Chapter 289: I Will Definitely Get First Place
The entrance of Gongyuan was still bustling. Confident little prodigies from various academies gathered together. The elders in their families carried their exam supplies and sent their children to Gongyuan for the five-day and four-night exam.
"The damn Tongzike rules allow a bunch of kids to take the Gongyuan exam, but can't they let my son go home and sleep at night?"
"I heard there are mice in there. If my son gets scared and becomes ill, I will never let him go."
"Son, you have to be careful. If you feel uncomfortable, just give up the exam. We can take the imperial examination directly when we grow up. We don't have to take the exam for the Tongzilang. If you don't give him an official title, what's the point?"
“…”
A new group of students arrived at the gate of Gongyuan, and the new group of elders were still cursing this broken rule.
Xu Wan rubbed her nose and thought: If it weren't for the burden of her status, she would have wanted to join in the cursing as well.
Mrs. Wei beside her actually wanted to scold her, but Mrs. Shen's husband was now an official in the Ministry of Rites, so she couldn't do it in front of others. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Shen ended up scolding herself: "You broke the rules."
"Pfft..." Several ladies burst into laughter.
Xu Wan noticed that although Mrs. He was smiling with them, she had a look of sadness in her eyes. She asked considerately, "Sister, what happened at home?"
Mrs. He said sadly, "Someone at home is sick, and I miss Zheng'er a little. I want to take him back to stay for a few days after the boy's exam is over."
Xu Wan said immediately: "Of course it's no problem. He Zheng hasn't been home much in the past two years. It's my negligence. I should persuade him to go home more often."
Mrs. He smiled bitterly and said, "It's okay. Just wait until he comes home this time."
After returning this time, he probably won't be able to leave again. The Shen family is now in a high position of power, and the Wei family is in the Censorate, so they are naturally not that afraid. Only his family is poor and can't afford to offend Luo Jingfeng.
But she couldn't say this, she still had to maintain her family's reputation, so she could only swallow her anger.
Xu Wan comforted her and didn't think about anything else for a moment. She just thought that it was really because a family member was sick that she would be in a bad mood.
Without the three little dandies at home, the study was obviously not as lively, but Xu Wan felt the most comfortable. She quickly found an opportunity to arrange a new course for them: "Just practice some math problems these few days."
"Number problems?" They both asked in unison, sensing a new direction for their studies.
The two brothers became excited, and soon, Butler Liu put the account book in front of them.
“…”
Zong Jincheng said unhappily, "Mother...what kind of math problem is this? Isn't this just looking at the account book? Accounting is the business of the inner house, why are we looking at this?"
Zong Wenxiu also scratched his head, not quite understanding.
Grandma was in charge of everything in the inner house, and even if it were to be passed down in the future, it would be passed down to the aunt. Housekeeper Liu would be the one to take care of it. Learning this didn't seem to be of much help to them in the imperial examination.
Xu Wan patted the account book and reminded, "When you take charge of a company in the future, all the expenses of your subordinates will have to be approved by you. If you can't even read the account book, how can you manage people? Hmm? Future second-rank officials?"
The two brothers, who were to become second-rank officials in the future, immediately realized: "I understand! Let's see it now!"
Xu Wan laughed and ordered Butler Liu to provide guidance. If the two brothers encountered something they didn't know how to do, they could ask him.
Butler Liu, who has always been a housekeeper, was suddenly promoted to a distinguished professor. He was so confident that he wanted to show off. This is his comfort zone. Let's see if he can show off his skills to the young masters!
"Here are the expenditures, and here are the incomes. Of course, the income of our mansion is very high, but this is not the point. The point is the expenditures. The two young masters, look here..."
"oh……"
Jianmen Cheng's brows furrowed as he looked at it: "How could our family spend so much money in one month?"
Butler Liu rolled his eyes in his heart and thought: Young Master, I haven't done as much as you did before when you were alone.
But on the surface, he had to explain seriously: "Because there are so many people in the mansion, each item has a fixed expenditure. Mr. Cheng, please look here."
The two young boys looked at the account book and asked questions. Later on, housekeeper Liu started to roll his eyes. He wanted to be a teacher for a day, but he started to roar after explaining: "The accounts in our house are very clean. No one is corrupt or falsifying accounts. The rice is specially supplied, the vegetables are the best, and even the sweepers have names and surnames!"
Zong Wenxiu said: "Our family is very rich."
Zong Jincheng touched his nose and sighed, "It's amazing. Even brooms have different grades."
Butler Liu: “…” Kill me.
After torturing Steward Liu for five days, the imperial examination for boys in the Gongyuan finally came to an end, and the group went in a grand manner to pick up the third little dandy.
"Jincheng! Jincheng! We're asking that question again!" Wei Xinglu shouted this to him as soon as he appeared.
The little devil asked, "What?"
Shen Yibai laughed wildly and said, "It's the question that Qin Ye gave you a hint. You said you wouldn't take the test again, but you took the test again this year! Hahaha Jincheng, admit defeat. You can't compete with Qin Ye. He is undoubtedly the top scorer of this year!"
He Zheng tried to cover his mouth frantically, but couldn't stop him. Shen Yibai jumped up and down to provoke the little devil.
On the way here today, Xu Wan asked Zong Jincheng to prepare three bouquets of flowers for the three of them. Shen Yibai's words made him look like an idiot with the flowers in his hands.
The little devil gritted his teeth, threw the flowers to Shunzi, and then rushed forward with his sleeves rolled up: "Shen Yibai, I'm going to fight you!"
Shen Yibai was not willing to be left behind, so he rushed in: "Come on, come on, I've been in there for five days and I'm almost exhausted, what a lousy place, come and fight!"
The elders at the gate of the tribute courtyard were laughing together. The servants carried the young masters' belongings to the carriage one by one. Mrs. He originally wanted to ask someone to take He Zheng's things back, but she gave up because she was afraid that He Zheng would find something unusual.
"Sister, I will take He Zheng back now. Thank you for taking care of this child."
Xu Wan felt uncomfortable hearing these words. She felt that it was not like a farewell for just a few days. This was not right. Even if he was leaving, he should at least say so.
She comforted Madam He, "It's okay, sister. Family companionship is the most important thing. You can take He Zheng back home first."
"Yeah, yeah." Mrs. He held her hand and then walked towards He Zheng.
Xu Wan looked at her hands and recalled the contact just now. Mrs. He's hands seemed to be shaking. Was it her illusion?
"He Zheng, come here, mother has something to tell you." Mrs. He waved at him. Seeing the young boy put away his happy smile, she asked worriedly about the health of her family members.
After a while, He Zheng also came over to say goodbye to Xu Wan: "Auntie, I'm going home first, and I'll come back to study in a few days."
Xu Wan smiled and said, "Go ahead. We'll all be waiting for you to come back."
"Yes!" He Zheng was about to leave, but after a few steps he turned back and said with bright eyes, "Auntie, I think I did very well in the exam this time. I will definitely get first place in Beijing. When the time comes, I will bring honor to you and our key class!"