Chapter 138: Prefectural Top Scholar

The Jiang family's old mansion seemed to have been cursed recently, suffering one misfortune after another.

First, Jiang Dabo had a stroke for no reason, and then Mei Niang, who was bought for nearly forty taels of silver, inexplicably became a wanted criminal of the imperial court, causing the family to lose both people and money.

Immediately after, Cao Shi was inexplicably dragged off to prison and received an inexplicable beating with the rod, her backside nearly beaten to a pulp.

However, this wasn't the most miserable. The most miserable thing was that the precious great-grandson that Yan Pozi had been looking forward to for a long time died in Qin Shi's womb before he was born, one corpse and two lives.

Yan Pozi was wilted, and she couldn't lift her spirits no matter what she did.

She couldn't figure out how her family had fallen to this point.

"Grandmother, Father pooped on the bed again!" Jiang Lian'er ran out of the room, covering her nose with a look of disgust.

Yan Pozi's old face sank. "He pooped, so he pooped. What's there to make a fuss about? That's your father, your own father. He raised you so big, if you don't serve him, who will?"

"Grandmother, you say it lightly." Jiang Lian'er stomped her feet unhappily. "I'm not married yet. Every day I carry a large basin of dirty pants to the pond to wash them. People don't even dare to get close to me, for fear of getting the smell of poop. If this continues, who will be willing to be a matchmaker for me in the future?"

She was already sixteen. Girls her age in the village were already looking at each other everywhere.

Only her family, Father was bedridden, Mother had no opinion, Eldest Brother had just lost his wife and child, and was paralyzed in bed all day long like a useless person.

The only one who could make decisions, Grandmother, didn't even mention this matter at all.

How could Jiang Lian'er not be anxious?

Yan Pozi knew what she was thinking. Unconscionable dead girl, she saw that the family was getting worse and worse, so she was anxious to get rid of this place and go to someone else's house to enjoy happiness!

Thinking beautifully. Being a daughter-in-law was much harder than being a daughter. Did she think everyone had Du Shi's good luck, with a mother-in-law who died early, and could be the master of the house as soon as she entered the door?

"Alright, you don't need to worry about those. Tomorrow I'll go to Matchmaker Hua's house and ask her to find a good family for you."

To make Jiang Lian'er feel at ease, Yan Pozi revealed her chips in advance. "You take good care of your father. When you get married, Grandmother will give you a dowry, plus a pair of jade bracelets."

Jiang Lian'er's eyes lit up.

"Grandmother, is it the pair of bracelets that the official's wife rewarded you with when you were a maid in a big family when you were young?"

She had seen those bracelets. They were green and shiny, and they looked like they were worth a lot of money.

Seeing the greedy look on her granddaughter's face, Yan Pozi hummed unpleasantly: "Then do you want them or not?"

"Want, want, want, thank you Grandmother!" Jiang Lian'er nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Then why don't you hurry up and wash them?"

"Oh, I know, Grandmother."

Jiang Lian'er didn't mind the smell anymore, carrying a basin of poop pants and rushing out the door.

Yan Pozi sighed and turned into the room to look at her son.

Jiang Dabo had taken medicine for so long, but his condition showed no improvement, and he even needed someone to take care of his eating, drinking, and pooping.

As the saying goes, there is no filial son before the bed of a long-term illness. After a long time, let alone Jiang Lian'er, even Yan Pozi, his mother, couldn't stand it.

Fortunately, Jiang Dabo's wife, Cao Shi, was quite sincere to her man, serving poop and urine, wiping and changing clothes, never complaining.

This was perhaps the only thing Yan Pozi was satisfied with about this daughter-in-law.

"Alright, your injury is still painful, go and rest for a while." Yan Pozi said.

Cao Shi responded, wrung the towel dry, carried a basin of dirty water, and walked out. When she reached the courtyard gate, she splashed it out.

Clatter, it splashed the person coming in all over the head and face.

Looking at the drowned rat in front of her, Cao Shi was startled. "Oh, Big Cow's wife, why are you here? Why didn't you say hello in advance?"

Zhu Shi was speechless. She wanted to say hello, but could she?

Speaking of which, wouldn't this be foot-washing water? Why did it have such a salty and smelly taste?

Zhu Shi stuck out her tongue and licked it. Ugh, a bit disgusting.

However, this wasn't the time to care about this. She wiped her face casually and then gestured at Cao Shi with a red face and thick neck.

Cao Shi was puzzled. "What's wrong with you? Are you dumb? Were you bitten by a dog?"

Zhu Shi: "..."

No way, she had to drag Cao Shi toward the lively place.

Cao Shi's buttocks had been beaten hard last time and hadn't healed yet, so she ran painfully.

However, after seeing the lively scene, she immediately forgot the pain.

"Hey, what is this for?" Cao Shi pulled someone and asked.

That person rolled his eyes at her. "Can't you see for yourself? With this posture, don't you find it familiar?"

Familiar? Cao Shi leaned closer suspiciously. Yellow paper, red silk cloth, plus official news-bringers beating gongs and drums...

She remembered. More than twenty years ago, when Jiang Mo Nian became a scholar and a provincial graduate, several batches of such people came to the family, even more lively than this!

"Who became a scholar?" Cao Shi had a guess in her heart.

Fu happened to be standing next to her, and when she heard this, she smiled. "Who else could it be, it must be your nephew."

Jiang Zhan? Was it really that stinky kid?

Cao Shi didn't want to admit it. Why were the sons of the second branch all so promising? The older one was a constable, and the younger one was now a scholar, and the family also sold medicinal herbs and made such a large sum of money.

But their family was so unlucky, the sick were sick, the dead were dead, and even several acres of land were sold. Why?

"Our village isn't the only one who went to take the exam. Who said it must be him?" Cao Shi's tone was sour.

Fu didn't dare to be sure. "It should be, I asked Jiang's Erlang that day, he said he did alright."

"I think it's Master Jiang." A woman next to her interjected. "My grandson is studying in the school, and he learned many characters in just two months. Master Jiang has taught for so many years, he has great ability."

Cao Shi immediately followed up. "Exactly, Master Jiang drinks more ink than Jiang Zhan drinks soup. Can he lose to a hairy kid of ten-plus years?"

People around also felt that this made sense.

If Master Jiang hadn't been unlucky, he would have become a scholar eight hundred years ago. Hearing that he finally turned his luck and finished writing this time, it must be him.

Cao Shi finally felt much more comfortable.

As they were talking, they saw the few official news-bringers turn a corner and go toward the Jiang family.

Master Jiang and Jiang Zhan both lived here, and the two families were neighbors.

Everyone guessed one after another, watching whose door it would stop at in the end.

Cao Shi also watched with eager eyes, silently praying, don't let it be Jiang Zhan, don't let it be Jiang Zhan...

Boom, the drum sound stopped in front of Clan Leader Jiang's house.

The leading official news-bringer sang loudly: "Congratulations to Master Jiang Yan for being selected in the county exam, here to report the good news!"

The crowd suddenly boiled over.

"I said it was Master Jiang, right? Master Jiang is just more powerful than the young one."

"You hindsight, you clearly said it was Jiang's Erlang just now, didn't you? You also said that a good father has no bad seeds, and Jiang Mo Nian's son wouldn't lose."

"Did I say that? No, you must have heard it wrong..."

Cao Shi raised her eyebrows triumphantly. She knew Jiang Zhan couldn't do it. Heaven was fair, how could the second branch occupy all the good things?

Over there, Master Jiang had already welcomed them out, holding the yellow list with both hands.

Dozens of people from Clan Leader Jiang's family were crowded in the courtyard, all high-spirited. Clan Leader Jiang was so happy that his old eyes were filled with tears, and he tremblingly stuffed several red envelopes into the official news-bringers' hands with his cane.

"Thank you for running such a long way, you've worked hard."

The official news-bringer was also good at speaking, laughing and saying: "The old master has good fortune, I wish the young master good results in the Prefectural and Academy exams!"

Clan Leader Jiang thanked him repeatedly. "I'll take your auspicious words."

While they were entertaining, the women of the Jiang family weren't idle either, taking out the melons and fruits prepared long ago from the house and distributing them to the people watching the fun outside one by one.

Everyone jumped out with a basket of good words, praising Master Jiang to the sky.

No matter what, it was a good thing that Master Jiang became a scholar, and it could be considered as winning glory for Longquan Cun.

The official news-bringers didn't stay long and left after saying a few auspicious words.

Turning left at the door, they came to the door of the Jiang family's second branch.

"Congratulations to Young Master Jiang Zhan for being selected as the Prefectural Top Scholar, here to report the good news!" The leader's voice was full of energy.

The crowd who hadn't recovered from Master Jiang's side: "...???"

"What does it mean? What place is the Prefectural Top Scholar?" Cao Shi asked blankly.

Fu burst out laughing. "Oh my, Auntie, even I, who haven't read books, know that the Prefectural Top Scholar is the first place. Your nephew Jiang Mo Nian was a double winner back then, how could you not know what the Prefectural Top Scholar means?"

Cao Shi's dry face turned into a pig's liver red instantly.

First place, Jiang Zhan actually took first place in the county exam, how could this be?

Was the second branch really going to have good luck?

Thinking of her paralyzed husband at home, her decadent son, and her innocent grandson who died prematurely, Cao Shi's heart was full of unwillingness and jealousy.

Heaven has no eyes!

Cao Shi turned and ran home. Before she entered the door, she started shouting: "Mother! The little white-eyed wolf became a scholar!"

Yan Pozi turned out of the room and scolded unpleasantly: "What are you shouting about? Your man just fell asleep, be careful not to wake him up."

Cao Shi hurriedly kept her voice down, then leaned into Yan Pozi's ear and told her about Jiang Zhan taking first place in the county exam.

After hearing this, Yan Pozi also sank her face.

"Prefectural Top Scholar? It's just like his dead ghost father, he has some real ability."

"Mother, you're still praising him?" Cao Shi said angrily. "After the second son became a scholar back then, our family's land didn't have to pay taxes, and the second son would occasionally bring back some silver to honor you. Now his son has also become a scholar, but we, as his closest elders, can't get any benefits, it's too annoying."

Yan Pozi glanced at her. "The reason we were able to get benefits back then was because Su Shi had a soft personality and we could get it by coaxing; the second branch is now managed by Du Shi, and that little bitch Du Shi is very cunning, not as easy to deal with as Su Shi, don't pit yourself in when the time comes."

Cao Shi was unwilling. "Could it be that we can only watch?"

Yan Pozi paced back and forth in the courtyard a few times, and suddenly laughed.

"Of course there are benefits to get. Even if we can't get them, we have to stir them up so that their family is not peaceful. Want to live a peaceful life? Hehe, don't even think about it!"

She turned to warn Cao Shi: "You keep the house well, I'm going to your aunt's house for a trip." ===== CHAPTER 139 =====