The daughter of a noble family is reborn, and she is doted on by her godmother.

“My elder brother went to school and taught us at home.” Maihe still had something to say about this.

"you?"

"My two younger sisters came along too. My eldest brother said that girls should also study, because only by reading can they understand reason."

Upon hearing this, the Yun family members were somewhat surprised and unsure how to continue the conversation.

Fortunately, a man came running from a distance. "Gentlemen, that's my father. It seems he's returned from the city. Let him speak with you."

"You must be Boss Yun from the city, right? I'm Uncle Mai." The man who came running was out of breath and ran over quickly.

Now that the main person has arrived, it's natural to talk to the host family. Uncle Mai told his son to go back first, as the family needed help at the moment.

“Mr. Yun, we’ve taken good care of this land before. If it weren’t for some family troubles, we wouldn’t have easily said we were going to sell it. Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems with the land.”

"Can you tell me exactly why you insist on selling the land?" Yun Yuke asked, still very curious about the matter.

"Yes, your son just wouldn't tell us. Why don't you tell us so we can all know the situation?"

Chang Fang had seen many situations, and she was afraid that the other party might be in a situation that was difficult to control.

"Ah...this..."

Seeing that the other person still looked unwilling to talk, Yun Yuke pressed on, "Is it because your daughter is sick? I do know some famous doctors, and it's best to treat a child's illness as soon as possible."

“Oh no, no, that’s not it,” Uncle Mai waved his hand, “The child’s illness is an old problem, it’s not because of this, it’s just that…”

Uncle Mai seemed to have made a great decision before finally speaking up, "Sigh, it's all because of my eldest son. That kid is very good at studying and is preparing for the imperial examination now. If he can pass the exam and become a Xiucai, our family might not have to be like this."

"That's very good. I remember there aren't many scholars in this county. I didn't expect your child to have such talent. The child is very promising."

When Uncle Mai heard the other person praising his child, he was also full of pride, but he still kept his expression under control.

“These past few days, someone came to us saying that some academy in the capital, what's its name again? Something like the Ink Academy, seems to be preparing to enroll students, meaning each student needs a one hundred taels of silver for the entrance fee. Add to that the children's daily expenses... We're just peasants living off the land, where are we going to find so much silver…”

The Capital Academy? What Ink Academy?

Yun Yuke and Chang Fang exchanged a glance. Although every family had its reasons for selling land, and the reason for selling land for the sake of their child was also reasonable, what kind of academy required an entrance fee of one hundred taels of silver?

Neither of them spoke; they simply listened quietly.

"Sigh, they say that the academy can provide better and faster access to information about the imperial examinations. My eldest son doesn't know about it, so we're keeping it from him so he won't worry about these things."

Uncle Mai muttered to himself, like an old ox, as he slowly walked along the edge of the ridge.

“But Uncle, I heard my teacher Zhu say that the academies in the capital basically have separate examinations, and you can get in if you pass. The tuition fees are not much either. I have never heard of any academy that requires you to pay to get in.”

Surprisingly, it was Yun Qingjin who spoke first.

"Qingqing, how did you know about this?" Chang Fang knew that the child was a hard-working and diligent student, but she had never really seen the child's ingenious ideas and unexpected thoughts many times, so she asked in surprise.

Did your teacher Zhu tell you this before?

Yun Qingjin had a general feeling about what was going on when she heard the other person speak.

Although Zhu Ling had previously explained some of these things, most of the experience came from her memories of her previous life.

The academies in the capital city in the previous life were indeed a unique sight in this dynasty. Many academies produced outstanding talents, and the students in the capital city also had distinguished backgrounds and interacted with each other quite a bit.

Although Yun Qingjin was a married woman at the time, she was still familiar with the gossip in the capital and was forced to listen to many gossip stories about the talented men in the capital.

So I am aware of these circumstances.

It is understood that these academies have their own operating methods. Although most of the students come from wealthy families in the capital, it seems that every year there are also impoverished students from other regions who come to study.

At that time, the distant relatives of the Gu family came to Beijing, partly so that their children could attend school in the capital. I was in charge of the accounts, and if there were any situations where money was required to get in, the distant relatives of the Gu family would definitely ask me for the money.

However, there doesn't seem to be a similar situation; things like enrollment and studies have generally gone smoothly.

However, Gu's relatives boasted every day about how highly knowledgeable their son was, and how he received praise from the academy's lecturers when he entered the academy.

Of course, most importantly, there were no academies in the capital whose names contained the character "墨" (mo, meaning ink).

These things couldn't be said directly, so I had to use Teacher Zhu as a shield.

"Teacher Zhu didn't say much. She only mentioned that the learning atmosphere in the academies in the capital was quite strong. If she were a man, she could have passed the exam and entered directly. After all, several great Confucian scholars rarely lecture outside. If she entered the academy, she would have more opportunities to communicate with these great Confucian scholars in a timely manner. So I think that's probably the case."

Yun Qingjin whispered, pretending to know the situation, and quickly came up with the appropriate words.

"Maybe this Ink Academy is different?" Uncle Mai was unwilling to believe a child's words, so he remained nonchalant.

"The person who introduced me said that there are limited spots and told me not to tell anyone else. I think Boss Yun is a trustworthy person, so I told you. You don't have family members who need to go to school, do you?"

When Uncle Mai said this, his expression darkened considerably, and he even clenched one fist.

Yun Yuke noticed the other party's dissatisfaction and quickly spoke up to stop Yun Qingjin, preventing the child from saying too much.

“That’s not what we thought either. The child was just expressing their thoughts. Please don’t mind.”

Chang Fang pulled Yun Qingjin behind her to prevent the child from having much contact with the other party.

“In short, I understand the situation,” Yun Yuke continued. “Logically speaking, we are outsiders and shouldn’t get too involved, but we will be neighbors from now on, so helping each other is definitely not a problem.”

Uncle Mai lowered his guard. "I'm sorry, I got a little agitated. It's mainly about my eldest son, about his future. I'm a bit anxious."

"It's alright, please don't think we're being nosy. The teacher Zhu that my child mentioned is the daughter of the Zhu family in Xin'an City. She's very knowledgeable and well-informed, so if possible, my child said..."

"Okay, okay, okay. In short, my family's land is worth a total of three hundred taels of silver. If you have no problems, we can go to the county government office with you soon to complete the transfer procedures."

Seeing that the other party insisted, Yun Yuke stopped hesitating. Having seen enough and discussed everything, she gave the other party 120 taels of silver as a deposit.

It was getting late, so the group decided to stay in the village for the night.

Uncle Mai invited the group to stay at his home temporarily.

The Mai family's house looked pretty good. After all, Huanghua Village had just experienced a natural disaster, and most of the houses in the village had some problems. In comparison, the Mai family's house could be said to be very sturdy.

Since arriving here, Yun Yuke had never stayed in an ordinary house, so she couldn't tell the difference between good and bad. Looking around, she was still a little curious.

Chang Fang and Yun Qingjin were quite used to it and were quite adept at it.

Mai's two daughters both looked very simple and honest. Although the older girl was sick and lying in bed, she kept talking to her mother and younger sister.

The younger girl was probably eight years old, and she was only a little taller than the stove.

She was busy at the stove, her hands and feet nimble.

Dinner was a pot full of hand-pulled noodles specially made by the hostess, which looked and smelled delicious.

The family was having dinner when someone suddenly arrived. Uncle Mai saw the person and quickly went to greet him. The two whispered to each other and, instead of staying in the main room, went straight to the courtyard.

When he left, Uncle Mai had a small cloth bag in his arms, which contained the silver that Yun Yuke had given him during the day.

Oh, so this person must be the one with connections.

Why are you being so sneaky?