Chapter 27 You Qinghe, Ye Ye, he looks a lot like you, doesn't he?

Cheng Liwu sat cross-legged on the meadow, biting his fingers and contemplating whether to gouge out his own eyes. Thinking about what he had accidentally witnessed while eating, Cheng Liwu felt an urge to punch his own wandering eyes.

Qin An led his horse slowly over and kicked Cheng Liwu's thigh: "What are you daydreaming about? Where is the princess?"

"A wild boar was spotted in the woods, and the princess went to hunt it." As for who the princess went with, how long she was gone, and what she did during lunch, Cheng Liwu chose to remain silent, not even revealing a word to Qin An.

Archery and horsemanship were not Qin An's forte. He couldn't catch up with the King of Jin before, and now he can't catch up with Fu Sui. In the past, when the King of Jin went hunting, Qin An would find a place to eat, drink, and cool off. Today, concerned for Fu Sui's safety, he originally wanted to follow him the whole way, but after running with Fu Sui twice, Qin An obediently chose to find another place to eat, drink, and cool off.

Upon hearing that Fu Sui had gone to hunt wild boar, Qin An hurriedly asked, "How long have you been gone? Has anyone been with you?"

Cheng Liwu scratched his head: "My brother is over there." He saw the golden eagle in that direction, "and there are people following it too." General Yue is a person, isn't he?

Since Cheng Liyang is here, he will surely warn the princess if she is in danger. Qin An plans to wait and see, and if she doesn't show up, he will send someone to look for her.

Qin An did not wait long before Fu Sui rushed back first, followed by Cheng Liyang and two imperial guards. A few steps behind were three or four imperial guards with a draft horse carrying a blood-soaked wild boar, who brought up the rear over the mountain ridge.

Tian Ganyou had just led his men back with the Seventh Prince's prey when he saw a wild boar and was overjoyed: "We're in for a treat tonight!"

The group had already planned to use Fu Sui's place to eat wild game, and they weren't worried about staying out too late. The girl would stay at Fu Sui's residence, while the man would stay at the princess's residence next door.

Tian Ganyou sent men to call back Qiao Er and the Seventh Prince, who were still wandering around. Fu Sui ordered his men to butcher the wild boar on the spot, leaving the ribs and a hind leg for dinner, and dividing the rest into large pieces, sending some to each person's residence.

The Prince of Yanshan and the Prince of Xiping contributed a pair of pheasants, Qiao Er contributed half a deer, Tian Ganyou contributed two geese, the Seventh Prince contributed a roe deer, and Fu Sui contributed a yellow sheep for Yue Shanling's dinner. Fu Sui then decided to select one item from each person's hunt and send it to the palace, while the rest were taken away by each person.

The Seventh Prince's prey was piled up like a mountain, but he was still living in the Honglu Temple. He had nowhere to store the prey if he took it back with him, so he shrugged and said he didn't want anything.

Yue Shanling picked out some of the Seventh Prince's catch and told him he could use it to treat his colleagues to a meal or give to his superiors. Tian Ganyou, fearing for his life, readily agreed. The Seventh Prince, an outsider who had just joined the Jinwu Guard, was unfamiliar with the area and needed to network and build relationships with his colleagues. He patted the Seventh Prince on the shoulder and told him that if there was really no place to store it, he could keep it for the Seventh Prince first, and later he would write a list so the Seventh Prince could use it to give gifts to his superiors.

The seventh prince nodded as if he understood, and let Yue Shanling and Tian Ganyou make the arrangements.

Fu Sui instructed Cheng Liwu to take the wild boar back to her residence and have it packed up. She also secretly ordered that a yellow sheep be sent to Yue's residence, a deer to Xinghua Lane, and a yellow sheep and a roe deer be sent to the princess's residence next door. She then led everyone back to her residence at a leisurely pace as the sun set.

Yan Shan fed a small dish of goat milk to the civet cat, Tian Ganyou put his arm around the Seventh Prince and talked at length about the temperaments of the officers of the Imperial Guard, the Prince of Xiping helped tidy up the tables and chairs, Qiao Er chased after Cheng Liyang and asked him all sorts of questions, but he was nowhere to be found when it was time to start the banquet, so they had to go over the mountains to the Eagle House to bring him back.

Suddenly, a small head popped out from outside the door. A boy of about five or six years old stood outside and asked loudly, "The mutton stew is ready, and the soup noodles are prepared. Would you like to eat now, esteemed guests?"

This is Xiao Shitou, the son of A Cai and Zhao Qi.

Tian Ganyou and Yue Shanling had once gone to A Cai's shop for mutton soup and found it to be excellent. Thinking they might be able to hunt gazelles this time, he recommended the cook, who was skilled at making mutton soup, to Fu Sui.

Fu Sui heard that the cook had some connection with Yue Shanling, so he ordered someone to bring a name card from the Princess's Mansion to A Cai's shop during the busiest time of the day to formally invite A Cai.

Ah Cai had never seen such a scene before, and was so frightened that she dared not accept the invitation. It was only after hearing that it was from someone Yue San Ge was acquainted with that she agreed.

Seeing this, the diners and neighbors started gossiping that Ah Cai had invited some very important person, and somehow the rumor spread that even a saint had drunk Ah Cai's mutton soup. The small shop quickly became the most famous mutton soup shop in the capital, keeping Ah Cai extremely busy every day.

Yanshan found Little Stone's chubby face adorable and beckoned him in, asking whose child he was. Zhao Qi was on duty tonight, and A Cai couldn't go home either. Worried about leaving the child alone, she asked Qin An and brought Little Stone along. Little Stone often helped A Cai greet customers at the shop, and today he treated Fu Sui and the others like guests, taking it upon himself to come and ask if they needed any dishes.

When the mutton soup was served, Little Stone, imitating a storyteller, swayed his head and gave a lecture on the thirteen ways to eat mutton. Yanshan took two small gold beads from the ornament hanging from his belt and rewarded him. Little Stone, even more excited by the reward, puffed out his little chest and performed a military skit he had learned from a street performer, making Yanshan laugh heartily.

The Prince of Xiping had always felt ashamed of his incompetence, which had caused Yanshan to be depressed. Seeing Yanshan smiling so happily, he was overjoyed. He searched himself thoroughly and found that he hadn't brought any money with him because he was going to ride and shoot. So he simply took two gold coins from his belt and gave them to Xiao Shitou.

Qiao Er leaned closer to Yue Shanling and whispered, "Do you know this child's parents?"

Seeing Yue Shanling nod, he asked again, "Is his father also a resident of the city?"

Yue Shanling denied it: "I am a military household."

Military household registration is better than city household registration. "What level of city household registration?"

The court looked down on merchants and even restricted their sons from participating in the imperial examinations.

The city's residents were divided into three classes based on their annual income. Small merchants and small households were in the first class. Their sons could not participate in the Mingjing examination, but they could participate in the Jinshi examination and other regular examinations. Their grandsons had no restrictions. If they wanted their children and grandchildren to study in the official school, they had to donate 200 books and 500 shi of grain.

Merchants of a certain size are classified as second class. Their sons cannot take the regular imperial examinations but can only participate in the special imperial examinations. Their grandsons cannot participate in the Mingjing and Jinshi examinations. Their great-grandsons are not restricted. If their children and grandchildren want to study in official schools, they need to donate 1,000 books and 2,000 shi of rice.

If one is extremely wealthy, they are considered the lowest class. Their sons are not allowed to enter officialdom, their grandsons are not allowed to take the regular imperial examinations, and their great-grandsons are not allowed to take the Mingjing examinations. Only their great-great-grandsons are exempt from these restrictions. If their sons, grandsons, or great-grandsons want to study at an official school, they must donate 3,000 books, 10,000 shi of rice, and 500 bolts of silk.

"It's just one shop with fewer than ten tables and chairs."

That meant he was a first-class city resident. Qiao Er knew this in his mind, so he said, "I think this child is clever and quick-witted. Has he started his formal education yet?"

Looking at the little stone from the mountain ridge, Tian Ganyou asked him something, but he answered fluently, and Tian Ganyou clapped and cheered.

“His father is literate, but he didn’t read many books. He’s already teaching him to read.”

Qiao Er nodded: "That's good. If he can read, he can go to the academy. If he has some talent for reading, with your connections in the court, he can definitely study law and mathematics at the Imperial Academy in the future. Even if he doesn't go to the Imperial Academy, he can still get into other official schools. Having the status of an official school student will give him more options, which is better than being a military household registered in the city."

Students of official schools could directly participate in the imperial examinations in spring, without having to start from the preliminary examinations like other students.

Yue Shanling himself had never experienced the imperial examination system, and having fought for more than a decade, he was used to it and always thought about making achievements. He never thought that his brothers could also go on the path of learning.

He nodded thoughtfully: "I will discuss it with his father." Millet is easy to save, but books are not easy to obtain. If he wants to enter the official school in the future, he must start donating money now.

Everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, except for the Seventh Prince, who was carefree. He hadn't even had time to eat lunch at noon because he was busy catching the leopard cat, so he just grabbed a few bites of a flatbread and was now starving. He slurped up hot soup and ate large mouthfuls of meat without even looking up.

As Yanshan laughed and joked, he saw the Seventh Prince almost burying his head in the bowl, and his laughter deepened. It was unclear whether he was laughing at Little Stone or at the Seventh Prince.

The next day was Fu Sui's birthday. Yan Shan and the others got up early to eat longevity noodles with Fu Sui and stayed until evening before returning home. Tian Ganyou and the others all held official positions and had already asked for leave yesterday, so they couldn't ask for leave again today. As for Yue Shanling, he still didn't know when Fu Sui's birthday was.

Fu Sui did not host a banquet for anyone. Including Zheng Zizai, who came uninvited, the four of them simply celebrated the fifteenth year of Fu Sui's life.

After everyone had left, Kouyun came over holding a box: "This was sent by the He family..."

Fu Sui understood that it was sent by He Yujing. She opened the box, which was lined with silk, and in the center lay a golden hairpin with eight treasures. She reached out and took it out; the hairpin felt heavy in her hand.

She tucked the golden hairpin into her hair and asked Kouyun with a smile, "Does it look good?"

Kou Yun choked up a little, repeatedly saying how beautiful it was.

Fu Sui looked at herself in the mirror for a long time, then took off the hairpin and put it back in the box: "Put it away."

Her coming-of-age ceremony is on an auspicious day, as determined by the Astronomical Bureau, and it will be tomorrow. The palace will prepare the golden hairpins for the ceremony.

Candles and oil lamps illuminated the room brightly, and in the center of the altar stood the memorial tablet of the Prince of Jin. Fu Sui sat on a prayer mat, hugging his knees, rambling on about the day's events.

"Bean sprouts make delicious noodles. Today she made wide and long noodles, like ribbons..."

"Qin An gave me a little brass bird that moves; it sways from side to side with the slightest touch. I'm so old, yet he still treats me like a child..."

"Qiao Zhenzhen drew a picture of me. In the picture, I look like a fairy. But I'm so beautiful, maybe the fairy looks like me..."

"Yanshan embroidered ginkgo leaves. I asked her why she embroidered ginkgo, and she said it was because she saw I had a ginkgo personal seal. Haha, they don't know that it's not actually my seal. It's all my father's fault for breaking his promise; I don't have my own seal to use, so I can only use my father's..."

"That leopard cat was keeping Yanshan very busy. She had to check on it every half hour, afraid that it was hungry or cold..."

"My cousin Xu always manages to find new and interesting things. He's going to open a shop selling rare and precious items; it might even be more popular than Wanbaoge..."

“Father, do you still remember Yue Shanling? I ran into him… My cousin Xu said he used to learn riding and archery from you, so he's practically your apprentice. He's a Left Guard General now… and he's very good at archery… He even gave me a birthday present, a deer antler thumb ring… I don't care, I'll just consider it a birthday present…”

"Wow, is he a good person...?"

"Wow, does he look like you...?"

"Do people all have a lot of worries as they grow up...?"

"Yay... Will you miss me...?"

Beyond the candlelight, Qin An sat under a tree a hundred paces away, quietly gazing at the moon in the sky. A crystal-clear drop of water slid down his face, fell into his clothes, and disappeared without a trace.