Chapter 95 Autumn Examination Autumn Examination

The autumn scenery is pleasant, and the wild geese leave their voices behind.

Su Fengzhang packed his luggage and prepared to set off. This time he only brought Su Arong with him. He even sent his second uncle Su only to the dock and then came back. It was the busy farming season in autumn, and Su Fengzhang didn't want them to waste time.

Before leaving, Su Fengzhang squatted down, patted his brother's shoulder and said, "Sanlang, while I'm gone, the family will rely on you. Please help me take good care of mother and my aunt and sister, okay?"

Su Lanzhang quickly nodded in agreement, patting his chest and assuring, "Brother, don't worry, I'm at home."

Su Fengzhang smiled and pinched his cheek, then looked at his sister beside him: "Huihui, you are more patient than Erlang. When Erlang is not around, please help me keep an eye on him and don't let him cause any trouble."

Su Huihui immediately said, "Don't worry, Second Brother, I will keep an eye on Sanlang."

Su Lanzhang said unhappily, "Second brother, you always favor Huihui."

Su Fengzhang held their hands, one on each side, and said with a smile, "You are my brother and my sister, and I'm not partial to either of you. When Second Brother is not home, don't quarrel. Get along well with each other and don't worry mother and the others. Remember?"

Su Lanzhang and Su Huihui looked at each other and shouted, "I'll remember it."

It's strange to say, they are obviously twins, but for some reason they have never gotten along since they were young. Compared with their biological siblings, they are closer to their half-brother.

After patting the two children's heads for the last time, Su Fengzhang got on the carriage and waved to Su Zhaoshi at the door: "Mother, I'm leaving. You just wait for my good news at home."

Su Zhao nodded quickly, but as soon as his carriage left, the tears she had been holding back suddenly fell.

Aunt Bai beside her hurriedly advised, "Madam, our Erlang will definitely win the first prize in the imperial examination this time. When the time comes, you will be granted an imperial decree. This will be a great thing."

Wiping her tears, Su Zhaoshi said, "Although I hope he will have a bright future, every time I see Erlang leave home on a long journey, I always feel reluctant to let him go. If everything goes well this time, I'm afraid I won't see him for a year."

The provincial examination was held in August, but the results would not be announced until September. The metropolitan examination was held in February of the following year. The journey from Qingzhou Prefecture to the capital was long, so before leaving, Su Fengzhang discussed with Su Zhaoshi that if he passed the examination, he would not return home, but would go directly from Qingzhou Prefecture to the capital, so that they would have more time.

So when he set out this time, Su Fengzhang not only brought autumn clothes, but also winter clothes, just in case.

There was no other way around it. If they passed the exam and came back to pack their luggage, it would take another half a month to go back and forth. By then it would be October. If the canal froze, it would be even more difficult for them to enter Beijing.

Aunt Bai thought that Su Lanzhang would also go out to take the imperial examination in the future, and her thoughts were all over the place for a moment: "Yes, a mother worries about her son even when he is thousands of miles away, but Erlang is a man of great potential, so this trip will definitely go smoothly."

Su Fengzhang's trip was indeed quite smooth. The sea in Qingzhou was calm, with no pirates and no unexpected disturbances.

The only trouble was probably that after the boatman knew his name, he looked at him in amazement and wanted to talk to him for three days and three nights. This was all thanks to "Sui Hua Yin".

After finally reaching Qingzhou Prefecture, Su Fengzhang hurriedly took Su Arong off the boat.

Su Arong was carrying a lot of bags. He was a strong man, so it was easy for him to carry so many things.

Su Fengzhang only had one piece of carry-on luggage, which he had fought hard to get. Su Arong said, "Erlang, I promised my aunt that I would take good care of you. If she knew I let you carry your own luggage, she would beat me with a laundry pestle."

Su Fengzhang finally took a small bag and said, "Alright, if I don't take anything, I'll look like I have no hands or feet. Let's go, don't dawdle."

"Feng Zhang, here, here!" Wen Zhu shouted at the top of his voice and rushed over here excitedly.

Su Fengzhang was also happy to see him. He patted his shoulder and asked, "Why are you here? Why did you come all the way to pick me up?"

Wen Zhu laughed and said, "After receiving the letter, I guessed you would arrive in the next few days, so I begged my father to let me go out."

"You don't know, your good master, my good father would like me to study for twelve hours a day. My eyes are blurry and my hair is white. It's hard to persuade him to go out."

Feelings are an excuse for me to come pick him up and go out for a walk.

Su Fengzhang couldn't help laughing. He looked at him carefully and said ruthlessly, "Is it really that bad? I see your face is rosy and your body is plump. You don't look like you've suffered at all."

When Wenzhu was mentioned, he felt even more aggrieved and said, "How could I not be plump? After my mother came, I had fish and meat three times a day, and I had to drink nourishing soup every day. She treated me like a pig."

It is said that Mr. Wen originally did not plan to live in Qingzhou Prefecture for a long time. He only planned to settle his son and then go back to continue running a private school. Who knew that plans could not keep up with changes.

Mr. Wen observed for a few days and found that once he was away, Wen Zhu would not be able to study, let alone study. Instead, he would go out to play with a bunch of bad friends all day long. He would have no time to study and it would be good if he didn't indulge in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.

After much deliberation, Mr. Wen decided not to go back. Instead, he settled down in Qingzhou Prefecture and personally watched over his son's studies every day.

He was going to stay in Qingzhou Prefecture for a long time, so Mrs. Wen naturally moved in as well, so that the family could take care of each other.

But this means Wenzhu's hard days have begun. Mr. Wen doesn't even have any students now, and he has to keep an eye on his only son all day long, which makes Wenzhu miserable.

Wen Zhu grabbed Su Fengzhang and said, "I'm glad you're here. My father won't just stare at me when you're here."

Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile, "Oh, so you didn't miss me, but just wanted me to help you share the teacher's teachings?"

"Of course I miss you too. I wish I could think of you every day, every night, and even when I eat and sleep. I just want you to come over quickly so that my dad won't always be idle and scold me." Wen Zhu said with a laugh.

Then he mentioned another thing: "You are really amazing. You have caused such a stir in Hushan County. Now all the scholars in Qingzhou Prefecture know your name."

When this matter was mentioned, the joy on Su Fengzhang's face faded, and instead there was a bit of helplessness.

Wenzhu realized that he had said the wrong thing and slapped his mouth and said, "Look at me, I speak without restraint, I deserve to be scolded."

"Okay, stop acting weird. You're here to pick me up. Let's go. Don't keep the gentleman waiting for too long." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.

The carriage slowly moved towards Qingzhou Prefecture. Wenzhu kept talking about the changes in Qingzhou Prefecture after he left. Su Fengzhang also talked about every detail of Hushan County in the past year.

Su Fengzhang sat in the front seat of the car. He had to say that Qingzhou Prefecture was also very beautiful in autumn. Unlike their Hushan County, there were many osmanthus trees in Qingzhou Prefecture, and they all had buds.

Wenzhu followed his gaze and said with a smile, "After we finish the autumn exams, these osmanthus trees will be in bloom."

Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "Then I wish both of us success in the exams. After the exams, we can eat osmanthus cake together."

Wen Zhu touched his nose and said, "You really have confidence in me. I myself don't even have the confidence that I can pass the exam."

Su Fengzhang smiled and said, "You said the same thing last time, but didn't you pass the exam in the end?"

Wen Zhu was even more helpless: "You guessed the right questions that time. I only passed by luck. You don't know how strong I am. This is probably the best I can do in my life."

Su Fengzhang always felt that Wen Zhu was a contradictory person. He usually looked carefree and didn't care about anything, but he had no confidence in himself in the imperial examinations. This was probably caused by the high-pressure education Mr. Wen received since childhood.

"Since you are going to take the exam, you naturally have to have confidence in yourself before entering." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.

Wen Zhu shook her head and said nothing. After thinking for a while, she suddenly asked, "Feng Zhang, I remember that Brother Su's fiancée was a girl from the Chen family, right?"

Ever since they had a scene at the Chen family and returned the betrothal gift, the Su family has had no contact with the Chen family. Su Fengzhang is a half-baked person and actually does not have any deep hatred towards the Chen family. He just thinks that the matter ends here.

He was surprised to hear this: "Yes, why did you suddenly mention the Chen family?"

"My mother said she saw Miss Chen." Wen Zhu lowered her voice. "I heard that she married a Tongzhi of Qingzhou Prefecture as a concubine. She is quite favored. Tongzhi Qian even let her come out to entertain female guests."

Wen Zhu also looked down on the Chen family, even saying, "I really don't know what the Chen family was thinking. Brother Su is young and talented, with a bright future, but they insisted on breaking off the engagement. They thought they would find a good family for their daughter, but in the end they just gave her away as a concubine. That Qian Tongzhi is older than my father, and he's almost buried with a beard."

If Mrs. Wen hadn't come out to socialize, they wouldn't have known about this.

Because of the broken engagement, the Chen family had a very bad reputation in Hushan County. Mr. Wen looked down on their family, and Wen Zhu was even more so. They seemed to be united against a common enemy.

Su Fengzhang looked calm instead. He just said, "His family's affairs have nothing to do with the Su family anymore."

Wen Zhu said, "I'm just worried about you. The Chen family is full of evil spirits. After the incident with the 'Sui Hua Yin', they must have known that you were coming to take the provincial examination. Who knows if they might do something behind your back?"

Su Fengzhang laughed and said, "It's been four years since the incident. It shouldn't be this serious."

"Besides, you also said that Miss Chen is just a concubine. The Tongzhi is the deputy of the prefect, usually in charge of local affairs such as salt, grain, catching bandits, river engineering, water conservancy, and pacifying the people. He cannot interfere in the imperial examination."

Wen Zhu felt relieved after hearing this, but still said, "I hope so. I just hate this Chen family. They are so despicable. Such despicable and shameless people make me sick just looking at them."

"Since you feel disgusted, then don't look at it. It's better to look at me more." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.

Wenzhu thought about it and realized what was going on. He patted his friend on the shoulder and said, "You're right. Looking at your handsome appearance, you're much more pleasing to the eye than those people. Come on, let me take a good look."

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Author has something to say: Miss Chen appears

Happy Children's Day to all the little cuties~~

Come, let me toast you a glass of iced cola~