Chapter 32: Blood Kin

"He’s got a point," one said. "Supervision is indeed a crucial part of effective disaster relief."

While it didn't seem off-topic, the others felt something was still slightly off.

"Assistant Minister Li, what do you think?"

Because the names on the exam papers had been covered and the scripts transcribed, he couldn't be sure which candidate had written it. Li Xu, after reviewing it, also found it difficult to decide. He felt the candidate showed real talent in the article, and it seemed wrong to simply mark it as off-topic.

"Find someone to transcribe a copy and send it to the Shuntian Prefecture. Let Minister Wang and the other examiners make the final call."

The organizer of this provincial examination was Wang Zhiqiu, who had been recommended by the Emperor to oversee the testing in Rongcheng Prefecture.

The transcribed paper was sent by fast horse to the capital. After reading it, Wang Zhiqiu immediately recognized the author, smiled, and personally marked it as on-topic.

The top three candidates in the provincial examination are known as the *Jieyuan*, *Yayuan*, and *Jingkui*.

The *Jieyuan*, the title for the first-place candidate, was once again captured by Ning Yuan. He had now taken first place four times, and Li Yu suspected he might sweep all six major examinations. However, Li Yu was genuinely happy for him; after all, he was his future brother-in-law. A real one.

The *Yayuan*, or second place, went to a man in his forties named Su Moxuan (courtesy name Wenyuan) from Tongchuan Prefecture.

The third, fourth, and fifth places are collectively called *Jingkui*, and the sixth is the *Yakui*. Li Yu was the *Yakui*. To be honest, he was quite pleasantly surprised by his ranking; at least it was a proper title, wasn't it?

Wu Jingcheng’s luck was truly remarkable; he placed thirty-sixth in this provincial examination. His rival in love, Yu Guang, had gloriously failed to make the list. Ning Yuan had specifically checked for him and heard that Yu Guang had missed the cut by just a single rank. Truly, the joys and sorrows of men are not universal.

The unlucky Yu Guang couldn't even be bothered to eat; he refused to take his carriage and rode his horse back in a fury, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Wu Jingcheng muttered, "If you're incompetent, just practice more. Why give us the cold shoulder?"

Chief Examiner Li Xu was already considering submitting a memorial to praise the Prefect of Shunqing and the Magistrate of Yingshan. After all, the Shunqing Prefecture had managed to produce three *Xiaolian* (provincial graduates) in one go, one of whom was the *Jieyuan*, and the other two were not even from wealthy families. What did this signify? It meant the local officials were doing an excellent job.

Such a momentous occasion as passing the provincial exam naturally called for a grand celebration. The Administration Commissioner hosted a banquet in Rongcheng Prefecture to entertain the fifty newly minted *Xiaolian*. Li Yu observed the fifty fellow graduates and noticed that while some were as young as himself and Jingcheng, the oldest were at least sixty.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, mixed with wonder. Could it be that he was a child prodigy? But in his previous life, he hadn't even managed to get into Tsinghua or Peking University! Little did he know that if not for Wang Zhiqiu secretly protecting him, he might not have even passed the initial qualifying exam.

Returning to the county seat was a glorious affair. Li Yu’s chest was filled with five hundred taels of silver—he had taken the copper coins to the money shop to exchange them because they were too heavy to carry. Old Master Bai, the richest man in the county, even gifted him and Wu Jingcheng each a house—a grand one with three courtyards. The human traffickers even provided servant girls for free, and neighbors sent everything they had to the Li household. Even the local butcher brought the freshest cuts of meat to the Li home. They wouldn't accept money, and if Zhang Sanniang tried to force it on them, they would just run away.

He could have gone to the Ning family to propose marriage, but Li Yu thought that with only a few months left until the metropolitan examination, wouldn't it be better to wait until he passed that to make the proposal?

Little did he know that this wait would lead to trouble. The Shen family, who hadn't contributed a single copper coin to his education, came knocking, demanding that Li Yu acknowledge his ancestors and revert to the surname Shen.

In the hall of the Li clan leader, the two families glared at each other, neither willing to yield, looking as if they might break into a brawl at any moment.

Clan leader Li Da was full of displeasure: "When the boy changed his surname to Yu, it was processed through official government documents. By what right do you come here now to claim him?"

The Li family members were indignant, shouting in agreement, "Yes, by what right?" Although they hadn't paid for Li Yu’s studies, they had at least accepted the boy and allowed his name to be entered into the Li clan genealogy. Back then, it was understood that no matter whether he succeeded or not, he could enter the Li family ancestral hall and enjoy the offerings of their descendants. What had the Shen family ever given this boy? By what right did they come to snatch him?

Shen Cong was equally determined: "The matters of the past were indeed the fault of the elders of the Shen family, but ultimately, the Shen family is the root of the boy. We are blood relatives."

The two sides argued back and forth, refusing to concede. Finally, they decided to bring in the party involved and head to the county magistrate's office to demand a fair judgment. It was no wonder they were fighting tooth and nail. To encourage the populace to study and become officials, the imperial court had granted many benefits to those with scholarly status. The small perks like rice, oil, and meat were nothing, but provincial graduates were exempt from the labor service of four adult males and could enjoy tax exemptions on four hundred acres of land—a massive benefit in an agrarian age where grain was life. A clan could register their lands under the name of a provincial graduate to avoid a significant amount of tax. Naturally, the Shen clan wanted to reclaim him, and the Li clan had no intention of letting him go.

The Shen family hadn't gone directly to Li Yu, but had gone to Li Village to speak with the clan leader. Li Gang, receiving the news, hurried home from the county office and took his family to rush over.

On the way, he saw Li Yu pursing his lips, his face full of displeasure, and knew he was unwilling to change his surname back to Shen. He spoke gently to persuade him: "Acknowledging one's ancestors and not forgetting one's father is a virtue. Father thinks that changing your name back to Shen might be for the best—it’s good for your official career, my child."

If a reputation for "forgetting one's roots" were to take hold—especially now, when the Emperor placed the highest importance on the character of candidates...

Li Yu’s gaze was firm: "I won't acknowledge it. Son is surnamed Li. Even if I never become an official and spend my whole life as a village schoolteacher, I will never be surnamed Shen." Since the day he followed his mother into the Li family, he had sworn that he would never let the Shen family gain even the slightest benefit from him.

Li Gang tried to persuade him again: "Your marriage with the Ning family is all but settled. If it falls through because of this, it would be a huge loss, my son..." A surname wasn't important; what mattered was the bond built over so many years. Wasn't he his son regardless of his surname?

"If it falls through, then let it!" Li Yu thought of his beautiful and moving fiancée, his lips trembled, but he remained firm. "A family that cannot distinguish right from wrong is probably better off not becoming in-laws." He would rather be a bachelor for the rest of his life than satisfy the Shen family's wishes.

"That's right, we won't change it. We are surnamed Li." Zhang Sanniang wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, steadfastly supporting her son. "Back then, they didn't want Yu'er, and now that they see there's profit to be made, they want to come and snatch him. Since he was six, Yu'er hasn't eaten a single meal provided by the Shen family. Occasionally, they would bring a few eggs to put on a show, but I paid them back for every one, and they never said a word against it. My child is not an object—why do they think they can just take him when they want and discard him when they don't? If they want the boy to acknowledge his ancestors, fine. As the saying goes, the debt of birth is heavier than the debt of upbringing—tell them to return everything they owe for Yu'er's food, clothing, and expenses from childhood to now, multiplied by ten, and then we can talk."

With his son having barely scraped through the qualifying exam this year, and two of his three sons now holding scholarly status—and the youngest, according to his teacher, also showing great talent—he thought he had finally reached the end of his hardships. He hadn't expected that family to keep coming back to disgust them.

Li Yu: "...Mother, even ten times isn't enough. They would actually scrape the money together to pay Father back. We just need to stand firm and refuse to change it." Giving a bit of money to acquire a provincial graduate would make those people laugh with joy. He didn't have any land under his name, which made him the perfect tax-evasion tool for the clan.

"Sanniang, Yu'er, don't be so impulsive..." Li Gang was truly thinking of the child's future. He was about to say more when he was interrupted by a heart-wrenching wail. Li Yu’s grandmother, the elderly Mrs. Wang, threw herself in front of the carriage and cried out: "My poor child, even after dying, I cannot protect my own blood and flesh, forced to watch from heaven as my own son calls another man 'Father'..."