August 20th.
As autumn draws to a close, the morning air becomes quite chilly. People like Xu Rong, who are somewhat sensitive to the cold, need to put on a light jacket before going out.
Xiao Xin was still wearing a single robe, dark blue, with a scholar's cap on his head and black boots on his feet, looking clean and neat.
He came from a family of military merit, and was quite different from ordinary scholars; both his physique and temperament were more refined.
Today is the first session of the prefectural examination. Everyone in the North Courtyard got up exceptionally early. Xu Rong fought off his sleepiness and personally handed out the examination basket, which he had checked several times.
Xiao Xin accepted it.
Xu Rong considered it for a moment. Last time when she saw Xiao Xin off, she said "May you achieve immediate success." This time the situation was different. Although she hoped that Xiao Xin would pass the exam, she did not want to put too much pressure on him.
After all, it was her decision to take it slow, and she should take responsibility for it.
“Second Young Master,” she looked at him and finally said, “Do your best and leave the rest to fate. There’s plenty of time in the future.”
Xiao Xin nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
The maids dared not say anything in front of him. After he left, Bai Fu accompanied Xu Rong back and couldn't help but ask, "Second Madam, is the Second Young Master—"
"I don't know," Xu Rong shook her head.
That being said, she had already convinced herself to be mentally prepared for him not to pass the exam, and if that were the case, there was no need to be discouraged.
Hongliu followed beside her—she had come out to see her brother on the side; her brother had gone to the government office with Xiao Xin to be ordered around.
“Second Madam,” she interjected, “I think Second Young Master will definitely pass the exam, unlike what those people say.”
Xu Rong casually patted her head and smiled.
She knew what Hongliu meant.
The household gradually came to know that Xiao Xin was sick and taking medicine. Since it was all aboveboard and there was no point in hiding it, Madam Wei was quite frightened. She rushed to see him, but Xiao Xin seemed perfectly fine and told her he was alright. Still worried, she kept asking questions until she learned that Xu Rong had taken over his daily life and forcibly stipulated his rest time. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief: "That's good, Erlang. You've been missing someone to keep an eye on you like this. You never listened to me before, thankfully Second Madam is so capable—"
Realizing she had said something inappropriate, she quickly stopped talking, smiled sheepishly, and left.
But others were not as kind and gentle as Mrs. Wei.
"The second young master is really unlucky; he had to fall ill right before the exam..."
"Exactly! Do you think the second young master can still pass the exam?"
"Of course there's no hope. Even if the Second Young Master is a little more capable than we think, he's not some literary genius descended from heaven. How could he be that capable?"
"But I heard that the second young master is going to take the exam."
"Let's try our luck, maybe we'll hit the jackpot—"
She knew these kinds of words even without Hongliu returning to tell her.
Her knowing meant that Xiao Xin knew too, since they were now spending a lot of time together.
However, Xu Rong observed carefully and did not see Xiao Xin react to this at all.
He moved indifferently and hurriedly between the Su family and the North Courtyard. The huge mansion of the Marquis of Changxing outside the North Courtyard gradually faded into the background for him.
What others say or do no longer affects him as much as before.
Xu Rongyin realized something. This situation, if you really think about it, started after Xiao Xinzhong took the top spot in the list. No matter how big the Marquis's mansion was, it couldn't be bigger than the vast world outside. Once you reached out and touched it, and then looked back, these things in the mansion didn't seem like much.
Xu Rong, of course, didn't care. She wasn't so idle as to nitpick over gossipy servants. Besides, she knew perfectly well that the servants weren't the root of the problem.
The root of the problem lies with Madam Xiao, who knowingly indulged the situation, and of course, Marquis Xiao was also involved—but Xu Rong had serious doubts about whether he actually knew. He didn't care much about Xiao Lun, his eldest son, let alone Xiao Xin.
After thinking about this and that for a while, I arrived at the main courtyard.
It was a bit early, but Xu Rong didn't want to go back and forth. She planned to pay her respects and then go back to catch up on her sleep.
For the past two months, when she came to pay her respects, Madam Xiao always sat alone, without Chang Shuyin, who was like a guardian deity behind her. This was because Chang Shuyin was still in her early pregnancy, and Madam Xiao valued having offspring, so she exempted Chang Shuyin from paying her respects and did not want her to follow her around to learn how to manage the household.
Xu Rong hadn't seen her for a while because of this.
Today was different. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she saw Chang Shuyin being helped by a maid and walking into the main room.
"Second Grandma is here."
The maid's announcement made Chang Shuyin stop at the threshold and turn around.
According to the dates, she should be four months pregnant, no more and no less. She wasn't showing much, but the clothes around her waist and abdomen looked tight.
Xu Rong stopped at the bottom of the steps.
There was nothing else to it; she was afraid that if Chang Shuyin sprained her ankle or something, she might try to frame her.
Chang Shuyin seemed oblivious to her attempt to avoid suspicion, but she maintained her dignified demeanor, nodded to her, and turned to go inside first.
Xu Rong followed him in slowly.
She benefited from Chang Shuyin's presence. Originally, Madam Xiao might not have been patient enough to see her since she arrived at the door so early, and she might have had to wait a while. However, Madam Xiao was willing to make her wait, but she couldn't bear to make Chang Shuyin's unborn granddaughter wait, so she invited her in as well.
Once inside, Madam Xiao didn't have time to pay attention to her. She immediately asked Chang Shuyin, "I told you to just rest, why did you come over again today?"
He had the maidservant look after the seats.
With the help of her maid, Chang Shuyin sat down and smiled, "I know that Madam is considerate of me, but I can't always be lazy. I also wanted to see if I could help Madam."
"What do you need to do?" Madam Xiao said firmly. "You should take good care of yourself during your pregnancy and give birth to a child for Lun'er. That will be enough."
Chang Shuyin responded first, then said, "The imperial physician comes to check my pulse every month and always says that my pulse is stable. I was just thinking that I'd be bored staying in my room by myself, so I might as well come and keep you company."
Madam Xiao nodded, seemingly pleased with her eldest daughter-in-law's submissiveness, and then said, "You've come at the right time; I also have something I'd like to tell you."
Chang Shuyin hurriedly smiled and bowed, waiting—she was greeted by two pretty maids.
“Now that you are pregnant, although Lun’er is steady, he is still young. There’s no guarantee he won’t cause trouble for you again. These two girls were chosen by Lun’er. I was going to ask Lun’er to tell them, but now that you’re here, it’s even better. You can take them back yourself. It will show your magnanimity.”
Xu Rong: "..."
What a terrible temper!
She went to look at Chang Shuyin, and even Chang Shuyin, who was usually so good at holding back her anger, froze.
“These two girls have been serving me for several years,” Madam Xiao emphasized. “They are both gentle and sensible. I’ve had them for a while now, but I haven’t had the time to talk to them.”
The implication was that allowing Chang Shuyin to take him back now was already a magnanimous act.
Chang Shuyin finally spoke, her voice suddenly becoming dry: "Madam, since the young master was promoted, he has been even busier with official duties and has hardly been home lately. I'm afraid he has no time to think about it—"
“Lun’er is busy, so you, as his wife, should be more understanding of him.” Madam Xiao stared at her. “You should also think of things that need to be thought of for him.”
Xu Rong silently added in his mind: including the concubines during his wife's pregnancy.
Under pressure from Madam Xiao, Chang Shuyin remained silent for a long time until an announcement came from outside that Xiao Shan and the others had arrived. She could no longer delay, and resistance was futile, so she finally led the two maids away.
My steps were more than twice as heavy as when I came.
After Xu Rong finished paying her respects, she slipped away. She only said "Greetings to Madam" from beginning to end, and then inexplicably started watching the drama unfold.
The melon was a bit spoiled, like it had been sitting for hundreds of years, and it wasn't very tasty. She put it out of her mind as soon as she got back, and her mind was back on her business.
How did Xiao Xin actually do on the exam?
It was said that one should consider defeat before victory, and she had indeed prepared herself mentally, ensuring that even if Xiao Xin did not make the list, she would not disappoint him in any way. But—
Human desires are uncontrollable.
Or to put it another way, you should always have dreams.
Even though I know it's unlikely, I still can't help but think about it.
She spent the whole day in a state of anxiety and uncertainty, and finally, in the evening, Xiao Xin returned after finishing his exam.
He took the first exam today.
The process of the prefectural examination and the county examination is roughly the same, but there are fewer sessions, a total of three sessions. In addition, the first session is the most important. If you pass the first session, you can choose not to go to the others.
On the other hand, the number of people registering for the prefectural examination was three times that of the number registering for the county examination.
This is not hard to understand. Although a large number of candidates for the prefectural examination were eliminated by the previous county examination, the number of candidates has increased from one county to two. In addition to the candidates who took the county examination in June, there are also all the previous candidates who passed the county examination but failed the prefectural examination. All of them are crowding in to take the exam, so the number of people and the competition are very large.
Therefore, after making inquiries, Xu Rong thought that his chances of passing the exam were probably slim.
She observed Xiao Xin's expression.
You can't tell anything from him. He's always been the type to study diligently and quietly. After becoming the top scholar in the county, he gained a little confidence, but he remained the same in his daily life, neither flamboyant nor showy.
Just like during the county examination, Xiao Xin remained silent after returning from the exam. Xu Rong didn't dare to ask him anything either, as she knew nothing about the eight-legged essay and couldn't answer the questions with him, so asking him would be pointless.
After two more days of anxious waiting, the results were finally released.
Before dawn, Xu Rong opened her eyes—she hadn't slept well all night, having been having dreams, but she couldn't remember any of them when she woke up, only feeling exhausted.
The tent was gloomy, but Xu Rong couldn't sleep even if she didn't want to. She quickly got up, dressed, and went to the outside of the warm pavilion to call Xiao Xin.
I called out twice, but there was no response.
Xu Rong was impressed; he actually slept so well.
She couldn't wait any longer, so she lifted the curtain and went in. She saw Xiao Xin dressed in a plain white undergarment, his long arms and legs spread out on the kang (a heated brick bed). Half of the quilt was covering him, and the other half was pressed under him. He was sleeping soundly with his head turned to the side and his eyebrows relaxed.
Xu Rong was anxious and didn't care about anything else. She went up and pushed him, saying, "Second Young Master, get up. Let's go see the list."
After being nudged several times, Xiao Xin finally opened his eyes a crack and woke up. He looked a little dazed, and his brows were furrowed. Xu Rong ignored him and nudged him again, urging him on. Xiao Xin finally listened to her words and then closed his eyes again: "No rush... the results won't be released so soon."
It was still dark, and the government offices weren't even open yet.
"I need to get up, wash up, have breakfast, and then head over. That'll take about the time, including the journey." Xu Rong had already planned it out.
Xiao Xin refused to open his eyes and pulled the blanket up to hide himself further inside: "There's nothing to see here, there's no need to go."
“…” Xu Rong was stunned for a moment.
She couldn't possibly not understand what that meant.
Although the imperial examinations were far more uncertain than the college entrance examinations she had taken, candidates always had a general idea of how they would perform.
Xiao Xin's answer to her was, "There's no need to look at the rankings."
That's why you have to prepare yourself mentally beforehand. Xu Rong quickly extinguished that glimmer of hope and calmly pulled the blanket down from his face: "Then we won't go. Second Young Master, don't sleep with your face covered, it's bad for your breathing."
Xiao Xin obediently let her pull the blanket up to his neck. At this moment, he opened his eyes again, lying on his back and looking at her: "Are you angry?"
Xu Rong smiled and said, "How could that be, Second Young Master? We agreed to do our best and leave the rest to fate."
Xiao Xin's gaze did not leave her face: "Is it okay if I don't pass the exam?"
"It's okay." Xu Rong's voice softened. She felt that Xiao Xin must be under more psychological pressure than she was, so she didn't mention it until she urged him and he couldn't avoid it anymore, at which point he finally brought it up.
Xiao Xin seemed finally relieved, smiled, and then closed his eyes again.
But he didn't sleep much more. He lay there for a while, then got up, dressed slowly, and went out to wash up. Xu Rong carefully observed him and felt a little relieved.
He seemed alright, not too upset.
Over the next few days, Xiao Xin continued to study behind closed doors. He didn't attend the next two sessions, which Xu Rong considered natural. If he didn't pass the first session, he wouldn't be able to attend the next two anyway.
In the quiet, as September arrives, the osmanthus tree transplanted beside the courtyard gate becomes increasingly fragrant, its scent drifting into the house on the morning breeze and gently waking people up.
"Second Madam, Second Young Master, Second Young Master, Second Madam—!"
The gentle atmosphere was broken by Hongliu's cry. Although the little girl was lively, she usually wouldn't cry out in such a high-pitched voice. Xu Rong, who had just woken up, was startled and lifted the curtain: "What's wrong?"
"The Second Young Master passed!" Hong Liu rushed to her like a cannonball, waving her arms and legs excitedly. "The messenger is at the door! The Second Young Master passed!"
She's like a little broken record.
Xu Rong completely understood her. In fact, she wanted to repeat those words three times, but she was still more incredulous: "Really? You didn't hear me wrong? Those people didn't come to the wrong place?"
“No, no,” Hongliu replied in rapid succession, “The Second Young Master is the top scholar in the prefecture, there’s only one in the entire Shuntian Prefecture, how could we have made a mistake!”
Xu Rong: "...!"
She slipped barefoot into her soft shoes, grabbed a coat and wrapped it around herself. Just like Hongliu rushed to her bedside, she ran straight into the warm chamber. Xiao Xin was already up and getting dressed. Xu Rong stopped in front of him, wanting to speak, but for a moment she didn't know what to say, so she just glared at him.
Xiao Xin met her gaze, his eyes innocent and calm.
He must have heard what Hongliu said, but this is his reaction.
Xu Rong finally sorted out some of his thoughts: "—Second Young Master, are you telling me we don't need to look at the list?"
“I meant it’s unnecessary,” Xiao Xin corrected her.
Xu Rong glared at him again.
Xiao Xin glanced around and explained, "The top ten in the county examination will be required to take the exam in front of the prefectural magistrate. I finished writing and was selected on the spot."
So there's no need to look at the rankings anymore.
Xu Rong continued to glare at him—not only glaring at him, but her fingers were itching, and she almost wanted to pinch him.
Xiao Xin sensed the danger and took a step back, but he still complained in a low voice, "You're the one who thinks I can't pass the exam."
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