Chapter 163: Tanhua

Han knew that he had said the wrong thing and was embarrassed.

Ji Qi didn't want to embarrass his wife, so he changed the subject: "Any news from Grandfather?"

Han felt more at ease and muttered, "The letter was sent only a few days ago, how could it be so fast!"

"Then you must be more careful when you see me." Ji Qi gave a few instructions and went to the yamen.

Han thought about it and went to Ji Lingze.

It happened that the fourth wife of the Han family, Liu, and the tenth daughter of the Han family, Han Su, were visiting Ji Lingze.

With the whole room full of Korean family members, the atmosphere seemed particularly intimate.

Liu was a girl from the Liu family in Yixing. She married the Han family in Huzhou. She had known Han since she was a child. When they met, she pulled Han aside and said "Congratulations" loudly. She took the tea from the maids and served it to Han herself. She sat next to Han warmly. After a few pleasantries, she asked about Ji Yong's marriage: "... Aunt can't just let my cousin's temper run wild. You still have to be tough when you need to be tough."

Ji Ling smiled and exchanged glances with Han Su.

There were many girls in the Liu family, and Liu had two unmarried sisters. One of them even matched Ji Yong's couplets and was praised by the old lady of the Ji family.

Han was having a headache over the matter of Ji Yong and Dou Zhao. She was unhappy when she heard this and frowned, saying, "Jianming grew up in the old lady's house. His marriage should naturally be decided by the old lady. I am a woman in the inner house. I can't compare with the old lady in terms of knowledge and vision. I will let this matter go and wait to be a mother-in-law in peace!"

But in her heart, she was thinking, if the old lady wanted to arrange a marriage for her son in order to put an end to his thoughts, she must not marry a girl from the Liu family! Apart from anything else, just based on the way the girl from the Liu family was talkative, her son would definitely not like her.

Immediately, I felt a little regretful.

She originally wanted to ask about the fourth daughter of the Dou family, but with Liu here, it seemed she couldn't ask!

Han patiently exchanged pleasantries with Liu.

Ji Yong was talking to Dou Qijun.

In this imperial examination, Dou Qijun failed to pass the exam at Sunshan.

"Why are you in such a hurry to go back?" Ji Yong tried his best to keep Dou Qijun. "Why not wait until the results of the imperial examination come out? You can also take a look at the essays of those tribute scholars. By comparing them, you can also know where you are lacking." He added, "I also have something to do in Zhending. We can go back to Zhending together then."

Ji already lived in Kyoto, why would he go to Zhending?

Dou Qijun was very surprised.

Ji Yong smiled and said, "My fourth sister is coming of age, and I didn't even send her a gift. After the imperial examination, I will take the examination for the Imperial Scholars. After I go to the Hanlin Academy to observe government affairs, I am afraid I will not have the opportunity to leave Kyoto. I just took this opportunity to go out for a walk."

He spoke very frankly, and everyone knew that Dou Zhao was already engaged. Dou Qijun did not doubt him and said with a smile, "You wanted to sneak out to play, but you pulled me to support you. Forget it, you are my elder, so I'll just take the blame." He agreed to go to Zhending with Ji Yong.

Ji Yong was very happy and asked his servant to set up a table. The two of them ate while talking about the imperial examination, and they did not leave until the moon was above the willow trees.

In a few days, it was the first day of March.

Ji Yong changed into a brand new royal blue silk gown and went to Xiyuan.

After a whole day of imperial examination, Ji Yong was chosen as the third place as expected.

All the aunts and uncles of the Ji family came to congratulate them.

Ji Yong, however, felt a sense of resentment in his heart that was difficult to dissipate, and his face became gloomy.

He took out the wooden hairpin for Dou Zhaodiao and stared at it for a long time. Then he threw the box to the corner of the bed with a "pop" and dozed off on the Drunkard's chair in the study, not caring about the guests who came in.

The sons and daughters were extremely anxious, but they did not dare to urge him to go and greet the guests.

Han, who was wearing a bright red jacket with gold all over it, walked in. Seeing her children standing outside the study, she couldn't help but lower her voice and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zixi quietly told Han that Ji Yong had thrown the box containing the wooden hairpins on the corner of the bed.

Han was surprised and happy. She was surprised that her son really cared about the fourth daughter of the Dou family, and she was happy that her son might be embarrassed to appear in front of the fourth daughter of the Dou family, which might not be a bad thing in the long run.

She was just about to tell Xiang Ju to ask his children to take good care of Ji Yong when she heard a creaky sound and the door of the study opened wide, and Ji Yong walked out.

He was not surprised to see his mother.

Everyone who came today was here to congratulate him on his graduation from high school. It was expected that his mother would come to see him out of concern since he did not show up.

He nodded to his mother and said, "I will go to the front yard to entertain the guests." Then he handed the camphorwood box in his hand to his son and said, "This is my coming-of-age gift for the fourth young lady of the Dou family. You should hurry up and deliver it to Zhending in person."

Such generosity made Han and Zixi feel a little uneasy. Fortunately, Zixi was a smart person and quickly put aside his embarrassment. He stepped forward respectfully, took the box, and left.

Ji Yong was preoccupied with something and didn't pay much attention to the strange behavior of his mother and children. After the children left, he asked his mother, "Would you like to sit in my room for a while? I'll change my clothes and go to the front yard."

"Great!" Han was unsure what her son was going to sing, so she followed him into the hall.

It was five days later that Dou Zhao received Ji Yong's gift. After reading the letter in the camphor wood box, she couldn't help laughing.

Su Xin happened to come in with some freshly made peach cakes from the kitchen. Seeing this, she smiled and asked, "What did Master Ji say in the letter?"

Dou Zhao put the letter away and said with a smile, "He said that when the imperial examination started, the emperor walked around the hall and saw that he was the youngest, so he looked at him carefully. He suspected that the emperor didn't read his essay at all, but just chose him as the third place because he was the youngest. He carefully read the essay of the first place winner Cai Guyuan and said that his writing was not as good..."

Su Xin couldn't help laughing.

Dou Zhao tasted the peach cake and said, "Cousin Ji is still like a child. He knew my birthday, but he waited until he passed the imperial examination to send me a gift. If he failed this time, I'm afraid he would ignore me for several years. After all, he still remembers what I said about him and Dou Ming fooling around."

Su Xin nodded, poured Dou Zhao a cup of tea, and said, "Although Master Ji is very proud, he is open and honest, and is easy to get along with."

"Who said it wasn't?" Dou Zhao smiled and went to the study. "I'll write him a letter back. I guess everyone in the world thinks he must be very proud and complacent at the moment. I'm afraid he's the only one who thinks that this third place is a humiliation and doesn't even want to mention it!"

Su Xin thought about it and felt that Ji Yong was indeed someone who could do such a thing.

She couldn't help but smile and helped Dou Zhao grind ink.

When Ji Yong received Dou Zhao's reply, he was hesitating whether to take up the post in the Hanlin Academy.

Ji Yong's uncle Ji Song and father Ji Qi were extremely anxious. Ji Qi even complained, "Why is there still no news from grandfather? What should we do about Jianming's matter? If he doesn't make a decision, we can't do anything!"

Ji Song smiled bitterly.

The children asked to see him.

Both of them were a little impatient to let their children come in and reply.

"Young Master told me to tell the people in the carriage hall," Zixi panted, obviously jogging all the way here, "He needs to use a sedan chair early tomorrow morning, and he needs to report to the Ministry of Personnel."

Ji Song breathed a sigh of relief.

Ji Qi stood up with an "ah" and asked hurriedly, "Why did Jianming suddenly change his mind?"

Zixi took a deep breath and said, "Young Master just received a letter from the fourth lady of the Dou family. I don't know what the fourth lady of the Dou family wrote in the letter. Young Master laughed when he saw it, and then asked me to tell the people in the carriage hall."

Ji Song and Ji Qi looked at each other.

Ji Qi hesitated for a moment, then asked his son in a low voice, "What did the fourth young lady of the Dou family write in the letter?"

The offspring shook their heads.

Ji Song pinched his beard and said softly, "Then let's find a way to see what the fourth young lady of the Dou family wrote in the letter?"

Zixi was stunned and looked up at Jiqi.

But Ji Qi coughed lightly, lowered his head and drank a sip of tea, as if he didn't hear what was said.

Zixi smiled bitterly but had to agree. The next day, when Ji Yong was out, he found Dou Zhao's letter to Ji Yong and glanced at it hastily. He then hurriedly reported to Ji Song and Ji Qi, "... there was nothing else. Fourth Miss Dou just wrote some tips on growing flowers in the letter."

"Experiences in growing flowers?" Ji Song was stunned.

"Yes!" The son said respectfully with his hands down, "Miss Dou Si said in her letter that in order to decorate a courtyard, in addition to growing evergreen poplars and hollies, you should also plant some flowers and trees that bloom all year round, so that the scenery of the courtyard will be pleasant. The flowers that bloom in spring are daffodils, cymbidiums, camellias, azaleas, and winter jasmines... daffodils are elegant, cymbidiums are fragrant, camellias are graceful, azaleas are as bright as the morning sun, and only the winter jasmines are bright and beautiful. , the most common, the corners of trees and pavilions, as long as the weather warms up, they will bloom brilliantly, and the most unforgettable. No matter who you are, when you mention spring, you have to talk about this flower that heralds the spring. It can be seen that the flower is not about how famous it is, but when it blooms... Even if it is a flower on the street, if it occupies the first color of early spring, it is the best flower in the world. Why should we be obsessed with it not being a precious flower? "

Ji Song seemed to be lost in thought.

Ji Qi pondered with a headache, "If only I could know what Jianming wrote in that letter to Miss Dou Si!"

The children were sweating profusely.

The two old masters wouldn't let him test the young master's opinion, right?

It would be troublesome if the young master became alert!

Just when he was feeling a little anxious, Ji Song waved his hand at him and said, "Go away! Don't mention this to anyone else."

The son hurriedly responded respectfully and retreated.

Ji Song said to Ji Qi with some worry, "Don't make wild guesses. Miss Dou Si's letter was obviously a metaphor to encourage Jianming to work hard. Logically speaking, after ten years of hard study, it is a great achievement for Jianming to be like this. What else can he be dissatisfied with? He would rather tell Miss Dou Si than his family? How does Miss Dou Si know that such encouragement will be effective?"

They often advised Ji Yong to study hard and make progress, but the more they advised him, the more he became rebellious, so much so that they dared not advise him anymore.

"Yes!" Ji Qi said, "If we knew why the fourth young lady of the Dou family was able to persuade Jian Ming, we wouldn't be helpless against him!"

Ji Song sighed, and after returning to the house, he immediately wrote a letter to his grandfather, Old Lady Ji.