jdhmnovel Chapter 430 Spring
Chapter 430 Spring
Amidst the undercurrents, the day of the Spring Examination finally arrived.
After the couple quarreled that day, He Sangrou became much quieter. Yao San, who had originally clamored to divorce her, also tolerated this wife who he had once begged for help but was now extremely fed up with because of General He's "comeback".
After witnessing their mother's hysteria, their two children, especially the son who was yelled at in person, became closer to their father and avoided He Sangrou.
Although the younger daughter was also frightened, she was too young to remember anything. In addition, compared with her brother, she spent more time with her mother. Therefore, after crying, she did not show much unfamiliarity towards her mother and still loved to stick to He Sangrou.
He Sangrou has been staying in the Yao family's house in a daze these days. A few days ago, Yao San's mother and brothers and sisters who were out of town also moved in. The house, which was not too big to begin with, was suddenly full of people.
As soon as Yao's mother arrived, she clamored to live in the main house. If it had happened in the past, He Sangrou would have made a big fuss, but this time she just endured it silently, cleaned up the place and let Yao's mother move in.
While Yao's mother moved into the main house, Yao San's brothers and sisters also scrambled for the good residences in the mansion, squeezing He Sangrou into a small courtyard in the most remote part of Yao's house.
Originally, Yao's mother was afraid that her family members had gone too far, so she annoyed He Sangrou and asked her to go back to her parents' home to complain. But later, she saw that He Sangrou suddenly turned into a cotton doll. No matter how she and others bullied her, she did not react. So she became bolder. Later, she called her beloved grandson to ask about it, and then she found out -
"My mother had a huge argument with my grandfather before, and my grandfather wanted to sever the father-daughter relationship with her. Thanks to my father's ability, he not only didn't divorce my mother, but also persuaded my grandfather to change his mind..." The eldest son was really afraid that his mother would go crazy again these days. Seeing that his grandmother, who loved him the most, came and suppressed his mother, he was filled with joy that he would no longer be controlled by his mother. How could he care about anything else?
When Yao's mother heard what her eldest grandson said, she was overjoyed. She did not hide anything and asked someone to pass these words to He Sangrou's ears. However, He Sangrou seemed to have really changed her personality. She did not react at all when her own son said such hurtful words.
Mother Yao, who felt that she had finally won the battle between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for many years, became more and more proud and did not notice anything unusual.
Everything that followed began early in the morning of that day, when Yao San put on the official uniform appropriate for his rank and went out.
This day was the day when candidates were allowed to enter the Spring Examination Hall. The area around the examination hall had already been under martial law by the Jinwu Guards. The examiners entered from another gate first, and the candidates went in front. Only after the Jinwu Guards checked and verified their identities one by one were they allowed to pass.
There was also a body search process before the imperial examination in the Great Sheng Dynasty, but it was not very strict. This was because some scholars thought that it was too disgraceful for a scholar with honors to be searched in public, as if they were insulted. Therefore, many candidates wore thin Confucian clothes of uniform standards before entering the examination room. When they were searched, they were not asked to take off all their clothes. Instead, they were gently tapped with a bamboo pole to make sure there were no extra items. Then they took off their shoes and socks and checked their hair before being allowed to pass.
All other useful items have been placed in the examination rooms. Starting from the provincial examination, the examination will last for several days. The meals, beddings and other items of the candidates will be provided by the court and they are not allowed to bring their own.
Candidates who are let into the examination room cannot enter their cells immediately. Instead, they have to be observed outside to make sure there is nothing abnormal with their walking, sitting or lying postures before they are given a sign by the officials and led away.
After all, there had been cases in the past where candidates had secretly used their anus to carry cheat sheets, but because the tube containing the cheat sheets went in too deep, they had a high fever and bled and eventually died in their cells. That’s why there was this terrible process, which was like the emperor checking whether there were any physical defects before choosing a concubine.
Lin Qiao's secondary sexual characteristics were not obviously developed, and she had a well-trained body, so she would basically not reveal any flaws under such an examination. However, the physical characteristics of women and men are different, and even after taking off her clothes, Lin Qiao's original gender could still be seen.
Yao San and others had exactly this idea in mind.
Giving a sum of money to those old scholars who have failed in the exams time and time again, secretly sending their families away to a secret place for resettlement, and then telling them some empty words like "this is a great act", "it restores order out of chaos", and "it is a contribution to the country" can encourage those people whose future is almost doomed and who have become obsessed with taking the imperial examinations to risk their lives to deal with Lin Qiao.
Wearing a simple green Confucian robe, Lin Qiao naturally noticed the unusual gazes in the team.
In a restaurant outside the encirclement that was cleared by the Jinwu Guards, a group of people led by Huang Ming and Yao San who had secretly colluded with each other and wanted to use this incident to deal a heavy blow to Queen Xie's party had already begun to celebrate in advance.
"Brother Yao is indeed the old general's beloved son-in-law. Without your help, how could we bribe the Jinwu Guards on duty today and secretly switch the positions of our people and that young lady surnamed Lin?" A man with shifty eyes raised a wine cup, "I would like to offer a toast to Brother Yao first. After the matter is done, Brother Yao, don't forget that although we are not as powerful as you, we have also contributed."
Yao San happily drank a mouthful of wine: "Okay, okay, we are all brothers. That little girl doesn't know how high the heaven is and how deep the earth is. It's time to teach her how powerful we men are."
Huang Ming was playing with the fan in his hand - originally Old Man Huang had no intention of letting him go out, but Huang Ming was used to bullying at home, and every time Old Man Huang went out to attend court, the servants at home could not stop this dude from acting like a troublemaker.
He deliberately sighed and said worriedly: "My good brother Zeng Fu is also going to take the imperial examination. He is so lucky. It's a pity that I still have to wait here..."
A fat and big-eared man came over and said, "That woman was seen by so many people in public. Even if she could save her life, she won't be able to marry into a good family in the future. If Master Huang wants to see her, why don't you have mercy on her and take her home to take a look at her slowly, hahahaha..."
The group of men started to laugh.
Little did they know that Zeng Fu, who was envied by them for his "good fortune", was now sweating all over his body - the few old scholars they had arranged earlier were of no use at all!
Several old guys rushed towards Lin Qiao with howls like wild beasts, but the latter put his hands behind his back and did not dodge or evade. He raised his foot and kicked one of them to the ground, then turned sideways to avoid the other one behind him, and then kneed him in the stomach, causing the old guy to foam at the mouth and unable to get up.
With another whip-like kick, he kicked the others all off the ground, sending them flying sideways.
In just a few blinks of an eye, four or five people were lying on the ground, wailing. Lin Qiao, who was attacked for no reason, was dressed in a graceful green dress. His delicate eyebrows were indifferent and calm, with only a faint smile on the corners of his mouth. He looked like a fox ghost walking out of the mountains, looking down playfully at the foolish people in the world who did not know the horror of ghosts and gods.