Scientific expeditions were suspended during the national mourning period.
Fortunately, Luo Chen and Luo Yang did not neglect their studies while Xiao Yunying was kidnapped by Feng Yi, and successfully passed the imperial examination for the first degree.
As for Luo Li, because he was too young, his two older brothers decided not to let him participate in the provincial examination after discussing it.
After the national mourning period, the imperial examination system was reopened. Xiao Yunying asked if they wanted to try it out, and the two older ones said they had already registered to participate in the provincial examination.
Including the provincial and palace examinations held every three years thereafter, Luo Chen and Luo Yang passed them all on their first attempt without any obstacles.
However, there was a three-year gap between them. The two brothers somehow agreed to take the imperial examination separately. Luo Chen took the exam first, and Luo Yang took it later. They successfully won the top score in both exams, which brought Xiao Yunying a lot of rewards.
When Luo Chen took the exam that year, Xiao Yunying, who had already gone on a trip with Luo Sheng, received the news in advance and returned. When the messenger delivering the good news came, she waved her hand and immediately held a three-day banquet to celebrate her son's success in the imperial examination.
She glanced at Luo Yang, who had been following her, and asked curiously, "Why didn't you take the exam with your older brother?"
Luo Yang remained silent, but Luo Li spoke up instead: "Second brother said he wants to become a top scholar like eldest brother, so that our family will have two top scholars, which will bring honor to Mother."
Xiao Yunying ruffled Luo Yang's hair: "Good lad, you have ambition. When you also become the top scholar, I will throw a three-day banquet for you and let the whole village celebrate for you."
Luo Yang turned his head away somewhat awkwardly: "As long as Mother is happy."
Luo Chen stayed at home for half a month before being assigned to a small city in the south. Xiao Yunying was reluctant to let him go and cooked different dishes for him every day.
The day before his departure, Xiao Yunying prepared various foods for him to eat on the road.
Luo Chen still remembered how his parents had abandoned them to go sightseeing, and he leaned against the door frame, muttering complaints under his breath.
“Now Mom knows she can’t bear to part with me. Last year when she went out to play with Dad, she left so decisively without saying she couldn’t bear to part with me.”
Xiao Yunying came over and flicked his forehead: "You brat, you still hold a grudge? This is not the same as going out to play. You're going to become an official, and you'll be gone for three years. You won't be able to come back for the New Year. Besides, you're so far away. What if something happens to you? How could I not worry?"
Luo Chen felt a little sad after hearing what her mother said: "I will write to you often."
Xiao Yunying took out some snacks wrapped in oil paper: "There's no need to keep writing. After you leave, your father said he would take me to the border to see the world. He said the beef and mutton there are especially delicious, and they don't taste the same as the ones raised here. We won't see your letters until we come back."
Luo Chen was stunned by these words, unsure of what to say: "Mother...you really are..."
Xiao Yunying waved her hand: "Oh right, there's a bundle in my room with various commonly used medicines and silver notes that I prepared for you. Go and get them now, don't forget them when you're busy tomorrow morning."
"knew."
Just as Xiao Yunying said, a few days after seeing Luo Chen off, she and Luo Sheng left home again.
Instead of going to the border as she had said, they followed the path Luo Chen had taken and went south together.
Luo Sheng, sitting in the carriage, said, "You said you weren't worried about the child, but you're still not at ease."
Xiao Yunying glanced at him and said, "It's the child's first time going on a long trip. I'll go and see what's wrong."
“He’s nineteen already, still a child.”
"So what if he's nineteen? He's twenty-nine, or even thirty-nine, he's still a child in my eyes."
"Okay, if you want to go, we'll go. I'll go with you no matter where you want to go, don't be angry."
Xiao Yunying snorted: "That's more like it."
Luo Sheng said in a consultative tone, "Speaking of which, the children are not young anymore, shouldn't we discuss marriage arrangements?"
I used to use studying as an excuse to reject many matchmakers, but it was only because Luo Chen and Luo Yang were able to pass the exams that people would praise them and not say anything else.
Now that he's become an official, it's time for him to get married. If he delays any longer, he'll become an old man.
Xiao Yunying did not intend for her children to get married so early.
Influenced by her previous life, she believed that eighteen was the age of adulthood, and that getting married at fifteen or sixteen was too young.
Now that I think about it carefully, it makes sense. After all, given the social environment, getting married too late will draw strange looks from others, and the girl's side will probably look down on you.
"Go and take a look first. Ask him what he thinks when he's more settled. You should do the same. See if there are any good girls out there. If he agrees, arrange a meeting."
She prefers her children to find someone compatible in terms of personality and values, rather than someone they have no feelings for, someone they marry for career advancement.
Luo Sheng agreed: "Then I'll have someone inquire about suitable girls."
When they arrived at the county where Luo Chen was serving, the two of them did not show their faces. They secretly loitered around the government office for a few days to make sure that Luo Chen was adapting well. They then had Wei Xun put a stack of silver notes in his room before driving the carriage to the border.
Luo Chen's marriage didn't cause them too much worry.
Because in the summer of his second year in office, he wrote to say that he had taken a fancy to a woman and wanted to ask his parents for their opinion.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunying immediately perked up and grabbed Luo Sheng, rushing over there.
After resting for a night, he hurriedly sent a visiting card to the address given by Luo Chen the next day, successfully entered the house, and met the girl and her mother.
The girl was the second daughter of the local prefect, surnamed Li, named Yingyue. She was seventeen years old, which was considered old for a maid by local standards.
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