Back In Time For Imperial Examination Chapter 6

After Master Liu left, many people came to Ryan Cui's house one after another.

He stayed in the inn as the son of a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, a righteous man who assisted the Jinyiwei in capturing the demon. The prefect sent his confidant to visit him. No matter what the reason was, officials from all levels of the prefecture and even local big families were unwilling to lag behind, and either came to visit him in person or sent people to visit him. The inn was crowded with guests every day, just like when an internet celebrity was hospitalized in later generations, reporters and media people came one after another to interview him.

Of course, everyone tacitly forgot that his B*tt was beaten by his own father, and just thought that all the injuries on his body were caused by capturing the monster.

Before they came, these people had received advice from Master Liu, and never mentioned eight-part essays, poems, or songs. When they met, they praised him for his "clear mind and bright spirit" and "dragon-like appearance and phoenix-like demeanor", and then began to talk about local customs and folk customs, and gave him a few sets of newly printed storytelling lyrics from Yongshun Hall. Ryan Cui racked his brains to learn how to speak like people in the Ming Dynasty. If he didn't understand something, he would pretend not to hear it. When it came to his family, he would bow his head and shed tears, and then he would answer for him with a distressed look on his face, so at least he didn't reveal too many flaws.

After dealing with the guests who had left, he still had to pretend to miss his parents and life in the capital, and slowly get words from Ethan Peng and his son to learn about his original self's relatives, friends, and past life.

Ethan Peng was particularly soft-hearted. Whenever he sighed or said a few words about missing home, she would recall with him the times when they were at home. Alex Cui had followed his father since he was a child and was very familiar with his father's situation. When changing the medicine on his wounds, he would often say "If my wife were here", which would be very nice.

After more than ten days of hard struggle, he finally figured out the original body's family relationships.

The ancestors of the Cui family were one of the families that were forced to move from the south to northern Zhili during the Yongle period. The ancestor, Old Grandpa Cui, was very good at farming and earned more than ten hectares of good irrigated land. When it came to his grandfather's generation, because he had a smart son, Victor Cui, who was good at studying, in order to support his schooling, he rented out the land to others for farming and moved to Qian'an County with his wife and children.

When Victor Cui was 18 years old, he married Liu, the daughter of a thousand households in the prefecture. Although his wife was born in a military household, she was very elegant and could exchange poems with her husband. After the marriage, Victor Cui made rapid progress in the imperial examinations. In the second year of Chenghua, he passed the imperial examination and was selected as an official in Beijing. After that, he brought his parents and wife to the capital, and mortgaged the house in the county to a student who opened a school to teach.

Unfortunately, while he was successful in the officialdom, his family was not doing well. The old man had a stroke two years after he came to Beijing. Then, Mr. Chloe died of dystocia due to exhaustion from taking care of the sick while pregnant. The old lady had to take care of her husband and her newborn grandson, and she became ill from overwork after a few years. She had to send little Ryan Cui to study in the outer courtyard, and she chanted Buddhist scriptures in the upper room to recuperate.

After Mr. Chloe passed away, Victor Cui thought that it was because of the bad Feng Shui of the ancestral tomb, so he returned to his hometown to rebuild the ancestral tomb and moved the ancestral hall to the capital. He never returned to Qian'an again. After that, he married the daughter of a retired official in Beijing, his current wife, Xu, to take charge of the household affairs. The next year, he gave birth to his second son, Jason Cui.

The Cui family also kept several concubines in the backyard. Only one concubine named Wu gave birth to a B@st@ard son named Nathan Cui, who was only five years old this year. There were also two B@st@ard daughters. The elder one was called Jiao Jie, who married the son of Xu's uncle who passed the imperial examination in the same year two years ago. Now she is with her parents-in-law in Luzhou. The younger one was called Yun Jie, who was only in her early teens and had not yet started to choose a husband.

As for the original self, there was not much to say: he had studied at home since he was young, and had never left the house many times in his life. He had a mediocre relationship with his half-brother, did not make many friends outside, and was not very knowledgeable in his studies. This was not what Alex Cui and his son said, but what he saw from Master Liu's attitude.

In short, it’s better not to run into a few relatives and friends when you go out, and don’t get entangled in grudges.

These days were more miserable than the college exam week. He had to think twice before saying anything, and had to watch the other person's reaction and adjust the topic in time. He spent every day observing the other person's expression and was so tired that he didn't even have the energy to read. After he roughly figured out the original owner's situation, he breathed a sigh of relief, buried his head in the quilt, and slept soundly for two days.

With this body, he is only fourteen years old, which is the fastest growing period for his body. Whether he is tired or injured, he will recover quickly as long as he gets enough rest.

After lying in the inn for half a month, the wounds on his H!ps and legs were almost healed. The scabs on the edges had fallen off, revealing a piece of pink tender flesh, flush with the surrounding skin. Once the color faded, it would be invisible. The wound on his shoulder had also scabbed over, without infection, and it didn't hurt to get up and move, and it didn't affect his activities.

He observed for another two days and felt that he was fine, so he asked Alex Cui and his son to pack up and plan to go to Qian'an as soon as possible.

Ethan Peng obediently went to pack his luggage, but Alex Cui was still reluctant to leave, so he asked him, "Can we wait for two more days? What if the master hears that you helped Jinyiwei catch the evil man and is no longer angry with you, and sends someone to pick us up?"

Ryan Cui shook his head: "Uncle Yuan, do you still remember how many days we stayed in the inn?"

A full half month.

During these days, people from all over Tongzhou came to visit them, sending them pens, inkstones, and nourishing foods that filled up their boxes, and several guests wrote poems and essays for them. Only the family in the capital was silent, and not even a piece of paper was sent to them.

Alex Cui was unwilling to believe that his master was so cold to his own son, but after counting the days and thinking about the attitude of his family members who urged them to go out, he couldn't help feeling discouraged.

He was afraid of provoking the young master's worries, so he sighed to his son in private: "Our master is a student of Prime Minister Wan, and Prime Minister Wan is related to Jinyiwei Commander Wan. The master also had some dealings with Jinyiwei in the past, so he must have some kinship with them. How come Captain Xie spoke for the young master and told us to wait for good news, but the master seems to have nothing to do with it?"

He was wrongly accusing his master by thinking this way. Because after Captain Xie's letter was delivered to Cui's house, Doctor Cui didn't even see it, and it was directly sent to Madam Xu in the backyard.

After Mrs. Emma read the contents inside, she moved it to the candlelight and burned it with her own hands.

Her confidante, Mother Di, watched the flames lick away the seven words "Jinyiwei Qianhu Xie Ying" on the cover, and felt frightened. She whispered to her, "After all, this is a post from Jinyiwei. Although it talks about 'that one', it is also related to the master's official duties outside. Madam, if the Qianhu tells the master about this, will the master blame you for acting on your own?"

Madam Xu shook her head and said calmly, "What could the Jinyiwei want from our master? They are just asking for money in a fancy way. We can give a gift privately to settle the matter, and it will be my responsibility as a mother. I have read the letter, and it does not say that Brother Xie has done anything wrong. Let's just assume that he has done a good deed and has done nothing wrong. A gift of a hundred taels will be enough to settle the matter, and there is no need to alarm the master."

Mother Di was still a little worried, fearing that Victor Cui would learn from outsiders that something had happened to his eldest son in the future, and thinking of the father-son relationship, he would blame his wife for hiding it from him.

Madam Xu smiled gently: "If the master really loves him, would he send him back to the countryside? His mother is the daughter of a military household, but she was lucky enough to marry into the Cui family before the master entered school, and only then did she occupy the position of a lady. Her status is not much higher than those in our backyard. What kind of good son can she give birth to who can study? Even if one of them stays in the capital and enters the Imperial College, he will not be able to pass the imperial examination. It is better to give the place of Yinsheng to Brother Heng. As a mother, I will not be harsh on him. When he grows up in the future, I will find him a capable and filial daughter-in-law, let him stay in his hometown to manage the industry, and end up with a prosperous life, isn't it good?"

Mother Di heard Madam's words so relaxed that she chanted a Buddhist chant, stood up and bowed, and said, "Madam, you still have the decision. Then I will go and prepare the gift and tell the outer courtyard not to report this letter to the master."

Madam Xu nodded gently: "Go ahead, what's the big deal? You should also keep an eye on Brother Heng for me, and let the people around him take good care of him and heal. Don't rush to get out of bed for the next two days. Even if the master listened to someone's advice outside, when he came back and saw his injuries, he naturally gave up that thought."

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Alex Cui and his son did not hide from others when they were packing up. When the innkeeper Yan heard that he was leaving, he hurried over to persuade him: "Young Master Cui, do you think I am not treating you well enough? If the room is not tidy, I will ask someone to tidy it up for you; if the inn is not quiet enough, my home is not far from here and there is an empty yard. Please move there. It will be convenient for you to study and go to school."

Ryan Cui's stay in this inn was like an underground party member who had infiltrated Wang Puppet Special Agent No. 76. He was worried and anxious all day long, and his hair was almost white. Now that he was finally able to get up, he insisted on leaving.

Mr. Yan urged him: "Qian'an suffered a flood last summer, and many houses were washed away in and around the county. Rice, grain and vegetables are very expensive this year. It is not a place where you can study quietly. Young master, just stay in our store for a few months. Wouldn't it be better if we send someone back to repair the house before moving in?"

Ryan Cui shook his head very firmly.

These days, he had been dealing with people from the Ming Dynasty, especially those in the government, and had memorized all the customs of that era. He was no longer the naive time traveler. Since he had made up his mind to leave, he had already prepared a reason that the ancients could not refuse and threw it in front of Yan Yuanwai - he wanted to go back to his hometown to pay respects to the dead.

In the Ming Dynasty, people treated the dead as if they were alive, and tomb-sweeping and ancestor worship were like honoring one's parents, which were all matters of loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness. Yan Yuanwai could no longer stop them, so he asked the kitchen staff to prepare a lot of dry food, food for the journey, and preserved food. He also arranged for hired workers to help them pack up the gifts that people had brought when they visited the patient these days, and then rented a spacious and comfortable car to take them back home.

They ate and lodged for free in the inn, but they could not leave for nothing. Ryan Cui used the excuse that writing would hurt his shoulder wound, and asked Ethan Peng to write for him. He copied a recipe for Zhenjiang vinegar produced in a factory built during the Daoguang period, sealed it in an envelope and gave it to Yan Yuanwai.