Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.
Li Qingyao did not participate in the imperial examination two years ago. The imperial examination was held the year after the provincial examination and was also known as the spring examination. When Li Qingyao's family planned to go to the capital again the following spring, they had already given up on this imperial examination.
The long journey is one issue, but being unprepared is another.
Pan Jinhua and her companions traveled leisurely for several months, stopping and starting along the way, until they finally arrived in Kyoto.
They were picked up by the Li Xuhai family, who had already settled down in Kyoto. He was a minor official and was not very conspicuous in this place full of imperial relatives.
Fortunately, the family lived an honest life. With Cheng, who had become a teacher at the girls' school at home, the family did not pursue great wealth and status in the capital. They had their previous savings and rented out two small shops, living a comfortable life.
The house in Kyoto was found with the help of Madam Cheng. When Pan Jinhua came to the capital, she gave Madam Cheng a silver note with a value of 10,000 taels.
In Kyoto, land is incredibly valuable, and the house they now live in is a four-courtyard residence in a prime location, surrounded by officials of all ranks.
This residence is certainly not as good as the original residence of the Li family.
The Li family's residence in Kyoto was a five-courtyard house, and the neighbors were all officials of the third rank or above.
Only high-ranking officials of the third rank or above were qualified to live in a five-courtyard house. Although Li Qingyao's father was a fourth-rank official, the court would not say anything if he slightly exceeded the rank.
However, no one complained, since this four-courtyard house alone cost more than seven thousand taels of silver.
This place originally belonged to an old scholar from the Hanlin Academy who had retired. With no promising descendants to support the family, he took his entire family back to his ancestral home.
I'm already strapped for cash, and leaving the house unattended would cost money to hire someone to look after it. I don't know when I'll be able to return to Kyoto, so it's better to just sell it and be done with it.
Just then, the Cheng family was looking for a house, and this location, while not the best, wasn't bad either. After some bargaining, they bought it.
In the past six months, they also hired people to reorganize and reinstall the equipment, and the ten thousand taels of silver were completely spent.
Fortunately, Pan Jinhua and her companions settled down in the capital.
Li Qingyao is currently studying under Zheng Xingkai, who was the same age as his late father.
Upon arriving in Kyoto, Yan Min and his companions brought generous gifts to express their gratitude.
After Li Xufeng was executed, the person who collected his body was Zheng Xingkai. At that time, everyone was avoiding the salt smuggling case, but Zheng Xingkai, who was not in the vortex, stepped forward to clean up the mess.
Such kindness is heavier than Mount Tai for the mother and son.
Two days after they sent their visiting cards, the two received a reply from the Zheng family, inviting them to visit on their day off.
Zheng Xingkai was very pleased with the Li family's offer of the prescription, because food is the most important thing for people.
Because of their shared kinship, and considering that Li Qingyao was that man's only son and had made contributions to the court after the Li family's exile, he patiently chatted with Li Qingyao for a while.
Later, it evolved into a test of knowledge. When Li Qingyao left the Zheng family, Zheng Xingkai asked him to go to the Zheng family to study whenever he had a day off.
Zheng Xingkai was a fourth-rank scholar in the Hanlin Academy, a man of exceptional learning and profound knowledge. He was also a frequent companion of the emperor, and his talent and literary achievements were outstanding.
Li Qingyao couldn't have been happier to have such a teacher. Although Zheng Xingkai didn't yet acknowledge him as a student.
Zheng Xingkai: I was just offering some pointers out of boredom.
Li Qingduan and Li Qingyi ultimately followed Li Qingtong's connections. Under the Ouyang family's arrangement, they trained diligently for over a year and, after passing through layers of selection, finally entered the Imperial Guard a few days ago.
This is Kyoto's second elite force, with a total of 8,000 men, mainly responsible for protecting the Imperial Palace and the residences of various princes. Now they are also receiving military rations.
Li Xushi and his wife are already on their way to Beijing. Their two sons have become successful, and their marriages need to be put on the agenda.
Li Qingtong was also taken away by Ouyang Cheng.
Ouyang Cheng has been promoted several times in recent years and is now being sent to guard the frontier. Li Qingtong was also sent there, and he often writes letters to Pan Jinhua.
"The world is vast, and the feeling of galloping on horseback is so wonderful."
There are many powerful people in the camp, but now I am incredibly strong and can take on a hundred men at once.
Although I'm tired, my godfather has high expectations for me. Today he gave me a ten-man squad, which is great! From now on, I'm a squad leader!
"Some people said that it was against the rules for me to become a squad leader without even being a squad leader. I immediately grabbed that person and fought him. My godfather arrived quickly, and we ended up with a draw."
But the other side was a general of the cavalry, and I was just a lowly soldier who had just become a squad leader. Afterwards, my adoptive father secretly praised me, saying that I had guts and drive.
After that, no one mentioned me becoming a squad leader anymore.
"We went hunting today. The whole camp lit a fire together to roast meat, eating and drinking heartily. It was very lively. My godfather said I can't hold my liquor well and I need to practice!"
"I helped the young soldiers in my team write letters home today, and they thanked me. It was quite interesting, and I will continue to help them write letters in the future."
"My unit lost in today's military drill. The centurion gave me a severe scolding, saying that I was no good at leading troops and that personal bravery was only good for soldiers, not generals. I'll remember that and never do it again."
"My godfather said that my third and fourth brothers are training very hard and will definitely be able to enter the guard battalion next year. That's great! I will also work hard! Grandmother, we can't show this letter to them, otherwise my brothers will become proud."
"Grandmother is well, and so am I. Don't worry about me."
"Training was exhausting, and today we even went to the farm. Grandmother, are you well?"
"I had a day off today, so I bought a lot of little trinkets from here and sent some to my father, mother, Qingjun, and younger sister. My grandmother also received some."
happy. "
The letters were always short, sometimes only a single sentence, perhaps because they were too tired to hold a pen.
Pan Jinhua specially made a wooden box to carefully store the letter, hoping that Li Qingtong would have different thoughts when she read it again later.
"The second young master is back."
Li Qing calmly alighted from the carriage and returned to the Li family home, quite unlike his previous demeanor.
He hasn't been idle these past few years either. First, he joined forces with the Ouyang family to start a soap business in the capital.
The Ouyang family wasn't stupid enough to let such a good product as soap slip by. Li Qing was in charge of making it, while the Ouyang family was in charge of selling it, with the profits split 30/70: the Li family got 30% and the Ouyang family got 70%.
With such a powerful backer, a 30% profit margin is already quite considerable, considering that they are only responsible for production, while the rest, such as ensuring proper assembly, is entirely up to the Ouyang family.
In the past two years, soap has spread to various places, and Li's soap has become famous throughout the country. The Ouyang family and the Li family have also made a fortune and have an extremely close relationship.
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