Imperial Exams: I Used the Exams to Turn the Humble-Born Order Upside Down!

[Imperial examinations] + [rising from humble beginnings] + [ancient setting] + [Transmigration] + [alternate world] Other people rely on their family connections to pass the imperial exams. I rely on my parents to flip tables and tear down roof beams! After transmigrating to ancient times, my father tears up the family genealogy. “You dare bully my wife and child? I want nothing to do with this clan!” My mother swings an axe and takes down a roof beam. “Son, this is your travel money for the palace exam!” Our whole family lives in a ruined temple and eats wild greens? No problem! We’ll trade this beam for books. Today, I, Lin Yi, begin my journey through the imperial exams, straight to the top! My past-life wisdom awakens, and I never forget what I’ve read. I top the county exam, clear my name in the prefectural exam, and astonish Jiangnan by winning the first three honors in the academy exam! My father hefts his hoe and declares, “Anyone who bullies my son for being poor can kiss their ancestral grave goodbye!” My mother clicks away on her abacus under the lamplight. “A licentiate is only exempt from taxes. That’s not enough! My son needs to at least become a provincial graduate!” From abject poverty to a prestigious family, from a ruined temple to the imperial palace. Clan elders beg for mercy? Trample them! Powerful families close in? Strike back and swallow them whole! At last, I take up my brush in the palace examination, my strokes slicing through the nine layers of heaven. “Wine and meat rot behind vermilion gates, while the poor lie in piles of bones!” If these abuses aren’t put right, the country will cease to be a country! The emperor slams the table and rises. “Excellent! That’s what a top scholar from humble beginnings should be!” My parents ask, “Son, should we flip this table today?” No! This time, I’m flipping the table of this decaying empire!