Chapter 74 [VIP]

The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and my family is busy preparing for the holiday.

To make things lively today, Wang Ying specially asked Chen Qingyan to call Liang Boqing, Qinghuai, and Qingsong back to town.

Normally, Old Liang would never come, but this year is different. This year, with Xiao Yuanbao, he came happily.

Yuanbao is seven months old and has four baby teeth. Besides drinking milk, he can eat some soft foods.

Wang Ying often picked peaches and apples for him, steamed them until they were soft, and made fruit puree for him. She remembered her grandmother saying that she used to make this for him when he was little; it was both appetizing and nutritious.

As children get older, they understand more. Although they can't call people yet, they know which one is "father" and which one is "father."

Old Liang adored Little Yuanbao. Every time he saw him, he would hold him for a while, and then inevitably get his beard pulled. He was incredibly fast; if you weren't careful, he would grab it and not let go.

They've given the old man a psychological trauma from all that pulling. Every time I hug him, I lean back, afraid he'll pull off my beard.

In this dynasty, there was no custom of eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In previous years, people would prepare fruits, wine and dishes to worship the moon on the night of the fifteenth.

The wine is made with osmanthus flowers, and it has a mellow and sweet taste. Even people who don't drink alcohol can have a few cups.

After lunch, Wang Ying began to study how to make mooncakes.

I had a carpenter carve the mooncake molds a few days ago. Both designs were made to be palm-sized. One was engraved with "Flowers in Full Bloom and the Moon at its Fullest," and the other with "Mid-Autumn Festival Reunion."

In her previous life, Wang Ying had never made mooncakes, but she had baked pastries, so this should be similar.

The crust of mooncakes is made of flour with oil and sugar. The fillings are quite elaborate. There are five-nut mooncakes made with melon seeds, peanuts, walnuts, almonds and sesame seeds, and another type of filling made with brown sugar and red bean paste.

Then, place the wrapped mooncakes into a wooden mold, press them gently to imprint the pattern, brush them with egg wash, and bake them in the oven.

Aunt Chen, watching from the side, clicked her tongue in amazement. "Young master, what is this thing?"

"This is called a mooncake. I learned how to make it from a book. This is my first time making one, and I don't know if I'll be able to succeed."

"Just looking at it is amazing, it's as beautiful as a flower, it must taste delicious."

Wang Ying was baking mooncakes for the first time and couldn't estimate the time properly. She baked them for about twenty minutes and they all cracked open. However, the taste was quite good. The aroma of nuts mixed with the taste of sugar made it so fragrant that it made people's mouths water.

Wang Ying gave the few cracked mooncakes to Aunt Chen, telling her to take them home for her family to try later.

For the second batch, Wang Ying reduced the heat and baked for about twenty minutes. This time, the heat was just right, and the baked mooncakes were all a beautiful golden brown!

After the mooncakes had dried sufficiently, Wang Ying carried them to the main room. Just as she reached the door, she heard a burst of laughter. "What's the matter that makes you so happy?"

"Ah Ying, come here quickly!"

Li pointed at Yuanbao and laughed, "Just now, in order to get the ear of grain from Qingsong's hand, he climbed over by himself!"

"Wow, you've really gotten good at this." Wang Ying put the mooncakes on the table, then reached out and picked up her son, carrying him on her shoulder.

Little Yuanbao hugged his head and started chewing on the hairpin he used to tie his hair.

"Don't bite it, or you'll end up drooling all over my head."

Qingyun and Qingsong gathered around the table. "Sister-in-law, what is this food? It smells so good!"

As Wang Ying removed the child from her head, she introduced, "These are called mooncakes, the kind of cakes eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. How about trying two flavors?"

Everyone picked up the mooncakes and began to enjoy them.

Li took a bite and said, "Mmm, sweet and delicious, this pastry is really good!"

Wang Ying took a piece of red bean paste and ate a couple of bites. Just like in her previous life, it was a little hard to swallow, but the taste was not bad.

Liang Boqing held the mooncake in his palm and immediately recited two lines of poetry: "A jade plate emerges from the Jade Terrace, sweet sugar wraps the moon, Qingyan, you continue the next line."

Chen Qingyan pondered for a moment and said, "Both the fullness and the imperfection are flavorful, and we wander together across a thousand miles."

Old Liang stroked his beard and said, "It lacks a bit of elegance. Qingsong, you take over."

"Huh?" Chen Qingsong quickly swallowed the mooncake in his mouth, frowned and thought for a long time, "Autumn wind gathers osmanthus dew, laughter fills the clear terrace."

"Standard-for, Qinghuai, it's your turn."

Chen Qinghuai cleared his throat and said, "I send my longing thoughts from afar, as the lights of ten thousand homes are turned upside down."

Old Liang didn't say anything, knowing that he was homesick.

As everyone was enjoying mooncakes, the gatekeeper Linzi suddenly ran over, "Madam, Master, the young master has some officials outside who said they have brought us good news!"

Wang Ying turned around abruptly, and Li Shi excitedly stood up, "Could it be that there's a result?"

Chen Qingyan was still in the dark. "What was the result?"

"Let's go, let's go out and take a look!"

Grandpa Liang was the first to pick up Yuanbao and run out. Despite his age, he walked with a brisk pace, and the others followed closely behind to the front yard.

The two constables came from the county government office, carrying a document in their hands. They greeted the host with smiles and said, "Congratulations to Young Master Chen on being exonerated and regaining his status as a candidate for the imperial examinations."

Upon hearing the news, Chen Qingyan's head buzzed, and his face was filled with disbelief. He glanced back at Wang Ying, who nodded at him, before he stepped forward.

The document was drafted by the Ministry of Rites, and it contained 138 characters that described the entire case from beginning to end.

Because it involved cheating in the imperial examinations, the imperial court attached great importance to it and had to investigate it thoroughly. Otherwise, if similar cases occurred in the future, everyone would say that they were framed, which would cause chaos.

The Ministry of Rites ordered a thorough investigation, and the Jizhou Prefecture government specially dispatched two officials to Longquan County to investigate the case.

The scrolls that were seized during the initial search were kept in the county government office. By comparing Chen Qingyan's examination papers with Zhang Shiqiu's county examination papers, the handwriting was easily distinguishable.

Chen Qingyan is accustomed to writing regular script; his characters are square and powerful. Zhang Shiqiu's characters, on the other hand, are thin and appear to have strength but are actually weak.

Because the handwriting on the copy was very small and there were traces of corrections, it was almost impossible to imitate. Based on the comparison, this copy was indeed written by Zhang Shiqiu.

With additional evidence proving that the two had lived together at the time, and that the time, place, and people matched up, Chen Qingyan's case was finally overturned.

The greatest credit for this belongs to the Grand Minister of Agriculture.

Wen Yanping hadn't originally intended to help much, since he and Liang Boqing weren't particularly close; they had only been classmates for a year in Yangzhou.

When the wheat harvest was completed at the end of May, he discovered that the wheat seeds sent from Jizhou yielded 60-70% more than the wheat from other fields!

What does this mean?

If wheat production across the country could increase by 60% to 70%, wouldn't everyone have surplus grain, and the country would be prosperous and the people strong?

This made him even more eager to meet the person in the letter, so he took the matter very seriously and pulled strings everywhere, finally getting the case overturned.

Chen Qingyan received the letter of exoneration with trembling hands. His eyes welled up with tears as he looked at the words on it. He had waited for three long years, and finally, this was the result.

He was unfortunate because he was framed by a friend and lost his eligibility for the imperial examination, but he was also fortunate because he was exonerated with the help of relatives and friends.

This is probably one of only two candidates in the entire Wu Dynasty who were exonerated after their abstention from the imperial examinations.

Chen Qingyan knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Liang Boqing, "Thank you, Master!"

Old Liang quickly reached out to help the man up, saying, "Good boy, don't waste this opportunity."

"yes!"

Li quickly sent someone to give them the reward money, giving each of them one string of cash. The two officials were so happy they couldn't stop grinning.

Delivering this was a joyous occasion, and they were sure to receive a reward. The two of them pulled strings to secure this lucrative job and made a special trip to town.

They had thought the townspeople would at most give a token amount of money, but they were surprised by their generosity. Their congratulations became much more sincere: "Congratulations, Young Master Chen, on your resumption of the imperial examinations! May you soon achieve top honors!"

"Thank you, gentlemen. Please stay for a meal, no need to wait any longer."

"No, we have official business to attend to." The two officers quickly waved their hands in refusal. They were both perceptive; why should they eat at someone else's house on a holiday? They would rather take the money and have a good drink at a restaurant.

After seeing off the officials, the family cheered excitedly. Chen Qingsong was the happiest, waving his arms and shouting, "Great! Big brother can take the imperial examination again!"

(He no longer had to shoulder heavy burdens!) He didn't dare say the rest, afraid of getting beaten up if he did.

With joyous news arriving, everyone drank a few extra glasses that evening.

Chen Qingyan was still dizzy and hadn't quite recovered from the joy. Every now and then, Wang Ying would pinch her, asking, "Am I dreaming?"

Wang Ying punched him on the shoulder. "Fool, it's not a dream, you've really been exonerated."

Chen Qingyan sighed, "I've dreamt of this scene dozens of times, always fantasizing that one day I could be exonerated. Now that I've actually been exonerated, it feels unreal."

Old Liang picked up some food and said, "Don't be too happy yet. If you don't do well on the exam, don't go out and say you're my disciple, Liang Liufang. You'll embarrass me."

"Hey, hehehe..." Chen Qingyan quickly picked up the wine pot and filled the old man's cup.

Now that the imperial examinations have been reinstated, we must prepare well. There will be no county-level examinations next year; we will have to wait until February of the year after next to participate, which will be perfect for taking the exams together with Chen Qinghuai.

Liang Boqing said, "The year after next is the year of the major examinations. If the county examination goes smoothly, we will participate in the prefectural examination in April, and after the prefectural examination, we will participate in the provincial examination in August."

Normally, candidates would pass the provincial examination, study at the prefectural school for a few years, and then take the provincial examination. However, Chen Qingyan had already been delayed long enough, so Liang Boqing planned to let him try directly.

"Teacher, can I...can I do it?"

"Why not? How much do you think you can learn from those old scholars at the prefectural school?"

That's true. Although the teachers at the prefectural school were all graduates of the imperial examinations, most of them were only teachers because they couldn't become officials. The truly capable people were in the Imperial Academy in the capital, but unfortunately, it wasn't a place that ordinary people could enter.

While drinking, Liang Boqing talked about things in the capital. Although he did not participate in the imperial examination, all the friends he made were famous scholars and great teachers. Any one of them was a prominent figure.

The old man has always been arrogant and disdainful of everyone, and he has the right to be so. Now that he's taken on a disciple, he's even more eager to show him off to those people, lest they say he's all talk and no action!

With the moon high in the sky, Liang Boqing got drunk. Qinghuai and Qingsong helped their teacher back to his room to rest, while Li Shi and Qingyun carried the sleeping Yuanbao back to his room.

Only Chen Qingyan and Wang Ying remained in the courtyard.

"Raise your cup to the bright moon, and with my shadow, we become three!" Wang Ying had drunk a bit too much and raised her cup to clink with Chen Qingyan's.

"Ah Ying, I'm not drinking anymore."

"I'm so happy, I'm so happy today!" Wang Ying put her arm around Chen Qingyan's shoulder. "Once you pass the imperial examination and become an official, our son will be a second-generation official! Then let's see who dares to bully us!"

"Yes, yes, I will definitely study hard and strive to pass the imperial examination." Chen Qingyan snatched the wine cup from his hand, picked him up, and walked towards the backyard.

The lights flickered all night, and figures embracing each other intertwined.

A note from the author: