Before leaving Linnan Prefecture, Mu Erpang and his companions paid a visit to Liu Xuezheng according to etiquette and brought gifts.
It is said that after working under Liu Xuezheng for such a long time, Mu Erpang and his friends have never met Liu Xuezheng. When they went to the school office in person to present small gifts, they were thinking that maybe they could meet him before Liu Xuezheng stepped down.
After all, with the example of Minister Wang, they couldn't help but think that perhaps Liu Xuezheng was as kind as Minister Wang.
However, the concierge did not let them in. He only took the tea and snacks and said, "Our master is busy sorting out the affairs at hand so that he can hand over to the new academician later. He has not seen any guests recently. Please don't be offended, gentlemen."
Mu Erpang and the others naturally said no, and the doorman at the back gave them some return gifts, saying that they were specially prepared by Liu Xuezheng.
The return gift was equally simple, just a square handkerchief that almost every scholar has nowadays.
Both the material and the embroidery pattern are very common. It was obvious that Liu Xuezheng had people purchase a large quantity of them and placed them at home to send away all the people who came to see him.
On the way back to Qingzhou Prefecture, everyone talked about this matter. Wei Xi said, "It seems that Liu Xuezheng and Shangshu Wang are both thinking of avoiding this matter."
At that time, Minister Wang said that he would return home immediately after presiding over the provincial examination. Later, it was heard that he left Linnan Prefecture overnight.
In fact, the emperor specially appointed him to Linnan Prefecture to preside over the provincial examination, and he must have left some time for him to return home to comfort his homesickness.
It's not to the point that he can't even wait for one night and asks him to travel in the dark.
So although it is true that he was eager to return home, another meaning was that Shangshu Wang did not want to have any private contact with the candidates of this year.
After all, although he was no longer the chief examiner of the subsequent imperial examinations, the entire imperial examinations and palace examinations held in the capital were all managed by the Ministry of Rites.
At this time, when rumors were spreading about the provincial examination, others would still stand up and say that someone of his status would not cheat in an examination of such level as the provincial examination. He is just a juren. How can he be of any benefit to Shangshu Wang? It is impossible that at his age and in such a high position, he would take the bribes that might occur in the provincial examination into consideration and disregard his lifelong reputation and standing as an official?
But what about the provincial examination and the palace examination?
Those who pass the exam here are generally directly appointed as officials. The involvement is far beyond what can be compared to the provincial examination.
In addition, the capital is located under the emperor's feet. If any rumors spread from above, even Shangshu Wang would have a headache.
After Liu Xuezheng stepped down, he also returned to the Ministry of Rites. The issues that Shangshu Wang needed to consider were naturally also those that Liu Xuezheng needed to consider.
So Mei Ruochu also agreed: "Liu Xuezheng is doing this for our own good."
A few days later, Cuiwei and his group returned to Qingzhou Prefecture.
First they suffered a great deal in the examination hall, and then they traveled for such a long time, so the boys were all very tired and naturally needed some rest.
But at least we are in the academy, so everyone's condition has recovered much faster than before.
It was time to celebrate later. Cuiwei had always advocated keeping things simple. In the past, when the young men passed the imperial examinations, they would just get together on their own.
Now that he has become a juren, besides giving his family a good meal first, many other etiquettes cannot be omitted.
First, the young men had to go to the provincial school to give gifts of thanks, and both the professors and instructors had to give gifts.
After this round of sending off students, their classmates in the provincial school learned the good news that they had all passed the exam and came forward to invite them.
Although everyone in Cuiwei had gone through the same studies together, there were only a few classmates in the provincial school with whom they had close relationships.
But if I refuse now, it will be the same as before, and it will easily appear that I have gained power and look down on others.
As for the local gentry and wealthy families, of course some of them also extended olive branches.
But fortunately, the Cui family has deep roots in Qingzhou Prefecture, and with the Cui family's help in resisting, the young men don't have to suppress their dislike and attend such a drinking party with impure purposes.
Finally, Mei Ruochu and Wei Shu, who had studied in other academies in their early years, also had to go back.
As for Wei Shu, Shen Cui was quite relieved about him.
The influence of the law on him is that he unconditionally becomes Mu Yunchuan's tool, which is not serious compared with other students in the academy.
Moreover, if he returned to Yongning County, he would not meet Mu Yunchuan who was far away in the capital.
Lao Buyu was even more excited than Wei Shu himself when he heard that he could go back to see Ling Qingming. He specially took out the new clothes that Cui Fei bought for him in Linnan Mansion, and offered to accompany him back. He also asked Chen Cui and Mu Erpang if they wanted to go together.
Shen Cui and Mu Erpang were both concerned about the Shen family and wanted to go back in person to share the good news with them.
But Chen Cui was neither as young and strong as the young boys, nor as healthy as Lao Buyu. She had a foundation laid by traveling around in her early years, and she had not yet recovered. If she hurried back to the county town, her complexion would probably be even worse, so Zheng and Old Man Shen would not have to worry about her.
Mu Erpang had thought of the same things she had thought of. Compared to his grandma and grandpa, he cared more about his mother who was in poor health. He said that he would accompany Chen Cui to recuperate first, and in about half a year at most, he would be able to return home to reunite with her family.
But Mei Ruochu was in a difficult situation, because the old headmaster treated him much more kindly and sincerely than Ling Qingming treated Wei Shu.
Even though it was not polite, Mei Ruochu really wanted to go and tell him the good news in person at this time.
But the closer he got to the imperial examination, the more worried Chen Cui became about him, always fearing that the rules would take action against him at any time.
Fortunately, she didn't hesitate for too long, and the old headmaster came to Qingzhou Prefecture in person.
He guessed that after Mei Ruochu finished the provincial examination, no matter whether he did well or not, he would definitely rush back to Hongle to inform him of the news.
Instead of letting Mei Ruochu run back and forth, it would be better for him to take a carriage for a few days to come and listen to the news. Besides, he has not thanked Chen Cui in person yet. He can't just rely on his age and wait for Chen Cui, the benefactor who helped him a lot, to take time out to visit him.
I learned that Mei Ruochu not only passed the exam this time, but also passed the Liyuan exam without any trouble.
The old headmaster, who has always been prudent, was also quite excited. Her excitement was the same as Shen Cui's after she saw Mu Erpang taking the marrow cleansing pill. It was not because he did well in the exam, but because she was excited that Mei Ruochu got what was rightfully his.
Later, knowing that the young men would have to take another exam in a few months, the old headmaster served as a temporary teacher in Cuiwei for a few days and gave everyone a good lecture.
After finishing all these things, Chen Cui set a time to go to the capital - just like Mu Yunchuan before, she also planned to leave before winter, and getting used to the environment and climate was no longer the most important thing.
The most important thing is to find a more spacious place to live in advance and move the academy there. It cannot be like the provincial examination, because there is not enough space. The small house is not enough to be organized into a systematically recognized "academy" to expose the young people to the rules.
She felt that according to the nature of the plane's rules, the closer it got to the important exams, the more it would play tricks.
Without the existence of a signal blocker like the academy, it would not be enough to make her feel at ease.
Chen Cui decided to go to the capital in mid-October, and the old headmaster stayed until now before returning to Hongle. Finally, it was time to go to the government office to apply for the travel permit.
In ancient times, people always needed a travel permit when going out. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, people had to get this document if they went more than a hundred miles away from their hometown.
But maybe this world is a fictional book. The imperial examination is relatively rigorous, but this aspect is quite fictional. The law stipulates that a travel permit is required only if one is leaving the province where one's native place is.
It was a very serious matter for Cuiwei's people to go to the capital to take the imperial examination. There was no need for any lobbying or arrangements. The government office issued the permit on the same day, and the attitude of the officials was warm and enthusiastic.
For the first time, Chen Cui directly felt the convenience that came with a class leap.
Before leaving Qingzhou Prefecture, Chen Cui tidied up the house and returned the key to Cui Wuniang.
This might be the last chance for the two to meet recently - after all, everyone in Cuiwei did very well in the exam, and Mu Erpang's ranking was second only to Mei Ruochu, the child prodigy who was famous since childhood. It is very likely that he will be able to pass the exam smoothly next year, and Chen Cui will naturally stay in the capital with her son and is unlikely to come back.
So Cui Wuniang was particularly concerned. She came over to get the key in person, and held Shen Cui's hand and talked for a long time. Finally, she said distressedly: "I see that the children seem to have recovered, but you are thinner than before?"
Shen Cui shook her head helplessly and said, "Maybe I am destined to worry about nothing. Although I have no fate and I don't have the talent to guide them, I just worry too much. I am not as young as them, and I haven't recovered yet."
In fact, Chen Cui has complained to the system several times in this regard recently. At this moment, most of the things in the system mall can only be used for play partners, and her usage authority as the head of the mountain is still not high.
Otherwise, after the provincial examination, she would have received a total of five-digit shopping point rewards. When she bought medicine for Wei Xi, she would have also bought some for herself, so she wouldn't have to recover so slowly bit by bit.
The system was also helpless and could only advise her to be patient. After the exams were finished next year, once Mu Erpang passed them successfully, all permissions would be unlocked.
Although Shen Cui didn't show it on her face, she actually cursed the system in her mind as "black-hearted", and the system didn't dare to say a word.
Cui Wuniang's eyes were full of heartache. "Then it was right for you to go to the capital earlier. Winter is the best time for warming up. The sooner you go, the sooner you can start recuperating. When I have someone pack A Fei's luggage, please put more tonics in it. You can take them with the children, so that you don't fall ill before the children are sick."
After talking about these, Shen Cui asked again: "How many people are your family going to send to take the exam?"
Cui Wuniang had been worried about letting Cui Fei take the provincial examination before, but now that Chen Cui was with him, she couldn't be more relieved, so she just said, "It would be inconvenient for you if there were too many servants. But if it was maids, it would be inconvenient for the students. So I discussed with Grandpa and decided to just send the coachman and a few accompanying servants."
After everything was arranged, Cuiwei's people left Qingzhou Prefecture in mid-October.
This journey was very tiring. First we took a horse carriage, then we took a boat to change the water route, and then we took the land route. It took nearly a month.
During this period, in order to prevent the boys from getting sick, Shen Cui worked herself to the point of having aches all over her body. At the same time, she also kept buying tonics and doing needlework for their various values without a break.
In early November, the group finally arrived in the suburbs of Beijing.
Although they could have entered the city overnight, the long journey was exhausting, so Chen Cui felt that it was unnecessary and decided to take everyone to rest for a night at an inn outside the capital.
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