Chapter 77
Speaking of going to Beijing to take the exam, apart from the time wasted on the road, another thing that made the family worry was the time when Lu Shang would return.
According to past practices, the Spring Examination is usually held in early April, with the results announced at the end of the month. The Palace Examination is held at the end of May, and everything is not completed until the end of June, when candidates are allowed to return home.
This year, due to the presence of foreign guests, the Spring Examination was delayed for over half a month, and did not begin until the end of April. This meant that the results would not be announced until at least mid-May. Even if the Palace Examination was rushed, it would probably take more than a month to conclude. Unfortunately,
Jiang Wanning will give birth in late May or early June.
This was her and Lu Shang's first child, so they had no experience in many things. They learned everything from their elders or figured it out on their own. Fortunately, the baby in her belly was a well-behaved one. From the time Jiang Wanning became pregnant until now, except for a poor appetite during the fourth and fifth months, she had no other unbearable pregnancy reactions. It was only during the past two months that she felt her body coming back.
With Lu Shang's careful care, these were not too much trouble. After all, one day at a time passed, and the first seven months went smoothly.
After calculating Jiang Wanning's due date, Lu Shang changed his mind and decided to give up the imperial examination. After all, this year was the special examination, and the regular examination would be held by this time next year.
But when he said this, Jiang Wanning just glanced at him and said, "How do you know, my husband, that there won't be other things that will delay you next year?"
"What else is there?" Lu Shang leaned over and touched her neck. Ever since the beginning of the first month of the lunar year, he wanted to stay by Jiang Wanning's side all the time. Even the logistics team's affairs couldn't call him away.
If he didn't see anyone for a long time, or if he fell or disturbed his fetus, all those untimely accidents would flood into his mind, and he would be frightened by those unreasonable delusions until his eyes were dull.
But he thought these things were unlucky, so no matter how Jiang Wanning asked him, he refused to reveal anything and could only get closer to her.
Jiang Wanning pushed him, but couldn't push him away, so she gave up and counted on her fingers: "What if the child gets sick, will you want to stay and take care of him? What if I get sick too, will you be even more reluctant to leave? And what about my parents and grandma? What if -"
"Okay, okay, stop talking." Lu Shang was given a headache by her nagging. He could only press his fingers on her lips, trying to stop her from saying anything else.
Jiang Wanning didn't know what she was thinking, but she actually opened her mouth and bit his fingertip, then said, "So, are you still going to participate in the Spring Examination this year?"
"..." Lu Shang didn't know whether she would participate in the Spring Examination or not, but he stared at the fingertips that had just been bitten, his eyes darkening for a moment. "Aning, do you remember what the doctor said, that after the first few months, when the fetus is stable, you can have sex?"
Jiang Wanning's eyes widened instantly: "W-what?"
Lu Shang half-knelt down, holding her wrist to prevent her from retreating, and said in a hoarse voice: "I don't want to be a beast. Aning, you should behave yourself and stop provoking me."
"What do you mean—" Jiang Wanning was confused by his words. She opened her mouth to ask for clarification, but when she looked up again, Lu Shang had already strode out the door. Looking closely at his back, she saw a bit of panic.
Jiang Wanning couldn't help herself, so she picked up the pillow beside her and threw it towards him, cursing again, "You bastard!"
Not knowing whether the bastard heard the curse or not, Lu Shang went straight to the study and asked his servants to prepare a basin of cold water.
The servant was confused: "In this cold winter, why does the master need cold water?"
…
This is a matter of great importance to Lu Shang's future. It is useless if he just doesn't want to go to Beijing. He has the final say outside, but when he returns home, there are still many people who can influence him.
Even if it was just to avoid worrying Jiang Wanning, he had to consider it carefully.
After much persuasion from the family, Lu Shang finally gave up the idea of missing the exam.
In the blink of an eye, another three days passed. Lu Shang verbally agreed to go to the capital, but he kept delaying the action. He was familiar with the map of Dazhao, and knew that if he traveled day and night, it would only take one month to get from Songxi County to the provincial capital.
What he never expected was that even though he did not take any action, the people in the house had prepared everything for him, including two months' worth of food and clothes, without missing a single thing.
Jiang Wanning was out and about for two or three days. On the first day, she contacted the logistics team and asked the city manager to help prepare two carriages and a few good horses. They also agreed to pick up Lu Shang at the Lu family's door in five days.
The next day was the time to prepare some travel items. Since Lu Shang would carry money with him, many things could be bought on the road, so the items prepared in advance should be fine rather than too many.
The first thing is food. Food and drink cannot be neglected. Jiang Wanning was afraid that Lu Shang would suffer from acclimatization, so she simply prepared two months' worth of food for him. These were all long-lasting steamed buns and bacon, as well as a few meat buns wrapped in oil paper, which could be eaten two days before setting off.
The second thing was a change of clothes. In addition to those in their room, Jiang Wanning bought him five more sets of new clothes. Two of them were durable and resistant to dirt, two more sets were for wearing when socializing with classmates, and the last set was a little more formal and luxurious, suitable for meeting guests.
Finally, there were some miscellaneous small items. Jiang Wanning referred to her experience of exile when she was young, and prepared an inconspicuous purse, all-purpose medicine, a hot water bottle to warm her hands and feet, and all kinds of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone.
There were many kinds of things, but she carefully controlled them within one carriage, so that one carriage could carry people and one carriage could carry things, and both carriages were just right for them.
By the time Lu Shang received the letter, the carriage loaded with luggage had arrived at his doorstep, and he was waiting for the agreed day so that he could set off as soon as the coachman arrived.
Jiang Wanning pretended not to notice the helplessness on his face and continued, "I sent a message to Brother Zhan. He said he's free these days and can escort you to the capital. That way, even if we run into bandits, we won't be afraid. Of course, it would be best if we don't run into any."
"Anyway, that's all I can think of. My husband, please check it again to see if there's anything missing. We can quickly complete it in the last two days."
Lu Shang snorted lightly, turned around and pulled her to his side, saying unhappily: "I'm missing a young wife to talk to me, can Aning fill it for me?"
Jiang Wanning was amused by him and said angrily, "You don't have a young wife. If you keep talking nonsense, you won't even have a carriage. You can just walk to the capital!"
"Can Aning be so cruel?" Lu Shang smiled, and while she wasn't paying attention, he lowered his head and kissed the tip of her ear. He wanted to kiss her on the other side, but someone came over, so he had to give up with regret.
Two days later, Zhan Shunan and the drivers from the logistics team arrived at the Lu family's door.
Lu Shang had made preparations in advance, but when the day of leaving finally came, he still felt reluctant and nervous. He stayed by the bed in the bedroom, looking at Jiang Wanning's sleeping face, his heart was in turmoil. On the one hand, he didn't want to disturb her sweet dreams, but on the other hand, he wanted to talk to her before leaving.
It was a pity that he waited for half a minute but still couldn't wait for Jiang Wanning to open her eyes. In the end, he could only rub the back of her hand, turned around and left quietly.
But at the moment the door was closed, Jiang Wanning suddenly opened her eyes. She sat up with difficulty, her lips tightly pursed together, and was silent for a long time. She almost cried when she lowered her head.
This year, there are a total of fourteen students in the private school who have passed the imperial examination. However, unlike Lu Shang, they were not troubled by other things and had already gone to Beijing to prepare before the New Year.
Among them, Pang Liang and Feng He formed a group. Originally, they wanted to go with Lu Shang, but Lu Shang kept dragging his feet. They were afraid that Lu Shang would really miss the exam because of something he didn't like, so they had to go ahead.
They borrowed some men from Lu's Logistics. Although they were not as good at fighting as Zhan Shunan, they were all strong men who had been engaged in long-distance freight for many years. It was naturally no problem for them to escort two people to Beijing.
By the time Lu Shang arrived in the capital, Pang Liang and Feng He had already arrived for more than a month. They had found a place to live early and even made the acquaintance of several scholars from other places. They all lived in Qingming Alley and had previously made an appointment to attend a poetry reading together at the end of March.
In recent years, Lu's Logistics has expanded to various places and even has a small transit point in the capital. However, because it has no cooperation with people in the capital, the transit point is located in a small village on the outskirts of Beijing. The long-term workers who escorted Pang Liang and Feng He to Beijing went to the transit point to stay temporarily.
This was also Lu Shang's first time in the capital of Dazhao. Although he knew that the logistics team had a small courtyard in the suburbs of the capital, he did not know the exact location. It was only after Zhan Shunan took him to inquire outside the city several times, which took seven or eight days, that he finally found the residence of the farmhand.
Then, under the guidance of the farmhand, he successfully met with Pang Liang and Feng He.
After not seeing each other for several months, Lu Shang looked very old, while Feng He and Pang Liang, on the other hand, were beaming with joy. They introduced him to the family on the left: "Do you see that family on the left? They're from the capital. Their three sons are all studying. The eldest and second sons both passed the imperial examination and are serving as officials in other places. The third son just passed the imperial examination this year and is preparing for next year's provincial examination!"
"That family's surname is Wei. They originally had two officials, so they were quite prosperous. But they thought this place had good feng shui, so they brought their third son back to live here. We've lived here for a month, and we've only seen the Wei family once. Honestly, they're quite different from us..."
Lu Shang retracted his gaze: "And then?"
"And... what?" Feng He didn't quite understand what he meant. "I just wanted to let you know that there's a very important family living next to the house we're renting. If you have the chance, you might want to get to know them a little. It might even be helpful for your scientific research."
He was not the only one who thought so. In the entire Qingming Alley, eight out of ten people were from other places who came to take the imperial examinations. It was rare to meet a local resident, especially one who had served as an official one after another. Most of the people had this idea.
It happened that Lu Shang had been away from home for more than a month. The longer the time, the more he missed Jiang Wanning. Right now, he only wanted to finish the exams and go home as soon as possible, so he didn't care about anything else.
As for making friends with knowledgeable people...
In his opinion, it would be more practical to consider expanding Lu Logistics to the capital.
After Lu Shang expressed his thoughts, Feng Hedun was speechless: "Brother Lu, you are really..." They all wanted to leave the merchant class and join the gentry, but Lu Shang was the only one who had been devoted to doing business for several years. Even after reaching the level of a juren, he did not change his original intention.
Lu Shang waved his hand. "No conflict, no conflict. Whether I can enter the court as an official depends on the wishes of the superiors. I can't achieve it alone. Since I am uncertain, I might as well focus on the things that are certain. This will not be in vain for the months of longing I have endured."
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