Chapter 991: Imperial Examination Essay: The Evil Mother-in-law (14)

Han Ji passed the examination for the title of scholar, so there was nothing left for him to learn in the academy in the town. If he wanted to take the examination for the title of juren, it would be more appropriate for him to study in an academy in the county.

However, he had no money. He could barely make ends meet when he was studying in the town, but his family's income was no longer enough to support him when he went to study in the county.

Unless he does not intend to study in the academy but to study on his own, the examinations for Juren and Xiucai are not on the same level at all and are much more difficult. Without a teacher's guidance, relying solely on himself, the difficulty of passing the examinations would be as difficult as climbing to the sky. Even a genius would not dare to guarantee that he could pass the examinations based on his own understanding. What's more, Han Ji is not a genius. He is just slightly smarter than ordinary people. Without a teacher to guide his studies, it would be impossible for him to pass the examinations.

This situation led to his current dilemma. The joy of passing the examination did not last long, and the worry of having to go to the county to study but lacking money had already come to his mind.

Wu Shichu looked at Han Ji, who was looking down and silent, and then looked at Zhang Luoyi, who was biting his lower lip and looking sad, and said, "Han Ji wants to study at Qingyang Academy in the county? This is a good thing. Why do you all look so unhappy?"

Han Ji gave a bitter smile and said, "Mom, have you forgotten? To study in an academy, you have to pay tuition. The tuition for Qingyang Academy is even more expensive. How can our family afford to send me to study? Moreover, I have to pay for living expenses. It costs much more than studying in town."

Wu Shichu suddenly "realized" and blamed himself, saying: "It's all my fault that my mother is incompetent and can't earn money to support your education, so you still have to worry about paying tuition..."

"No, no, mother, how can I blame you? It's my son who is incompetent." Han Ji hurriedly comforted his sad mother, and said bitterly, "Mother, how about I not go to school this year and wait until I earn some money?"

"No! How can you waste a year? If you enter school late, won't you learn less than others? You will always be one step behind others?" Wu Shichu disagreed immediately.

"Didn't a guest bring gifts to visit our house last time?" Zhang Luoyi whispered. Because he passed the imperial examination, there were naturally many wealthy gentry who wanted to establish a relationship with the new scholar and sent gifts in various names. Naturally, there was a lot of money, but Han Ji couldn't accept all of them, because accepting gifts from others meant that when they came to you for help in the future, you would have to help them with work; in addition, accepting too many gifts would leave people with the impression that you are greedy. Even if you really passed the imperial examination and became an official in the future, your reputation would not be good, and people might even use it as a handle.

Therefore, even for the sake of maintaining his own clean reputation, Han Ji could not openly accept other people's gifts. Moreover, although he passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, which made people very envious, he could only get some benefits such as exempting himself from a few acres of land and not having to kneel when meeting an official. However, he could not benefit his neighbors and the general public, and he was not qualified to be an official.

Only when he passed the imperial examination and became qualified to be an official, would people actively cling to him and consciously give him various conveniences, and he would not have to worry about money...

Unfortunately, Han Ji is just a scholar now, not outstanding enough for people to invest large sums of money in him in advance.

"My lady, we cannot accept big gifts, and small gifts cannot cover my tuition fee." Han Ji said with a wry smile. They always say that a poor scholar is a poor scholar, and this title is not false.

"Well, then I'll continue to work hard at embroidery to make money..." Zhang Luoyi said with a pale face. She thought of the crazy embroidery process for more than half a month before, and she felt as if her fingertips were pricked by needles again, with bursts of pain. Her neck, waist and back also seemed to hurt. But if she didn't make money, what would happen if her husband couldn't go to the academy to study?

Han Ji was naturally moved when he heard her say that. He held her hand and said affectionately, "My wife, I will never forget your hard work and dedication. I will never let you down in the future!"

Wu Shichu couldn't help but roll his eyes. He said such nice things, but he still let his wife suffer all the hardships and sacrifice for him? If he really loved his wife, why didn't he try to make money himself instead of oppressing the woman at home?

Now that her mother had given up and could no longer let him suck her blood, he immediately set his sights on another woman in the family.

In the original world, Han Ji couldn't bear to see his wife suffer at all! But now, without the original owner to cover for him, he immediately didn't care about his wife. In the final analysis, he was still selfish, and his own interests were the most important.

"Mom, can you give me some advice? I heard from my husband that your embroidery skills were very good in the past and you sold them for a high price. I want to improve my skills." Zhang Luoyi suddenly asked Wu Shichu.

Wu Shichu looked at her deeply, until she avoided his gaze and dared not meet his eyes. Wu Shichu saw her like this, how could he not understand? Was she trying to let herself continue to do embroidery and earn money for Han Ji?

What a pity - Wu Shichu showed a weak smile and said: "Of course you can. Although I am in poor health and my eyes are bad now, I can still give you some guidance. Just don't look at the embroidery frame and needle and thread for a long time, otherwise your eyes will be sore and painful, and you will shed tears. After all, it was injured by embroidery work in the past ten years. Alas! Of course, son, all the price I paid for you is worth it. As long as you can have a promising future, I will be happy to go blind immediately..."

Wu Shichu said something in a tea-like manner, and immediately put Zhang Luoyi's little thoughts back. What's the matter? Her mother had been doing embroidery for more than ten years to support her son's studies and almost went blind. As a daughter-in-law, she wanted to exploit her. Wasn't it too much?

Zhang Luoyi was indeed choked by Wu Shichu's words and her face turned red: "It's my daughter-in-law who was inconsiderate. She even forgot that mother's eyesight is not good."

Han Ji also immediately expressed his determination to be a filial son: "Mom, I have seen and taken to heart all that you have done for me. Don't worry, when I become successful in the future, I will definitely be filial to you and let you be a queen in glory!"

"Okay, then I'll wait for my son to bring honor to the family and let me enjoy the happiness." Wu Shichu said happily, and performed a good show of loving mother and filial piety to her ungrateful son.

But Zhang Luoyi was not in such a good mood. She could already imagine that she would lose the little dowry money she had left. Not only that, she would have to work hard every day to earn money. And all this was for her husband to enter the academy and pass the imperial examination. She wanted to use this to make her husband famous...

Sure enough, after discussing how the family would make a living, Han Ji once again took Zhang Luoyi's dowry money to study at Qingyang Academy in the county. Zhang Luoyi looked at her empty box and felt like crying but had no tears.

However, after being sad, she still had to do embroidery, and this time there was no romance or sadness.

(End of this chapter)