Chapter 299 Qin Qi'an is so poor that he has to eat dirt

Qin Chi wanted to ask for an imperial decree to confer a title on Song Jin on the day he became a bachelor of imperial studies. However, after asking someone about it, he had to postpone the request.

Not all requests for titles were approved, and being a fifth-rank official was only the threshold for application. When applying for a title, Song Jin's identity documents, marriage certificate and other certificates had to be submitted, and then the relevant personnel of the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of Personnel would review it.

Qin Chi didn't dare to gamble whether Song Jin's identity could withstand in-depth investigation. Another reason was that he hadn't made any achievements yet. As the saying goes, a husband's honor makes his wife noble, so officials with achievements are more likely to be granted titles.

The following days.

Qin Chi went to and from the yamen all day long.

Ever since Liu Jianfang came to the house, women often came to talk to Song Jin, chatting about family matters and neighborhood gossip, making it inconvenient for Song Jin to do anything in private.

Fortunately, Song Jin asked his men to hide.

There wasn't much happening during this period, most of them were letters from various places, and family letters from Huizhou.

It is now autumn.

The family started buying winter clothes.

Last time, Qin Chi asked Song Jin to buy a maid. Later, as more and more people came to visit the Qin family, Song Jin was afraid that outsiders would say that his family had too many servants, so he did not buy anyone for safety reasons.

Therefore, Song Jin had to do many things at home personally. For example, people who came to visit him often saw Song Jin, who was dressed simply, doing the work himself.

Everyone praised Song Jin for his thriftiness.

They turned around and laughed at the Qin family for being poor and unable to maintain a decent appearance. Even though Qin Qi'an passed the imperial examination and served as an official for several months, he was still poor.

This statement has changed its meaning as it is passed around.

It was said that Qin Zhuangyuan's family was very poor and they could only eat bran and vegetables for three meals.

Later, it got even worse, and some people even started eating dirt.

One day, the news reached Qin Chi's ears.

They were doctors from the other three departments of the Ministry of Works. They came in front of Qin Chi in a team, talking a lot, and they originally wanted to make fun of Qin Chi.

Unexpectedly, Qin Chi was very calm, "I was born in a farming family, and I have been dreaming of living like this. Of course, I can't compare to the rich families of the adults."

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet.

Qin Chi is doing well now as he does not make any extra money and only relies on his salary to support his family.

It's just that there is a trend of comparison among colleagues. For the sake of face, they are used to displaying good things as a facade. If someone's family appears to be shabby on the surface, they will subconsciously think that they are even poorer behind the scenes, and they can't help but laugh at them.

Qin Chi's calm demeanor made them look like clowns, mainly because they had something to hide.

The three doctors left in disgrace.

Not only did this matter reach the ears of officials, but even Emperor Mingcheng in the palace heard about it, and thought, "Are we really going to have to eat coarse food?"

"Not only that, rumors say he'll have to eat dirt."

A young eunuch at the side answered.

Emperor Mingcheng was delighted when he heard this. "My newly crowned number one scholar starved to death. How can he work for me? Little Jixiang, go to the private vault and get 100 taels of gold and send it to Qin Qi'an's home."

"I'll do it right away." Jixiang responded hurriedly.

So that day.

The Qin family suddenly received a reward from the palace.

Song Jin was very surprised to hear that the palace had sent a reward. He thought that Qin Chi had made a contribution today. But after learning more about it, he realized that it was windfall brought by rumors outside.

The eunuch was sent away politely.

Song Jin looked at the ten gold ingots on the table and felt mixed emotions.

"Aqi, have I been pretending too much recently, making those who come to visit our house think that my family is too poor to afford food?" Song Jin knew the rumors outside.

Because I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

No one paid any attention to it and allowed the rumor to spread.

"Madam, should we inform the young master about this?" Qin Qi felt that this matter was extremely strange.

Song Jin waved his hand and said, "Go talk to him."

Qin Qi nodded, bowed and left.

However, just as Qin Qi walked out of the gate, she saw someone coming from the palace again. She turned around and went back to report to Song Jin.

When Song Jin went out, he knew that it was the Queen who sent someone to deliver a reward. Of course, this reward was clearly for Song Jin. It was a set of exquisitely crafted headdresses, plus two hundred taels of silver.

Next came the imperial concubine and other imperial concubines.

People from the palace came more than a dozen times.

Qin Chi hurried home after receiving the news and saw a pile of rewards displayed in the hall, including gold, silver, porcelain, cloth, exquisite jewelry, etc., which were quite impressive when placed together.

Song Jinxian sat in the first seat, sipping tea from his hand, while Qin Qi was counting and recording beside him.

"My wife, has our family made a windfall?" Qin Chi walked steadily to the chair next to Song Jin and sat down.

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

Song Jinshang poured him a cup of tea and said, "I'm wondering whether this is a good thing or a bad thing."

"How do you want to solve this, ma'am?"

Qin Chi put down the tea bowl in his hand and said, "If this matter is not handled properly, it may leave hidden dangers in the future."

Now I have told others that life is hard.

Others believed it, but didn't they know whether they were truly poor or not? There are some advantages that cannot be taken advantage of.

Otherwise, how will he deal with it when his identity is exposed in the future? Will the person who gave the reward today feel fooled? Maybe he will be charged with deceiving the emperor.

Don't think these worries are unnecessary. The world has seen cases of calling a horse a zebra before. When Qin Chi's political enemies attack him, they will not say that the rumors have nothing to do with him. They will only ask why he didn't come out to refute the rumors at that time. Unintentional things have become intentional.

Song Jin pondered for a moment and said, "Taihu Lake suffered a flood this year, and a large number of people were displaced. These things will be donated in the name of your majesty and the masters in the palace. But in order to show the emperor's great grace, I will keep one of each reward and convert it into silver to add to the list."

“This is a very good move.”

Qin Chi immediately asked Song Jin to do so.

Then he thought of the reward and the need to go to the palace to express gratitude. Song Jin had to go on this trip, but whether the masters would see him was another matter.

Song Jin thought for a moment and said, "I will go to the palace to express my gratitude the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow I will donate my belongings and buy some clothes. When I see the queen, I will explain that our family is doing well and that the outside world is just spreading rumors."

"My lady is very considerate."

Qin Chi felt very relieved.

A virtuous wife in the family is like a good prime minister in the country.

Once again, he was glad that he had married Song Jin instead of that crazy woman Song Xiu.

Now that they had made the decision, the couple decided to do so.

The next day, Qin Chi went to the Hanlin Academy to report for duty and had a private conversation with Yan Xianqing for a while.

"You want to see His Majesty?" Yan Xianqing was surprised.

Qin Chi said helplessly, "First, I have to thank you for the reward, and second, I have to clarify with His Majesty. Although I am not living a life of luxury, I have enough food and clothing, and the rumors outside are not true."

"Haha, what a misunderstanding."

Yan Xianqing treated this as a joke, "Don't worry, His Majesty must know about this, and he is probably having fun with me."

Qin Chi frowned and looked unconvinced.

This caused Yan Xianqing to burst into laughter again.