Novels like From the Start, I Was a Lowly Illegitimate Son, but the Imperial Exams Carried Me to Success
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as From the Start, I Was a Lowly Illegitimate Son, but the Imperial Exams Carried Me to Success, best match first.
- 51 A Concubine-Born Son’s Road to the Imperial Exams 庶子科举路 Gu Yan, an illegitimate son of the Marquis of Yongning’s household, lost his birth mother at an early age and was treated as a thorn in his stepmother’s side. From the start, he was kicked awake and made to kneel before his marquis father. In a military family, having a scholar for a son was a joke. His stepmother sneered, “You’re not cut out for studying,” while his legitimate elder brother mocked him: “Can a bookworm put food on the table?” Gu Yan didn’t argue. He simply went from the marqui 2.2kReads6.9Score157Shelves
- 52 I Had to Live Off My Wife to Study for the Imperial Exams 为了读书科举，我被迫吃上了软饭 Seventy years after the founding of the Great Shun dynasty, everyone calls it a golden age, yet poor students still struggle to get an education. Zhang Xing transmigrates to Great Shun. His elder brother has married and started a family, and there is no money left to support Zhang Xing’s studies. Desperate to study and sit the imperial exams, Zhang Xing is forced to marry a wealthy woman. Two wealthy wives, in fact!! [Imperial exams as the main plot + Daily life + Legally marrying two wives to c 42.8kReads7.5Score3.2kShelves
- 53 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—Shelves
- 54 A Journey Through the Officialdom 宦海征途 [Alternate History + Transmigration + Single Male Lead + Strategy] Zhao Liyang, a student in the Chinese department at Yanjing University, is struck and killed. He transmigrates to the Kingdom of Cheng. As someone who has transmigrated, Zhao Liyang swears he won't let this life go to waste before he leaves this world again. He takes the imperial examinations, becomes an official, and enters the court. He earns military merit, speaks out against his sovereign, and battles treacherous ministers. A 193Reads7.0Score—Shelves
- 55 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. 392Reads5.9Score106Shelves
- 56 A Peasant at Dawn, a Courtier by Dusk 朝为田舍郎暮登天子堂 The author is terrible at naming things. [No transmigration, no System, no rebirth, no romance + imperial-examination story + woman disguised as a man + growth-oriented heroine + slow and steady pacing + political intrigue] Reader comment: This book depicts both the power struggles in officialdom and the warmth between family and friends with great subtlety. It's a story full of heart. The author writes so well! (Hehe, a reader praised me, hehe.) Without a grandson, the family's estate is bound 89Reads—Score—Shelves
- 57 A Name in the Unofficial Histories: The Young Prince's Unorthodox Path to Office 名留野史，小世子的另类为官路 An unconventional farming-and-imperial-exams story: transmigration and rebirth, with no pocket dimension, no System, and no golden finger. He's simply absurdly lucky. In his previous life, Jiang Ruyan was bedridden and paralyzed for fifteen years. He never imagined that after closing his eyes and opening them again, he would transmigrate. He spent twelve years wandering the world with his parents, who were always chasing poetry and distant horizons, before they finally sent him off to school. 893Reads—Score110Shelves
- 58 The Lowborn Grand Secretary 贱籍阁老 Transmigrated as the illegitimate son of a salt merchant in Great Zhou, Zhou Mingxuan was born into the lowest social class. A registered salt-household status was the only path to success for someone from a humble family. From the family estate and study halls to the imposing imperial court, he used his writing as his vessel, conquered the civil service examinations, pacified border troubles, and opened up the seas. From the Crown Prince's close friend to a trusted minister charged with safegua 626Reads8.0Score105Shelves
- 59 You Mock My Clan for Never Passing the Imperial Exams? What Are You Crying For Now That I Passed All Three with Top Honors? 笑我全族不中举？三元及第你哭啥 Zhang Yan, the top scholar of nine provinces, has just earned his doctorate when he opens his eyes and finds himself in a poor village in the Great Yong Dynasty. His clan has spent generations taking the imperial examinations, but after decades, not one of them has even passed the first degree. They have become the laughingstock of the entire village. But Zhang Yan sees the clan elders' good intentions. People say studying is hard, but how can it be harder than farming? He secretly swears, “Sinc 313Reads8.4Score101Shelves
- 60 You Broke Off Our Engagement When I Failed the Exams. Now I've Topped Them, So Why Are You Crying? 落榜你提退婚，我高中状元你哭啥 Imperial examination story + fallen child prodigy + good-for-nothing’s rise to success + no System + nonstop thrills! The child prodigy Fang Zhongyong could write poetry at five and passed the county-level exam at eight, earning fame far and wide! The wealthy Zhou family came to curry favor with him, arranging for their daughter Zhou Liuliu to be betrothed to Fang Zhongyong. Under the pretext that their family had a private tutor to teach him, they tricked him into moving to their home. But they 879Reads6.9Score—Shelves
- 61 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 891Reads8.2Score100Shelves
- 62 A Scholar from a Poor Family 一品寒门 In the morning, he is a poor farmer's son; by evening, he stands in the emperor's court. This is the story of a destitute country scholar who rises to become a first-rank official. Only those who read it will understand all the hardships and heartache along the way! 4Reads7.2Score—Shelves
- 63 From the Start, Everyone Mistook Me for the God of Literature 开局被当成文曲星 [Woman Disguised as a Man + No Romance + System + Imperial Exams and Political Maneuvering + Building a Strong Nation] Xie Yichu is born into an ancient world, retaining her modern memories and accompanied by the “Imperial Exam God System.” Her grandfather, convinced that the God of Literature appeared to him in a dream, raises her as a boy from birth. She is driven by her determination to “have a page of her own in the family genealogy” and her ideal of “peace and prosperity for all.” From then 4Reads—Score—Shelves
- 64 The Unparalleled Illegitimate Son 绝代庶子 [Alternate World + Transmigration + Ancient Setting] After transmigrating, he finds his mother brutally murdered and his younger sister unconscious beside her. When she wakes, she has developed a split personality. He heads to the capital to find his biological father, only to discover that his father's family is the source of all the hatred. Watch as a concubine-born son avenges his mother and drives his father into an inescapable corner, step by step. Once his revenge is complete, where will h 420Reads7.3Score—Shelves
- 65 After Years of Hard Study, I Rise Ninety Thousand Miles Into the Sky 寒窗苦读多年，扶摇直上九万里 [Male POV, born into a new life as a baby, farming, imperial examinations, court politics] When the second son of the Chen family died unexpectedly, he left behind an unborn child. Zhao, who had already given birth to three daughters in a row, hoped this time for a son. The day she gave birth, the baby arrived prematurely, and there were twins. The villagers all said the children wouldn't survive. They waited and waited, and the child grew up. They named him Dongsheng. Dongsheng went to school. 42.7kReads6.5Score3.4kShelves
- 66 The Imperial Exams Are No Easy Feat, So I’ll Take My Whole Family to the Azure Sky 科举不易，我携全家共青云 Lin Shu opened his eyes and found himself reborn as a newborn in a farming family in Xiaolin Village, Great Yong. In his previous life, he was alone, bedridden and sick. In this life, his family gathered around him, their home warm with lamplight. His frail mother embroidered money for books by lamplight. His silent father used his own back to open the way for him to study. His gentle older sister poured her girlhood into the soup she made for him. Even the eggs his grandparents secretly slipped 17kReads8.8Score1.6kShelves
- 67 A Scholar from a Humble Family in the Zhu Household 朱门寒士 A family of scholars, but who deserves a bowl of chicken soup? Climbing out of poverty: how many can fit on that narrow path? During the Jiajing reign of the Great Ming, the Zhu family hall in Zhuhe Village hosted a silent contest every night. The chicken soup's oily sheen floated only in the bowl of the eldest grandson, Zhu Yawen. The whole family tightened their belts to support a promising young scholar who had struggled for more than a decade without even passing the county-level examinatio 216Reads6.0Score—Shelves
- 68 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 3.9kReads8.0Score238Shelves
- 69 The Radiant Top Scholar 科举之皎皎状元郎 [Farming + imperial examinations + secret identity] After an accident involving a flowerpot, Li Yi transmigrated to the Great Feng Dynasty and became a five-year-old boy in Li Family Village. One day, his parents came up with a new plan for his future: they wanted to send him to a private school to learn a few characters. But Li Yi thought, If I work hard, shouldn't I be able to earn a title in the imperial examinations? 207Reads6.6Score—Shelves
- 70 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—Shelves
- 71 After Failing to Ascend, the System Pinned Me Down and Made Me Take the Imperial Exams 飞升失败后被系统摁在地上考科举 [Imperial Exam History + Cultivation / Farmer's Son / System, No Cheats / Lighthearted and Funny] They say the end of the imperial exams is immortality... Lu An joins forces with his seventy-year-old "book boy," determined to make his way to the top! Lu An had a lifetime's worth of fame, yet he came to grief over the words "rise to the clouds in a single stride." After falling into a land without spiritual energy... since that's how things are, he might as well take a turn in the mortal cour 986Reads—Score134Shelves
- 72 Transmigrating to the Great Song: A Guide to the Civil Service Exam 穿越大宋之考公指南 A serious historical novel featuring the imperial examinations, officialdom, a mix of classical and vernacular Chinese, a slow pace, political intrigue, highly intelligent characters, and military campaigns. This novel contains extensive classical Chinese, poetry, and archaic language. If that is not to your taste, please do not read it. Huang Zhongsi, a modern young man preparing for the civil service exams, transmigrates to a parallel world during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern 185Reads6.7Score—Shelves
- 73 Reborn as an Exiled Prince, I Take the Imperial Exam in an Enemy Kingdom 穿成流浪皇子，在敌国考科举 [Light fantasy wuxia + irreverent imperial examinations + political intrigue + decisive killing + princes + golden finger + no romance] Yan Guijin has always been convinced that there's something wrong with him. Yan Shengyong never imagined that the abandoned baby he took in would one day become a radiant beacon in this prison of a world. [One] Taxes and forced labor are fiercer than a tiger, while the yamen runners are as greedy as wolves. How is a landlubber supposed to survive in a sea that s 6Reads—Score—Shelves
- 74 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. 26.3kReads8.1Score1.9kShelves
- 75 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 4.7kReads8.8Score355Shelves
- 76 Transmigrated to Ancient Times to Take the Imperial Exams in a Farming Novel 穿越古代在种田文里考科举 [Rags-to-Riches Reversal + Political Intrigue + No System] He wakes up to find himself the son of a dirt-poor farming family. His parents are counting on him to change their fate through study, while the whole village waits to see him make a fool of himself! Wen You'an says, “What’s there to panic about? A top student is a top student anywhere! A scientific approach to exam prep? Coming right up! Targeted poverty alleviation to improve the family’s lot? Absolutely!” From the county exam to the p 414Reads6.1Score—Shelves
- 77 The Imperial Exams! After Ten Years of Study, I Pass and Take Down the Nobility 科举！寒窗十年，上岸就斩勋贵 “The autumn wind howls in August, sweeping three layers of thatch from my roof!” The moment Mei Cheng'an opened his eyes, he found himself facing a catastrophe. Framed and cast out of the marquis's household by his own father, he was now being hunted, with his life hanging by a thread. He chose to fake his death and flee south to seek refuge with family friends. On the way, however, he ran into an imperial inspector investigating a case. From the inspector, he learned that his family friends had 7.9kReads8.1Score416Shelves
- 78 A Country Boy's Road to the Imperial Examinations 乡下小子的科举路 (Transmigration + Farming + Imperial Examinations) Wu Wei is an art student in the modern world. He never expected that an accident on the day of his art school entrance exam would send him back to ancient times, where he becomes the second son of the third branch of the Wu family in Wu Family Village. His name is still Wu Wei, just like in his previous life. He figures that wherever he lives, he can make the best of it, but life in ancient times is nothing like he imagined. The entire Wu family 1.9kReads8.1Score155Shelves
- 79 Top Scholar: I Blundered Into the Imperial Court, and Now I Rule the Realm 状元我误闯天家，少年郎权倾朝野 [Transmigration + Imperial Examinations + Officialdom + Political Scheming + No Romance + Clever Wish Fulfillment] After dying suddenly, economics master Qi Yu becomes the emperor of the Great Yong dynasty’s young nephew, who had been lost among the common folk and raised by a farming family surnamed Li. His adoptive grandmother has no idea that his late father was the emperor’s own elder brother. She plays favorites to an absurd degree, forcing the six-year-old boy and his widowed mother to sup 8.2kReads8.4Score901Shelves
- 80 From Humble Official to Mountain Immortal 寒门仕途到山中真人 Water conservancy engineer Wang Zhiming opens his eyes again and finds himself a newborn farmer’s son in Wangjia Village, Li Country. His family has only six mu of poor farmland, owes two dan of autumn grain, and his father has been put on the roster for winter river works. Forget studying for the imperial examinations. It is questionable whether the family can even make it through the winter! He has no System and no pocket dimension. All he can rely on is the knowledge he gained over thirty- 3Reads—Score—Shelves
- 81 The Imperial Exam Life of a Poor Military Household’s Son 寒门军户之子的科举日常 [Imperial Exams + Everyday Life + Alternate World + Farming + Cozy + No Romance] The Wang military household has served in the army for generations, and every child is strong and healthy, rarely falling ill from a young age. Only the youngest son, Wang An, is different: weak, adorable, fair-skinned, and delicate, as if a single punch could kill him. Ask him to work in the fields? He’d faint before long. Ask him to help grind beans? He’s too small to manage it. His mother reluctantly chooses a pa 2.6kReads8.8Score350Shelves
- 82 Oh My God! It's Story of Minglan! 天爷！居然是知否 Li Xinghe never imagined he would transmigrate, but it was a good thing he did. Here, he had a family who loved him, and he met someone he was attracted to. Heaven had treated him kindly after all. Though life in this incarnation was a little hard and daily life wasn’t very convenient, he believed that with hard work, he could build a better life. Still, as he looked at the person he had fallen for, he felt grateful. Thank you, Heaven. 182Reads6.3Score—Shelves
- 83 The Imperial Exams: From Three-Year-Old Farm Boy to Imperial Tutor 科举：从三岁农家子到一代帝师 Shen Hengzhi, a modern graduate student in history, died suddenly and was reborn as Shen Shitou, a farmer’s son. In this Great Qi, social rank was rigid, and it was difficult for those from humble backgrounds to rise above their station. The Shen family had barely enough to get by, surviving on three mu of poor farmland. They could not even afford paper and ink for practicing calligraphy. When he was three, Shen Shitou used a dry branch to write in the dirt beneath the old locust tree. He caught 62Reads—Score148Shelves
- 84 The Top Scholar Is Real, and So Is the Beggar 状元是真的，乞丐也是真的 Shen Mo, a Peking University history professor, wakes up one day as a nameless beggar. No household registration, no food, no shoes, and only a yellow dog so thin its skin clings to its bones. He spent thirty years studying the imperial examinations in his previous life, yet in this one he cannot even get near an exam hall. From a ruined temple to the Golden Throne Hall, from eating tree bark to earning top honors. The top scholar is real, and so is the beggar. 9Reads—Score—Shelves
- 85 I Should Have Topped the Imperial Exams, but Instead I Became a King on the Battlefield 本该金榜提名，我却沙场封王 In his previous life, elite special forces soldier Bai Wei died while carrying out a mission. He was reborn as a baby in the Great Jing Dynasty. The country had only just emerged from years of war, and the Jing Dynasty had signed peace treaties with its neighboring nations. Looking at his poor but loving family, Bai Wei decided to live a peaceful life this time around. He planned to start a business when he was older and improve their living conditions. Five years later, a sudden conscription sh 83Reads—Score—Shelves
- 86 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 49.8kReads7.9Score4.3kShelves
- 87 Awakening the Learning System at Three: Study, Take the Imperial Exams, and Become an Official 三岁觉醒学习系统，读书科举做官 [Imperial exams + study System + farm boy + one heroine] (The ratings have only just come in, and the book is still growing. Don’t let them fool you! It’s good, really good, really, really good.) Wang Yuan had just passed the entrance exam for a master’s program at a top university, but before he could bask in the admiration of his whole village, an accident sent him into the womb of a peasant family in ancient times. Fortunately, an earlier transmigrator had established a new dynasty and encour 4.4kReads7.5Score327Shelves
- 88 Turning the Tables in the Imperial Exams: A Cat Swapped for the Crown Prince from the Start 科举逆袭：开局狸猫换太子 [One-on-one romance + System + imperial examinations + historical fiction + transmigration to an alternate world] Chen Xiao was once the head of a modern family of martial arts practitioners. Who could have imagined that his fiancée and younger brother would betray him? After dying, he was born into the Great Wei dynasty and became the crown prince who had been switched at birth! On the road to success in the imperial examinations, Chen Xiao pushed forward with his indomitable spirit, repeatedly 11Reads7.1Score—Shelves
- 89 The Struggles of a Poor Family in the Song Dynasty 宋代寒门的奋斗史 In the blink of an eye, a history PhD from the 21st century becomes the second son of a farming family outside Bianliang City. His family is dirt poor, the elders are shortsighted, and they even have a “precious heir” whom the whole family must support. As the second son of a branch family whom no one takes seriously, watch how Chen He works his way up, crosses class boundaries, and leaps from the farm into a new life. 1.7kReads7.6Score147Shelves
- 90 Transmigrated as the Fake Young Master in an Imperial Exam Novel 穿成科举文里的假少爷 [Imperial examinations + fake and real young masters + alternate dynasty + transmigrate + transmigrate into a book + everyday life] [Male protagonist's perspective, no CP, no female lead, and the true heiress has little page time] Yuan Kunyu transmigrated after a celebration banquet for getting into a 985 university's gifted youth program. The good news: he had become a young master from a prestigious family. The not-so-bad news: he was the fake one. So, at the age of ten, Yuan Kunyu returned to 54Reads—Score—Shelves
- 91 The Great Traitor Is Reborn: What’s the Point of Becoming the Top Scholar in the Imperial Exams? 大奸臣重生后，科举当状元算什么 [Alternate Universe] [No Female Lead] [Book Transmigration] [Reborn] [Villain] [Slow Burn] [Not a Wish-Fulfillment Novel] [Light Ensemble Cast] [Early: Imperial Exams] [Middle: Infrastructure] [Late: Political Intrigue] Content warning: There is no female lead, but there is a political marriage. It involves no romantic entanglement, only an alliance of interests, and the person I marry will die. (For details, see the author’s note at the end of Chapter One.) [The blurb is in first person; the 37Reads8.2Score—Shelves
- 92 The Hunter's Son and His Life as a Scholar in Ancient Times 古代猎户子的科举生活 Imperial examinations + everyday life + realistic fiction After an accident, Lu Yuan, a modern agricultural science student, transmigrates into the body of a newborn baby who had just stopped breathing. Other people either transmigrate as nobles and high officials or get a cheat power through a System. But Lu Yuan ends up the son of a hunter who can barely afford enough to eat. Make the most of what the mountains and rivers have to offer: modern knowledge is his greatest asset. Follow Lu Yuan as 7kReads8.0Score621Shelves
- 93 A Woman Transmigrates as a Man: A Farmer’s Son’s Path to Grand Secretary 女穿男：农家子的首辅之路 Chen Jun came from the 21st century. Born a girl, she transmigrated into the only son of the Chen family and returned to the years before Liberation. For the sake of her family, herself, and the country’s development, she worked hard at the imperial examinations and eventually became a great chancellor. —Reads—Score—Shelves
- 94 I Bled My Family Dry in My Past Life, Now Six Yuan Makes Me a God 前世吸光全家血，今生六元来封神 [Farming]+ [Imperial examinations]+ [Making a fortune]+ [Power fantasy]+ [Lighthearted comedy] Lin Yunzhou spent half his life working his way up to the rank of interstellar marshal. He never expected to transmigrate to an ancient era with not a trace of technology... The good news: He went from being an orphan to the most doted-on youngest son in the family, and fell in love at first sight with a young lady. The bad news: His parents play favorites, his brothers are blindly filial, and his olde 5.9kReads8.0Score423Shelves
- 95 The Noble Son of a Farming Family 农门贵子 He never imagined that one day he would transmigrate into the body of a fifteen-year-old peasant boy who had died in an examination hall. To take control of his own fate in this dynasty, all he can do is study hard. Studying changes one's fate, and can pave the way to success… 52Reads7.4Score103Shelves
- 96 A Humble Scholar in Commoner's Clothes 布衣小书生 He went up the mountain to look for a sheep, accidentally fell off a cliff, and woke up to find himself reborn as a baby in an unknown dynasty. He looked around and discovered that his family was dirt poor: they had too little to eat, too little to wear, and lived in a mud house where rain poured outside and dripped inside. He had an older sister and a younger sister. He had thought that, with his modern soul, he could surely make a brilliant life for himself, but he never expected fate to deal 908Reads7.4Score114Shelves
- 97 I Took a Master, Then Rose to the Highest Office Through the Imperial Exams 拜了个师父，我靠科举位极人臣 Ma Chengli was born into the Ma family, a clan of veterinarians, and grew up in the womb before being born into this world. Then, one day, the newly founded Great Ying dynasty suddenly announced that it would resume the imperial examinations, just eight years after its founding. His father, Ma Dawei, suddenly discovered: “Could my son really have the makings of a child prodigy?” His mother, Lady Zhang, declared with confidence: “My son has been clever and bright since he was little. He should ta 428Reads7.5Score—Shelves
- 98 The Su Family's Castoff Tops the Imperial Exams, and the Whole Clan Begs for His Protection 苏家弃子中状元，全祖哭求我庇佑 [Historical fiction + humble beginnings + imperial examinations + power plays + satisfying revenge + intellectual duels + high-IQ protagonist + cunning + ruthless] On a snowy night, I, Su Yan, was cast out of the family and expelled from the grand estate, abandoned like a pawn. I was an illegitimate son who should never have been born, a thorn in my legitimate mother’s side and dirt beneath my elder brother’s feet. They thought I would freeze and starve to death that winter. Little did they know 79Reads6.7Score111Shelves
- 99 The He Clan's Palace Graduate 何氏传胪 [Imperial examinations + business + farming + native protagonist + romance] Born into a family of scholars and farmers, he comes from a long line of officials. His direct relatives now include a third-rank court official, but his own branch is so distant that they have been excluded from the clan for five generations. To restore the family’s former glory and stop his grandmother and grandparents from being mocked, he has only one path: the imperial examinations. He takes exam after exam, builds 664Reads6.7Score—Shelves
- 100 I Just Want a Bite of Meat, So Why Make Me Take the Imperial Exam? 只想吃口肉，非要让我考科举 A lighthearted, humorous slice-of-life story. Shen Qingyun transmigrates into the body of a poor farm boy in Qingshan Village, Great Qian, whose family can barely keep food on the table. Instead of using his adult wisdom to turn his life around, he devotes it all to figuring out how to get meat to eat. He tricks his cousin and schemes with the neighbor kids. Other people get beaten up, while he gets to satisfy his cravings. When Grandpa suggests sending a grandson to school, Grandma shows her “k 39.4kReads8.5Score3.4kShelves
