Tangli's carriage continued to move forward, looking for an inn in the county town.
The county examination is approaching, and all the inns in Hedong County are full.
They asked several hotels, but none of them had rooms available.
Tang Li frowned. Would their family have to sleep on the streets?
If they had known that the inn would be so crowded, they should have come earlier.
If this affects the two children's county examination, it would be a waste of time and effort.
"You can go to the inns along the river and ask. The inns there have good locations, are more expensive, and have fewer people staying there." A waiter at an inn kindly reminded.
Then he drove the carriage towards the river, asked two inns, and finally found an inn with a vacant room.
Tangli breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ma'am, we only have a few upper rooms left, and they're not cheap." The waiter glanced at them and said half-heartedly.
"How many rooms are left?" Tang Li asked.
"Three rooms, each one costs three taels." said the waiter.
It was this price that scared off many people, so the room remained empty.
However, they are not worried that they cannot sell it at this price, because there will always be rich young men coming to buy it.
"I want all three." Tang Li said.
"You want all... all?"
The county examination will be held three days later, and the results will be posted on the fourth day after the examination.
Tangli thought about how long they would need to stay in the county.
"Ten days, here is one hundred taels of silver, and you will deduct it from the money when you eat in the future." Tang Li put a bag of silver in front of the waiter.
The waiter looked at the family and couldn't believe they were so generous. His attitude immediately became attentive.
Tangli held the sleepy Sanbao in his arms, went upstairs, and put the little guy into bed.
The little guy's hand was still pulling Tangli's sleeve.
"Mother..."
"Be good and go to sleep." Tang Li said softly.
The little guy closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly.
Tangli went out and found Dabao and Xu Jue.
The two children put their things away, are very independent and keep the room tidy.
"mother."
"sister."
"Sit down, I have something to tell you."
The two of them sat side by side, obediently, looking like they were listening to a lecture.
"Birds of a feather flock together, so you must be careful in making friends. Today I saw that young Master Zhuo is a man of noble character and great backbone. Although he was born in poverty, he is unwilling to accept charity from others. He would repay others with a spring of kindness for even the smallest drop of water. He is a gentleman and worth making friends with." Tang Li said.
Xu Jue and Dabao both nodded.
"Dabao has a very good eye."
Dabao was very happy to receive the praise.
"You two are both good kids. I hope you can distinguish clearly between love and hate, stay away from villains, and grow up to be elegant gentlemen." Tang Li said.
Dabao nodded.
Xu Jue turned his head to look at Dabao's serious little face, his eyes darkening.
He kept his sister's teachings in mind.
However, sometimes, being too gentlemanly is not conducive to survival.
Following his father, he has seen a lot and experienced the ups and downs of life, and knows that being strong can easily lead to failure.
If one enters the imperial court, being too clear about one's likes and dislikes will make it even harder to gain a foothold. To thrive, one must be cunning and control people's hearts.
Dabao is well protected by his sister and brother-in-law and has never seen anything dirty.
He will protect Dabao and help him become the kind of person his sister said, a gentleman who is not tainted by the mundane world.
As for those dirty ones who play with people's hearts, he can just come and deal with them.
Xu Jue turned to look at Tang Li and nodded heavily.
"You're tired from the journey. Take a good rest and stop reading." Tang Li said.
"Mom, other people's parents want their children to read more books, why do you do the opposite?" Dabao said with a touch of coquettish intimacy.
"Because my Dabao and Xu Jue are geniuses, they are definitely different from ordinary children." Tang Li pinched Dabao's tender face, turned around and left the room.
After Tangli left, Dabao couldn't help but touch the book. He felt itchy and was struggling between listening to his mother and reading.
Xu Jue saw through it and said, "Dabao, read the book for an hour. I won't tell you."
Dabao smiled, and two dimples appeared on his face. He picked up the book and began to read it carefully.
…
The next day.
Dabao and Xu Jue woke up early.
The two of them put on their clothes neatly and went out.
The two went downstairs and saw many people gathered in the hall downstairs.
That group of people were all dressed like scholars, most of them were teenagers around thirteen or fourteen years old, and there were a few older ones who looked to be in their twenties.
As soon as Dabao and Xu Jue came downstairs, someone noticed them.
Among them was a short, thin, handsome young man with a mercenary look on his face and a broad smile: "You two, are you also here to take the county exam?"
"Lu Ling, are you stupid? You're asking such a question. These are two babies, barely weaned, right? How could they possibly be here to take the county exam?"
"Yeah, they're just two little brats. They probably came to the county to have fun. Why are they joining in the fun at this time? They're staying at our Student Inn. Many students who actually came to take the county exam have nowhere to stay."
The young man named Lu Ling was not angry when they talked about him, but looked happy.
Dabao frowned: "We are here to take part in the county exam."
Lu Ling bowed towards them and said, "Mr. Lu Ling, what are your names?"
Dabao and Xu Jue returned the gift.
"Wei Ziang."
"Xu Jue."
Lu Ling actually took out a notebook and wrote it down.
"Which academy did you two come from?" Lu Ling asked.
"Hongwen Academy." Dabao said.
Lu Ling wrote it down carefully in his notebook.
Others started talking.
"Hongwen Academy? Have you heard of it?"
"I've never heard of this. Is this academy deserted? They actually let two babies take the county exam!"
"I've heard of this academy, it's in Yaoshui Town! I heard that most of the students here are from farming families. As the saying goes, a mouse's son can dig holes, but what future can a farmer's son have?! That's why no one has been admitted to this academy for five consecutive years!"
"I've heard of this lousy academy before. It's quite normal for such an academy to send two young children to take the county exam."
"Oh my god, how can such an academy give them places in the county exam? Isn't this a waste of places? We all studied hard to get the places, but the academy is just filling in the gaps! This is so unfair!"
Some students laughed at them, while others were filled with anger.
Dabao was so angry that his face turned red.
How could these people say this about Xu Jue and me, and about my academy?!
He and Xu Jue are not just filling in the numbers!
Hongwen College is great, the students are very hardworking, and the teachers are great too!
"When it comes to scholars, we look at not only their knowledge but also their character. You guys are so wantonly mocking other students, which shows that you have bad character. Yet you can still come to take part in the county examination. Why can't we come?" Xu Jue said.
Dabao felt that what Xu Jue said was absolutely right, and continued, "Yes, what's the point of showing off your eloquence? Only when we compete with each other in the county exam can we be true gentlemen."
The two young boys were quite imposing and spoke clearly, making those who laughed at them blush.
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