The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Seemingly sensing something, Zhang Hao scratched his head, looking puzzled, as he saw Zhuge Yunjin's suspicious gaze.

Although he often lamented the unfairness of fate, wondering why his parents didn't give him the same intelligence as his junior sister Yun Shu, he only said it as a joke and didn't take it seriously.

Even his mother and grandmother said that people should learn to be content. Given the brains of his father, grandfather, and even great-grandfather, it was already a stroke of luck that his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother managed to synthesize him into someone like him.

Therefore, Zhang Hao felt very satisfied with passing this college entrance examination.

Even if the gap between him and his junior sisters Yun Shu, Wang, and Yun Chu widens significantly, he will work very hard to gradually shorten the distance between them.

Thinking this way, Zhang Hao became more and more confident.

He rolled his eyes at Ding Baize and said:

“You’re a strange person. I’m not good at poetry, and my junior sisters know that. And Master Xue Ti and the others are talking about this right now... I’m not stupid, why would I go and invite them to be scolded?”

Ding Baize: "...I, I'm just standing up for you, aren't I?"

Zhang Hao looked at him with a suspicious expression:

Why would I feel aggrieved?

"...They ostracized you, trampled on your sincerity, and even looked down on you. Even your teacher showed favoritism towards them...Are you willing to accept this?"

"I'm willing to accept it. Besides, I myself don't know when Junior Sister Yun Shu and Junior Sister Wang ostracized me, when they trampled on my sincerity, or when they disliked me. You seem to know these things better than I do. I now reasonably suspect that your Yunze Town School has spies in our Yunshui Town School, monitoring our every move, and thus slandering us..."

Hearing this, Ding Baize, seeing the doubtful looks on everyone's faces, repeatedly said:

"Don't talk nonsense. Zhuge Yunshu often beats you, and Wang Yi often ignores you. We all see it. What are you ashamed to admit? A grown man like you, being bullied like this by a woman, you really are a disgrace to us men."

Zhang Hao: "......"

That's going to escalate things further; he certainly wouldn't want that.

So he spoke:

"That's not quite right. Junior Sister Yun Shu and Junior Sister Wang are always humble and polite to others. As long as no one offends them, they will definitely treat them with courtesy... As for why they treat me differently, isn't it obvious? I am their senior brother. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for me to joke and play with them? I just want to ask you, haven't you ever played around with your younger siblings at home? Why are you making such a fuss..."

However, you are right about one thing: my tutor is indeed biased. Because my two junior sisters are more talented, he always gives me special tutoring. Over the course of a month, he spends most of his time on me, leaving me no time to rest or play. Thinking about this makes me feel incredibly pitiful!

Ding Baize: "..."

The students: "..."

You're probably just showing off, kid. They have evidence to back it up.

It should be known that in the Great Xia Dynasty, a teacher would have at least a dozen disciples, and these disciples would go to great lengths to compete for the opportunity to receive individual instruction from the teacher.

But Zhang Hao was different. Because the teacher valued him and spent most of his time on him, he still had the nerve to complain and say that he didn't have time to go out and play.

That's truly 'killing someone by breaking their spirit'!

Ding Baize was speechless after hearing Zhang Hao's words. There was nothing he could do. Among the three of them, his family background was the worst. Because of this, he only had the opportunity to ask the teacher questions when Qin Zuliang and Wu Shi wanted to rest.

Thinking about this, he couldn't help but mentally complain that the information these two had gathered was really too unreliable.

However, there was no other way; he had already become the bad guy, so he could only see it through to the end.

So he posed the final, soul-searching question:

"With two such outstanding junior sisters constantly around you, don't you feel inferior? Aren't you jealous?"

That's human nature; people can't stand seeing others do better than themselves, especially when they're fellow disciples. Ding Baize didn't believe that Zhang Hao could really be so pure and kind.

However, to his surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Hao looked at him with an expression as if he were a fool:

"Are you stupid, or are you stupid? I have two junior sisters with such outstanding talent, while you don't. Shouldn't you be ashamed of that? I'm proud of them. Besides, why would I be jealous of my own junior sisters? The more outstanding they are, the more beneficial it is to me. I'd be eager to curry favor with them. Why would I be so foolish as to do something like this..."

Ding Baize: "..."

Why is this person's thinking so peculiar?

The students, who were just watching the drama unfold, were speechless.

That makes a lot of sense. Could they try to do it from a different perspective?

Zhuge Yunjin: "..."

Although Yun Shu's cousin's senior brother is a bit unreliable, he is indeed a good person.

However, Ding Baize was interrupted by Zhuge Yunshu's voice before he could say a few more words in his defense.

Then she said, "Senior Brother Zhang, Cousin Yun Jin, you two come here quickly..."

Actually, Zhuge Yunshu suddenly brought up an interesting topic, and Sun Xueti found it intriguing and wanted to learn more about it. So, she pushed the two people sitting at the end of the table forward.

Before leaving, Zhang Hao gave Ding Baize a provocative look.

The meaning is self-evident.

Ding Baize: "...Damn it, he's actually a little envious."

He spoke these words in a very soft voice.

The students who had originally been watching the play couldn't help but feel envious and jealous when they looked at Zhang Hao and Zhuge Yunjin, who were chatting happily with Sun Xueti.

Why don't they have a single senior or junior brother/sister who is well-liked by the teachers?

......

Because Sun Xueti's time was precious, he only stayed at the banquet he had organized for an hour and a half before getting up and leaving.

This was exactly what Zhuge Yunshu wanted.

You see, because she was closest to Sun Xueti, she didn't have a chance to eat much at the banquet. There was nothing she could do; whenever she was about to start eating, Sun Xueti would inexplicably ask her some rather difficult questions. In order to deal with him and answer his questions well, Zhuge Yunshu used all her energy and spirit.

As soon as Sun Xueti left, Zhuge Yunshu instantly relaxed and reached for a plate of pastries she had her eye on.

God knows how anxious she was when she was chatting with Sun Xueti, watching the two people opposite her constantly using serving chopsticks to pick up the pastries from the plate.

Who could blame them? This pastry chef at the Hanyuefu government office had retired from the palace. Because of his past relationship with the prefect, he had followed him to his new post and transfers.