Back In Time For Imperial Examination Chapter 7

When Ryan Cui left, many of his acquaintances came to see him off. After a long farewell, they let him out of the city gate and returned to their carriages to go back into the city.

Alex Cui drove his own small cart in front, while Zhao, the driver hired by Yan Yuanwai, drove a rented cart with Ryan Cui and Ethan Peng, one in front and one behind. When they reached Wuli Pavilion outside the city, a small green-covered cart suddenly appeared and blocked the way. An elegant middle-aged man jumped out from the curtain. It turned out to be Master Liu who had not appeared since he asked him which meridian he treated last time.

He hurriedly helped himself out of the car with the inkstone, greeted Master Liu, and thanked him and Fu Zhizhou for their care.

Master Liu stroked his long beard and smiled, "I came here today not only to send you back home, but also to give you a gift prepared by the prefect."

Several servants unloaded two large wooden boxes from his cart, silently opened the lids, and then stepped back, revealing two boxes full of books.

Master Liu pointed at the box and said proudly, "The prefect of my country understands your desire to study, so he ordered me to send you this set of "The Complete Works of the Five Classics and the Four Books". These books can only be found in the county school in Qian'an, and ordinary scholars cannot borrow them. You can compare them with the chapters and sentences of the Four Books and the Five Classics, and study them carefully. Read more and think more, and don't let down the prefect's kindness."

Ryan Cui's expression also became serious and he bowed deeply to express his gratitude.

Master Liu accepted his salute and waved back. The servants then took down a smaller box from the car. When they opened it, it was still full of books.

Ryan Cui couldn't help swallowing his saliva. He doubted whether his brain, which had survived twelve years of exam-oriented education and four years of working and studying in college, would be enough in this ancient time.

By the way, he still has the third brother’s mobile hard drive in his mind. That drive is 2T. Although it has stored a lot of movies and online novels, there seems to be more than 1T of space left. It should be able to store these books, right?

Master Liu looked at his face, which was blank with shock. He thought he was touched by his efforts, so he smiled with satisfaction and said, "I asked my fellow townsmen to collect these a few days ago. They are the first place essays of the county, prefecture and provincial examinations in the prefectures under the jurisdiction of Northern Zhili in recent years. They have been carefully selected and each one is exquisite. You should memorize them carefully for two years. I can't say anything else, but you will definitely become a student."

...One has to memorize a box of books to be called a student. Is Master Liu trying to encourage him or to discourage him?

Mr. Lucas ordered people to move the books into the cart he was riding in, patted his hands and advised him earnestly: "I know you are the son of an official, and there are ways to be selected as an official without taking the imperial examination. But the official positions obtained through donation and favor are not the right way after all. Not only does it depend on your father's official position, but the future is limited, and being a seventh-rank official is the end of the road. It is better to earn a place in the second list by yourself... At least like our prefect, a proper Juren family will have the confidence."

He spoke these few words softly, but they sounded like a heavy hammer to Ryan Cui's ears, instantly dispelling the fear he had just felt because there were too many books.

This was the Ming Dynasty, a dynasty with clear distinctions between the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, and the power of officials was so strong that it was impossible to resist.

If he failed to pass the imperial examination, he would have to bow down to his father for the rest of his life, or even to his half-brother who could go to the Imperial College, because he could be selected as an official. If his second brother became an official, and he was just an ordinary citizen, then not only would he not be able to avenge the death of Ryan Cui, but even his own life would be controlled by others.

Even if he could make money using the advanced technology in the chemistry book, it would be useless. In this era, "parents are alive, no private wealth" is emphasized. Mrs. Emma is his stepmother, and they have the status of mother and son. No matter how much money he can make, he is just a cash cow raised by others. Once he can no longer meet their greed, he will be cut down or sold.

Only when he becomes independent and no one dares to treat him arbitrarily as they do now, can he plan for the future.

He took a deep breath, cleared his mind, looked up at Master Liu, and thanked him sincerely: "Thank you for your advice, Master Liu. I will study hard and live up to your teaching today."

Master Liu nodded with a smile and watched him leave. He didn't look away until the carriage was far away. He stroked his beard and whispered to himself: "Has Master Cui come to his senses? Why is it that after I advised him a few words, his temperament suddenly calmed down. He is no longer as impetuous as before. He acted as if someone wanted to kill him when he mentioned studying?"

The servants had no idea what the master was mumbling about, so they led his horse over and asked him if he wanted to go back to the city.

He looked at the horse head approaching, and suddenly smiled to himself: "He is the son of a fifth-rank official. His future is taken care of by his father, who is also an official. What's the point of me thinking about it here? The Ministry of Personnel will make a big plan next year. I'd better go back and think about how to sort out the household registers of money and grain, and help you get a top evaluation!"

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After arranging the three boxes of books that Liu had moved, the two carriages were so heavy that the axles creaked and the carriages moved very slowly. The four of them did not dare to travel in the dark, so they had to rest early and start late, slowly turning from Shuntian Prefecture to Yongping Prefecture, and finally arrived at the gate of the old house in the north of Qian'an City on the morning of the third day.

In the early years, this house was rented by Doctor Cui to Mr. Wang, who was studying in the county school with him. However, last year, Qian'an County and a large area of   surrounding villages suffered from floods. Mr. Wang's house and land were flooded. His parents died in the flood, so he gave up the house and returned to the village to mourn.

This courtyard was also flooded during the flood, and then it was empty for a year, and it looked a bit dilapidated: many tiles were missing from the Ruyi Gate, the carved bricks under the eaves were missing here and there, and the walls were covered with moss. The original red paint on the main door was peeling everywhere, and a half-new copper lock was hung on the door, which was replaced by the scholar after he checked out.

Alex Cui got out of the car, took out the key to open the door, and asked Zhao, the coachman from Tongzhou, to help him remove the threshold.

The creaking of their two carts had actually alarmed the neighbors, and many people were watching them from behind the doors of the houses. However, most of the people at home at that time were women, and seeing that Alex Cui and Zhao, the drivers, were both middle-aged men, they did not dare to approach them and talk to them.

Two large carts entered the gate one after the other, drove into the second courtyard, and stopped at the foot of the steps of the main house.

Alex Cui jumped off the cart first, opened the main door, and asked someone to bring water and sweep the floor, so that the young lady could rest. Coachman Zhao found a piece of wood in the yard to block the wheel, and then took the luggage off the cart.

Ryan Cui's B*tt0cks were injured, and he was afraid of tearing off the scab if he moved too much, so he slowly moved down by holding the car door and looked around the yard first.

When Old Master Cui first lived in this house, he invested a lot of money to renovate it. The bricks and wood are all of the best materials, and the mortar for bricklaying is mixed with glutinous rice juice. Although it has been exposed to wind and rain for many years, the walls are still quite intact.

The gate of the courtyard is located in the southeast corner. When you enter the gate, you will see a tall screen wall. Behind the gate is a row of houses. On the west side of the outer courtyard, there is a horse stable made of stone bricks. The hanging flower gate on the screen wall is opposite to the gate. After the hanging flower gate, you will reach the main courtyard. The courtyard is long and narrow, with a bluestone corridor on the ground, leading to the main house and the steps of the two wing rooms. The flower beds on both sides of the courtyard are full of weeds and dead branches. In the northwest corner, there is a Bagua well, which is dark and has little water. The well edge is covered with green moss.

The whole courtyard is a quadrangle, but it is slightly different from the Beijing quadrangle. In the middle of the main house is a hall, through the door you can see the two-story back room. The side rooms on both sides protrude forward, forming a concave shape around half of the courtyard. There are corridors on all four sides of the courtyard, covered with a layer of pig blood-colored paint, and the paint underneath has soaked, revealing the natural color of the old wood inside.

Ryan Cui's heart was pounding and he felt unexpectedly happy.

This yard must be about 500 to 600 square meters, with more than 20 houses and a garden. In his previous life, he couldn't even afford to buy a house here, but now such a big yard is given to him to live in for free, and Alex Cui and his son both look like he has suffered.

He is willing to endure such pain every day!

There are only three of them living in such a big yard, and they can make decisions on their own. Isn't this much better than being locked up in that house in the capital and getting beaten for no reason?

Ryan Cui sighed at the yard for a while, then walked to the cart and helped the driver and Alex Cui put the boxes down. The three workers stopped him and said, "You are a scholar, don't move these heavy things, or you will hurt your hands."

Ryan Cui rolled up his sleeves, and seeing that he was not needed, he had to save face: "Then I will go find two wooden boards, and you can push the box down. It will save effort than lifting it. Anyway, there are not many valuable things in the box, so it doesn't matter if it falls."

In the corner of the yard were some wooden boards and bamboo poles that had been dismantled from somewhere. He went over to pick up a few, and Ethan Peng hurried over to grab them, and told him to go inside and rest. The father and son put a slide behind the cart, picked out a few boxes and baskets containing porcelain and ornaments, tied them up, and passed a bamboo pole across them, and asked Zhao the driver to help them go into the house. The rest were pushed directly off the board, saving a lot of manpower.

There was no place for Ryan Cui to intervene here, but as a young man who was born under the red flag and grew up in the new society, he was not used to sitting and watching others work, so he just hung around, passing water and tying ropes, helping in any way he could.

Driver Zhao took the water bag and drank a few sips, then said enviously, "Your young master is really considerate of his servants. I've taken so many trips in Northern Zhili, and those who hired drivers would rather treat people like oxen and horses. Even heavy boxes had to be carried by hand, for fear of scratching the paint. I've never seen a master hand water to his servants in person."

Alex Cui was very distressed: "My young master has read the books of sages to his heart, benevolence and righteousness..."

Ryan Cui looked at Ethan Peng who was concentrating on his work and thought silently: Your own son is the one who deserves your pity. A child of thirteen or fourteen has to work for others... What a feudal society without human rights.