Splendid peasant girl busy farming

Chapter 11889

Yang Ruoqing had Xingwang contact Lao Yang's family, Sun's family, several village elders' families, as well as the village's transportation team leader and deputy leader, herb-gathering team leader and deputy leader, and some villagers with whom she had good relations beforehand.

Tell them to come to the Luo family tomorrow night after their supper, so we can all get together and discuss the upcoming imperial announcement of good news the day after tomorrow. We'll all help with the arrangements then.

The fact that Dazhi passed the imperial examination was not only an honor for the Luo family, but also for the village, Qingshui Town, and Wanghai County.

At that time, the heads of government offices at all levels, from Qing'an County to Wanghai County and then to Qingshui Town, as well as the local gentry and landlords, will come to offer their congratulations.

"Everyone said that Madam can rest assured, they will definitely come on time tomorrow night to discuss important matters!" Xingwang reported to Yang Ruoqing after running around outside.

"In addition, several village elders said that the lady should not panic. They had helped with a similar situation more than ten years ago, when her eldest uncle passed the imperial examination with top honors!"

When Yang Ruoqing mentioned that Da'an had become the top scholar in the imperial examination, her eyes crinkled into a smile. Back then, she had no experience and was a bit careless when receiving guests.

Fortunately, it's alright, it'll all pass. After all, those old-timers didn't come down here for your hospitality.

Would they really be short of food?

They came here specifically to see the top scholar! It was to lay the groundwork for their future collaboration in the imperial court. When they arrived in the village and saw that the top scholar truly came from a humble background—and this wasn't just a humble way of putting it, but a genuine poor scholar from a farming family—it shocked those wealthy and powerful figures even more!
Although Dazhi did not perform as well as Da'an in this exam, his success in passing the imperial examination and becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) already makes him one of the best among outstanding students.

In modern times, this would be equivalent to getting into one of the top ten 985 universities in China. Just think about it, isn't that incredibly difficult?
As for Zuo Jinling, he ranked third in the imperial examination, which naturally made him stand out even more, equivalent to being a student at Tsinghua or Peking University. Moreover, once he entered Tsinghua or Peking University, he would be one of the elite talents who received special training in special majors.

"By the way, what did they say in Huguang County?" Yang Ruoqing asked Xingwang again.

In fact, a few days ago, after Yang Ruoqing received accurate inside information from Da'an, she had already privately informed Zuo Junmo of Huguang County.

This year, students from the entire Changhuaizhou region went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. Zuo Jinling came out on top in Changhuaizhou, and Dazhi was also among the top ten in Changhuaizhou.

According to Da'an, most of the other Jinshi and Tongjinshi were distributed in Changhuaizhou, and very few were in the counties below.

However, both Zuo Jinling and Dazhi came from Qing'an County. This meant that when the prefect of Qing'an County went to Changhuaizhou to meet the governor, he was moved a few places forward and stood up straight.

Therefore, according to the rules, the list of successful candidates should be distributed to Huguang County first, since that is the hometown of the third-ranked scholar.

Then we headed towards Wanghai County.

It's like awarding certificates; the first-place student gets theirs first, then the second, third, and so on...

However, some people considered that although this person from Wanghai County was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), he was the eldest son of the Protector-General of the Nation and the nephew of the Governor of Changhuai Prefecture...

Just as the person who came down to deliver the congratulatory notice was in a dilemma, the governor of Da'an took the initiative to step forward and made the final decision. He decided to follow the usual procedure: first go to Huguang County to deliver the congratulatory notice to the third-ranked scholar, and then go to Wanghai County.

Later, some people with a keen interest investigated further and discovered that the third-ranked scholar was already the prospective son-in-law of the Grand General Protector of the Nation. The two families were related by marriage. On one side, the son-in-law had achieved the highest rank of scholar, while on the other side, the eldest son had passed the imperial examination. He was going to Huguang County first to avoid offending anyone...

"Madam, I have just returned from Huguang County. This is a reply from Master Zuo." A guard entered the room and handed a letter to Yang Ruoqing with both hands. Yang Ruoqing took it and opened it. Inside was an invitation, inviting her to a banquet at Zuo Family Manor the next day if she had time.

Yang Ruoqing nodded. In fact, she and Zuo Junmo had discussed the banquet arrangements privately some time ago. Given that both families were hosting banquets, and the dates were consecutive—one tomorrow and the other the day after…

So the two of them have already agreed that if either of them is free, they are welcome to attend the banquet.

If they can't make time, they won't force it. After the officials who came down from above to deliver the congratulatory notice have left, the two families will have plenty of time to celebrate separately.

Now that they are related by marriage, after the officials have left, both the Zuo and Luo families will hold a separate banquet to entertain the relatives and friends who came to offer their congratulations, as well as a group of local gentry...

So, with this invitation in her hand, Yang Ruoqing knew perfectly well that neither family would go to the other's house for the banquet. If they did, the Zuo family/Luo family would have to devote half their energy to entertaining the new in-laws.

Out of consideration for the other party, I will not go on this trip.

After seeing Xingwang and the guards off, Yang Ruoqing returned to her room to continue her business. She had been hosting the banquet according to the proper protocol. The banquet was held in the ancestral hall of Changping Village, where the ancestors of Changping Village worshipped their tablets. Such an important event had to be held there.

Then a stage was set up outside the ancestral hall, and a very professional opera troupe from the county town was invited to perform.

It's been arranged with the county magistrate that he'll need to send bailiffs from the yamen to the village to maintain order.

Of course, the Luo family's secret guards would also maintain order in secret, preventing those with ulterior motives from taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble.

Safety is the top priority at this kind of banquet.

"Madam, here's the lunch menu. The old lady said you've lost weight recently, so she wants you to order." Peony walked into Yang Ruoqing's room with a thick menu and said crisply to Yang Ruoqing, who was still engrossed in writing the banquet list for the day after tomorrow.

"Put it aside, I'll take a look at it when I have time."

"Madam, they're waiting for you to order and start the fire; it's almost noon," Peony thoughtfully reminded him.

Yang Ruoqing looked up at the window and thought, "Wow, when I'm free, the day feels so long. I keep yawning, and it feels like the day will never end."

Once you get busy, things pile up one after another, and suddenly time seems to accelerate; in the blink of an eye, it's almost noon.

"Alright, let me take a look." Yang Ruoqing put down her brush and picked up the recipe book next to her.

The recipe book is quite interesting. The family was always worried about what to eat every day, so Yang Ruoqing simply asked Rong Gu and the others to inquire and compile a list of dishes that everyone in the family liked. She also asked Yang Huazhong and Sun Shi next door about their tastes, and then wrote this recipe book...

Yang Ruoqing casually ordered a few dishes, all of which were large portions and filling: "A three-delicacy hot pot, a beef hot pot, two stir-fried plates of bok choy and spinach, and a minced meat and egg custard for Nini, and that should be enough for her to eat."

Just as Peony left with the recipe, Liu rushed into Yang Ruoqing's room in a hurry. As soon as she stepped across the threshold, her voice rang out: "Qing'er, Yongjin and Eighth Sister are back, and Xiuhong is back too!"

"Yongjin went to the old house earlier to find your grandfather, saying he had something important to discuss!"