Huo Jincheng didn't deny that Ding Youtian had some talent, but there were countless scholars in Dayan State who studied very hard. Who could guarantee that they would pass the exam? Naturally, they had to be prepared for failure.
"Brother Ding, are you determined to win?" When he said this, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, revealing a hint of sarcasm.
"It depends on my mood. If I'm in a good mood, I might even be able to become the top scholar."
"No wonder the prefectural governor called you a lunatic."
It was indeed too crazy, extremely crazy. There were probably tens of thousands of students from various states and counties going to the capital to take the exam. It was not easy to get into the top three, let alone the top scorer.
Huo Jincheng thought he was crazy and decisively ended the topic, saying, "Just tell me whether you're going or not. If you are, we'll go together this time. If you don't want to go, that's up to you. Why are you talking nonsense?"
“No!”
"Even if I go, I won't stay at your house."
Ding Youtian was still worried about whether he and Jian Ning had really been engaged. If they had been, wouldn't it be a big joke if he brought his wife and children to live in his house and the news got out?
"You don't have the final say." Huo Jincheng looked at Jian Ning, "What are you looking at me for?" Jian Ning raised her eyebrows, "My husband has always been the boss of our family. If he doesn't have the final say, then how can you have the final say? That's really strange."
Huo Jincheng's face darkened at this disappointment. He didn't think Jian Ning couldn't control Ding Youtian. He had been in a good mood the past few days, as his father and the Crown Prince had both sent him letters. His father's letter informed him that the Emperor had given Prince Yong a light hand, all thanks to Ma Xiaomi's letter to the Emperor.
The Grand Tutor said that the Emperor ordered the eunuchs in the palace to read the letter aloud in the main hall. Every time the eunuchs read the letter in circles, all the civil and military officials were delighted, and the Emperor was also very happy to hear it.
The emperor is old, and the young are all old, and the emperor is no exception. After listening to Ma Xiaomi's letter, all the civil and military officials picked up the words that the emperor liked to hear to coax the old children, saying that even remote villages can have clan schools, and cowherds can write a few words, which is enough to show that the emperor's benevolence is spread to every corner of the court, and the people can live and work in peace and contentment because of the emperor's good governance and the emperor's great fortune.
The old emperor was overjoyed by the flattery.
The prince also wrote to him praising his increasingly methodical approach. Both of them asked him how he had thought of having a child write such a letter. Was it someone else's idea, or was it just a coincidence, as he claimed in his letter?
Ma Xiaomi's letter expressed his doubts. He said that when he did something wrong, his father would beat him and always say, "You're rebelling." Once, when his younger brother did something wrong, he used his father's favorite phrase when scolding him, and he was beaten by his father again.
His father said that he was not his brother's father and he had no right to use those words to talk to his brother. Only the father had that power. He also asked him if he wanted to usurp the father's authority.
Ma Xiaomi went on to write about that day when he saw Prince Yong arguing with a peasant woman in their village. The peasant woman said that the world belonged to the emperor. Prince Yong was the emperor's son, so why could the emperor's son reprimand the emperor's subjects on the emperor's behalf, but he, the son, could not teach his brother a lesson on his father's behalf?
This was the gist of Ma Xiaomi's letter, while the letter submitted by Huo Jincheng said that Ma Xiaomi went to the teacher to ask for answers to his questions. He and Wei Dong happened to be in the ancestral hall, and when they heard the child asking the teacher, he asked the child to write down what he saw and heard and submit it to the emperor for his personal reading.
When the emperor read the letter, Prince Yong became a thorn in his heart. Even ordinary people did not want their fathers' rights to be taken away by their sons, so how could the emperor want his son to covet his throne?
But the Grand Tutor knew that his son was loyal but lacked strategy. Huo Jincheng had been the Crown Prince's tutor, so the Crown Prince naturally knew him, which was why both of them asked about this matter.
Huo Jincheng had already replied, saying it was a village fortune teller who had come up with the idea. He thought Blind Liu was a regular at using these deceptive tactics, and he didn't think much of it. These past few days, he'd been completely consumed by joy. And it was Ah Man who had wanted to invite them over, not him.
"I thought I was going to invite you guys, but it was Man'er who wanted to invite you to stay for a while." He said angrily.
"I just thought it must have been Ah Man who mentioned this to you. I was just about to discuss with my husband whether we should go to the capital with you. Since you don't even want to invite us, forget it. Let's not go."
"You! You woman are really..."
"Woman" and "woman" were names Jane Ning didn't like to hear. They sounded so unpleasant. She glared at him and retorted, "What's wrong with you being a woman? Without women, how could you exist? You weren't born of a woman, were you?"
In the past, Jian Ning's words would have been unbearable to Huo Jincheng, but he had been in Dingxian Village for several months and had heard the vulgar words of many women, all of whom were vulgar village women. In his opinion, Jian Ning was different from those women, so he looked at Ding Youtian again, "After all, you are a scholar now, how can you listen to her words?"
Ding Youtian was picking fish bones from Erniu and Sanniu. Hearing this, he said without even looking up, "I don't think what my wife said is wrong. Aren't all babies born by women? Could it be that you, Master Huo, can also give birth to a baby?"
"You two really are a wonderful couple!"
"Isn't it?"
Jian Ning and Ding Youtian said in unison.
Forget it. Huo Jincheng felt that he had lost to this couple. He was too lazy to argue with them anymore and turned to chat with Ma Fuquan.
In the yard, Mr. Ding Sanye and his son helped the people in the escort agency to pack and count all the wine. Because Jian Ning had instructed Yue'e to go to Beijing with the escort agency, Yuechan also came with Ma Fuquan.
Yuechan quit after working in the special arrest team for half a month. After quitting, he stayed in the escort agency to do odd jobs. Like Yue'e, he was always concerned about finding the saint and rebuilding the Ganao tribe.
In his previous life, Jian Ning had been stationed on the border for over a year and had interacted with ethnic minorities. He knew that they held strong values within their own ethnic group, but many of them, especially the younger generation, had already assimilated into the Han Chinese. Even among the older generation, few held such deep convictions as Yuechan and her siblings.
Although she didn't understand, she admired him. Otherwise, she wouldn't have changed her mind and told Yue'e to let her go to the capital with the escort agency. However, Jian Ning didn't know whether this was good or bad for Ah Man, so she didn't say it too clearly, just asking her to bring some things to Ah Man.
As for whether Huo Jincheng would allow her to see Ah Man after arriving in the capital, that would depend on her luck.
The next morning, Huo Jincheng and Weidong, along with their team of artisans, set off for the capital with the escort agency. The village head and clan leader came to see them off. The two elders were mainly there to see Weidong off; they had developed a fondness for him over the past few days. Weidong, having spent so much time in the countryside, had grown fond of its leisurely and peaceful existence. He had even agreed with them that in a few years, he would leave the palace and buy land and build a house in Dingxian Village, where he would spend the rest of his life as a farmer.
After the two teams left the village in a mighty procession, Ding Youtian also picked up his hoe and went to the fields.
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