Chapter 104

After deciding to move the academy to the capital after the county exam, Shen Cui announced the news to everyone when she returned to the academy, and then prepared to go to the capital for inspection.

Fortunately, this wasn’t troublesome. The Wei brothers were already preparing to go to the capital to prepare for the exam.

They could just ride along with the Wei family. Wei Shu also said that the small courtyard he often rented was still available, so there was no need to prepare anything else.

The daily affairs of the academy were a bit difficult – while others could opt out of the daily affairs, she, as the principal, and Mu Er Pang, the irreplaceable number one student, had to be involved.

The daily affairs were posted every day, so Shen Cui had to let Mu Er Pang accompany her to the capital, especially since he had been working so hard lately that his chin had become thin. It was a good opportunity to take him out for a walk.

With only Lao Buyu left in the academy, he had nothing to do alone. It was better for him to go together to inspect and select a site.

He could also continue teaching Mu Er Pang on the way.

As for Zhou Shi, she originally said she would stay behind to look after the house, but Shen Cui didn’t allow it. Zhou Shi was going to follow Mu Yunchuan to the capital. Although she had only been to the county town at most, it was a good opportunity for her to broaden her horizons.

Moreover, Zhou Shi could share a room with her, and she was efficient and sensible, so bringing her along was not troublesome at all.

The simple reason for persuading her was that Shen Cui said somewhat helplessly, “Excluding travel time, we have to stay until Ah Shu and the others finish the exam, see the results, and come back. This will take more than ten days. We’ve already rented a house in the Wei family, so it’s not good to have their servants responsible for our food and drink every day. There are also some daily necessities in the academy. Although we can’t take them all at once, we have to pack some of them. It’s better to save money and not spend it again when we get to the capital. They’re all men, and their minds aren’t delicate enough. They just wait for me to think about everything alone…”

As soon as she heard that she was needed, Zhou Shi stopped refusing and said everything was up to her, then went to pack her things.

The academy exam was very important, and the difficulty was greatly increased. The Wei family parents were still a little nervous before, but now that everyone in the academy was going to the capital, the atmosphere became relaxed.

Earlier, the Wei family parents sent gifts to Shen Cui. They specially sent a huge carriage from the capital, which was more than enough to carry the goods, let alone transport a few people.

Wei Shu had his servants clean it up. At the end of June, the group set off from the village directly to the capital.

On the way, Wei Shu said, “Han Shan hasn’t been to the capital yet, right? There’s a snack street not far from the small courtyard I rented. There’s a place that sells crab meat soup dumplings very well, and there’s always a long line every day. Every time I let the servants buy them, they always come back a bit cold and not as tasty. Now that we’re all here, let’s queue up together.”

Wei Xi chimed in, “I remember there’s a famous bookstore in the city where you can buy rare and incomplete books. Let’s go there for a walk together.”

Mei Ruochu said, “When I came from Hongle to Cuiwei before, I heard that there are many famous scenic spots over there. When we’re tired of reading, we can also go climbing.”

Listening to them, Mu Er Pang, who had never traveled far from home, lit up.

In other academies, students only think about eating, drinking, and having fun before a big exam like the academy exam, which is bound to bring reprimands.

But Shen Cui felt that effort should be evenly distributed in daily life. Like these teenagers, who were each more diligent than the next, temporary cramming before the exam seemed less important.

Not to mention that they were all very sensible, after chatting enthusiastically for a while, they took out books again to read, and the content of their discussions also turned to the contents of the books.

Shen Cui didn’t pay attention to them and continued with her needlework.

Later, when it started to get dark, the servants from the Wei family arranged for them to stay in an inn.

Shen Cui was about to go and pay the bill, but Wei Shu stopped her. He straightened his clothes and said, “Xiao Xie and I were supposed to have one superior room each, but now we’re still using two rooms. One is a large dormitory for us to live in, and the other is a regular room for you and Sister-in-law. It’s actually more cost-effective than before!”

Shen Cui chuckled and didn’t bother to argue with him. She just asked the shopkeeper for an extra table of dishes and paid for the lodging portion of the bill.

After dinner, when the boys went back to their room to study, Shen Cui took Zhou Shi for a walk nearby before curfew.

The place they passed through was also a county town, but it was much more prosperous than Yongning County next to Shuiyun Village.

The people’s attire was also different, with more styles and better fabrics, which were more fashionable than the people in Yongning County.

After wandering around for about twenty minutes, Zhou Shi remembered a lot of clothing styles she hadn’t seen before and started writing and drawing when she got back.

The next day, the group set off again, traveling during the day and resting at night.

After three days like this, on the fourth day, they arrived in Qingzhou Prefecture early in the morning.

The size of the prefectural city was much larger than that of the county town. Just one city gate could accommodate dozens of people passing through at the same time, which was very grand.

After entering the city, the roads paved with blue bricks were even more flat and wide, with a continuous stream of pedestrians. Various buildings were lined up in an orderly manner, and various flags and banners were fluttering in the wind…

Not to mention Mu Er Pang and Zhou Shi, who had never traveled far from home, even Shen Cui, a modern person, was dazzled.

After the carriage entered the city and traveled for about three quarters of an hour, they arrived at the small courtyard rented by Wei Shu.

The ‘small’ was actually in comparison to Wei Shu, but it was actually a square courtyard with side rooms, wing rooms, and rear rooms, which was much larger than the old house of the academy.

So it was not surprising that Wei Shu assured them it was big enough.

Although it was Wei Shu who rented the courtyard, he said the specific arrangements were up to Shen Cui.

The side rooms were left for the servants to live in, and of course, the main hall was still used as a classroom. The tables from the other rooms were brought over to serve as desks. As for how to live… in this city, they didn’t build heated brick beds, so they all slept on beds. It was not suitable for the children to live in the same room. Shen Cui let Wei Shu and Wei Xi live in the main room, Mei Ruochu and Mu Er Pang live in one wing room, Lao Buyu live in another, and Shen Cui and Zhou Shi went to live in the rear room.

The rear room had poor lighting and sound insulation, but they didn’t need to study hard, so it didn’t have much of an impact.

Top of Form

After everything was arranged, the Wei family’s servants took care of the cleaning, so there was no need for extra cleaning.

It was like moving in with everything ready, so after the arrangements were made, everyone went to settle their luggage.

After a simple cleanup, the boys gathered in the main hall to study again, rather than indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun as they had planned on the way here.

Since there was no Time Enrichment here and Shen Cui didn’t have to stay at the academy every day, she familiarized herself with the surroundings.

The Wenchang Street where Wei Xi rented this courtyard was located in the central area of the prefectural city, with convenient access to everywhere, and the neighbors nearby were all wealthy people in the city or scholars preparing for exams, not the common people. It was relatively quiet in daily life.

But the good location came with a high price. The rent for this courtyard was about eight taels of silver per month, and if it was rented temporarily during the prefectural exam or the academic exam, it would double, completely exceeding Shen Cui’s budget.

Although Wei Shu and the others had been to the prefectural city several times, they were only here for the exams and didn’t know much about other places.

But they didn’t need to worry about this. Shen Cui asked the Wei family’s servants to inquire about a reputable and reliable toothman, which was basically a middleman nowadays. Most of the people in this line of business had been rooted here for many years and knew more than outsiders like them.

Shen Cui’s requirements were not too many or too few. She didn’t need a very new or spacious house, nor did she need complete furniture.

But she wanted it to be close to the prefectural school, convenient for the boys to live in after school, and the travel time should ideally be controlled within two to three quarters of an hour.

It should also be quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of commercial streets.

The budget was capped at five taels of silver, the lower the better.

The prefectural school was naturally located in a good location in the city. It was a bit tricky to find a quiet, spacious courtyard near the prefectural school for five taels of silver, but fortunately, the toothman didn’t mind her asking too much. He said he would go back and look for one, and if he found one, he would send her a message.

After another five days, Shen Cui hadn’t received a reply yet, and the academic exam began.