At the end of March, Mrs. Kuan from Wangzifang changed hands with Mr. Gao and sent him a tael of silver.
Including Li Xiaonan, the five Li siblings used all the verification methods they had heard about on the ten small silver coins.
This is the first time they see silver.
Li Xiaonan bit the silver coin and was very puzzled, how could the silver here be so beautiful, noble and shining?
In the past, she had thrown away a lot of sterling silver worth several nines as rubbish. Those silver bracelets, silver locks, etc., looked like a pile of rags.
It’s really this moment and this moment!
The prefectural examination starts on April 12.
There are many candidates in the entire Pingjiang Prefecture. They have to take the exams county by county. The date of Kunshan County's ranking will not be posted until the day before the exam. This round trip is five or six days shorter than it is longer. I'm afraid
It will take nearly ten days.
But in April, we have to plow the fields for breeding, which is a busy time for farming.
Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu walked around the field twice, and after careful calculation when they came back, they decided that Li Jinzhu would accompany Li Xuedong and Li Xiaonan to take the exam, while Li Yuzhu and Li Yinzhu were at home, and they took out two silver coins to rent a cow in the next village.
Adding a strong labor force to plow and harrow the fields, so that the sisters Li Yuzhu and Li Yinzhu can survive planting seedlings in the back.
Early in the morning of the ninth day of the lunar month, Li Jinzhu, Li Xuedong and Li Xiaonan, quietly left Xiaoli Village and rushed to Pingjiang Mansion with a group of merchants that Mr. Gao helped find.
In the afternoon of the next day, the three siblings got off the bus in Guoxiang Town outside Pingjiang City, thanked the shopkeeper again and again, and rushed to Pingjiang City.
The three siblings left Kunshan County for the first time.
From Guoxiang to Pingjiang City, shops, inns, and merchants were one after another along the way. The Li family was stunned by the bustling scene.
Li Xiaonan looked here and there, dazzled, and forgot to walk several times.
Alas, this is a very wealthy and developed place. The only ones who are poor are her village and her family!
"Ah-nan, let's not get distracted first. Let's finish the exam before we talk." Li Jinzhu pulled Li Xiaonan from time to time, who was unable to walk, and explained uneasily.
"Yeah, I know, I know." Li Xiaonan stared at a pastry shop, nodded, and memorized the book.
She must take the exam well!
Only by passing the exam can the five siblings escape from the clutches of the third cousin, survive, and leave the small village. Only then can she make something in this world with peace of mind, such as making some small money.
Scholars are quite prestigious. The Wang Hong family in Kunshan County only became county officials after Young Master Hong and his second son, Mr. Hong, passed the scholar examination.
When it got dark, the three of them entered Pingjiang City and found a cheap footwear store to stay outside of Qiba Street in Lifuxue.
Early the next morning, Li Xuedong put on his examination clothes and went to the government office to report with Li Jinzhu.
The only mandatory test in the government examination is the main test on the first day. The other tests are optional.
The dates for the main examinations in each county have been posted. Pingjiang City has the most candidates and has its own exam. The remaining five counties are divided into three exams. Kunshan County and Changshu County combine into one exam on the third day.
The rules of the main examination are similar to those of the county examination. You enter the venue before dawn and start the test at dawn.
Li Xiaonan wore Li Xuedong's examination clothes, held the long-eared examination basket given by Mr. Gao, and rushed to Fuxue together with Li Jinzhu, counting the time.
After two streets, more and more people were rushing to enter with lanterns on the road.
Li Jinzhu subconsciously blocked Li Xiaonan's side. Li Xiaonan lowered her head slightly and stood next to Li Jinzhu.
When they arrived at the gate of Fu Xue, Li Xiaonan and Li Jinzhu picked a shadow and stood there.
Only half an hour later, the gate of the school opened from the inside, and two guards with serious faces came out with two scarecrows dressed in red and green, one on the left and one on the right.
"You..."
"Don't worry, eldest sister, I'm going in." Li Xiaonan interrupted Li Jinzhu's words, carrying the test basket, and went to the gate of the school.
"Li Xuedong! Here, here!" Young Master Hong Zhenye, the head of the Kunshan County case, shouted, waving his arms.
Under Hong Zhenye's enthusiastic arrangement, the top five of them formed a group and were guaranteed by Hong Zhenye's second-in-command, Weng Hong, an old scholar.
Li Xiaonan walked towards Hong Zhenye and the others with her heart in her heart.
"Everyone is here, let's go in!" Hong Zhenye took the lead and went to the gate of Fuxue.
After passing the screen wall, Hong Zhenye stood on tiptoe and stretched out his neck, waving his hands and shouting: "Er Weng Weng! Er Weng Weng!"
The minor official who verified the names hurriedly asked Hong Zhenye to pass the five people.
Hong Zhenye rushed to his Er Weng Weng in a few steps, "Er Weng Weng, here we come, this is Zhao Mohua, this is Qian Xingbang, this is Sun Qingbai, this is Li Xuedong! I am Hong Zhenye!"
Hong Zhenye introduced it in one breath to the bookseller who was checking the name.
The clerk looked at the roster and looked at the four people except Hong Zhenye one by one, then turned to look at Hong Zhenye and his two sons.
The old scholar Hong was muttering something to Fu Cheng, without even squinting his eyes, and waved his hand with a bit of impatience.
"Go in." The clerk waved his hand.
"Let's go!" Hong Zhenye took the lead and rushed to find his seat.
Li Xiaonan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The most difficult level is over.
The process of the government examination was the same as that of the county examination. Li Xiaonan faced the Gezhi examination paper and did not dare to leave it all blank like the county examination. After thinking about it, she wrote seven, seven, eight and eight for the counting questions, and two or three for the remaining two questions.
I don’t dare to write more sentences.
Li Xiaonan paid attention to the movements around her and handed in the papers in the middle.
Li Jinzhu didn't dare to stay far away, nor did he dare to move forward. He stretched his neck and looked through.
As soon as Li Xiaonan stepped out of the threshold, Li Jinzhu saw her and rushed towards her. When Li Xiaonan saw the eldest sister, she immediately staggered and threw herself into Li Jinzhu's arms.
"Brother is exhausted!" Li Jinzhu shouted and hurried away with Li Xiaonan on his back.
After the last main exam, early in the morning the next day, the circle list was posted, and Li Xuedong ranked eighteenth.
Li Xiaonan was so frightened that she broke into a cold sweat.
The Pingjiang Prefecture sent out a total of twenty places for the hospital examination this year. If she missed the mark by just a little bit, she would have failed!
Among the twenty people from Kunshan County who passed the government examination, apart from Li Xuedong, the second young master of the Hong family, Hong Zhenye, ranked tenth.
Li Jinzhu was so happy that she couldn't hold back.
Li Xuedong stretched his head to look at Li Xiaonan and winked at her.
Li Xiaonan exhaled the breath of surprise and also laughed.
"Are we going back?" Li Jinzhu glanced at Li Xiaonan.
"Yeah!" Li Xiaonan nodded.
"Hurry up! I saw Young Master Hong, he seems to be looking for someone." Li Xuedong's face showed a bit of surprise.
He was very afraid of the fiery enthusiasm of Young Master Hong.
"Then leave quickly!" Li Xiaonan pulled Li Jinzhu, and the three siblings turned around and ran away.
There was no caravan available when we returned to Kunshan County, so the three siblings walked all the way home on their own two legs.
At noon on the fourth day, the three siblings had a meal in Kunshan County. They passed by Gaocunji and sent Li Xuedong to the Gaojia School. Li Xiaonan and Li Jinzhu rushed home.
