Chapter 123 Provincial Examination

"Growing environment determines the direction of thinking. Perhaps for Ah Qiang, this is her best choice. I respect her ideas, but I also hope that she can take a step forward to resist. Yue Niang told me that how she is has nothing to do with how her family is, just like she loves her husband, but also loves her career."

The content of the second to last page was about the previous generation. Si Li quickly glanced at the contents of the notebook, paused for a moment, closed her eyes, and turned to the last page.

Unlike what she thought, this was not the content before the Queen's death, but the time when the Emperor ascended the throne and Jiang Hengyun was named the Crown Prince. It was hard to tell how long the time span was from the previous page. When the Queen wrote about the child, her writing style was different from the previous gentle yet bold one, and it was full of tenderness everywhere.

"Little Yun'er is a quiet child. She has not cried or made a fuss since she was born. This makes me a little worried. I hope she has not inherited Lao Jiang's stupidity, otherwise I really don't know what to do with the father and son. Lao Jiang's status has changed, but he is still like a big fool chasing me. If I leave Yun'er and him here, they will cry, right?"

"I've decided to leave it to future generations." The last sentence had no beginning or end, but Si Li understood what the queen wanted to say. This meant that the queen decided to give up and go home to accompany her own small family in this time and space.

Then she died.

Si Li suddenly felt palpitations, her vision went dark, and she almost fell to the ground. Qing He, who was standing by her side, rushed forward to support her, and asked her how she felt.

"It's okay." Si Li used Qinghe's strength to sit still and let out a breath, "It got up too fast, don't let the news spread and scare Shi Zhi."

Qinghe looked very disapproving and full of worry. Si Li's eyes were empty and he said no more.

"I'm so pissed!" As business started in the front hall, the waiters passing by the backyard all slowed down their pace. Xiao Qi's anger was very obvious as she slammed the curtain and walked in.

After entering the backyard, Xiao Qi was startled by the dazed look of Si Li, whom she hadn't seen in the backyard of Wanglai Residence for a long time. She looked at the formation of people standing in a circle with a white-bearded medical officer sitting inside, glanced at Qinghe, and whispered, "What's going on?"

Si Li came back to her senses, "Aqi? Who made you angry?"

Seeing Si Li returned to her normal state, Xiao Qi breathed a sigh of relief. She took the manuscript from Si Li's hand and complained, "Who knows what's wrong with my mother? I'm almost sick at home. She's not allowed to go anywhere or do anything. I think she still thinks I'm a three-year-old child! What are you talking about? A new teaching..." The word "material" got stuck in Xiao Qi's throat. She looked at the word "A Qiang" written on the yellowed paper, her face gloomy, and quickly flipped through the notebook that came from nowhere.

Si Li opened her mouth, but didn't stop her in the end. Empress Yun Sheng had had contact with Du, Jian, and Xiao in those days, and Jian and Xiao, who had been in the capital the longest, were mentioned the most. This was Xiao Qi's mother's past, and she seemed to have no reason to stop her from understanding it.

There were many comments and deeds that could prove it. Xiao Qi was not stupid and quickly guessed who the original owner of the manuscript was. She read the entire manuscript and suddenly understood the conflict between her mother and the Si family, her mother's past obstruction to her, and why her mother mysteriously said that she could not be the guest of honor. And that Lantern Festival dinner, her mother did not allow her to go, but at the banquet she wrote a letter to the emperor to grant a marriage between the second prince and Si Er...

A proper guest is one who possesses both moral integrity and talent. But my mother knew she couldn't do that.

Xiao Qi was so angry that her hands were shaking. Her mother came from a noble family. The queen made up for her friend and felt sorry for her difficulties. But did her mother ever feel sorry for her friend's difficulties? Before the queen died, she never notified her friends to avoid her. After the queen died, her mother didn't even offer sacrifices every year! If she hadn't seen this manuscript, she might not have known that her mother recognized the queen!

"I'll go home first." Xiao Qi's face turned pale and he left like a gust of wind.

In the Xiao Mansion, since Xiao Qi was confined to the house, Minister Xiao no longer stayed in the yamen for long. He stayed at home as long as he could to accompany his daughter every day. When Xiao Qi came in, Minister Xiao was still sitting in the study with a book in his hands, the same posture as when Xiao Qi slammed the door and left after the quarrel, as if the previous quarrel had never happened.

Xiao Qi choked up a little and went in and closed the door. Even though she no longer approved of her mother's behavior, she didn't want others to hear about the unbearable things that happened behind her back.

"You're back?" Xiao Qian's face showed some surprise. She obviously didn't expect Xiao Qi's anger to disappear so quickly.

"Have you ever regretted it?" Xiao Qisha asked hoarsely.

"Hmm?" Minister Xiao was surprised, put down the book, and the wrinkles on his face relaxed. He actually smiled, "You know it now."

Xiao Qi looked for a long time but did not see any reminiscence or regret on her mother's face. When she was studying at the Group of Heroes and in the Northwest, she heard the story of the empress over and over again. If she admired the prince as the god of war, then the empress was like a bodhisattva who saved people and the country.

"How could you..." Xiao Qi said weakly, "You taught me not to be a coward, but what about you? They were all moving forward, but you were afraid. You took a step back, but pretended to be a bystander. On the road to breaking through the cage, you stepped on the dedication of others to move forward. Inaction itself is a kind of harm and betrayal. Don't you know?"

No, she knew, maybe she knew her mistakes and betrayals every day and night, but she never looked back.

Minister Xiao, the one who holds the highest official position among the three generations of women's special examinations, is like a benchmark even in the Qun Ying Academy. Even if others in teahouses and taverns outside criticize women for reading too much, as long as her example is cited, no one dares to refute her.

After all, to gain a foothold in the Ministry of Justice, one must have real abilities and means.

Xiao Qi was also proud of being the daughter of Minister Xiao, so even if she didn't want to memorize the Four Books and Five Classics, she still read them. But Minister Xiao, who represented the highest achievement of the current female imperial examination, was against the reformists? How ridiculous.

Xiao's mother pressed her eyebrows, her expression gentle, "Aqi, you have to know that there is no perfect solution. I have been raised by the family, and I cannot destroy it——"

"Stop talking nonsense! You just don't dare!" Xiao Qi almost screamed, covering her eyes that were unconsciously weeping, "I will do it for you to see, don't stop me."

Xiao Qi pushed the door open and rushed out. Xiao Qian sat in the shadow, exhaled, smiled, picked up the book, and said, "Young people..." Only she knew how much nostalgia was in her sigh.

The teacher of Qunying Academy, who had not seen Xiao Qi for a long time, looked at the girl's red eyes and quickly arranged accommodation without asking any questions. Liu Weiling quietly cleaned up the bed next to hers, and Xiao Qi never returned home since then.

As the summer went by, Si Li became thinner and thinner because of the insecurity and hesitation caused by the changes in the system. Jiang Hengyun took it to heart and bought more watermelons and bitter melons when he went to Guanglu Temple.

Before the temperature in autumn had completely dropped, the construction of the new site of the Qunying Academy in the suburbs had begun. The surrounding villages and towns that had received lectures from the young teachers heard that the Qunying Academy was recruiting workers to build a school building, and even stopped going to the most profitable dock in the capital every autumn, and came to the Qunying Academy in groups of three or four to help. In less than half a month, the new site of the academy had taken shape.

The autumn examination was approaching, and some students going to the capital to take the exams always passed by the new site of the Qun Ying Academy. Many people curiously asked which famous scholar was going to give lectures in the capital. When they found out that it was the new site of the Qun Ying Academy, they laughed at it, thinking that the Qun Ying Academy could no longer stay in the capital and had to move to the suburbs.

When they entered the city and heard about the admission of culinary students in the spring and the embroidery students in the autumn, the voices of ridicule became even louder: Associating with peddlers and hawkers, the Qun Ying Academy is nothing special.

However, the foreign scholar who spoke like this did not notice the strange looks from the people in the capital. He was just mocking them loudly when suddenly a black shadow came towards him and shattered on his body.

"Who smashed the stinky eggs?!" The scholar was so angry that he looked around but couldn't find the culprit at all. There was only faint laughter.

The glass produced under the supervision of the Ministry of Works soon covered all the schools and wealthy homes in the capital, and spread to the academies in the surrounding provinces. With the ice basin and glass, the rooms in the Gongyuan were renovated. The environment of the Autumn Examination in August of the 20th year of Jingwen was much better than in many years, which also made the scholars who entered the examination hall breathe a sigh of relief.

In the tense atmosphere, the male scholars had already entered the venue, and women in scholar's robes came in one after another. Some of them were not wearing scholar's robes that could not distinguish between men and women, but their own brightly colored dresses without hairpins and earrings. They had a carefree air, which made the onlookers from the capital city cheer loudly.

Si Li watched Meng Taotao and Xiao Qi enter the venue and breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Hengyun looked indifferent and pushed over the lotus leaf tea he had warmed. "Come, drink some water. You can eat the mint and winter melon strips when you get home. You should be able to eat more at noon."

This person didn't care about talent selection at all, but regarded her eating as the top priority. Si Li was angry and amused, and pinched Jiang Hengyun's face, "Aren't you thinner too? I said Ku Xia had no appetite, why are you staring at me?"

Jiang Hengyun had just learned to cook mint winter melon strips. He also pickled two large jars of freshly ripe green plums in the palace with great research spirit. He used up all the pears used for making wine and had to ask people to buy them.

"Okay, let's go back, lest you keep yourself warm and silent." Si Li finished her tea, hooked her fingers with Jiang Hengyun, and the two walked away. She always felt that she had other things to do when she came to watch the entrance of the provincial examination, but she couldn't think of it after thinking for a long time. It should be something unimportant, so she put it aside.

The provincial examination lasted for three days. In September, when the golden osmanthus was fragrant and osmanthus wine was brewed, the list of winners was posted. The sound of gongs and drums announcing the good news was incessant. Apart from those who already had businesses in the capital, the sounds were loudest in all the major inns and the two great academies.

"Report - Meng Taotao, the top scorer in the Jingwen County Examination in the 20th year, congratulates Meng Jieyuan!"

Meng Taotao happened to be in the academy today. With her voice as the first, more and more good news came in. The messenger asked for a gift and handed Meng Taotao a note with a picture of a flying dragon. He bowed again and asked, "Is Liu Yayuan here? The third wife of the Liu family?"

"Ah?" A girl with a low presence squeezed out from the side.

The first, the second... until the fourth Xiao Qi finished, the messenger rode a tall horse decorated with red silk and made a circle, and the same joyous congratulations were heard in front of the Imperial College next door.

However, the faces of the people from the Imperial College who came out to greet them were not very happy. It was because the first four were not their students, which was too embarrassing.

The fifth person, Du Xuan, received the good news. The people in the Imperial College who were waiting for further good news watched the messenger mount his horse and ride away. They were all dizzy and felt like they were dreaming.

This awkwardness and dizziness continued at the customary Deer Ming Banquet held in the Imperial College before the provincial examination. Unlike in the past, the Deer Ming Banquet was no longer a place for scholars to exchange polite words and get to know each other about their future careers, or for lunatics to drink and recite poems. It was now filled with beautiful women in fine clothes and the sound of hairpins and earrings. With the presence of girls, even the most unruly presenters would restrain their behavior.

Especially after realizing that there were only three men in the top ten of this provincial examination in Beijing.

The third session of the Women's Special Examination, this was the first time that the female students participated in the Luming Banquet. Meng Taotao held the wine glass and toasted one by one with a faint smile. A lot of the provincial examination papers had been circulated, and the Imperial College's chief priest naturally had a copy. When he saw Meng Taotao, he sighed and drank the light wine specially exchanged for the female students, "Young and promising!"

There is no first place in literature, but the difference in level in the imperial examination can still determine the winner. The examination paper of Meng Taotao, the champion of the provincial examination, was indisputable and surpassed everyone else, so that even the chief priest who wanted to find fault with his student could not find any fault. He drank a lot at the banquet, and even though the wine was light, he was drunk when he went home. His wife supported him and walked him into the room, listening to the drunkard's mumbling.

"Alas... How come Meng Jieyuan is a woman?"

The wife of the chief priest finally heard what he said, her face changed, she threw the man to the ground, and walked away without looking back. The chief priest, who was awakened by the fall, ran after him, holding his back, but he never had a good look on his face.

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The author has something to say:

The combination of Jian Yueniang's character and the friends she had when she was the empress should be quite obvious. Old man Si thought he loved her, but he was actually a fool.