Qin Xianglan was utterly shocked, although this secret was a huge help to her.
"Believe me, it's true! I heard it with my own ears from my brother and sister-in-law; they did spend a hefty sum in the county to buy the Autumn Examination papers.
My brother became a scholar in his teens, and he passed the exam in one go! But in the following years, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pass the scholar exams.
It took as long as ten years, and every time he took the exam, he failed! What does this prove? My brother simply doesn't have what it takes to pass the exams!
If things go wrong, he must have only passed the scholar exam by luck! That one time, luck worked out, but since then, not a ripple.
Until I overheard him and my sister-in-law talking about buying the exam papers, our family prepared quite a sum of silver for them, and it's all spent! And then, my brother became a scholar!"
Mu Danyan spilled out everything he knew to Qin Xianglan in one breath.
