Flowers in full bloom

Following Qingying back to Qihua Courtyard, it was already 2:45 in the afternoon. The maid had brought lunch, the same as yesterday, two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, one soup, a portion of rice, two small portions of staple food, and a sweet drink. After Hualei had eaten the delicious lunch, she strolled around the courtyard for 2:45 and then went back to her room to rest.

The blow she suffered in the morning made her feel a little depressed. She needed to relax. After waking up, she sat on the small couch by the window for a long time, then got up and sat down at the desk, grinding and spreading paper, carefully recalling what Mr. Guo taught in the morning's piano class, and writing it down bit by bit. I thought that although I don't know it now, I will memorize it first, and then slowly figure it out later, maybe it will be useful. If practice doesn't work, learn the theory first.

Then he remembered that he didn't even have a piano, and he suddenly felt discouraged. He thought that he had to sharpen his tools before he could do anything. Should he buy a piano first? How much silver would it cost? All his savings were only 1,020 silver taels. It was really worrying.

When she was thinking, Qinglian came in holding a zither, and Lanyue and Lanxing came in carrying a zither stand. They said that it was sent by Mrs. Pei, and she forgot to prepare it before. She also left a message, saying that it was just an ordinary zither, not a precious one, so Hualei should not feel burdened. If she didn't know how to play, she could learn slowly. They all started from not knowing how to play. She also sent a beginner's zither score.

Hualei was deeply touched. A person who had no blood relationship with her was so devoted and thoughtful to her. No matter what the purpose was, she should be grateful.

Hualei sat down in front of the music stand, recalling how the teacher taught Zhenzhu in the morning. She plucked the strings gently. A few clear sounds rang out intermittently. Hualei was refreshed. She sat up straight, put her hands on the strings, and began to play slowly.

The strings continued to make clear sounds, although they were out of tune, but in Hualei's ears, they sounded like the sound of nature. While recalling what the teacher taught her in the morning, she carefully recalled how she learned to play the guzheng in her previous life. She played for more than an hour until Qingying came over and asked if it was time to pick up Xiaoyuan. Then she came to her senses. She wiped the body of the guzheng reluctantly and put it in the case.

In the morning, she promised Xiaoyuan that she would pick him up from school in the evening. After tidying up a bit, she took Qingying to the clan school, which was behind the girls' school. When Hualei got there, she saw the children from the clan school coming out in twos and threes. There were many more students than the girls' school, about 50 to 60 children, and they were divided into several classes.

Children in the Marquisate basically start to learn at the age of five, so they are basically divided into classes according to age. The elementary class is for children aged five to seven, the intermediate class is for children aged eight to ten, and the advanced class is for children aged eleven to thirteen. Of course, if you are good at learning, you can ignore your age and enter a higher class.

All the sons of marquisates who were over 13 years old had to take the entrance examinations for the Imperial Academy or the official school. Although the Imperial Academy began to recruit students at the age of seven, the aristocratic families usually started to learn in the clan school first, and then took the entrance examinations for the Imperial Academy and the official school at the age of 13 or 14. If they failed the entrance examination, they could choose to continue studying in the clan school or go to the official school outside.

The Great Sheng Dynasty had regulations in this regard. Families above the fourth rank could send a legitimate son to the Imperial College without taking the exam. However, all the children of the family, whether legitimate or illegitimate, could take the exam for the Imperial College on their own. Even if you were a illegitimate son, as long as you could pass the exam with your own strength, you would be treated the same as other students. Relatively speaking, it was a relatively generous policy. However, it was still very difficult to pass the Imperial College, so not many people could pass.

According to the regulations, Dingbei Marquis's mansion can directly send a legitimate son to the Imperial College, but Pei Rongjin entered the Imperial College by self-examination, so the quota for the imperial favor is still there. However, Pei Rongjin's several cousins ​​who are of age have not been admitted to the Imperial College, so now only Pei Rongjin is studying in the Imperial College, and the others are studying in the official school in Shangjing City. Those under the age of thirteen are still studying in the clan school. Hua Lei saw these children at this time.

Xiaoyuan was in the elementary class. When he saw Hualei waiting outside, he ran over quickly with a bright face. Hualei smiled and took Xiaoyuan's hand, and the brother and sister slowly walked back to Qihuayuan.

Along the way, Xiao Yuan couldn't wait to share with Hua Lei what he had learned in the clan school. He said that Master Yu, who taught the Thousand Character Classic, praised him and tested his Three Character Classic Hundred Family Names, saying that he had learned it very well. Master Hu, who taught calligraphy practice, praised his excellent handwriting and standard posture, and rewarded him with a brush as an encouragement.

However, Master Huang, who taught martial arts, said that he was weak, his horse stance was not correct, and his endurance for running exercises was not enough. He told him to eat more and exercise more. Xiaoyuan said that he would start exercising now, and then he jogged in front of Hualei. Hualei laughed, and followed behind with Qingying and Qinglu who was holding Xiaoyuan's school bag.

Back in the courtyard, Xiao Yuan continued to trot around the yard, while Hua Lei sat in front of the main hall and watched him. After about three quarters of an hour, Hua Lei called Xiao Yuan to stop and let him rest for a while. She washed her face and hands and prepared to eat dinner.

Lan Yan and Lan Yu had already brought the dinner for the siblings from the big kitchen. There were three meat dishes, three meat dishes and two soups, plus staple food and snacks. There was no fruit drink at night. During dinner, Xiao Yuan was still chattering with Hua Lei. It seemed that Xiao Yuan's first experience of learning the tribe was completely different from Hua Lei's. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was like a fish in water and had a lot of ease.

The next day, Hualei woke Xiaoyuan up 25 minutes earlier. After washing up, the siblings went to Songheyuan to pay respects to Old Madam Pei. Xiaoyuan still jogged over, ran far away, then ran back to meet Hualei and jogged over again. He made full use of the 20-minute journey. Hualei did not stop him, but just told him not to sweat profusely, and to reduce the intensity before sweating a little, so that he would have to go back to change clothes.

When they arrived at Songhe Courtyard, Madam Pei had already asked the maid to prepare breakfast for them. The siblings greeted Madam Pei politely and had breakfast together. Just like yesterday, Xiaoyuan went directly to the clan school after breakfast.

Hua Lei accompanied Old Madam Pei for a walk in the small garden. She expressed her joy and gratitude for receiving the guqin, and also told her about her embarrassing clown-like appearance at the clan school yesterday.

Mrs. Pei laughed loudly, wiped the tears from her eyes, patted Hualei's arm and comforted her, saying that she was much better than she was back then. Back then, the first time Mrs. Pei touched the zither, she broke a string. It turned out that when Mrs. Pei was young, her father was a military commander, and everyone in the family was a swordsman. Mrs. Pei was no exception. She didn't like needlework, and followed her brothers to practice swordsmanship every day. When she was about the right age, Mrs. Pei's mother asked her to learn the women's zither, chess, calligraphy and painting. As a result, she didn't control the strength well at the beginning, and she destroyed the best zither.

Mrs. Pei recalled the stunned look on the Master's face at that time, and couldn't help but smile again. Hua Lei couldn't help but smile too.