The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Time slipped away quietly as Zhuge Yunshu worked hard to earn points, and soon it was the end of the month.

On this day, as dawn broke, the four of them, master and disciples, sat in the most 'luxurious' carriage in Yunshui Town and slowly headed towards Yunmu Town.

Yunmu Town is the most prosperous of the ten towns in Linxi County, and it is adjacent to the political and cultural center of Linxi County.

In such a place, government orders are much easier to implement than in Yunshui Town, which is located on the periphery.

On the street, there were noticeably more women among the vendors hawking their wares. Every now and then, you could see young men and women walking side by side, stopping in front of the shelves that interested them to pick out jewelry. Judging from their affectionate manner, you could easily guess that they were either a newlywed couple or a newly engaged couple.

Zhuge Yunshu curiously lifted the carriage curtain and peeked out: "It is indeed much more lively than our Yunshui Town."

Zhang Hao clicked his tongue: "This is nothing. Your senior brother here has been to the county town. Aren't you envious?"

He looked smug and anticipated his two junior sisters asking him what the county town was like and what interesting things it had.

But after waiting for a long time, his junior sister and teacher were discussing which family's food looked tastier.

Zhang Hao: "......"

I always feel like I'm the one who's superfluous.

But what could he do? Being 'squeezed out,' he could only try his best to squeeze in.

Humph! !! !!

To be honest, after such a long and tiring journey, they were starving.

So the group chose a small but crowded restaurant and started eating there.

Master Wang said, "Eat more. This afternoon's academic exchange involves the schools of Yunshui Town and Yuntu Town. Given the students' diligence, I estimate you'll have a tough time this afternoon."

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

Wang Yi: "......"

Zhang Hao: "......"

As always, his own teacher was a disappointment.

Zhuge Yunshu picked up a piece of spicy chicken and asked while eating, "Master, what were the formats of academic exchanges in previous years? What were the main contents?"

She was on a mission, and only by finding out as much information as possible could she be more likely to achieve her goal.

"I don't know either, after all, our Yunshui Town School was always criticized as the worst school in the past few years," Master Wang said indifferently.

In his view, wasn't it just a small academic exchange?

Does winning or losing matter?

He wouldn't have gone to all this trouble if it weren't to train his three disciples' travel skills and temper their character.

"However, it's easy to guess that as the three of you won first place in the county school competition, many students will come to you to ask for your advice. There's no need to be too nervous about this. The questions will mainly be about reciting poems and discussing academic topics, probably mainly the Four Books."

After saying this, Master Wang looked up at Zhuge Yunshu and the others: "Of course, as the first place winner in the county school joint competition, and having come from last place to first place, I think there are many students who are not convinced, and there may be some who deliberately make things difficult for you. You should be prepared."

Wang Yi shrugged: "How can we prepare for this? We're in the open, they're in the dark. They probably prepared a bunch of questions to ask us several days ago."

She sighed after speaking, wishing that her classmates from Yunmu Town and Yuntu Town would ask more questions related to mathematics.

But she could only dream about it, since this subject was the weak point of both towns' schools.

"Oh dear, why worry so much? We'll deal with whatever comes our way. Don't forget, we still have Junior Sister Yun Shu, this prodigy," Zhang Hao said casually, as he put the last piece of braised pork from the plate into his own bowl.

Looking at the empty chopsticks, Zhuge Yunshu really wanted to say to Zhang Hao, "Thank you so much!"

The four of them quickly finished their meal and were preparing to find an inn to freshen up, since a presentable appearance was very important when meeting guests.

Master Wang went to pay for the meal, while the three of them waited by the door. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Yunshu was pushed hard by someone, who muttered, "A good dog doesn't block the way."

Even more tragically, Zhuge Yunshu accidentally stumbled several meters away and ended up making intimate contact with the ground, causing the diners around him who were eating and watching the commotion to burst into laughter.

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

Where did my damn powerful strength go?

System: "Host, this can't be blamed on Monster Power."

What were you thinking before you fell?

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

She seemed to see a woman holding a four- or five-year-old child in one arm, and unconsciously wondered how light the child was.

Oh my god, no way!

She seems to have discovered some incredible secret.

Before Zhuge Yunshu could think of anything, Wang Yi and Zhang Hao rushed forward and helped her up: "Junior Sister Yunshu, are you hurt anywhere?"

Zhuge Yunshu was helped up. She patted the dust off her clothes and said, "I'm fine."

It's really nothing. After all, how much pain can a four or five-year-old child feel when they fall?

"Damn it!" Zhang Hao was furious. He turned and yelled at the person who had pushed Zhuge Yunshu over, "Are your eyes on your ass? A grown man was standing right in front of you, and you didn't even see him... I think that's no different from being blind. You might as well gouge them out..."

Zhang Hao unleashed a torrent of words, after all, he was used to his mother scolding his father since he was a child, and because he was angry, his loud voice startled the other person so much that he froze in place.

But soon, the pageboy dressed as a servant realized what was happening and pointed at Zhang Hao fiercely: "You unruly commoner, do you know who my young master is?"

"Anyone who crosses my young master will suffer the consequences."

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

It seems this person is a bully who relies on his master's power.

"I'm so scared! May I ask who this great man is, young master? Come out and let this lowly commoner like me have a look at him." Zhuge Yunshu said irritably.

As the old saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

If you still can't afford to offend that person even after knowing their identity, then there's another old saying—"A gentleman takes revenge, even after ten years."

The servant looked at Zhuge Yunshu and, although he sensed something strange about her tone, he immediately became smug when she mentioned his young master.

"Listen carefully, my young master is a legendary figure who has consistently ranked first in the Yunmu Town school. Moreover, my young master is the only son of Qian Dashan, a philanthropist from Linxi County."

Even the county magistrate would show him deference.

"How about that, scared now?"

Qian the Great Philanthropist?

Could it be the Qian family, the richest family in Linxi County?

The Qian family, who single-handedly drove the economic development of the entire Linxi County.

Damn, it seems like we really can't mess with them.

"Ah Fu, what's all this commotion?" A boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in white, came down the stairs of the restaurant.

Upon hearing the noise, Afu immediately ran over obsequiously, pleading, "These people are insulting me! Even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner! Young master, you must stand up for me!"

He knows his young master better than anyone else and is extremely protective of him.

Zhuge Yunshu was furious at the servant's blatant distortion of the truth and instead looked at the young master with a forced smile: "May I ask, are you the master of this Afu?"

The man looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was a girl of about seven or eight years old. She was very thin and somewhat dark-skinned. The only thing that stood out about her was her pair of grape-like eyes. So he raised an eyebrow and said "hmm".

Zhuge Yunshu continued, "Does the young master know about the 'Zhang family servant'? If you have, you can inquire about the behavior of your servant outside, and you will see that this servant is just like that 'Zhang family servant,' who knows how to abuse his master's reputation."

"I see that you, sir, are a man of integrity and upright character. You cannot let your reputation be ruined because of this lowly servant!" After saying this, he directly pulled Wang Yi and Zhang Hao to Master Wang, who was watching the commotion.

Qian Wenxing was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that this seemingly unremarkable little girl could utter such profound truths, so he began to examine her more closely.

The young girl had her hair tied up in a bun without any ornaments. She wore a gray-blue long gown, the fabric of which was somewhat rough, but her eyes were firm and her demeanor was dignified. It was clear that she was not the kind of person who would fawn over someone for a moment.

But the more I look at her, the more she resembles that young Taoist nun from Qingyun Temple.