Chapter 55

The timing of Chu Mingjia’s pregnancy was really a coincidence. If Song Cun was asked to give up the rural examination and wait another three years, not to mention his disagreement, even Chu Mingjia would not agree.

But the two younger sisters and aunt can’t take charge. Once Song Cun is gone, the family can only rely on Chu Mingjia for everything. Now that she is pregnant, Song Cun is not at ease.

After thinking for a while, he went to Chu’s house in person. When Mrs. Chu heard that Ming Jia was pregnant, she was overjoyed, and immediately ordered her servants to pack up a cart full of things that the pregnant woman needed, and asked Song Cun to take them back.

Song Cun could only accept it with a smile, and expressed his worries. He would leave for the exam in a few days, and hoped that the Chu family would take care of Mingjia during his absence.

It’s about her granddaughter, of course Mrs. Chu agreed.

Song Cun bid farewell and left, Chu Mingcheng sent him to the gate, and got into the carriage with him, Song Cun glanced at him, and he explained: “I’m going to see my sister.”

Song Cun said with a smile, “I plan to go to Master Liu’s house again.”

Chu Mingcheng smiled and said: “I may not see my uncle and aunt for a long time, so I just happened to go to see them together.”

Well, Song Cun didn’t speak anymore.

The two went to Liu’s house. Mrs. Liu was very happy when she heard that her niece was pregnant. She asked Song Cun, “When are you leaving?”

Song Cun said: “There are still two days.”

Mrs. Liu thought for a while and said, “You don’t have to worry about going to the exam. After you leave, I will move in to stay with Ming Jia for a while.”

Song Cun said gratefully at the moment: “Please trouble Auntie.”

Mrs. Liu waved her hand: “Ming Jia is my niece, and she grew up beside me. I treat her like my own daughter. Why is this troublesome?”

Chu Mingcheng said beside him: “Sister-in-law, don’t worry, I will often come to see my sister.”

Song Cun said with a smile: “With my aunt and elder brother here, I feel relieved.”

The day before his departure, Chu Mingjia packed Song Cun’s luggage in person. Thinking that he would go there for a month or two, he had prepared more than a dozen sets of underwear and robes, and also prepared a lot of dry food and medicinal materials for him. , and even an anti-mosquito ointment.

Because Aunt Li was worried about her son, she came over to take a look and saw the things her daughter-in-law had packed away. She felt very ashamed. After all, the daughter-in-law is the lady of the family. Mosquito ointment or something, I glanced at it and said nothing, and went back.

Song Cun watched her keep putting dried meat, dried fruit, etc. into the box, and he quickly said: “It’s ok, it’s still hot now, too much dry food is perishable, just take a little bit to eat on the road.”

Chu Mingjia didn’t stop his hands, and said: “A poor family is rich on the road, even if you have enough money, if you don’t meet a shop on the road, you have nowhere to use the money. These jerky are all salted, so they won’t spoil easily. .It’s always right to prepare more.”

If it wasn’t for her husband leaving in a hurry and she happened to be pregnant, she would like to prepare more food for him.

Song Cun saw that she was busy going here and there like a little bee, and she would not listen to her advice, as if he was not going to the scientific research, but to the battlefield, and wanted to pack everything for him. He could only helplessly let her go.

After Chu Mingjia finished her busy work, several boxes had already been packed on the ground. Song Cun thought they had packed them properly, but Chu Mingjia took a pen and paper to write and draw. Finally, she patted her head and said annoyedly, “Prepare the clothes for you.” It’s all here, but I forgot to bring you the shoes.”

Song Cun sat at the table and said with a smile: “It’s nothing if you don’t bring it, you can buy it.”

Chu Mingjia disagreed: “I bought them outside, and they are not as comfortable to wear as those made in a sewing room. You have to go on a journey, and shoes are more expensive, so you need to prepare a few more pairs. Well, let’s prepare ten pairs.”

Song Cun: “…”

Chu Mingjia looked at the paper and said again: “Young servant will bring you eight, wash and clean the house, but you still need a little girl, let’s arrange for a little girl to go with you.”

Song Cun hurriedly said: “No, the journey is so far, it’s inconvenient for a little girl to follow. Li Mu, who often follows me, is very good. He took part in scientific examinations a few times ago, and these things are all done by him.”

Chu Mingjia frowned and said, “Clothes always need to be washed, and a little girl is still needed.”

Song Cun joked with a smile: “Let a little girl follow you, and you are not here, what if she has any thoughts? Don’t worry?”

Chu Mingjia was annoyed, and gave him a look: “As long as you have no idea.”

Seeing that she was annoyed, Song Cun hurriedly said, “I’m sure I have no idea. Just forget about it, little girl. At that time, find some women to help starch and wash clothes, and just pay some wages.”

Then Chu Mingjia laughed, and said stiffly: “Since my husband doesn’t want a little girl, then forget it.”

Although I know that my husband is more self-disciplined when it comes to female sex, but in case someone else is calculating, it is really hard to guard against, let’s forget about the little girl.

Song Cun glanced at her with a half-smile, but didn’t say anything.

The next day, after breakfast, under the reluctant eyes of his wife, sister and aunt, Song Cun got into the carriage and left.

After Song Cun left, Mrs. Liu packed her things and moved to Song’s house to accompany her niece, and told her about the things that need to be paid attention to during pregnancy.

It has to be said that with the company of his aunt, Chu Mingjia breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how strong she is, when she was pregnant, her husband went away for scientific research and could not be by her side. Everything at home was on her shoulders , she will be wronged and uneasy.

Aunt Li also breathed a sigh of relief, her daughter-in-law is very good, but she is just an aunt and can’t help her much, it would be best if Aunt Liu was willing to come and accompany her.

Song Cun was sitting in the carriage. He felt guilty for not being able to accompany his wife when she left home during her pregnancy. After all, she was only a ten-year-old girl. There was no elder in the family who could do anything, so she had to rely on herself for everything. It’s really difficult.

Although I am worried about my family, since I have come out, I can only let go of my worries and devote all my attention to the scientific examination, striving for a good grade in the examination, so as to be worthy of my wife’s efforts.

After driving for ten days, Song Cun and others finally arrived at the provincial capital of the Eastern Province. It was the first time they came back to the provincial capital of the Eastern Province. They were very unfamiliar with this place. They asked someone to inquire about several inns, and he chose one of them with a relatively good environment. They came not too early or too late, because the provincial examination was taken in the provincial government, many scholars came from their homes, many scholars had already lived in the inn, and Song Cun chose the best superior room.

Staying in the inn is only temporary, because he will stay here for two months, Song Cun has long planned to rent a house outside, although it is a bit troublesome, but if he wants to be clean, he can only ask the boy to find a dentist and rent a yard , even if the rent is more expensive.

He was not short of money. When he came here, Chu Mingjia was afraid that he would have no money outside, so he secretly stuffed a few bank notes in the books he often read. He only found out on the road. When he saw the bank notes, He was quite dumbfounded, but he was also touched by his wife’s good intentions.

Song Cun handed over the matter of renting the yard to Li Mu. Although Li Mu is a young servant and not very old, he is very reliable in his work. With him in charge, he is very relieved to read books and make fuss in the house.

Within two days, Li Mu rented a yard not far from the Gongyuan with a lot of money.

Song Cun asked the servants to carry the luggage into the carriage, and the group went to the rented yard. When they arrived in the yard, Li Mu took a few servants to carry the luggage down and headed into the house.

At this time, a woman came over and asked, “Master, do you need help?”

Li Mu explained to Song Cun: “Master, I hired two women, one is in charge of washing and cleaning the house, and the other is in charge of the stove.”

Song Cun nodded, “Look at the arrangement.”

The woman said, “The room has been tidied up.”

Song Cun nodded and went to the room.

After settling in, it has already entered August, and there are still seven or eight days before the provincial examination. Song Cun didn’t have such a strong curiosity when he was unfamiliar with the place, so he didn’t go anywhere, just read at home, and went for a walk in the yard when he was tired, drinking tea and eating snacks.

The days passed quickly, and when it came to the day of the provincial examination, Song Cun took the prepared test basket and rode to the Gongyuan in a carriage. The rural examination was divided into three sessions, each session took three days, and it took nine days to test. The main tests were the Four Books and Five Classics, Policy question and so on.

After a strict inspection, Song Cun found his test booth with the test plate number. He looked around and found that the test booth was in the middle, and the location was not bad.

He sat down and waited. Scholars entered the examination room one after another. He also saw an old man in his sixties entering the examination room tremblingly. He was not surprised. There is no age limit for the imperial examination. There are children who fail the exam. The old man just now didn’t look very healthy, and he was going to take the nine-day exam in the Gongyuan. He was really worried about whether he could make it through.

As soon as the time came, the examiners began to distribute the test papers. The first test was the scriptures and meanings in the Four Books and Five Classics, a poem with five characters and eight rhymes. Can be concise. This gives candidates more room to play, and is more friendly to candidates like Song Cun who can’t write classical Chinese well.

According to the old rules, when you get the test paper, Song Cun first browses it roughly, so that you know what you know.

After browsing the test papers, Song Cun started to do the first question. The first question was about a sentence in “The Analects of Confucius”: “Gentlemen are in harmony but different, villains are in harmony but not in harmony.”

According to his own understanding and his husband’s explanation, Song Cun tried his best to write the answers well-regulated. Before taking the provincial examination, he had a deep talk with his uncle Liu Fuzi. No matter whether the examiner likes aggressive candidates or conservative candidates, he What is important is to pass the exam, not to rank, and there is nothing wrong with answering questions in a satisfactory manner.

After finishing writing, Song Cun continued to do the next question, which was a selection from “Mencius”: “If you can be an official, you can be an official; if you can stop, you can stop; if you can be long, you can be long; if you can be fast, you can be fast.”

The general meaning of this sentence is that if you should be an official, you should be an official, if you should resign, you should resign, if you should continue working, you should continue working, and if you should leave immediately, you should leave immediately.

Of course, you can’t just write it down dryly, and you have to process and write some of your own opinions, which is hard for Song Cun. He first made a draft on the draft, finished the draft, and then copied it on the paper.

I wrote them down one by one, and when I finished the fourth question, my stomach began to protest. The scientific examination here is relatively humane. There are food sellers at meal times, and there is a small bell in the test shed. If you ring the bell, there will be When the yamen servants brought the food, they could not bring silver bills in the test shed, but they could bring copper coins and broken silver.

Song Cun rang the bell, ordered a relatively light meal, put away the test papers, ate lunch, went to the hut, and when he came back, he was not in a hurry to answer the questions, but lay down in the test shed and fell into a light sleep for half an hour , After getting up, I washed my face with water, and then continued to answer the questions after waking up.

Mosquitoes are also very annoying in autumn. Song Cun was bitten several times during the day. Fortunately, Chu Mingjia prepared an anti-mosquito ointment for him. smoothly.

In order to have a good night’s sleep, he took out the ointment and applied the ointment on his hands, ankles, forehead, and even his clothes. Although the smell was not very pleasant, it was better than being bitten by mosquitoes. Besides, after smelling it for a long time, I got used to it.

Maybe the ointment had an effect. After getting up the next day, Song Cun touched the instep and found that it was smooth. As expected, he was not bitten by mosquitoes. After he got up and washed, he began to eat breakfast. Biting him, he didn’t sleep well all night.

Song Cun smiled, eating the breakfast he just bought, he looked satisfied, others were bitten by mosquitoes, but he was not bitten, although it was not kind, he was indeed very satisfied.

Song Cun has always been in a good mood, and the test questions have been relatively smooth, even the most embarrassing poem, he has done it smoothly. After finishing, he is quite satisfied, thinking that this is his best performance once.