The issue of urging people to get married has always been a daunting problem throughout history, both in China and abroad.
What’s more, in this Ming Dynasty, marriages were decided by parents and matchmakers.
What else could Xu Yan do except to agree to his grandfather's words for the time being?
As the art of war says, among the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best one.
After returning from Lingyin Temple, Xu Yan had dinner and went back to his room to rest.
The next morning, he set off back to Ningbo with his little servant Shuangxi.
If I can't afford to offend you, can't I just hide away?
Let’s put these aside for now and say that it was already dusk when Mr. Xu returned to Dinghai County, Ningbo Prefecture.
After entering the county town before the city gates were closed, Xu Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As far as he could remember, this silly son of a landlord was traveling far away for the first time, and he stayed in Hangzhou alone for a month. His family must have missed him very much.
Sure enough, when Xu Yan returned home, his parents hurriedly called him over.
Xu Huaiyuan still maintained a certain degree of restraint, but Xu Chenshi hugged Xu Yan into her arms, patted Xu Yan's head and said: "My son has lost weight, my son has lost weight..."
Xu Yan said awkwardly, "Mom, can you please let me go first?"
Only then did Mrs. Xu Chen realize that she had lost her composure. She quickly let go of her son, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, "You are such a jerk. You've been in Hangzhou for so long and didn't even write a letter home."
Xu Yan quickly apologized, "I know I was wrong."
"I'm glad you're back, I'm glad you're back!" Xu Chen took Xu Yan's hand and sat down in front of the official hat chair. She picked up the blue and white porcelain bowl from the small table and gently scooped some from it with a spoon and brought it to Xu Yan's mouth: "This is your favorite ice cream. Take a bite to beat the heat."
Xu Yan couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat.
Blood is thicker than water. No matter what, Xu Chen treated her son very well.
The ice yogurt tastes sour, sweet and refreshing, and it really makes your whole body feel refreshed.
"Ahem, now that you're back, you should get a good night's rest. The county exam will be in a few days, and my son must perform at his best."
Xu Huaiyuan, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke up. He had always doted on his only son, and since Xu Yan had always disliked studying, he hadn't forced him to study, figuring that at worst, he could just support him for the rest of his life and let him become a wealthy man.
But ever since Xu Yan's "wasteful" donation of grain, he found that the child's temperament had changed drastically.
Not only did my son begin to enjoy reading, he also became very polite in his interpersonal relationships, and even showed a maturity that was disproportionate to his age.
The county magistrate, the governor, these high-ranking and unattainable figures all praised his son highly.
Xu Huaiyuan saw it and was happy in his heart.
What father in the world doesn’t want his son to be successful?
If Xu Yan can pass the imperial examination in the future, it will bring honor to the Xu family.
"Don't worry, Dad. I will study hard for the exam and live up to your expectations."
Xu Yan bowed to his father and replied respectfully. After a brief pause, Xu Yan turned to Xu Chenshi and said, "Mother, the court has issued an edict. The eunuch Sun Qing, the superintendent of textile production, has been arrested by the Jinyiwei and brought to the capital for questioning. Grandpa is now safe."
Xu Chen nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Your grandfather sent someone to deliver the letter a long time ago. This time it's all thanks to my son."
"I was just going along with the flow. It was Sun Qing who was so arrogant and domineering that he brought about his own demise. He who does evil will eventually perish. Even if the governor doesn't take him in this time, God will."
"You're such a smooth talker!"
Xu Chen was amused. She tapped Xu Yan's forehead with her finger and "scolded" him lovingly.
"By the way, your grandfather said in the letter that he wanted to find you a marriage partner. I think since you are not young anymore, it is worth considering it."
The originally happy atmosphere of loving mother and filial son was chilled by Xu Chen's words.
Xu Yan never expected that his grandfather would make such a brilliant move and join forces with his mother to force him to submit.
"Oh, Mom, my headache seems to be coming back. I'm going back to my room to rest first."
After saying that, Xu Yan ran away.
Seeing her son's figure getting farther and farther away, Xu Chen shook her head and sighed, "This child."
Xu Huaiyuan coughed and said, "Brother Qiu is still young after all. I don't think there's any need to rush."
Xu Chen glared at him and said, "What do you mean 'still young'? My son is already fifteen. Besides, I just asked him to think about it, not to get engaged. Look how scared he is."
Xu Huaiyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Madam...you are right. I will leave this matter to you to decide."
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The next morning, Xu Yan went to the county government office to handle the procedures for the county examination.
The imperial court made very clear regulations on the conditions for those taking the county examination.
The basic requirements were: native place in the county, clean family background, not being the son of a prostitute or servant, and not in mourning for one's parents. If any of these conditions were not met, one could not take the exam.
After meeting these qualifications, five candidates need to guarantee each other and a scholar as a guarantor before the county government will accept the application.
Xu Yan's father, Xu Huaiyuan, had already arranged this matter. The other four candidates who acted as guarantors for Xu Yan were all distant relatives of his, and naturally, people from the same clan were trustworthy. The guarantor for Xu Yan was Fang Ruchang, the only other juren in Dinghai County besides an official.
Mr. Fang once worked as a teacher in Ji'an, Jiangxi Province. Later, he felt bored and simply resigned and returned home.
The Fang family and the Xu family have always had a good relationship, so there is naturally no problem with Mr. Fang acting as a guarantor for Xu Yan this time.
When Xu Yan arrived at the county government office, several members of the same clan had already arrived.
He had some impression of these people from his remaining memories. Except for one person who was about the same age as him, the others were all over 30 years old. They were also examples of people who kept fighting despite repeated failures.
Xu Yan bowed to them as a greeting.
Because it was still early, there were not too many candidates queuing up in front of the county government office to handle procedures.
The officer took a quick look and brought Xu Yan and the other five people in.
The specific procedures were done in the etiquette room of the county government office. Although Xu Yan had been to the county government office several times before, he had never been to the etiquette room.
The six departments of the county government were modeled after the six ministries of the imperial court, and each department had its own responsibilities.
The Li and Bing departments were in the front row, the Hu and Xing departments were in the middle row, and the Li and Gong departments were in the back row.
On their way to the ceremonial room, Xu Yan and others naturally passed through the other rooms.
The officer brought everyone there and then left.
The others were obviously very experienced and immediately headed towards the ceremony room. Xu Yan just had to follow them.
This ceremonial room was essentially a miniature version of the county government office. Its head was called a scribe, and his subordinates were called post clerks. The specific number of staff was not set, and was often determined by the county government itself.
Dinghai County is not a big county, so the number of clerks and bookkeepers is naturally not large.
Xu Yan looked up and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties sitting behind a desk, with three bookkeepers on each side of him.
The five of them bowed to the clerk in the etiquette room, and then the usual questioning session began.
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