After finally finishing the exam, Ruan Jiading could no longer contain himself and ran back. At this time, Mi Niang was accompanying Ding's second wife to do needlework. The young wives of wealthy families would not easily use scissors when they were pregnant, but their family was so poor that there were no such rules. If they did not sew, the child would be born without even a set of clothes.

A good mother-in-law can do some rough work and stove work, but she can't do embroidery.

Fortunately, when Aunt Ding was at her parents' home, she helped her cousin embroider and learned a lot from the craftsmen in the village. She was smart and knew how to cut.

Now I am teaching my daughter how to divide the lines and how to match the colors.

"Come, watch, split it from here." Second Grandma Ding taught very seriously.

She doesn’t have the money to send her daughter to a girls’ school now, but it’s important for girls to start learning what they should do, and it’s not a bad thing to learn more.

Mi Niang took it with a smile and split it open instantly. She didn't want to hide her intelligence completely and just act like a little girl. This way, she would have to tell her parents in her dreams to make them take her words seriously.

When Mrs. Ding saw that her daughter had learned it so quickly and was about to praise Mi Niang, she saw Ruan Jiading rushing back and picking up Mi Niang. She was completely dumbfounded.

"Mi Niang, you are really a good daughter to daddy." Ruan Jiading happily hugged his daughter.

"This is..." Second Madam Ding saw the joy on Ruan Jiading's face and it seemed that they were talking about something.

Ruan Jiading uttered a sigh, his face showing great excitement, yet he was feeling indescribable.

Hearing this, Mi Niang and Second Lady Ding were both happy for him. Ruan Jiading looked at Mi Niang in surprise: "My Mi Niang can actually understand it. She has really grown up."

He touched his daughter's head and felt very emotional: "I used to hear people say that Zhu Yi pointed at my forehead, but now it's Zhu Yi who came to me in my dreams."

If he had not practiced it several times in advance, he would not have been able to write so well. Before, his goal was just to pass the academy examination. Anyway, he had passed the county and prefectural examinations. He was among the top ten in the prefectural examinations. Although the academy examination was just a formality, but this time, with divine help, he might not be able to lose the first place in the case.

Mi Niang was overjoyed. She certainly hoped that her father could achieve fame and success, so that life would be much better for the whole family.

But pretending to be half-knowledgeable, Ruan Jiading patted his daughter's head, went to the study and burned the Chengwen he had practiced before. When he came out, Mi Niang had already gone out to play with the children at the alley.

He said to Mrs. Ding, "Our daughter is very lucky, but I don't want to praise her in front of her. Shujun, we used to dote on our daughter, but now we can't just sit there and watch her go."

Mrs. Ding nodded heavily: "My husband is right."

She looked at him with trust, and Ruan Jiading couldn't help but laugh, "I was wrong before." Most people of his age already have children, but he only has this one daughter, so he always wanted to build a good relationship with his eldest brother and aunt, so that when Mi Niang gets married in the future, she will not be left without anyone to help her.

Besides, my uncle is in the government, so if my daughter encounters any problems in the future, she can ask them for help.

He was unlucky and could only barely make ends meet after passing the imperial examination to make a living in Guangu. Now everything is fine. He looked at his wife's belly and thought of the advice that Mi Niang had given him in her dream. All of this told him that he was the chosen one.

Well, since he can be independent, why should he rely on others?

Mi Niang didn't know that her father had thought so much and was still thinking of taking action according to the circumstances in the future. Thinking of this, she jumped even harder.

The days of waiting were the most difficult. Mi Niang also waited with the adults, but somehow her father wanted to teach her to read and write himself, which was another joy.

If you want others to respect you, you must be able to stand on your own feet, otherwise, what good is it to be a family member?

Just like when Queen Nguyen had no children and no favorite queen, the Nguyen family selected many beautiful women to enter the palace to consolidate her favor. Queen Nguyen’s status in the Nguyen family was not low, but so what?

Mi Niang did not hide her strength at this time. She was so happy that she could learn from the orthodox method of "Three", "Hundred", "Thousand" and training and correcting pronunciation.

Ruan Jiading, who originally just wanted to teach his daughter not to be blind, was shocked himself, "It's a pity that Mi Niang is not a son."

After only being taught once, he was able to remember most of it. Even he, who was called a child prodigy when he was young, didn't have such a good memory. Ruan Jiading couldn't hide his surprise.

Mrs. Ding was even more pleased and happy to see that her daughter was so smart.

He was afraid that even if he had another son, he would not be as smart as Mi Niang.

On the day when the results were announced, Ruan Jiading got up early and went out. Aunt Yu had also sent Mother Ding over long ago, and Second Madam Ding was chatting idly.

It was obvious that no one's attention was on talking.

Mi Niang was memorizing the books by herself, especially the correct pronunciation. This was much better than asking those literate female officials to teach her. At least this was the most orthodox education. When she was in the palace, those female officials who taught her were funny. On the one hand, they looked down on them because they could not read a single word, and on the other hand, they were jealous of her being favored.

Everything was different now, she didn't want to be a plaything anymore.

Two hours later, the sound of gongs and drums came from the alley, and Mrs. Ding stood up suddenly.

Mother Ding seized the opportunity and ran out.

The one who came to report the news was a yamen runner. These people usually shouted and yelled on the streets, and ordinary people would stay away from them when they saw them, but today they looked very attentive.

"My Lords, what are you doing..."

When the yamen runner knew that this was Ruan Jiading's wife, he was very polite and said, "Congratulations, Madam Ruan. In the tenth year of Longping, Mr. Ruan Jiading from Jiangling County, Jingzhou Prefecture, Huguang, won the first place in the college entrance examination. Mr. Ruan was kept by his parents and the academician to talk."

Mi Niang hurriedly reminded Ding Er Niang: "Mother, give me the reward money."

Although the Ruan family was not very rich, yesterday Second Mistress Ding took out a tael of silver to exchange for some reward money. She was still very generous and asked her mother-in-law to give each of the informants a handful of change.

Mother Ding watched secretly and couldn't help but nodded.

She knew best what kind of situation Ruan Jiading was in. He might not live as well as some farmers, but although he lived frugally, he still knew the rules and regulations and was not that poor.

Just like the young mistress in their family, her background was good, her father was a clerk in the county, and she was a good match for the Yu family, but she was very stingy.

The yamen runners were also happy to receive the reward for reporting the news. Of course, the amount of money was not important, it was a happy occasion.

This is the first place in the case. If he passes the provincial examination, he will be a famous judge.

Although the neighbors were not very familiar with the place, when they heard that a new case had been discovered here, they all brought eggs from their homes. Some of them who were more particular brought cakes to celebrate, and the smile on Ding Er's face never faded.

Ruan Jiading came back at night. His face was red, and it was obvious that he had drunk a lot of wine, but his eyes were very clear. If it were at this time in other days, Mi Niang would have been urged to rest by Second Mistress Ding. But at this time, because of this happy event, no one could sleep, even the good mother-in-law was staying up all night.

But no one felt tired, instead everyone was excited.

"Why didn't you guys take a break?"

Mrs. Ding Er laughed and said, "We are still waiting to congratulate Mr. Xiucai, how can we rest for a while?"

Everyone was very happy, and Ruan Jiading also benefited a lot from listening to it.

The good mother-in-law said jokingly, "When the second master wins the marriage, our sister Mi will be a daughter of an official family. In the future, the one riding in the sedan chair may be our sister Mi."

Ruan Jiading used to just laugh off such flattery, but now he took it very seriously: "Mi Niang is so smart. If she didn't have a good family background, I'm afraid she would be like a treasure hidden in a casket, never to see the light of day."

But no matter what, he still had to go back to his hometown first. Ruan Jiading said that the clan leader's uncle asked someone to tell him that a scholar plaque had been made for him. What's more, the Ruan family treated people with honors very well.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Ding was extremely happy again. She seemed to feel that all the dark days she had lived in the past were worth it. She didn't understand what "the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold" meant, but she knew what it meant that after suffering, there will be sweetness.

When some are happy, others are sad. When Grandma Shu heard that Ruan Jiading won the first place in the case, she was already very upset. Unexpectedly, Grandma Gui was even more direct. She gave all the fruit fields and bamboo forests that were originally allocated to Grandma Shu's family to Mi's family.

She was naturally angry, but Grandma Gui said calmly: "I'm sorry, this is still too little. The clan leader directly allocated 20 acres of land to the scholar as food."

Grandma Shu could not see any apology from Grandma Gui. Seeing that her annual income of thirty or forty taels was gone, she was so anxious that she almost fainted.