Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

It was the first time for Sang Li to enter such a large bookstore. He found that many of the books were the ones he had been looking for. After walking around, he picked out a large stack of books.

When he turned around, he didn't see Liang Jingcheng and Ye Changyan. Sang Li carried the book to the counter and asked the shopkeeper, who showed a sly smile on his face.

"They're waiting for you outside."

As the shopkeeper spoke, he skillfully fiddled with the abacus on the counter to help Sang Li with the accounting.

"Sir, the total is one tael and three qian of silver. I'll give you 20% off, which is one tael and four fen of silver. Since you're buying so much at once, I'll charge you the full one tael of silver."

Sang Li was very surprised that such a large stack of books only cost one or two taels of silver. So he took out the money and handed it to the smiling shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took the money and skillfully helped Sang Li pack the books.

"Sir, come again next time!"

The shopkeeper saw Sang Li carrying the wrapped books out of the door with satisfaction, and he did not forget to shout something outside.

Ye Changyan pulled Liang Jingcheng out of the bookstore and explained the matter to him clearly.

Liang Jingcheng was a little amused when he learned the reason, but the two of them did not want to enter the bookstore again, so they waited for Sang Li on the street nearby.

Seeing Sang Li coming out with a large pile of books, Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng were a little surprised.

"Ali, why did you buy so many books?"

"This Shengjing City is really different. Not only are the books complete, but the prices are also affordable. These are the books I couldn't buy before. I bought them all when I came across them this time."

After hearing what Sang Li said, Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng could only smile and shake their heads.

Afterwards, they went into a few more shops and went shopping, and Sang Li bought a few more books.

However, Ye Changyan carefully checked other bookstores and found that the bookstore he just visited had the most complete collection of legendary stories.

Ye Changyan also discovered that all the bookstores on this street had posted posters related to "White Snake" in prominent locations, and all the copies of "White Snake" in all the bookstores were sold out without exception.

It seems that "White Snake" is quite popular among students in Shengjing.

Ye Changyan also found out from the owner of a bookstore that the latest chapter of "White Snake" tells that Xu Shilin learned about his own life experience and went to Leifeng Pagoda to save Bai Suzhen, but returned empty-handed. Later, he learned that Fahai said the verse "The West Lake dries up, the Leifeng Pagoda collapses, the White Snake is born, and they meet on the Broken Bridge" when he pressed Bai Suzhen under the Leifeng Pagoda.

When I was talking about this part in Yunfeng Tower, it was already very hot in summer. It seemed that someone who listened to the book had to convert the script into text, then send it to Shengjing, and then print it into a book. It took a really long time.

After returning to Shigu Lane, Ye Changyan mentioned this matter to Mr. Cai, who was also a little shocked.

"Teacher, how many bookstores of this size are there in Shengjing?"

Mr. Cai twirled his beard lightly and thought for a moment before answering.

"The official book printing office in Shengjing City is mainly controlled by the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites and the Secretary General. The books they print are mostly classics such as classics, history, and miscellaneous works."

"Then the Shaofujian also controls a certain scale of engraving offices, but the engraving offices controlled by the Shaofujian mostly serve the royal family."

Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng both nodded and waited patiently for Mr. Cai to continue.

"There are many private bookstores that print books. The largest ones include Jixian Bookstore, Zhongzheng Bookstore, Hongyang Bookstore and Bowun Bookstore. These bookstores all have considerable backgrounds."

"Behind Jixian Bookstore is the Fengyi Liu family, a prestigious family with a thousand-year-old heritage, which is also the empress dowager's family. Behind Zhongzheng Bookstore should be the property of the royal family. I heard that the grandson of the Prince of Hedong is involved in it."

"Hongyang Bookstore should be owned by the Wu family, a prominent family in Shengjing, which is also the family of Wu Hongchang, the former magistrate of Wanshou County. The remaining Bowun Bookstore should be owned by the descendants of the great scholar and businessman Fan Beishan from Jiangyou."

"Then from what the teacher said, it is possible that Hongyang Bookstore was involved in the publication of "White Snake"."

After listening to Mr. Cai's introduction to the four major bookstores in Shengjing, Liang Jingcheng guessed that Hongyang Bookstore was involved. After all, Wu Hongchang was the county magistrate of Wanshou County and was particularly familiar with the local situation.

But Ye Changyan had an intuition that this matter might not be related to Hongyang Bookstore, but it was very likely related to the Wu family. In Ye Changyan's mind, a blurry but familiar face vaguely emerged. Ye Changyan thought about it carefully and found that this face seemed to be very similar to Wu Jiaxing.

"I don't think so. If Hongyang Bookstore is really involved, such a large bookstore must have very strong printing capabilities. It is unlikely that a whole street of bookstores would be out of stock for a long time."

Ye Changyan expressed his opinion, and Mr. Cai and Liang Jingcheng nodded thoughtfully.

"But I boldly guess that some small printing workshops were behind this incident. However, how could these small workshops get the script of "White Snake"? It is impossible that this may really be related to the Wu family."

Ye Changyan could only say that it was his own guess. Although his intuition was that it was Wu Jiaxing who did it, if he really said it out loud, and if it was later confirmed that it was really Wu Jiaxing, then his prediction would seem a little too horrifying, and almost like a demon.

Afterwards, Mr. Cai explained the recent study arrangements to Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng, basically ensuring four hours of study time every day, and the main lecture time was scheduled in the evening.

After all, this is Ye Changyan and Sang Li’s first time in Shengjing City, so they have to reserve some time for them to go out and familiarize themselves with the city.

Sang Li's steward You Xin, under the leadership of Cai Mansion's steward, found a small courtyard in Gujing Lane next to Shigu Lane and planned to rent it out for a few months. However, the rent was a little higher. If Sang Li passed the exam for the inner class, the lease could be renewed. If Sang Li failed and could only study in the outer class, they would have to look for a house near the Imperial College again.

The next day, Sang Li and his servants moved to a small courtyard in Gujing Lane. Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng went there to take a look. It was a secluded small courtyard with six rooms in total. However, it was sufficient for Sang Li and his servants.

In the following days, Liang Jingcheng took Ye Changyan and Sang Li to stroll around different neighborhoods every morning, and returned to Shigu Lane early in the afternoon to start their day of study.

The Dasheng Dynasty implemented a ten-day rest system, with fixed rest days on the first, eleventh and twenty-first day of each month. The court would make separate arrangements for rest days on other festivals or special days.

On October 11th, the day of rest, all of Mr. Cai's disciples came to Shigu Lane early with their wives and children.

Today, Mr. Cai's fourth disciple Wang Xinkuan hosted a banquet for everyone in the sect at Fanlou. Of course, Mr. Cai had told Sang Li about this early on and asked him to go with him to try the food at Fanlou.