The originally lively and noisy banquet suddenly fell silent!
Anyone who is not a fool can clearly feel the dissatisfaction in the old lady's heart at this time.
Everyone present looked at Mrs. Xing, who was laughing with her, and kept silent with different thoughts.
"Old lady, that's a collective examination organized by the ethnology organization!"
Mrs.
At this point, she paused and continued: "Seeing that my aunt was worried that it would be inappropriate for Lin Duan to return to the south at such a young age, I simply asked Cong'er to go back to the south with him and take the exam by the way!"
"Really?"
When the old lady heard this, her tone became more relaxed, she nodded and said with a smile: "That's very good!"
The matter involves her direct nephew Lin Duan, so she naturally won't pursue it too closely. Otherwise, if Lin Ruhai and Jia Min hear about it, won't they become even more alienated from Rong Mansion?
"Old lady, my unlucky Pan'er also went back to Nan for internship this time!"
Aunt Xue said with a smile: "He can finally graduate, and my heart can be completely relieved!"
These words caused a burst of laughter, and the atmosphere of the banquet suddenly returned to its previous liveliness.
Xue Pan is a weirdo. No one here knows who he is. When I heard that this guy finally graduated, I couldn't help but feel coke.
In this way, the matter of Jia Cong quietly returning to the south to take part in the imperial examination was revealed.
With Xue Pan as a foil, neither the old lady nor Mrs. Wang would be able to say anything about Jia Cong being too young to take part in the imperial examination early.
Jia Cong's performance was much better than Xue Pan's. Even Xue Pan graduated and participated in internship activities. It was okay for a boy like Jia Cong, who usually performed well, to experience the cruelty of the imperial examination in advance.
But after returning to Rongqing Hall, the old lady was not in a good mood. Even Jia Cong and Lin Duan, two boys in their early ten years, had gone back to the south to take part in the imperial examination. Baoyu was still living in the backyard with no future. What was going on in her heart?
Not even happy.
It’s time for Baoyu to make progress!
No matter how optimistic she is about Baoyu's future, the performance of Jia Cong, a concubine, is much better than that of Baoyu, and the old lady cannot continue to control Baoyu and let him continue to hang out in Rongqing Hall.
Mrs. Wang was also thinking about it here. Just as the elder had guessed, when she first heard that Jia Cong had returned to the south to take the imperial examination, she was in a very bad mood and even wanted to send someone to intercept him on the way.
But unfortunately, Zhou Rui, her most effective external steward, was missing. Even if she had an idea, she couldn't find someone capable to execute it.
Looking back, she thought of Baoyu's upbringing just like the old lady. The stimulated Mrs. Wang decided that no matter how the old lady objected, she must send Baoyu to study in the family this time.
This time it's just Jia Cong who quietly went south to take the exams. If in two years' time Jia Lan will also start taking the exams. By then, Baoyu will still have accomplished nothing, which will really not look good on his face.
No matter how cruel Mrs. Wang is, she would never attack her legitimate grandson just to save her second son's face.
Fortunately, that kid Jia Huan was studying at Baigong Academy, so he basically lost the possibility of taking the exam. Otherwise, if this kid got ahead, Mrs. Wang felt that she would definitely go crazy.
"Master, Baoyu must go to school!"
In the evening, when the second master of the government was waiting for him to return to the government office, Mrs. Wang took the opportunity to say: "Brother Cong from Dafang has gone back to Nan to take the scholar examination. Brother Lan will probably go back to Nan to take the exam in two years. Baoyu can't delay it any longer."
!”
"What do you think, old lady?"
Mr. Zheng Er was not in a hurry to express his position. He was disappointed with Baoyu, especially because there was an old lady between them. He didn't want to conflict with the old lady because of Baoyu.
"Today, when my sister-in-law mentioned that Brother Cong returned to Nanjing to take the exam, the old lady's expression turned very bad. She was obviously very touched. I'll go ask him tomorrow!"
Mrs. Wang said cautiously: "If the old lady lets me go, I will arrange Baoyu to study in the clan!"
"As long as he wants to, he can go to clan school anytime!"
There was no joy on Mr. Zheng's face, and he said calmly, "I'm just afraid that Baoyu himself won't be interested in learning!"
It was a pity in his heart that the third son Jia Huan was willing to study hard, but in order to avoid Mrs. Wang's suppression, he could only learn crafts and martial arts at Baigong School, but he could not enter the official career through the imperial examination.
Otherwise, with the enthusiasm of that boy studying at Baigong School, he might now have the strength to follow those students back to the south, take part in the imperial examination, and try to test himself as a boy student and a scholar.
Jia Huan had been at Baigong School for more than four years at this time, and he entered school almost in the same year as Xue Dashazi.
Unlike Fool Xue, Jia Huan went to school very purposefully, majoring in martial arts and minoring in all kinds of crafts. In terms of both talent and diligence, Jia Huan surpassed Fool Xue by a dozen ways.
Jia Huan started practicing martial arts in just one year, and after three years of advanced studies, he was already quite active, but he was still young and had not yet shown his talents.
At the same time, he already has three minor craft skills. This guy spent a lot of energy on the two skills of carpentry and blacksmithing, and the other one spent more energy on business. He is better than the half-assed fool Xue.
Get too much.
Jia Huan did not expose these to anyone in the house. He was also aware of Mrs. Wang's full malice. He also understood that his own status and status would face unimaginable severe suppression and restrictions once he showed signs of overshadowing Baoyu.
If Mr. Zheng and Jia Zhu had not been paying close attention silently, they would not have known that Jia Huan had accomplished something in his studies and was an out-and-out talented scholar.
The father and son also felt that it was a pity. With Jia Huan's diligent study attitude, if he specialized in the official path of the imperial examination such as the Four Books and the Five Classics, he might be able to get the Jinshi before he was thirty, and then he would be the first person in the second house.
But they also know that this is impossible.
It is impossible for the old lady and Mrs. Wang to watch Jia Huan's glory over Baoyu. What awaits Jia Huan then will not be a bright future, but a terrifying suppression and even life-threatening design.
The father and son were able to protect Jia Huan for a while, but they could not protect him all the time. In order to avoid the tragedy, they could only watch a good young man like Jia Huan wasted on miscellaneous studies.
Secretly, Jia Zhu asked his son Jia Lan to befriend Jia Huan, and the uncle and nephew became close friends. He hoped that no matter who gets rich first, they would never forget their friends.
I don’t know how Mrs. Wang negotiated with the old lady. In the end, the old lady agreed to let Baoyu go to school, but she still made a request. If Baoyu felt too tired, he could rest at home for a day or two instead of having to study in the school all the time.
No matter how much Baoyu cried and fussed this time, the old lady and Mrs. Wang did not follow his wishes. They even threatened to send Baoyu to Mr. Zheng if he made trouble again, which immediately made Baoyu calm down.
Mr. Zheng Er didn't know about this, otherwise he would have been furious. Now he has become a big devil who scares children, right?
After the old lady and Mrs. Wang had coaxed Baoyu well, they asked Master Zheng to send Baoyu to school.
"Study hard and don't waste the hard work of the old lady and your mother!"
For Jia Baoyu, Mr. Zheng still has some expectations in his heart. After all, he is his biological son born from jade. He listens to the old lady talking about his great fortune every day, so he has some thoughts in his heart.
But I don't dare to have high expectations for Baoyu. The old lady has raised this boy to be a bit squeamish, and there is nothing Mr. Zheng can do about it.
In this way, Jia Baoyu restarted his school career.
This time, Mr. Zheng Er was more thoughtful and did not allow the boys around Baoyu to enter the school. Even if something happened, Baoyu would handle it himself to prevent those boys from ruining the atmosphere of the school.
Baoyu's life in school was depressing. For a guy who didn't like to read Confucian knowledge such as the Four Books and Five Classics, living with a group of classmates immersed in scriptures all day long was quite difficult.
What was even more difficult was that the rules in the school were very strict, and the boys around him could not enter the school to help him. Even if he had any idea of skipping school, he had no choice but to give up because he had no power to act.
Academics are the most important thing in the school, but no one will deliberately curry favor with Baoyu because of his identity. He is even vaguely ostracized by his classmates because of Baoyu's lack of ambition.
Anyone who enters a small school that specializes in imperial examinations is a child of the Jia clan or relatives who are determined to perform in the imperial examinations. The learning atmosphere in the school is quite strong, and the results of many years of operation have made this place a little bit different.
The atmosphere of Ziwaitou Academy.
It's just that Jia Family Studies has always been very low-key and does not have a learning atmosphere that promotes family studies. If outsiders don't understand it deeply, they won't realize the mystery at all. The place voluntarily excludes all students who are unwilling to learn.
If Baoyu had not been in a special position, I am afraid that Mr. Xuetang would have issued a warning as soon as possible. If several warnings were ineffective and the learning progress continued to fail, he would even be expelled directly.
Mr. Youzheng comes over from time to time to supervise the operation of the school. The gentlemen here are not polite at all and follow the rules of the school. Many students have been expelled in the past few years.
Being expelled from a school, no matter where you are in any era, is a very shameful thing. Fortunately, there is Baigong Academy that can accept it. Otherwise, I am afraid that many families in the clan will cause trouble because of the expulsion.
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The old lady and Mrs. Wang didn't know Baoyu's performance in school. When they saw Baoyu going to and from school on time every day, they thought Baoyu was studying very well. They all smiled happily and kept giving Baoyu good things in his room, but Baoyu didn't care.
Appreciate, some unimportant things are cheap for the beautiful maid in the room.
Only Mr. Zheng, who has always paid attention to ethnic studies, knew how Baoyu behaved in school. He was annoyed but not angry. He had already made plans in his heart. He knew that Baoyu would probably spend three days fishing in school and two days in school.
Shaiwang, the current situation is just fulfilling what I thought in my heart.
Time flew by, and several months passed quickly. The good news from Jinling soon spread to the Rong family: the young masters of the Lin family, Lin Duan, and Mr. Cong were selected as scholars at the same time. One ranked at the top and the other at the bottom. At the same time,
Three more students from the Jia clan school in the capital were admitted to the scholar examination, and the whole house was filled with joy.