, others will also come to congratulate, can they still be stopped outside? It's possible to stop ordinary distant relatives, but how can we stop the people from Aunt's family? If Aunt's family comes, then Uncle's family must also come, it's only natural that they should come, otherwise wouldn't everyone say it's not right?"

  Han Jiangxue shook her head and sighed, "With this kind of calculation, I'm afraid it won't be enough even if we have over a hundred tables. Mother, you say, what's the difference between this family banquet and a big banquet? Not only did we not save any trouble, but it's also easy to cause more problems. Those distant relatives who didn't receive an invitation might think that we're looking down on them. A good thing could turn into something where nobody is happy!"