The first update, asking for pink votes.
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Lady Zhang, Lian Zhizhi, and Lian Manman quickly put down their work and ran out the door.
Lady Zhang was in the lead and bumped right into Xiao Qi, who was running back into the house. Xiao Qi burst into laughter. The whole family stepped out and saw a carriage parked outside the shop. Wu Lang was standing next to the carriage, wearing Xiao Qi’s school bag on his back, and was helping the coachman unload the luggage.
"Mom, sister, Manman." Wu Lang greeted as he noticed Lady Zhang and the others walking out.
At this ti, Shouxin, who was working in the garden, also hurried over after hearing the news. The family grabbed the luggage, paid the coachman, and surrounded Wu Lang as they headed ho. As for the dumpling-making in the shop, they entrusted Lady Zhao and Lian Yeye to keep an eye on it.
Back at ho, everyone sat on the kang. Lian Manman brewed tea and handed it to Wu Lang.
"Brother, have so tea."
"Alright." Wu Lang took the tea and drank it.
"Brother, it’s great that you ca back today. You don’t know how much Mom’s been worrying about you these days. If you hadn’t co back today, she would’ve dragged Dad to the Prefecture City to pick you up tomorrow." Lian Manman joked.
"Didn’t I say I’d be back within these couple of days? It’s not like this is my first ti leaving ho. What’s there to worry about?" Wu Lang replied.
"I wasn’t like that. Don’t listen to your sister exaggerating things." Lady Zhang defended herself.
Once Wu Lang finished his tea and caught his breath a little, the family finally asked him about his experience at the prefectural exam.
The prefectural exam was held at Shengjing Academy, the largest official school in Liaodong Prefecture, and the chief examiner was the prefectural magistrate.
"Is that the sa magistrate who visited our house before?" Shouxin asked.
"Yes." Wu Lang nodded, "It’s him."
"Did he still recognize you?" Lady Zhang asked.
"He did, and we even talked a bit." Wu Lang nodded affirmatively.
"Mom, even if he recognized him, what’s the point? My brother’s exam papers have to be anonymized. When the examiner reviews the papers, they won’t know whose paper it is. To pass, you have to rely on genuine talent and learning." Lian Manman interjected, "Right, brother?"
"The exam papers are indeed anonymized." Wu Lang nodded.
In those days, the county and prefectural exams weren’t strictly considered part of the imperial examination system but rather preparatory steps, known as the Tongsheng exams, administered by local officials such as the magistrates and prefectural magistrates. At the county exam level, there were places where the rules weren’t strict, and so exam papers weren’t anonymized. But in Liaodong Prefecture, the county exams were highly standardized. As for the prefectural exams, their rules were nearly identical to those of the academy exams.
Passing the prefectural exam earned one the status of Tongsheng, qualifying them to participate in the academy exam. Liaodong Prefecture would hold an academy exam this August. If one failed the academy exam, they could take it again in the future without having to redo the Tongsheng exams; they could directly attempt the academy exam.
"How did Brother Youheng do in the exam? How about the classmates who went with you?" Lian Manman asked again.
"Brother Youheng also passed the exam and did better than . As for my classmates... all of them failed." Wu Lang explained.
Hearing that Wang Youheng had passed, Lian Manman was quite delighted.
"Brother Youheng didn’t co back with you?" Lian Manman asked.
"I ca back from the Prefecture City with him, but he stayed in the county town and said he wouldn’t co back until after the May Day festival. He wanted to stay in the Prefecture City for another day or two, but I didn’t agree... I knew the family was eagerly waiting for my return." Wu Lang smiled.
"Fatty Shen said he wanted to take the prefectural exam too. Brother, did you see him? How did he do?" After asking about Wang Youheng, Lian Manman thought of Shen Qian.
"I saw him." Wu Lang nodded, "He passed as well and even ranked ahead of ."
Lian Manman was a bit surprised.
"He started his studies early and has a strong foundation. Now, the teacher currently instructing him is said to be one of the most renowned scholars in Liaodong Prefecture and exclusively teaches him." Wu Lang said, "You wouldn’t recognize him if you saw him in the Prefecture City; he’s completely different from how he is when he’s here with us. His deanor and speech there are like he’s a different person."
"... Xiao Jiu is quite smart. When he visits again, Manman, don’t keep treating him like a child." Wu Lang added softly, directing the words solely to Manman.
"Wu Lang, did you go to the Shen family’s residence this ti?" Shouxin asked.
"I did." Wu Lang replied, "I dropped off a letter at the Shen Mansion’s gate requesting an audience with the Sixth Master... Whether he had ti to see or not, I had to deliver the letter and pay my respects. I also asked the gate servant to help find Steward Zhong."
"Yes, while it’s necessary to show respect to the master of the household, soone you’re already acquainted with, like Steward Zhong, can’t be overlooked either." Shouxin agreed with a nod.
Lian Manman also nodded repeatedly. In the Shen Mansion, delivering the greeting letter wasn’t about insisting on seeing people. eting Steward Zhong was as much about courtesy as about practicality. Wu Lang’s thorough and well-rounded approach to the task pleased her.
"Did you get to et the Sixth Master this ti?" Lady Zhang asked.
"The Sixth Master had gone to the military camp and wasn’t ho," Wu Lang said. "Steward Zhong inford of that."
At this point, Wu Lang couldn’t help but smile.
"It was Xiao Jiu who had soone take my letter and invited into the Shen Mansion to et him... Steward Zhong told that Xiao Jiu had specifically instructed the gatekeeper that if I ca, they were not allowed to give trouble or fail to report it, or he wouldn’t let it go... Xiao Jiu even asked to stay for a al with him and wanted to lodge at the Shen Mansion, saying we could take the exam together, but I declined."
"Brother Xiao Jiu has real integrity." Xiao Qi remarked, nodding.
"It’s true; that’s friendship." Lian Manman agreed.
"Don’t be so casual. You should call him Ninth Master." Lady Zhang corrected. "You all keep calling him Xiao Jiu, and you, Manman, even call him Fatty. It’s only because he has a good temperant that he doesn’t mind. If you called any of the village kids that, they’d probably be upset."
The children all laughed.
Calling him Xiao Jiu or Fatty was a sign they sincerely cared for him, thought Manman. If she started calling him Ninth Master, they’d feel distant.
But...
"Brother, you seem to get along well with Fatty." Manman looked at Wu Lang. Otherwise, calling him Xiao Jiu wouldn’t have rolled off the tongue so naturally.
"Pretty well." Wu Lang smiled.
That ant their relationship was good, Manman thought.
"Mom, don’t think about these things with your old-fashioned mindset. What’s wrong with calling him Xiao Jiu? My brother and he are taking the Tongsheng exam together; they’ll take the Scholar exam together too. My brother might even pass before him. When it cos to classmates and contemporaries, age and background don’t matter; they interact as equals." Manman noticed Lady Zhang’s still-disapproving expression and explained further.
"Xiao Jiu’s teacher prepared exam questions for him, and Xiao Jiu showed them to . He even asked to write essays for his teacher to review." Wu Lang added.
"Brother Xiao Jiu is really thoughtful." Xiao Qi chid in.
"Did the practice questions turn out to be helpful?" Manman asked.
"They weren’t the sa as the actual exam questions but were still very helpful." Wu Lang replied. "I also shared the questions pressed by Mr. Loo with Xiao Jiu. Mr. Loo predicted the second-round exam questions accurately."
"Brother, you’re really thoughtful toward Brother Xiao Jiu too." Xiao Qi comnted.
"Mr. Loo is a real treasure to our family." Shouxin exclaid excitedly.
"Brother, this is sothing we should keep within the family. We definitely shouldn’t spread this around." Manman instinctively glanced toward the window as she spoke.
"I know. The topics Mr. Loo predicted are only known to , Brother Youheng, and Xiao Jiu. The three of us agreed to keep them confidential." Wu Lang said.
"Of course, we won’t talk about it." Both Lady Zhang and Shouxin agreed.
Lian Zhizhi wasn’t the type to spill secrets, so there was no concern there. Manman glanced at Xiao Qi.
"I definitely won’t say anything either." Xiao Qi said, pursing his lips afterward to emphasize his point.
The family chatted and laughed for a while before turning their attention to unpacking the luggage Wu Lang had brought back.
Xiao Qi watched eagerly, his large eyes sparkling. When Wu Lang had returned from the county exams last ti, he had brought back quite a few gifts; this ti, coming back from the Prefecture City, there had to be even more and better ones.
Xiao Qi was filled with anticipation.
Lian Manman was also looking forward to it. Usually, she only visited Qingyang Town for its market; she had only been to the county town once. This ti, knowing Wu Lang was going to the Prefecture City, she had specifically given him extra silver money and urged him to buy any rare and interesting items he ca across.
Wu Lang had indeed brought back quite a lot of things.
He had visited the Shen Mansion, and the Shen Mansion had naturally given return gifts. After his exam results were announced, he had also visited the prefectural magistrate, who gave him a return gift as well.
The magistrate’s gift was simple: a set of writing tools.
The Shen Mansion’s return gifts, however, ca in two large boxes. One box contained items like a stone-blue silk fabric, two ingots of silver, a set of writing tools including ink, inkstone, and brushes, and a paper fan. This gift was standard and formal, clearly a regular "all-purpose" type of gift ticulously prepared by the Shen Mansion’s steward. The other box, however, was filled with an assortnt of items, including two boxes of delicate pastries, two sets of Wuxi clay figurines, two kaleidoscopes, a small silver-frad jade mirror, a small box of brightly colored gemstones—red, green, and white—and two additional sets of writing tools.
In addition to these, there was an unsealed letter.
Lian Manman picked up the letter and looked at Wu Lang, puzzled.
"It’s written by Xiao Jiu for you and Xiao Qi." Wu Lang explained, "The items in that box were also ant for you two."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qi leaned closer.
"Brother Xiao Jiu is so thoughtful, sending so many tasty treats and fun toys, and he even wrote us a letter!" Xiao Qi said excitedly as he tried to grab the letter.
But Lian Manman didn’t imdiately open the letter; she simply held it and asked Wu Lang.
"Brother, have you already read it?"
"I have." Wu Lang nodded.
Only then did Lian Manman pull the letter out of the envelope and unfold it. Xiao Qi leaned over, his head close to Manman’s, as they read the letter together.
"To virtuous sister Manman and virtuous brother Jixian..."
"Pfft..."
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Here’s one update, and I’ll aim for a second one tonight.
It’s the end of the month; asking for pink votes, recomndation votes, and support through official subscriptions.
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Recomndation for Ruoyan’s completed book: "The Brocade Screen Chronicles", a light-hearted dostic drama set within a large household, exploring everyday life and emotional entanglents.
Book ID: 1771214
There’s a direct link below; click to go straight to it. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian to vote with recomndation tickets or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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