With the arrival of spring, people who had rested all winter are busy again.
While the students were busy preparing for the imperial examinations, the farmers were busy tending to their fields.
Tang kept urging Li Fangyue to tell her how things were going, but Li Fangyue never dared to give a guarantee.
As the family's finances became increasingly strained, Madam Tang desperately hoped that Lu Chengyu could pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, bringing her honor.
Li Fangyue dared not make any guarantees. At the beginning of the year, the registrar had taken another concubine. She came from a brothel; she wasn't particularly beautiful, but she was incredibly seductive, and the registrar was completely bewitched. Even her sister, who was on the registrar's side, couldn't say much.
My older sister was overwhelmed with her own problems and couldn't help her with anything.
Seeing that Li Fangyue was stammering and never giving a definite answer, Madam Tang started arguing with her. With the assessment getting closer and closer, Madam Tang questioned whether it was because her sister was a concubine that she couldn't get a word in edgewise.
How could Li Fangyue admit that she could only use the tiger's skin as a coat? Her sister was very favored and was just waiting to give birth to a son so that she could be made the official wife.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were arguing so fiercely that Lin Xiuer, who happened to be passing by, overheard them. Lin Xiuer was so stunned by what she heard about Tang Shi and Li Fangyue's argument that she felt dizzy. It took her a while to come to her senses and go inside.
"What's wrong with you?" Lu An asked, noticing Lin Xiuer's strange expression.
It took Lin Xiuer a while to calm herself down before she said, "Li Fangyue's older sister is a concubine."
Lu An was stunned for a moment, shocked by Lin Xiuer's words, "What did you say?"
Lin Xiuer calmed down and said, word by word, "Li Fangyue's sister is a concubine, my sister-in-law said so herself."
Lu An's eyes widened. "How is that possible? If Li Ru was just a concubine, why would Cheng Yu marry her?"
Lin Xiuer thought for a moment and thought to herself: "Yes! If Li Ru is just a concubine, why would Lu Chengyu marry Li Fangyue?"
"Perhaps, Cheng Yu didn't know at first that Li Fangyue was a concubine."
Lin Xiuer suddenly remembered that Tang Shi had treated Li Fangyue quite well at first, but her attitude towards Li Fangyue suddenly dropped after a while. Lin Xiuer felt that Tang Shi probably knew about it at that time, but she was probably afraid of losing face, so she kept it from the old lady and the villagers.
Lu An's face darkened, and he said with resentment, "After all that money, all we got was a lowly concubine's sister." He had been so accommodating to this niece-in-law, and this is what happened...
In the eyes of many villagers, the concubines of wealthy people were a rather special existence. The villagers both envied the concubines of wealthy families for their luxurious lives and felt that these people were willingly depraved.
Lu An thought of the betrothal gifts that Lu Chengyu sent to the Li family for his wedding, and then thought of how his family was now arguing over a mere tael of silver. He was immediately furious, but after his anger subsided, Lu An gradually calmed down.
Lin Xiuer looked at Lu An, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "You've been in town the whole time, didn't you know about this?"
"I've heard that the Li family's daughter is the wife of a registrar." Who would have thought she was just a concubine?
Lin Xiuer was filled with anger. Li Fangyue had recently given birth to a daughter, and her arrogance had subsided somewhat. However, she was not like this when she first entered the family. She used her sister as a cover and tried to manipulate her. At the time, she did not know Li Fangyue's background and did not dare to offend her. After all this, it turned out that this was how it was.
"Husband, do you think we should let the old lady know about this?" Lin Xiuer asked.
A sinister glint flashed in Lu An's eyes. After a moment's thought, he said, "Let's wait until Lu Chengyu has tried it before we talk about it."
If Lu Chengyu passes the exam, then their current exposure of Li Fangyue's affair will only offend people for no reason. If Lu Chengyu fails the exam, then they should have a serious talk about how the eldest brother's family treated them like fools.
Lin Xiuer nodded and said, "Then let's wait until after the spring examination. There are only a few days left anyway."
For many students, the annual spring examination is a matter of life and death, and many students even faint in the examination room due to excessive tension.
On the day of the spring examination, Lu Lin looked at the students who were nervously taking the exam and couldn't help but smile.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and asked, "What's making you so happy?"
Lu Lin smiled and said, "It's nothing, watching people take exams is a happy thing."
When Lu Lin took the college entrance exam, he felt he hadn't done well on the first day and couldn't sleep all night. Every time he closed his eyes, he regretted not being more careful when answering the questions. But when he watched others take the exam the following year, his mindset was completely different.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and thought he had a rather wicked sense of humor.
"I heard that some people bought our chicken dolls and put them on altars to worship." Lu Lin rubbed his nose, really not understanding the people of this world.
Chen Xiaomi sighed and said, "We sell our dolls. What customers do with the dolls is none of our business."
Lu Lin nodded and said, "That's true!"
Riding the wave of the spring exams, several dolls related to the spring exams sold out at Lu Lin's store.
Chen Xiaocai was arranging the dolls in the shop. Recently, the dolls sold in the shop have had a more artistic feel. For example, this bear doll is holding a heart with the two characters "状元" (Zhuangyuan, meaning top scholar) drawn on it. There are also dolls with "榜眼" (Bangyan, meaning second-place scholar) and "探花" (Tanhua, meaning third-place scholar) drawn next to it.
Recently, many people have come to buy the "Top Scholar Bear" and "Top Scholar Rabbit"... hoping to achieve academic success.
Liuzhen recently sold a rooster, his prized possession, for sixty taels of silver.
Looking at the silver in the cabinet, Chen Xiaocai often felt a chill run down his spine. In the past, he thought that all the silver he earned was going to the big boss above him. Sometimes, Chen Xiaocai felt that there was a lot of silver, but that was all he felt. Now that he knew that the silver was all his own, things were a little different.
For a time, Chen Xiaocai's dream was to earn some money, buy a few acres of land, and live the life of an ordinary person in the village. With land, her elder brother wouldn't have to risk going into the mountains to hunt all the time. But now, as long as she sells a large doll, she can earn dozens of taels of silver, enough to buy several acres of land.
Chen Chi cupped his face in his hands and said, "Our prized possession is really profitable! But Brother Lin won't let us make too much."
Chen Xiaocai said sullenly, "Brother Lin said that things are valued for their scarcity; if you make too much, you won't be able to sell it."
Chen Chi tilted his head and said, "Although I don't quite understand, Brother Lin is really amazing! Brother Lin learns characters incredibly fast."
The old scholar whom Lu Lin hired was quite arrogant and often went on strike. However, as long as the old scholar read the article through once, Lu Lin could memorize the pronunciation of all the characters using pinyin. As for learning to write, it wasn't difficult either. When the old scholar wasn't around, Lu Lin would teach the two of them to read.
Chen Xiaocai nodded and said, "Brother Lin is very capable." In his heart, Chen Xiaocai admired Lu Lin immensely, but he would never admit it in front of Lu Lin.
After a period of agonizing waiting, the students finally received their results.
On the day the results were announced, many people went to join in the fun. Many villagers, who were illiterate, gathered around the list and looked at it with great interest. Lu Lin stood on the outer circle and was a little amazed by the crowd outside the list.
"I passed! I passed!" With an excited shout, a student collapsed on the roadside.
Lu Lin thought to himself: So it's true that Fan Jin passed the imperial examination. There really is someone who fainted from excessive excitement.
A boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old burst into tears by the roadside, crying, "I failed the exam! I failed the exam! How can I face my father?"
Looking at the boy's clothes and appearance, Lu Lin suspected that the boy came from a scholarly family and was probably quite confident in this assessment, but he failed and was greatly disappointed.
Lu Lin looked at the boy and thought to himself: He's so young, is it necessary to cry like this? If he doesn't pass this time, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. That old scholar over there with a white beard who has been taking the exam for fifty or sixty years has not given up yet. Of course, the other party may have already gotten used to it.
Lu Lin glanced at the list and noticed that Lu Chengyu's name wasn't on it, so he couldn't help but purse his lips.
After a winter of study, Lu Lin has learned many characters, including the name Lu Chengyu.
Lu Lin shook his head, secretly suspecting that Lu Chengyu might not be in a good mindset for the exam. There were some people in the school who had good grades on weekdays, but would panic and lose their breath during important exams, resulting in poor performance.
Lu Chengyu failed the exam again, causing rumors to spread throughout the village.
"Marrying a rich girl is still useless!"
"To pass the imperial examination, you still need real talent; all that other nonsense is useless."
"Taking the imperial examination to become a scholar is too expensive. In my opinion, it's better to find a job and earn money honestly."
"Those who pass the imperial examination can become officials in the future. No matter how much money those merchants make, they are still just low-class merchants."
"It would be great to become an official, but becoming an official is not such an easy thing."
The Lu family was in an uproar. Lin Xiuer had known for some time that Li Fangyue's sister was a concubine, but she had been holding back while waiting for Lu Chengyu's spring examination results. Now that Lu Chengyu had failed again, Lin Xiuer could no longer contain herself.
The old lady had thought that she was sure to pass the imperial examination this time, but to her surprise, she failed. She was immediately disappointed.
The old lady, who had been hoping her grandson would pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, was in a very bad mood. At this moment, Lin Xiuer revealed that Li Fangyue's sister was a concubine, which made the old lady so angry that she wanted to beat Li Fangyue to death.
In his anger and frustration, the old man fainted.
When the old man fainted, the house was thrown into chaos. At first, Mrs. Tang was a little guilty after Lin Xiuer revealed the inside story. However, she turned around and scolded Lin Xiuer for not knowing her place and making the old man faint. The old lady wailed at the unconscious old man.
Lin Xiuer was not one to be trifled with either. Moreover, since Lu Chengyu had failed the imperial examination, she was not intimidated and gave Tang a thorough dressing down.
Li Fangyue was greatly disappointed when she learned that Lu Chengyu had failed the exam again, and she hugged her daughter and hid to the side.
The little girl in Li Fangyue's arms was frightened and started crying loudly. Li Fangyue hurriedly covered the little girl's mouth.
Li Fangyue didn't really like her daughter very much, but since she was still her own child, she felt a bit of pity for her. Tang Shi, on the other hand, was different. She constantly called her a "money-loser" and complained that Li Fangyue didn't have enough breast milk, so the baby was always hungry and cried a lot at night.
Lu Chengyu felt no pity for the little girl when she cried; instead, he found her quite annoying.
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