On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

The twelfth lunar month sunlight, wrapped in thin snow, broke the shadow of the window lattice into silver foil, which fell on Chu Xiling's moon-white skirt.

She put her hands on her waist and rolled her eyes at Lin Zhen, who was clinging to the windowsill. "Stop pretending! You're like a weasel wishing a happy new year to a chicken. Tell me, what are you doing here today?"

The coral hairpin in her hair swayed slightly with her movements, sweeping away a few snowflakes that had fallen on the ends of her hair. The lotus flowers carved on the top of the hairpin glowed with a warm luster in the cold light.

Lin Zhen smiled and jumped onto the nearest desk. The wooden chair creaked beneath him, and the corner of his robe brushed against the icy window paper. "Can't I just be thinking of you?"

He swung his legs. "I was delayed a bit by work at the palace just now. On the way here, I saw the wintersweets blooming on West Street. I remembered that you love using them to teach children how to draw geometric shapes, so I picked a few for you."

Chu Xiling curled her lips and tapped his dangling toes with her fingertips. The edges of her cotton shoes embroidered with lotus flowers were still stained with unmelted snow.

"You went to the palace to do some business? Could it be that you were going to the emperor's place?"

"Uh..." Lin Zhen touched his nose, "Those are all follow-up operations. The main thing is to get things done."

"Besides, you still said you missed me." Although she said that, Chu Xiling still took out a small heater from her sleeve and handed it to him to warm his hands.

Suddenly, I saw that his arms were bulging, so I asked, "What are you holding in your arms?"

"Shuntian Prefecture's new examination guidelines."

Lin Zhen took the heater and suddenly became serious. He pulled out a frozen roll of rice paper from his bosom and cursed, "Damn it! There's still a month before the Spring Examination, and the Ministry of Rites has chopped the math problems into pieces. The river engineering budget must be calculated according to the old system of the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, and even the numbers have to be written using rods."

He unfolded the blueprint, which showed the circled and revised test questions marked with cinnabar, with tiny ice crystals forming around the edges. "I guess these old guys are afraid that the students will use the new method to calculate too clearly, so they'll break their muddled accounts."

Chu Xiling came closer and smelled the mixed fragrance of agarwood and snow water on his body, and his cotton robe was still stained with the cold smell of the copper lock at the gate of the yamen.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Daqian has developed too quickly, and many historical issues haven't been completely resolved, like those officials who once harmed the court."

"Of course it has to be solved, so I plan to take advantage of the spring exam to take down all these so-called great scholars." What Lin Zhen hates most are those guys who act like role models in public but are dirty and filthy behind the scenes.

This is a disaster for students.

He raised his eyes and asked, "Ling'er, how are you going to recruit students for the academy?"

"I intend to have the candidates focus on mathematics, and forget about those sage books. A scholar is useless, and no matter how many sage books he reads, he will not be able to help the country."

"So what are you going to take the test on?"

"Basic math, just like the elementary school kids of your time. Draw a double column on your answer sheet, write the calculation steps in the left column, and use Arabic numerals to indicate the result in the right column."

Her fingertips slid across the "three plus two" example on the paper, and the ink characters appeared particularly clear on the frozen rice paper.

Lin Zhen smiled and looked away.

Although he is not good at math, this kind of math problem that even kindergarten students can solve is too simple.

This is a college and we cannot recruit students using kindergarten standards.

"It's not suitable. It's too simple. People nowadays can do arithmetic. Why not give them a few equations to solve? It's better to use larger numbers. They don't have an abacus, and they can't do mental math on numbers that are too large."

"That's fine." Chu Xiling nodded. "Then I'll think about it. But are you really going to give the Ministry of Rites a chance?"

"Of course not. Even candidates who pass the final palace examination must hone their skills at the grassroots level for a few years, especially in remote areas. Let them serve as county magistrates or county chancellors, and truly understand what it means to be a common people and what it means to be a member of the state. Otherwise, if they are given high official positions once they pass the examination, they will be misled."

"Yes, yes, our young master is the one who cares the most about the country and the people~" Chu Xiling was irritated by Lin Zhen's pretentious demeanor, so she said with a hint of sarcasm, "Let's go, we haven't gone shopping for a long time, come with me and take a look."

"Let's go!" Lin Zhen shouted and pulled Chu Xiling out.

Chu Xiling staggered as he pulled her, and the silver bracelet on her wrist made a clear sound as it hit the arithmetic pendant on his waist.

Unexpectedly, there was a group of children watching "Mathematics Enlightenment" in the yard. When they saw the two of them coming out hand in hand, they immediately heard "ouch" one after another from the corridor.

Several little girls with pigtails were hiding behind the rockery with their eyes covered. The red velvet flowers in their hair looked particularly bright against the backdrop of the white snow, but they were peeking secretly from between their fingers.

"What are you afraid of? Haven't you seen a couple holding hands?" Lin Zhen raised the two people's clasped hands, causing the children to burst into laughter.

One brave boy shouted, "Master, hold my hand like counting chips on an abacus!"

Chu Xiling's ears felt hot, but she didn't struggle. She let him lead her through the snow-covered corridor. The hanging icicles brushed against her sleeves, like a string of transparent little bells.

The bluestone pavement of West Street was covered with a thin layer of ice. The carriages passed by, leaving ruts of varying depths. The sound of the driver's whip was particularly crisp in the cold air.

The shops on the street were hung with cotton curtains, and the aroma of warm wine mixed with the smell of charcoal fire wafted in the air.

Chu Xiling suddenly stopped and looked at the candied haws stall covered with snow on the street corner. The candies stuck on the bamboo targets were covered with glistening icing, looking like small icicles in the sunlight.

"Husband! I want to eat candied haws!"

She pointed at the bamboo target, her eyelashes still stained with falling snowflakes, and her eyes sparkled as if dipped in honey.

"And I want the biggest one, the one with the thickest icing on the hawthorns!!"

Lin Zhen touched his sleeve pocket and coughed awkwardly twice. The inner garment under his cotton robe still had the cold air of the government office. "Ling'er, I never carry money..."

"Look at how poor you are!" After saying that, Chu Xiling took out two copper coins from her purse and walked over.

"Boss, give me some candied haws!"

After saying that, Chu Xiling handed over the money.

Just as the boss was about to take it, he saw Lin Zhen standing in front of his stall.

He waved his hands hurriedly, rubbing his rough palms on his gray apron again and again. The tip of his nose was red from the cold. He trotted to Lin Zhen and knelt down with a thud.

"Your Highness, please forgive me! I can have a good life today thanks to you. It's just a string of candied haws. I can't take your money."

Seeing his sincerity, Lin Zhen smiled and said, "Get up quickly, the ground is cold. How can you give away something for free in business?"

"It's a blessing for our stall to have you, Your Highness, patronize us. How can I accept any money? If I accept your money, I'll be cursed to death by the neighbors when I get home! I absolutely cannot accept this money!"

"Take it if I tell you to. This prince will not allow anyone to take the common people's things for free, and I cannot make an exception."

The vendor stood up, somewhat bewildered.

Chu Xiling placed two copper coins on the small table, reached out to pick the largest candied haws, put it in her mouth, and ate it with relish.