262, Same person, different fate
262, Same person, different fate
On the third day after they arrived at the Hanlin Academy, Fu Lianxin also came.
When Fu Lianxin arrived at the Hanlin Academy, he was treated completely differently from ordinary people. Fu Lianxin was personally supervised by the Dean, unlike him and Zhang Lingxuan, who were assigned to be supervised by the bachelor's students.
However, after hearing this news, Lu Mingfei didn't have too many thoughts or jealousy. After all, Fu Lianxin's birth was destined to have a higher starting point than ordinary people like them. Therefore, even if they were both first-class Jinshi, he, the top scholar, would not receive better treatment than Fu Lianxin in the Hanlin Academy.
His grandfather was the emperor's tutor, but his grandfather... let's not even mention him.
But birth isn't something you can decide. All they can decide is their future. So, there's no need to compare yourself to others. Living your own life well is more important than anything else.
In his previous life, Lu Mingfei had worked in the workplace and was familiar with its rules. He knew that those with connections and those without received different treatment. Regardless of how others were treated, it had nothing to do with them. All they had to do was do their jobs well and complete the tasks assigned by their superiors.
Moreover, the scholar Cao he followed was not too bad. At least this superior had a good temper, looked cheerful every day, and had a very good attitude.
At present, the relationship between the superior and the subordinate is very good, and they are familiar with each other without any adjustment period.
However, the Hanlin Academy was a low-income government office, and the Hanlin scholars had no other income besides their monthly salary. If these Hanlin scholars did not have income from shops or land, their families would have to rely solely on this monthly salary to support their families, and their lives would be quite difficult.
For example, the boss he followed usually used aged tea to make tea; the food brought by the old servant at noon was all vegetarian steamed buns, without much oil, which showed that life at home was not very good.
But this is not surprising. With food prices so high, many ordinary families have no rice to eat. Those who can still eat now are relatively well-off.
After seeing that his new boss's family was living in poverty, Lu Mingfei came to the Hanlin Academy. Every day when he asked his family to bring him meals, he would ask them to send him an extra dish. He would use this extra dish to honor his new boss.
As for the others, except for the one time he sent something on the first day, he never sent anything again. Giving something on the first day was like paying respect to the seniors, but if you kept giving it, people would think you were being pitiful. The old Hanlin scholars in the Hanlin Academy were all scholars, each one of them extremely aloof and proud. They would rather starve to death than accept charity.
So, it’s okay if this kind of thing happens once in a while, but you can’t arrange it like this every day.
Besides, he wasn't some sucker who had to help the emperor support such a large group of employees. He himself was just an employee.
However, this was different from his own teacher. This was his first teacher since he entered the Hanlin Academy, so Lu Mingfei wanted to build a good relationship with the teacher and also wanted to learn more from this old Hanlin. Therefore, it was only right for him to give the teacher some filial piety.
Fortunately, his new boss was easy to please. He made him happy every day and he accepted the gift from his student naturally.
Although, he had some suspicion that it was because Lord Cao was a person who loved to eat, and the dishes in their family were so delicious that they just happened to suit the taste of the new boss, so Lord Cao would accept the filial piety he gave him every day.
The Hanlin Academy was also a small society, with its own conflicts, but they were smaller than those in the imperial court. His teacher was a kind and friendly person, and as a result, he, a subordinate of Lord Cao, also had good relationships with people in the Hanlin Academy.
One day, when Lu Mingfei was sorting books in the backyard, he heard a familiar voice calling him, "Brother Lu, so you're here! I had a hard time looking for you."
"Brother Fu." Hearing this voice, Lu Mingfei looked up and saw Fu Lianxin standing at the door. After seeing him, he raised his foot and walked in. He hurriedly stopped Fu Lianxin, "Brother Fu, don't come in. It's dusty in here. I'll go out."
When Fu Lianxin saw that the room was full of dust and cobwebs, he hesitated before stepping into the room and stood at the door without moving.
Lu Mingfei, who was inside, came out. He knew that there would be a lot of dust when he came to this room to tidy up the books, so he went back and asked his mother to sew him an outer cover and a hat to wear on his head. This way, when he was on duty next time, he could take off the outer cover and hat, and the clothes inside would still be clean.
"Brother Fu, why are you here?" Lu Mingfei was a little surprised to see Fu Lianxin appear here.
Fu Lianxin found Lu Mingfei's dusty appearance quite interesting?
He had mixed feelings towards Lu Mingfei, his rival who had slightly outperformed him on several exams. However, he never disliked Lu Mingfei; he actually admired him. With such a formidable opponent in his life, he no longer felt lonely.
"This is the first time we've met since we last parted at the Qionglin Feast. Last time, I sent someone to your house to deliver an invitation, but your family said you were out."
"Yes, I went for a walk outside. I just returned to Kyoto Prefecture a few days ago."
"Oh, I see." Fu Lianxin nodded and then told Lu Mingfei the reason for coming today: "I'm hosting a banquet at Yipinxuan tonight and I'd like to invite everyone to dinner. Do you want to come with us after you finish your shift?"
When a colleague invites you to dinner, or when everyone goes, it doesn't seem appropriate for him, a small fry, not to go, right?
Lu Mingfei thought about it for a moment and agreed. "Okay. I heard that the food at Yipinxuan is delicious. I haven't tried it yet. I'd like to take advantage of Brother Fu's invitation to go and see the world today."
"Haha, okay, in that case, let's make it a deal. Don't run away after you get off duty, come with us." Fu Lianxin quite liked Lu Mingfei's generosity and his attitude of never hiding his background.
"Okay." Lu Mingfei nodded.
The two people behind said a few more words, and then Fu Lianxin left.
After watching Fu Lianxin leave, Lu Mingfei returned to the house to continue organizing the books and cleaning the place.
I don't know how long it has been since anyone came in to clean this place, and the dust has piled up half a foot high.
Because a colleague was treating him to a meal that day, he didn't want to keep them waiting. So, calculating the time was almost up, Lu Mingfei finished his work a little early, cleaned himself up, and then went out to find his direct supervisor. Then, he followed his supervisor out to meet up with everyone else.
***
When they arrived outside the courtyard, many people were already there.
Lu Mingfei walked over to Zhang Lingxuan, nudged his friend's arm with his elbow, and asked in a low voice, "How do you feel about coming here these few days?"
Zhang Lingxuan looked at his friends who were enjoying themselves so much at the Hanlin Academy, and he was a little confused about what Lu Mingfei was so happy about. He had always thought that if they passed the imperial examination and became officials, they would be able to serve the people and become good officials. But after arriving at the Hanlin Academy, he realized that his previous thinking was a bit naive.
When they came to the Hanlin Academy, they saw these old Hanlin scholars who had passed the imperial examination like them. Many of them had stayed here for more than ten years, and some of them had even been Hanlin scholars their entire lives and had never left the Hanlin Academy.
He thought he might be able to find some difficult questions and answers from Lu Mingfei. "Let's find a time to talk later?"
"Okay." Lu Mingfei agreed without asking Zhang Lingxuan what he wanted to talk to him about.
Just as the two were talking, Fu Lianxin came out with their dean and invited everyone to go to Yipinxuan for a drink.
So they followed the adults out of the Hanlin Academy.
When they got outside, Lu Mingfei asked his direct superior and Lord Fang, who often played chess with Lord Cao, to get on his carriage, and he himself went to get on Zhang Lingxuan's carriage.
After they were the only two people in the carriage, he asked Zhang Lingxuan, "Tell me, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"I'm a little confused. Are we wasting our time and lives here in the Hanlin Academy every day?" While saying this, Zhang Lingxuan kept looking at Lu Mingfei, wanting his friend to help him solve this doubt.
Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and said, "It depends on how you view this issue."
"So what do you think about this issue?" Zhang Lingxuan asked.
"I think we should take advantage of this time to familiarize ourselves with the court and learn more from these learned senior scholars. That way, our trip to the Hanlin Academy will be worthwhile." Lu Mingfei looked at his friends who were waiting for his answer and said, "Ling Xuan, many things cannot be rushed. We came from the Imperial Academy to the Hanlin Academy. The Hanlin Academy is like a transitional period for us to enter the officialdom."
"Do you think that if you were to become a county magistrate now, you could educate the people, improve the livelihood and economy of the area, and ensure that every citizen had enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear?"
"No journey we take is in vain. Time is in our own hands. As long as we can properly manage our daily time and do what we have planned, we will not be wasting time or wasting our lives."
Zhang Lingxuan thought carefully about what Lu Mingfei said, and suddenly came to his senses. "Yes, you are right. I was too impatient."
"Don't be anxious, our life has just begun." Lu Mingfei raised his chin and smiled at Zhang Lingxuan.
A smile also appeared on Zhang Lingxuan's face, and his mood suddenly became open-minded.
On the way back, the two of them exchanged all the news they heard in the Hanlin Academy.
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