Chapter 458 Pride

Everyone in the capital knew that if one could enter the Imperial College, even if their studies were ordinary, it would be a starting point that no one else could surpass.

And when they reach the age, they will be directly promoted to other classes in the Imperial College to study formally.

Even if they did not take the imperial examinations, the Imperial College would have vacancies for them to become officials.

Although he started as a seventh-rank county magistrate, at least his starting point was higher than many people.

And this is a matter of bringing honor to the family.

If a child was admitted to the Imperial College's children's class, it would be a matter of great pride.

Most of those whose family members were taking the entrance examination had people stationed at the gate of the Imperial College to watch over the results as soon as they were announced.

So everyone, check out the list quickly.

"You've passed the exam, young master, and entered the Imperial College. Hurry, hurry back home and tell him."

"Our young master also passed the exam."

"Why isn't he on the list? Our young master has been taught by the Master for so long, he should be able to get into the Imperial College..."

On the list posted at the entrance of the Imperial College, some people were admitted and some were not.

So everyone's emotions are different.

But everyone also saw the two names at the top of the list.

"Are Su Ling and Su Yang tied for first place?"

"Whose families are these two people from? They actually got first place in the exam."

"There's a surname on it, and they're all surnamed Su."

"Su, why does this last name sound so familiar?"

"Isn't Lord Su's last name Su?"

Now all the nobles know that there is a Lord Su who is the top scholar in the imperial examination, a favorite of the emperor, and was once the third son of the marquis's mansion.

Of course, everyone also knows that Lord Su has a very powerful wife, Mrs. Shen, who is a sixth-rank official.

This Mrs. Shen was also a strange person. She came from the countryside and all she thought about all day was farming and running a shop. No matter how the ladies from various mansions in the capital sent out invitations, Mrs. Shen was very honest.

It seemed as if he was not interested in these banquets and was not afraid of offending anyone.

Of course, the strawberries they grow are delicious, but they are limited in quantity and sometimes you can’t even buy them.

And the food in that milk tea dessert shop is so delicious that all the ladies and young ladies from various mansions are attracted to her shop to eat.

The private rooms in that restaurant have to be booked a long time in advance, otherwise you won’t be able to book a room on the same day.

Business is booming.

"You still remember that Lord Su and Lady Shen have twin sons!"

"Ah, yes, Lord Su's twin sons are also going to take the entrance exam for the Imperial College."

"Could it be that the person tied for first place on the list is Lord Su's son?"

"But isn't Lord Su's son only four years old? He's only four years old, and he won first place among a bunch of eight or nine-year-old boys. This..."

"Is this true? It's hard to believe."

"I heard that Lord Su's two sons have never studied at the academy, nor have they ever had a teacher to teach them."

"Lord Su himself was the top scholar. When the Duke's Mansion was still in existence, Lord Su was a child prodigy. He personally taught his son, which is better than sending him to a college."

"Yes, this is too clever, the disciple is better than the master."

"The Su family is about to make a comeback."

"That's right. Who would have thought that the Su family, who were exiled back then, could return to the capital and be so highly valued by the emperor all of a sudden?"

"That's also the result of the Su family's hard work. It was only after Lord Su passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy that he had a better chance of getting close to the emperor."

"Even the eldest son of the Su family is a martial arts expert. I heard that he entered the Beishan camp and defeated all the troublemakers in Beishan. He was able to defeat a group of people by himself. It's incredible."

"How come their abilities have become stronger after being exiled? I've never heard that the eldest son of the Su family is so skilled in martial arts before."

"I heard that they were all trained after being exiled. I heard that this Young Master Su had fought in border battles before and made many contributions. He also suppressed bandits and made contributions..."

Everyone sighed when talking about the Su family.

I feel that everyone in the Su family is very strong.

Many people thought about it carefully and felt that the Su family could only be flattered but not offended.

Not only is Lord Su capable, but looking at the academic abilities of his two children, they will become officials in the future.

Everyone feels that this is a sign of prosperity.

Many people couldn't help but sigh again and again in their hearts.

"When the Su family was exiled, who would have thought that they would be able to rise again, and appear to be even stronger than before."

"That's right. The third son of the Su family married a country woman, but she is better than the noble ladies of the big families in the capital."

"Our master asked us to do some research and learned that the money the Su family needed to return to the capital was all earned by Miss Shen's business."

"Just seeing how well Mrs. Shen runs her shop and farm, you can tell she's got extraordinary abilities."

"That's right. There are so many experienced farmers, but they haven't been able to produce any high-yield crops or strawberries."

When everyone discussed the Su family, there was really endless things to talk about.

Of course, the more we discuss it, the more shocked we become.

Even some noble families would discuss these things privately.

"If an ordinary person were exiled, their mentality would be unbearable. It would be extremely difficult for them to survive and return to Beijing."

"I can only say that the Su family has great perseverance."

"That's right. Look at the eldest son of the Su family. After being exiled, his abilities and skills have improved significantly. More importantly, his temperament has become calmer and more unpredictable than before."

"Yes, I heard that he was hanging out with the people from the Beishan Camp all day long, but as he was playing, he ended up getting along with those troublemakers."

"I don't know what he's been doing all day. He was supposed to be training the soldiers of the Beishan Camp. All the generals sent there before weren't able to tame and subdue those soldiers. The eldest son of the Su family doesn't do things the normal way, so no one can guess what he's going to do."

"But I heard he hired someone to build a canteen in the barracks."

"Humph, the military pay allocated to the barracks is fixed. He wouldn't dare to embezzle this money to build the barracks."

Everyone discussed these things in private, and to be frank, they were actually dissatisfied with the Su family.

But I have to admit that they do things differently from others, and I can't help but be a little curious and looking forward to what miracles they will perform.

Of course, more people are still observing.

They just observe their family and do things the way the Su family should do things.

People in the capital city don’t know yet that there is a fight going on within the Lu family because of some issues.

The eldest son of the Lu family had a mistress outside, and the mistress had a son. The eldest lady of the Lu family had no idea about this.

She thought her son was the legitimate son of the Lu family and the heir to the Lu family.

She was wholeheartedly working for the Lu family and never expected such a thing to happen.

The eldest lady of the Lu family was almost going crazy. She started fighting with the eldest son of the Lu family that day and even threatened to beat the concubine and the bitch to death.

But the eldest son of the Lu family kept saying that he wanted to protect his concubine and his son, and that he wanted to bring them back to their roots.

The eldest lady of the Lu family's family is not a small family either. She asked her family for help to put pressure on the Lu family.

Not only that, even if the second son of the Lu family secretly accepted bribes and did a few things outside, if they were discovered, the Lu family would most likely be raided.

This shocked and frightened everyone in the Lu family.

The people in the Lu family didn't have time to look for other people's affairs. They were too busy to handle it.

Of course, some evidence is with the Jinyiwei.

The Jinyiwei can move the Lu family if they want.

I just let the Lu family make a fuss for the time being and didn't take any action.

Jinyiwei Commander Lu Yechen felt that how to deal with the Lu family was just a matter of a word from the Su family.

Su Xueyi naturally would not let the Lu family go easily. He just let the Lu family take care of themselves first. If the Lu family wanted to come and cause trouble for the Su family again, don't blame him for being ruthless.

…

Early in the morning of that day, not long after breakfast, someone from the Imperial College came to announce the good news.

It is said that Su Ling and Su Yang tied for first place in the entrance examination for the Imperial College student class.

Upon hearing the news, the whole Su family was very excited.

"Dabao and Erbao tied for first place. They got first place in the exam."

“This is something to celebrate.”

"Dabao and Erbao are awesome, grandma's darling grandchildren."

Old Madam Su's eyes were red with excitement.

Dabao and Erbao are really proud of me.

Their Su family has two children, Dabao and Erbao, and she feels that she has done her best for all the ancestors of the Su family.

However, the person I am most grateful to is Yao Niang.

It’s because I have such a good daughter-in-law like Yao Niang that I have two such good grandsons.

Shen Yueyao was also very excited. She didn't expect that both children would get first place directly, and they were tied for first place.

She couldn't even describe the excitement and pride she felt.

Shen Yueyao had a bright and beautiful smile on her face.

"Thank you for your hard work, brothers."

As she spoke, Shen Yueyao stuffed two pieces of silver into the servant who came to the Imperial College to announce the good news.

He even gave each of them a basket of strawberries.

This made the two of them very excited.

The two people kept saying congratulations.

They came to announce the good news, deliver the results and the admission notices for the Imperial College students, and it was normal for them to collect money.

That is, the noble families gave more silver.

But the noble families couldn't afford strawberries.

They don’t even have enough to eat themselves, how can we give it to them?

But the Su family does have strawberries.

A big basket of strawberries, each one is so fresh, big and red, which makes people hungry just by looking at them.

The two were very excited, said a lot of nice things, and left in a hurry.

They wanted to quickly send the strawberries home for their families to taste.

This thing is very expensive on weekdays, and the key is that you may not be able to buy it even if you queue up.

This is what they brought back from the Su family.

They walked carefully on the road, fearing that the basket would be hit.

They have heard that strawberries are not easy to store. The slightest bump may cause the edges to break and they may no longer be fresh.

So they walked very carefully.

"The Su family is still generous."

"That's right. It was Mrs. Shen who invented the fruit called strawberry. Otherwise, who would have known that there was such a fruit?"

“It smells sweet.”

"Just looking at it makes my mouth water. I need to go home quickly so that I can feed it to my mother, wife and children."

"Yes, my son was still talking about strawberries a few days ago. I didn't expect that he could bring them home now."

They have children at home, so no matter how delicious the food is, they are reluctant to eat it and just want to go home quickly to feed it to their children.

It seems that the children are happier after eating it than they are after eating it themselves.

My family members were talking about strawberries before, but they couldn’t buy any and they felt guilty about it.

That will be fine, they have strawberries too.

"I am really grateful to Mrs. Shen now."

"That's right. I feel that Lord Su and Miss Shen are particularly good."

"Even the children they teach are very polite, sensible and cute."

They didn't say that because of Strawberry, but because they sincerely thought that Su Ling and Su Yang were very good boys.

Although he is only four years old, he is more sensible and polite than many seven or eight-year-old boys.

There was no condescending look in his eyes when he looked at them, but rather he treated them as normal people with a calm expression.

It’s not like some noble families, who, when they see them passing by, first look down on others.

Some young masters in large families were taught to look down on errand boys like them.

Some of them gave them money on the surface, but the look of contempt in their eyes was so obvious.

The Su family doesn’t have any.

So I think the Su family is very nice from the bottom of my heart.

"We usually tell some brothers in the Imperial College to take good care of the two young masters Su Ling and Su Yang."

"It's natural."

Don't underestimate them as just errand boys. These boys working in the Imperial College are also a group. They usually communicate with each other and help each other.

They thought that they could not help with other things, so they usually helped run errands for the two young masters of the Su family. If there was anything, they would quickly help notify the two young masters of the Su family.

Thinking this way, they feel that they are also useful.

…

Shen Yueyao naturally didn't know about this little episode.

She was happily watching everyone surrounding Dabao and Erbao.

"Big brother and second brother, you are so awesome. I am so proud of you."

Su Daya and Su Erya excitedly circled around Dabao and Erbao, wishing they could pick them up.

They were truly happy for their brother.

Dabao and Erbao didn't quite understand it either, but seeing their grandma, parents, and two older sisters all so happy, they couldn't help but feel happy too.

They will now understand that doing well in the exam is something that makes everyone happy.

The two of them remembered it now, and decided to study hard, do well in the exam, and make everyone happy.

At this time, they did not understand the significance of the exams, but they just wanted to make their family happy.

Madam Su said, "The Imperial College classes have been abandoned in recent years. Now that the Emperor has reopened them, I didn't expect Dabao and Erbao to be able to attend and even get first place in the exam. This is something that makes the whole family proud."

Su Xueyi and Shen Yueyao also understood that the previous emperor and his men had fought fiercely for the throne, and almost all the classes for children in the Imperial College were abolished, and no one cared about their affairs.

However, normal classes at the Imperial College are still open.

After the current emperor ascended the throne, he was busy dealing with many problems left by the previous emperor and had no time to care about the affairs of the Imperial College students.

Now the court is relatively stable, the entire Great Yan Dynasty is much more stable, and the emperor has reopened the Imperial College students.

Unexpectedly, Dabao and Erbao arrived at this time.

Shen Yueyao said: "It means that we came to the capital at the right time."

"It's just right that if Dabao and Erbao study in the Imperial College, they can also get to know some friends in the capital."

When they were in Liuhe Village, Dabao and Erbao had many friends to play with.

Every day they set a time for themselves to practice martial arts, study, and play.

Usually in the afternoon, they would go out to play with their friends in the village.

They play all kinds of games.

For example, Eagle Catches Chicken, Hop hop, playing with building blocks, telling stories, etc.

Anyway, they have a lot of fun every day, and a group of kids older than them listen to them.

Because they like to listen to Dabao and Erbao tell some interesting stories, which are stories they have never heard before.

After coming to Beijing, Dabao and Erbao were also quite bored.

They are not very familiar with the neighbors in the streets and alleys, and Dabao and Erbao don’t play with others much.

They either followed him to Zhuangzi or studied at home.

I remember that the last time I went to the Imperial College to take the exam, there were two young men who were quite good.

Pan Sizhu liked Dabao and Erbao's schoolbags very much, so she found time in the evening to make two schoolbags.

Thinking of giving one to Pan Sizhuo.

As for Nie Fan, if he has a good relationship with Dabao and Erbao, he can ask Dabao and Erbao to give one to him as well.

Shen Yueyao thought that now that Dabao and Erbao had entered school and were being taken care of by their classmates, she could feel more at ease.

Shen Yueyao said: "Today is indeed worth celebrating. Let's not go to Zhuangzi today. Let's make something delicious."

Shen Yueyao felt that Dabao and Erbao did well in the exam, so naturally she had to celebrate.

Madam Su nodded happily and said, "It's time to celebrate."

"I remember a long time ago, when someone took the Imperial College entrance exam and ranked first, the entire family would celebrate, sending out invitations widely, and many people would attend the party."

"With so many people taking the exam together, many have been taught by their families since the age of two, under the guidance of learned teachers. Therefore, it's not easy to get into the Imperial College, let alone come in first."

Su Xueyi said, "We won't invite anyone to our house."

Madam Su naturally understood this and said, "Of course it is so."

"When the Su family was in trouble, no one spoke up for them. Those who could protect themselves were considered lucky. Some people even took advantage of the situation to suppress the Su family. If not, your father and your second brother wouldn't have done that, and neither would your second sister-in-law."

"If someone had been willing to lend a hand and take care of things back then, this wouldn't have happened."

In fact, there were several families with very good relationships and good family traditions, but they were also exiled at that time.

Some people defected to different forces of the princes. They watched coldly as the Su family was exiled and Old Master Su was beheaded. Now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, some of these people have been demoted, and some have been investigated and exiled.

Because the person that Old Master Su protected back then was the current emperor, who was also the prince at that time.

The person those people suppressed was Yan Hanxi, who was a prince at the time and is now the emperor.

Therefore, even if some families and ministers seem to be doing nothing now, they still want to maintain good relations with the Su family. However, things are different now, and the Su family naturally does not want to have anything to do with these people.

Of course, some students from poor families who were admitted had good moral character and made friends. Shen Yueyao also asked Su Xueyi to send some strawberries for everyone to taste.

Giving gifts, no matter how valuable they are, is not very convenient and may be seen as forming cliques.

But no one said anything when we gave away agricultural products like strawberries.

However, most of the students from poor families were sent to serve as officials in other places, and there were only a few students who passed the imperial examination and became scholars in the Hanlin Academy in the capital.

After some discussion, the Su family decided to just have a meal together.

Shen Yueyao said: "I will cook something delicious myself."

Su Xueyi whispered, "How about calling cousin?"

The cousin Su Xueyi was talking about was naturally Dong Wenren.

Shen Yueyao smiled and said, "Of course you can. I almost forgot."

"If Feng Xiu'an and Kang Haozhi are both in the capital, we can invite them to have dinner together."

The main thing is that everyone is very supportive and they all say the food she cooks is delicious.

The key is that the two people have good moral character, have a good relationship with Dong Wenren, and later have a good relationship with their Su family.

Su Xueyi said, "They are sent out as officials, and they have their work cut out for them. If their performance is good, they will be promoted after three years."

Because of Su Xueyi's relationship, these people are also loyal to the emperor and are naturally dedicated to their work.

"The letters they wrote previously also described some of the local conditions and circumstances."

Feng Xiu'an and Kang Haozhi were both assigned to work in important counties.

Liu Wengu returned to his hometown Hezhou.

The previous flood in Hezhou had a great impact. Liu Wen Gu worked in a county town and wanted to build a dam first, fearing that there would be another flood.

The reason why Hezhou suffered a flood before was that the funds allocated from above for building dams did not arrive in time, but were embezzled by some officials.

Later, something happened in Hezhou. The emperor was furious and investigated the matter. Naturally, he dismissed and punished many officials.

Shen Yueyao seemed to be thinking of something and said, "I remember Liu Wengu returned to Hezhou. Hezhou is not easy to govern, right?"

Hezhou is adjacent to Liuzhou and has a well-developed water system. Of course, Hezhou and Liuzhou are different.

There was a flood in Hezhou, and now a lot of land is barren.

Shen Yueyao also read the letter that Liu Wengu sent to Su Xueyi.

However, Shen Yueyao didn’t know much about the letter Su Xueyi wrote back to Liu Wengu.

She was also busy with business matters and didn't pay much attention to these things. Su Xueyi was more familiar with these court affairs.

Su Xueyi said: "Although it is not easy to manage, it is also the place where it is easiest to make merit."

"Precisely because there's so much work to be done there, it's easy to achieve political success if you just do your job well."

"Besides, Liu Wengu is from Hezhou, which is his hometown. He knows Hezhou well and can handle things better."

"Although he's only a seventh-rank county magistrate now, all the smart people above him know he was sent by the emperor. No one dares to trip him up. As long as he does his job well, he'll have no problem getting promoted."

Shen Yueyao knew that the emperor needed people at that time, and Liu Wengu was a smart man, so he naturally knew how to do a good job.

Moreover, she saw that this man was an ambitious person, full of talent, upright, and with a firm gaze.

Privately, they were also very excited, saying that they had met a wise ruler and their ambitions could be realized.

Kang Haozhi and Feng Xiu'an are both from Liuzhou. Liuzhou now has Dong Zhiye as the county magistrate, so the emperor is no longer worried about the development of Liuzhou.

Therefore, Kang Haozhi and Feng Xiu'an were both assigned to other prefectures and counties.

While the two of them were talking, Shen Yueyao had already decided what to cook.

Shen Yueyao said: "Do you have that kind of bamboo? Go cut some and bring it back so we can make bamboo sticks."

Su Daya asked curiously, "Aunt San, what do we cook that requires bamboo sticks?"

"I remember there were bamboos growing on the hills near Kyono Shoko, so it would be very convenient to cut them."

"Everyone in the village would go to the mountains to cut bamboo to make bamboo rice."