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1
Your Whole Family Hopes You'll Pass the Scholar Exam, but You Top All Six? 举家盼你中秀才，你六元连中？
[Imperial examinations in the early chapters + farming + everyday life + lighthearted + court politics later on] In his previous life, Shen Zhou was in poor health and cultivated himself through a quiet, disciplined lifestyle, becoming rather indifferent by nature. Then he transmigrated to an ancient peasant family. The entire Shen family pooled their resources to support the original owner’s studies, hoping only that he would pass the county-level examination and become a licentiate. Sadly, the
14.4kReads8.7Score1.3kShelves
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2
With a Photographic Memory, Isn’t It Only Natural I Came First in the Imperial Exam? 过目不忘，我中状元正常吧？
Lu Chengan forgot to drink Granny Meng’s soup. One day, he transmigrates to a remote mountain village in the Great Zhou dynasty and becomes the second son of the Lu family’s second son. To take the imperial examinations, Lu Chengan has no choice but to urge his father to better himself. Before he knows it, his father becomes an official. Lu Chengan: Does he still need to work hard?
41kReads8.6Score4.4kShelves
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I Strive for the Imperial Exams, But My Slacker Dreams Never Change 努力考科举，咸鱼梦想从未改变
[Imperial exams + everyday life + lighthearted] Lu Yang, a rich second-generation heir, wakes up one day as the youngest and most cherished son of the Lu family. This youngest son is a scholar, yet selfish and self-centered, turning a blind eye to his family's sacrifices and caring only about his own future. Lu Yang may be a slacker with little conscience, but he knows who's good to him. He keeps his dream of being a slacker tucked away and works hard to pass the imperial exams, hoping to become
21.4kReads9.1Score2.1kShelves
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I Was Reborn in a Farming Novel, but I Don't Want to Pass the Imperial Exams on Talent 穿进种田文里，我不想靠才华科举
Su Congli transmigrated. To stay alive, he studied day and night and threw himself into the imperial examinations. Who could have guessed? At the provincial exam: “What are you staring at, chief examiner?” At the metropolitan exam: “Why do these examiners all seem so strange?” At the palace exam: “Oh! Isn’t that guy sitting in the throne hall the one who stares at me every night?” Emperor Qiyuan prided himself on being a wise ruler of his age, blessed with extraordinary fortune. Who knew he’d ru
16.5kReads8.9Score1.3kShelves
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The Abandoned Heir Places First in the Imperial Exam, and Ten Thousand Riders Storm the Marquis’s Mansion 被弃世子中状元，万骑踏平侯府门
[Imperial Examinations + Reborn in the Womb + Court Politics + Revenge + System] Shen Shufan was reborn in the womb as the heir to a marquis’s estate, only to be knocked unconscious and thrown into a river. No problem: ever heard of the Proficiency System? The impoverished Shen family, a humble family of scholars, found a poor child in a freezing river. Little did they know he was an imperial-examination genius! Other families considered it a blessing from their ancestors if even one person pass
24.5kReads8.7Score3.1kShelves
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What?! I Transmigrated into a Farmer's Son from the Start, and Now He Wants to Take the Imperial Exams 惊了！开局穿成农家子，他要科举
[Famine + transmigration + System + farming + imperial examinations + daily life] Shen Yu woke up one morning to find that he had transmigrated. It was bad enough for a science student to end up in ancient times, but he’d arrived in the middle of a famine, with his family having nothing to their name. Luckily, he unlocked a red packet group. Without it, how could he possibly survive in this strange world? The Shen family had one daughter after another. At last, the third son’s family had a bo
1.5kReads8.3Score107Shelves
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This Top Scholar Plays by His Own Rules 这个状元路子有点野
[Farming + imperial examinations + alternate history + lighthearted] My Parents Flipped the Table and Quit, So I Want to Take the Imperial Exams Too Just as Wang Xuezhou was about to reach the peak of his life, he transmigrated. The good news: in this life, his parents were loving, and his siblings got along. The bad news: the whole family was pinching pennies to fund his eldest uncle's studies. They had next to nothing and were living on coarse grain and wild greens. But before he could flip t
57.6kReads8.9Score7kShelves
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To Avoid Planting Rice, I Work Hard to Pass the Imperial Exams 为了不插秧，努力考科举
[The short drama adaptation is now streaming] A modern SSS-rank researcher dies suddenly and transmigrates to the Great Xing Dynasty. His health is so poor that he's not allowed to pick rice in the fields until he's six. Sunstruck and light-headed, Li Jing decides that farming with this body is a risky business, so he immediately resolves to study for the imperial examinations. That's what he's good at; the transplanting can be left to the professionals! The following year, now named Li Yiqing,
26.5kReads9.3Score2.5kShelves
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Selling Vegetables and Studying, Then Becoming the Top Scholar 卖菜读书，结果高中状元
After Shen Qingfeng dies alongside the Zombie Emperor in the apocalypse, he transmigrates to an alternate dynasty called Great Chu and becomes a child in Ning'an Village. The boy, nicknamed Dog Egg, is frail from birth, suffers from heart disease, and has a lowly name. Luckily, his proper name is Shen Yu'an. After studying for a few months with the elders, Shen Yu'an decides to take the imperial examinations, only to discover that his ancestors were exiles, and the descendants of exiles for thre
6.6kReads8.9Score660Shelves
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To Avoid Getting Beaten, I Started Studying for the Imperial Exams 为了不挨打，开始考科举
One day, Shen Qingyun becomes the youngest son of a farming family and thinks he can spend his whole life as a freeloader. But then disaster strikes, and he faces a dire predicament: His eldest brother went off to take a temporary job, but came back dead, wrapped in a straw mat; Other families in the village have several sons, but the Shen family has only him, their sole heir; His shrewish, favoritism-prone mother, his mistreated nieces, and his stooped, adopted father all depend on him; Bearing
1.4kReads8.6Score123Shelves
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An Ambitious Country Boy's Life in Ancient Times 农家小子的古代上进日常
After transmigrating into the body of a farmer's son in ancient times, a poor student had no choice but to embark on the long road of the imperial examinations to improve his family's life. He sought neither wealth and status nor a high salary or lofty office in this life. All he wanted was to protect his family and give them a peaceful life.
41.5kReads9.2Score3.1kShelves
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A Poor Scholar of Noble Character 一品寒士
[Single heroine, semi-fictionalized Tang Dynasty] In an era when the great aristocratic clans looked down on the imperial family, Zhao Quan was born to a farming family and entered school carrying the hopes of his parents and six older brothers. Farming was out of the question: even the village head’s family had no food to spare… So he had no choice but to take the imperial exams and become an official.
11.2kReads9.3Score944Shelves
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The Road to the Imperial Examinations for a Poor Scholar 寒门科举之路
After surviving alone in the apocalypse for three years, Yang Han is betrayed by his teammates and scratched by a zombie. Unwilling to turn into one and get his head blown off, he takes his own life. To his surprise, he transmigrates into the body of a farm boy, the only son of a family with a thousand acres of fertile land. He can't handle the backbreaking work in the fields, and since all professions are inferior to studying, he has no choice but to set out on the path to the imperial examinat
198Reads8.6Score114Shelves
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You Abandoned Me When I Failed the Imperial Exam, So Who Are You Now That I’ve Swept the Boards? 名落孙山你不陪，连中六元你是谁
[The short drama is now available, and the print edition is in publication.][Slow-burn, warm, and humorous][Alternate history + business + imperial examinations + one female lead + no System] Su Run transmigrates into the body of a disgraced scholar who has lost both his parents, failed the imperial exams, and earned a notorious reputation as a lovesick doormat. When he opens his eyes, his fiancée is publicly putting him down and emotionally manipulating him, even threatening to break off their
25.1kReads8.8Score2.9kShelves
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Su Chen'an's Journey Through the Imperial Exams 苏辰安的科举之路
Su Chen'an, a master of Chinese painting, had finally wrapped up an exhibition. Just as he walked out of the building, a flowerpot full of sunflowers came flying at him. He died on the spot. When he woke up again, he was almost starved to death inside his mother's womb. Every day, he teetered on the brink of starvation. He felt that if he absorbed even a little more nourishment from the amniotic fluid, his mother might die. But if he absorbed even a little less, the embryo that was him would pro
9.1kReads8.3Score679Shelves
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My Entire Clan! Supports My Imperial Exams 全族！供我科举
Imperial exams + transmigration + imperial exams + no golden finger, no System. The story draws on the privileges enjoyed by scholars in the Ming dynasty! The clan elder was a licentiate, and that was the only reason Baihu Village was protected. Now the elder is gone, and no new licentiate has appeared. The entire clan can only pool its strength to support one child. Just one licentiate can improve life in the village, give the children a future, boost the village economy, and make officials thi
16.5kReads8.5Score1.4kShelves
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From Seventh-Rank Official to the Top: The Strongest Female Chief Minister 七品逆袭：最强女首辅
(A woman disguised as a man in an ancient political intrigue story) Qin Yuan first met He Lin in the summer of Jingli Year 29. The cicadas shrilled in the trees, and the heat was suffocating. In a dark, filthy prison cell, she sat in a corner, her face smeared with blood. Without a word, he left her a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her forehead. When they met again outside the prison, she was no longer in such a wretched state. Dressed in a vivid red official robe, her bright eyes blazing,
4.5kReads9.1Score609Shelves
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With the Notable Ministers System in Hand, I Disguise Myself as a Man in Ancient Times 手拿名臣系统，我在古代女扮男装
Xu Yue transmigrates into a book. She becomes the delicate, vulnerable cousin of the male lead in an examination-themed novel: her mother died young, she has no brothers and no one to rely on, and her family won't take her in, so she is awkwardly forced to live in the male lead's home. In her previous life, Xu Yue rose from being an orphan to earning a doctorate. She never believed in fate, and even though it was hard for women to get by in ancient times, she never stopped thinking about how to
127.9kReads9.6Score13.8kShelves
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The Boss Puts on a Secret Identity and Takes the Court by Storm 大佬她披上马甲A爆朝堂
To avenge her elder brother, she disguises herself as a man and enters the government as an official. The officials soon notice that Lord Yuchi, once as gentle as jade, has become bold and dazzlingly cool. The cute, soft-spoken young woman is sweet on the outside but ruthless within: clever, calculating, wealthy, and armed with plenty of secret identities. She doesn't even blink as she takes down her powerful political rival. As she keeps tormenting him, the feared minister falls for her... Qin,
674Reads9.1Score133Shelves
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Master Calligrapher? Poet Immortal? Chief Minister? That's Right, I'm All of Them 书圣？诗仙？首辅？没错，都是我
In his previous life, Cui Xian was a PhD in Chinese Language and Literature from a top-tier university. In this life, he transmigrates to ancient times into a poor family with humble origins. There’s a destitute household, a pregnant mother, older siblings still young, a father who has failed the imperial exams six times, and a grandmother whose obsession with her son placing high in the imperial examinations has driven her to delusion. And then there’s Cui Xian, who is only eight years old. Cui
28.6kReads9.4Score2.8kShelves
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The Daily Life of a Vegetable Farmer’s Son Preparing for the Imperial Exams 寒门菜农之子的科举日常
This is not a wish-fulfillment story! This is not a wish-fulfillment story! The body of seven-year-old invalid Zhao Sanxing houses the soul of a modern delivery driver. When he opens his eyes, he finds a family so poor they own almost nothing, and he is so weak he cannot even chop firewood. His parents are about to send him to a monastery to become a little monk, hoping he can “find a way to survive.” He is at a loss: transmigrating as a sickly boy at the bottom of society in ancient times is a
69Reads—Score—Shelves
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The Imperial Exams: From a Duke’s Bastard Son to a Powerful Official 科举！从公府庶子到权臣的青云路
[Not a BL novel! Not a male-male romance! One male lead, little to no romance, and a plot-focused story.] [Transmigration + Illegitimate Son of a Duke’s Estate + No System + Imperial Exams + Political Intrigue] He transmigrates, and the good news is that he’s now an illegitimate son of the Duke of Wei’s household, with food and clothes taken care of and no need to worry about making a living. The bad news is that he’s not only unloved, but also mocked and looked down upon. Heh. Never look down o
45.2kReads8.9Score3.7kShelves
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My Ancestors’ Graves Started Smoking from the Start: Disguised as a Man, I Take the Imperial Exams 开局祖坟冒青烟，女扮男装科举忙
Xie Yuheng transmigrates from the Apocalypse to a farming household, where a tyrant rules the land. With no other choice, she disguises herself as a boy. As she grows older, everyone in the surrounding villages comes to know that the Xie family's prodigy has an exceptionally clever mind. Too bad he's a sickly weakling who can't lift a finger or carry a load. Bystander: “You're so noble, so impressive! Your sickly family member just kicked someone through a wall!” The Xie family: “Does the head o
13.5kReads9.2Score2kShelves
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Transmigration: From the Imperial Exams to Chief Grand Secretary 穿越：从科举开始的内阁首辅之路
An ordinary university student transmigrates into the son of a small landowner in ancient times. He takes the imperial exams and enters government service under the Great Feng dynasty, rising through the ranks step by step. Of all pursuits, study is supreme. “What? Young Master Wang has passed the county-level scholar exam!” “Young Master Wang really is impressive!” “Scholar Wang has passed the provincial exam and become a juren!” “I hear Wang, the top scholar in the provincial exam, passed the
42Reads—Score—Shelves
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Imperial Exams: The Qilin Son of the Liu Family Shines 科举，柳家的麒麟子发光啦
Liu Yu was a modern man from the 22nd century. After an accident, he found himself in the Fengliang Dynasty, a kingdom that had never existed in recorded history. Hu Jiu: This great king is in the middle of a heavenly tribulation! Don't come any closer, or I'll blast you to bits!!! Liu Yu: If I don't come, how am I supposed to save you? When are you going to repay my kindness? Hu Jiu: Meow~ What are you talking about? This king doesn't understand. The imperial examination road that followed
51Reads—Score—Shelves
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A Woman in a Man's Body: The Concubine-Born Heir's Rise to Power 女穿男，庶房嫡子的逆袭
Now available as an audiobook with a full cast. [Alternate history] + [Woman transmigrates as a man] + [Born into this world] + [Imperial exams and business in the early story] + [Court politics later on] + [One female lead, with a relatively small role] + [A touch of ensemble cast] + [No golden finger] Xie Chengxi was born into another world as the sixth son of the Xie family, a minor family in Bianjing's Grain Transport Guild. His father was the clan's rejected son, kept under pressure for yea
41.7kReads8.3Score5kShelves
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The Daily Life of a Minor Official's Son Preparing for the Imperial Exams 小官之子科举日常
[Woman Transmigrates into a Man + Imperial Exams + Farmer's Son + No Problematic Family Members + No Pocket Dimension + No Golden Finger] Lin He, a graduate student in history, transmigrates into the Great Qi, a dynasty that never existed in history, and goes from being a woman to a man. His family has nothing to its name: his father is a catlike academic prodigy, his mother a tigerlike farmer, and Lin He's life is a constant struggle. Fortunately, his father earned the jinshi degree early on, a
1.9kReads8.8Score132Shelves
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The Chief Minister's Road to the Imperial Examinations 首辅的科举之路
[No golden finger + No pocket dimension + Heartwarming family + No ridiculous characters] [The male lead works hard and climbs the ranks one step at a time through his own efforts] [The male lead is devoted; the female lead appears fairly late. The story begins with the imperial examinations and later moves into officialdom] [No forced stupidity, no self-righteous saint, and no fake innocent heroine] Xu Xingfeng, a county-level civil servant in a twenty-first-century town, suddenly finds himself
7.5kReads8.9Score687Shelves
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Impostor of the Langya Clan 冒姓琅琊
(Also known as “The Matter of Me Pretending to Be a Nobleman of the Southern Dynasties”) To transmigrate isn’t a dinner party. It’s a deadly game at every turn. The south is beautiful, yet lofty ambitions often fade away. Since ancient times, the Southern Dynasties have been weak, their heroes short-lived. No golden finger, no System, and no second chance at life. Everything starts from zero! Original owner’s memories: none! Identity: none! Supplies: none! When transmigration becomes reality, ho
499kReads9.7Score59.9kShelves
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I Turned My Superstitious Father into the Chief Councilor 我把神棍老爹卷成首辅
[Ensemble cast + imperial examinations + daily life + farming + court politics later on] Father and son join forces to build a Ming dynasty on which the sun never sets. Yan Xun transmigrates to the Ming dynasty and discovers that his father can do everything except study. His dad has so many secret identities, like an onion with layer after layer to peel back. Huh! If I push Dad hard enough to make him Grand Secretary, can I become a Junior Grand Secretary? The filial son Yan Xun sells everythin
26.9kReads9.5Score3.4kShelves
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Ming Dynasty Natives Versus Transmigrators 皇明土著大战穿越众
Current plot: A newcomer to officialdom enters the inner circle as a pawn, but refuses to settle for mediocrity and wants to break free of his constraints. By chance, he gets caught up in turmoil on the frontier, where three hundred battered soldiers rout thirty thousand northern invaders. Zheng Zhi, a household retainer of the Zhen Ding Guard under the Ming rear army's Governor's Office, dreams of himself sixty years in the future. From then on, the Ming Dynasty gains a peerless talent in both
110Reads8.2Score—Shelves
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My Precious Grandson's Journey to the Imperial Exams 宝贝孙子的科举之路
My grandma is what everyone calls a nightmare, but she absolutely dotes on me and gives me anything I want. In that case, I'll make sure she gets to live a life free of worries, with fine clothes and plenty to eat. (No romance between people of the same sex. None. Any mentions of it early on are just a misunderstanding.)
8Reads8.1Score—Shelves
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