Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 31 Five Years of Annotating Books, A Young Man Conceals His Talent

The Xue State Duke's Mansion, Langhuan Pavilion.

A sudden clap of thunder sounded overnight, and a light drizzle was falling from the eaves of the roof ornaments, signaling the approach of spring.

Xue Lingqi, draped in a dark silk shawl with gold cloud-shaped sash and wearing a flowing dress, walked through the rain to the Langhuan Pavilion in the side courtyard of the Xue residence. She unfastened the verdigris door bolt and pushed the door open to enter.

She had not stepped into Langhuan Pavilion for a long time.

It would take a full day for Jiang Xingzhou to go and participate in the county-level examination for the young scholars.
She had just entered this secluded courtyard filled with all sorts of ancient books.

Half a beam of morning light cascaded down from the rafters.

The sixteen-year-old girl came to the rafters of the covered corridor and suddenly sensed something.

She looked up at the corner of the eaves, where the shadows of the six rafters intertwined—the eaves, which should have been covered with cobwebs, were swept clean.

Hanging on the ground is a bamboo winnowing basket, the new bamboo strips still green, the edges showing a pale yellow tinge from frost.

"Why is there a winnowing basket in the library?"

She tiptoed, her dark dress revealing a sliver of her delicate, fair neck, and curiously took down the winnowing basket.

Plucking between the bamboo strips, I found a few remaining snow-white yarrow stalks, translucent and of superior quality.

"Yarrow?"

Xue Lingqi looked around, put down the bamboo winnowing basket, and gazed around.

Under the shadow of the asparagus fern,

A blue stone mortar, concave like a crescent moon, covered with blue frost.

Xue Lingqi came to the bamboo grove and ran her fingertips across the stone mortar.

Fine scratches and severe wear indicate it has been used for several months.

"He makes the yarrow stalk talismans himself? Even with a stone hammer under the moon, sun-dried and harvested at night, it would still take three months to complete!"

Xue Lingqi frowned and couldn't help but sigh softly.

That young man must have strictly followed the ancient method of "exposing the paper to the sun for three days and turning it over nine times" to make the yarrow talisman paper.

The Xue family's storeroom was clearly piled high with an inexhaustible supply of spirit talisman paper, each worth one or two taels of silver, which wasn't expensive.

However, he lacked the ability to speak up.

As if,

She seemed to see the figure of a stubborn young man, who would rather endure the heavy dew and cold quilt under the moonlight, wearing only a thin blue robe, to pound yarrow and make talisman paper.

However, in order to avoid hurting Jiang Xingzhou's sensitive teenage pride, she could only pretend not to see it.

Her rosy face showed a hint of helplessness.

Xue Lingqi, with a jade pendant around her waist pressing down on her skirt, stepped lightly into the Langhuan Study.

After Jiang Xingzhou moved into this pavilion, the Xue family's library was closed to the public and was never borrowed by scholars again.

On the jade desk in the study, half a stick of pine soot ink lay on the inkstone, which was not yet dry.

The three-story pavilion of Langhuan Pavilion houses tens of thousands of volumes of books displayed on rosewood bookshelves. Each bamboo slip, scroll, and ancient book bears the scent of smoke and fire emanating from the lamplight at midnight.

Each book seemed to have been carefully read, with annotations left on the pages—in very familiar handwriting.

"He actually...read them all?"

Her heart trembled.
I still remember five years ago, when the boy first came to the Xue family mansion, he was stubborn and lively, often arguing with her, and insisting on competing with her in solving the "Xuanji Diagram".

Now, after five years of studying diligently in Langhuan Pavilion, he has hidden his brilliance in these ancient scrolls of annotations.

He became taciturn, and his eyes grew increasingly deep.

A few strands of gray hair had appeared at his temples, and his brows were composed, unlike those of a young man.

Xue Lingqi, chin in hand, descended from the library and sat in the chair where Jiang Xingzhou usually sat.

Unexpectedly, in the blue box on the table, I saw more than ten taels of loose silver carefully wrapped in red silk.

This young man actually made his own runes and exchanged them for silver?
Her eyes involuntarily reddened.

suddenly,

The copper bell on the wooden gate shattered the silence of the side courtyard.

Upon learning from the servants that the young lady had arrived at Langhuan Pavilion, Chuntao hurriedly ran into the pavilion, burst open the wooden door of the study, and excitedly shouted, "Young lady, you passed the exam!"

"Oh, who passed the exam? Xue Fu or Xue Gui?"

Xue Lingqi subconsciously picked up a cup of cold tea from the table, took a small sip, and concealed the ripples of a smile on her lips.

If both of them pass the exam, Jiang Xingzhou will definitely make the list easily as well.

“Of course it’s Young Master Jiang!” Chun Tao said.

Soon, Xue Lingqi's smile faded. "With Young Master Jiang's looks, passing the imperial examination would be a piece of cake for him. It's not surprising."

The maid Chun Tao couldn't help but stick out her tongue.

Miss is so hypocritical; she was just secretly laughing a moment ago.

"By the way, what rank did he get?"

Xue Lingqi couldn't help but ask curiously.

"The county examination results are out, and the candidate is the top scorer in Jiangyin County. Thousands of other candidates bow down in admiration. Even I, your humble servant, am stunned when I see the list of successful candidates!"
Didn't you see the old master of the Han family's face? He was so angry, his face was contorted with rage, and he was stomping his feet!

The old man of the Cao family lost his temper and started cursing!

They always praised their sons Han Yugui and Cao An as child prodigies, saying they were destined to be the top students in the imperial examinations. This time, they have really lost face!

"Our Duke Xue's mansion has finally gotten its due! From now on, we won't even give them a second glance."

Chuntao excitedly chattered away.

"Jiang Lang has studied diligently for five years in the Langya Pavilion of our Xue family mansion. How could he possibly lose to the other students in this county?!"

Xue Lingqi's lips curled slightly, her unmade-up cheeks flushed faintly, and her smile finally overflowed.

He passed the imperial examination for the title of "Children of Jiangyin".

He was still the top candidate in the preliminary examination!

This was the top scorer among thousands of students from Jiangyin, a county renowned for its imperial examinations.

Moreover, during the county examination, she heard three sounds from the Confucian temple, indicating the birth of an essay that would "leave the county." Presumably, it was Jiang Xingzhou, the top student among the candidates.

If my father heard about this in Jiangzhou Prefecture, he would be very pleased—the descendant of my former sworn brother, after years of hard study, has finally made a name for himself in Jiangyin County.

"Oh right! Where's Fugui?"

Xue Lingqi placed Jiang Xingzhou's teacup on the table and said.

"Oh dear, I forgot about the two young masters!"

Chun Tao was taken aback.
He slapped his forehead, so focused on reporting the good news to the young lady that he completely forgot about the important matter of whether the two young masters had passed the exam.

"Forget it, leave them alone."

Xue Lingqi didn't care too much about this matter.
"Although they are of mediocre talent, they have received the teachings of Master Pei since childhood, so they should be able to pass the exam."

Tomorrow is the Awakening of Insects!

Give the order: prepare a banquet tonight! Host a banquet for Xue Fu, Xue Gui, and Young Master Jiang, who are all students preparing for the imperial examinations.

The Xue family also took the opportunity to celebrate the Awakening of Insects!

Prepare several sets of locust wood chopsticks and invite your aunts, brothers, and sisters to the dinner party.

Xue Lingqi rose and, with a flick of her sleeve, led Chun Tao away from the side courtyard of Langhuan Pavilion. "Tell the kitchen to use the finest dishes and finest wines!"

"Hmm~, Miss!"

Chuntao nodded repeatedly and made a note of it.

In the kitchen of the Xue family mansion, the twelve connected stoves in the kitchen were filled with rising smoke, and the cooks immediately got busy, with wisps of smoke curling up.

The Xue family had dozens of people in each concubine's quarters, and a total of one or two hundred servants.

This was when Duke Xue Chonghu, along with his wife and numerous servants, went to Jiangzhou Prefecture to take up his post. Otherwise, there would have been even more people in the mansion, and the kitchen would have been almost constantly busy.

Today, in the Xue family's ancestral home in Jiangyin, only the eldest daughter, Xue Lingqi, remains to manage the household. The two brothers, Xue Fu and Xue Gui, are studying at the Xue family's private school. There are also several concubines, and younger brothers and sisters living at home.

Chun Tao arrived at the kitchen and directed more than a dozen chefs and housekeepers to work.

At this moment, Butcher Zhang from the cooked meat shop carried a bamboo mat and delivered a load of fresh deer delicacies, wine, and wild boar from the mountains and forests around Jiangyin, including rare deer, as well as some common pig's head meat, various kinds of beef, mutton, and aquatic products.

He wiped his hands on his ochre-colored short jacket, then bowed apologetically, saying, "Please trouble Sister Chuntao to inform the master that after the Awakening of Insects, our household will no longer be able to provide for this kitchen service—"

"Well, your father is now a scholar who has passed the imperial examination, and he is a respectable man. He should be engaged in a more respectable profession! Later, you can have the hunters bring the wild game and mountain delicacies directly to your mansion."

Chuntao understood and nodded.

Since the Zhang family has produced a student who has passed the imperial examination, according to etiquette, they should avoid working in the kitchen. They can choose not to, but they will be ridiculed by their classmates and will not be able to hold their heads up in front of their respected teachers at the county school.

The supervision of students was lax, and the county government did not conduct strict investigations.

Those who later took the imperial examinations for the titles of Xiucai and Juren were not allowed to take the exams due to their low social status or humble origins. The strictness of the state government in investigating family background was also very troublesome.

She instructed the accountant to settle the cost of vegetables for the month.

Zhang the butcher accepted the money, picked up his bamboo mat, and happily went off.
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The fourth new fantasy novel!

Breaking into the top three!
(End of this chapter)