Chapter 609: Imperial Examination Family Prosperity System (18)

Wangshi was so angry she fell backward.

Who said she was feuding with Lao San?

Who said she was going against Silver?

She was waiting for Lao San to come to her door and beg for his two brothers to help him!

Who knew that blockhead Lao San would be so unreasonable; instead of letting his own brothers earn money, he let outsiders take a huge advantage!

Five hundred coins!

And it had only been a few days!

Wangshi felt such heartache, as if that money had been taken out of her own pocket.

Just as she was about to bring up filial piety to pressure Lao San, she suddenly heard the lively sound of gongs and drums at the village entrance.

"Oh my, Minghua's family, congratulations, congratulations! Your Er Lang has passed the Imperial Examination! I heard he even took first place! The county magistrate was even alarmed and sent yamen runners to deliver rewards! You are a lucky one; just wait to enjoy the blessings of your Er Lang!"

"..."

Upon learning this news, Wangshi was happy at first, but then, thinking of something, her expression darkened, and she couldn't be happy at all.

She would rather her second grandson hadn't passed!

But this kid not only passed, he took first place!

Even the county magistrate sent people to deliver rewards to him!

This is really...

Why did she have to split the family from Lao San back then! If they hadn't been split, the one beaming with joy and being worshipped by everyone today would be her, Wangshi!

What to do? Her regretful guts turned even greener.

"Mother, what does this matter!" Xiao Wangshi instigated from the side, "Even if split, Lao San is still your son, and Er Lang is still your grandson! They wouldn't dare not show you filial respect!"

"Right!" Wangshi puffed out her chest, "I am Lao San's own mother! Er Lang's own grandmother! With such a happy event in the family, could they bypass me?"

She went to Lao San's new house with her head held high.

Xiao Wangshi and the others saw this and hurriedly followed.

Song Yanqing sat in a green-curtained carriage returning to Qinghe Village.

If he were willing, the county government would even provide a tall horse and crown him with a large red flower made of silk, letting him parade through the streets with incomparable glory.

Top of the Imperial Examination! First-place scholar! No celebration would be too much!

But he was not willing. It was only the top of the Imperial Examination, not the Palace Examination, so parading through the streets to celebrate would be too exaggerated.

Therefore, as soon as he recognized the Xie Family's carriage, he dodged the onlookers and quickly ducked into the carriage.

Once inside the carriage, he was dumbfounded.

"You, you..."

Xie Yang couldn't help but find his appearance amusing: "What? You came back as the top scholar, but now you're stuttering?"

Only then did Song Yanqing confirm that the graceful and elegant woman before him was truly his betrothed, and his eyes were filled with astonishment: "Why have you become so thin?"

He had heard his brother-in-law mention that she had lost weight, but he hadn't expected her to be this thin! She was practically a different person compared to when they first met; if not for the hairpin he had given her on her head, he would have almost thought he had gotten into the wrong carriage.

Xie Yang leaned against the carriage wall with a lazy smile and teased: "Is it not good-looking to be thin?"

"..."

How was he supposed to answer that?

To say it wasn't good-looking was clearly insincere.

To say it was good-looking seemed frivolous.

Any answer would be wrong.

Xie Yang stopped teasing him: "Sit down quickly, don't just stand there, lest you fall later. Shall I send you back to Qinghe Village?"

Song Yanqing then remembered his brother-in-law: "Third Brother is still outside..."

Xie Yang looked at him with a half-smile: "Why do I feel that you call Third Brother more naturally than you call me, your fiancée. What? Is my name too hot to handle?"

"..."

"If not, say it once for me to hear?"

"..."

"Little Sister, be modest!" Xie Kuixi's teasing laughter came from the direction of the carriage shaft, "Don't scare away my top-scholar brother-in-law!"

"..."

"Little Sister, you were right to let us leave for Fucheng early!"

Along the way, Xie Kuixi lifted the carriage curtain and chatted incessantly with his little sister about the various things that happened while his brother-in-law was taking the exam:

"We arrived at Fucheng two days early and booked the last two quiet, south-facing rooms at an inn not far from the examination sheds. The candidates who arrived later than us could only go to inns further away. On the day of the first exam, it rained heavily, and many candidates rushed to the sheds from further inns, soaking their clothes and shoes, which led to many falling ill during the re-examination."

"Also, the small clay stove you told me to bring came in very handy! I don't know if the inn's food wasn't clean or if the autumn rain was cold, but there were always candidates with upset stomachs those few days. Brother-in-law almost fell victim too, but thanks to the diarrhea medicine pills you had me bring, after I gave them to him in time, he didn't end up like the other scholars who were exhausted and delayed their exams..."

"After that, I didn't dare let him eat the food provided by the inn again. I followed your instructions, went to the street to buy fresh vegetables and meat, returned to the inn to cook fresh vegetable and meat porridge with the small clay stove, and heated up two White Flour steamed buns bought from the bun shop as soon as they came out of the oven. Neither of us got sick even once..."

After his brother-in-law finished speaking, Song Yanqing said solemnly: "On this trip to the exam, thanks to Third Brother, who took such thorough care of me, I, Yanqing, will keep it in my heart."

"Oh, you've thanked me many times on this trip already."

Xie Kuixi waved his hand; he wasn't looking for his gratitude, but was asking for a reward from his little sister.

Before they left, his little sister had promised him: if he took good care of his brother-in-law on this trip and helped her inquire about the tea trees, she would have good things to give him when they returned.

"Little Sister, I did help you inquire about the tea trees, but that tea garden is used by the family of a Peking University official to hold a Flower Viewing Banquet, so I'm afraid it will be quite difficult for you to buy a few plants."

Xie Yang said helplessly: "Third Brother, the tea trees I want are not trees for tea flowers, but trees for picking and making tea."

"Ah? Then didn't I inquire for nothing?"

Xie Kuixi's face fell: "Then do I still have a share of the good things you mentioned?"

Xie Yang couldn't help but laugh: "Yes, there is, there is. I'll give it to you once we get home."

"That's good then!"

As they spoke, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the town.

"Little sister, I'll leave your husband to you! Third Brother is heading home first!"

Having been away from home for over ten days, Xie Kuixi had long been homesick; while in Fucheng, he had wished he could sprout wings and fly home to take a look.

It was just that, as a grown man, he had been too embarrassed to say so in front of his brother-in-law. Now that he had returned to Guixiang Town, the errand his little sister had entrusted to him... well, although it wasn't perfectly executed, it had been completed without missing a single detail. As for taking his brother-in-law back to Qinghe Village, wasn't his little sister there for that?

Xie Kuixi slung a heavy bundle over each shoulder and jumped off the carriage, eager to head home first.

Song Yanqing ought to have visited the Xie Family, but having not bathed for two days on the boat, his long gown was also wrinkled and disheveled; appearing at their door like this would seem improper. When he got off the boat, he had agreed with his brother-in-law to first return home to freshen up and pay a visit the next day.

Xie Yang took him directly to the new residence in Qinghe Village.

"It seems the household has already received the news."

Listening to the lively sound of gongs and drums outside, Xie Yang said with a smile: "I won't go down. You get some good rest, and I will send a carriage to pick you up before noon tomorrow."

"Wait a moment."

Song Yanqing opened his trunk, took out a beautifully carved mahogany box from inside, and held it out to Xie Yang.

"For me?"

"Mm."

He glanced at her, then lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes trembling slightly, and a faint flush rose upon his jade-like handsome face.