The Palace Examination is the final test, primarily intended to determine ranking rather than eliminate candidates.
Zhao Yan’s current goal is to maintain the ranking he achieved in the Metropolitan Examination and secure the title of Tanhua. If he succeeds, it will bring honor to the Gu family when he goes to propose marriage. Though he does not yet know what transpired in the Gu family to cause Gu Heng, a man of Juren status, to end up living in such desperate, meager circumstances in that backwater town, it was clear that the situation was far from simple.
Judging by his visits to the Gu residence, he had observed nothing out of the ordinary, save for the fact that all the servants were unfamiliar faces, leaving only Gu Heng and Gu Muling. Zhao Yan remained in the dark about the true state of affairs. However, Gu Muling was now considered an "overage" spinster. Several times, upon leaving the Gu residence, he had overheard people gossiping behind her back. The rumors varied wildly—some claimed Gu Muling had been married once and cast aside, while others asserted that she was disfigured and therefore unable to marry.
Chapter 334