After finishing her meal, Lin Xue carefully put away the remaining roasted lamb chops and stewed lamb, as they could still be eaten for another meal that night!
For some reason, Huang Dehai and Dong Wu got along very well, and the two soon began to call each other brothers.
Sure enough, Huang Dehai went straight to the other party's carriage to discuss the strange tales in the annals with Dong Wu.
Lin Xue was happy to relax by herself and began her daily practice cross-legged.
"Madam, there is nowhere to rest along the way. We may have to camp in the wilderness tonight."
Lin Xue didn't know how much time had passed when she heard Old Ma's voice outside the car.
"Let's find a high place near a water source and spend the night outdoors!"
It would take about three days to travel by carriage from Donglin County to Linzhou Prefecture. Lin Xue estimated that they should arrive in Linzhou Prefecture by tomorrow evening.
As an experienced driver, Lao Ma naturally knew where the best place to camp was.
The carriage drove on for a while longer before finally choosing a spot in the mountains near a water source as its campsite for the night.
This place is some distance from the main road, but not too far.
Located halfway up the mountain, you can see the road clearly, but it's not easy for pedestrians to see this spot.
Dong Wu's carriage naturally followed Lin Xue and the others, stopping on this hillside.
The other group of merchants seemed to think it would be better to be closer to the two groups, so they followed them to the hillside and chose the other side, not far from Lin Xue and her group.
Therefore, the chubby middle-aged man with a round belly even brought some things over, hoping that they could look after each other that night.
In the middle of nowhere, it's naturally safer to have more people, so Lin Xue didn't refuse.
They took out the roasted lamb chops and stewed mutton from the carriage, heated them up, and ate them with their dry rations.
Old Ma spends most of his time driving carts, so he naturally has his own set of tools.
He took out a large piece of oilcloth, found some wooden sticks nearby to support it, and then set up a small tent, just big enough for him to sleep alone.
After finishing their meal, Old Ma led the two horses to graze in the nearby woods for a while.
Lin Xue and her husband still lived in the carriage, as did Dong Wu and his younger brother.
Before going to bed, Lin Xue noticed that the merchants across the street had also set up quite a few small tents, presumably for their servants to sleep in.
Not long after it got dark, Huang Dehai returned to the carriage and began to sleep soundly.
Seeing that most people had returned to their tents or carriages, Lin Xue flipped herself onto the roof of the carriage and began to cultivate cross-legged.
The spiritual energy in this world is not as abundant as in the world of cultivation, nor is it as pure as that of the ancient continent.
However, it can also squeeze out some spiritual energy from the air for self-cultivation and improvement.
As the moon rose, Lin Xue entered a semi-cultivation state, a state that allowed her to quickly recover from physical fatigue and also gave her a better understanding of her surroundings.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
"Croak croak~"
“Eee…ee…ee…”
Around four o'clock in the morning, the chirping of insects and birds woke Lin Xue from her cultivation.
After glancing at the people who were still asleep, he lightly touched the ground with his toes and headed into the mountains.
Before long, Lin Xue arrived at a spring. She scooped up a mouthful of water and tasted it.
Wow, it really is spring water! It tastes a little sweet!
After drinking the spring water, Lin Xue washed her face with it and then began searching in the mountains.
An hour later, he returned to the carriage with several wild ginseng roots of varying ages, as well as some other older medicinal herbs.
"My dear wife, where did you go so early this morning? I woke up and didn't see you, and I was terrified!"
When Lin Xue returned, Huang Dehai, who had been searching the surrounding area, immediately came to greet her.
"I've gone to find some medicinal herbs. We'll take them to Linzhou City and sell them later, so we can make some more money!"
Lin Xue handed the bundle in her hand to Huang Dehai, "There are a few ginseng roots in here, which should fetch tens or hundreds of taels of silver!"
"When you go to the capital for the imperial examination, you can use it as travel expenses!"
Huang Dehai passed the provincial examination in the town and the county examination, and now he is going to the prefectural city to take the provincial examination.
The imperial examination system in this world is somewhat different from that in other worlds that Lin Xue knows.
After a student passed the provincial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination), he still had to go to the capital to take the palace examination before he could be assigned an official position.
The size and type of official positions assigned were also closely related to this palace examination.
Of course, this doesn't mean that if you do well on the exam, you'll become a high-ranking official, and if you don't do well, you'll be sent to a remote area.
It mainly depends on whether there is a powerful force behind you, and also on your personal abilities.
Of course, the top three are definitely different, since it takes several years to produce three such top talents, and the top three usually stay in Beijing to take up positions.
However, once they are assigned official positions, they will not be given very good locations.
Everyone starts from the bottom of each department; it's not that you can get a high-ranking position just because you pass the exam.
If you want to climb the ladder, you still have to rely on your own hard work and performance.
If you perform well enough during your tenure and make certain contributions to the people and the court, you will have the opportunity to be promoted.
Otherwise, the magistrate of Donglin County would have been so polite to Huang Dehai and his companion after wiping out a small band of bandits from Yan'er Mountain.
It's because he achieved these results that he wanted to curry favor with his superiors in order to get promoted.
Huang Dehai and Lin Xue's assistance undoubtedly did the magistrate of Donglin County a great favor.
This is why he was willing to give 50 taels of silver to thank the two of them.
"My wife, how virtuous you are! You always think of me and the family, but it's too much of a hardship for you!"
Huang Dehai held Lin Xue's hands in his palms, feeling both moved and guilty.
It is said that scholars are useless, unable to lift a finger or carry anything, and need their wives to take care of them in every way.
He must do well in the exam and strive to get a good ranking so that he can fulfill his wife's dream of becoming an official's wife!
With this thought in mind, Huang Dehai didn't bother to chat with Dong Wu on the rest of the journey. Instead, he sat in his carriage and carefully looked at the books Dong Wu had brought.
The carriage swayed and rattled, finally arriving in Linzhou City as dusk fell.
With Dong Wu's help, they did not choose to stay at an inn, but instead rented a small courtyard as a temporary place to stay.
This small courtyard is right across from the examination site, which will make it convenient for Huang Dehai to participate in the scientific expedition.
Normally, it would be impossible for them to rent such a small courtyard at this time. After all, it's the day when scholars from various towns and counties come to the prefectural capital to participate in the imperial examinations.
The room rates at those inns are three to five times higher than usual!
This was all thanks to Dong Wu, who used his connections to help them stay in the best house for the least amount of money!
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