Chapter 161 Wooden Hairpin

Dou Zhao's attitude was extremely firm, and Ji finally returned disappointed.

Ji Ling couldn't help but ask his aunt softly, "Does cousin Dou have a bad relationship with stepmother?"

Ji Shi brought Ji Lingze to Zhending to attend Dou Zhao's coming-of-age ceremony for another purpose.

Ji Lingze has been engaged to the sixth son of the Han family in Huzhou. The sixth son of the Han family has been studying in Kyoto. Ji Lingze's wedding date is set for October this year, which is one of the reasons why Ji Lingze will go to Kyoto in advance. After Ji Lingze leaves the palace, he will live in Kyoto with the sixth son of the Han family. The Wei family will end their mourning period in July next year, and then the Wei family will definitely set a wedding date with the Dou family soon. After Dou Zhao goes to Kyoto, he will also have a companion. Moreover, Ji Lingze is extremely intelligent. He has been studying with the aunt of the Ji family who is knowledgeable and has returned home since he was a child. He is generous and smart in dealing with people. The Han family is also a family of officials. Now there are two old men in the officialdom. One is the county magistrate in Huguang, and the other is a doctor in the Ministry of Works, in charge of river engineering in the country.

Dou Zhao's relationship with Ji Lingze only brought benefits and no harm.

Now, hearing Ji Lingze seem to be somewhat puzzled about Dou Zhao, she didn't want Ji Lingze to misunderstand that Dou Zhao was unfilial, so she quietly told Ji Lingze all the grievances of the past.

Ji Ling was stunned when he heard this. After a while, he sighed, "If it were me, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to remain calm!"

"Yes!" Ji sighed, "So some things can't be blamed entirely on Shougu." She added, "It looks like I'll have to come back for a while next year to help Shougu with her wedding arrangements."

Ji Ling laughed and said, "Aunt treats my cousin from the Dou family very well!"

"Of course." Ji smiled and gestured, "I've watched her grow up from a little girl to this age, and she's no different from a biological child." She added, "She's been alone since she was a child, so you should treat her like your own cousin."

"Got it!" Ji Ling took Ji's arm and teased his aunt, "You are too partial. It's not enough to let Jianming recognize her as his cousin, but you also want me to recognize her as my cousin. Fortunately, Meng Chun is not here. If Meng Chun was here, would you also let him recognize this cousin?"

Ji Mengchun, whose real name was Ji Yang, was Ji Yong's cousin. Although he was not as famous as Ji Yong, he was more amiable and steady, and had a higher prestige than Ji Yong among the younger generation of the Ji family.

Ji said confidently, "Of course!"

Ji Ling couldn't help laughing and said, "Do you know that he has written a note to Dou Si and put it on the big desk in the study. He has to look at it and recite a few sentences every day before he starts to study?"

Ji was shocked and asked, "What happened?"

"Uncle Thirteen saw it when he went to visit Ming." Ji Ling said, "Uncle Thirteen didn't dare to ask Jianming, so he arrested Zishang and Zixi to find out the news." She said, her expression gradually becoming more and more serious. "Zishang and Zixi did not hide the truth. They said that Jianming was determined to participate in the imperial examination because he was ridiculed by his cousin from the Dou family. They also said that Jianming had never suffered any loss no matter who he met, but he was repeatedly frustrated by his cousin from the Dou family. When Uncle Thirteen heard that I came to Zhending, he asked me to find out what was going on between Jianming and his cousin from the Dou family. He was afraid that Jianming would get angry and tease his cousin from the Dou family, which would cause some rifts between relatives and make it difficult for you to live in the Dou family."

"Is there such a thing?" Ji frowned. After returning to Kyoto, the first thing she did was to call the brothers Dou Zhengchang and Dou Dechang for questioning.

Dou Zhengchang became anxious when he heard this and said, "Should we talk to Dad about this? Seeing Ming's temper, it might not be because Fourth Sister provoked him!"

Dou Dechang didn't take it seriously and said with a smile, "If cousin Ji had the upper hand, why would he be so angry? I think we should just pretend we don't know. Anyway, we are all studying at Shuntianfu School these days. If he makes any moves, we will definitely find out if we pay attention. It looks like the end is coming soon. If cousin Ji gets into trouble again because of this, it will be our fault."

Ji thought what her second son said made sense, so she nodded slightly and repeatedly told her two sons: "You should pay more attention and wait until tomorrow's examination before making a decision. It would be best if this knot can be untied; if it cannot be untied, you will have to ask your great-grandfather for help."

The two nodded, observing Ji Yong carefully without making any noise.

Ji Yong, however, seemed to know nothing about it. He studied hard every day, got up at the crack of dawn and went to bed at midnight. He read through all the papers on contemporary literature from the past five years. On the ninth day of the second lunar month, instead of worshipping the Ji family's ancestors, Zishang and Zixi went to the street to pick out an exquisitely crafted examination basket, brought their usual writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, packed some food, and entered the examination room. When Ji Qi and others arrived, there was no trace of Ji Yong.

Ji Qi could not help stamping his feet and scolding Zishang and his children for being ignorant.

Zishang and Zixi had no idea how many accusations they had to bear for Ji Yong. They knelt there trembling and begged for mercy, but they were not afraid in their hearts because they knew that unless Ji Yong nodded, no one else in the family would punish them unless they had offended the old lady.

As expected, Ji Qi just sighed a few times and let Zishang and Zixi get up.

After the three exams, Ji Qi did not dare to ask his son whether he had done well or not - if his son thought he had done well, but failed the exam, he would lose face in front of him, and he was afraid that he would not want to see him in the future; if his son thought he had not done well, all his hard work during this period would be in vain, and his son would also feel that he had lost face in front of him... He simply did not mention anything, but only said that his mother Han knew his fate, so she rushed over from Yixing, and personally cooked his favorite food and waited for him at home.

Ji Yong thought about it and followed Ji Qi back to Yuqiao Hutong.

Ji Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

Ji Yong was raised by the old lady of the Ji family since he was born. When he grew up a little, he lived with the old man of the Ji family. Han had less chance to see her son than the servants around Ji Yong, and her feelings for her son were very subtle.

She was proud of Ji Yong, but sometimes she felt that the son she gave birth to did not belong to her, but to the Ji family, and was just born through her belly. Occasionally, she would feel that "it would be better if my son was not so smart." But she never dared to mention this feeling to others, and she was even more inconvenient to ask about Ji Yong's affairs. She just held his hand and asked him about his food, clothing and daily expenses these days.

If the two of them were like this, the other members of the Ji family would not seek trouble for themselves. They all treated Ji Yong as if he had just returned from visiting some friends outside, and asked him this and that, except for mentioning the imperial examination.

Actually, Ji Yong felt that he had done quite well in the exam, at least in the top five. He really wanted to talk about it with others, but no one mentioned it. He couldn’t bring it up himself, right?

The main thing is that even if he mentioned it, they would just smile and say something perfunctorily like "You will definitely pass the exam."

It would be nice if Dou Zhao was here.

She would no doubt ask him what he had been tested on, how he had answered the questions, and maybe why he had answered the questions he had answered.

Thinking of this, he thought of Dou Zhao's bright almond eyes.

I am always energetic and never feel tired.

Her mother's cautious question immediately made Ji Yong feel particularly bored, and also had a deep sense of powerlessness.

He was not the kind of person who would compromise, so he simply stood up, said impatiently, "I'm going back to my room," and then walked away.

Han sighed.

She and her son really had nothing to talk about.

Ji Yong was lying on the bed, thinking about the small camphor wood box placed in the study of Shuntianfu School.

He ordered Zishang, "Go and get that box."

Zishang responded and left.

When I came back, I met Han.

Han felt uncomfortable and called Ji Lingze to talk to her.

Seeing Zishang going out so late, I asked him.

Zi Shang was valued by Ji Yong, so he was certainly not someone who didn't know his own limits. Upon hearing this, he stepped forward and answered the question respectfully.

Han was puzzled, but did not ask any further questions.

Early the next morning, she went to her son's room to help him pack his things. Her son had already gone to the house near Shuntianfu School.

"Why so early?" Han was very disappointed.

The maidservant in Ji Yong's room said hurriedly, "Madam, the young master said that most of the books in Shuntianfu School are the Four Books and Five Classics, contemporary literature and art, and he won't need them in the future anyway, so he wants to send all the books to the two young masters of my aunt's family. He has asked the two young masters of my aunt's family to move the books, but he is not going to live in Shuntianfu School."

Han was delighted when she heard this and asked the maid, "So, the young master did very well in the exam?"

How could the maid dare to answer such a question? She could only stammer, "I don't know. The young master came back last night and kept wandering around the house until Zishang came back."

Han was stunned when she heard this, and her eyes somehow inadvertently swept across the blue cloth square pillow at the head of Ji Yong's bed, and she found a corner of a camphor wood box sticking out from under the pillow.

She couldn't help but walk over, pull out the box and open it.

Inside is a camphor wood hairpin.

The simple long hairpin is hollowed out with various camellia flowers, some of which are about to bloom, some are just buds, and some are in full bloom. The workmanship is not necessarily delicate, and the materials are not necessarily exquisite, but the appearance is very novel. Not only that, most wood carvings have a simple and natural temperament, but the flowers on this hairpin are clustered together, and each flower is eager to bloom, giving people a sense of flowing light and color.

The craftsmanship of the person who carved this hairpin is very ordinary, but the person who designed it has superb painting skills!

Han suddenly came up with this judgment in his mind... Then he recalled the scene when Ji Yong was a child, using a small stool as a footstool, leaning over the large drawing table in the pavilion in the garden to paint the camellia in her home...

She couldn't help but take a deep breath, closed the box with a snap, and asked the maid anxiously: "What is this..."

The maid smiled and said, "This is the box sent by the master yesterday." As she spoke, she looked confused, "I clearly saw the young master put it in the box last night, how come it was placed under the pillow..."

Han's head buzzed, and he inexplicably felt scared and terrified.

She put the box back in place, hurriedly told the maid something like "Don't let the young master find out that someone has touched his things", and hurried back to the inner room, instructing her wet nurse, Nanny Han, "Wait in front of the hanging flower gate, and report to me as soon as the young master comes back."