The day after the Qionglin Banquet ended, Li Qingyao went to the Zheng family's door and became their apprentice!
This time, Zheng Xingkai no longer refused. In front of his family, he accepted Li Qingyao as his student. After all, Li Qingyao was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations and a graduate of two separate examinations, so he was qualified to be his student.
"Student Li Qingyao greets teacher!"
"As your teacher, I dislike ostentation. Now that it's time for the imperial examinations, it's even more inappropriate to make a big fuss about it. So, I won't hold a formal apprenticeship banquet. Let's just have a meal together as a family."
Li Qingyao naturally should be Li Qingyao's senior brother, and Zheng Jiayu was the happiest of all, as he was finally Li Qingyao's rightful senior brother!
"As the senior brother, you should prepare a gift for your junior brother."
"Junior brother has already passed the imperial examination, senior brother's knowledge must be quite good, right?"
Madam Zheng and her husband Zheng Xingkai played a trick on their son, making him wish he could run away immediately.
The examinations for the Hanlin Academy began in a few days, and the imperial examinations also commenced. The Hanlin Academy emphasized scholarship, but the scope of the imperial examinations was very broad, covering a wide range of topics, including astronomy, geography, people's livelihood and taxation, water conservancy and architecture, and more.
Hu Jin and the other two no longer needed to take the exam. They had already packed their bags, asked for leave, and returned to their hometown to pay respects to their ancestors.
The exam lasted only one day, and the results were released three days later. Since it was in the capital, the emperor was quite strict in his control over the appointment of officials, so people didn't need to rack their brains or spend a lot of money to secure an official position for themselves.
The results were released, and everyone's appointments were announced.
Li Qingyao successfully passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy, becoming a junior compiler. Wu Xuan was sent out of the capital and appointed as a county magistrate, while Jiang Yecheng was assigned to the Ministry of Works, becoming a sixth-rank official, making him the highest-ranking of the three.
After the morning examination, Pan Jinhua kept her promise and sent invitations to the two men, inviting them to her home for a casual meal.
After the meal, Wu Xuan bid farewell to everyone.
"The future is long and uncertain, and we may never meet again. I fear I will never be able to repay the old lady's kindness..."
"It was just a small favor, there's no need to repay it. Just stay true to your principles, be a good official, and we'll meet again someday."
"I have remembered what the old lady said!"
"Brother Wu, farewell. I wish you all the best."
Wu Xuan returned home in glory. Thinking of his family, he felt much more excited. He smiled and said goodbye, looking forward to the future.
Li Qingyao also made an appointment with Jiang Yecheng to return to their hometown together, so that they could take care of each other.
The Li family is large, and Pan Jinhua originally thought that Li Xushi would attend the weddings of his two sons before leaving the capital. However, after thinking it over, she decided that it would be safer for him to leave sooner.
Li Xushi had long wanted to leave; the prosperity of Kyoto no longer appealed to him. When he heard that he was to return to Nanze with Li Qingyao, he immediately agreed.
Mo Qiaoniang also stated frankly that once she married her daughter-in-law, they would separate the family, and she would return to Nanze to retire. Pan Jinhua had nothing to say and let them arrange things as they pleased. Anyway, she had money and people to take care of her, and she also had a say in the Li family, so her life wouldn't be bad.
Besides, the eldest couple is also coming.
With Li Xushi's departure, he fears he will never see Pan Jinhua again. The journey is long and the travel slow, and Pan Jinhua is getting old...
“Mother, I am foolish to have done so many wrong things, and I still expect you to help me. I deserve to die a thousand deaths.”
This parting may be our last. I am unfilial, unable to serve my mother; from now on, Qingduan and Qingyi will take my place in caring for her.
Pan Jinhua couldn't quite describe her feelings. "When a person is about to die, their words are good." She could only hope that he would be safe and sound in Nanze.
“Nanze is the root of my Li family. Now that you have returned, you must prioritize the future of the Li family and not do anything foolish again.”
Think of your two sons, still working hard here to make a living. As their father, if you can't help them, don't hold them back.
"Yes, I understand."
Li Xu kept this in mind, and having learned his lesson, he never dared to be arrogant again.
Pan Jinhua made it clear from the start that if her second son dared to cause any more trouble, she would never give him another chance. However, seeing how frightened he was now, she was afraid he wouldn't have the guts.
Yan Min, Li Qingyao, Li Xushi, and Wang Jiao returned to Nanze together, accompanied by Jiang Yecheng, and were also escorted by a security escort agency.
With these people gone, the Pan residence felt much emptier. Li Qingruo often brought Ping An to visit the Pan residence to play and keep Pan Jinhua company. After several years, Li Qingruo was finally happy again.
In mid-to-late May, the imperial court finally issued a notice announcing the opening of several vaccination sites in Kyoto specifically for the people of Kyoto to receive smallpox vaccinations.
The people of Kyoto had been eagerly anticipating this, having heard that vaccination would prevent them from contracting smallpox. If all the ninja in the land were vaccinated, would the disease disappear altogether?
Thinking of this, everyone felt a surge of excitement.
On May 21, the imperial court set up vaccination points in all the streets of the capital. Before dawn that day, many people lined up in long queues, fearing that they would not be able to get a turn.
"Don't push, don't push. There aren't many available. This station can only vaccinate a hundred people a day. People behind, don't line up!"
"Vaccinations are given every three days. Those who have been vaccinated cannot be vaccinated again. It is normal to experience discomfort after vaccination, so don't panic! If you have a fever, seek medical attention as soon as possible!"
"Each person will receive a number tag, and once the hundred are distributed, that's it."
"No problem, no problem. The Empress and the Crown Prince recovered after being vaccinated against smallpox, didn't you know? The Emperor was afraid it wouldn't work for healthy people, so he was vaccinated against smallpox too!"
On the first day of vaccination, the streets were practically deserted. Especially after hearing that the emperor had also been vaccinated, people flocked to the area. However, initially, the amount of pus from the smallpox pustules collected from the patients was limited, partly due to manpower issues, partly to prevent stampedes caused by large crowds, and partly because people would experience discomfort after vaccination, so widespread panic could be avoided.
Because the vaccination sites are scattered, and each site only vaccinates one hundred people every three days. Even so, it still manages to vaccinate over a thousand people every three days.
The news of the emperor testing the medicine on himself spread like wildfire during the vaccination period, winning over countless people's hearts. This was the emperor! He actually risked his life to test medicine for his people.
Ying Hao was in the palace when he heard Zhou Daban read out the praises the people outside the palace had given him, and he laughed heartily.
"Lady Liang has so many ideas! More vaccinations, limited vaccinations—even my drug testing can excite the people so much."
Indeed, Pan Jinhua wrote a letter to the palace specifically about the smallpox vaccination, and also instructed Ying Hao to arrange for people to publicize his vaccination.
In other words, it became a case of the emperor testing medicine on the people, and while the people were grateful, Pan Jinhua became less conspicuous.
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