The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

You should spend more time reading and copying books, and strive to achieve financial freedom as soon as possible.

......

The next day, the Zhuge family got up early, including Zhuge Laifu and his wife, who usually liked to stay in bed.

Upon hearing the commotion, Zhuge Yunshu quickly got up and tidied himself up.

The original plan was to go to town with her father to see if the bookseller there would accept the books she had copied.

However, considering today's special occasion, I gave up on that idea.

Seeing that everyone in the family was doing their own thing, while she and her third cousin were doing nothing, Zhuge Yunshu went back to her room to read for a while. When she saw that it was almost time, she went to the clan school together.

Along the way, they inevitably encountered some uncles and aunts from the same clan who were up early to work. Zhuge Yunshu and Zhuge Yunli politely greeted them one by one.

Amidst their teasing and exaggerated praise, even Zhuge Yunshu, who prided himself on his thick skin, blushed with embarrassment and couldn't help but urge Zhuge Yunli to quicken their pace.

When the two arrived at the clan school, they both breathed a sigh of relief, and looking at each other's disheveled expressions, they couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The tribespeople were too enthusiastic; they really couldn't handle it.

Zhuge Yunshu made an appointment with his third cousin to wait outside the clan school after the matter was finished, and then go home together.

Zhuge Yunshu went straight to the study room that the clan school had arranged for Master Li, and found that Master Li was exercising outside the study room.

Upon seeing Zhuge Yunshu arrive, he gestured for her to wait a moment.

After Master Li finished his last action, he inhaled and exhaled, picked up the white washcloth hanging beside him, wiped his face slightly, and then looked at Zhuge Yunshu.

Zhuge Yunshu quickly stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Master!"

"Why did Yun Shu arrive so early today? Is there something you need?" Master Li asked in surprise.

Zhuge Yunshu answered truthfully, "Master, we have guests visiting today and need me to act as their representative, so I must ask for leave for a day. Rest assured, even if I am on leave at home, I will still find time to study and will not fall behind in my studies."

Master Li glanced at Zhuge Yunshu and frowned. “Logically speaking, you are the most talented disciple of the clan school I have ever seen. In less than a month, you have caught up with the top class in your studies. But since you have such talent, you should work even harder and not pay too much attention to external affairs and neglect your studies. In the end, you will only suffer the consequences!”

Zhuge Yunshu hadn't expected asking for leave to be so difficult. Seeing the exasperated look on Master Li's face, he forced himself to continue:

“What you say is absolutely right, Master. However, this family matter concerns my uncle’s marriage. Because the two families are very different, my grandfather came up with this solution. Moreover, I would like to do my part for my uncle. I hope you will grant my request.”

Seeing his disciple's earnest words, Master Li had already agreed in his heart, but there were still some things he had to admonish him in person: "Studying is a major event in life, especially for a farmer's son, it is so difficult. I hope that in the future you will know the importance of things and not put the cart before the horse, so as not to regret it when you look back on the past."

Upon hearing Master Li's words, Zhuge Yunshu breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had achieved the result he wanted. He quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Master's words are truly profound. I am deeply moved and will certainly keep them in mind in the future."

"Go home quickly!" Master Li waved his hand without even looking at Zhuge Yunshu.

After they had walked a distance, Master Li turned to look at Zhuge Yunshu's departing figure and couldn't help but sigh again. "Sigh, why do things all happen at once? I just granted Ziyun and Ziqing leave last night. If this continues, we can forget about the clan school's literary gathering. Humph!"

After saying that, he turned and left, going back to his study to read.

Meanwhile, Zhuge Yunshu felt relieved after getting leave, but thinking about how difficult the process had been and how reluctant Master Li looked, he was very puzzled. "System, is it so difficult for ancient scholars to get leave?"

"This is nothing. It will get harder and harder as you go on. You have to understand that in this era, education is highly valued. Apart from necessary bereavement leave and weddings, which are the top priorities, all other trivial matters have to take a backseat," the system explained.

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

She felt it would be best to take fewer days off in the future, otherwise it would be terrible if Master Li expelled her, his beloved student.

Zhuge Yunshu stood outside the clan school and looked inside. Suddenly, his third cousin, who had been nowhere to be seen, walked out of another room in the clan school's study with his head drooping.

"Third cousin, how is it? Did the Master grant you leave?" Although he had little hope, Zhuge Yunshu still asked unwillingly.

"Master Zhang agreed, but he punished me by making me copy the 'Filial Piety and Brotherly Love' chapter of the Three Character Classic twenty times, and he will check my memorization tomorrow. Sigh!" Zhuge Yunli thought that he could relax after asking for a day off, but he didn't expect that he was still too naive.

Seeing her third cousin in such a miserable state, Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but feel fortunate that her teacher was still quite merciful. However, she couldn't say it outright. Zhuge Yunshu looked at her third cousin with a complicated expression and said, "Well, it's all the same. Tonight, we can only study by lamplight."

Zhuge Yunli never expected that his cousin Da Hua would have the same experience as him. Perhaps feeling more comfortable now that he had company, he couldn't help but feel better.

"Third cousin, let's hurry home. Maybe my future aunt's family has already arrived," Zhuge Yunshu interrupted Zhuge Yunli's thoughts and suggested.

"Yes, cousin Da Hua, let's go!"

When Zhuge Yunshu and his group arrived at their doorstep, they saw two oxcarts parked outside and couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

"It seems that my future aunt is very valued at home, otherwise why would so many people come?" Zhuge Yunshu muttered to herself.

Upon entering the courtyard, the expected lively scene was nowhere to be seen. In the main room of the Zhuge family facing the gate, an elderly man with a white beard and wearing a long robe sat in the main seat. On the other side of the main seat sat Grandpa Zhuge, dressed in simple but new clothes, clearly prepared for today's guests.

Three serious-looking men sat below them; they were clearly the future aunt's brothers. Opposite them sat her eldest uncle, second uncle, father, and youngest uncle. Near the head of the table sat an elderly woman, obviously the aunt's mother, while three women dressed as daughters-in-law stood to her side.

Compared to the Zhuge family members, who were dressed in plain clothes, this was a much better situation.

Perhaps the aunt's family didn't expect the Zhuge family to be even worse off than they imagined, and their faces were not very pleasant.

Even Grandma Chen, who was usually very talkative, sat to the side of Grandpa Zhuge, awkwardly rubbing her hands, at a loss for what to do.

Meanwhile, her aunts, second aunts, and her mother, Lin, who had escaped the disaster, were busy preparing lunch in the kitchen.

"Oh dear, Dahua and Shuanzi are back from the clan school. Did the teacher grant you leave today?" Grandma Chen asked loudly, as if she had grasped a lifeline.