The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

The boat continued its journey, heading from the west dock to the largest east dock in Jingling Prefecture.

Zhuge Yunshu and his seven companions also planned to disembark at this dock.

After all, their family's Guyunxiangfang shop was closest to the pier, and besides, after such a long boat ride, no one wanted to take an extra detour.

Especially when riding in a horse-drawn carriage, the jolting can really make you vomit.

Standing on the deck of the ship, Zhuge Yunshu curiously looked at the two boatmen at the stern.

They skillfully maneuvered their wooden oars, guiding the boat smoothly across the water. These two were clearly experienced boatmen, always skillfully avoiding the rocks and undercurrents in the water.

The faces of these two men were clearly marked by the passage of time, just like the ship itself, which looked very old, calm and simple.

As their passenger ship drew closer, the eastern dock on the shore of Jingling Prefecture gradually became clearer.

By this time, quite a few people were already waiting at the dock.

Zhuge Yunshu looked up and saw that some of the people dressed were there to welcome their relatives who had come from afar, while others were merchants and porters who had come to pick up goods. Their shadows were long in the glow of the setting sun, forming silhouettes full of life.

Zhuge Yunshu craned his neck, carefully looking at the crowd of people waiting to receive them.

Finally, in the middle, I saw two familiar figures.

Those were her father, Zhuge Laifu, and her mother, Lin Siniang.

The two of them were wearing brand new clothes, which were obviously specially put on to welcome them.

As the boat drew closer, Zhuge Yunshu waved vigorously at the two men. At that moment, Zhuge Laifu and Lin Siniang had squeezed their way from the middle of the crowd to the front row, where they also saw Zhuge Yunshu.

Zhuge Yunshu saw that her parents were staring intently at her, their smiles even more dazzling than her gorgeous clothes.

Upon seeing this scene, Zhuge Yunshu's eyes welled up with tears.

To be honest, she really missed the two of them after not seeing them for so many days.

The passenger ship finally docked.

A boatman at the stern threw out a mooring rope, which a worker on the dock quickly caught and secured very firmly to a wooden stake on the shore.

Zhuge Yunshu led Wang Fuzi and five others, and hurriedly jumped off the ship through the deck with the crowd.

She didn't wait for the others behind her and quickly walked towards Zhuge Laifu and Lin Siniang.

Upon seeing this, the two of them noticeably quickened their pace.

As they got closer, Lin Si Niang hugged Zhuge Yun Shu tightly. Zhuge Lai Fu stood by and watched with envy in his eyes.

My daughter has grown up, and I can't hug her whenever I want like I used to when she was little.

In the end, Zhuge Laifu couldn't resist. He stepped forward, gently patted Zhuge Yunshu's back, and his eyes were full of smugness.

"Dahua, you've really made your parents proud! You topped the list in the imperial examination and even achieved the rare feat of winning all three top honors! What an honor! Hahaha!"

Although he only sent a letter to Zhuge Village, he didn't even have to imagine how excited and thrilled his parents would be.

Lin Si Niang rolled her eyes at Zhuge Laifu for patting Zhuge Yunshu several times without thinking.

Seeing this, Zhuge Laifu was very puzzled. He scratched his head, not knowing what he had said to offend his wife.

At this moment, Zhuge Yunshu's face was flushed red, not because she was shy, but because her weak mother had squeezed her so tightly that she was in this state.

There was no way around it; it was just too stuffy in her mother's arms.

However, Lin Si Niang did not notice this at all. Instead, she looked very seriously at her daughter who was in her arms, her eyes filled with tears, but she couldn't stop smiling. In short, her emotions were very complicated.

"Dahua, you're finally back! I've been thinking about you every day. Now that you're finally home, I feel so relieved..."

Zhuge Yunshu, who had originally wanted to struggle, suddenly stopped struggling after hearing her mother's words. So what if she was being strangled? She could just endure it.

And so, nestled in her mother's arms, she mumbled:

“Mother, Father, your daughter is unfilial and has caused you worry. Now I have passed the imperial examination and become a Xiucai (a scholar who has passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). I will receive one tael of silver and ten dou of rice from the imperial court every month, be exempt from taxes on fifty mu of land, be exempt from two corvée labor quotas, and will not need to kneel before the county magistrate…”

In short, your daughter is now working for the imperial court, so you won't have to work so hard anymore. I will definitely repay your kindness in raising me.”

In the Great Xia Dynasty, the treatment of those born under imperial lineage was much better than in other dynasties.

In particular, the exemption from tax on fifty mu of land is a benefit that some wealthy areas do not have. However, since the literary culture in Linxi County is not very strong, ordinary scholars can be exempted from tax on thirty mu, while a scholar like her can be exempted from tax on fifty mu.

Even more so, the imperial court encouraged these scholars to go to more remote places, so that a scholar or graduate student could receive far more benefits from the court than before.

It's a pity that so few scholars would be so short-sighted as to take their families and leave their hometowns because of these benefits.

To be honest, compared to the unknown, doing this is really not worth it.

Zhuge Yunshu talked a lot about the benefits of her status as a student of imperial birth, and how well she performed in the provincial examination. All of this was overheard by Wang Fuzi and the others who had just arrived at their place.

Apart from Zhuge Yunren, Zhuge Yunchun, and Zhuge Yunchu, who frequently interacted with this family of three, the other four were stunned into silence.

Is this still the Zhuge Yunshu they know—warm, considerate, independent, humble, and polite?

Especially after this provincial examination, Master Wang couldn't help but think to himself that his young disciple was becoming more and more like a refined scholar.

Unexpectedly, she behaved like this in front of her parents.

Although he didn't want to admit it, he knew that his disciple displayed a quality that was recognized by most scholars.

But so what? Yun Shu is still just a nine-year-old child who loves to show off and can't live without her parents.

Are child prodigies usually extraordinary beings?

Zhuge Yunshu had no idea that the persona she had cultivated in public had already been seen through by her beloved teacher, senior brother, and senior sister, and had already crumbled.

Just then, she saw Zhuge Laifu walk over excitedly and say:

"So, being born with a special destiny has so many advantages. Da Hua, you'd better work hard! Your parents' business is risky. If it doesn't go well, we'll come to you for our retirement..."

Zhuge Laifu was envisioning a bright future, and Lin Si Niang listened with longing in her eyes. Seeing this, she continued:

"Lai Fu, I think we've earned enough money to live on now, so how about we..."

Before Lin Si Niang could finish speaking, Zhuge Laifu interrupted her:

"No, Da Hua is destined to be a high-ranking official, and there will definitely be many places where she will need to spend money. Moreover, we still need to give Da Hua a large sum of money for her to recruit a son-in-law. These days, which man isn't shrewd and calculating? If there's no benefit, why would they be willing to come to our house and work like slaves..."

"Hey, Fourth Sister, for our happy and prosperous future, we still have to work hard for a few more years!"

Zhuge Yunshu: "......???"

Master Wang and the others: "...???"

The abacus beads are so numerous they're practically hitting someone's face.