Expensive marriage: The concubine is begging for peace again today

Chapter 143 Qiu Wei (Second Update)
The 28th is the Emperor's Longevity Day.

With the ban on folk banquet music, the Longevity Festival will also be avoided. There is no need to go to the palace to congratulate, which saves birthday gifts and troubles. Jiang Changning expressed his satisfaction.

At the end of the month, Zhuang Qingyu conceived in October and gave birth to a son.

The Liu family came to the Jin Palace to announce the good news. Jiang Changning asked about Zhuang Qingyu's situation, and knowing that she was fine, he asked, "How heavy is the child?"

"Six catties and seven taels."

"That's a fat baby," Jiang Changning asked
The next day, Jiang Changning sent Xiulan to Liu's house with the long-lived lock and other gifts prepared earlier, to save face for Zhuang Qingyu.

In the afternoon, Xiulan came back from Liu's house with an angry expression on her face.

"What's the matter with you? Could it be that the Liu family still looks down on you?" Fangju asked in surprise.

"No one showed me any face. I couldn't be more angry than Mrs. Zhuang for treating Second Aunt Zhuang like that."

"What did she do?" Fang Ju asked curiously.

"I asked Grandma Zhuang Ergu for money, and said that the fourth young master is going to take the imperial examination and needs to manage."

Fang Ju frowned, "What are you doing? Bribing the examiner?"

"Who knows, I asked Bi Cao to inquire. This is not the first time Mrs. Zhuang has asked for money. She has asked for money several times, for various reasons."

"Did the girl who is about to get married in the bank's decline subsidize her natal family?" Fu Cui sneered.

"You can't say that, Mrs. Zhuang didn't ask Aunt Zhuang for money." Fangju laughed.

"Of course she won't ask Aunt Zhuang for money, and she will also subsidize Aunt Zhuang so that Aunt Zhuang can live in her in-law's house like a rich man." Shu Fei sneered, "Aunt Zhuang makes dresses with all kinds of materials and styles." Pick the best and say money is not a problem."

"This ostentation is really off the mark." Xiulan sneered.

The four servant girls gossiped about meeting the dealer, Fu Cui asked, "Do you want to tell the princess about this?"

"Tell the princess what to do? If Grandma Zhuang Ergu can't stand herself, the princess won't be able to support her for the rest of her life, right?" Shu Fei didn't want Jiang Changning to worry about this.

Xiulan and Fangju thought so deeply, so they didn't tell Jiang Changning about it.

The second day of August is Zhou Chengcheng's birthday, and he is in the filial piety period, so it is not his birthday.

However, Jiang Changning still asked Shu Fei to send a gift, and asked her to say hello to the two wives on his behalf.

Seeing Shu Fei, Miao said with a smile: "It's a coincidence, my natal brother brought something new yesterday, and I'm about to send it to the princess to play with."

"What good thing is it? Good sister-in-law, let me take a look first." Shu Fei laughed.

Mrs. Miao took out a rather large brocade box and handed it to Shu Fei, "My brother called it a parallel maze, it's quite fun."

Shu Fei opened the box, and inside was a square plate with exquisite patterns, covered with a thin layer.
"Is this crystal or colored glaze?" Shu Fei touched it, "It's so smooth."

Miao smiled and said, "My brother said it was Liuli."

"How?" Shu Fei asked.

Miao taught her, "There is a hole here, put these three balls in it. Seal the hole, find a way, move them to the hole on the other side, and you will be done. When moving, you have to pay attention to it." , can't let them fall out of these small holes."

Shu Fei played twice, but failed to move the ball over, "I'm clumsy, I can't, the princess can definitely."

She brought this parallel maze back to the palace, and presented it to Jiang Changning like a treasure.

Jiang Changning played it a few times and found it very interesting, so he asked Chun to find a craftsman and made two more, one for the concubine and one for Kang Ren.

With this toy, three people can pass the boring time while playing.

On the eighth day of August, the first test of this year's autumn will start.

Zhou Duxin took the "examination preparation box" prepared by his elder sister-in-law for him, and entered the arena to take his first autumn exam.

He is a child prodigy. He passed the children's examination when he was nine years old. He took the hospital examination at the age of 12 and became a scholar.

This year, he is not yet 17 years old, and he is full of ambitions to participate in the first Qiu Wei. If he can go to high school, then the Zhou family will be a top three.

Zhou Chengcheng warned him, "Don't be proud and complacent."

Zhou Shouxin reminded him, "If you fail, don't lose confidence."

"Eldest brother, I will not be complacent, second brother, I will not lose confidence."

With the expectation of his family, Zhou Duxin walked into the Gongyuan.

The township examination is divided into three sessions, and each session takes three days. All three sessions need to enter the examination room one day in advance, that is, enter the examination room on the eighth, eleventh, and fourteenth days of the first day, and leave the examination room one day after the examination.

The chief examiner for this session is Ding Wang, and the two deputy examiners are Master Shi, a scholar, and Master Chen, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites.

Three years ago, the imperial examination fraud case occurred. Although many people were demoted, the public resentment boiled over. After King Jin repeatedly wrote letters, the emperor appointed three more invigilators.

The invigilators are the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, the Minister of Dali Temple, and the Zuodu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. The posture of these three halls gathering together naturally has greater power than the standing Qipin of each ministry.

According to the law, once a student enters the tribute courtyard, they are absolutely not allowed to leave the tribute courtyard unless they die or are seriously ill.

If you insist on leaving, at least you will be dismissed from your student status, and at worst you will be punished as a crime of "disrespect".

Zhou Duxin walked into the gate of the Gongyuan, and under the guidance of the soldiers, went to the small room partitioned by curtains, took off his clothes, and asked the academic and political officials to check his clothes and body.

This is to prevent him from carrying prohibited items such as cheat sheets. Two soldiers check the contents of his test box.

After the inspection, the school administration official gave him his number plate, "You can look for the toilet number first, and then enter the dormitory. After entering the dormitory, you are not allowed to walk around at will. Offenders will have [-] sticks and shackles for [-] days. No more exams."

"Thank you sir for telling me, students please remember." Zhou Duxin knew about this, but this official was willing to mention him a few words, which was a kind gesture.

The Gongyuan is divided into [-] major areas according to "the heaven and the earth are dark and yellow, the universe is prehistoric. The sun and the moon are full and the sky is full".

Each area is divided into six rows facing each other, each row has 36 rooms, a total of 210 No. [-] rooms.

At both ends of the number room, there is a soldier guarding each station. In addition, there are sixteen patrol officers who patrol these large areas.

Zhou Duxin's number plate is Yuzi No. 17 room, which is a little far away from the two toilets. He was about to go in when he saw Zhuang Zike standing in front of the opposite building.

Remembering that Zhuang Jike once scolded officials as lubets, Zhou Duxin asked sarcastically, "Didn't the Fourth Young Master Zhuang say that he would not take part in the imperial examinations, would not be an official with benevolence, and disdained being a lubet, why did he come to the Gongyuan?"

"You know me? Who are you?" Zhuang Zike looked him up.

"I'm a servant, not worth mentioning." Zhou Duxin said indifferently.

Zhuang Jike was also smart, "You are a slave released by the Zhou family and the Jiang family."

"That's right." Zhou Duxin admitted frankly that he never felt inferior because he was a slave.

"You also come to take the imperial examination, can you pass?" Zhuang Zike said contemptuously.

Zhou Duxin said with a smile: "We will compare to see who ranks higher on the list."

"Whoever ranks low, don't become an official." Zhuang Jike ruthlessly tried to break Zhou's faith in his official career.

"Okay." Zhou Duxin raised his hand.

Zhuang Zike stepped forward and gave him three high-fives.

(End of this chapter)