Looking for Imperial Examination Stories Where the Protagonist Isn’t Held Back! No More 'Taking a Loss Is a Blessing' Nonsense 求科举文，不压制主角的！别再什么搞什么吃亏是福
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Reborn as Cannon Fodder in a Farming Family? A Science Prodigy Crushes the Imperial Exams 穿成农家炮灰？理科状元卷穿科举
After pulling an all-nighter on his research, He Cheng'an, a top science student, dies suddenly and wakes up in a novel as a doomed cannon-fodder character, and an inferior foil to the protagonist, no less? He calmly spreads out the exam paper. Then I'll outwork you all until you question your lives! Others study hard for ten years; he memorizes all the primers in a day and passes the entry-level scholar exam at eight. Others tear their hair out over eight-legged essays; he writes like a god, so
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- 2 On the Imperial Exams, Who Knows Who'll Be the One Sweating? 论科举，谁卷谁还不知道呢 In his previous life, he was visiting Dujiangyan with his mentor to draw up reinforcement plans when one misstep cost him everything. When Zhang Shi’an opened his eyes again, he was holding a little stick, facing a golden field of rice. The rice looked unusually small, though. Before he could figure out what he was doing, he spotted several sparrows feasting on the rice. His hands reacted even faster than his mind. He raised the stick and swung it at them. The thieving sparrows soon flew up into 482Reads7.7Score—14d adds
- 3 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, 22.8kReads9.3Score2.2k14d adds
- 4 My Clan Raised Me to Greatness, So I Gifted Them Purple Robes 全族扶我青云志，我赠族人朱紫袍 After dying suddenly from overwork, workaholic Chen Yan is reborn as the only son of a newly born provincial graduate in the Great Liang Dynasty. His father is successful, so Chen Yan promptly decides to lie flat and enjoy the good life, with food brought to him and clothes laid out for him. But when he learns at the age of six that he was switched at birth with a farmer's child, his life takes a turn. The day the fake young master returns to the Chen family, he goes out to work in the fields an 216.4kReads9.3Score21.7k14d adds
- 5 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 1.3kReads8.3Score10714d adds
- 6 Your Majesty, the Top Scholar Is Slacking Off Again and Again 启禀陛下，状元郎他又又又开摆了 [Imperial Exams and Farming]+ [Family Matters]+ [Building Wealth]+ [Scheming]+ [Alternate Ancient Setting] Lu Qilin, a modern enthusiast of intangible cultural heritage, unexpectedly transmigrated. When he woke up, he had become an eight-year-old village boy with a dim mind, whose mother had died young and whose father had disappeared. Fortunately, his grandparents and uncle and aunt truly loved him, and his two older cousins genuinely cared for him. It wasn't the worst start imaginable. Unfortu 12.8kReads8.5Score1.3k14d adds
- 7 A Top Science Student Takes the Imperial Exams? His Majesty Is Stunned by His Brilliance 理科状元考科举？强到朕傻眼 [Imperial examinations + court politics + farming + alternate history + daily life + lighthearted + no romance] Li Su had barely had time to savor becoming the top scorer in the national college entrance exam when he transmigrated as the youngest son of the Li family. His whole family doted on him, even though they lived on coarse grain and vegetables, and supported his studies. The original owner had been led astray by his classmates. Selfish and only interested in having fun, he had ruined him 86.2kReads8.9Score8.3k14d adds
- 8 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 10.5kReads8.3Score91214d adds
- 9 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? 45.5kReads8.6Score4.8k14d adds
- 10 The Poor Scholar Is Destined to Become a Great General 寒门郎君定将星 Lin Xiaoman, a modern male college freshman suffering from a serious illness, was unlucky enough to get bitten on the hand by a lab mouse during an experiment. Afterward, he developed a persistent high fever and drifted in and out of consciousness. When he woke up again, he had become a young man with the same name, the same birthday, and almost exactly the same face! And after saving his older brother, he made a deep impression on a great general... Since he’d already transmigrated, Lin Xiaoman 847Reads8.2Score12214d adds
- 11 Our Family Has Been Bandits for Generations, and You Went and Passed the Top Scholar Exam 咱家世代贼寇，你小子考上状元了 The short drama adaptation, Our Family Has Been Bandits for Generations, and You Went and Passed the Imperial Exams, premieres on November 21 at 9:00. Reservations are open now! Qin Yu transmigrated to ancient times. His father was the chief of Blackwind Stronghold, with wanted posters plastered all over the city gates. His mother was the Holy Maiden of the Black Lotus Sect, a notorious female fiend in the martial world. His grandfather had once attempted a rebellion... His grandmother was a pri 31.4kReads8.6Score3.7k14d adds
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A Woman Transmigrates as a Man: A Farmer’s Road to the Imperial Exams 女穿男：农家子的科举青云路
[Female-to-male transmigration + imperial examinations + romance later on + remembered in history + founding the family tree] In her previous life, Qin Huan grew up in an orphanage and worked her way into a university degree. She landed a job at a major company and was on the verge of reaching the pinnacle of success. Her only regret was never having much family to speak of. When she opened her eyes again, she had traveled from modern times to the past, and from a woman to a man. She had become
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I Worked My Way to the Top Scholar in the Imperial Exams, and Now You Say I Have a Powerful Identity 拼命科举成状元，你才说我有身份
(A cathartic power fantasy: the protagonist never takes anything lying down, and never lets a grudge wait until tomorrow!) No romance + nation-building + imperial examinations + farming + alternate history + court intrigue A no-holds-barred power fantasy, with a decisive, ruthless protagonist!! If there's no justice in this world, then I'll carve it out with blood! If the great clans leave everyone with nowhere to turn, then I'll cut a path through them. The county magistrate's son toys with peo
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Trying to Inherit My Family's Wealth? I Disguised Myself as a Man and Took the Imperial Exams, Winning All Six Honors 吃绝户？我女扮男装科举六元及第
[Imperial Examinations + No CP + A Woman Disguised as a Man (She Reveals Her Identity Once She Holds Great Power) + Political Intrigue + Ensemble Cast] Reborn into an ancient farming family as its only “son,” she is so despised by her entire clan that they wish she would die soon so they can seize the Lu family's estate. Lu Ming: That's no problem. So what if they try to trip her up and stop her from taking a master? She'll walk the road to success no matter what! After observing mourning for t
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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
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- 16 A Woman Transmigrates into a Man: My Lame Childhood Bride 女穿男：我的跛脚童养媳 [Woman Transmigrates into a Man] + [Devoted Husband] + [Older Woman/Younger Man Romance] + [Everyday Rural Life] + [Helping Each Other Grow] + [Business and Imperial Exams] Modern-day overworked office drone Zhao Xiaoyu transmigrates into a poor farming family in ancient times. Orphaned at birth, he is raised by his five-years-older, lame, child-bride sister, who farms and sews to support his studies for the imperial exams. When he is five, Zhao Xiaoyu toddles after her, promising that when he g 2.3kReads8.9Score26114d adds
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From the Start, Disguised as a Man, I Rose to First Rank Through the Imperial Exams 开局女扮男装，我靠科举官居一品
[Disguised as a man + imperial examinations and court intrigue + rises to the highest office + one heroine, focused on her career] When Xie Qingfeng opens her eyes, she's handed a nightmare of a life: a house with bare walls, and a woman forced to disguise herself as a man. In an age when everything is considered inferior to scholarship, if she doesn't fight for her place, she'll be crushed to pieces. Since she's here, she'll give it everything she's got! As a woman, she enters the imperial cour
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The Sickly Weakling Who Became the Ming Emperor's Mentor 病秧子，竟成了大明帝师
Su Ce transmigrates to the Ming Dynasty, only to find himself in the body of a sickly scholar. Along the way, he happens to meet a like-minded young man, and the two travel to the capital together. After arriving in the capital, the young man keeps coming to visit Su Ce. “Brother Su, do you know how to fill the imperial treasury?” “Why don't the common people want to use Ming paper currency?” “Brother Su, did you come up with this refined salt?” “Brother Su, this cement, this sugar...” The young
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- 19 Transmigrate to Take the Imperial Exams? No, I'll Be the Chief Examiner Instead 穿越考科举？不，我直接当主考官 Other people transmigrate, study hard for ten years, and burn the midnight oil to make the imperial examination rankings. Me, Lin Zhijie... Emperor: “You are truly gifted, sir! Would you be willing to serve as an official and help me shoulder the burdens of state?” Me (modestly waving my hand): “Being an official is too exhausting. I just want to be a layabout.” Emperor (after a moment's thought): “In that case, you can be a chief examiner!” Inner thoughts: “Only two months of work a year, an ea 435Reads7.7Score11214d adds
- 20 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 at a top-tier university. In this life, he transmigrated to ancient times, into a poor family with no connections: A destitute home, a pregnant mother, young siblings, an uncle who had failed the exams six times and was hopeless at studying, a grandmother so obsessed with imagining her son placing high in the imperial examinations that she had become delusional, and Cui Xian, who was only eight years old. Cui Xian: This 28kReads9.4Score2.7k14d adds
- 21 After Transmigrating, I Take the Imperial Exams, and the Emperor Wants to Retire as a Team 穿越后科举，皇帝竟想组队退休 [Imperial examinations, transmigration, an alternate setting. No System, no pocket dimension. Focused on earning a living through the examinations and passing down family values. No harem, no womanizer protagonist.] Just as Xia Wenlou had finally achieved his dream of lying flat, a car accident transported him to ancient times. For the record, he had absolutely no desire to transmigrate. And to make matters worse, it happened just as he'd made a name for himself and was starting to enjoy life. N 4.7kReads8.1Score57914d adds
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This Road Leads Straight to the Azure Clouds 此去直上青云路
Li Yu, courtesy name Zixuan, originally named Shen Dakui, was from Shunqing Prefecture, Sichuan, and his ancestral home was Huangzhou Prefecture, Huguang. He ranked twenty-sixth in the second-tier examination in the second year of Xing'an. A politician, financier, firearms expert, hydraulic engineer, military strategist, educator, and more in the early years of the Dayong dynasty... Li Yu lost his father at an early age and followed his mother when she remarried Li Gang, the patrol inspector of
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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
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The Imperial Tutor's Road to the Civil Service Exams 农门帝师的科举之路
Imperial Examination, One-on-One Romance After an accident, a young man from the modern era transmigrated into the Great Qian Dynasty. Looking at his family’s dilapidated brick house, Qi Wenyu wondered how he would make a living from then on...
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- 25 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 21.6kReads8.7Score2.5k14d adds
- 26 After Refusing to Rejoin My Clan, I Became a Great Scholar Through the Imperial Exams 拒绝认祖归宗后，我靠科举成文圣 (Transmigration + wish fulfillment + imperial examinations + court politics + face-slapping + no System) He transmigrates to ancient times, only to find himself an illegitimate son who has never been acknowledged by his family. Su Shijin wants to change his fate through knowledge, but despite having mastered high school Chinese and graduated in applied mathematics, he can barely make sense of classical Chinese. Then he obtains a writing brush. From that day on, he earns the red mark on his foreh 2.2kReads9.0Score18614d adds
- 27 After Marrying a Sweet Young Wife, I Worked Hard and Took the Imperial Exam 迎娶小娇妻后，我奋发图强考科举 One heroine + no System + lighthearted pacing A thorough understanding of the world is knowledge, and social savvy is good writing. Ren Junjie, a history graduate, suddenly finds himself in an unfamiliar world as the eldest legitimate son of the richest family in Xinchang County. A former wastrel, he turns over a new leaf and marries a lovely young wife. He rests every other day and works on the days in between, studying harder and striving to improve. With his deep knowledge of history, he purs 8.9kReads8.8Score70314d adds
- 28 I Transmigrated to Ancient Times, but My Brother Seems Even More Like a Transmigrator Than I Do 穿越古代我哥比我还像穿越者 Alternate World / Ancient Era / Farming / Imperial Exams After a plane crash, Chen Jingming transmigrates to ancient times and becomes a farmer's son. His family is split up because they need to pay for his medical treatment, and his older brother goes missing. Later, the eldest brother returns from a long journey and sends him to school. Eldest Brother: “Little brother, our family's honor rests entirely on you!” But later, as he watches the family estate grow, Chen Jingming realizes that the 15kReads9.0Score1.9k14d adds
- 29 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 22.8kReads9.5Score2.8k14d adds
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A First-Rank Commoner 一品布衣
[War + passion + history] “Mu, want a wife? Just say the word and I'll bring one over for you later.” A streetwise young rascal crosses paths with a wealthy girl fleeing disaster. I transmigrated into a chaotic age. Armed with blades, bows, and horses, I'll protect my family and keep us alive.
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- 31 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 119.8kReads9.6Score11.5k14d adds
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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
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After Kicking Over the Dragon Throne, the Entire Court Begged Her to Take the Crown 踹翻龙椅后，满朝文武跪求她登基
(The heroine focuses on her career, with no romantic pairing. She becomes somewhat cold-hearted and ruthless later on.) Born into the world as a princess, Yu Hui thinks that at last, an incredible fortune has fallen into her lap. She has a palace to live in, money to spend, and status to protect her, so she can enjoy a peaceful, happy life. But peace is out of the question. Calamities keep dropping out of the sky, and they’re heavy ones. Happiness? Not really. Someone is always ending up dead, s
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- 34 The Tyrant Tormented Me? I'll Turn Around, Seduce the Powerful Eunuch, and Seize His Empire 暴君虐我？转身勾搭权宦夺他江山 For eight years in the palace, Xiangjun fought to get ahead and tried to please everyone, yet the palace’s noble masters still ground her down, used her, humiliated her, and cast her aside... Those nobles basked in all the wealth of the realm atop heaps of corpses and bones, yet mocked her for trying her hardest and not knowing her place. In the end, the child Xiangjun risked her life to bear called her enemy “Mother,” while Xiangjun was cut open alive so the baby could be taken from her. She di 115.1kReads9.6Score16.6k14d adds
- 35 The Road to the Top Scholar: A Farmer’s Daughter’s Imperial Exam Journey 科举之农家女的状元路 This isn't a high-energy, over-the-top feel-good story, and the pacing is fairly slow. There are no dramatic showdowns with awful relatives or triumphant face-slapping moments. If that works for you, read on. On the eve of her graduate school graduation, young Liu Lu had just learned that her thesis had passed when a car accident sent her to the past. She woke up as a little farm girl. To make matters worse, her parents were out of favor and always did the most work for the least reward. What w 658Reads7.1Score10214d adds
- 36 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 13.8kReads8.5Score1.1k14d adds
- 37 Sorry, I’m Crazy. Keep Your Weirdness Away 抱歉，我有疯病，诡异勿扰 [Dark Fairy Tales + Horror Game + Livestream + Hilarious + No Romance + Unconventional Ending] My name is Shi Yu, and I'm mentally ill. One moment I was asleep, and the next I had been transported into a horror game called “Little Red Riding Hood.” Black smoke was rising from Mom's head, and the cake meant for Grandma had been mixed with an unidentified kind of minced meat... The game was being livestreamed to the entire world in real time. People watched in astonishment as, while the other p 21.1kReads9.4Score2.7k14d adds
- 38 EN Ten Days to the End 十日终焉 2024 Tomato Novel Annual Peak Rankings TOP 1 | 2024 China Online Literature Influence List | 2024 China Good Novel Award | Over 2 million copies sold (No harem, no formulaic tropes, no invincibility, no System, no mindless antics, no wish fulfillment. Read with caution if these bother you.) Just when I thought it was an ordinary day, I discovered I had been captured and taken to the End. Just when I thought I could escape by continually taking part in death games, people began awakening supernat 1.7MReads9.9Score206.4k14d adds
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Great Tang: The Future of the Anxi Army 大唐：安西军的未来
During the prosperous Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, after the Battle of Soros, the Anxi Protectorate once again launches a powerful campaign into the Western Regions against the Arab Empire. Under the brilliant leadership of General Li Cunrui, the Tang expands its territory once more, with invaluable help from his wife, Li Jing...
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- 40 Haidai Tower 海岱楼 At Haidai Tower, during the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty, swordsman Gao Gong and female swordswoman Shen Qingwu fight to preserve peace in the martial world. Around the pages of the Cloudbreaker Sword Manual, they take on the evil forces within the martial world's major sects. In the end, they become masters of their age, and Gao Gong and Shen Qingwu retire from the jianghu together, living as inseparable companions... —Reads—Score—14d adds
