Chapter 353 Heading to Huzhou for the Imperial Examination
At the end of February, spring was in full bloom.
Dahe Village is thriving. The fields are green, the wheat is growing vigorously, the trees on the hills are lush, and people are busy working on the other side of Coal Hill.
Because everyone in the village was busy, there were actually fewer trivial matters in the village.
On the 26th, Cheng Wanwan and Lu Yingxue, along with three children who were going to take the imperial examination, prepared to travel to Huzhou.
Shen Zheng and Cheng Zhao were taking the provincial examination, while Yu Zhan was taking the prefectural examination. The examination venues were both in Huzhou, and the times were about the same, so they went together.
Magistrate Shen had already arranged a carriage. Shen Zhengcheng, Zhao and Yu Zhan rode in the Shen family's carriage, while Cheng Wanwan and Lu Yingxue rode in their own carriage.
While I was packing my books and luggage, an uninvited guest arrived in the courtyard.
It was Grandma Cheng who came with Brother Cheng and Sister-in-law Cheng.
Upon seeing the Cheng family, Zhao Dashan became extremely agitated, his vigilance heightened to the maximum. Zhao Sanniu also secretly stood to the side with a hoe in hand.
Cheng Wanwan straightened up, a half-smile on her face: "What brings Grandma Cheng here today?"
In the past, if she had acted this way, Old Mrs. Cheng would have been so angry that she would have slapped her across the face.
But now! The Cheng family has fully realized just how formidable their married-out second aunt really is!
He was promoted two ranks within half a year, which is said to be unprecedented in the entire Great Yu Dynasty.
They could forgive the previous offenses, but from now on, the Cheng family would never dare to oppose Cheng Wanwan again.
“I heard that Zhao’er is going to Huzhou to take the imperial examination today, so we’ve brought him some travel money.” Ignoring Cheng Wanwan’s attitude, Old Madam Cheng looked at Cheng Zhao and said, “Here is twenty taels of silver. Ten taels of it were collected from each household by the clan leader, five taels were borrowed from our family, and the other five taels were saved up by our family through hard work. Keep it safe and don’t lose it.”
A large piece of coarse cloth, inside which were loose silver coins and hundreds or thousands of copper coins.
Cheng Zhao's feelings were extremely complicated. He said slowly, "During the time I was at my second aunt's house, I was copying books for the study in the city. Each book cost one hundred copper coins, and I saved up about ten taels of silver. I'll return the money that the clan raised to everyone."
The villagers have it tough; earning even a few copper coins is too difficult. How could he possibly exploit the hard-earned money of these poor people?
“If you pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, no one within five degrees of kinship in the Cheng family will have to pay land tax anymore, and everyone will be willing to pay for it.” Old Mrs. Cheng forcefully stuffed the money into his hand. “We still have a lot of things to do at home, so we’ll be going now. Be careful on your way.”
Brother Cheng coughed and looked at Cheng Wanwan: "Second sister, I'm entrusting Zhao'er to you. Zhao'er is a kind-hearted child and will repay you in the future."
Grandma Cheng didn't want to stay any longer, so she turned and left.
Sister-in-law Cheng hurriedly followed, muttering to herself, "Our family has come all this way, and instead of inviting us in for a seat, they won't even let us have a sip of water. My second sister-in-law is getting more and more arrogant, and she's increasingly disregarding the Cheng family..."
"Shut up!" Old Mrs. Cheng said coldly, "If you say such things again, don't come to Dahe Village again."
She wouldn't deliberately try to please her second daughter, but she also didn't want to escalate the conflict further; it would be best if they just kept to themselves.
Anyway, the Cheng family has such an outstanding grandson, and their future wealth and honor will depend on this grandson, so they don't need to be subservient to Cheng Wanwan.
The three members of the Cheng family came and went in a hurry, quickly disappearing at the village entrance.
Cheng Zhao held the somewhat heavy silver coins in his hand, slightly lost in thought.
Cheng Wanwan said calmly, "They're giving it to you, so just keep it. You can repay them double in the future."
Cheng Zhao nodded and went back to continue packing her luggage.
Just as the Cheng family left, a father and daughter walked in, carrying two pairs of red silk socks.
These days, silk and cloth are very expensive. Even a small piece of cloth like this costs at least two or three hundred coins.
"These are for Young Master Shen, and these are for Cousin Cheng." The little girl smiled with her eyes narrowed. "My mother is fully recovered. After sewing these two pairs of socks, she even sent them to a temple to be blessed, hoping that Young Master Shen and Cousin Cheng will do well in their exams."
Shen Zheng accepted the socks, feeling grateful that his small act of kindness had unexpectedly been rewarded.
After packing some clothes, taking a dozen or so books, and loading them onto the carriage, we were ready to set off.
The provincial examination consisted of two sessions, with a three-day interval between them. Including the time to go in advance and wait for the results, the entire process took about ten days.
"Mother, leave everything at home to me, don't worry." Zhao Dashan patted his chest. "You'll be back exactly the same as when you left."
“That’s definitely different,” Zhao Sidan retorted. “In ten days, there should be flower buds in the yard, and the vegetables in the field will have grown too.”
Zhao Sanniu said, "I'll keep an eye on the soap workshop, Mother, don't worry."
"I've got everything sorted out at home," said Grandma Zhao, smiling as she held her great-granddaughter. "I'll be staying with you for the next few days. Don't worry, nothing will go wrong."
“Woof woof woof!”
"Waaaaah!"
"Awooo—"
The three little guys, Dahei, Xiaohei, and Xiaodian, kept circling around Cheng Wanwan. Xiaohei was the worst, hugging Cheng Wanwan's leg and drooling.
“You rascal…” Cheng Wanwan shook her head with a laugh, “Open your mouth.”
She quickly bought some fragrant jerky from the mall, stuffing some into the mouths of each of the three wolfhounds. She covered her movements with her sleeve, so no one around could see clearly.
After she fed them the jerky, the three little ones immediately took the meat and hid in a corner to enjoy it.
"You all should listen to Grandma," Cheng Wanwan instructed. "If you encounter any major problems that you can't handle, try to solve them yourself first. If you really can't solve them, wait for me to come back and handle them. Okay, I'm leaving now."
Cheng Wanwan wasn't worried at all. There were two elderly people at home, and they could eat at Old Zhao's canteen. She had entrusted the affairs of the yard to the hardworking women in the village, San Niu and Manager Yan were in charge of the soap workshop, and Er Gou and Hui Niang were in charge of the restaurant. Overall, there was nothing major that she needed to worry about.
She stepped into the carriage.
A group of people in the courtyard watched them leave.
Two carriages left Dahe Village one after the other.
The Shen family's carriage was in front, with Shen Zheng sitting inside. Beside him were two bookworms, Cheng Zhao and Yu Zhan. Despite the carriage swaying and bumping, the two were still reading.
He had no interest in last-minute cramming. He climbed out of the carriage, jumped off the Shen family's carriage, and then jumped into Cheng Wanwan's carriage.
Of course, he didn't sit inside; instead, he squeezed next to Afu.
Ah Fu, who was driving the carriage, quickly slowed down: "Young Master, why did you come here? Is that carriage uncomfortable?"
Shen Zheng coughed and lifted the carriage curtain a little: "Auntie, are you alright?"
Cheng Wanwan had been taking motion sickness medicine since last night, and she also had motion sickness patches on her body and slices of ginger on her wrists. She had only just gotten into the car and hadn't felt anything unusual yet. She shook her head and said, "I'm fine, what's wrong?"
"Ahem." Shen Zheng rubbed his nose. "Well, I just wanted to ask quietly, what does your aunt think of my dad?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yingxue immediately leaned out and asked, "Xiao Zheng, I also want to ask, what exactly does our county magistrate think about Sister Wanwan? I heard from the villagers that your father hired a matchmaker to propose marriage before, and judging from the way he did it, it seemed like he wouldn't marry anyone but Sister Wanwan. But I've been in the village for so long, and I haven't seen the county magistrate make any move. Have the villagers misunderstood something?"
“There’s no misunderstanding, my father just wants to marry my aunt.” Shen Zheng immediately said, “That’s right, my father always puts politics first, and when he gets busy he forgets everything else. Once he’s done with this busy period, he’ll make a move.”
Lu Yingxue's face showed disgust: "Then that won't do. A man who puts politics first is not someone I can marry."
She abruptly pulled down the carriage curtain, tugged at Cheng Wanwan's sleeve, and whispered, "Wanwan, when we women get married, we must marry someone who understands us. It doesn't matter how high his official position is, or how much money he has. The most important thing is that he puts you first..."
Cheng Wanwan was both amused and exasperated. She had never thought that she would have any good relationship with Magistrate Shen. Moreover, she had already made arrangements with Old Madam Shen to hold a formal family reunion banquet after the busy spring season.
Sitting outside the carriage, Shen Zheng fell into deep thought. It seemed he had to tell his father what Madam Yu had said; his father really needed to make an effort…
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