Novels like The Imperial Exams Are No Easy Feat, So I’ll Take My Whole Family to the Azure Sky
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Imperial Exams Are No Easy Feat, So I’ll Take My Whole Family to the Azure Sky, best match first.
- 1 A Butcher by Trade, an Imperial Exam Scholar by Hobby, I Rise to Grand Secretary 主业杀猪副业科考，官拜首辅台阁 A hub linking three provinces, a vital route by land and water. In Taiping Town, the Jiang family butcher shop welcomed a baby boy, Jiang Ping'an. His family had been butchers for generations, and he helped out in the kitchen on the side. Little did they know that one day a scholar would emerge from their family, rising from a shengyuan candidate to a jinshi, and beginning another story. 187Reads6.0Score10414d adds
- 2 After Being Kicked Out of My Family, I Passed the Top Scholar Exam 被赶出家门后，我考上了状元 Xie Cheng stayed up all night and died suddenly, only to be reborn as a spoiled young master from an ancient aristocratic family. The moment he opened his eyes, his eldest brother slapped him in front of everyone. “The Xie family doesn't support dead weight!” His mother and he were thrown out into the rain. Looking back at the grand family estate, he swore to himself: I'll pass the imperial exams and become the top scholar, then personally slap that smug look off your face! Just got my rating, a 2.6kReads7.6Score26014d adds
- 3 Saving My Family Through the Imperial Exams: I Win Top Honors with My Talent 科举救家：我靠才华状元及第 Zhao Yan, a doctoral graduate, pulled an all-nighter and died suddenly. When he opened his eyes, he had become a sickly child from a poor family in Great Zhou! His scholar father had been framed and had the tendons in his hand severed. His mother had cried herself dry, and his sister traded embroidered handkerchiefs for rice to keep the family fed. Then the Ma family’s thugs came to force his father to kneel and sign a contract, trampling a scholar’s dignity into the mud! Zhao Yan clenched his f 377Reads7.2Score10014d adds
- 4 I Wanted to Be a Butcher, So Why Are You Making Me Take the Exams to Become Top Scholar? 我想杀猪，为何逼我科举考状元？ [Aimed at male readers. Don't read if that's not your thing.] [Imperial examinations + transmigration + butcher + pocket dimension + political intrigue] Xie Qingzhuo, head of obstetrics and gynecology, was on the verge of becoming a deputy hospital director when he died from overwork. When he opened his eyes, he had transmigrated. As the eldest grandson of the Xie family, Xie Qingzhuo was doted on. Thinking of how hard he'd worked in his previous life, Xie Qingzhuo decided to lie flat and enjoy 414Reads8.4Score—14d adds
- 5 A Humble Scholar's Road to the Exams, Starting with My Sister Beating the Young Master to Tears 寒门科举，从我妹揍哭少爷开始 In his previous life, Su Ping’an was battered by hardship and tormented by illness. After struggling for years, he was finally defeated by his disease. He looked up at the sky, ready to curse, but in the blink of an eye, he discovered he had been born into a poor family in ancient times. His new family came with poverty, a domineering mother, a miserly grandmother, young siblings, and a grandfather obsessed with becoming an official. Changing the family’s fate through the imperial exams was ever 236Reads6.3Score10314d adds
- 6 Imperial Exams: The Road to Sixfold Honors 科举：六元及第青云路 An ordinary modern man transmigrates into the body of eight-year-old Li Mingli, a poor farmer’s son in the Great Jing dynasty. With a golden finger that lets him remember everything he sees and draw inferences from what he learns, he begins as a child who can barely get enough to eat and overcomes one imperial examination challenge after another, accomplishing the unprecedented feat of taking first place in all six stages. Once he enters the court, he stays true to himself and keeps the people i 8Reads—Score—14d adds
- 7 Transmigrated as a Spoiled Prodigy? I'll Happily Take the Top Scholar Title 穿成被养废的神童？状元我笑纳了 One moment he was a powerful modern official; the next, he had transmigrated into Fang Xuan, a poor-born prodigy who could compose poetry at five but was ruined by his family by the age of ten. He opens his eyes to a disastrous start: his parents are dragging him around, making him recite poetry and perform for money. He turns the situation to his advantage, reciting a perfect poem at a banquet and catching the eye of a powerful patron. At last, he has a chance to turn his life around! When it c 87Reads8.6Score—14d adds
- 8 My Five Sisters Helped Me Reach for the Clouds, So I Won Them Noble Titles 五姐扶我青云志，我送她们诰命身 Zhang Xiaozhi, a modern liberal arts student, transmigrates into the ancient world as Zhang Xiaozhu, the son of a butcher. He is too weak to lift a load or even hold a tool, and looks set to starve to death. His mother grits her teeth and decides to send him to school, but his butcher father refuses to hear of it. Studying will never make money as fast as slaughtering pigs. Just then, his eldest sister, Jinhua, speaks up: “Father, Mother, stop arguing. I agree that Zhu'er should study.” His se 705Reads6.7Score10714d adds
- 9 Changing My Family's Status, I Aim to Top the Imperial Exams 改换门庭，我要科举高中 A programmer from the 21st century had a happy family and a fulfilling life, but then he transmigrated into the family of a feudal-era small landowner. Seeing the tenants’ lives, his simple-minded cousin, and his family desperately guarding their farmland, he declared, “I’ll take the imperial examinations! I’m going to climb into the clouds and see what’s up there!” 68Reads—Score—14d adds
- 10 My Lord, I Choose Only the One I Watched Grow Up 夫君，我只选自己看着长大的 The main story is complete. Extra chapters will be posted on a schedule. Read with confidence. The story of The Chancellor’s Rise is about a boy from a mountain village who eventually becomes Grand Secretary. A motivational story naturally needs its sacrificial characters, and Gu Qinghe, or more accurately, her entire family, are all doomed supporting characters. As the growth-oriented protagonist, he has to face plenty of setbacks. His parents can’t survive, and anyone close to him has to die f 101Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 11 The Centurion's Qilin Son 百夫长的麒麟子 Chen Zhan, a newly graduated PhD in chemistry, was enjoying a vacation before starting work at a university when a glass walkway suddenly shattered. He then found himself occupying the body of Chen Zhan, the frail son of a centurion stationed at a border camp. From then on, a military family that could never find the right words and always lost arguments finally had someone who could speak for them. To stop his father from actually punching a civil official's head clean off, Chen Zhan swore: I'l 1.7kReads7.8Score19614d adds
- 12 The Imperial Exams: I'm a Six-Year-Old Son of a Concubine, Writing Sage Wisdom in Vinegar 科举：我六岁庶子，蘸醋写圣贤 [Child prodigy + high IQ + decisive and ruthless + pure wish fulfillment + cold persona] After transmigrating, six-year-old Fan Yu is a burden of a child, but in his previous life he was a doctoral advisor in modern literature. He and his birth mother live at the mercy of the minor official Wei family, enduring abuse and going hungry. To break out of this dead end, he takes a risk and barges into a banquet, setting off a commotion with one word: “Father!” When his stepfather accuses him of being 968Reads8.7Score12014d adds
- 13 An Ordinary Man’s Road to the Imperial Examinations 普通人的科举之路 [No transmigration] [No rebirth] [No System] [No golden finger] For eight generations, the Qiao family had been poor peasants. Hardly anyone in the household could read more than a few characters, yet somehow a promising scholar emerged from their midst. Qiao Shan is a country boy with no photographic memory and no family fortune. His family has to tighten their belts just to give him the chance to study. Watch this young boy carve out a path to the heavens through countless days of hard work, t 2.9kReads8.4Score20814d adds
- 14 Born to Humble Beginnings, I Defy Heaven Itself 出身皆微末我自逆苍天 This is a comeback full of cracks. It is not about conquering social classes or currying favor with the powerful, but about holding on to your truest self as you are crushed at every turn. When he finally reaches the top, he still dares to look back into the abyss and softly tell the twelve-year-old kiln worker’s son: “I got you out, but I didn’t become one of them.” Welcome to A Humble Birth, Yet I Defy Heaven. Discover how someone born into obscurity learns to become his own light through wind 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 15 I Take the Imperial Exam Seriously 科举我是认真的 Overnight, he transmigrates and becomes a poor farm boy in the Great Jiang Kingdom, with nothing but the bare walls of his home. His only “golden finger” is the arsenal of skills he learned in his previous life through exam prep and working his way through school. Looking at the thin porridge in his bowl, clear enough to see his reflection, Li Pingbao decides to break through by pursuing an official career through the imperial examinations… 14.8kReads8.2Score1.4k14d adds
- 16 Top Scorer in All Six Exams, the Emperor Begs Me to Become Chief Grand Secretary 六元及第，皇帝追着当首辅 Chen An was born into another world, where he became the son of a farming family that couldn't even afford a proper meal. His life plan was simple: study hard, earn an official degree, make sure his family could eat white rice, marry a hardworking wife, have two children, and live out his days in peace. To avoid taking unnecessary detours, he casually apprenticed himself to an old scholar who sometimes acted crazy at the village entrance. To earn some good karma, he casually rescued a down-on-hi 3.9kReads8.0Score23814d adds
- 17 A Country Boy’s Ups and Downs in the Imperial Exams 农家小子科举浮沉记 By a stroke of bad luck, he transmigrates into the cherished child of a man from the northwest, with a mysterious, aloof first stepmother, a hardworking second stepmother, and a sister who might be sold off at the drop of a hat. He studies late into the night, vowing to climb the ladder to success. (The protagonist is no saint or god. He can be selfish, and he’ll have his share of heartache over love.) (The female lead is neither sweet and cute nor gentle and soft-spoken. She’s a talkative, conf 891Reads8.2Score10014d adds
- 18 The Imperial Exam Grind King: I Paved a Road to Success Through Hard Work 科举卷王，卷出一条青云路 Tang Yin, a modern-day overachiever, transmigrates to the ancient Great Qian Dynasty and finds himself caught up in the miserable tale of three generations of one family taking the imperial examinations together. The mockery around me is deafening, but I have no time to pay it any mind. I just keep my head down and study. County, prefectural, and academy exams: I take them on one by one! Provincial, metropolitan, and palace exams: I break through every stage! I study my tutor bald, drive my riva 13.4kReads7.6Score1.1k14d adds
- 19 From Modern Times to Ancient Days: From Starving to Ruling the Realm 今穿古：我从食不果腹到指点江山 [Imperial Exams + History + Transmigration + Farming + Political Intrigue] Soldiers can ride out on horseback to conquer new lands, but scholars can also bring peace to the realm with their pens! Lin Jingyan, a fine young man from the twenty-first century, transmigrated into a poor family in the Eastern Great Dynasty. In a countryside where people could barely keep food on the table, he earned a little money and pursued his dreams one step at a time through the imperial examinations! Writing poe 53Reads6.2Score—14d adds
- 20 Reborn, I Use the System to Find My Family, Redeem Myself, and Become a Chancellor 重生后，我靠系统寻亲救赎成宰相 Shen Yan was reborn at the age of twelve, on the night his older sister went into a difficult labor. He activated the Family-Finding System, saved his sister, and received lavish rewards. He discovered that the relatives he had lost in his previous life were scattered across the land, all living tragic lives: A nephew whose identity had been switched, a sister humiliated in the palace, a younger sister reduced to a kept woman… Shen Yan rose through the ranks by passing the imperial examinations, 15Reads6.9Score—14d adds
- 21 Born into Ancient Times: A Farmer’s Son Takes the Imperial Exams 胎穿古代，农家子的科举之路 I wake up as Han Yinji, the fourth son of the Han family's third branch. His family is dirt poor, and he has a crowd of siblings. I thought I'd be stuck eking out a living in the fields, but unexpectedly, I came into this world with a modern knowledge database as my golden finger. I planned to keep my head down and survive, but my relatives were constantly up to something, and there was no peace in a poor household. So I had no choice but to breeze through the imperial examinations, improve farm 33Reads—Score—14d adds
- 22 Poor Scholar, Grand Secretary: My Teacher Is Xu Jie 寒门首辅：家师徐阶 The early pacing is fast, with a focus on court politics. The protagonist is poor and under pressure at first, and that part has a few issues. If you find it hard to read, you can skip ahead to chapter 80 for the career-focused storyline. “Before the steps of the Golden Hall, half are the bones of scholars. The other half are the people's marrow, congealed. The alchemical furnace swallows every soaring ambition, then exhales it as frozen lines in the history books.” “By dawn, a farmhand; by dusk 372Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 23 The Lazy Little Sister’s Daily Routine of Clinging to Her Powerful Big Brother 2 摆烂妹妹抱大佬哥哥大腿日常2 What should you do when you transmigrate into a story about the imperial exams as the male lead’s younger sister? Eat, drink, and have fun while waiting for your powerful older brother to look after you. Life isn’t peaceful because of fate. It’s because I have a brother who clears the way for me. Come see Li Yizhu’s days of winning without lifting a finger. 20Reads—Score—14d adds
- 24 I Only Wanted to Help Dad Pass the Imperial Exams, Not Become the Emperor's Tutor! 我只想教爹考状元，没想当帝师！ [Imperial exams, court politics, everyday life, alternate history, farming, lighthearted, no romance] In the Great Xia Dynasty, the Su family has failed the imperial exams for nine generations, becoming a laughingstock throughout the county! I’m a PhD in literature, yet I’ve transmigrated into the body of Su Chen, an eight-year-old prodigy from the Su family! My foolish father is still poring over dry textbooks, while Grandma is so furious she’s gone mad on the spot, and the whole clan is laughi 3.9kReads8.3Score52514d adds
- 25 Top Scorer in All Six Imperial Exams, and You Call Him a Good-for-Nothing? 六元及第，你说他是废柴 Cheng Ye, a modern inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, was reborn into the Great Qian dynasty, a realm unrecorded in history. In an age when everything was considered inferior to scholarship, watch him use the knowledge he gained in his previous life to lead his family from utter poverty to becoming the richest in Great Qian, and rise from a farmer’s son to the dynasty’s chief minister. P.S. There is no female lead. The story features plenty of delicious food and many forms of intangible 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 26 At Hoeing Time Beneath the Midday Sun, I Fell for the Imperial Exams 锄禾日当午我和科举处 [Imperial examinations + daily life + romance, with a male-female pairing; the protagonist is still a child at this stage] Su Yan transmigrates into a new life as an infant in swaddling clothes, born premature and frail into a family with nothing but four bare walls. He’d already lived freely enough in his previous life, and now, everything goes black before his eyes. He just wants to give up and be reborn as soon as possible. But each time he’s on the brink of death, he narrowly survives. He ch 2Reads8.0Score—14d adds
- 27 Sold into Slavery from the Start, I Rise to Grand Secretary Through the Imperial Exams 开局卖身为奴，我靠科举登顶首辅 After waking up, Wang Wei, a modern university student majoring in Chinese, transmigrated into Wang Gou'er, a young servant who had been sold by his own clan. He thought his life was over before it had even begun, but his new master turned out to be a wealthy provincial graduate. Even more unexpectedly, a twist of fate made him the young master's lifesaver, and he was assigned to work in the study. While the other servants were still struggling to memorize the rules, Wang Gou'er had already set 49.8kReads7.9Score4.3k14d adds
- 28 An Economics PhD Takes the Imperial Exam, Making the Young Masters Cry from the Start 经济博士考科举，开局卷哭众少爷 Wang Jingchen, an economics PhD, wakes up in ancient times as the youngest son of a tenant farming family of displaced people. His parents rent land from a local gentry family and run a small sundries stall on the side. Making a living is hard, yet the whole family supports his education. His classmates are all from wealthy families, and a local gentryman's son sneers at him: “A displaced tenant farmer's son thinks he deserves to take the imperial exams?” Wang Jingchen smiles calmly. “Just watch 1.7kReads7.7Score18314d adds
- 29 I Couldn't Bear to See My Parents Taken Advantage Of, So I Became the Top Scholar 心疼爹娘太老实，科举考个状元郎 Male lead: Shen Qingshi The male lead has no System or pocket dimension, but comes with PUA skills. Even the most arrogant can be turned into a lackey. In his previous life, Shen Qingshi had just achieved financial freedom when his soul transmigrated into the body of a peasant boy in ancient times. His grandparents doted on no one, his parents were both doormats, and his third uncle was a leech who couldn't even pass the examination to become a scholar. Fine, whoever wants to be a doormat can be 1.7kReads7.6Score15014d adds
- 30 The Whole Family Transmigrates: I Take the Imperial Exams with Dad and Become a Rich Heiress 全家穿：随爹科考后，我成了白富美 [The Whole Family Transmigrates + Imperial Exams + Business + An Adorable, Silly Male Lead] Other people transmigrate alone. The whole Liu family comes along, and even their big yellow dog makes the trip, becoming a talking parrot. As soon as the Liu family arrives, they waste no time splitting up the household! Liu Zhizhi also kicks her cheating scumbag of a fiancé to the curb! After the split, the house is drafty on every side and they have nothing. They’ll have to start from scratch. But don’ 65Reads5.8Score—14d adds
- 31 The Imperial Examinations of a Farming Family 农门科举 [Turbulent Court, Speaking Up for the People] After an accident, Zhang Ping transmigrates to an impoverished farming family in ancient times. Scene One “To establish a path for the people, preserve the lost teachings of the sages, and bring peace to all generations: this is our mission. Even if we die nine times, we shall have no regrets.” Zhang Ping asked, “Teacher, isn't this the original aspiration of us scholars?” Scene Two He never forgot his original aspiration. After great hardship, Zhang 98Reads6.5Score—14d adds
- 32 The Imperial Exam? I’m a Top Scholar in the Classics, So Why Can’t I Take the Military Exam? 科举？我文状元考个武状元合理吧 [Ripped Scholar Exams]+ [Transmigration]+ [Alternate History]+ [Humor]+ [Wish Fulfillment] When he woke up, top science student Xu Jie was completely bewildered! He had been one of Huaguo's leading science minds, devoted to research. But then he suddenly died in his sleep and, damn it, transmigrated straight into the body of a spoiled rich kid with muscles all over! On his wedding night, one hard squeeze of his bulging muscles left his petite new bride, who had been swapped in as a bride of good 221Reads—Score10914d adds
- 33 The Imperial Exams: A Genius by Day, Studying Myself to Death by Night 科举：白天装天才，夜里卷到猝死 (Imperial examinations + ensemble cast + political intrigue + showing off + lighthearted comedy) After transmigrating into the lowest-ranked student at the Imperial Academy, he spends the day pretending to be a born genius who “just glances at the books and comes first,” then studies till he nearly goes bald by night. He'll grit his teeth and walk this show-off's path through the imperial examinations all the way to the palace exam. 392Reads5.9Score10614d adds
- 34 The Imperial Examination: Why Can't My Daughter Become the Top Scholar? 科举：凭什么我女儿不能中状元？ (The manhua adaptation is now available. Feel free to check it out!) [Child-Rearing + Imperial Exams: No CP in the main story, and if there is one, it's one-sided] Su Mingyi grew up in a remote mountain temple until she was three, knowing only that her grandfather loved her dearly and would protect her at all costs. He taught her martial arts and how to recite scriptures. He even kept a close watch whenever she bathed with the other young Taoist disciples, hiding her away as carefully as he coul 9.3kReads8.7Score1.5k14d adds
- 35 Carrying My Whole Family to Success: I Passed the Imperial Exams at Eight 带飞全家：我八岁考状元 In his previous life, he was a PhD in archaeology at a top 985 university, learned in the classics. But during an examination of an ancient tomb, he accidentally transmigrates and becomes an eight-year-old boy in a poor family in ancient times. When he opens his eyes, this is what greets him A dilapidated thatched hut with drafts blowing through it, an almost-empty rice jar, and creditors blocking the door; His pregnant mother, belly swollen, still struggling with the housework, her face sallow; 53Reads6.5Score—14d adds
- 36 The Chen Family Ancestral Grounds Are Smoking, and a Top Scholar Has Emerged 老陈家祖地冒烟出状元了 A great fire, a selfless sacrifice, and Chen Ping'an, a librarian at the Palace Museum, is accidentally reborn in the Great Xia dynasty, a realm much like the Ming dynasty, as a six-year-old farmer's boy, carrying with him the knowledge of an entire library. In an age dominated by farming, Confucianism, and the civil service examinations, knowledge is his only weapon. The library he imagines is an endless treasure trove, but also a sword hanging over his head. He can understand the currents of h 230Reads5.9Score—14d adds
- 37 A Commoner Boy: Disciple of the Son of Heaven 布衣少年：天子门生 The novel finally received its rating on July 5. The rating has just opened, so it will rise later. [Young political intrigue | Redemption for all | Reform for the people | Women's awakening | Passionate ensemble cast | Imperial examinations | Xu Zhiyan] The Great Jing court was rigidly stratified. For a hundred years, no commoner from a humble family had risen to the top overnight and caught the emperor's attention. Xu Zhiyan was the first. He came from Xu Family Village in Huzhou, Zhejiang. 4kReads8.1Score29214d adds
- 38 Imperial Exam Comeback: From Farmer’s Son to First-Rank Grand Secretary 科举逆袭：从农家子到一品阁老 A modern young man transmigrates overnight and becomes a farm boy, descended from generations of farmers. Other people who transmigrate get a golden finger or a System. But when he takes a look at himself, he has nothing at all and is one of the lowest-ranking people of this era. He wants to invent things and change the age, but he's hopeless with his hands. He wants to master Neo-Confucianism and stand above the world, but, well, he knows nothing... Sigh, he'd better face reality. After thinkin 4.7kReads8.8Score35514d adds
- 39 The Way of Learning: A Transmigrator's Unconventional Path to the Imperial Examinations 学而致道：穿越之非主流科举路 A high school student transmigrates into the household of a gentry family in an imaginary dynasty, studies under his father and tutors, and takes the imperial examinations. The teachings of Song Learning and Han Learning, the schools of Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang, the essays of Su and Han, and the histories of Ban and Ma gradually seep into a young man’s heart. He studies from childhood through adolescence, taking in ideas that will never change for the rest of his life. Across a thousand years, he m 1.1kReads8.4Score12314d adds
- 40 From Humble Beginnings to Minister of State 布衣卿相寒门崛起 A poor scholar’s spirit rings clear, his pen splitting the heavens! When Lin Shen wakes, he finds himself in a thatched hut with a leaking roof. Before him lies his mother, at death’s door and worn to the bone; his young brother is coughing up blood, barely alive; outside, rapacious creditors kick at the door, demanding payment and threatening their lives! In this cruel world, are the poor truly no more than blades of grass? He will wield modern knowledge as a blade and turn the world upside dow 57Reads—Score—14d adds
- 41 Reborn as a Cannon-Fodder Man in a Broken Engagement Face-Slapping Story 穿成退婚打脸文里的炮灰男 [Imperial Exams, One-on-One Romance] [Not a Power Fantasy] (The rating just came out, so it might go up later?) At first, Lu Heming thought he had transmigrated, or perhaps there had been water in Granny Meng’s soup, allowing him to be reborn with memories of his past life. It wasn’t until he turned six that he realized he had transmigrated into a women’s novel about a broken engagement and face-slapping revenge. But he was neither the male lead who would join hands with the heroine and reach th 608Reads8.4Score—14d adds
- 42 After Raising the Obsessive Male Lead, He Won't Let Me Leave 把偏执男主养大后，他不让我走了 Please give this a five-star rating, dear readers (❁´ω`❁) [Farming + rebirth + business + everyday life + hardworking, sunny heroine + extremely possessive hero + both pure + happy ending] After Song Guining stayed up all night reading a novel and dropped dead, the System brought her into a revenge romance novel. Her mission was to find the male lead, Duan Yu, a little beggar, raise him, and make him the prime minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty. But after the lousy System pointed out the child f 367Reads8.1Score—14d adds
- 43 The Top Scholar from a Poor Family: The Whole Village Helps Me Rise to Greatness 寒门状元：全村扶我青云志 The soul of a modern PhD in Chinese Language and Literature is trapped in the frail body of a seven-year-old orphan in the Great Xia Dynasty. What he possesses is a way of thinking powerful enough to overturn an entire era. What he faces is utter poverty, with only his frail older sister to rely on. No heaven-defying System, no fantastical martial arts, only knowledge and wisdom from a thousand years in the future. He will make the imperial examinations his sole battlefield and begin an unpre 1.4kReads7.6Score10214d adds
- 44 After Marrying a Poor Scholar's Daughter, My Son Passed the Imperial Exams and Rose to Power 娶了寒门小娘子后庶子科举成枭臣 [Alternate world + a common-born son’s rise + imperial examinations + farming] Zhao Ce transmigrates to Great Yan and becomes the young master of a landowning family. He thinks he can start a life of wealth and privilege, only to discover that he is an unloved concubine-born son. His legitimate eldest brother, Zhao Qian, is exceptionally capable and adored by everyone. Zhao Ce takes it in stride. The Zhao family is rich, after all, so being a laid-back concubine-born son who can eat his fill and 808Reads7.2Score10014d adds
- 45 My Family Has Been Butchers for Generations, and You Want Me to Take the Top Scholar Exam? 我家世代屠户，你偏要我考状元？ Chen Dao transmigrated! The good news: His family owned property and a shop, a pork stall at the vegetable market. The bad news: His father shoved a butcher's knife into his hands and said, “If you can't pass the exam and become a licentiate, you'll come back and take over the family business!” Hell mode from the start: The Analects in his left hand, a cleaver in his right. He recited classical phrases while cutting pork belly for customers. At the county exam, sons of generations of Hanlin scho 20Reads—Score—14d adds
- 46 Xu Erlang's Road to the Imperial Exams 徐家二郎的科举之路 After an accident, Xu Xu, a modern university student majoring in traditional Chinese medicine, transmigrated to an ancient farming family. To give himself and his family a better life and keep them safe, he embarked on the long road of the imperial examinations. He passed and became a county magistrate in a remote region, eventually rising to the highest ranks of government. 40Reads—Score—14d adds
- 47 Rising from Poverty: From the Imperial Exams to the Officialdom 寒门崛起，从科举入仕开始 (The rating just came out, so it's normal for it to be a little low. Don't worry, enjoy!) [Farming + Imperial Examinations + Alternate History + Ancient Setting] After an accident, Wang Bo, a farmer's son in ancient times, absorbed the memories of his previous life. The good news: His mind held thousands of books from the twenty-first century, and he had a photographic memory. The bad news: His family was so poor they lived on bran, and they still had to scrape together every last bit to fund hi 2.1kReads8.5Score18514d adds
- 48 Taking My Father’s Place in the Imperial Exams, Starting at Six 替父科举！从六岁开始 No corvee labor, no land tax. Crossing the class divide feels amazing! No wonder my father was willing to do anything to pass the imperial exams! The exams broke the aristocratic clans' monopoly on official careers under the Nine-Rank System, which had been in place since the Wei and Jin dynasties. With examinations at their core, they gave ordinary scholars a way to rise above their station. The appeal of the exams went straight to the heart of people's everyday concerns. Once scholars passed t 700Reads7.3Score10014d adds
- 49 My Stepfather Set Me on the Road to Success 继父扶我青云路 His scholar father died when Xie Qingshan was three. His widowed mother took him and remarried that very night, and he thought a hard life under someone else’s roof lay ahead. But his stepfather was kindhearted, his step-grandmother warm and caring, and they even gave him the sweet little name Xu Chengzong. The whole family doted on him! With a modern soul in his body, he helps his family eat well and stay warm, then returns to his studies, hoping to pass the exams and become a minor official. 26.3kReads8.1Score1.9k14d adds
- 50 A Farmer's Son Places First in All Six Exams 农家子六元及第了 Father and son, both top scholars; imperial exams; transmigration; an alternate world; satisfying wish fulfillment; one-on-one romance; sixfold top honors. After a car accident, Shen Ce, Henan’s top college entrance exam scorer, transmigrated into the Great Yan Dynasty. Unwilling to take up farming, he used the imperial exams to steadily climb the road to success… 238Reads—Score10214d adds
