The Second Sister of a Farmer's Family's Path to Imperial Destiny

"It's nothing serious, I just fainted. Hurry back home, there's still a lot of work to do at home."

After all, Guo Ruo was afraid that Zhang Wu would spread rumors everywhere, so he did not tell Madam Guo about this matter and kept it to himself.

In her opinion, reputation is more important than life. If one loses one's reputation, there is no point in living in this world. But she doesn't know whether to tell Guo Xin or not. Maybe she will tell him, and maybe she won't.

Seeing Guo Ruo repeatedly stressed that he was fine and that there were indeed no wounds, Madam Guo felt relieved and said, "Yes, let's go home quickly. There are still a lot of things waiting for us at home."

……

Guo Zhi was the only one at home.

"Excuse me, is this Guo Xi's home?"

A young man in green silk asked as he stood in the courtyard. The courtyard was empty with some farm tools scattered around. Only wisps of smoke could be seen rising from the kitchen.

Seeing no one answered, he raised his voice and shouted again.

Looking at this environment, he couldn't help but sigh. How could a family like this fight against Su Zhizhou's family? Su Zhizhou's wife was not someone who was easy to deal with.

He was a man who was very arrogant and lived a life of extreme luxury. When he came to the academy before, he was arrogant except in front of Fang Tairu and Professor Fang.

I heard that she is the legitimate daughter of the Wang family in the capital.

The Wang family in the capital is the imperial merchant family, and there are many clan members serving as officials in the court, spread across every corner of the court.

He knew that Guo Xi came to the academy on the recommendation of a nobleman, but how could the nobleman offend the Wang family for the sake of a farmer?

Guo Zhi, who was cooking in the kitchen, heard a faint call and came out. Seeing the man who looked like a scholar, she asked in confusion, "Excuse me, who are you?"

The man bowed and said, "I am a teacher from Donglin Academy. I am here to deliver a message on behalf of the dean."

After saying that, he handed the letter in his arms to Guo Zhi.

Guo Zhi was a little at a loss when she took the letter. She was illiterate and only knew some arithmetic numbers. How could she read the letter? Moreover, the letter was specially brought from Yong'an County, so it must be extremely important. Guo Zhi stared at the teacher blankly, not knowing how to explain that she was illiterate.

The man saw Guo Zhi holding the letter but not reading it, and then he looked at the surroundings and understood instantly, so he said, "Young lady, do you need me to read the letter to you?"

Guo Zhi nodded somewhat awkwardly, her heart full of anticipation for learning to read and write.

Guo Zhi watched the man open the letter and stood there, then reacted and said, "Sir, why don't you come into the house?"

The man nodded and followed him in. As soon as he entered the room, he saw only a few pieces of cloth covering the bed. He shook his head in his heart. Although Guo Xi was extremely talented, he had no one to protect him. He was afraid that his path to the imperial examination would end here.

When the man finished reading, Guo Ruo happened to return home. He was a little confused to see a strange man suddenly appear in his house.

"This is?"

Guo Zhi stood up and said, "This is my brother's teacher from the academy."

As soon as Guo Zhigang heard the contents of the letter, she felt like the sky was falling. Her brother had actually offended the prefect's son. Although the letter did not say that he had offended him, it only said that her brother was bullied by the prefect's son, but the son was punished by the academy because of this matter, which meant that he had offended him.

The prefect was the highest-ranking official she had ever heard of in her life, yet he was offended by her family.

"I wonder what crime my younger brother has committed?"

Guo Ruo had also heard his parents talk about the teacher coming to their house before. It was because his uncle had skipped school again, so the teacher came to their house and ordered his uncle to drop out of school. Therefore, he had a preconceived notion that Guo Xi had made a mistake.

The man had no choice but to simply tell the story again.

After hearing this, Guo Ruo turned pale, but he still had to read his younger brother's books. The worst that could happen was that he would go to the door and apologize.

"Thank you for coming this time." Guo Ruo took out five hundred coins from his cloth bag and handed them to the man, begging, "Sir, can you show me a way?"

The man let out a long sigh. He didn't have any bright future at all. He was just an ordinary teacher in the academy and was looked down upon by others.

Although Magistrate Su was easy to talk to and a good official who served the people, his wife was really a headache.

"Perhaps you can try to find the prefect now and ask him to let you go. Perhaps you can let your brother continue to study in the academy. However, the wife of the prefect is extremely doting on the young master, so this approach may not work."

Guo Ruo pulled Guo Zhi to kneel down and said, "Sir, thank you for pointing me in the right direction."

Seeing this, the gentleman hurriedly helped him up and said, "I can't help you at all. This road may be a dead end."

After sending the gentleman away, Guo Zhi looked at Guo Ruo and said, "Sister, do we really have to go and ask for the governor's approval now?"

Guo Ruo didn't know what to do and wanted to discuss it with her second sister, but she was the only one in charge of the family now. According to the agreement before her second sister left, she would not be back for another day, and Xier couldn't wait any longer.

So he gritted his teeth and said, "Go! We have no other choice."

After saying that, regardless of whether he had been to the provincial capital or not, he started to take the money from home and took Guo Zhi to Suining City.

This time, he went there with the determination to burn his boats. He could certainly let Xier be excluded from the path of imperial examinations, and go home to start a small business with him, so that he could continue to survive.

But in her opinion, studying is a very important thing and she must not give up. It is the only way to succeed. This is also a point that her brothers and sisters in the family agree with, so she does not want to give up even if it means a dead end.

Guo Zhi sat in the donkey cart, looking at Guo Ruo who was driving the cart in front of her, and said dully: "Big sister, is it because God can't bear to see us live well, so he gave us another big pit?"

Guo Zhi has been living very happily these days. Life at home is getting better and better. Her younger brother is studying to prepare for the imperial examination and she is also preparing to study. Just when she thought life was so easy and beautiful, God dealt her another heavy blow.

Guo Ruo didn't know how to reply to Guo Zhi. She herself could not protect herself. Guo Wu might spread the news that she had lost her chastity one day, and then she would not be able to live anymore. It seemed that God was really against her and wanted to bring her family down.

……

At this moment, Guo Xin was also on the way back to Suining City. Looking at the two sets of exquisite silk clothes in his hands, they felt very smooth and had a great feel. It was worthy of the four taels of silver he had spent to buy them.

It was specially used as birthday gifts for Guo Zhi and Guo Xi, and also as a respectable gift for them to study at the academy. It didn't matter if my elder sister and I were dressed poorly. The important thing was to build the house first.

Guo Xin was sitting in the carriage, feeling the road getting bumpier and bumpier. She knew she was almost back to the village, so she lifted the curtain and saw a familiar donkey cart heading toward the town. She didn't think much about it, but was just happy and shouted, "Sister! I'm back. Where are you going?"