Chapter 70
Jiang Wanning dropped the letter and ran into the house. She searched for a long time at the bedside, then turned and ran to the study. After finally finding the map, she turned around and pulled Lu Shang over: "Husband, help me take a look... Can you help me calculate how long it will take? I——"
The shaking of her body became more and more intense. By the end of her speech, her voice was trembling. Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, but she was completely unaware of it. She just asked Lu Shang to help her calculate the distance.
The letter that Zhan Shunan and his men had sent had been sent two months ago. If they had just left the North at that time, they would not have been able to ride a fast horse on the return journey because of their elders. Instead, they would have had to take a carriage instead. This way, it would have taken at least half a year to get all the way back to Songxi County.
Lu Shang didn't hide anything. Instead, he took Jiang Wanning's hand and personally pointed out the way back to her. "Aning, look here... Although the official road is a bit longer, it's the safest. However, my father-in-law and mother-in-law's status may make it inconvenient for them to travel, so they will most likely avoid towns. So, it seems that they should be around here now, and then they will take this road..."
His voice was neither hurried nor slow, and he explained clearly all the possible routes from the north to Songxi County.
Influenced by his steady tone, Jiang Wanning's fluctuating heart gradually settled down.
Finally, Lu Shang said, "Let's wait another three months. When the weather warms up in spring, I'll arrange for a carriage, and you and I will go north together to welcome Brother Zhan and my parents."
Jiang Wanning looked at him in astonishment, the tears hanging from the corners of her eyes falling down, and Lu Shang wiped them carefully. She just bit her lower lip tightly, and nodded heavily after a while: "Yes!"
The end of the year has arrived as scheduled. The people in the capital have emerged from the shadow of the severe drought in the middle of the year. Festive red lanterns are hung on the streets. When passers-by meet on the street, whether they know each other or not, they are always willing to say a few auspicious words.
The three generations of the Lu family, grandparents and grandchildren, also took to the streets, choosing and buying everything together, from Spring Festival couplets and window decorations to all the food for New Year's Eve. Jiang Wanning also bought a pair of gold bracelets for Grandma Lu, which matched the earrings she bought for her two years ago.
Grandma Lu was no longer as nervous as she was when she first received the gift. She had also made some money from selling flowers in the past few years. Although she could not give Jiang Wanning dozens of taels of silver, it was not difficult for her to pick out some small gifts to send back.
Lu Shang was just a tool to help carry things. Occasionally, when the two of them were picking out clothes, he would express his opinions.
In short, several people were on the street that day, shopping and looking around. They prepared two baskets of food alone and bought various new gadgets. They didn't care whether they would be used or not, just to have fun.
On the first day of the new year, the students from the private school came to my house to pay New Year's greetings.
The county magistrate's mansion was also full of guests today. Jiang Wanning didn't want to attract attention, so she only wrote a letter of divorce and added two small longevity locks as a New Year's greeting to Qu Heng and his wife, and also gave New Year's money to the two girls in his family.
The New Year's atmosphere in the city has not diminished in the past few days. Every time Jiang Wanning goes out, she will meet strangers who say auspicious words. She doesn't ask for anything, she just wants good luck.
After the fifteenth day of the lunar month, this lively New Year celebration comes to an end.
Correspondingly, academies and private schools began to open.
Lu Shang had prepared his withdrawal application early, but he didn't realize that the withdrawal process at Lu Lin Academy was complicated. Before the official approval came, students had to attend classes every day. Moreover, since the academy would not conceal their intention to withdraw, they would attract much attention in class. Not only would the teacher be critical of them, but even some classmates would point fingers at them secretly.
In other words, Lu Shang is not the kind of person who cares about what others think. Otherwise, if someone is mentally fragile, who knows how big a blow it would be.
Especially since he had decided to leave here, he would not waste his time on irrelevant people. He mostly read books on his own in class, and occasionally listened to the teacher's words. During the break, he would sneak over to Class D to take a look.
Lu Shang had known for a long time that Class D had recruited a group of children from business families. Although these children had no official titles, they had at least received enlightenment at a young age. As for their talent in studying, even if they were not top-notch, they were definitely not among the poor students.
Now, before he dropped out of school, he often came here to see if he could recruit these children to Jiang Wanning's private school.
Anyway, they were also marginalized in the academy. They had been there for two or three years, and few of them passed the county examination at the beginning of last year. Instead of wasting time here and even having to endure the malice of others, it would be better to find a way out as soon as possible.
Lu Shangnian felt a little sympathy for them because they were all from the same business community.
He walked towards Class D for two consecutive days and finally waited for the first curious boy.
Lu Shang was a celebrity in Lu Lin Academy. Both his status as the only scholar from the Shang family and his frequent skipping of classes were widely known in Class C and Class D.
Students from formal backgrounds despised him for his lack of ambition, while children from the same background as him envied his natural talent, believing that even if he was so lazy in his studies, he could still become a scholar.
So when he showed goodwill to the young man, the young man took the bait without surprise: "You think there's a better academy than Lu Lin Academy? Can you guarantee that we'll pass the entrance exam?"
Lu Shang showed a mysterious expression, hooked his finger, and motioned him to come forward and listen closely.
When the young man got closer, he said, "Next time you go home on vacation, why don't you ask your parents if there's a mysterious private school in the city? Judging from your aptitude, if you can get into that school, you'll definitely pass the exam and become a scholar in three, no! Two years at most!"
With Feng He's precedent in mind, Lu Shang said this with absolute certainty and without a trace of guilt.
Moreover, he had already noticed the two people wandering nearby, so he deliberately raised his voice a little, but was careful not to disturb others. He just mentioned the point and did not go into too much detail.
But he didn't know that after he left, the two young men who had been lingering around also ran over and said, "Xin Huaizhou! What did Senior Brother Lu say to you?"
Xin Huaizhou was still a little dazed and subconsciously repeated Lu Shang's words.
Just as he finished speaking, the person opposite him clapped his hands suddenly: "I know that private school!" After he shouted, he realized that his voice was a little too loud and quickly covered his mouth.
Zhang Xiangmin leaned closer to the other two and whispered, "I know the private school that Senior Brother Lu was talking about. I have a distant cousin who goes there. My mother told me that my cousin failed the imperial examination three times in a row. But after only two years of studying at the private school, he passed the examination on his first try and almost became a juren in the autumn examination two years ago!"
"Is it really as powerful as you said?" Xin Huaizhou was quite unbelieving.
Zhang Xiangmin nodded heavily. "That's right. After the imperial examination system was reformed, my parents wanted to send me to that private school. But they couldn't find a way after searching for a long time. Later, they found out that the private school hadn't accepted students for a long time. If I could have studied there, I wouldn't have come to Lu Lin Academy! I wouldn't have learned much, and people would have called me a cheapskate every day..."
They were only about ten years old. Before they entered school, they were all spoiled little masters in their families. They could endure being excluded on weekdays, but now that they saw a new way out, they immediately felt longing for it.
"I heard that private school did recruit new students after the spring exam last year, but I was already at Lulin Academy at the time and didn't catch up."
Xin Huaizhou was a little worried: "Well, you said that private school hasn't accepted students for a long time. Can we still get in?"
"I have an idea..." Kang Zhao, who had been silent the whole time, said slowly, "Brother Zhang also said that it's because his family hasn't found a way. What if the twenty or so people in Class D unite and work together to find a way to get into school?"
Xin Huaizhou and Zhang Xiangmin looked at each other, and a light flashed in their eyes.
Over the next two days, Lu Shang continued to visit Class D whenever he had something to do, and whenever he encountered curious youngsters, he would encourage them. By the time he successfully withdrew from Lu Lin Academy, all the business students in Class D knew about it.
There is an unknown private school that can help them pass the imperial examination and become scholars!
Lu Shang didn't know whether his idea of persuading the children to change schools would succeed, so he didn't tell Jiang Wanning. After returning home, he only rested for half a day before receiving the test paper that Jiang Wanning had thoughtfully customized for him.
If it were a year ago, he would have tried every possible way to refuse after seeing the examination paper. But now, in order to enter the court as soon as possible, he could only bite his nose and pull his hair for the entire afternoon.
After Jiang Wanning finished marking his test paper in the evening, she had a general understanding of his level.
Jiang Wanning looked at the long policy essay. Whether it was the viewpoints, the organization, or even the calligraphy, it was all unsightly. The poems and songs in the next part could not be said to be bad, but it could only be said that they were not as good as the policy essay.
After reading the entire test paper, only the last few math questions were passable. However, only the answers to these questions were correct. Looking at the calculation process on the rough paper, it was only because she had been influenced by Lu Shang over the years that she could understand it. If she really took it to the imperial examination, she would not be able to pass it.
Little did people know that although Lu Shang was illiterate, he was an illiterate who could do arithmetic. Moreover, he stood on the shoulders of giants and his mathematical ability far exceeded that of his contemporaries. If one did not pay attention to the calculation process, any difficult problem would be nothing in his eyes.
Now that she knew Lu Shang's level, Jiang Wanning knew where to send him to study.
The private school was still divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon. Logically, Lu Shang should have attended the morning classes with the scholars and candidates, but Jiang Wanning said, "Your husband cannot miss the afternoon class. If you have time in the morning, you might as well attend. If there's anything you can't catch up with, I'll explain it to you when I get back in the evening."
Lu Shang was very happy to be able to ask his wife to cook for him, so he agreed without thinking.
Most of the students in the private school knew Lu Shang. The occasional unfamiliar one, upon hearing that he was the teacher's husband, dared not ask any further questions.
In this way, Lu Shang attended two private school classes during the day, and Jiang Wanning tutored him after class at night. He was very dedicated and made rapid progress in a short time.
In early March, the imperial examination was held in the city. Ten male students newly recruited by the private school last year took the exam, and all of them passed without exception.
Lu Shang always remembered the two elders of the Jiang family. As the weather got warmer, he began to prepare to go north to welcome them as agreed.
Who would have thought that before he could finish preparing, that evening after school, when the two of them arrived at the door, they saw a carriage and several tall horses parked at the door. The newly hired doorman greeted them and immediately reported: "Master, Madam, there are guests at home!"
"It's a big brother named Zhan. He said he's a long-term worker in the master's logistics team. He also brought two elders, a man and a woman. Now he has been invited to the main hall by the old lady."
Lu Shang subconsciously turned his head and, as expected, met Jiang Wanning's shocked gaze.
The next moment, Jiang Wanning lifted her skirt and ran in without looking back. Lu Shang didn't have time to think about it and quickly caught up with her.
In just a moment, the two arrived at the hall. While they were still at the door, they heard a conversation coming from inside. In addition to Grandma Lu's voice, there was also an unfamiliar female voice: "You said Wanwan will be back soon..."
Jiang Wanning was shocked and walked in. Seeing the couple sitting together on her right, tears started to flow: "Mother——"
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