Shen Xiu said she would rest at home, but she actually rested for a few days.
On this day, she was in the kitchen, thinking about making a pig's trotter soup. They say that the shape makes up for the shape. Wei Yan's foot was sprained. If he drank pig's trotter soup, it should be better.
It's just that Wei Yan doesn't like meat and fish, so it's not an easy task to make the soup light and delicious.
Rou Niang suggested: "Madam, why don't you put some winter melon in the soup, so that the soup will not taste so greasy."
Shen Xiu listened to her suggestion and put some winter melon into the soup.
There was a soft lady guarding the stove, and Shen Xiu was about to wash her hands and do embroidery work when a guest came.
Huang Ziyan came here for the first time, but he didn't look around. He just stood in the front yard and stared at a tree that had lost all its leaves.
The servant girl followed Shen Xiu's instructions and brought him to the place where Wei Yan studied.
Originally, Huang Ziyan, as a guest, should have entertained him in the flower hall. However, Wei Yan sprained his foot and could not walk much. Shen Xiu felt that Huang Ziyan was not an outsider, so he was led directly to the inner courtyard.
The maid lifted the curtain, and as soon as Huang Ziyan entered, he saw Wei Yan, who was half leaning on the soft couch, with a book in his hand.
Shen Xiu was sitting next to Wei Yan. She saw Huang Ziyan's eyes always falling on Wei Yan. She thought he was here to pay a special visit to Wei Yan, so she stood up and said with a smile: "Mr. Huang is here, you guys sit down first, and I'll go and give it to you."
Make a nice pot of tea."
Hearing Shen Xiu's voice, Huang Ziyan looked away from Wei Yan, "Ms. Shen, don't leave yet. My sister asked me to pass on a few words to you."
Shen Xiu stopped and asked with a smile: "What do you want you to tell me specifically?"
Huang Ziyan pursed his lips and said, "My sister can't trust other people, so she must tell you. She said that my brother-in-law listened to what the foreigner said and planned to buy a batch of silk embroidery thread from a businessman named Qin."
Jinxin Embroidery Workshop, like other embroidery workshops in Fucheng, uses cotton thread most of the time, and only uses silk embroidery thread sometimes.
This small amount of embroidery thread was brought back from Jiangnan by Fan Guangzu.
However, Jinxin Embroidery Workshop had no business for a long time after offending Mrs. Meng, so the silk embroidery thread in the embroidery workshop had long been used up.
Fan Guangzu originally wanted to wait until next spring and ask someone to bring back some silk embroidery thread from the south of the Yangtze River. Unexpectedly, he learned from Lianniang that the businessman named Qin also had silk embroidery thread.
After Lianniang's persuasion, Fan Guangzu also felt that it would be a lot of trouble to have people carry embroidery thread from Jiangnan, so he planned to buy some silk embroidery thread from a businessman named Qin.
"Have Ms. Tan Xiu seen the silk embroidery thread? Did she say there is something wrong with the embroidery thread?" Shen Xiu asked.
Huang Ziyan said: "My brother-in-law has asked Tan Xiu Niang to take a look at the silk embroidery threads. Tan Xiu Niang said that the silk embroidery threads look fine."
Fan Guangzu was not a fool. He followed Lien Niang's advice, but he was very cautious when buying silk embroidery thread.
He knew that he was an outsider, so he asked Tan Xiu Niang, someone who had come into contact with silk embroidery threads, to take a look. After Tan Xiu Niang said that there was no problem with the silk embroidery threads, he really started to think about buying these silk embroidery threads.
"Since there is nothing wrong with the silk embroidery thread, why did your sister ask you to send me a message?"
Huang Ziyan took out a strand of silk embroidery thread from his arms, "My sister suspected that there was something wrong with these silk embroidery threads. She knew that Tan Xiu Niang was old and her eyesight may not be good, so she asked me to bring a strand of silk embroidery thread for Mrs. Shen.
You take a look."
Shen Xiu took the strand of silk embroidery thread, then raised it and looked at it carefully. As Tan Xiu Niang said, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the silk embroidery thread.
But she thought the same as Huang, there must be something wrong with the silk embroidery thread, but she couldn't tell it yet.
Shen Xiu put the silk embroidery thread into her arms and said, "I understand what your sister said. However, I will have to tell you in a few days whether there is anything wrong with the embroidery thread."
She couldn't see the problem with the embroidery thread, but someone could.
Shen Xiu had a plan and went out to make tea so that Huang Ziyan could have an opportunity to discuss knowledge with Wei Yan.
At three o'clock in the morning, Huang Ziyan said goodbye.
Shen Xiu wanted to keep him for lunch, but he said he wanted to go back to the embroidery workshop, so Shen Xiu didn't force him to stay.
When she returned to the room, Wei Yan had already picked up the book again.
"Ms. sir, you have been talking to him all morning. What do you think of his knowledge?"
Shen Xiu asked out of curiosity. She wanted to know whether Huang Ziyan failed to pass the scholar examination after more than ten years. Is it because he was not knowledgeable enough or was he unlucky?
Wei Yan put down the book in his hand and said, "His knowledge is quite solid, and there are no problems with the classics."
"Then why has he failed to pass the scholar examination?"
Wei Yan said: "I originally had this doubt, but it wasn't until he wrote an article to me that I understood the reason."
"What's the reason? Tell me quickly." Shen Xiu asked impatiently.
Wei Yan smiled slightly and said: "Brother Huang's temperament is a bit too stubborn. Nowadays, in order to win the favor of the examiner, students all spend their time practicing Guan Ge Ti. He is the only one who can still write beautiful facial expressions."
"What's wrong with the face?" Shen Xiu asked confused.
Wei Yan said: "He has already passed the Tongsheng Examination. He only has one step left to pass the Academy Examination to become a Scholar. The examiners of the Academy Examination are all officials sent from the capital. They are more qualified than the examiners of the County Examination and the Government Examination."
I value the imperial examination. That’s why Brother Huang was able to pass the county and prefectural examinations by relying on his physical appearance, but he failed to pass the college examination."
The examiners of the county examination and the prefecture examination are the county magistrate and the prefect respectively.
These two adults were both local officials and would not value the official examinations as much as the examiners from the capital. That's why Huang Ziyan successfully passed the county and prefectural examinations, but always failed in the college examinations.
"After I told him the reason for this, he let out a long sigh." Wei Yan said regretfully, "I think he must not interact with others, otherwise he would not keep making this mistake."
Wei Yan was right.
Shen Xiu heard Fan Guangzu say that Huang Ziyan rarely interacted with others and mostly studied scriptures at home.
"But it's not too late now. As long as he is willing to practice Guan Ge Ti from today, he should pass the college examination next year."
After Wei Yan finished talking about Huang Ziyan, he asked Shen Xiu: "Have you seen any problems with the silk embroidery thread after looking at it for so long?"
Shen Xiu didn't expect that he was still thinking about this, so he took out the silk embroidery thread from his arms, shook his head and said: "I looked at it for a long time and didn't see any problems. But I just felt that this embroidery thread must be
problematic."
"Then what are you going to do?" Wei Yan asked from the side.
Shen Xiudao: "I can't understand the problem of silk embroidery thread, but someone can."
"Who are you talking about?"
Shen Xiu smiled and said, "I'll tell you the secret when the child comes back."