The provincial examination was held in the provincial capital every three years. Because it was in autumn, it was also called the Autumn Examination.
Only scholars who have passed the Tongshi examination can participate in the Autumn Examination. If they pass, they will become Juren. If they pass the Juren examination, they will be qualified to become an official. Mr. Jiang Er was not as good as Mr. Jiang who passed the Jinshi examination, but he also passed the provincial examination and became a Juren.
That’s why I have the current official position.
The first and second wives each have a scholar who can take the provincial examination, plus there is Jiang Yi from the fifth wife. However, Master Jiang expelled Jiang Yi from the family a few days ago, but he still provides him with good food and drink. No one can understand why.
Mrs. Jiang Er privately instigated Master Jiang Er to step forward. The first branch looked down on Jiang Yi and expelled him, otherwise the second branch would take advantage of the situation and bring him back. Although they usually disliked Jiang Yi, he was a scholar after all, and who knows what would happen in the future.
Master Jiang Er thought about it and felt that it made sense. He deliberately avoided the people from the first room and asked his son to get close to Jiang Yi when he went to the private school. He brought a message to Jiang Yi and invited him to come to his house for a visit. However, Jiang Yi refused him every time in various ways.
It's okay once or twice, but if it happens too many times, anyone can see that Jiang Yi clearly doesn't want to go.
Mr. Jiang was so angry that he blew his beard. Mrs. Jiang also scolded Jiang Yi for not knowing what was good for him. "Bah, you little bastard who was born by a mother but not raised by her. You passed the exam by chance and became a scholar. You really think you are something!"
Both Mrs. Jiang and Master Jiang felt that Jiang Yi was lucky to become a scholar. Jiang Yi was only sixteen years old. Sixteen years old was like passing the imperial examination. It was so easy to pass the examination and become a juren!
On the contrary, Mr. Jiang started to care about Jiang Yi's studies because he thought Jiang Yi might be his son-in-law, but he only asked a few simple questions. He was shocked to find that although Jiang Yi was young, his experience and knowledge were much better than his son who was over 30 years old.
Mr. Jiang looked at the articles written by his sons and Jiang Yi, and had to admit that Jiang Yi's article was much better.
Mr. Jiang couldn't help but fall into deep thought, and he regretted not teaching Jiang Yi properly in the past two years. Now it was only three months away from the provincial examination, and it was a little late.
He found an opportunity to visit Jiang Yi's residence. Looking at the bookshelves filled with books and various annotations on the books, Mr. Jiang was more and more amazed at the fact that Jiang Yi had such a wide range of knowledge and profound insights at such a young age. He casually asked the maid Jiang Yi how many books she reviewed every day.
The little maid finally had the opportunity to accuse Jiang Yi of studying too hard. She exaggerated even more, saying that he hardly ever rested and wanted to live in the study every day. If the lady next door hadn't called him for dinner, he might have just eaten casually.
Master Jiang had mixed feelings after hearing this. His talent was far superior to others yet he was still so studious. No wonder he had so much knowledge at such a young age. He was pleased that Jiang Yi had done well, but at the same time he was annoyed that his sons had not. He thought that he would give his sons a good education when they came back. Each of them was older than Jiang Yi, but none of them was more promising than Jiang Yi.
Finally, he thought of his daughter. His daughter was a very nice person. Seeing that Jiang Yi was too tired from studying, she would often take care of him, which made his sons less worried.
So he went to Yan Yiming's residence in a very good mood. Mr. Jiang now liked Jiang Yi more and more, and the tone he used when talking to his daughter already showed that he acknowledged this son-in-law.
"A Ming, you are older than Shao Jun and live closer to him. He is busy with his studies now, so you should visit him more often and take care of him."
Seeing how quickly his expression changed, Yan Yiming couldn't help but complain, "Dad, isn't it disturbing his studies if I move around too much?"
Mr. Jiang was stunned, and after a pause he understood what his daughter meant. He looked at her with a frightened look. When did his well-behaved but taciturn daughter say such words?
But it seems to make sense...
How can you concentrate on reading if there is a beautiful woman by your side while you are reading?
Thinking of this, Master Jiang coughed twice and said seriously, "That's absolutely right. Then you should go there less these days. It's better to concentrate on studying. Well, it's time for me to go too. You should have a good rest."
"Yes," Yan Yiming smiled and stood up to see Master Jiang out. Lan Xiu approached her carefully and asked, "Miss, are you really planning not to see the young master recently?"
"No see", the show had to be done in full. Yan Yiming had been pretending to be angry for a long time, and Jiang Yi had been left out for a while.
"But..." Lan Xiu thought to herself, but the young master is doing this for your own good. Thinking back to a few days ago when the young master came with eager eyes but was turned away by the young lady, she felt so pitiful.
But he didn't dare to speak again. After he left with a sigh, Little Apple came over again and said, "Host, are you going to leave it alone for a few more days?"
"He can't stand being left alone anymore," Yan Yiming said calmly, "I guess it will be in the next two days."
When Jiang Yi came again, it was already past dinner time. Lan Xiu looked at Jiang Yi and said in a distressed voice, "It seems that the young lady is still angry."
"I'll go in and see her."
Lan Xiu was shocked, "What should I do if the young lady is angry again!"
"Then let her do whatever she wants," Jiang Yi smiled and walked in.
It was early summer again, and it was a bit stuffy to stay in the house. Yan Yiming liked to ask someone to move the lounge chair to the yard in the evening when it was just getting dark, so that he could enjoy the evening breeze and listen to the cicadas, and quarrel with Xiaopingguo when no one else could hear him.
When Jiang Yi came in, he saw Yan Yiming lazily lying on the recliner. It was obvious that there was no sunlight, but he still had a handkerchief covering his face.
Jiang Yi walked over slowly, and was about to reach out to take the handkerchief off Yan Yiming's face, but he didn't expect Yan Yiming to slap his hand away as if he knew he was coming, "Go away, I don't want to see you."
Jiang Yi took her hand and said with a smile, "But what should I do if I want to see you?"
"The girls are all here, let go," Yan Yiming pulled his hand away and pulled the handkerchief off his face. The familiar face was staring at him with a slight frown, and the light-colored eyes like glass seemed angry but a little uncomfortable.
Jiang Yi suddenly realized that Yan Yiming hadn't seen him for these days. Maybe he was really angry, but more likely he was embarrassed.
Suddenly their relationship changed, so it was natural for her to feel uncomfortable.
Women should be more thin-skinned.
Jiang Yi looked back and saw Lan Xiu was very sensible and had sent all the maids away. Jiang Yi sat on a small stool next to the recliner and slowly rocked the recliner, saying, "The maids are not here, no one saw it." He then smiled and said, "Everyone will know it sooner or later, it's better to know it sooner..."
Yan Yiming glanced at him, Jiang Yi's eyes were full of smiles, and he didn't finish his words.
His eyes were burning, and Yan Yiming seemed a little embarrassed to be stared at. He turned his face away and said in annoyance, "Why are you looking at me?"
"It looks good," Jiang Yi said, "Ah Ming, does marrying me really make you angry?"
“…”
Jiang Yi pinched her chin with his slender fingers and asked her to look at him. He was no longer in the funny and frivolous look he had before, but asked her very seriously, "A Ming, tell me, do you really not want to marry me at all?"
When asking this question, even Jiang Yi was unsure.
He approached her little by little, cleared away the strangers around her, and finally got her into his hands. He thought he was satisfied, but now he felt even more unsatisfied.
He hoped that she would be as moved and fond of him as he was.
He looked at Yan Yiming deeply, but Yan Yiming never spoke. Jiang Yi's hopes sank little by little, and his heart suddenly became bitter.
In fact, she should have known it long ago. She had always regarded him as her younger brother and had never thought of anything else...
Jiang Yi's handsome face smiled reluctantly under the moonlight, and he murmured as if to comfort himself, "It's okay, I can..."
Before he finished speaking, Yan Yiming suddenly stood up, and Jiang Yi's pupils suddenly contracted.
A warm kiss was imprinted on the lips. Yan Yiming touched her lightly and then quickly left. He turned over from the recliner and walked away without looking back. "You are so smart on weekdays, why do you act like a fool now..."
Jiang Yi was still sitting on the small stool, but he quickly grabbed her arm, pulled Yan Yiming back and hugged Yan Yiming's waist.
Yan Yiming was standing, Jiang Yi was sitting. Now Jiang Yi was hugging Yan Yiming, with his cheek pressed against Yan Yiming's waist. He blinked and looked up at her, and said softly, "A Ming, I haven't had dinner yet."
Yan Yiming: “…”
Jiang Yi became more and more demanding, "Hungry."
Yan Yiming took a deep breath and looked back as if he was extremely embarrassed. Lan Xiu quickly looked away and pretended that she saw nothing, but the curve of her lips clearly showed that she was smiling.
Yan Yiming pried his hands away from his waist and quickly turned away. Jiang Yi saw her fleeing, and heard her ordering the kitchen to make some dinner despite being extremely angry. He smiled as if his heart was soaked in honey.
After that, the two of them began their awkwardly sweet days. Jiang Yi watched her pretending to be indifferent every day, but he was happy to do so. Even the bad gene in his bones seemed to be aroused in an instant, and he always deliberately teased Yan Yiming who had a stern face.
Little Apple was surprised and said, "I didn't expect Jiang Yi to have such sadistic traits."
Yan Yiming agreed deeply. Compared to Jian Yuyan, who had a masochistic nature and could only grow up after being abused, Jiang Yi was definitely an S.
In the blink of an eye, several months passed, summer went and autumn came, and finally the autumn examination, which was held once every three years, arrived.
Before leaving, Master Jiang gathered all the people in the first house, young and old, to cheer for the second son Jiang and Jiang Yi who were going to take part in the provincial examination. Master Jiang knew that his son had no hope, so he still placed his hopes on Jiang Yi.
After giving the two of them a few more instructions and seeing that they were about to set off, Mrs. Jiang glared at Mr. Jiang and pulled them away. Didn't she see that Shaojun kept looking at A Ming? He really had no sense of romance at all.
Jiang Yi even nodded gratefully to Madam Jiang, and took Yan Yiming to a place where no one was around before asking for a few words of love, "Just say one word, and I will definitely pass the imperial examination and come back with a good reputation."
Yan Yiming patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't come back if you don't have any achievements."
Jiang Yi laughed again. He had never known that Ah Ming could be so cute with her stubborn face. He really liked her and couldn't help but lower his head to bite her lips. He quickly jumped away before Yan Yiming could speak, then waved and left with satisfaction.
Three days later, Jiang Yi and the second young master Jiang returned to the Jiang Mansion together.
Another month passed, the sweet fragrance of osmanthus filled the air, and the Jiang family's servants had already taken seats at the gate of the county government office, and they swarmed in after the osmanthus list was posted. The servant looked up and down but didn't see any Jiang family members. There were no members from the first wife or the second wife. The more he looked, the sadder he felt. However, he still insisted on reading the entire list.
It was not until he saw the name at the top of the list that the servant was startled as if struck by lightning. He wiped his eyes with some doubt and looked again, only then was he sure that he was not mistaken.
Oh my God, this, this top prize winner, isn’t he their young master? !
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