An Shuyi nodded, "Yes, this is the house I was talking about. This one is mine, and the one next to it belongs to your aunt. The servants have already cleaned it up, so you can move in right away."
The servants from both houses heard the commotion outside and came out. When they saw An Shuyi and Xia Hua, they hurriedly came over to greet them.
Xia Hua instructed, "Wen Liu, Wen Fan, you two go to my residence to stay. You need to read and require a quiet environment. The rest of you can stay here. Wen Er, move your goods inside and find rooms to stay in."
"Tao, take the Seventh Miss to the attic first, and have Liuxin go and serve her. The rest of you can find your own places to stay." After saying that, she ignored the others and went straight into the house.
Tao received the instructions and looked at the young lady standing there. Without asking, she knew that this was the seventh young lady. This seventh young lady was really beautiful, looking just like the daughter of a wealthy family.
That makes sense, though. This seventh young lady is the daughter of a virtuous woman, and can be considered a lady from a prominent family.
After everyone was settled, we went to the hall for dinner. Now, in addition to the servants we had bought before, we had added 24 more people to serve as pages to Wen Liu and the others. There was also a maidservant, who was prepared for Ruo Hua.
The remaining three maids served in the room, while the kitchen was managed by Tao and her two daughters-in-law. Originally, they planned to have their sons as pageboys, but they were not suitable, so they bought new servants.
After the meal, Xia Hua called over the nineteen pageboys, all of whom had been trained by the brokerage firm and had learned the rules very well.
"Wenliu, Wenfan, these are the pageboys prepared for you. You will each have one. From now on, you can entrust your tasks to them. This is not the village anymore, so you don't need to do anything. You can do everything yourselves."
These servants, besides being trained by the brokerage firm, were also sent to the neighboring mansion to be trained by Xiu Yi and the others. They were absolutely loyal and would never betray their master. If they did, they would disappear instantly upon learning their fate.
"Thank you, Mother and Aunt!" Wen Liu did not refuse and bowed to express her gratitude.
The other eighteen children did the same, bowing their heads in gratitude. They were no longer the children they once were and knew things were different now. They were also able to quickly accept the use of pageboys.
Xia Hua nodded and told them to go back to their residence to rest. They were too tired today, so they didn't need to study and could relax. However, the imperial examination was coming up soon, so they couldn't be too playful. They could go out and have fun after the examination.
Wen Liu took the lead, bowed, and then the nineteen people left the residence. For the next four days, the nineteen people did not leave the residence. They ate their meals at the Xia residence next door every day and did not go to the An residence.
An Shuyi and Xia Hua, however, were different. They would take Ruohua, Yan Zhen, and Yan Ce out to play every day and wouldn't come back until dinner time. Of course, sometimes they wouldn't come back even when it was time to eat.
On this day, which was the day of the imperial examination, the group did not go out to play. Instead, they got up early, ate breakfast, and went to the examination venue with nineteen other candidates. When they arrived at the examination venue, it was bustling with activity.
Seeing that the carriages were stuck and couldn't move, the group was very fortunate. They had gotten off their carriages earlier and walked over. Seeing that the candidates were already preparing to enter the examination hall, An Shuyi told them to hurry over and take all their things.
They were worried, so they followed along and watched as they lined up. They checked each person's belongings to make sure they had everything they needed before allowing them to enter. Soon, all nineteen people were inside, and only then did An Shuyi and the others feel relieved.
This imperial examination will last for three days and two nights. Everyone needs to stay in their examination cells for everything, including eating, drinking, and relieving themselves. They can only go back after the examination hall closes. However, a few of Wen Liu's pageboys will remain here so that they can go back and inform them if anything happens.
The next day, a different page was brought to guard the examination hall. It wasn't until the morning of the fourth day that everyone came to wait at the examination hall. They were worried that the students' health might not be able to handle it, so they spent a lot of money to hire a doctor to come and wait for them.
While they waited, the examination hall doors opened, and the examinees came out. Xia Hua instructed the pageboys to keep watch and help their master out as soon as he came out. Soon, they saw Wen Liu's figure.
Although he looked very haggard and his body was in bad shape, his spirits were still okay. After he was helped over, An Shuyi hurriedly put a pill into his mouth.
This medicine was made by Dr. Liu according to his prescription. It's for regulating the body, clearing heat and reducing fire, and treating neurasthenia. After swallowing the pill, he hurriedly pulled the doctor over to check. Fortunately, there was no problem, and he just needed to rest for a few more days.
Once it was confirmed that he was alright, the page helped him to the carriage to wait for the others. The remaining eighteen people also came out quickly, each carrying a pill. The doctor then took their pulses, but there was nothing wrong with them; they were advised to rest more.
Knowing that their people had finished their consultations, the doctor picked up his medical kit and left. He had other candidates who needed to be seen, so he waited there because they had given him a lot of money.
The group drove the carriage back to the mansion, where Tao and the others had already heated the water and had the page help their masters wash up. Once they were asleep, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and then all that was left was to wait.
They slept for a full day and night, and didn't get up until the next day. However, they looked much more energetic. When they came to pay their respects and have a meal, An Shu took out a medicine bottle from his sleeve, which was actually the warehouse, and gave each of them a pill.
"Thank you, Mother!"
"Thank you, Auntie!"
"Thank you, Auntie!" everyone said in unison, and then swallowed the pills.
"You're welcome, hurry up and eat!" After putting away the medicine bottle, he continued, "Now we're just waiting for news, and you can relax a bit."
It may take a month before the results are released, or it may be shorter, but at the very least it will take half a month. We can only wait for that long.
"Mother, we're going to look around." This is their first time in the capital, and they're determined to explore it thoroughly. They don't know when they'll be able to come back again.
Of course, if they could make the list and participate in the palace examination, as long as they had the rank of Jinshi, they could stay in the capital. The nineteen of them had discussed this, and everyone felt that they were in good shape.
But besides answering well, it also depends on the content of the answer and whether it can please the examiners. If the examiners don't think it's good, then you won't even have the chance to participate in the palace examination.
An Shuyi nodded, "Then you guys go have fun, but be careful. You can go boating on the lake. Not only do girls often go boating there, but there are also girls from brothels singing and dancing there at night."
Seeing the blushing faces of the nineteen boys, she hurriedly explained, "Of course, I don't mean for you to go to brothels. I just mean it's a lively place where you can go for fun. But I'm warning you, although the girls in brothels are beautiful, it's best not to mess with them."
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