The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

The next day, Zhuge Yunshu followed Zhuge Laifu and his wife, carrying a pile of things they had bought in town, and boarded a donkey cart.

The donkey cart was recently purchased by Zhuge Laifu and his wife. They had only one oxcart at home and couldn't handle all the work, plus they needed it for business and to make it easier to bring Zhuge Yunshu back to the village. In the end, Old Master Zhuge approved their request.

As soon as Zhuge Yunshu and his companions returned home, they were warmly welcomed by their families.

Old Chen, in particular, pulled Zhuge Yunshu up and down, saying, "My dear granddaughter, although you're even darker now, you've gained weight too."

"But I must say, Da Hua seems to have grown taller. Look at her, so dark and sturdy, she looks healthy," Auntie added.

“What do you mean by dark-skinned and strong? In Shuanzi’s words, he’s dashing and in good health,” Second Aunt retorted.

Zhuge Yunshu: "..."

As soon as he got home, he was hit by three arrows in a row, but if you listen carefully, what his second aunt said sounded better, even though she didn't mean it that way.

It seems my third cousin has been teaching well at home all this time!

Upon returning home this time, Zhuge Yunshu discovered that her parents' status in the family had suddenly risen to a very high level.

Zhuge Yunshu felt a chill run down his spine just looking at how attentive his aunts were.

But seeing how much her parents were enjoying themselves, Zhuge Yunshu thought, as long as they're happy.

After lunch, the Liu family's dowry was carried to the Zhuge family's courtyard.

Along the way, they attracted the attention of many villagers in Zhuge Village. In particular, when they arrived outside the Zhuge family's courtyard, they were shocked to see the dowry filling the yard. They had never seen such a grand display before, especially the young men who were about to get married, who all looked at Zhuge Laigui with envy.

Not to mention others, even Madam Su was envious. But then she thought of her son and daughter, who had just gotten engaged to families in town. She knew that their eldest son's family would have the same glory.

Then she looked at her three daughters in the crowd and made up her mind that from now on, she, as their mother, would save up dowries for them. For daughters, their dowries and their maternal family are their source of security.

Zhang was tempted by these offers, but she thought that since they were all family, the third son's family wouldn't favor one over the other. Besides, her son Shuanzi was a scholar and wouldn't have trouble finding a daughter-in-law.

However, in the evening, Zhuge Yunshu and his fourth cousin were asked by their elders to act as "rolling children on the bed," a gesture symbolizing the wish for both a son and a daughter.

Actually, we initially wanted her to be with her third cousin, thinking that our future children would be as studious as they were. However, considering that her third cousin was a bit older, we opted for her chubby fourth cousin instead.

......

Time passed little by little, and soon it was the day of Zhuge Laigui's wedding.

On this day, the Zhuge family got up early to prepare, and the younger uncle, Zhuge Laigui, also set off early to the town to pick up the bride. It was almost noon when Zhuge Laigui and a group of his relatives returned to Zhuge Village with the bride in the bridal sedan chair amidst the sounds of suona horns and gongs and drums.

Zhuge Laigui, dressed in a bright red wedding robe, led his bride as she stepped out of the sedan chair. His face was beaming with joy, and everyone who saw him stepped forward to offer their congratulations.

Zhuge Yunshu was also genuinely happy for the newlywed couple.

When they were led into the bridal chamber, especially when it was time to lift the red veil on the bride's head, Zhuge Laigui's hands trembled with nervousness. He struggled several times before finally managing to remove the veil.

The crowd watching the commotion in the room burst into laughter at his antics, and even Liu Lan, who was hiding under her veil, couldn't stop laughing.

Of course, the bride's action went unnoticed by others.

It must be said that getting married is the most beautiful moment in a woman's life in this era, especially under the lights, a woman looks more and more beautiful the more you look at her.

The bride, dressed in a red wedding gown, had a fair complexion. Her shy eyes paired with her fiery red lips were incredibly alluring. Just look at Zhuge Laigui's stunned expression to know how effective it was.

Meanwhile, the women and children of Zhuge Village inside the room did not hesitate to shower the room with praise on this joyous occasion.

"My aunt is so beautiful."

"Your sister-in-law is so beautiful."

"Lai Gui is so lucky to have married such a capable wife."

"My uncle and aunt are a perfect match made in heaven."

"..."

And so, amidst the teasing and jokes of the crowd, the newlywed couple, Zhuge Laigui and Liu Lan, shyly drank the nuptial wine.

Afterwards, some of his brothers were still not ready to let him go, but Old Madam Chen signaled to her sons, who, with great tact, pulled the group of people out to continue drinking.

Zhuge Laigui and Liu Lan thus escaped a calamity.

Upon seeing this, Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but sigh that the wedding pranks of ancient times were just as good as those of modern times!

The wedding process alone left her, an outsider, feeling utterly exhausted, let alone Zhuge Laigui and Liu Lan, who were the parties involved.

Perhaps because she was so close, she was certain that her aunt's stomach was rumbling from time to time, which clearly meant she was hungry, but she had to endure it for the sake of propriety.

Zhuge Yunshu whispered this to her mother. Her mother went out for a while and then came back with a bowl of food.

"Sister-in-law, you've been hungry all day. Please make do with this for now!"

Liu Lan gratefully accepted the bowl and chopsticks and ate her first meal of the day.

In Zhuge Yunshu's opinion, all that can be said is that the word "miserable" is not enough to describe the plight of ancient brides.

That night, everyone in the Zhuge family fell asleep with sweet dreams.

Time flies. During these three days of rest, Zhuge Yunshu made sure to get nine hours of sleep every day, except for the day his uncle Zhuge Laigui got married.

Having perhaps grown accustomed to daily reading and learning, Zhuge Yunshu has spent the last few days at home, except for necessary visits to teachers and friends, studying with renowned teachers within the "Serving the Country and the People" system.

In the evenings, he would take time to teach everyone in the family to read, including Zhuge Laigui and his wife, who were newly married and always affectionate.

In the past few days, Zhuge Yunshu spent some time checking on her third cousin Zhuge Yunli's reading progress. She found that although he was not particularly gifted, he was hardworking and willing to put in the effort. In particular, he took the books and test questions that she asked Zhuge Laigui and his wife to bring back very seriously.

Although many people say that in the imperial examination system, hard work is worthless in the face of talent, Zhuge Yunshu does not agree with this view.

She believed that a scholar's talent only determined the upper limit of their success in the imperial examinations, while their hard work determined the lower limit. Throughout history, many talented scholars have achieved less than those ordinary scholars who worked hard.

This illustrates that effort is not useless; rather, it's about applying it in the right way.

Of course, the premise is that one's IQ is above average; otherwise, if one's IQ is below average like she did before, no matter how hard one tries, one cannot change the fact.

Her third cousin happened to be a student with above-average intelligence and a willingness to work hard.

Zhuge Yunshu always admired such people, and therefore could not refuse their requests.