Chapter 112

After Jia Cong and Wu'er returned to the Qingzhi Studio, they soon heard a burst of cheers coming from the Qingzhi Studio, among which the clear and moving voice of Qingwen was particularly striking.

Not long after, Daiyu took Zi Juan to the Qingzhi Studio, and Yingchun and Seeing Tan Chun also received the good news and came over.

Originally, the sisters had been worried for Jia Cong, but in the end, the result had taken such a dramatic turn, and they were all happy for him in their hearts.

Yingchun was already thinking that Cong-di was going to Jin Ling. Copying scriptures for the Empress Dowager was not a matter of a few days; he would probably have to live in Jin Ling for a period of time, and he should prepare his luggage early.

Seeing Tan Chun, besides being filled with joy, also felt envy, only regretting that she was not a man and could not win the top honors like the Third Brother, travel the world, and see the different scenery of this world.

Daiyu's wonderful eyes were filled with joy, and her originally somewhat haggard jade face also became radiant and moving.

It was just that there was still some melancholy in her heart. The Third Brother had gone to Jin Ling; she didn't know when he would be able to return. He would probably be gone for a long time.

When Guo Lin was proclaiming the imperial decree in the Rongxi Hall, a whole floor of maids and old women were kneeling outside the hall.

He is now the top candidate of thirteen examinations, an eighth-rank official granted by the Emperor, the most outstanding disciple among the twelve branches of the Jia family in the capital.

Therefore, most of these people who came to offer congratulations did not see this young eighth-rank official who was now famous throughout the Love Shenjing.

This saved Jia Cong a lot of trouble with perfunctory social interactions.

For this handsome, polite, diligent, and hardworking youth, Lady Cui had always been very appreciative. Now seeing him studying under her husband, she was naturally very happy.

Among the masters, there were those with hidden schemes like Lady Wang, those who calculated with cold eyes like Feng-jie, and those who watched indifferently like Grandmother Jia.

Over the next few days, the Jia Prefecture became lively again. The crowds of congratulators who had disappeared a few days ago began to gather again.

"I said Cong Sanye Cong was a literary star, but you gossips didn't believe it. His fate is tough; everyone else was played to death, but he is fine and even got promoted."

At this time, there were a few shameless old women who came out to pretend they had foresight.

Those dead-fish-eyed people who had originally gloated, loved to speak coldly, and waited to see a good show, were like having horse manure stuffed into their throats, suddenly all silenced.

The world is cold, human feelings are fickle, the false is true when the true is false; that is just how it is.

Soon, the news that Cong Sanye Cong's provincial examination top candidate status had been vindicated by the court and that he had been granted an eighth-rank official status by the Emperor spread rapidly throughout the Rong and Ning Prefectures.

He actually took out a paulownia wood ancient zither from his collection and gave it to him as a meeting gift, laughing that entering the Liu family's school meant learning both the master's art of governance and self-cultivation, and the mistress's art of the seven-stringed zither.

"Wasn't it said that he would be stripped of his honors and would never be able to take examinations for the rest of his life? How is it that he has been granted an official rank by the old Emperor?"

For the past two years, Jia Cong had been studying at the Qingshan Academy and often went to the Liu residence, which was also located on Mount Luocang, and was familiar with most of Liu Jingan's relatives.

Jia Cong had lived humbly in the Jia Prefecture since he was a child. In the past two years, he had become increasingly outstanding. Jealousy is human nature.

Liu Jingan's wife, Lady Cui, came from the great Cui family of Qinghe. She was not only proficient in poetry and books but also famous for her zither skills and was a guest scholar at the most famous zither studio in the Love Shenjing, the Zhiyin Pavilion.

It was just that after this incident, everyone understood that the legitimate son of the first branch, who had lived humbly and was not even as good as a decent servant, had completely disappeared.

However, Jia Cong took the six-part tuition gift prepared for him by Jia Zheng and went to the Liu residence on Mount Luocang to pay respects to his master and mistress.

As the master does, so do the servants; the servants below naturally had their corresponding figures.

A master who could not be harmed in the slightest no matter how he was tossed, and who always had a way to turn things around and succeed.

This actually surprised Liu Yanxiu. The ancient zither collected by his wife was a rare treasure, and even the children in the family were rarely gifted such things.

His disciple was outstanding in appearance and talent, and was actually very liked by his wife.

Liu Jingan had two sons. The eldest son served in the Jiangxi Provincial Administration, and the second son served as the Prefect of Qiantang. Neither was by his side, and the older children and grandchildren in the family were basically all in official service.

The Liu family's children had all studied in the family school since they were young. Thirteen years ago, Liu Jingan retired and began teaching the children in the family school.

In addition to Liu Jingan's three branches, they had produced seven successful candidates in the imperial examinations over the past dozen years, enjoying a reputation throughout the world's scholarly circles.

Scholars and successful candidates were really not rare things in the Liu family. It was no wonder Liu Jingan was called the Saint of Learning; the name was not in vain.

Jia Cong became Liu Jingan's disciple, and his seniority in the Liu family was not low. He was respectfully called "Little Uncle-Master" by several Liu family children who were much older than him, which made him very embarrassed.

Since Liu Jingan had accepted him as a disciple, preaching and resolving doubts became the most important thing. It was not like Jia Cong's previous visits to ask for advice, where he only pointed out and guided him on specific matters.

After Jia Cong passed the provincial examination, the next step in the examination field was to face the autumn examination.

Traditionally, to become a scholar, one only needed to master the Four Books and Five Classics and be familiar with the art of essay writing to meet the necessary conditions for the examination.

But the autumn examination was several times more difficult than the provincial examination. On the basis of a scholar's knowledge, one needed to be proficient in the eight-legged essay, the art of policy discussion, and the method of examination poetry.

The difficulty of being selected in the eight-legged essay in the autumn examination was already extremely high. To reach the level of passing, both talent and diligence were indispensable.

And to write a good policy discussion, it was even more necessary for candidates to study a large number of books on military strategy, agriculture, law, and political theory, so that their policy discussions could be substantive.

Therefore, there were many teenage scholars, but teenage successful candidates were rare because they were too young and simply didn't have much time to read widely and accumulate knowledge.

Liu Jingan knew that Jia Cong was going to the Daci'en Temple in Jin Ling to copy scriptures for the Empress Dowager Xianxiao this time, which would take at least three months and at most half a year, which was a lot of time wasted.

Studying for the imperial examination is like sailing against the current; one cannot be slack for a single day, otherwise, the effort will be doubled for half the result.

So, taking advantage of these few days, he helped him organize his academic framework and taught him the key points of the eight-legged essay and the foundation of policy discussion.

He also organized his own various insights and principles and let him take them to Jin Ling to study.

Thus, Jia Cong stayed at the Liu family for three days until someone from the Jia Prefecture came to report that the Ministry of Rites had sent a message for him to go to the Ministry of Rites' Ancestral Temple Department to work in the afternoon, and he hurried back to the East City.

After Jia Cong returned to the Jia Prefecture and tidied up a bit, he went to the South Court of the Ministry of Rites.

The one who received him was actually Liu Jizu, the Director of the Ministry of Rites' Ancestral Temple Department.

Since the Minister of Rites, Li Jizong, had been staying at home due to illness, the second-in-command of the Ministry of Rites, Vice Minister Guo Youchang, had reached an agreement with Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao on the construction of the Daci Temple.

Thus, the matter of the Daci'en Temple's offerings and rituals became the most important official business before the Ministry of Rites.

And Jia Cong, this eighth-rank official granted by the Emperor, and his act of copying scriptures and praying for blessings, was an important part of the relevant rituals.

That was why the Ministry of Rites sent a fifth-rank official to personally negotiate relevant matters with him; it could be said to be very solemn.

Because of the accusation by the student, Jia Cong and the Ministry of Rites could be considered to be in the same boat. He was also the top candidate personally appointed by the Vice Minister of Rites, so there was naturally some incense-burning sentiment with the Ministry of Rites.

This Director of the Ancestral Temple Department had a sense of closeness and favor toward Jia Cong, this young top candidate and eighth-rank official, and the communication between the two sides was very smooth and pleasant.

This time, the twelve Buddhist scriptures that Jia Cong needed to copy in Jin Ling were all carefully selected from the "Taisho Tripitaka" for praying for blessings.

Among them, the most important ones were the four volumes of the "Sarvatathagata Adhisthana Hrdaya Guhyadhatu Karandamudra Dharani Sutra," the two volumes of the "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Purvapranidhana Sutra," and the two volumes of the "Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra."

They had to be copied starting from the groundbreaking and foundation laying of the Daci'en Temple and ending with the consecration and completion of the temple's main hall, lasting more than four months. The time for copying scriptures was actually very generous.

Finally, it was determined that they would set off for Jin Ling in ten days. Because the Ministry of Works' Construction Director, Qin Bangye, was going to Jin Ling to be responsible for supervising the construction of the Daci'en Temple, Jia Cong could travel with him and take an official boat down the river.

Jia Cong's heart stirred. Wasn't this Ministry of Works' Construction Director, Qin Bangye, Qin Keqing's father?

This book is a historical alternate-history novel. I apologize to all Baidu research experts for causing you to lose the opportunity to display your talents.

(End of chapter)