Chapter 315 Jin Cheng's Little Secret
"The children's autumn exam is coming, but time is too tight and there are still many deficiencies that need to be made up. I have recently been looking for past exam questions with the teachers, but it is difficult to collect them because they are so old. I heard that you were the top scholar eleven years ago, with the best talent and memory. I wonder if you can recite a set of autumn exam questions from that year?"
After Xu Wan finished writing these, she waited for the ink on the paper to dry naturally while placing the two most recent exam papers they had collected next to her, so that when Zong Zhao couldn't remember the exam papers, seeing these two papers could trigger some memories.
After finishing all this, she thought for a moment and added at the beginning and end of the letter: "My husband's letter" and "My wife, Xu Wanliu."
After all, she was asking for help, and the dictation was a big project, not a small matter. Xu Wan respectfully addressed the other party, added her own name, and completed the standard writing of a letter.
Xu Wan was very satisfied.
She looked at the two words "husband" and said to herself, "This kind of address is really the most suitable to be written out. It's so embarrassing to say it out loud."
The next morning.
Xu Wan woke up, stretched, and yawned. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the couch out of habit.
Sure enough, there was no one there again.
She fumbled to get out of bed and put on her shoes, thinking that Zong Zhao must have written her a reply, saying that he would write down the test questions for her or if she couldn't remember them. However, when she looked at the desk -
A slender figure was sitting in front of the large desk that should have been empty. The man sat upright, wearing only the simplest casual clothes, but he exuded vigorous vitality. At the moment, he was concentrating on writing, and his hand holding the pen kept moving.
"ah……"
Unexpectedly, Xu Wan was shocked to see him.
Although they lived under the same roof, she hadn't seen this face for three days and she called out in surprise.
Zong Zhao didn't even raise his head. He wrote while saying, "Go wash up and have dinner. I'm almost done with the memorization."
"Oh, oh." Xu Wan followed the instructions and quickly turned around to wash and change clothes.
God, she was used to Zong Zhao not being in the room, so she just got out of bed in her pajamas and slippers. Fortunately, Zong Zhao didn't look up.
Xu Wan picked up her idol baggage and hurried to wash and change clothes.
After everything was cleaned up, Cuizhi had breakfast brought to the small round table outside, and the maids were busy coming in and out.
Zong Zhao was still writing furiously for the children inside. Xu Wan was too embarrassed to sit down and eat, so she walked to the desk to check the progress. She had already memorized the poem.
The poetry composition test consists of many items, including dictation, translation, and creation. For the creation, you only need to remember some major questions, while the other dictation items are numerous and diverse, and you cannot recite them without the best memory.
What’s more, the Autumn Examination was held one year earlier than the Palace Examination, and it had been twelve years since Zong Zhao participated in the Autumn Examination.
Somehow, a picture emerged in Xu Wan's mind. It was of a fourteen-year-old boy, Zong Zhao, sitting at the examination table in the Gongyuan, answering the test questions meticulously.
Looking at Zong Zhao who was now reciting the test questions, the two figures overlapped, and Xu Wan couldn't help but sigh: With such a good memory, he is worthy of being a genius boy who broke the record for the youngest person to pass the imperial examination.
Xu Wan looked at it for a while before reminding him, "Zong Zhao, eat first. There's no rush to write."
Zong Zhao paused while writing, and his eyes showed no emotion.
He hummed and said, "I'll be there right away."
As he spoke he completed the second half of the poem, then put his pen down and pressed the paper with a ruler.
In front of the small round table.
Xu Wan and Zong Zhao had breakfast together for the first time. Zong Zhao adhered to the principle of not talking while eating and said very little. This made Xu Wan, who was used to listening to the little devil's nagging every day, really uncomfortable.
She took the initiative to ask: "After you finish the test, are you still going out?"
"Yeah." Zong Zhao replied.
“…”
The air fell silent again.
Xu Wan thought to herself, "Oh, um" is indeed a killer in conversation, one word can make the conversation awkward.
She didn't care about it and decided to concentrate on eating. Zong Zhao was not at home often anyway. If he hadn't helped her with the questions today, he would have left by now.
He is so busy. What on earth is he busy with as a general? Luo Jingfeng even has time to annoy the little devil... Zong Zhao seems to have not even visited the children in the key class.
Xu Wan had a lot of thoughts in her mind, but she didn't say a word, in order to avoid her asking a question and Zong Zhao saying something. She decided to save her energy to chat with the little devil.
Unexpectedly, Zong Zhao suddenly spoke again: "I am investigating Yan Xiang's case recently, and I might borrow Wen Xiu to help."
"Ah?" Xu Wan, who was concentrating on eating, said in surprise, "Yan Xiang's case? The corruption case twelve years ago?"
It was the famous corruption case that started with Prime Minister Yan embezzling 1,000 taels of silver. Prime Minister Yan was dismissed from his post and died of anger. His family also fell into the slums while hiding from the enemy, and some died and some were injured.
And Wen Xiu was conceived at that time.
Zong Zhao lowered his eyes and whispered, "They are Zong Yan's in-laws. If I don't take care of it, no one will."
Xu Wan nodded and said, "Of course. Go ahead and do your work. If you need to call Wen Xiu, just call him and I'll tell him. Oh, by the way, Wei Hong should know more than him. If it's inconvenient for you to ask her, I can ask for you."
"Wen Xiu knows more." Zong Zhao said.
"Ah?" Xu Wan expressed doubts again.
Zong Zhao told her: "There are still some female relatives in Yan Xiang's family who have been living in the slums. In order not to affect Wen Xiu and his mother, they did not let them tell them about their existence. But Wen Xiu secretly took them out two years ago and settled them in a house on the outskirts of the city."
Xu Wan was shocked: "How could this happen? After Tongya was rescued, Wenxiu said that his aunt and her family lived in the suburbs of Beijing, and they sent Tongya back after the Wufang case was settled. I thought Tongya's mother was protected by her husband's family after she got married, but I didn't expect that the whole family would fall into the slums... This kid didn't tell me the truth, and he did it quietly."
Zong Zhao continued to tell her: "Jin Cheng also knows."
Xu Wan twisted.
She squeezed the chopsticks tightly and smiled like an old witch: "These two rascals are really good at hiding things..."
Two years ago...
That year when she first entered the mansion, the two boys went from being strangers to being good brothers, studying together and saving money together...
The alarm bells in Xu Wan's mind suddenly rang.
She remembered that just after Wen Xiu's identity was confirmed by the old lady, Jin Cheng suddenly came to her and asked for a reward of one thousand taels of silver. She said that he was very poor, why did he want one thousand taels of silver?
As a result, after the little devil failed to get money from her, he asked her to increase Wenxiu's monthly salary by ten taels of silver, and he was determined to save money with his brother.
What are the two young masters who have no worries about food and drink suddenly going to save money for? The result is self-evident.
It turned out that they were secretly saving money to support Wenxiu's family.
"Okay... okay, Jincheng is really good at hiding things. He even hid it from me." Xu Wan couldn't eat the meal. She stood up and walked out in a hurry.