After the passing of Taohua, she said to Hua Qiong, "Mother, I didn’t expect Manager Sun to accept Master Wen as the general manager so quickly. I thought he would continue making excuses to delay."

Hua Qiong said, "You shouldn’t think of Manager Sun as such a petty person. Since he could be entrusted by He Chao to be the shopkeeper, he must be capable. No shopkeeper is perfect; indeed, Manager Sun looked down on Master Wen before, but once Master Wen showed his ability, Manager Sun was willing to put aside his prejudices. If he wasn’t open-minded enough to do this, how could he have been a shopkeeper for so many years?"

"Taohua, in the future, you will be the owner and manage many affairs. You cannot dismiss someone completely just because of different principles."

Gu Taohua listened earnestly, as her mother taught her another lesson.

On the day Hua Qiong left the prefectural city, events unexpectedly unfolded following Master Wen’s joint venture.

Early in the morning, notices were put up at the entrance and prominent places in the prefectural city.

The news was hastily delivered from Shengjing.

Lu Zhaoyang took the top position in the palace examination, meaning he was the Champion Scholar of this year.

The Lu family was swamped with guests, and Mr. Lu was extravagantly distributing wealth.

Upon hearing the news, Huang Yuanwai and Old Mrs. Huang, who had left the Lu family, intending to head back to Yan Guan Town with Hua Qiong and Taohua, returned in excitement.

Hua Qiong naturally couldn’t return either; she had to go back to the Lu family to celebrate since Lu Zhaoyang was, after all, Gu Jingzhe’s brother-in-law.

County Magistrate Liu had already returned on the day after Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao’s engagement, so Mrs. Han and Hua Qiong shared a carriage, excitedly holding each other’s hands, weeping with emotion.

The entire prefectural city was in an uproar; the people were more thrilled than the teachers and students of Wanliu Academy.

Although Wanliu Academy had produced Champion Scholars multiple times, none of them were originally from Ning City before this; they were all non-native students attending Wanliu Academy.

Lu Zhaoyang was the first local Champion Scholar from Ning City, so how could everyone not be excited?

Hua Qiong and Huang Yuanwai, along with others, returned to the Lu residence, finding it packed with people.

They pushed through the crowd, sweating by the time they reached the entrance of the Lu residence.

"Congratulations, congratulations."

Hua Qiong congratulated Mr. Lu.

Mr. Lu’s joyful beard trembled as the housekeeper brought out the already-prepared lion dance, drum, and suona teams.

Thus, the entire street where the Lu family was located was engulfed in a festive noise.

Magistrate Yao, dressed in bright red, arrived swiftly on horseback at the Lu residence.

The spring-blissful Mr. Lu found Magistrate Yao to be quite pleasing to the eye, since his grandson was married and had obtained the Champion Scholar title, Magistrate Yao and his grandson could only be brothers in learning.

If Magistrate Yao knew what Mr. Lu was thinking, it would surely infuriate him to the point of spitting blood.

"Manager Tong, you are a great benefactor to our Lu family. Without you, my Zhao Yang wouldn’t even be alive, let alone enjoy today’s glory as the Champion Scholar."

After the crowd dispersed, Mr. Lu tearfully thanked Hua Qiong.

Huang Yuanwai understood Hua Qiong’s kindness toward Lu Zhaoyang, and since Hua Qiong had arranged his daughter’s marriage, he thought that without Hua Qiong, his daughter might still remain unmarried, and he himself wouldn’t be experiencing the excitement of having a Champion Scholar as a son-in-law.

The thought of returning to Yan Guan Town, where everyone would know he was the father-in-law of the Champion Scholar, made Huang Yuanwai even more thrilled; his gratitude towards Hua Qiong was no less than Mr. Lu’s.

In his excitement, Huang Yuanwai choked with gratitude towards Hua Qiong.

Moved by Mr. Lu’s crying, Huang Yuanwai couldn’t help but go from choking to sobbing.

Thus, the two of them cried together in front of Hua Qiong.

Hua Qiong: "..."

Lu Zhaoyang’s success as the Champion Scholar indicated a complete turnaround in the fate of Lu Zhaoyang and all members of the Lu family.

Mr. Lu no longer had to long for his grandson’s tragic end, and Lu Zhaozhao need not become an orphan.

However, as Lu Zhaoyang was about to embark on his official career, Hua Qiong didn’t know whether he would be a treacherous minister like Gu Jingzhe in his past life or a capable minister.

In any case, Lu Zhaoyang’s official career was likely to have some impact on the lives of everyone in this dynasty.

As a working woman of this dynasty, Hua Qiong naturally hoped he would be a capable minister, given their interconnection.

"I wonder if Zhao Yang and his wife have enough money to use? I wonder what position he will be appointed to, surely the initial salary won’t be enough. Housekeeper Xu, take ten thousand taels of silver to Shengjing."

"Oh, and Zhao Yang might have to stay in Shengjing this time. The current house is a bit small and doesn’t match the status of a Champion Scholar. Last time I was in Shengjing, I heard that Prince Ruyang has a house for sale, a five-entry courtyard with living water from Shengjing, excellent scenery, and, more importantly, it’s close to the palace, convenient for Zhao Yang to commute for the court. Well, Housekeeper Xu, take another twenty thousand taels of silver and buy the house for Zhao Yang to use for commuting."

After crying for a while, Mr. Lu wiped his tears and called the housekeeper to excitedly instruct him to go to the Capital to take silver and buy a house for his grandson.

Overwhelmed by the reputation of being a Champion Scholar’s father-in-law, Huang Yuanwai wanted to send silver to the Capital, as they say, the wealth and beauty of Shengjing can be blinding, and they couldn’t let people laugh at their son-in-law coming from a small place.

"Old Master... that house of Prince Ruyang is not suitable..." Magistrate Yao shook his head.

"What? My grandson, being a Champion Scholar, doesn’t deserve to live in that house?" Mr. Lu said curtly toward Magistrate Yao.

Hua Qiong advised from the side, "Old Master, Lord Yao is right. You just mentioned that Zhao Yang is new to office and his salary only just suffices to support the family. If you buy Prince Ruyang’s house for him, it might lead people to speculate that Zhao Yang is only attached to wealth and luxury. Moreover, who knows what the relationship between Prince Ruyang and the Emperor is like? If the Emperor dislikes him, Zhao Yang living in Prince Ruyang’s house would seem like challenging the Emperor. He is, after all, a Champion Scholar handpicked by the Emperor, and he must always make the Emperor feel they are closely aligned."

Letting Lu Zhaoyang live in a prince’s mansion would be so eye-catching, it could turn his official career from a rising star into a falling star.

Huang Yuanwai, calming down, said, "In-law, Manager Tong is right; at this critical juncture, we cannot hold back Zhao Yang."

Mr. Lu thought about it and felt he was rash.

As an Imperial Merchant, he had always acted cautiously in Shengjing. This time, indeed, his grandson’s new status as a Champion Scholar made him so happy that he lost his wits.

Mr. Lu then said, "Housekeeper Xu, you still need to make a trip to the Capital to see how Zhao Yang’s health is. Forget I mentioned buying the house."

Housekeeper Xu agreed and went out to prepare.

Like Jingzhe’s grand feast after coming first in the examination, Mr. Lu was equally joyful in organizing a banquet.

After all, it was a great joy for the Lu family’s ancestral grave, a Champion Scholar; the banquet’s standard certainly couldn’t be low.

They invited the best chefs from the prefectural city’s best restaurant, slaughtered cattle and sheep, and Mr. Lu even sent people to Hua Qiong’s pig farm in Qinghe Bay to purchase a pig.

The banquet lasted several days.

Hua Qiong celebrated for two days and bid farewell on the second day to return to Qinghe Bay.

Everywhere they went, the news that the Lu family’s son from Ning City had become the Champion Scholar was widespread, whether in taverns, teahouses, or rural fields, everywhere was discussing the Champion Scholar.

This was, after all, the first time a local student from Ning City had become a Champion Scholar.

Even the elders and villagers who didn’t know Lu Zhaoyang felt honored.

They eagerly anticipated that this Champion Scholar, upon entering officialdom, would bring tangible benefits to his fellow countrymen.