It’s February in Beijing, and it turns from warm to cold. Although the weeping willows along the streets are already green, you still have to wear thick clothes in the morning and evening.
Shen Jue had been afraid of the cold since he caught the cold in the twelfth lunar month last year. Now that the night wind is blowing, the handsome young man is shivering like a quail.
At the door of Songbaiyuan, he rubbed his hands and said, "Second brother, it's too cold here."
Shen Rui glanced at him and said, "Why did you complain about feeling uncomfortable just now? You are only willing to wear two of the three single clothes. If you add that one, it will naturally not be the case."
If in front of others, Shen Jue would have to keep a straight face, but now he said "hehe" and immediately turned around and entered the yard.
Both Chun Ying and Chun He stood in front of the house, watching Shen Jue go out.
Seeing him turn around and come back, the two maids rushed to greet him.
"Third brother, did you pull something?" Spring Ying asked.
Shen Jue shook his head: "I came back to add some clothes." After that, he entered the north room.
Shen Rui followed Shen Jue into the house and said: "Because of the cloudy weather today, I think it's colder than last spring. If it doesn't work, you can add another one. As long as it's single clothes, a few will be fine." .”
The single clothes Shen Jue wore at the end of the game were prepared by Xu in advance. They were made of dense Songjiang cloth. Several pieces were of the same style, with one piece slightly longer than the other, making it suitable for wearing as a set.
In order to save trouble and make it easier to change and wash, there are three pieces in a set, making a total of three sets.
Just now, Shen Jue felt uncomfortable wearing clothes over clothes. She only wanted to wear two pieces of cloth outside her middle coat. When she went out this early in the morning, she naturally felt that the air was flowing all over her body.
Now that he came back and put on the previous single shirt, Shen Jue accepted Shen Rui's suggestion and added another one without hesitation.
The clothes were all starched and felt stiff on her body, which made Shen Jue straighten up, looking a bit like an adult.
Shen Rui looked at it and sighed in his heart.
Since recovering from the injury, Shen Jue has undergone tremendous changes.
Not only did he become more respectful to his elders, but he also became more energetic in his studies. Before, it was Shen Rui's persuasion and the third master's pressure that forced him to study; but now he started to get up early and study hard without any supervision. stand up
Everyone in the Shen family saw his change.
To several elders, Shen Jue is fifteen years old and is about to become a man. He is no longer a child. Whether it is for his own future or other ideas, as a child of the Shen family, unless he is willing to be mediocre and live a mediocre life, Otherwise, the imperial examination was the only qualification for advancement. Now that he has lost his earlier impetuosity and can calm down and study, it is a good thing for both Shen Jue and the Shen family.
For Shen Rui, he was sad but also thankful. The fourteen- to five-year-old boy was in the rebellious stage of the second grade of middle school. Shen Jue held back his breath and used his energy to study instead of indulging himself, which can be considered as using it on the right path. .
Only Sister Yu, although she has only seen Shen Jue a limited number of times, she also knows that he is studying hard for this year's boy exam.
When the boy thought about Mao Chi going south, Sister Yu felt uneasy.
A few days ago, the two brothers and sisters met in the upper room. Sister Yu quietly asked Shen Rui: "Second brother, is the child test difficult?
Shen Rui nodded and shook his head and said: "It is difficult to say it is difficult, and it is not difficult to say it is not difficult. In a family like ours, children start studying at the age of five or six. As long as their qualifications are not too clumsy, it is not difficult to give birth to a child in ten years or so. ; Only when it comes to the government examination is the time to test people. If you are unlucky, you may be stuck in this for many years. However, there is no end to learning. The further the candidates go, the better their knowledge will be. As long as they persevere, they can always pass the college examination. At this hurdle, some of the candidates who gave up were not smart enough, and some were forced to give up their books because of their livelihood."
Sister Yu listened, but she didn't look happy.
Shen Rui originally thought she was worried about Shen Jue, but now she saw something was wrong and laughed and said: "My sister is too underestimated. Although Mao Chi was delayed until this year, it is not because of his lack of knowledge. First, the capital is thousands of miles away from Kunshan. The distance is so far that it is inconvenient to travel; secondly, as the son of the number one scholar, he is still not prominent in Beijing, and when he returns to his hometown, he will attract the attention of scholars. If he does not end the game, but as long as he does, unless he takes three yuan, he will be easily criticized. Mao Chi is holding back his energy and must take the exam properly, and it's only two years late. Don't worry, he will definitely be on the list. It depends on his ranking."
Sister Yu was exposed by her brother, and Xia Fei's cheeks were full, but she didn't want her brother to misunderstand her. She hurriedly explained: "I don't look down on him, I'm just worried that if things don't go as planned..."
What if something goes wrong in the exam and Mao Chi has to stay in his hometown to prepare for the exam? Next year is the year of the provincial examination. If there is no children's examination, he will have to stay until the year after next.
Although Sister Yu is still young, because Mao Chi is two years older than Shen Rui, the two families made a verbal agreement when they got engaged last year, and they will choose a date to marry Sister Yu and Queen Ji next year.
The fourteen-year-old girl had expectations and a hint of fear about getting married, but she was not old enough to hate getting married. She couldn't tell what she was worried about, she just hoped that Mao Chi would pass her childhood smoothly. try……
After Shen Jue had put on his clothes, the two brothers left the Songbai Courtyard, but instead of going directly to the upper room, they went to the West Courtyard first. The door of the West Courtyard was closed, and Mrs. Xu was afraid that the children would "get sick". Shen Jue and others are not allowed to enter
The yard was pitch dark, and there was no movement from top to bottom.
Shen Jue came over and saluted through the door.
Today is the first day of the county examination. It is an important day for the scholarly students. Even if Shen Zhou, the heir-father, is not in Beijing, Qiao, the heir-mother, should be responsible for Shen Jue's end.
However, since Ms. Qiao fell ill two years ago, she has been recuperating behind closed doors. She didn't even leave her parents' home in the first month of the year, and she has no intention of coming out now.
Shen Jue is not a fool. The day when Mr. Qiao became ill happened right after he fell ill, so he can naturally think of the connection.
Although Shen Jue has no affection for Mrs. Qiao in her heart, as an heir, Shen Jue cannot stand by and look on coldly. She has no choice but to intercede with Mrs. Xu and accept all his faults. After all, the reason why Mrs. Qiao punishes him is because of his misbehavior. .
There is another thing that he did not confess to Mr. Xu. That is because he missed his relatives in his own life, not only did he not think about eating, but he also suffered from insomnia all night long. Even if he was not punished by kneeling, he would not be able to survive like this. If you have to lie down for a long time, the damage to your body may be more serious.
After half a month of recuperation last time, his "homesickness" was blown away, and his trouble sleeping and eating was "cured without treatment".
Shen Jue has understood the difference between himself and Shen Rui. They are the same age, but no one regards Shen Rui as a child. Even when the eldest husband and his wife talk to Shen Rui, they have discussions. The fundamental reason is that Shen Rui is already a scholar. .Not only because of his fame, it also means that he has gone further on the road to the imperial examination and has been able to support the family.
If I keep feeling sorry for myself like this, I will never be able to stand on my own feet. What right does a loser who relies on his elders have to make decisions for himself?
Songjiang and the capital are thousands of miles apart, but if Shen Rui mentions that he wants to go back to Songjiang for something, the eldest master and his wife will definitely not stop him; if it were him, even if the second master and his wife would not stop him, they would certainly not stop him when he returns to Songjiang. He was scolded first and foremost, so the Grand Master might even order him to return to Beijing immediately.
Shen Jue is obsessed with Songjiang so much, not because he wants to throw away his identity as an heir, but because he wants to see his grandpa again.
There is an old saying among the people, "Seventy-three or eighty-four, the king of hell will not let you go".
For old people, these two years are like life and death. My grandpa is eighty-four this year. When he was in Nanchang Mansion last year, Shen Rui had already made plans. Then he asked Shen Cang to come back before his birthday. During a trip to Songjiang, who would have thought that Mrs. Qiao died of illness and Mr. Qiao was about to return to Beijing, interrupting his plan.
Shen Jue felt that if he wanted to go back to visit his relatives legitimately, he could only pass the child examination and then return to Nanzhili in the name of studying abroad. His parents did not restrict him, and Mrs. Xu had always been kind and considerate, so they would not object to this matter.
Thinking like this, Shen Jue felt regretful and wanted to hit himself on the head.
If he had understood this truth earlier, he would have started studying hard long ago, and he would not have to be so busy and anxious now.
Although Mrs. Xu liked Shen Jue's kindness, she didn't want to see him feel guilty for this matter, so she told Mrs. Qiao about her scheme against her fourth brother.
Qiao and Shen Jue are mother and son, and as long as Qiao lives, this status will never be lost. Xu hopes that her younger generation will be sensible and filial, but she does not want him to be foolish and filial.
Shen Jue listened with shock on his face, but he was not surprised in his heart.
Ever since the children of the Shen family followed Mrs. Xu through the gate of Shen's house the winter before last, and when they saw Ms. Qiao for the first time, Shen Jue thought she was a little crazy.
During the year he left Beijing, even though he didn't know the inside story of some things, from the fact that the second master placed Qiao under almost house arrest, and the people around Qiao also changed twice, it can be seen that Qiao was troubled a lot.
Now that the Qiao family was defeated, Shen Jue felt very happy.
Looking at the love that the third master and the third wife have for the fourth brother, if something happens to the fourth brother, the couple will not have to live. At that point, I am afraid that Mrs. Qiao will not survive. The Shen family only has these few people. Half of them were gone at once. The eldest man and his wife were both young, so how could they withstand such a blow?
He no longer thought about interceding for Mrs. Qiao, and later said to Shen Rui: "How can I know that it is not a blessing? Although it was my fault before, and I suffered a serious crime on my own, maybe by revealing this matter, it can be regarded as resolving the Shen family's bad luck. Otherwise, if something happens to my wife, I don’t know what the consequences will be. Just thinking about it makes people scared..."
When the two brothers arrived at the upper room, unlike the darkness in the west courtyard, the lights in the upper room were already on. Although it was late at night and still early before dawn, both the eldest master and Mrs. Xu got up early.
Shen Jue couldn't help but feel ashamed. If he hadn't wasted his time before to wear more and less clothes, he wouldn't have come late. He would have asked his elders to wait.
The elder had a solemn face and said a few words of instruction.
The elder has always been gentle and kind to his nephew Shen Jue, but after Shen Jue recovered from his illness, he began to become strict, just like when he was with Shen Rui.
Everyone could see that the second master was away and the eldest master had to discipline his nephew himself.
Although Shen Jue didn't like being restrained, she didn't complain about the eldest master's severity. Instead, she felt a sense of closeness and joy.
After the eldest master finished giving instructions, Mrs. Xu asked someone to serve breakfast.
Breakfast was all Shen Jue’s favorite meals, as well as two desserts.
Shen Jue looked at it with bright eyes.
Mrs. Xu pointed to the two plates of desserts and said, "What's more, you can only eat one piece of these two plates of desserts, otherwise you will get thirsty easily. When the third brother has a rest tomorrow, I will ask someone to make it for the third brother."
Shen Jue agreed honestly and waited for the eldest master and Mrs. Xu to sit down before sitting down with Shen Rui and having breakfast.
When Shen Rui and Shen Jue left Shen's house in a carriage, it was still dark outside.
Shen Jue felt a little nervous and said, "Second brother, what should I do if I get stuck in the county exam?"
Shen Rui snorted: "Of course I want to give you a stick. Zhong An passed the county examination at the age of nine. Now that you are fifteen, you still think that if you can't pass, you deserve to be punished..."