The Lucky Farmgirl

In the selection of officials in the Great Jin, the special examination is similar to the recommendation system of the previous dynasty, where local recommendations were mostly for the descendants of major families, otherwise for influential people, with only a very small portion being those with great fame and virtue.

Zhou Lichong clearly wasn’t such a person.

Then he could only go through the regular examination.

The examinations for jinshi, xiucai, and Ming Classic in the regular exam are quite difficult; even the easiest Ming Classic, Liu Huan, who studied for more than ten years, barely passed with much effort.

The remaining Ming Book and Ming Law, the calligraphy is too difficult; there is no need to ask how many years Zhou Lichong studied, just from that dog-scratching handwriting, the examiners probably wouldn’t even want to look at the paper.

Ming Law is also no cakewalk, you have to memorize the entire thick volume of Jin Law without a single mistake, not to mention many other rites and rules to be memorized, even he wouldn’t dare to say he could memorize it all.

Moreover, those who pass the Ming Law exam mostly enter the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Justice and Punishments as minor officials, assisting county constables locally, or directly becoming county constables.

As for Ming Math, locally it’s for becoming an assistant to the chief recorder, and it’s even harder to advance than those from the Ming Law route, not to mention in the capital. Passing Ming Math basically means working as an obscure clerk under the Nine Ministries, Six Ministries, and three academies.

From there, luck permitting, one might reach an official rank of the fifth or sixth grade in a lifetime or could become a county official after accumulating certain meritorious service.

Back then, after being barred from the Imperial Academy and key Jinshi and Ming Classic exams, Mr. Zhuang considered taking the Ming Law exam, but later his reputation was too bad, and he felt that even if he passed, it would be difficult to advance.

Moreover, the salary of a low-level clerk is very little, it’s better to be an aide, so he left the capital.

Now Zhou Lichong doesn’t have the trouble of advancement and supporting a family, so Bai Shan suggested he take the Ming Math exam.

He said, "If you can pass, and this grain you grow can be cultivated, that would be a great merit, and you could directly be promoted to the Ministry of Agriculture."

By then, he would no longer be a low-level clerk.

Zhou Lichong asked, "What if I fail?"

"Then when you grow this grain, I will pull some strings for you afterward to claim credit," Manbao said, "but pulling strings requires money, probably needing..."

Manbao counted on her fingers, then looked at Bai Shan.

Bai Shan said, "An assistant minister, about two thousand long of grain."

Zhou Lichong’s legs went weak, and he immediately waved his hands, "No need, no need..."

He gritted his teeth and said, "Then, then I’ll study?"

Manbao was satisfied and said to him, "I will find the books for you later, if you have questions you can ask Mr. Zhuang, or you can ask me and Bai Shan, Lixue and the others must also be studying the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art so you can ask them too."

The Zhou family now has many people who are studying.

Zhou Lichong agreed with some trepidation.

Yin Huo looked at Bai Shan and then at Zhou Man, and finally glanced at Zhou Lichong who was sweating coldly and feeling distressed about the grain, deciding not to tell him that if you want to donate a position like assistant minister it would require several thousand long of grain, and it might not even get you the position.

But to be a clerk is not so troublesome; find a connection, first get the person into the authorities as a constable, then get them under the chief clerk as a runner-like clerk, and after two or three years it would be justified.

With Zhou Man’s current network and favors, it wouldn’t cost any money at all.

However, Yin Huo held back from speaking, Manbao and Bai Shan didn’t mention it, and Bai Erlang and Liu Huan truly didn’t understand, so Zhou Lichong thought there was only this one path, hence he felt tense, feeling like white noodles weren’t so delicious anymore.

Now these rice seedlings were still at the seedling stage, other than the thickness and the greenness, there wasn’t much else to see, so after wandering around for a bit, she went back.

Bai Erlang then suggested, "Let’s go for a picnic tomorrow."

Liu Huan said, "I heard there is a temple in Yongzhou with beautiful scenery."

Manbao shivered, immediately saying, "No!"

Seeing that temple made her think of Prince Gong’s leg.

Bai Shan suppressed a laugh and said, "I know a place that’s not bad; we can go horseback riding and have a spring outing there. Let’s prepare some things today, and tomorrow we’ll have a picnic."

Only then did Manbao breathe a sigh of relief, nodding repeatedly, "Exactly, exactly, temples, there are plenty in the capital, could it be larger than the Guardian of the Nation Temple? Let’s just find a grass field to go horseback riding and picnicking."

They thus happily and freely had a wonderfully rare holiday, while Ma Hongzhong in Yongzhou City was intercepted and beaten up again while leaving the city, leaving him injured once more, but this time didn’t dare to stay to recover.

Looking at the Wang family’s attitude, it seemed they wouldn’t let it go, so he wasn’t sure what was happening at home.

Ma Hongzhong was anxious, so hurried back to Bingzhou, not even taking time to heal.

Fourth Lady Wang and the others were leaving too, Fifth Lady Wang and Wang Wulang were returning to Taiyuan together, but as for the one involved, Wang Ruile was returning to the capital.

Seeing her worried expression, Fourth Lady Wang said, "Don’t worry, the Ma family are bullies who fear the strong; now that you’re not in their hands, they will certainly hold onto Cong’er, and absolutely won’t dare mistreat him."

Wang Ruile said, "I know, but please, Fourth Sister, pass a message to the Ma family for me. As long as Cong’er is well, no matter what happens on Ms. Wang’s side, there is still a bit of sentiment between us, but if he is not well, it will be a deadly feud between us."

Wang Ruile spoke calmly, but Fourth Lady Wang detected her resolve, nodding, "I understand, rest assured."

However, Wang Cheng didn’t think so. He disapproved, "Sixth Sister, do you still plan on staying with them if they keep hold of Cong’er?"

Wang Ruile calmly said, "That depends on whether they can wait it out. I’m recuperating in the capital now, so it doesn’t matter to me."

Her illness would at least require four months to recover from, and if it didn’t recover well, even another half a year was possible. She could wait, but could the Ma family?

What she wanted was a sliver of hope for the Ma family, so they wouldn’t be desperate enough to harm her son.

Wang Ruile watched them leave into the distance, and felt lingering concerns, finding it hard to settle down.

Madam Tang reached out to hold her hand, comforting her, "Don’t be afraid, the Ma family previously acted wantonly because they thought no one from the Wang family would stand up for you; having gone through this ordeal, even if they had ten times the audacity, they wouldn’t dare harm Cong’er."

Wang Ruile nodded slightly.

Madam Tang stood with her under the long pavilion watching the carriage go afar, and after a while, said, "Since you’ve decided to separate, you should grow closer to Wulang."

She continued, "Although he is the son of your uncle and aunt, he is also your adoptive brother, inheriting the legacy of your parents."

Wang Ruile suddenly tightened the handkerchief in her hand, after a moment saying, "Elder Sister, what do you think about our second branch dividing the family after this matter?"

Her father and her biological uncle were close, so the second branch had never split off, and lacked time too.

One does not divide the family while parents are alive, and their grandmother was always around back then; later, her parents left before their grandmother, making the grandmother even more unwilling for the second branch to split.

But now the grandmother was no longer around, and Wang Cheng was married, but because he was adopted, their aunt never agreed to split the family, even at one point wanting to take this son back.

Partly due to these disputes, she and Wang Cheng hadn’t had a good relationship these past few years, and the siblings hadn’t been in contact for a long time.

Madam Tang raised an eyebrow, pondering for a moment before saying, "In the past, our main branch wouldn’t interfere in your second branch’s matters, but since Ms. Cui went too far this time, and you’re returning to your parents’ home without wanting to live together, it’s understandable. I’ll write to Father asking him to mention it to Uncle."

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