The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Chapter 338: Chapter 334: Childhood Sweethearts_1

There were also others with the same name on the examination list, but the age and place of origin were inscribed next to the listed names. As long as one would observe the age and hometown, they could confirm their identity.

“It’s my younger brother! He ranked third in the exam!” Third place, that would make him a certain official student now.

Not to mention that he could receive six litres of grain every month, along with a certain amount of fish and meat which could also relieve the family of certain duties,

So, even when Jiang Wu becomes an adult, his family no longer needs to serve in labor and military service.

Right, and there are also twenty acres of tax-free land.

Jiang Sanlang was so elated that he was on the verge of tears. He hastened home with his daughter to spread the news.

The messenger was faster than them and had already sat down for tea at home, and the neighbours also came to congratulate them.

Lady Wen also heard the news and immediately brought her sons and daughters to offer congratulations.

Soon, Wei Zhan and his mother arrived, accompanied by Supervisory Historian Xiao Weizhong’s second wife, Mrs Wang, and her son Xiao Chengyu.

Mrs Wei and Mrs Xiao are full cousins, and Mrs Xiao is also blood siblings with the Prefect of Luzhou, Wang Shu.

Only Jiang Sanlang and his daughter arrived from the Jiang family, so the responsibility of accommodating these noblewomen falls on Yingbao.

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Yingbao calmly fetched fruits, snacks, and peach juice from her room to serve the guests.

There were watermelons, lychees, grapes, and peach and apricot juices boiled with Pupil Spring and sugar rock, a full table spread.

Even though these noblewomen were surprised, they kept their composure and did not show it, nor did they impolitely ask where she obtained these from.

Yingbao cut open the watermelon, stuck bamboo skewers on top, and served the noblewomen.

Chubby Xiao Chengyu ate a piece, unable to stop, and blurted out, “Sister Yingbao, what kind of melon is this? Did you guys grow it?

Yingbao smiled and said, “I bought this one, but our family planted a lot this year. They should be ready this month. Young Master can come and play when you have time.”

“That sounds great!” Xiao Chengyu grinned, squinting his eyes with glee.

Mrs Xiao laughed and said, “My son is always yammering about how good Sister Yingbao’s juice is. He doesn’t like the juices made at home; he’s set on visiting Chuanhe Town to drink your juice.”

Mrs Wei also laughed, “Isn’t that right? My seventh son is the same, always fussing. Could it be that Yingbao has a special recipe for her juice?”

“Oh, you flatter me, there’s no secret recipe. I just use different water,” Yingbao half-truthfully replied, “The well water on our side is very sweet, and things cooked with it are also a little special.”

“Exactly, exactly!” Wei Zhan added, “Yingbao’s cooking is a hundred times better than ours. If you don’t believe me, mother, you can taste it yourself.”

The few people laughed, and Mrs. Wei looked at Yingbao, her eyes gleaming.

She took a bite of the watermelon, put down the bamboo skewer, and said to her son, “Seventh son, you always talk about going to Chuanhe Town. Conveniently, your father opened a store in Qinchuan County this year. Why not send you to Qinchuan County to study? It would also be good for you to learn from Jiang Jie.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhan was overjoyed, nodding repeatedly, “That’s great! After going there, I will study hard. If I can’t become a literary laureate, I’ll be sure to become a military laureate.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chengyu immediately became upset, “I’ll go too! I want to go too!”

Turning around, he tugged at Mrs Xiao’s sleeves, “Mother! If you send me there to study, I promise to become a…no, a military laureate.”

Mrs Xiao scolded, “You’re too young, how can you go to a foreign place to study all by yourself? Even if I agree, your father won’t.”

Xiao Chengyu is only eight years old this year, and has just started his education less than a year ago. His husband especially invited two teachers from Beijing for him. If his son goes to Qinchuan County, how could the two teachers bear it?

Lady Wen was eating grapes, her gaze sweeping across Wei Zhan and the Wei Family’s Madame, then glanced at her son Wen Hengyin, who was engrossed in drinking juice. She felt a bit blocked in her heart.

Her young apprentice was nine years old this year and already as beautiful as a peony in the morning sun. Add to that the child’s intelligence and cleverness, and her own brother’s early accomplishments. If her family did not act quickly, in a few more years there will be many suitors like fish crossing a river.

However, Yingbao has always been decisive. If she does not like someone, then her own family proposing a marriage wouldn’t hold much hope.

She couldn’t help but stealthily kick her son, nudging him to stop just eating and drinking.

A twelve year-old behaving so lost in thought, it was simply infuriating.

Wen Hengyin looked up blankly, and was about to ask his mother what was wrong when he saw her already turned her face away.

At this moment, Wei Zhan was excitedly talking to his mother about going to Qinchuan County. “Mother, Yingbao and I will leave in a few days and come back for the New Year. Don’t worry, I will live well in Qinchuan County.”

Wei Family’s Madame snapped: “What do I have to worry about? It’s you who must study well after arriving in Qinchuan County. Your mother doesn’t expect you to become a scholar, but studying more will help you understand the principles of life.” At least the Yue Family wouldn’t look down upon him.

The Wei Family were merchants. While they weren’t lacking in wealth, descendants within three generations of merchants weren’t allowed to take imperial examinations. Their son’s previous speech was simply a pretext to go to the Jiang family in Qinchuan County.

Ah well, since her son liked her so much this mother couldn’t stop him.

The Wei Family’s Madame glanced at Yingbao and sighed slightly.

The brother of this young lady managed to get the third place in the court examination. With such a promising future, but this young lady was still so young. After a few more years, if her brother became a scholar, her marital prospects wouldn’t be lacking due to his status. By then, their own chances may not exist.

People say that childhood friendships grow into love. Her son, having spent so much time playing with her, surely had a better chance than others.

Wei Zhan grinned and said, “I understand the most, mother, don’t worry.”

The chubby child on the side, seeing his only playmate going out of town, immediately became unhappy and started making a fuss with his mother. “Mother! You see, Seventh Brother is going with Yingbao, I want to go, I want to go with Seventh Brother!”

Imperial Consort Xiao was embarrassed by her son’s fuss and quickly pulled him away to bid their leave.

Wei Family’s Madame saw that Lady Wen had not left, so she herself decided not to leave. She stayed to have dinner with her son.

Yingbao took advantage of this time to chat with Lady Wen and, with the help of the nanny and Lady Wen, prepared a table full of dishes.

Of course, all the dishes had already been prepared by her father. The rice was also cooked, they only needed to stir fry a few dishes before they could start serving the meal.

But there were too many people today. Jiang Sanlang had called for a few tables of food from the outside restaurant to entertain the neighbors coming to congratulate them, as well as the students living with them.

Among the four students living with the Jiang family, two passed the court examination this time. This made them very happy and they also paid for two tables of banquet.

Now the front door of the Jiang family was busy. The banquet was set up all the way to the alley entrance.

Fortunately, the two student servants and the failed students and their families also helped with the preparations, which prevented chaos.

It took a lot of effort to send everyone away in the evening. Yingbao was so tired that she collapsed. She went back to her room and fell asleep immediately.

In her dream, she saw foreigners dressed in strange clothes everywhere. They were wearing fur clothes, their heads shaved in an ugly fashion, and they were fighting the Han soldiers.

In front of Yingbao’s eyes were all blood and fallen bodies, burning houses, and collapsing walls.