"Hey, what's wrong with you? Let me go!"
The man struggled continuously and finally broke free. He ran away without saying anything.
Mr. Wu's beard stood on end with anger.
When the gossipers saw that the old man had an extraordinary bearing, they naturally did not dare to confront him and they all dispersed.
Mr. Wu didn't want to let it go, so he went to find Yingbao's master Zhou Wuchang with his hands behind his back.
He knew Zhou Wuchang, but had never met him.
But no matter what, Zhou Wuchang couldn't just ignore the fact that his disciple was slandered.
When they arrived at the medical office, Zhou Wuchang and his eldest disciple happened to be there, so Mr. Wu told them about the rumors outside.
As soon as Zhou Wuchang heard it, he knew who was behind it.
But if they refuse to admit it, there is nothing others can do.
Mr. Wu said, "Those who spread the rumors have ulterior motives. If they are not brought to justice, I am afraid that the Jiang family members will be harmed. I will never allow such a thing to happen."
His young disciple has just taken part in the imperial examination and has a long way to go in life. If someone takes this opportunity to throw dirty water on the Jiang family, it will inevitably affect the young disciple's future prospects.
Zhou Wuchang pondered for a moment and said, "I will take care of this matter, Mr. Wu, don't worry."
Mr. Wu nodded and said, "It would be great if you could help, but I have to find a few people to investigate what the guy who spread the rumors is trying to do."
The two of them discussed it and went to look for the source.
The next day, Jiang Jie came out of the examination room.
From a distance, I could see my mother, my sister and my master standing on a high place looking over here.
His sister even stood on the carriage and waved at him.
Jiang Jie grinned, but unfortunately the exam basket on his shoulders was too heavy and he couldn't run over.
But his mother and sister had already come running over to help him carry the basket of books.
Yingbao handed him an apple and said, "Here, these are our apples from last year. I stored them. We also have oranges at home."
Jiang Jie took the apple and started eating it.
I was exhausted in the examination room. I couldn't lie down or walk around freely, and it was freezing cold.
"Sister, you don't know that the person next to me was caught sick by the cold, kept coughing, and cried all night." Jiang Jie followed A Niang towards the carriage.
Mr. Wu also came forward and said, "Hurry up and get in the car. We'll talk about it when we get back."
"Yeah." Jiang Jie climbed onto the carriage with the help of Mr. Wu, and Yingbao also got on.
Chunniang put away her son's examination basket, bedding, and cloak, then sat on the shaft of the cart and drove home.
The food has been prepared at home and is warming in the steamer.
Four-happiness meatballs, braised fish, cabbage stewed with tofu, and braised beef in soy sauce.
The staple food was rice. Chunniang also made dumplings and steamed two baskets of pork and cabbage buns.
After Jiang Jie came back, he washed his hands and face, then quickly sat down at the table with his master to eat.
Meals were also provided in the calling room, which consisted of white rice, tofu, pickles, and cooked with animal oil.
The rice and dishes were cold when they were served. Jiang Jie remembered his master's words and heated them up with the small charcoal stove he brought with him before eating, but the taste was really bad.
After the meal, Mr. Wu didn't ask anything. He asked Jiang Jie to lie down quickly and organize some questions by himself, and he would tell them after Jiang Jie woke up.
Yingbao went back to her room and used Wudingzhi to prepare pills for her brother, because he had eaten all the pills she had given him before as snacks, saying that they could refresh his mind.
The next day, Jiang Jie started the second exam.
After Mr. Wu sent his young apprentice into the examination room, he immediately went to find the chief constable of the county government.
His son had served as the county magistrate here for several years, and he himself had lived in the county government office for several years and was very familiar with the yamen runners.
When Jin Wu heard that Mr. Wu wanted them to secretly investigate the rumors outside and the situation of Chen Guanglu's family, he patted his chest and promised to do it.
A few days later, after the fifth exam was over, Jin Wu also found Mr. Wu and told him that they had found out the truth.
The rumor came from Chen Guanglu's neighbors, who said that Han Yueniang told them.
But Han Yueniang and her daughter had already followed Pei Shi to the capital, so they couldn't catch the real culprit.
Mr. Wu's beard was shaking with anger. He turned around and told Zhou Wuchang what he had found.
Zhou Wuchang also found out that the rumor came from Han's mouth, but he was investigating another matter.
Because he discovered that Chen Guanglu was actually purchasing cotton and grain in Qinchuan County for Prince Cheng.
Not only that, he also found out that a man named Chen was colluding with the county lieutenant and winning over the leader of the county's water transport gang, preparing to cause trouble in Qinchuan County, with great ambitions.
But Zhou Wuchang was not going to report it now. He wanted to take advantage of the situation and expose the big fish behind it.
On the day when the results were announced, Mr. Wu asked Chunniang to open the door, and he and his young apprentice sat on the porch drinking tea.
Near noon, the messenger came running in with gongs and drums, shouting: "Mr. Jiang Jie from Dongchen Village, Chuanhe Town, has won the first place in the county's exam! Mr. Jiang Jie has won the first place in the county's exam!"
When Chunniang heard someone shouting her son's name, she ran out immediately.
Then they saw two messengers running over quickly, took a look at the gate, and bowed to Chunniang: "Is this Mr. Jiang Jie's home?"
"Yes, yes!" Chunniang was so excited that she couldn't express it in words.
Baozi clasped his fists and said, "Congratulations, madam! Congratulations, madam! Your young master Jiang Jie has won the first place in the county's exam."
Yingbao immediately invited the person to her home: "Please come in and have a cup of tea."
The two messengers walked into the yard with a smile, but did not enter the house. They bowed to Mr. Wu and Jiang Jie, and sat down at the table under the eaves.
Chunniang hurried into the house and took out a red envelope weighing two taels each and gave it to Baozi, then went to the kitchen to cook.
Yingbao brought the tea and snacks that had been prepared long ago and gave them to the two reporters.
The messenger who came to announce the good news had to stay for the wedding banquet. Chunniang was busy cooking in the kitchen. Erni and Jiang Quan came over early in the morning and also helped in the kitchen.
After a while, two more groups of messengers came to announce the good news, and Chunniang also gave each of them a red envelope weighing two taels.
Neighbors on both sides came to congratulate her upon seeing this, and Yingbao held out candies and snacks for them to eat.
Mr. Wu was very proud. After showing off outside for a while, he brought Jiang Jie into the house and taught him about the provincial examination.
In April, I have to go to the provincial capital to take part in the provincial examination, which is the most important thing.
The county examinations mostly tested basic knowledge, mainly reciting scriptures and theories, and also examined the students' calligraphy skills.
Only after passing the county examination will you be eligible to take the formal examination in the provincial capital, which will be supervised by the prefect or governor of the provincial capital. The academy examination will be supervised by the academic official appointed by the court.
Next, the county magistrate summoned the top three students in the exam and was surprised to see Jiang Jie.
It is still very rare for an eight-year-old to be the top candidate in the county.
The county magistrate gave Jiang Jie a set of four treasures of the study, plus a book, as an encouragement, and gave another set each to the other two students.
These two men are not young anymore, one is twenty-two and the other is twenty-eight.
In March, Jiang Sanlang took his son and daughter to the provincial capital to take the exam, and Mr. Wu and Yuanbao also went with them.
Seeing that his younger cousin had passed the county exam and ranked first, Yuanbao also wanted to give it a try next year.
He is several years older than his little cousin. He is thirteen years old this year and is also a very solid student.
But his teacher felt that he still needed to improve himself, so he did not let him take the exam this year.
But when he learned that his eight-year-old cousin had actually ranked first in the county exam, the old gentleman could no longer sit still and felt a little regretful that he had not let Yuanbao take the exam this year.
Just then, when he heard that Xiao An was going to take part in the provincial examination, his teacher asked Yuan Bao to go with him to broaden his horizons.