Good luck with koi carp

Chapter 143 Sword and Farmer

In a blink of an eye, it has been nearly a month since Chi Li enrolled in Henglu Academy.


During this month, she was like a bottomless pit, absorbing all kinds of knowledge hungrily and crazily. She didn't have any free time, let alone making friends. She didn't even have time to say a word to her classmates.


The learning status of most students is similar to Chili.


Those who can enter Henglu Academy are all outstanding scholars. Some of them have already achieved fame, and some have not yet achieved fame. No matter what, everyone understands that they and others want to fight against each other. What is the purpose of entering Henglu Academy?


That is reading.


Henglu Academy has teaching staff that are ranked among the best in the country. Just like the crazy involution students inside, those who are capable of teaching here, even if they are not great Confucians at that time, must be better than others in a certain place. Much better in some aspects.


For example, Uncle Xu's family only had the reputation of being a civil servant, but he had extraordinary skills in painting. Therefore, in addition to his daily teaching, he also taught painting skills in the academy.


In order to enrich the curriculum for students, and to avoid cultivating a group of students who can only study hard, in addition to the main courses specifically teaching the content of the imperial examination, the academy also has additional courses such as riding, archery, swords, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, agriculture, and industry, etc. Vice class.


Every student is required to take at least two minor courses, and after completing the studies, they will be subject to a year-end assessment. If any student fails, they will be given one year to retake it. If they fail to retake it, they will be dismissed from the college.


Quite strict.


Chili’s next goal is the provincial examination.


At this time, there is only about a year and a half left before the provincial examination.


For her who is extremely short of study time, this is obviously quite urgent. Even if she studies during the day and continues studying at night, the real study time she can get is less than three years.


Therefore, she will try her best to get rid of all obstacles that hinder her learning during this period, such as interpersonal communication with others. In Chili's view, making friends can be done at any time, but before there are more pressing matters at present, if she does not If you don't have much time to maintain a relationship, it's better not to make new friends for the time being and just wait until this busy day is over.


Then she would have plenty of time to meet new friends, wouldn't it be great?

Chi Li will also find ways to reduce the time required for things that cannot be given up, such as taking elective courses.


Chili took Sword and Farming as an elective.


Since the sword is a swordsmanship, literati learn swordsmanship not to be able to kill enemies in battle, but to strengthen their bodies and learn some means of self-protection. Moreover, they must pay attention to the etiquette of a gentleman when dealing with others and those who practice it.


From the perspective of Chi Li, who possesses a swordsmanship capable of truly fighting life and death, the students taught in the academy are just tricks.


She can chop down a little classmate with one sword.


I'm afraid that the academy specially set up this course just to allow students to exercise more.


After all, the imperial examination requires not only superb knowledge, but also a healthy body, otherwise you may not be able to survive just the few days of the exam.


But this does not mean that scholars are all weaklings. Even if they learn swordsmanship, they are not good at it. There are still a few strong ones among them. The one who taught them how to learn swordsmanship is Wen Xue, and the other one is Chi Li. A classmate in a swordsmanship class named Wu Honghe also had exquisite swordsmanship and could even fight Chi Li in two moves.


Of course, he never won.


The assessment of the swordsmanship class has always been very simple. Pairs fight, the winner advances, and the final ranking is determined by the battle ranking.


Therefore, ever since Chi Li took this elective course, she has always been firmly in the first position, like a mountain that can only be looked up to and cannot be shaken.


And no one even saw her practicing swordsmanship outside of class time. Occasionally, someone bumped into her outside class, and they could only see her either studying or studying. If she didn't have basic respect for Teacher Wen, she would have known better than to study in the other class's class. For other knowledge, Chili may have to bring her books to the swordsmanship class.


Therefore, even when Chili didn't know it, she became a famous figure in the academy because she never practiced swordsmanship except during class time, but she became the invincible swordsman in the academy.


Along with her sword lessons, she is also famous for her performance in agricultural lessons.


As the name suggests, the agricultural class is a course that teaches students to understand mulberry farming and personally participate in the planting process.


I heard that this course was specially set up by the dean of the academy, just to prevent students from just studying and forgetting that the foundation of the country is agriculture. I want to cultivate their understanding of agricultural and mulberry knowledge in advance. One day in the future, if students can When you become an official, you won't know anything about things in the fields, so you won't be able to manage the farming affairs in your jurisdiction.


It can be said that the dean's move was entirely for the students' future. Whether the students can appreciate his good intentions is another matter.


The reason why Chili chose agricultural courses was because the class and assessment requirements were either strict or not.


On the first day of class, the old farmer who was specially hired to teach agricultural classes only did one thing.


——Pour out all the seeds in the burlap bag and let the students pick one to three and plant them themselves.


"Our class does not force students to come to class every day. I have been farming in the mountains behind the academy. If you don't understand anything, you can come directly and ask me. If I am not here, you can also ask other farmers. , farming, it’s all like this. The assessment content of the agricultural class is also simple. It only requires that you can grow at least one kind of food before the end of the year. When you finish planting, you can come to me and hand in your homework. This class will count. After that, if all the seeds die in the middle, you can come to me to get new seeds, but you can only get them three times. If you have more, you can find a way on your own."


The old farmer's speech was not as literate as the literati. He was more straightforward, but he also explained everything that needed to be explained clearly.


Chili didn't want to waste time. After listening to the requirements for the final assessment, she walked forward and grabbed three seeds from the pile of seeds. Then she said goodbye to the old farmer and left.


After she got back, she didn't take care of it too much. She just found three flower pots and planted all the seeds. Then she placed them in the open space in front of the female dormitory. When she thought of it, she watered and fertilized them. She didn't think about it. Just let them sit like that when they get up. Whether they can survive or not depends entirely on God's will.


However, just like this free-range planting method, Chi Li suddenly planted all three seeds!


Chili herself didn’t even know what she had planted until she saw the seeds taking root, sprouting, and bearing fruit.


Not all the seeds prepared by the old farmers are the same, they cover a variety of plantings, and even some rhizomes that have already sprouted.


Chili didn't pay attention to what she was holding at the time. She really just grabbed randomly based on her feeling. It was just that her good luck would allow her to naturally grab the seeds with the most vitality inside.


Therefore, the probability of planting fruits is also greatly increased.


It was only after these seeds matured that Chili discovered that what she had taken was a soybean seed, a peanut seed and a sugarcane seed.


Finally, three plants were successfully grown.


In the last world, they had tried to grow Chili in the wilderness, so they were not too surprised by the results of their planting, but it was quite satisfying to see them blossom and bear fruit.


After selecting the soybean that had matured and started to dry up and handed it in for her homework, Chi Li took the rest back to the Xu Mansion.


The sugarcane was cut into sections, half of which was used to honor the grandparents, and the other half was shared with Xu Xiang'er and Xu Fan'er.


One peanut plant could not bear much fruit, so Chilishe dug it out and dried it, then sent it back to her parents with a letter from home to try.


The gift is not expensive, but it is food grown by the daughter herself. To the Chi family couple, the thoughtfulness contained in it is even more precious.


Sugar cane was hard to chew, but fortunately the three younger sisters Chi Li had good teeth and gnawed the small piece of sugar cane they were assigned on the spot, which was a sweet treat.


Mr. Xu and Mr. Shen have lost their teeth in old age, so they can only have them squeezed into sweet juice for drinking, which is not bad.


The old couple was very happy, after all, this was the granddaughter's wish.


"Cousin Li'er, I heard about it."


Taking advantage of Chi Li's rare free time, Xu Faner cleverly grabbed her sleeve and led her to a corner.


Then the two little sisters turned their backs to Xu Xiang'er and talked like this, nodding from time to time and exclaiming in such exclamation.


Xu Xiang'er: "?"


What are they doing?

It turned out that Chi Li had noticed Xu Xiang'er's desire to study before, but she didn't know what was holding her back, preventing her from expressing her true inner wish.


But she herself was busy studying all day long, so she couldn't investigate the reason specifically. It was a coincidence that Xu Fan'er, a naughty little girl who had been secretly observing her sisters, also discovered the relationship between the two of them. There was an invisible undercurrent surging in the room, so he simply came to Chili for confirmation.


The little guy discovered this by himself, not Chi Li leaking the secret, so when asked, she told him what happened except for being a little surprised at first.


After hearing the results, Xu Fan'er immediately patted her chest and promised Chi Li that she would investigate the reason why her third cousin wanted to study but was afraid to do so. After finding out, they were trying to find a way to persuade her third cousin, at least to let her Be able to speak your mind bravely.


"Okay, you go and investigate. Once we find out, we will find a way to solve the problem together."


That being said, Chi Li did not place all her hopes on Xu Fan'er, but Xu Fan'er's positivity finally gave her some motivation, so she also changed her original attitude of only verbally persuading, and pulling her down if she couldn't persuade. , and instead specially ordered people to investigate the specific reasons.


If she can help solve the problem after finding out, she will definitely help, but if she really can't help, Chi Li won't force it.


After all, people have their own ideas.


If Xu Xiang'er is still unwilling to accept her help in the end, then there's nothing she can do about it, right?


In fact, this matter is not difficult to investigate as long as you are willing.


But after learning the truth, Chi Li frowned slightly and felt a little embarrassed.


"Cousin Li'er, is this problem difficult to solve?" Seeing Chi Li's expression of embarrassment, Xu Fan'er also realized that the problem here was not so easy to solve, and became worried.


"It's hard to say." Chili shook his head and gave an ambiguous answer.


In fact, there is only one person who hinders Xu Xiang'er from studying, her mother, Mrs. Zheng.


It turns out that Xu Xiang'er has been a person who loves to learn since she was a child. She not only learns piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but also reads the Four Books and Five Classics. Maybe she has learned a lot and understood a lot, but she has begun to feel a little unwilling.


Occasionally, Xu Xiang'er would think about how great it would be if she could be like her cousins ​​at home, go to school, participate in the imperial examination, and show off her talents.

But the reality is that women are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination.


If the empress did not come to the throne and the country would always be controlled by men, she might give up when she gets married and has children.


However, the reality is so dramatic.
The empress came to power and announced that women could also take part in the imperial examinations.


Such a big and incredible opportunity fell, and it knocked out not only the men who opposed women and their seizure of power, but also women like Xu Xiang'er who were determined to go out and change their own destiny.


In fact, she didn't like the husband her mother chose for her, and she didn't want to get married.


However, when she was full of expectations and tentatively revealed to her mother that she wanted to break off the engagement and take the scientific examination, she was met with crazy ridicule and insults from Mrs. Zheng, who said she was restless and scolded her for being out in public. The family is embarrassed, it's ironic that she still wants to take the imperial examination, even her brother still doesn't have a serious career, how can she, a woman with no serious education, earn more than those men, etc...


In the end, Ms. Zheng even threatened death, forcing her daughter to agree not to wish for things she shouldn't wish for anymore, but to just wait peacefully until the wedding day comes, get married, and have two sons. That's what she should really do as a woman. matter.


Xu Xiang'er was stunned by the accusations and threats. She didn't understand why her mother suddenly became so strange.


She originally thought that her mother loved her the most, and that her mother who loved her so much would support all her decisions. However, she did not expect that her mother's love for her was far less than that of her. A future husband whose appearance is not even remembered, and a grandson who has no trace of him yet?

After the fierce argument between mother and daughter, Xu Xiang'er no longer dared to mention that she wanted to study and take the imperial examination, because every time she mentioned it, Mrs. Zheng would become hysterical, and even put a knife on her wrist several times, forcing her to Xu Xiang'er had no other choice but to compromise.


She couldn't really force her mother to die.


Although this matter was eventually covered up, the fact that they were so ruthless that the servants serving nearby even heard a little bit about it. As long as you are willing to inquire, it is not difficult to piece together the truth.


Her parents were too liberal, so Chili never thought that this was the reason.


She could probably guess why Zheng was like this.


She is too deeply poisoned by feudal ideology and thinks that her daughter can marry a good husband, or as long as she can get married. After marriage, she will have a son to rely on for the rest of her life, and her mission as a woman will be completed in this life.


As for her daughter’s own thoughts?

That doesn't matter.


As a mother, she would not harm her daughter, so she just needs to go on honestly according to her plan.


It can be said that Zheng’s thoughts represent the thoughts of the vast majority of women in this era, including men. To say how wrong she is is not necessarily true, because this is the way for women to survive in this era, and usually the consequences for violators will not be It's too good to be true. Horrible things like pig cage immersion are still quite common nowadays.


Enlightened parents like Chi Xiucai and Xu are a rare species.


Chili was well protected by her parents, but she was not blind or deaf. She actually understood many of the tragedies of this era, and this was also the motivation for her to desperately climb up.


Because she knew that only if she stood in a high enough position, she could resist the persecution from the times, including those eyes with colored eyes and whispers that never stopped behind her, and only by having Only with enough power can she be able to help more women like Xu Xiang'er who are being oppressed.


However, it is not difficult to solve Xu Xiang'er's problem. It just depends on whether she is willing or not.


"What shall we do?"


This sentence is what Chili asked herself in her heart.


Do you really want to help?The outcome could be good or bad, but if she didn't care about it, Xu Xiang'er might have to do this for the rest of her life, and Chi Li really couldn't bear it.


In the end, she sighed softly, got up and went to find Mrs. Shen. After a while, she sent someone to invite Xu Xiang'er, saying that she wanted to go shopping and drink tea.


At this time, it was common for unmarried women to meet up to go shopping and drink tea. It was considered a regular social interaction. As long as they put on a veil to cover their faces before going out, they did not need to stay at home all day long.


And wearing a veil is not a hard requirement.


Some bolder girls don't wear veils at all when they go out, and no one says anything about them. Just like Chi Li, she dislikes veils and never wears them.


Not only her, most of the heroines and generals she knew before, as well as the female students who entered the imperial examination room like her, did not go out secretly.


After all, no matter how daring they are, they have done it all, including this one.


"It's just the two of us. If you feel uncomfortable, you can take off the veil." Chi Li said to Xu Xiang'er on the carriage.


It's late summer and early autumn now. In the south, it's so hot and muggy at this time that it's a torture to go out wearing a veil.


"No need, I'm still used to wearing it."


Xu Xiang'er was moved for a moment, but in the end she shook her head and declined Chi Li's kindness.


Seeing this, Chi Li didn't say much.


Just like how she usually invites people to go out to play, the two sisters strolled on the street. Occasionally they saw gadgets they liked and bought one or two. When they were done shopping, they went to a familiar teahouse to drink tea. Go to the theater.


There is no show to watch today, but there is a storyteller.


What a coincidence, the storyteller was talking about the heroic deeds of the great general who protected the country at that time.


"At that time, the rebels were so rampant and rebelled in the northwest. His Majesty was very angry when he heard that he sent his general to protect the country and lead his troops to quell the rebellion..."


Chi Li listened for a while and realized that what he was talking about was the rebellion of the Northwest King some time ago. She roughly knew what happened, but she was not as specific as the storyteller said. It sounded quite new at the moment. Yes, I continued to listen with great interest.


I don’t know how much time passed, but Xu Xiang’er, who had been dumbfounded next to him, suddenly asked: “Is that the great general who protects the country a woman?”


"Yes, I had the honor to meet General Mo before. He is really heroic and brave." Chi Li replied. She had a good impression of Mo Yu. After all, he was the big benefactor who gave her 500 taels, so I also gave a few more compliments by the way.


"You admire him very much." Xu Xiang'er turned to look at Chi Li, her eyes red for some reason.


"I can't say I admire her, but she can be regarded as a national protector general as a woman and protect our country's mountains and rivers. She can be regarded as a role model for our generation." Chili said.


Observing Xu Xiang'er's face, she felt that the time was almost up, so she struck while the iron was hot: "Cousin, are you... jealous of me from time to time?"


Xu Xiang'er was shocked and quickly denied: "How could it be possible? I don't have such bad intentions!"


"Then why do you always look at me with that strange look behind my back? It's so creepy." Chi Li's words were almost like tearing her face apart, pointing out all the little things Xu Xiang'er had done before.


"I really don't, Cousin Li'er, please believe me, I just... I just..."


Xu Xiang'er suddenly suffered such slander, and her whole body felt bad. Her eyes were red, and she held Chi Li's hand tightly with both hands. She tried feebly to explain something, but at the most critical moment, she couldn't say it out.


Holding an embroidered handkerchief in one hand, it gently fell on the beauty's weeping face, and gently wiped away the tears on her face: "I know, you are just envious, envious that I can study openly, envy that I can go out of the house When you go to take part in the imperial examination, you just want to be like me and want to seize this opportunity to change our destiny as women."


Xu Xiang'er looked up blankly at Chi Li's eyes that contained endless tenderness. For a moment, she felt that the person in front of her could completely understand her inner distress, which made her want to cry in his arms, but there was no point in crying. What to use?

The problem that should exist is still there. As long as she still cares about her mother, as long as she is still burdened with the word "filial piety", she will never be able to...


"If you don't try to get it, how do you know it's impossible?"


Having had the experience of persuading Xu Xiang'er tactfully before, Chi Li learned a lesson and understood that in order to communicate effectively with her, she had to speak openly and not give anyone a chance to escape.


"You have never really worked hard or fought for your wishes, so how do you know that there is really no solution? You can't solve the problem by always running away. Do you really want to marry someone you don't like? Give birth to children for him, take care of the housework, and live a life where you can see the end at a glance?"


Following the words described by Chi Li, Xu Xiang'er imagined the scene and suddenly shuddered in fear, but then she collapsed and said, "Then what can I do? What can I do? My mother doesn't agree with me to go. She didn't even want to touch the books when I was taking the imperial examination. She just wanted me to get married and have children, but she never asked me if I wanted to or not. I didn't want to live a mediocre life like this. Who said women are inferior to men? My knowledge It’s not worse than my brothers, even my father said that if I take the exam, I might come back with an honor, I’m really... very unwilling to do so!"


"Let me just say, how can a woman like you, cousin, be willing to succumb to others?"


Living in such an era, and having a mother with such feudal ideas, Xu Xiang'er could still have the idea of ​​taking the imperial examination, which actually means that she is different from ordinary people.


Her character has a resistance to fate, but it is temporarily suppressed now. Maybe even without Chi Li's deliberate stimulation this time, Xu Xiang'er will still struggle to resist fate one day.


Maybe she would have experienced more pain than she does now, and may even have to pay a heavy price, but in this era when the empress is in power and women's status is gradually improving, who's to say that she has no chance of succeeding in her resistance?


Chi Li is just helping people now, so that people can recognize themselves as soon as possible, and at the same time, it can also reduce the suffering she will suffer in the future.


"Don't worry, I'll help you." Chili promised.


"But, my mother..." Xu Xiang'er still hesitated when he thought of his mother.


"I can convince her, just wait."


This sentence is equivalent to a reassurance, which temporarily reassures Xu Xiang'er, but whether it can completely reassure her later depends on how Chi Li behaves.


After finishing their conversation, the two of them had no intention of staying in the teahouse anymore. They quickly paid and left. Before leaving, Chi Li turned her head, her eyes swept around a certain place, and then turned back as if nothing had happened. .


After they left, two old figures walked out from the screen behind where they were sitting. If Xu Xiang'er could see it, she would be shocked to find that these were her grandparents, weren't they?


Yes, Chi Li's idea is quite simple and crude.


That is to fight poison with fire.


Since Mrs. Zheng can rely on her status as a mother to suppress her daughter's compromise through filial piety, then Mr. Xu and Mrs. Shen can naturally use the same method to suppress Mrs. Zheng's compromise.


After all, the Xu family has not been separated yet. Mr. Xu and the Shen family are still in charge of the family, and Xu Xiang'er is also a descendant of the Xu family. Once the two elders make any decision, the Zheng family has no choice.

Chi Li didn't pay much attention to how things developed later because she was busy with her studies, but she heard from Wang's mother that it seemed that Zheng, her second uncle, and Xu Xiang'er were called by their maternal grandparents when they returned that night. Secret words in the main hall.

The doors and windows inside were closed tightly, and people outside didn't know what happened inside. They only knew that after the second master and his family came out, the second lady's face was not very good-looking, but the second master and the third lady were smiling, and the second master even patted him encouragingly. He patted Miss Third on the shoulder, encouraged her with a few words such as studying hard, and then turned around and went to the study to sleep.

The second lady on the other side directly had a cold war with the third lady. It took a long time before the relationship with the third lady gradually eased after the eldest young master and the third young master took turns coaxing her.

Including Zheng, no one knew the role Chi Li played in this. Even Xu Xiang'er had to find an excuse later to give her a pair of his most beloved jade carvings if he wanted to thank his little cousin. .

(End of this chapter)