Chapter 156: The Provincial Examination

Considering that more people would buy “Collected Works of Anjiang” this month than before, Fang Shanzhang specially printed more copies of “Collected Works of Anjiang”.

However, even so, the “Collected Works of Anjiang” for August sold out in just two days.

Printing in Daqi comes in two types: engraving and movable type. Books with relatively high demand, such as the Four Books and Five Classics, are mostly engraved. Many bookstores keep engravings of these books, ready to print whenever needed.

But “Collected Works of Anjiang,” being published monthly, cannot be engraved. It has always been printed with movable type.

Printing books with movable type is much faster than engraving. If “Solitary Collection” were to be engraved, it probably wouldn’t even have been carved yet.

However, movable type printing also has a problem—once a few copies are printed, that’s it. To print more, one has to start over, re-typesetting.

Anjiang Academy has already begun printing next month’s “Collected Works of Anjiang.” It is impossible to print more copies of this issue or “Solitary Collection.” So those who didn’t get the books can only search everywhere to buy them or borrow them to copy.

These books are also sent by people in the provincial capital to various places, such as the capital.

All of this has little to do with Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi doesn’t think that a few articles can change a feudal dynasty.

In his previous life, some emperors even talked with foreigners, knew about foreign situations, and seen foreign weapons, but they didn’t think about change. Their countries remained the same…

Changing a feudal dynasty is not that easy.

For now, he still focuses on the present, and doing well in the provincial examination is more important.

The process of the provincial examination is similar to the county examination, with the difference being that the person presiding over the provincial examination has become the provincial academician.

There are also more examiners in the provincial examination. Cheng Xuezhang invited many people to review the papers, including Fang Shanzhang and Zhou Shanzhang.

On the morning of August 20th, Li Qingzhi arrived at the examination site early with his belongings, queuing outside.

Daqi’s provincial examination consists of two sessions, each lasting a whole day.

After entering August, the weather became cooler compared to June and July, but it was still a bit hot. The candidates attending the provincial examination only wore light clothing, which made it convenient for the people responsible for searching at the entrance.

Li Qingzhi carried his examination basket and followed the crowd into the examination hall, finding his seat and sitting down.

The provincial examination began.

Before participating in the provincial examination, Li Qingzhi had taken the county and prefectural examinations. Most of the candidates were not very old, but the provincial examination was different.

Among the candidates participating in the provincial examination with him, Li Qingzhi saw several individuals with gray hair, wrinkles on their faces, at least fifty years old.

Coming to take the imperial examination at such an old age… Li Qingzhi felt it was not very meaningful.

Actually, for those who are not suitable for this path, giving up the imperial examinations and choosing another path might be better.

However, some people come from wealthy families, so taking the examination doesn’t matter much to them; they might just see it as a trip to the provincial capital.

Li Qingzhi still looked a bit thin on the outside, giving the impression of a delicate scholar.

But his body was actually very healthy.

After a day of exams, some people felt listless, while others had back pain from sitting for too long. But Li Qingzhi had no issues at all.

He walked out of the examination hall energetically, took the food box prepared for him by Jin Xiaoye, and grabbed a rice dumpling to eat from inside.

Glutinous rice wrapped in pork belly, with both meat and carbohydrates, was one of his favorite foods.

Du Yongning had been taking the exams all day and felt nauseous and dizzy when he walked out of the examination hall.

It was still a bit hot, and with so many people crowded in one examination hall all day, they were bound to use the latrine. Once in the latrine… it couldn’t be avoided that there would be a smell.

Du Yongning came from a wealthy family. The toilet in his room was emptied after each use, so naturally, he couldn’t stand this nauseating smell.

He had been enduring the nausea all along, and when he walked out of the examination hall, he saw Li Qingzhi eating something.

Du Yongning clutched his chest and started retching.

Li Qingzhi: “…”

Du Yongning calmed down a bit before saying, “Brother Li, I’m sorry, I’m feeling unwell.” He vomited in front of someone, which seemed inappropriate?

“Brother Du, you should go back and rest quickly,” Li Qingzhi said.

Seeing that Li Qingzhi didn’t blame him, Du Yongning felt a little embarrassed, but he was indeed eager to go back and rest… Du Yongning got into the sedan chair that came to pick him up.

After getting into the sedan chair, he took out a sachet prepared in advance and placed it under his nose to smell it. He also said to his servant walking beside the sedan chair, “The smell in the examination hall is so unbearable. It’s even worse than when I participated in the prefectural examination before. There were so many flies flying around inside, and who knows what those flies had bitten… “

The more Du Yongning thought about it, the more nauseous he felt, and he wanted to vomit again.

But he hadn’t eaten anything at noon, so nothing came out.

Du Yongning’s servant didn’t say anything. Du Yongning continued, “I must take a bath as soon as I get home, three times! I feel like my whole body stinks! Li Qingzhi is really strange, he didn’t react at all, and he even ate… “

The servant replied, “In the countryside, the latrines are all outdoors. In summer, the smell is very unpleasant. Many households also raise pigs and sheep, and farming requires the use of manure for fertilization…”

This servant also came from a rural background and knew the situation in the countryside.

Compared to the smell in the examination hall, it was nothing!

Upon hearing this, Du Yongning retched again.

After vomiting, his mood suddenly improved.

Li Qingzhi’s family background isn’t good. Even if he passes the provincial examination, he still has to go back to the countryside and endure such unpleasant smells!

But he’s different; he’s the young master of the Du family!

There’s still one more exam to go. He’ll endure it for now, but once he becomes a xiucai, he’ll be relaxed!

He plans to visit Linhu County, help the people there, and then return home to focus on his studies under his teacher’s guidance.

The provincial examination is held twice every three years, because the township examination is held once every three years.

In the year of the township examination, the provincial examination is generally not held, but the following autumn, there will be a township examination.

The township examination is much more difficult than the provincial examination. Most xiucai never become juren in their lifetime, but Du Yongning is confident in himself!

He thinks he’ll become a juren next year!

As for this provincial examination… he might not be as good as Li Qingzhi, but he shouldn’t be far behind.

A few days ago, he studied hard on the articles of Dushan people and gained some insights. When he answered the papers before, he wrote some…

Li Qingzhi smoothly completed the first exam and quickly began the second.

The exam lasted for a whole day, and there was a smell in the examination hall… He knew that for someone like Du Yongning, the environment in the examination hall was especially bad and uncomfortable.

But he felt it was manageable.

After all, he had experienced the smell of corpses in the apocalypse!

Compared to the stench of corpses in the apocalypse, this smell really wasn’t much.

Moreover, his supernatural powers were abundant recently… He adjusted himself a bit so that he couldn’t smell anything.

His golden finger was really useful!

After finishing the provincial examination and returning home, Li Qingzhi’s first action was actually to take a bath.

After bathing, he played with Li Damao and Li Ermao.

With the two exams over, Li Qingzhi didn’t have much to do, just waiting for the results of the provincial examination.

According to past experience, it would take about seven or eight days.

Li Qingzhi was playing with Li Damao and Li Ermao, while Jin Xiaoye finished bathing and came out, drying her hair.

“Ah Qing, accompany me to buy a shop tomorrow!” Jin Xiaoye said to Li Qingzhi, “When we buy the shop tomorrow, I’ll leave the day after tomorrow, just in time to go back with Lord Zhu.”

Zhu Qian accompanied Zhu Xunmiao to participate in the provincial examination and stayed in the provincial capital for most of the month. Now that Zhu Xunmiao has finished the exam, he’s about to return.

And Jin Xiaoye plans to leave with him.

As for whether Li Qingzhi and Zhu Xunmiao can pass the provincial examination…

Jin Xiaoye has confidence in Li Qingzhi, believing that Li Qingzhi will definitely pass the provincial examination, while Zhu Qian feels that Zhu Xunmiao probably won’t pass.

Therefore, they aren’t planning to wait for the results in the provincial capital.

“Alright,” Li Qingzhi agreed.

Early the next morning, Jin Xiaoye got up and dressed.

Jin Xiaoye didn’t apply duck egg powder to her face, she only applied rouge to her lips.

Li Qingzhi felt that was enough.

When they slept together, he used his ability to help Jin Xiaoye regulate her body.

Originally, due to long hours of sun exposure and hard work, Jin Xiaoye’s skin wasn’t very good, her face was a bit rough. But because of his ability, Jin Xiaoye’s face was now very smooth, with almost invisible pores.

Her only problem now was her slightly dark skin tone, but Li Qingzhi felt she looked healthy and fine like this.

Thinking like this, Li Qingzhi styled Jin Xiaoye’s hair beautifully and put on the jewelry she brought…

Jin Xiaoye, after dressing up, looked especially beautiful!

Li Qingzhi kissed her and said, “Let’s go.”

Li Qingzhi also had two sets of clothes specially made for him by Fang Jinniang.

He usually didn’t wear these clothes, but since Jin Xiaoye was dressed up… Li Qingzhi also put on a set.

Even Li Damao and Li Ermao changed into new clothes.

Li Qingzhi also ordered two sedan chairs and had them carry their family of four together to go buy the shop.

Finally done with the provincial examination, Du Yongning felt like he had come back to life.

He made an appointment with a few friends at a teahouse to have tea and discuss the organization of a reading club, as well as the matter of reading “Solitary Collection” together.

They sat on the second floor of the teahouse by the window, with various snacks in front of them besides tea.

Du Yongning picked up a crystal shrimp dumpling with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, while looking at the scenery outside the window.

He saw two sedan chairs stop in front of the opposite shop, and one of the sedan chairs… seemed to have Li Qingzhi?

He had seen Li Qingzhi a few times before, Li Qingzhi was dressed decently, but nothing special.

But today… Li Qingzhi’s clothes looked very luxurious at this moment!

Du Yongning was puzzled, and then he saw a woman with two children coming out of the other sedan chair. The woman had a spirited look in her eyes… who else could it be if not Li Qingzhi’s wife?

Her appearance was also completely different from before!

Du Yongning was stunned. After telling his friends, he went downstairs.

Wasn’t Li Qingzhi a poor person? Wasn’t his wife a village woman? Why were they dressed so nicely here?

Du Yongning hurried to the shop opposite and saw Li Qingzhi leading two children, while Li Qingzhi’s wife was talking to someone who looked like a shopkeeper, saying they wanted to buy the shop.

Buying a shop?

The shops in the provincial capital are not cheap. Li Qingzhi wants to buy a shop?!

Du Yongning looked at Jin Xiaoye incredulously. He saw Jin Xiaoye smiling happily after speaking, revealing her white teeth, completely different from the girls he usually saw.

“Brother Li, you want to buy a shop?” Du Yongning asked Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi said, “Yes, my wife has taken a liking to this shop.”

“Do you have money?” Du Yongning asked again.

“I don’t have money, but my wife does,” Li Qingzhi said.

He indeed didn’t have much money; he gave all his money to Jin Xiaoye.

But he knew where the money at home was kept, so he could take it whenever he wanted.

“Where did your wife get the money from?” Du Yongning asked further. Wasn’t Li Qingzhi’s wife a village woman? Last time she was even selling braised snacks!

“Didn’t I tell you? My wife has opened several shops, selling braised snacks and embroidery. The things made by my wife’s embroidery workshop are liked even by the ladies in the palace.” Li Qingzhi saw through Du Yongning’s thoughts, so he exaggerated Jin Xiaoye’s capabilities a bit.

And what he said was true.

The things from Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop are sold at very high prices in the capital!

Unfortunately, when Wu Baichuan and Jin Xiaoye negotiated the purchase, the prices offered were not high, and even when Wu Baichuan sold the goods to that wooden shopkeeper, the price wasn’t high either.

All the money went to that wooden shopkeeper, who even had someone copy the products of Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop!

These things were told to Li Qingzhi by Wu Baichuan. He thought Li Qingzhi was powerful, so he didn’t dare to conceal anything when facing Li Qingzhi.

Du Yongning was dumbfounded.

Li Qingzhi continued, “The braised snacks you bought before were from my wife’s Juewei Zhai. She’s buying this shop to sell braised snacks. When you want to eat them, you can buy them in the provincial capital.”

Du Yongning suddenly realized that he had been feeling proud because of Li Qingzhi’s poor family background, which made him quite annoyed.

Wait a minute, didn’t Li Qingzhi tell him that he hadn’t had any good snacks before… Li Qingzhi was pretending to be poor in front of him!

This person was really too much!

While Li Qingzhi was talking to Du Yongning, Jin Xiaoye had already bought the desired shop.

This time she brought a lot of silver with her to the provincial capital. After arriving here, she stored the silver in the bank here. Now she was using the silver notes from this side to pay, which was convenient and fast.

After buying the shop and seeing Du Yongning, Jin Xiaoye greeted Du Yongning with a smile and then looked at Li Qingzhi. “Ah Qing, I’ve bought this shop. Let’s go to the yamen later… Let’s go buy another shop!”

“Alright,” Li Qingzhi smiled and agreed.

Du Yongning: “…Li Qingzhi bought one shop and he actually wants to buy another one!”