Chapter Fifty-Four
In the state of Pei, the county exam requires five consecutive tests, but you don't have to stay in the venue. After half a month, the results will be announced. If you pass the qualification, you'll have to wait another four months for the prefectural exam, which also requires three consecutive tests. Then, after another half-month, the results will be announced again. This year happens to be the turn of the triennial provincial exam, meaning that if Jin Fenghua can pass the test and become a child prodigy, he'll have to return to the prefectural city in June for the provincial exam to see if he can pass and become a scholar. In Xianyi's view, this is not only a test of the students' knowledge but also a test of their family background and physical strength. Otherwise, with so many rounds of exams, even good people would be exhausted, and those with money are better off, living well and eating well. Those without money may have to sleep on the streets and eat coarse food, making it extremely difficult to achieve good results during the exam. Not to mention that in the future, there will still be county-level exams and other challenges. To be able to take these exams all the way to the capital city and even get an official appointment is simply a feat of a divine person.
The county test was fine, at least Xian Yi saw Jin Fenghua every day with a spirited and unchanged expression. Of course, it's also possible that his martial arts skills are stronger than those of bookworms. Xian Yi never asked Jin Fenghua about his exam results, only putting effort into his food and clothing. She was not a talented woman in her past life or this one, so she couldn't provide any help to her husband in the imperial examination. Asking would be pointless anyway. In any case, whether he passed or not, they wouldn't be poor enough to go hungry. Besides, with Jin Fenghua's abilities, his future path was probably already secured.
Xian Yi didn't worry, and Jin Fenghua himself had even less to worry about. He had seen these test questions in his previous life, when he was a commander, doing things for Cui Gonggong. Apart from martial arts, the most important thing was information. Not to mention the exam questions of several years, but even the roster of officials at that time, he could recite them fluently. Even the background of these officials, the dark secrets of their families, who they were married to, who they had offended, as a sharp-eyed man for the Dragon Guard, if he couldn't get a handle on others, how could he make them do things for him? Not to mention getting rid of opponents for personal gain. He had stood in the darkest place, almost every moment staring at these officials standing in the sunlight, knowing the ugliness under their glamorous clothes. Even after Cui Gonggong died and he walked from darkness into sunlight, he didn't lose his habit of analyzing others' bad habits.
Jin Fenghua was well aware of his own writing style. Currently, the examiners for both the county and prefectural exams belonged to the type who liked flowery language, but he, due to his education in his past life and his later experiences, wrote things that were more toxic and more practical. Fortunately, both the county and prefectural exams tested basic knowledge, so although he couldn't get first place, he also wouldn't fall behind by much. As expected, on the day the results of the prefectural exam were announced, Xian Yi learned that her husband had passed as a Tongsheng. This time, including various counties and the prefectural city, there were approximately three thousand people taking the imperial exams, but only about two hundred people passed as Tongsheng. Jin Fenghua didn't get first place in his category, but he was ranked ninth, making him the second-best student from Linqing Academy this time around. The top student from the academy had gotten third place in the exams. Moreover, Jin Fenghua's three good friends had also passed as Tongsheng. Among them, Qiu Xuezhi originally already had a reputation as a Tongsheng, but his ranking wasn't good last time. This time, he got into the top twenty, which was something everyone rejoiced about.
After getting the ranking, in the prefectural city, under the agreement of the four people, they invited their fellow students and teacher to go to the largest wine house in the prefectural city for a good meal. After that, some students from far away left the prefectural city, but Jin Fenghua and Xian Yi stayed behind, not only to visit the place properly, but also to buy a shop for Xian Yi. Xian Yi had some spare money on hand, but didn't know how to do business, and the land in the prefectural city was expensive. If they could buy a shop with a house, it would not only earn them some silver by renting it out, but also leave a way out for Xian Yi in the future.
Jin Fenghua couldn't think of what Xianyi wanted, but he himself couldn't guarantee that his own future would be smooth sailing, so how could he let Xianyi do something reckless for him? Moreover, Jin Fenghua indulged himself by spoiling Xianyi, and the small shop was nothing more than a trifle; in the future, if Xianyi wanted to, all the shops in the capital city could be bought.
Because Xian Yi didn't have a lot of money, she didn't plan to buy a shop in the bustling area of the city. Instead, she chose a slightly secluded place with many outsiders living there. The area had fewer people, and most were houses of foreign merchants and officials. The shop Xian Yi chose was on a street leading to the center of the city. The front of the shop wasn't very big, but it had a courtyard in the back with several flat houses and a two-story embroidered building. It was said that this shop originally sold embroidery products, but the owner's wife got married and left with her husband, so the shop was put up for sale. As soon as Xian Yi entered, she felt that the shop was elegant, not only in its layout and decoration, which had a strong southern flavor, but also in the small garden behind, which was fresh and beautifully arranged. Even the embroidered building, which wasn't very spacious, was filled with the gentle and elegant atmosphere of a woman's home. Buying something often relies on intuition and impulse, so Xian Yi quickly decided on this shop. She planned to rent out the front part but locked the back part with a large lock, intending to find an opportunity to redecorate it and occasionally live there herself.
She entrusted the shop to Zhong Ren and played around in the city for a while, then Xian Yi prepared to return to Lin Qing. After all, as a woman, she couldn't go out and play anymore, even going out required covering up. This was not only because Jin Feng Hua disliked her being seen by others, but also because of the customs of Pei Guo. When she was a slave, she thought that being a madam had no freedom, sometimes the girls could make an appointment to go out and play together, but after becoming a wife and daughter-in-law, they couldn't do such things at all. Most of them were in their friends' houses, listening to opera, appreciating flowers, not to mention seeing outside men, even the young servants in the house had to be avoided.
This is indeed due to the influence of feudal etiquette, but also because of whether men love and respect their wives. Xian Yi only heard about this from the womenfolk after marrying into the Lin family in Linqing. After becoming a wife, apart from necessary social interactions, if any woman likes to go out and show off or do business, it would be considered a decline in the family's fortunes and the husband would not be pleased. Otherwise, husbands cherish and pamper their wives, how could they bear to let others see them? They want to protect them in their hearts and appreciate them at home every day. This also reveals whether the men in this household are responsible, because only when men cannot hold up the family gate will women take charge. In Pei Guo, being a female household is not shameful, but if there are no men in the house, unmarried girls taking care of household chores would only lead to some gossip. However, if the husband is still around and the wife wants to be a strong woman, not only would the wife lose her reputation, but also the husband's family and children would be despised by others. It can be seen that Pei Guo is not suitable for female protagonists who take the route of being strong women. If Xian Yi had not been taught by Chen Jie from a young age and was not naturally calm and composed, she might have been worn down by her desire for freedom. For the women here, calls for personal will and personal space are all nonsense. They spend their lives hoping that their husbands would cherish them like precious jewels, because even if the law protects these legitimate wives, it is impossible to stop their husbands from running after concubines.
So, Jin Fenghua's possessiveness would have been suffocating in her past life, but here, even if it was annoying, it would probably make those jealous women curse behind her back for not knowing how to cherish good fortune. Xian Yi wasn't a middle school girl from her past life, so she absolutely wouldn't resist Jin Fenghua's attention, and instead, she would utilize this attention to further deepen her position in his heart. For her, the more dangerous he was, the closer she wanted to hold on to him; otherwise, she wouldn't even have a life left, let alone feel suffocated?
Jin Fenghua was very satisfied with Xianyi's performance in the imperial city. He didn't like other men looking at Xianyi, and he especially disliked her exchanging glances with them. His things weren't something to be hidden from view, but they also weren't for anyone to look at as they pleased. He even had cruel thoughts, wanting to lock Xianyi in the house so that only he could see her, only he could love her, and she would have no one else to rely on except him, with his presence filling her eyes completely. However, Xianyi was too obedient, even tolerating some of his abnormal behavior without any resistance or complaints. This made it impossible for him to bear the thought of letting her live a lonely life. After all, he couldn't stay by her side every moment. He wanted to see her smile, see her cry in his arms when she was wronged, and hear her gossip about other people's wives making fools of themselves. She was so lively, so full of vitality. He wanted to stand with her under the sunlight, not sink into the dark abyss together.
Jin Fenghua, wanting to shake off the dark aura of his past life, got up early and saw that his wife was sleeping tiredly. He thought about her soft and gentle voice from last night, as well as her affectionate expression, and his body stiffened again. Fortunately, he still knew how to control himself, but unable to bear it any longer, he kissed Xianyi's cheek repeatedly before reluctantly getting out of bed due to the knocking sound at the door.
"Master, someone has come from the direction of Heng City." Guan Qi whispered at the door.
"Alright, you tell them. Once the young mistress wakes up, have her bring the young master to pack their things. They must be ready before noon, or they won't make it back to Linqing in time." Jin Fenghua said as he changed his clothes.
Guanchi hastily found Bi Xi to hand over and then saw Jin Fenghua coming down from the building, so he followed her onto the carriage.
The horse carriage turned a corner and stopped in front of a teahouse, Jin Fenghua hastily got out of the carriage with her head lowered, yet still attracted the attention of many people. At this time, there were mostly commoners eating breakfast inside the teahouse. Jin Fenghua didn't linger in the main hall and went straight up to the second floor private room. Inside the private room, two men were already seated, one around thirty years old and the other over forty. They wore silk clothes and jade crowns on their heads, with faces that shared a three-part resemblance, except for the older man who had a beard and looked stern.
Jinfenghua entered and immediately bowed, saying: "Junior offers greetings to both uncles."
When they met, Jin Fenghua's eyes lit up instantly. Upon seeing Jin Fenghua again, her demeanor and speech revealed a hint of admiration, and the thoughts in her mind became even more resolute.
