Shen Hechuan achieved the rank of Second Class Presented Scholar, and the most likely outcome was that he would become a Secretary in one of the Six Ministries. However, there were no vacancies at the moment, so he had to wait.
Shen Hechuan didn't want to wait and wasn't very interested in being a Secretary. Instead, he preferred to become a Magistrate, a position usually filled by Third Class Presented Scholars, so he submitted an application to the Ministry of Personnel.
His parents had only been happy for a few days when they heard that their son wasn't going to work in the capital but was going to a small county to be a Magistrate. They were devastated. But the application had already been submitted, and even Helan Zong couldn't intervene. Shen Hechuan smiled cheerfully, and no one could do anything about him.
Helan Zong said to Zhang Yizhu, "This nephew of yours has too many ideas of his own."
Zhang Yizhu sighed. "I thought he had settled down to take the imperial exams, but it turns out he hasn't. But I think he knows what he's doing and has planned all this out long ago. He just thinks we old folks wouldn't understand, so he doesn't bother to explain."
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