Chapter 411： Enemies meet on a narrow road

It’s July in a flash.

This month is a day for secular people to pay homage to their ancestors.

There is also a saying that it is to bring the souls of ancestors back home for reunion, so it is not suitable to visit relatives and friends during this month, let alone get married.

So Yingbao and Aniang stayed at home honestly for a whole month. Except for one time when they went to Lingshan Temple with the old lady of the Luo family to offer incense, they spent the rest of the time at home arranging the newly purchased flowerpots and potted plants.

Chunniang also helped her daughter plant many flowers. Some of the seedlings were purchased from flower farmers, and some were grafted and transplanted by herself.

Yingbao also cultivated many mandarin orange and peach potted plants in Dongfu, with flower buds planted on them. It is expected that they will bear fruit soon.

On this day, his younger brother Jiang Jie suddenly brought Li Xu back.

It turns out that Li Xu also took part in the examination this year and had just arrived in the capital.

But Wen Shu and Mrs. Wen did not come together, and only two servants from the family accompanied Li Xu to Beijing.

Chunniang quickly asked the girl to clean up a room and let Li Xu live in it.

Li Xu was not polite. He went out and in with Jiang Jie every day, and sometimes went to Mr. Wu to listen to his lectures.

August soon came, and Jiang Jie and Li Xu were going to take the examination.

Yingbao prepared test baskets for the two of them, as well as pills and various foods.

Since it was autumn and the nights were very cold, Yingbao prepared quilts and cloaks for the two of them, as well as a candle and a charcoal stove, two windproof tarpaulins, and hammers and nails.

Thinking of my brother's dilemma during the provincial examination, I prepared another urinal and a chamber pot with a lid for him.

In case his brother's stomach is not good, he wants to go to the toilet, he can use that night pot to take it out, and then take it out to throw it out.

The general examination is the same as the provincial examination. There are three exams in total, each exam lasts three days, with one day off in between, for a total of nine days.

During these nine days, the candidates stayed in a small dormitory and could not sleep at night.

In case of a windy and rainy day, candidates catch cold and fall ill, or the exam papers get wet, the ten years of hard work will be in vain.

In the early morning of that day, it was pitch dark outside. Ying Bao and her second cousin sent Jiang Jie and Li Xu outside the Gongyuan. They watched them carry the heavy examination basket into the gate of the Gongyuan before driving back with the carriage.

At this moment, it was still dark, Jiang Quan continued to go back to sleep, while Ying Bao and A Niang were lying together and talking.

“Bao’er, do you think Xiaojie will win?” Chun Niang asked.

Yingbao: "I will." It doesn't matter if he fails, he is still young, he can just take the exam again in three years.

Chun Niang: "When Xiaojie passes the exam and becomes an official, I will ask Mrs. Wu to find a good match for you."

Ying Bao has a black line on her head.

Chunniang sighed: "Bao'er, we can't delay it any longer. Look at these people, they all get engaged when they are thirteen or fourteen and get married at fifteen or sixteen. It's not like my mother married your father at that time."

Yingbao turned her head: "But what?"

Chunniang coughed lightly, "She's only a teenager."

Ying Bao snickered: "I heard from dad that you married him when you were nineteen."

“Nonsense! Mom was only eighteen at that time.” Chun Niang said angrily, “Your father is telling you all the nonsense!”

Ying Bao laughed for a while and said seriously: "Mom, to be honest with you, I will get married when I am over twenty-one years old."

"What? Twenty-one years old?" Chun Niang pinched her daughter: "Where will there be someone of similar age waiting for her?"

The latest a man can get married is when he is twenty years old and his first crown. Even if he does not get married, they will still get engaged and wait until the new girl grows up.

"Then I won't get married in the future." It doesn't matter whether she marries or not, she just wants to protect her parents.

"No!" Chun Niang thought for a while and said, "How about you make an appointment first and wait until you are twenty-one to get married."

Yingbao was speechless.

Aniang’s thinking is too simple. No man would be able to wait until that time.

Furthermore, if he dies again when he is twenty-one, wouldn’t he cause misery to others?

Chun Niang was still talking to herself: "I think Wei Zhan's child is good, and Wen Hengyin is also good. You are familiar with their mother, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can get along well with each other in the future."

"There is also Xiaoyao. Last time, your Granny Tang mentioned it again, saying that Xiaoyao is already a school captain and may be promoted again in a few days."

"If you are not satisfied with them, I will ask Mrs. Wu."

Chunniang turned her head and found that her daughter had closed her eyes and was fast asleep, snoring slightly.

“Smelly girl.” She pinched her daughter’s nose and closed her eyes.

On the third day, Yingbao and her second cousin went to pick someone up.

At the gate of Gongyuan, candidates came out one after another carrying examination baskets. Their robes were all wrinkled, their hair was messy, and they staggered out of Juma's range.

Some people had innocent faces and unshaven beards, as if they were about to faint in the next moment.

Their servants or family members quickly stepped forward to support them and put them on donkey carts and ox carts.

 Ying Bao frowned and stood in front of the carriage and looked towards the Gongyuan.

More and more people are coming out. Some are happy, while others are mourning for their heirs.

Someone actually fainted and was carried out of the Gongyuan by the government officials.

Finally seeing her younger brother Jiang Jie, Ying Bao waved to him.

Jiang Quan hurriedly ran forward, picked up Jiang Jie's exam basket, and put it on the carriage.

Jiang Jie was in pretty good condition. He shyly asked his sister to avoid him, and he threw the chamber pot in the exam basket into the garbage.

Soon Li Xu also came out. Jiang Quan ran over to help him carry the exam basket and helped him get into the carriage.

They returned home, and Chun Niang asked Mu Dan Xinghua to boil water for Jiang Jie and Li Xu to take a bath and change clothes.

They even washed their hair with soap powder, put on clean clothes and sat down to eat.

Yingbao cooked shredded chicken porridge for them, adding Wudingzhi.

After eating, the two of them went to bed quickly, while Chun Niang and Ying Bao rearranged the things in the test basket for them.

All the food that had been placed in the test basket was eaten, and several pills were missing, indicating that they had eaten them.

Yingbao put two more packs of snacks with Wudingzhi in the test basket, and also replenished the pills.

Send them to the examination room again in the early morning of the next day

After the three exams, Jiang Jie and Li Xu were both very haggard.

It's no wonder that I can't have a good rest every night, and it lasts for several days, which even an iron man can't bear.

After resting at home for a day, Mr. Wu came.

He looked at the answers they copied back, stroking his beard and smiling: "Yes, if nothing unexpected happens, you two will definitely be on the list."

Hearing this, Jiang Jie and Li Xu breathed a sigh of relief, and both bowed to Mr. Wu to thank him.

The next step is to wait for the results to be released.

At the same time, the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching.

Yingbao prepared three gifts, one for Mr. Wu and Wu Daozi, and one for the Luo family.

Each gift includes two baskets of fruits, two boxes of gold fungus, two boxes of snow fungus, and two jars of wine.

Then they returned the gift, including moon cakes in exquisite wooden boxes, the most famous local four-color pastries, and some silk cloths.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Jiang family's house was all repaired and the furniture in the house was well made.

Only the pond is not healed yet, it will probably take another two or three months.

Yingbao has placed many potted plants in the inner courtyard, including crabapples, peonies, peonies, peach blossoms, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, etc. Almost all of them are in bloom, and they look colorful.

Then she wrote an invitation and asked her servant to send it to the Luo family, Mr. Wu and Wu Daozi, inviting them to visit her home in the future.

In order to prepare cakes and ingredients for the banquet, Yingbao took Xinghua to the market to buy them.

Since the market was some distance away from home, she asked the driver to drive them there.

In front of a pastry shop, they asked the driver to stop, and Yingbao and Xinghua got out of the car.

“These pastries are so beautiful.” Xinghua was stunned by the styles of pastries in the shop.

But what’s even more surprising is their price: “Oh my God! A small pack costs two thousand dollars!”

Yingbao ignored Xinghua’s surprise and asked the store to pack six packs of snacks.

Xinghua carefully carried the snacks. As soon as she turned around, she bumped into someone, and the snacks in her hand almost fell to the ground.

“What’s wrong with you?” Xinghua screamed and quickly held the snacks steady.

Yingbao looked up and saw a few people standing at the door of the shop, two of them women were particularly eye-catching.

She recognized at a glance that the two women were Han Yueniang and her daughter Chen Tiantian.

The person standing next to them was Xiao Chengjun.

It's true that the enemy's road is narrow, and you can encounter a few unlucky people even when you go to the capital. (End of chapter)