Gu Si was three when he finally realized that he'd become the great-grandson of a cannon-fodder character in an imperial-examination novel...
The Gu family had once been a clan of local gentry, with a considerable fortune among the ruling class at the bottom of society. In the end, they were schemed against, stripped of their wealth, and left with their family destroyed.
And he was the "person" in "family destroyed, people dead."
Gu Si: "..."
Don't panic. Before the plot begins, he'll pass the examinations for licentiate and change his fate.
--He passes the county, prefectural, and academy exams in succession. Licentiate status secured.
Reality: The imperial examinations are dozens of times harder than getting into Qinghua or Peking University!
Gu Si worries: Even if they're that hard, some people still pass. Can I do it?
--The provincial examination results are posted. Gu Si comes first, and the chief examiner rushes to claim him as his son-in-law.
His fellow candidates: "Every successful candidate has talent. Whether you pass the metropolitan examination is all down to luck."
Gu Si: I have to work hard. Even if I come in last, I can't come in last-last!
--With luck on his side, he passes the metropolitan, re-examination, and palace exams, earns the jinshi degree, and rises above the common people.
The setting is similar to the late Qing Dynasty, with the imperial examinations in the first half and court politics in the second.
All the passages marked with an asterisk are based on information found online.
If you're dropping this, you don't need to tell me. Just go on your way~ ^.^
It's good! Go read the first chapter.
"Wow! Even the Emperor Can't Beat How Good I've Got It!" Find it in my author page and add it to your collection.
A new palace maid arrives in the imperial harem. She's so stunning that the whole palace is captivated, and her name is [Marry Eighteen Husbands].
The people in the harem: ...With a face that could bring ruin to a kingdom, why not go after some imperial relatives? Why choose to be a companion to a castrated eunuch? What's wrong with her?
After her shocking statements, even her unusual name somehow seems less surprising. ...No, wait. Fine, her surname is Marry, but whose given name is five characters long?!
On her first day, the new maid steals a consort's clothes. On the second, she steals delicacies from the imperial kitchen. On the third, she beats up the emperor during their night together. On the fourth, she breaks out of prison, crashes a court assembly, and strips the new top scorer in the palace examination in front of everyone. On the eighteenth, at her wedding, she forcefully kisses the eunuch known as the Nine-Thousand-Year-Old, who's come to watch the ceremony, then humiliates him with the root that was cut off him, saying, "I'll give it to him as a token of our love"...
The people at court: ...She's done all that and still hasn't been killed? She really has some nerve!
Everyone in the capital is guessing when she'll die. But on the twenty-ninth day, she cuts open the belly of a princess who has suffered a difficult labor and saves both mother and child. On the forty-fourth, she exposes a corruption case, shaking the court and getting nearly a hundred officials killed. On the ninety-fifth, she single-handedly slaughters the hundreds of thousands of soldiers besieging the capital, preventing the kingdom's fall. On the one hundred and twenty-sixth day...
The people of Qi go from astonishment to acceptance, from shock to adoration: A celestial immortal has descended to earth to undergo a tribulation. There's nothing she can't do!
Li Youjin downloaded a 3D game. As a woman who loves handsome faces, she named her character [Marry Eighteen Husbands], stole beautiful men, beat up corrupt officials, broke up "lovers," and married eighteen beauties, having the time of her life in a game with an incredible degree of freedom.
One day, after the game finished updating, she opened it.
Bad news: She had to start all over.
Good news: It had become a full-dive game!
"Holy crap!" After letting out a stream of curses, Li Youjin got even more excited!
"I Rise to Success Through Literacy (Imperial Examinations)" Find it in my author page and add it to your collection.
As the whole village is trapped and doomed by strange monsters, the old licentiate who could save them falls unconscious. At the critical moment, seven-year-old Yue Xingyi awakens memories of his past life, picks up a spirit brush, and writes one character: "Retreat."
The monster is gravely wounded and flees with a scream. Yue Xingyi becomes the village's savior.
This is a world overrun by strange beings. Only those who have earned scholarly honors can save the world, and they are wildly revered by everyone.
On his first day of school, Yue Xingyi looks at the simple characters in his book and listens as his teacher explains, "Only those with spiritual talent can learn spirit script and earn scholarly honors. Anyone who can understand five characters in this book this year will be considered gifted."
Yue Xingyi takes the book and reads it from beginning to end without missing a single character.
Everyone in the classroom is dumbfounded and stares at him in shock. The teacher murmurs, "A genius the likes of whom comes once in a thousand years has appeared..."
After that, he passes the county, prefectural, academy, provincial, metropolitan, and palace examinations, becoming the only person in the history of the Yuan Kingdom to earn top honors in all six examinations.
Saving the people, giving them hope, and rising to success: it turns out it can be that simple!
Theme: Advance society and do meaningful things.
When I broke off the engagement with Master Zeng for the first time, I realized that the Feng family likes to assess the situation. Such people can only share wealth, but not adversity, so why should we talk about marriage with them?
Look... There was a leave request note here yesterday
The more I read, the less interesting it becomes. There is almost no plot at the end. Each chapter is either a description of the palace or a description of the examination process and the transfer process. It's just a matter of words.
It's scary to rub 20,000 words into my hands. I feel suffocated when writing a 2,000-word essay.
So sad! I really like my great-grandfather. I thought I would stay with the protagonist longer and see Gu Sizhongju.
I tied it in one go, there were a lot of typos
I also loved drinking it when I was a kid. Drinking well water feels a bit refreshing.
"After passing the palace examination, it is time to be elected." This is a big bug for the author ~
You should be a Jinshi after the imperial examination.
It's unimaginable. I thought the heroine's name was "Zi Huaiyuan." I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I thought the marriage would never work out. But now that the dust has settled, I realized that it was the male protagonist Zi Huaiyuan [laughing and crying]
The "Zhang Family" is a big thorn in the side of the author~
I Relied on Literacy to Rise Through the Ranks (Imperial Examination)
Men Worth Trillions Are Pursuing Me
After Transforming into Vicious Cannon Fodder, I Became a Queen
The Miserable Female Supporting Character Rebelled and Successfully Became the Emperor
My Years as a County Magistrate
Reborn as a Noble Lady of an Eminent Family
The Third Volume of How the Imperial Exams Made My Family Prosper
Passing the Imperial Exams and Rising to Power in a Supernatural Novel
I Became the Villainess's Older Brother
The Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Character in a Romance Novel
A Darling Wife in the Republic of China
A Fallen Noble House Returns to Its Former Glory [Imperial Exams]
When I broke off the engagement with Master Zeng for the first time, I realized that the Feng family likes to assess the situation. Such people can only share wealth, but not adversity, so why should we talk about marriage with them?
Look... There was a leave request note here yesterday
The more I read, the less interesting it becomes. There is almost no plot at the end. Each chapter is either a description of the palace or a description of the examination process and the transfer process. It's just a matter of words.
It's scary to rub 20,000 words into my hands. I feel suffocated when writing a 2,000-word essay.
So sad! I really like my great-grandfather. I thought I would stay with the protagonist longer and see Gu Sizhongju.
I tied it in one go, there were a lot of typos
I also loved drinking it when I was a kid. Drinking well water feels a bit refreshing.
"After passing the palace examination, it is time to be elected." This is a big bug for the author ~ You should be a Jinshi after the imperial examination.
It's unimaginable. I thought the heroine's name was "Zi Huaiyuan." I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I thought the marriage would never work out. But now that the dust has settled, I realized that it was the male protagonist Zi Huaiyuan [laughing and crying]
The "Zhang Family" is a big thorn in the side of the author~