Chapter 125: Preparing for the Examination

Jiu Ge had a reserved nature, and as Su Wan stared at her, her cheeks slowly turned red.

“You and your brother look somewhat alike,” Su Wan remarked, pointing to the noodles on the table. “Eat first, then sleep.”

Jiu Ge was momentarily stunned as she stared at the bowl of noodles on the table. The long and thin noodles were soaked in clear broth. Inside, there are two fresh and tender green vegetables, a soft, white egg, and a few slices of perfectly cut white-cut meat, all giving off an enticing, delicate aroma.

Her mouth began to water, and she couldn’t help but swallow as she suddenly realized how hungry she was.

“Hurry up and eat; it won’t taste as good once it gets cold,” Su Wan said, pulling Jiu Ge to the table and placing a pair of chopsticks in her hand.

Unable to resist the temptation of the food, Jiu Ge took a sip of the soup and tasted the fresh sweetness of radish, though she couldn’t see any radish in the bowl.

“Were the noodles cooked in radish soup?” Jiu Ge licked her lips and couldn’t help but take another sip of the soup.

“I ground the radish into juice and used it to make the noodles,” Su Wan explained as she poured her a cup of water. “Do you like it?”

“It’s delicious!” Jiu Ge nodded, feeling a warmth she hadn’t felt in a long time. With a gentle sister and a bowl of noodles under the soft glow of the lamp, she felt a sense of comfort and couldn’t help but open up. “My brother and I aren’t from the Great Zhou. When I was five, we fled to this country together. Without the proper documents, we were chased by soldiers and got separated.

I was deceived and sold to a remote mountain where I was forced to mine. I never had a full meal. Fortunately, when there was an accident at the mine, I managed to escape in the chaos. I was lucky to meet you and even find my brother.”

Su Wan noticed the scars on the part of Jiu Ge’s arm that was exposed. She didn’t need to imagine the kind of life Jiu Ge had endured.

“After the hardship comes sweetness. You’ve already endured the worst in this life; from now on, things will only get better,” Su Wan comforted her.

Jiu Ge smiled softly. “Big sister, you’re as kind as my aunt.”

As she said this, she tilted her head and stared at Su Wan’s face, suddenly exclaiming, “You even look a bit like my aunt.”

Su Wan didn’t take the comment seriously. Jiu Ge had come to the Great Zhou when she was five, which meant she had been separated from her family at a very young age. Her memories were likely blurred by now.

Perhaps after all these years, Jiu Ge had only encountered one person who treated her well, and she was projecting her memories of her kind aunt onto Su Wan.

“When I was little, everyone said I looked like my aunt. Now that I’ve grown up, I’m a little beauty just like her. I’m not lying; our eyes are somewhat similar.”

Jiu Ge stubbornly pointed at her own eyes, insisting that Su Wan take a closer look to prove she wasn’t making it up.

Su Wan couldn’t help but look into Jiu Ge’s eyes, then she pulled out a small palm-sized mirror from her sleeve to check her own eyes. Whether it was her imagination or not, when she compared them, there really did seem to be some resemblance.

“Who is your aunt?” Su Wan asked casually.

“My aunt…” Jiu Ge suddenly fell silent, her expression turning somber as she gave a vague response: “In my heart, she’s a very good person, but my mother said she wasn’t a good person.”

Children’s memories are often fragmented.

However, Jiu Ge had an unusually good memory, able to recall things starting from when she was three years old. Even though she couldn’t understand much at the time due to her young age, now that she was older, she could look back and grasp the meaning of those memories.

“My aunt was the child that the Empress Dowager found after she had been lost outside the palace. The year she was brought back, the Empress Dowager showed her extraordinary love, which made my mother jealous, leading her to oppose my aunt at every turn.

Later, when it was rumored that the Empress Dowager intended to pass the throne to my aunt, my mother harbored malicious intentions and tried to kill the Empress Dowager to seize the throne. But my aunt saw through her plot, and as a result, my mother committed a capital crime.

My mother entrusted us to her most loyal followers, instructing them to take my brother and me far away. She wanted us to grow up and return to avenge her, to reclaim everything that rightfully belonged to her, and to prevent that ‘impure-blooded wretch’ from taking what should have been hers.

My aunt was the ‘wretch’ my mother spoke of.

The last memory I have of Xiliang is the sight of our home engulfed in flames, as my mother’s followers sent my brother and me to the border between the Great Zhou and Xiliang. To ensure our safe passage, they died under the spears of the border soldiers.”

Her brother had told her not to listen to their mother. If, in her heart, she believed their aunt was a good person, then their aunt was indeed a good person.

Su Wan didn’t press further about her aunt. Instead, she asked, “Do you still remember which country you are from?”

“Xiliang,” Jiu Ge replied.

Su Wan was startled—Xiliang?

Xiliang, though a small country, was very prosperous. Unlike other nations, it had a tradition of passing the throne to women.

Jiu Ge put down her chopsticks, having finished the entire bowl of noodles.

Su Wan cleaned up the dishes and reminded her, “Rest a bit before you sleep.”

She then brought out some bedding and set up a simple makeshift bed using wooden boards in Gu Huaizhi’s study for Jiu Ge.

After tidying up, Su Wan returned to her room and crawled to the inner side of the bed, propping herself up as she asked Gu Huaizhi, “Do my eyes really look like Jiu Ge’s?”

Jiu Ge was fifteen years old, and Jiu Yu was five years older, making him twenty years old now.

Su Wan was only a year older than Jiu Ge.

Gu Huaizhi glanced at her and said, “A bit.”

Su Wan touched her face and mused, “I think our features are somewhat similar too. If she were from the Great Zhou, I might even suspect we were related.”

Gu Huaizhi’s eyes narrowed slightly. If Jiu Ge wasn’t from the Great Zhou, then it was clear that Jiu Yu wasn’t either.

But Jiu Yu had claimed his homeland was in the impoverished region of Lingnan.

“Don’t overthink it. Get some sleep,” Gu Huaizhi said, pushing his thoughts aside. He tucked Su Wan in and extinguished the oil lamp.

—

After being away from Xihe Town for a while, Su Wan returned to find many tasks piled up. She was busy hiding Mrs. Hu at Qi Guang’s place, delivering the remaining 50,000 bottles of Zhao Wei’s wound medicine, hiring people to make Red Jade Cream, and preparing a few dishes for Zuixiang Pavilion. She was so occupied that she barely had a moment to catch her breath.

Once everything was finally completed, it was already the seventh day of the eighth month.

The day before, Su Wan had gone to the town to buy lamb, pork, and fish. She got up at the crack of dawn and started working in the kitchen.

She minced the lamb into a fine paste, mixed it with other fillings, and made meat patties. The pork was cut into strips, fried into jerky, and then stir-fried with chili peppers and chili powder, releasing a mouthwatering spicy aroma.

The fish was carefully deboned, minced into a paste, shaped into fish cakes, and then she steamed a batch of fluffy, white steamed buns.

None of these foods had any water content, ensuring they would last until Gu Huaizhi finished his provincial examination.

After finishing the preparations, Su Wan carefully packed everything into small jars, sealed them, wrapped them in cloth, and placed them on the table in the main hall.

Just then, Gu Huaizhi came out with his belongings, carrying only an exam basket^[1]“考篮” (kǎo lán) specifically refers to a basket used by candidates during the imperial examination period in China. This basket was designed to carry the items that examinees would … Continue reading and a small bundle.

“Is that all you’re bringing? Are you sure you haven’t forgotten anything?” Su Wan asked as she took his bundle and checked the contents. He had only packed two sets of clothes, which seemed insufficient for the nine days and six nights he would spend in the exam hall. She went back to the room and took out a thick piece of clothing to add to his bundle. “The beds in the exam halls are just hard wooden boards. Your health isn’t great, so you should use this thick clothing to cushion yourself when you rest. It will be more comfortable, and you can cover yourself with it at night to keep warm. Don’t catch a cold.”

“Su Wan is right, you must take good care of yourself,” Mother Gu said, more anxious than anyone else. She could never forget the time Gu Huaizhi fainted in the exam hall, nearly losing his life. Then, she handed him a protective talisman. “Keep this on you at all times.”

“Alright,” Gu Huaizhi said, placing the talisman close to his body, and picked up everything Su Wan had prepared for him. “Don’t worry. I’ll come straight back after the exam.”

Gu Baozhu and Gu Jingyun stood on stools, hanging a large rice dumpling^[2]Hanging a large rice dumpling (粽子, zòngzi) high on the door frame is a tradition associated with the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节, Duānwǔ Jié) in Chinese culture. This practice is deeply … Continue reading high on the door frame. They grinned at Gu Huaizhi, saying, “Big Brother, make sure you pass the exam with high honors!”

Gu Huaizhi patted their heads and then headed to the village entrance to catch the carriage that would take him to the provincial capital for the examination.

Mother Gu, along with Su Wan, Gu Baozhu, and Gu Jingyun, walked with him to the village entrance to see him off.

Just as they reached the village entrance, they ran into Song Erlang.

Since accumulating a massive debt at the gambling house, Song Erlang had become increasingly sullen. When he saw the Gu family, his gaze fixed on Gu Huaizhi, particularly on the exam basket in his hand. And a sinister gleam flashed in Song Erlang’s eyes.

This time, he didn’t just intend to prevent Gu Huaizhi from taking the exam, but he wanted to ensure he never returned!