Chapter 632: Imperial Examination Family-Building System (41)

Back at the inn, Xie Yang had him take a hot bath in his room.

She had dripped mugwort essential oil into the bathwater to dispel cold and dampness; it had rained for three days during the examination, and according to the Main System, the cells had leaked, leaving the wooden walls damp, otherwise so many examinees wouldn't have been carried out sick. Although he hadn't fallen ill, cold had entered his body, and his immunity would inevitably decline.

While he was bathing, Xie Yang borrowed the inn's kitchen stove to prepare a few dishes.

She used the locally famous Qingjiang fish to make a shredded radish soup; she slow-stewed a bowl of lion's head meatballs, using high-quality pork with a ratio of three parts fat to seven parts lean, and after steaming them, added a few blanched cabbage hearts; she shelled shrimp from the river and, using a pinch of tea leaves, imitated a dish of fragrant and sweet Longjing shrimp.

Finally, there was a quick dish—a vegetarian stir-fry of three shreds: dried tofu, scallions, and bean sprouts.

The staple food was scorched rice cooked in a clay pot, but it wasn't ordinary polished rice; it was the tribute Bijingmie she had stockpiled from the previous plane.

When she opened the lid, a burst of fragrance rushed out, so intoxicating that even the innkeeper was dazed by the aroma.

"Oh my, this rice smells truly fragrant!"

Xie Yang served a bowl and invited him to taste it.

The innkeeper didn't stand on ceremony with her; he took it with a beaming smile and ate it.

While eating, he told the cook to pack a few steamed buns for Xie Yang: "I can't eat for free from the young lady; although these buns aren't as good as the rice you made, they are at least steamed from white flour, so take them to fill your stomachs."

Thus, tonight, not only were the dishes sumptuous, but there were also two types of staple food.

Xie Yang saved a portion of every dish for Xiaohu, served him a full bowl of rice, and gave him two buns, telling him to take them to his own room to eat, while she carried the food box and basket back to her suite upstairs.

As she walked up the stairs, she heard the innkeeper enthusiastically inviting Xiaohu to eat in the kitchen: "Come, come, come! It's so boring to eat alone in your room! Just eat here; look, you have four dishes, and I have four dishes here too. If we put them together, we can taste eight dishes—wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Xiaohu giggled and said: "Innkeeper, you're just craving our mistress's cooking, aren't you?"

"Hey, you kid! Don't you know not to say it out loud even if you've figured it out?"

Xiaohu laughed out loud, and in the end, he stayed in the kitchen to dine with the innkeeper.

When Xie Yang returned to the guest room, Song Yanqing had already finished bathing.

Seeing him standing by the window in his bathrobe, lazily and comfortably drying his hair, Xie Yang sighed inwardly; with this appearance and temperament, who knows how many screams he would elicit when he rode a horse through the streets after the Palace Examination concluded? The flowers, pouches, and silk handkerchiefs thrown at him would probably drown him, right?

"What's wrong?"

Hearing the movement, Song Yanqing looked over with soft eyes; seeing her brow slightly furrowed as if troubled by something, he stopped drying his hair and walked over to hold her hand: "Are you worried about my results? Don't worry, I answered quite well."

"Quite well" was merely his conservative estimate; barring any accidents, he should be among the top performers this time.

Xie Yang smiled with curved brows: "Alright, don't think about it now that the exam is over; it will naturally be revealed on the day the results are posted. Is your hair dry? If it is, let's eat; it's cold, and the food will get cold quickly."

Song Yanqing: "..."

Who exactly was thinking about this? Wasn't she the one furrowing her brows in worry?

Xie Yang: You're overthinking it! What I'm thinking about is what if the current Emperor is a moron, and he orders you to divorce me, this rustic village woman, and insists on forcing a marriage with a princess or some noble lady—wouldn't all my hard work be for nothing?

Come to think of it, why did she have a brain cramp back then and listen to the Main System's crazy suggestion? Knowing full well it wasn't very reliable.

Main System: 【Host, the current Emperor is considered a wise ruler; the things you are worried about shouldn't happen.】

Xie Yang: What if they do?

The Main System stammered for a long time before blurting out: 【If he happens to be a foolish ruler, you can just replace him. That way, Song Yanqing will still be under one person and above ten thousand, reaching the Highest Official Rank, and can still complete the Task issued by the Sub-system.】

Xie Yang: "..."

I really thank you so much!

I'm halfway through the Task and you want me to be the Emperor and support the people of a whole country?

【... You, you don't like it?】

Xie Yang resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

She had emphasized many times that she wanted to retire, retire, retire! Is being an Emperor a retirement career? That's more ruthless than 996, it's 007, right? No! Even more ruthless than 007! Just think about the daily routine of her cheap father in the previous plane after he sat on the dragon throne; he truly rose earlier than the chickens and slept later than the dogs.

It's enough that she labors and toils across planes doing unpaid Tasks, and now you want her to work herself to the bone during the Task?

【...】

Xie Yang waved her hand: "Eat, eat!"

Eating is the most important thing!

Everything will be decided once we get to Jingcheng and see the situation; the boat will naturally straighten when it reaches the bridge.

While waiting for the results to be posted, Xie Yang first accompanied Song Yanqing to rest at the inn for two days, and seeing that his energy was restored, she began taking him to tour the Provincial Capital.

During the week before the exam, he had stayed at the inn to conserve his energy and review his books, not going anywhere. Xie Yang had gone out, but she had mostly visited markets and grocery stalls; this was her first time visiting the famous scenic spots of the Provincial Capital.

The young couple toured from south to north, then from east to west, exploring the entire Provincial Capital, leaving empty-handed every day and returning with bags full of goods.

They purchased several types of new fabrics, ready-made clothes, shoes, and socks popular in the Provincial Capital, bought dried river fish, dried river shrimp, and dried clam meat wholesale from fishermen by the river, and even bought a giant old river turtle larger than a washbasin. They planned to invite their in-laws and maternal relatives to a banquet after returning home, and this old river turtle would serve as the main dish.

In addition, Xie Yang also had the carriage driver take them to the most famous distillery in the Provincial Capital, where they purchased several jars of the distillery's signature fine wine. How could they host a banquet without good wine to treat their guests?

They weren't in a hurry to return, so after discussing it, the couple decided to hire a carriage, so they didn't mind carrying a few extra jars of wine.

Since they had hired a carriage anyway, Xie Yang wanted to buy some more local specialties, such as lotus leaf sticky rice chicken, sweet sticky eight-treasure rice, jujube paste sticky rice cakes... she bought several portions of each.

Come to think of it, is the Provincial Capital a production area for sticky rice? Why do so many specialty foods involve sticky rice? After asking around, it turned out to be true!

Xie Yang was delighted: "Why don't we buy a few more bags of sticky rice to take back? The Farm isn't short on lotus leaves or chickens; we can try making lotus leaf sticky rice chicken ourselves to eat then."

"Okay."

Song Yanqing had always granted her every request.

Just like that, the young couple spent their days busy purchasing New Year's goods.

Xiaohu, on the other hand, ran to the entrance of the Examination Hall every day.

There were many family members and bookboys like him looking for the gatekeepers of the examination site to inquire about the admission situation. However, the gatekeepers wouldn't speak casually before receiving confirmed news.

Xiaohu didn't show the slightest impatience; he carried a crossbody schoolbag filled with snacks, including roasted peanuts, melon seeds, and crispy soybeans given by the innkeeper, pastries and malt sugar that Xie Yang brought back for him every day when she went out, and a gourd of hawthorn water.

The clever Xiaohu would grab a handful of roasted snacks for the gatekeeper, stuff a few exquisite pastries into his hand, and say with a simple smile: "Sir, you've worked hard; if there's anything you need an errand boy for, just use me. Don't look at me because I'm young; I have plenty of strength, my mistress often praises me!"

The gatekeeper was amused by him and started chatting with him on and off, and after a while, they became familiar with each other.