102 Palace Examination
◎The young man takes off gracefully◎
When she woke up, it was already bright outside. Ji Shijing was no longer beside her. Shu Yao reached out to touch the other side of the bed. It was cold, as if no one had slept there. She rubbed her head, exhaled, threw off the quilt and got out of bed.
It is not advisable to go out on the first day of the Lunar New Year. After setting off firecrackers, everyone goes home and there are few people walking on the streets.
Shu Yao put on thick winter clothes, opened the window and saw heavy snow falling outside. She then put on a cloak.
After going out, I happened to meet Ji Shijing at the corner. He was dressed in white, clean and neat, with only the red hairband adding a touch of color to him.
"Ah Jing, why did you get up so early today?" she asked. Seeing how lightly he was dressed, she couldn't help but worry. "Are you cold wearing so little?"
Ji Shijing seemed to have just finished his work and came back. He hugged Shu Yao's cloak and said, "It's windy outside, don't catch a cold."
Shu Yao looked at the snow piled all over the courtyard and suddenly had an idea. She smiled slyly at Ji Shijing and said, "Ah Jing, how about we have a snowball fight?"
After saying that, she picked up a handful of snow nearby and threw it at Ji Shijing with lightning speed.
The snowballs scattered over his body and fell down along his clothes.
Shu Yao blew a breath into her palm, turned around and ran, but at the same time she didn't forget to look back and challenge: "A Jing, you definitely can't hit me."
Ji Shijing tilted his head and smiled, then took a step forward to chase after him. He didn't dare to fight back too hard, and most of the time he could only be thrown at. Even when every snowball hit him, he would secretly rejoice in his heart.
The two ran all the way to the back garden, which was filled with Shu Yao's heartfelt laughter.
Finally, she was tired and sat down on the snow, gasping for breath. Ji Shijing wanted to help her up.
But he wasn't paying attention and was pulled hard by Shu Yao, and he fell into the snow.
Occasionally a few birds fly by in the sky.
The two of them lay in the snow together, looking at the falling snow. Shu Yao felt that the moment was extremely comfortable: "If only every day could be like this, it would be great."
Ji Shijing: "Yes."
The heavy snow stopped and started, and it continued to fall throughout the entire winter. It finally stopped in March, and the sun rose, and it was the day of the palace examination.
The night before, Shu Yao helped Ji Shijing pack his luggage and checked it over and over again, fearing that he had missed something. She checked it more carefully than she did when she was taking the college entrance examination.
Finally, when I checked for the eighth time, I realized that he had not brought the knee pads I made for him.
She opened the wardrobe and took out the knee pads she had been making for two months. Although they didn't look very good, the materials were solid and good, the leather was thick and definitely kept her warm.
Ji Shijing took the knee pad from her and carefully put it into his bag.
"Ajing, don't be nervous." Shu Yao didn't notice that her body was shaking when she said this.
Ji Shijing laughed: "I'm not nervous at all, Yaoyao, why are you nervous?"
Shu Yao then realized her embarrassing situation. She didn't know why, but she was more nervous about the palace examination than he was. If he passed, she could enjoy the good life too. It would affect her quality of life, so of course she was nervous.
"Yaoyao, have a cup of tea and relax." Ji Shijing handed her a cup of tea. While she was taking it, his fingers accidentally rubbed her palm. "Yaoyao, don't worry."
His words were like a reassurance. After Shu Yao drank the tea, she felt a little calmer. Although he had been arguing with her during this period, he never let up. Sometimes he even studied with her until the middle of the night before going to bed.
She looked so distressed.
"Yaoyao, let's take a break."
Tonight, the lights in the Zhaiyue Tower went out early. A crow perched on a tree trunk outside, staring at the bright moon in the sky with its scarlet eyes. It did not flap its wings and fly away until dawn.
On the second day, Shu Yao accompanied Ji Shijing to the outside of the imperial city. Guihua Lane was not far from the imperial palace, and the carriage arrived in just half an incense stick of time. The outside of the imperial city was full of people who were about to go in for the exam.
Everyone was holding a book in their hands, thinking hard.
Shu Yao looked at the huge crowd and had the illusion that she was dreaming of the college entrance examination.
Suddenly, a cry of surprise erupted from the crowd, and someone shouted, "Oh no! Someone has fainted."
Everyone gathered around and saw a young scholar lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth and convulsing all over.
The guards stepped forward with an indifferent look on their faces to check. Every time there was a palace examination, someone would faint outside the imperial city. He was no stranger to such things. He glanced at the fainted scholar and said calmly, "He must have fainted from being too nervous. We need to take him to the doctor."
Shu Yao watched the scholar being carried away. It turned out that some people really fainted from the stress of the exam. She took out a candy from her bosom, peeled it, and handed it to Ji Shijing's mouth: "Ajing, keep going. I'll wait for your good news."
Ji Shijing savored the sweetness in his mouth and nodded.
The gate of the imperial city slowly opened and the candidates went in one after another.
Ji Shijing was at the very end of the line. He looked back at Shu Yao, then followed the crowd in. A ray of sunlight shone on him, and the wind blew up his hairband, making him look like a young man about to take off.
Shu Yao didn't look away until the gate was closed again. The gate of the imperial city was suddenly empty.
The sun was already high in the sky and the ground was showing signs of warming up. Shu Yao stretched her muscles and bones, thinking about selling the snow cream she had made some time ago.
She was really bored in the mansion, so sometimes she would go next door to chat with Lady Wang. Later, Lady Wang taught her how to make snow cream.
She studied seriously, and in less than half a month, she really figured it out. She added a little bit of her own ideas to it, tried applying it for ten days, and found that there was nothing abnormal about her skin, but it became smoother and more tender.
Shu Yao suddenly had an idea and thought that maybe she could make money from this.
After returning to the mansion, she took out all twenty boxes of snow cream and went straight to the most prosperous East Street. She came to the door of Zui Xiang Fang. Shui Xian, who was outside, saw her at a glance. Her eyes lit up and she walked down the steps with a twist of her waist: "Miss Shu, long time no see. The sisters in our Fang miss you so much."
"We wanted you to come back and help us put on makeup."
"You don't know, the makeup girl who came from Jiangnan after you left was extremely bad at applying makeup. It's not as good as us sisters doing it ourselves."
Narcissus kept chattering in her ear, and Shu Yao responded from time to time.
"Miss Shu, are you still here to help us with the makeup?" Narcissus looked at her hopefully.
Shu Yao shook her head guiltily: "I have other things to do, so I may not be able to come." If she worked here every day, she could only earn a fixed amount of money. She wanted to try her own business and build a beauty brand, just in case it was successful.
Narcissus's loss is visible to the naked eye.
Seeing this, Shu Yao quickly opened her small bag and took out a few boxes of Snow Cream for her: "This is the hand cream I made myself. Take it back and let the sisters in the workshop try it. If it works well, I will send some more next time."
Narcissus immediately opened a box. The cream inside was slightly pink, and a pleasant floral fragrance filled her face. She couldn't wait to apply some on her hands and sniffed it gently.
Her cracked and peeling skin immediately became more moisturized. She was very happy: "Thank you, Miss Shu. How much is this?"
"No, no, just take it and use it." Shu Yao refused. When she had no money before, Zui Xiang Fang was willing to take her in. How could she accept their money?
Narcissus smiled and said, "Miss Shu, you are such a nice person."
The two exchanged a few more pleasantries, and Shu Yao closed the small bag and continued walking towards East Street.
Narcissus went in with the snow cream and happened to run into Shen Qianxiao who was walking towards her.
Shuixian stopped her and said with a smile: "The prince wants you to go to his house again?"
Shen Qianxiao said “hmm”.
"Tsk tsk tsk, this is incredible! Our Qian Xiao is truly charming. Don't forget us sisters when you enter the Marquis' Mansion."
"The sisters all want to follow you and take advantage of you."
When Shen Qianxiao heard her say this, he hurried forward to cover her mouth, and at the same time looked around: "Sister Narcissus, don't say these words carelessly."
Narcissus pulled her hand away: "With our status, we definitely can't be someone else's wife, but the title of concubine should be given to you by Young Master Shen. After all, we can see that the young master really loves you."
Shen Qianxiao looked a little lost.
Seeing her reaction, Shui Xian said with some doubt: "No way, doesn't the prince have this plan?"
Shen Qianxiao sighed, shook his head, and walked around Narcissus to go out.
Shui Xian quickly handed her a box of Xue Ning Cream in her hand: "This is what Miss Shu just sent. It's very effective. You should try it."
Hearing Shu Yao, she remembered the portrait she saw in Shen Jingan's study. Her hand holding the box gradually tightened. After a long time, she nodded and left silently.
…
East Street is the center of Chang'an Avenue. There are many vendors here and pedestrians come and go like a constant stream of water.
Some of the more prominent spots were already occupied, so Shu Yao could only set up her stall in a corner, neatly placing the snow cream on it and writing on the sign: "Rejuvenation, eternal beauty."
She sat on a small bench, watching the people coming and going, but no one stopped in front of her. She tried shouting, but it was of no use.
After thinking for a moment, she wrote on the sign: "Free trial."
This really attracted some young women. They came to her stall to pick and choose, and asked, "Is it really a free trial?"
Shu Yao smiled widely and said, "Yes." Then she opened a box and handed it to the two women in front of her.
The two women looked at each other, but finally applied the cream on their hands half-believingly. The cool touch was very comfortable, and after applying it, their hands were indeed much more tender.
Seeing that the effect was good, they each took a box.
Shu Yao put the first money she earned from the stall into her small purse, and her mood became even better. In one afternoon, thanks to her continuous sales, half of the snow cream had been sold.
The owner of another rouge and powder shop next door couldn't help but feel jealous when she saw how good her business was. She didn't sell a single box today, and she felt that Shu Yao had stolen her business.
She walked over with a bad look on her face: "Sister."
Shu Yao put down what she was holding: "Is there something wrong?"
The proprietress looked to be in her thirties, skinny and bony, her face covered in rouge and powder. "Sister, all the rouge in this area is contracted by me, do you understand?"
Shu Yao frowned, it turned out that he was looking for trouble.
She glanced at the goods on the woman's stall. It was full, but it seemed that she hadn't sold a single thing. She had been waiting there for a whole day and hadn't sold a single thing. She really needed to reflect on this. Besides, she only sold snow cream. How could she steal her business?
"Sister, don't come here again tomorrow, otherwise..."
The proprietress smiled with a forced smile and spoke in a threatening tone.
Shu Yao was no pushover either: "Instead of trying to stop me from setting up my stall, why don't you think about your own reasons? Maybe the rouge and powder you sell are of poor quality, or the price is too high, so people don't buy your stuff."
She looked at the wrinkles on the boss lady's face caused by powder cake. If she were a customer, she would not buy anything from her after seeing the beauty store owner like this.
Seeing that Shu Yao was stubborn and unyielding, the proprietress called out a big man from the house. The big man had a ferocious look, with one arm exposed and covered in tattoos. He looked like someone who was not to be trifled with.
"Sister, I've just told you, but you refused to listen. So I have no choice but to use force." The proprietress winked at the big man.
The big man moved his wrist and approached Shu Yao.
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