The carriage slowly made its way to a large mansion at the end of the village. Qingyun was driving the carriage, and Angui was sitting next to him. The carriage stopped and three people got out of the carriage: Song Anbang, Lin Fenghe, and Peng Tongsheng.
As soon as they came down, the villagers started asking them all at once.
"Song Tongsheng, Peng Tongsheng, have you both passed the imperial examination and become Xiucai?"
"Third son of the Erzhu family, how did you do on your exams? I heard you passed the prefectural exam and became a true student, and then you took the county-level exam to become a scholar. Wow, you're really amazing!"
"Yeah, how did the three of you do on the exam? By the way, what's the prefectural city like? Is it very big?"
"......"
The village head cleared his throat and raised his hand, and the villagers immediately fell silent.
"What are you doing? Regardless of whether they passed the exam or not, Song Tongsheng, Feng He, and Peng Tongsheng are all outstanding scholars."
The villagers said, "Village head, don't worry, we know all about it. Song Tongsheng and Feng He Pengfuzi are already much better than us peasants. We just want to show them some concern."
"Yes, after all, they all lived in our Linjia Village. Fenghe is the only student from our village to pass the imperial examination. He's really something!"
At this moment, Song Anxin, Lin Fengnian, Feng He... and their group rushed over. Song Anxin hadn't seen Song Anbang and Lin Feng He for almost a month, and she was both happy and excited. But seeing their exhausted faces, she felt more heartache than anything else. She stepped forward and said:
"You've worked hard. Why did you come back so soon? I thought you were going to rest in Liuzhou for a couple more days before returning."
An Gui stepped forward and said, "It is because your uncle and the third young master wanted to come back to see you as soon as possible. Congratulations, madam! Your uncle was the top scorer in this year's provincial examination, the third young master also passed the prefectural examination, and Master Peng is also on the list."
The villagers were overjoyed and offered their congratulations.
"Oh my, both Song Tongsheng and Peng Fuzi have passed the imperial examination and become Xiucai! Song Tongsheng is even the top scholar! My goodness! Congratulations to Song Tongsheng, no, no, he's a Xiucai now! Congratulations to both of you Xiucai!"
"Fenghe, congratulations! It's okay that you didn't pass the preliminary examination. You've only been studying for half a year and you were able to pass the preliminary examination and go to Liuzhou for the examination. We all think you're amazing."
"Yes, one scholar who passed the preliminary imperial examination and two scholars who passed the county-level imperial examination both lived in our Lin Family Village. Our Lin Family Village is quite proud of us."
“Master Peng, you can rest assured. The children in the village all say that you are very talented and will definitely pass the imperial examination to become a scholar.”
The village children also came over to congratulate him, saying, "Congratulations, Master Song! Congratulations, Master Peng! Congratulations, Young Master Lin!"
Master Peng smiled honestly with his round face and stepped forward, saying, "I have to thank Madam Hui for my success in this year's examination. The last few arithmetic questions were more difficult and stumped many students. I was lucky enough to answer them all correctly because I learned Madam Hui's arithmetic methods, and thus ranked ninety-ninth. I am truly grateful to Madam Hui."
After saying this, he bowed deeply to Song Anxin.
Song Anxin quickly helped him up.
"Arithmetic is just the icing on the cake. It is because of your hard work, Master Peng, that you finally won the prize. Heaven will not let you down."
At this moment, Lin Lizheng stepped forward and said, "Master Peng, are you going to the prefectural city to study and prepare for the imperial examination, so you won't be able to teach the children of Linjia Village anymore?"
As soon as Lin Lizheng said this, the villagers fell silent. Yes, Master Peng had passed the imperial examination and was going to study in the prefectural city, so he would no longer be able to teach the children of Linjia Village.
A group of younger children looked at Master Peng with longing eyes, their eyes filled with reluctance. They loved reading and they loved Master Peng.
Lin's family had also arrived. Upon hearing this, Lin Erxi immediately said, "Master Peng, congratulations! We will miss you. Even without you, we will study hard and never forget your teachings."
A group of older children immediately echoed, "Yes, thank you, Master Peng. We will not forget your teachings."
The villagers immediately said, "Yes, Master Peng, thank you for teaching the children all this time. We haven't given you any decent tuition fees. We are very happy for you that you have a bright future. You must pass the imperial examination and become a scholar."
Master Peng was so moved that he almost burst into tears.
He suppressed his emotions and said, "Fellow villagers and children, I, Peng, am able to achieve what I have today because of the confidence you all gave me. On my way back, I decided that I would continue to stay in Linjia Village to teach. You can still come to the Linjia Village Ancestral Hall to study as usual."
Lin Lizheng stared wide-eyed in disbelief after hearing this.
“Master Peng, are you telling the truth? You don’t need to take the imperial examination to become a scholar; you can still be a teacher at the county academy, where you can earn several taels of silver a month.”
"Yes, Master Peng, you really want to stay in our village and teach."
The villagers also asked.
Although everyone liked Master Peng and wanted him to stay, they also didn't want to hold him back.
Master Peng nodded emphatically and said, "Yes, I am willing to stay in Linjia Village to teach. I want to settle down here in the future. I will bring my family to Linjia Village. I like it very much here."
He had thought it over. He was too old to bother taking the imperial examination to become a scholar. He liked the people and environment of Linjia Village, and the children there needed him more.
After receiving Master Peng's affirmation, the villagers and children immediately surrounded him and cheered.
"Yay, we have books to read again!"
"Master Peng, you are such a kind person."
“...……..”
Song Anxin thought that Master Peng was really a good person, and that the villagers' simplicity had been rewarded.
Lin Lizheng's face was so happy that it wrinkled into a chrysanthemum. If Master Peng stayed in their village, their village would have more children like Fenghe.
Thinking of this, he hurriedly went to Fenghe and said, "Fenghe, come with me to the ancestral hall to pay respects to our ancestors and tell them this good news."
Lin Fenghe was about to speak when he burst into violent coughing, "Cough cough cough..."
Song Anxin hurriedly stepped forward to pat his back. Only when she got close to Lin Fenghe did she realize that Fenghe was not only tired from traveling, but his lips were also pale, his face was bloodless, and he looked rather weak.
Seeing Fenghe coughing so badly, Sister-in-law Lin quickly stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong? Fenghe, are you not sick? Why are you coughing so violently?"
Song Anbang sighed and said, "It rained for two days in a row during the second round of the provincial examination. The cell where Feng He was located happened to be leaking. Feng He caught a cold and started to have a high fever. On the third day of the examination, Feng He fainted in the cell and had to be carried out of the provincial examination."
Master Peng also said, "Yes, it's a real pity for Brother Fenghe. He fainted on the last day of the last exam, and his results were invalidated. Otherwise, with Brother Fenghe's academic talent, he might have been able to pass the provincial exam this time."
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