Lei Zi and his team did not immediately send someone to inform them of the results. Instead, they made arrangements over there and set off directly back to the capital. They only informed them after they returned.
The trio took the exam together, but only Lei Zi passed; Jie Zi and Xiao Hu Zi both failed.
Jiang Jiuniang raised an eyebrow. This result wasn't too bad. After all, becoming a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) wasn't easy. It would be strange if everyone passed.
Fortunately, Lei Zi didn't get too cocky after passing the imperial examination, so Jie Zi and Xiao Hu Zi weren't too upset.
However, to Jiang Jiuniang's surprise, Jiezi and Xiaohuzi were both quite normal, probably because their emotions had stabilized after these days.
However, Jiang Jiuniang was still able to consider their feelings. She neither asked for the reason nor the exam questions, but simply decided to call Gou'er and Lu Baichuan to take them out to play.
The horse ranch outside the city is a great place to relax.
Jiang Jiuniang was unable to participate due to health reasons, but the children on the field had a great time. In the evening, she even took them out to a restaurant for a good meal before going home.
On the way back, Jiezi took the initiative to say, "Auntie, I'm not actually feeling that bad. You don't need to be so careful."
In the two days since he returned, he could clearly feel his aunt's family being very cautious, not daring to ask anything for fear of hurting his feelings. But in fact, he was not as fragile as he had imagined.
Upon entering the examination room and seeing the exam questions, he knew he had failed. He was indeed quite frustrated and regretted not having studied hard enough. So, after the exam, he started preparing for the next one. With so much time to recover, he was already back to normal.
"The questions on this test were much harder than I expected. There are still many areas where I need to improve. I'll try my best to pass next time."
Jiang Jiuniang was quite surprised that he could say that, after all, his anxiety before the exam was no less than Lei Zi's.
But that's good, she said, feeling very gratified. "It's good that you think that way. I was just afraid that you would keep everything to yourself and make yourself sick."
Jiang Jiuniang breathed a sigh of relief. It's really not easy to pay attention to the mental health of teenagers!
"Yes, I understand, thank you, Auntie!"
Jiezi nodded, and Leizi added, "The questions were indeed very difficult this time. I was worried I wouldn't pass, and my ranking wasn't very high either, but thankfully I still passed. However, I was prepared for the possibility of failing. Auntie is right, the imperial examinations aren't easy. If we can't even accept this setback, we won't be able to experience more important things in the future. We're still young, we have plenty of opportunities!"
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean!” Jiang Jiuniang patted her thigh and continued, “You are all still young, especially Jiezi and Xiaohuzi. There’s no need to rush the imperial examinations. You can participate each time to experience the difficulty, but don’t expect to pass. Wait until you’re older.”
“Just like Gou’er, I haven’t let him take the imperial examination yet because I think he’s still young and there’s no need to rush him.”
The children all nodded in agreement with Jiang Jiuniang's words, but Gou'er didn't say anything, as if he had something on his mind.
Once home, back in their courtyard, the dog, who had been holding back all the way, finally couldn't help but ask, "Mother, wouldn't it be better if I went to take the imperial examination now?"
If he hadn't gone to the border with his brothers last year, he would have been able to take the preliminary examination for the imperial examination with his brothers, and now they would be taking the county-level examination together. But he missed the opportunity before. He had planned to take the exam this time, but his mother was newly pregnant and had to go to Jingzhou for the exam. He couldn't bear to let his mother travel back and forth with him, so he quietly did not register.
He had initially thought that his mother hadn't thought of it at all because she hadn't mentioned it this time, but now he realized that she had deliberately kept it to herself.
All the other older brothers took the exam, but he didn't, and he wanted to know why.
“It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that your mother thinks you’re still young and don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself right now. You can play for a few more years. Originally, I was planning to ask for your opinion, but you didn’t mention signing up, so I assumed you thought the same thing and didn’t ask. But since you’ve asked now, your mother will tell you what I think.”
Jiang Jiuniang sat in the chair, bending down slightly to meet Gou'er's gaze, and continued, "Your father will be resigning from his official post soon. Your parents want to take you on a trip to see the world and broaden your horizons, so we plan to let you take the exam again in a few years. Of course, you can take it if you want. You can start preparing now and take the exam soon. The court has always been short of people, and in recent years, there have been two exams every year, so you still have a chance."
Jiang Jiuniang patted his head and smiled lovingly.
The dog was taken aback and asked, "If I choose to take the exam, can't I go out with my parents?"
"Yes, you can't do two things at once. Since you've chosen the path of scientific research, you have to put in a lot of effort. You can't be half-hearted and think about playing around."
Although Jiang Jiuniang was somewhat reluctant, she decided to respect her son's opinion. After all, it was her son's life, and he had to make the decision himself.
Without hesitation, Gou'er immediately said, "Then I want to go out and play with Mom and Dad!"
Although he also wanted to become famous at a young age and bring honor to himself and his parents, nothing was more important than staying by his parents' side.
He had gone to the border with his mother before, and he had indeed learned a lot, many of which he could not have learned in the academy.
Mother is right, he's still young, he can have two more years of fun!
"That's right! Ever since you were born, your father has been busy working outside and hasn't had much time to spend with you. Now that we have the chance, let's all go out and have some fun as a family, okay?"
"Uh-huh!"
The dog nodded repeatedly, its smile never fading.
He was very happy that even though his mother was pregnant with his younger brother or sister, she still put him first.
For a period of time afterward, Gou'er studied much harder than before, and even previewed the later lessons. Whenever he didn't understand something, he would quickly ask his teacher for help, so that he wouldn't have to face so many difficulties when he studied on the road in the future.
As time went by, the baby in Jiang Jiuniang's belly stabilized, and the Lu family gradually spread the word that Jiang Jiuniang was pregnant, so many people could openly come to congratulate her.
At this time, Mr. Kang and Chen Feier's wedding date arrived, and everyone had a lively celebration. Gou'er and Susu even acted as Mr. Kang's bed-pressing boys and received a big red envelope.
With her son's marriage finally settled, Madam Kang almost burst into tears at the wedding banquet. Coincidentally, Chen Feier's mother also cried her eyes out because she felt she could give an account to her husband and the ancestors of the Chen family after her daughter's successful marriage. The two in-laws simply hugged each other and cried.
You comfort me with a word, I comfort you with a word, and we started laughing out loud while we were crying.
The hard times are over, and things will definitely get better from now on!
People around them were laughing as they watched the newlyweds walk hand in hand into their bridal chamber.
Peng Yuan suddenly turned pale, grabbed Jiang Jiuniang's hand, and said, "Sister Jiuniang, my stomach hurts!"
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