As soon as Song Anxin arrived at the front yard, she heard a sound.
"The magistrate has arrived."
The guests in the courtyard all stood up in surprise.
"Why would the magistrate come?!"
"Brother Song has won first place in this year's provincial examination, and he has a great chance of becoming a Juren next year. After becoming a Juren, he will have a very high chance of becoming a student of the Emperor in the next spring imperial examination. In recent years, very few people from our Ningdu County have passed the Juren examination, let alone become students of the Emperor. Today is the auspicious day of Brother Song's wedding, and the County Magistrate will certainly come to congratulate him."
One student said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Magistrate Yan led Master Fan into the courtyard, and everyone except Song Anxin and Song Anbang knelt down to pay their respects.
"Greetings, Your Excellency!"
Song Anxin was originally a seventh-rank lady, so she didn't need to kneel. However, Song Anbang is now a scholar, and scholars have the right to be exempt from kneeling when meeting officials; they can simply perform the usual courtesies.
Magistrate Yan, dressed in official robes as if he had just finished his official duties and rushed over, began to speak:
"Please, everyone, make yourselves at home. I am here today to congratulate Song Xuezi on his wedding, just like you. Please make yourselves at home."
Song Anxin and Magistrate Yan nodded to each other as a greeting, and the two were old acquaintances.
Everyone stood up, and Song Anbang stepped forward and said, "Thank you for coming to offer your congratulations, Magistrate. Please take your seats, Magistrate and your advisor."
Magistrate Yan said, "Scholar Song, you have brought glory to Ningdu County by becoming the top scholar in this Liuzhou provincial examination. I am here to congratulate you on this great joy. I wish you and your wife a long and happy marriage. I also hope that after your marriage, you will continue to study diligently and pass the examination with flying colors, achieve the highest score, and bring happiness to the people after you have made your mark."
Song Anbang humbly replied, "Thank you, Magistrate. The students will certainly do their utmost."
Master Fan waved his hand, and the servant behind him presented the congratulatory gift, which Anfu quickly accepted.
"Alright, I have official duties to attend to. The gifts and congratulations have been delivered, so I will not stay for the banquet. Farewell, Scholar Song."
Song Anbang bowed and said, "Respectfully seeing off the magistrate."
As soon as Magistrate Yan left, the courtyard immediately became lively again. It was because the magistrate was dressed in official robes and wore a black gauze hat, and they could feel the majesty of the official even from afar, making it difficult to act casually.
Seeing the magistrate of Yan County rushing about, looking travel-worn, Song Anxin truly felt that being a good official was quite difficult. He had to come to congratulate the top scholar who had achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations, manage the daily trivialities of the people, and oversee important agricultural and commercial affairs, among other things...
The students were also discussing the magistrate and his advisor's hasty arrival and departure.
"Do you know why the magistrate came and left in such a hurry?"
"It must be related to the bandits of Lianshan. It seems that several caravans have been robbed recently, and I heard that some people have even died."
"Yes, these mountain bandits haven't come out for more than ten years, have they? I heard they used to only rob people without killing them, so why are they hurting people now?"
"Who can really know for sure? Although they are only robbing caravans now, who knows if they will start robbing passersby in the future? It's really frightening."
"I'm not worried. Our magistrate is a good official and will certainly not allow such a thing to happen. I heard that the magistrate is currently working with the magistrates of several nearby counties to come up with a solution."
"The bandits of Lianshan are cunning; we haven't been able to find them for decades..."
"....."
Song Anxin, who was standing to the side, frowned more and more as she listened. There were actually bandits in the mountains!
Lianshan is not a single mountain, but a mountain range that runs through Ningdu County and several nearby counties. To get to these counties, one must pass through this mountain range, and outsiders must also pass through it to get in. In short, it is the only way to and from the county.
The Dafeng Distillery now has local merchants and merchants from Heyang County coming to buy wine to sell in several nearby counties. The grains for brewing also need to be transported from outside. These students say that the bandits specifically target merchants, which is not good news for business people like them.
However, Song Anxin felt relieved after thinking about it. Magistrate Yan was a military officer before, so suppressing bandits should be a piece of cake for him. He hoped that he could join forces with several nearby counties to quickly eliminate the mountain bandits.
————
At dawn, around 5 a.m., a series of "hehe" and "haha" sounds rang out from a large courtyard at the end of Linjia Village. This was the time when Song Anxin's family practiced martial arts every day.
Today, Qingshan is leading the martial arts practice.
"When you throw a punch, your stance must be firm, and your lower body must not be relaxed at all... Your palm strike should be powerful... Imagine your hand is the weapon..."
"Ha ha!....."
Song Anxin threw punches, kicked, and chopped... After completing the set, she felt completely refreshed. Still not satisfied, she said to Qingshan:
"Come on, Qingshan, let's have a competition."
The group of people practicing martial arts began to cheer Song Anxin on.
"Go, my lady!"
"Go, Auntie! Beat Brother Aoyama and then teach me!"
"Go, Second Grandma! You're the best!"
"....."
After a brief exchange, Song Anxin was defeated.
Qingshan clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Madam, you flatter me."
Song Anxin, hands on her hips and slightly out of breath, laughed and said, "Qingshan, how much of your skill did you use?"
Without even panting, Qingshan replied, "Your Highness, it's less than thirty percent."
Okay, Song Anxin was truly impressed; these ancient masters were amazing.
Qingshan continued, "But you, madam, are already quite remarkable to be able to compete with me in such a short time. You are getting older now, madam. If you had learned martial arts from a young age, your skills might have surpassed several of ours."
He was telling the truth. All four of them were amazed by the speed at which the lady grasped the essence of martial arts, as if they had encountered it before.
Song Anxin: "..."
Well, at her age, it's indeed too old for her to practice martial arts. If she hadn't had some prior training and foundation, she probably wouldn't have been able to hold her own against Aoyama.
"Oh, God is so unfair! Second Aunt, you're so smart, and you're even better at martial arts than us. Brother Qingshan only used 20% of his strength when he sparred with me. When will I be able to become a wandering female knight-errant!"
Lin Erxi wailed.
Song Anxin took the handkerchief from Granny Wei and wiped the sweat from her brow, then nodded and said:
“You can be a wandering female knight-errant in Lin Family Village. It doesn’t matter where you are a knight-errant.”
Lin Erxi pouted and said, "Second Aunt, it's too embarrassing to be a female knight-errant just in Linjia Village. At least you should break out of Linjia Village. Feng He said that you can start with small goals, so I'll set a small goal first: to be a female knight-errant wandering Ningdu County, hahaha."
Song Anxin smiled helplessly, "Alright, heroine, let's go have breakfast together after you're done practicing." She then called to Da Cao and the others, "Da Cao, Dongzi, go have breakfast with your second aunt and second maternal grandmother."
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