Chapter 387 Little Child
The day after Jiang Jie returned home, there was an endless stream of people coming to celebrate.
Even the county magistrate sent people to congratulate him and invited him to speak to the county government.
Three days later, Jiang Jie and his cousin Jiang Yuanbao went to the county seat to meet the county magistrate, and they also brought a few specialties from their shop.
Yingbao didn't go anywhere. After all the guests at home had left, she ran to the Luyuan to release some horses.
After a period of intensive training, the injured horse has recovered, but it can no longer be used as a mount.
However, it’s okay to carry something on your back or pull something for a grind every once in a while.
As for the dead horses, Ying Bao also took the time to release them and let her father cut the meat and sell them.
The two carriages were kept in his cave until they were needed later.
"Sister, what are you doing?"
The child ran into Yingbao's room, sticking his buttocks out to climb onto the kang.
"Don't come up." Yingbao pushed him back: "Also, don't call me sister!"
The kid blinked: "What did I call you?"
Yingbao ignored him and read a book by herself.
The child persevered and continued to climb onto the kang, crowded around Yingbao, stuck his head out to read the book in her hand, and asked, "Sister, what are you looking at? Show it to Yuanbao."
Yingbao turned his head away and said, "I told you not to call him Yuanbao from now on."
The little boy curled his lips in aggrieved tone: "My mother-in-law calls me Yuanbao."
Ying Bao made a serious face: "Then you go find your mother-in-law."
"Okay, I'll call you Xiaotong from now on." Xiaotong finally compromised and looked at Yingbao eagerly: "You should give me candy now."
Yingbao lost her temper because of being pestered by the child. She took out a candy from her bag and gave it to him: "Take it and play with it. Don't bother me again."
The child took the candy, slid down the kang with a smile, and ran to find Mr. Wu.
"Daddy! Daddy! My sister gave me candy, Yuanbao... the little boy left it for daddy." The little boy threw himself into Mr. Wu's arms and stuffed the candy in his hand into his mouth.
Mr. Wu had no choice but to bite off half of it and gave the other half to the child, saying, "You will call me grandpa from now on."
The little boy didn't seem to hear it, so he took it and stuffed it into his mouth, then nestled in Mr. Wu's arms and said, "Dad, do you miss grandma? Yuan Bao... the little boy misses grandma."
Mr. Wu sighed, patted him and changed the subject: "Can I teach you how to read?"
The little boy was confused, nodded and shook his head: "Dad, just read it, little boy, listen."
So Mr. Wu recited a section of the Three-Character Sutra, and when he looked again, he found that the child had fallen asleep.
A few days later, Jiang Jie came back from the county town and brought back many books, some of which his sister had asked him to find.
"This is the Qinchuan County Chronicle. I asked the county magistrate for it." Jiang Jie pulled out a copy of the County Chronicle and gave it to his sister.
Yingbao was very happy and immediately opened it to watch.
This county chronicle records major events that have occurred in the county over the years, as well as important figures in the county, as well as some anecdotes, but there is no record of the Jiuyang Temple.
However, there is an anecdote above, saying that more than a hundred years ago, a sky fire broke out in the Chuanhe Town area, burning down a large area of forest, and the surrounding villages were not spared.
He also said that the fire burned for more than two months and was finally extinguished by heavy rain.
Ying Bao frowned.
Since the Taoist temple was burned down by heavenly fire more than a hundred years ago, where did Chen Wan's memory come from?
Chen Wan's meaning is very obvious. She was abandoned when she was born, and then picked up and raised by Taoist priests or Taoist nuns, and then recognized by the Han family.
This scene is very similar to my previous life or this life.
Anyway, no matter which life he is in, he is destined to be abandoned.
The drama of being abandoned and then recognized again is repeated over and over again. It's just that I have been resisting, so I can't let the plot get on track.
What does that book want her to do?
Yingbao closed the county journal and decided to wait until spring to go to the mountains to look for the Taoist temple.
It's the twelfth lunar month in a blink of an eye.
The county government suddenly sent a notice saying that in February next year, the imperial court would select warriors in each county and let interested families register their children for reference. Anyone aged twelve to twenty can participate.
Not only were warriors selected, the imperial court also selected people with superb medical skills, regardless of gender, and allowed those with lofty ideals to sign up.
The notice was posted under the jujube tree at the entrance of Dongchen Village, and many villagers came to watch.
Ying Bao was unmoved, but her younger brother Jiang Wu was very excited.
"Sister! I'm going to take the martial arts exam!" He will be twelve after the Chinese New Year. Well, he is actually twelve years old, which is just enough for him.
Yingbao: "Okay, if I pass the exam, our family will move to Jiankang."
My younger brother Jiang Jie is already a civil servant and will definitely become an official in the future. When the time comes, he will definitely go to the capital.
If Jiang Wu also passes the martial arts examination, then his family will be a proper official's home, and he will definitely not be able to stay in the village anymore.
For example, this time Jiang Jie won the imperial examination, and squires whom he didn't know from other places came to give him gifts to establish friendship. If he didn't accept them, he would be looking down on them.
If someone commits a crime or something else, it is estimated that their own threshold will be breached.
One careless move could injure his younger brother.
Therefore, Yingbao hopes that Jiang Wu can also pass the martial arts examination, and then the family moves to Fucheng or the capital.
The martial arts exam is on the eighth day of February, so you must register with your household registration in the twelfth lunar month.
Jiang Sanlang and Chen Zhu drove two carriages and rushed to the county town with several children.
That's right, not only Jiang Wu went to sign up, but Hu Zi, Wei Zhan, Wen Hengyin, and Zhang Min Xiaoyao also went.
Huzi and the others took the martial arts exam, while Wen Hengyin applied for the medical exam.
Fortunately, the new court's selection of talents is very broad this time. As long as they have household registration and a local person gives him a guarantee, he can participate.
Therefore, Wei Zhan and Zhang Min could take the exam locally.
After registering, several young men began to practice hard on horseback and archery. In the evening, they also had to learn the art of war and formation of troops, all of which had to be tested.
Fortunately, Zhang Meng knew a little bit about everything, and with Mr. Wu on hand to teach the art of war, these young men made rapid progress.
The child has been living with Mr. Wu at Jiang Sanlang's house, eating and playing with Jiang Wu and others.
Occasionally he would play with Niu Niu from the Chu Chu family, but Niu Niu would always tease him for being illiterate.
The child was very aggrieved. Seeing that "Daddy" had no time to pay attention to him, he ran to find Yingbao.
"Sister, I want to read." The child climbed onto the kang, squeezed in front of Yingbao, pointed at the book on the kang table and said, "Sister, teach me how to read."
Ying Bao didn't understand why this child wasn't afraid of her and actually liked to be close to her, so she could only say, "If you can't learn it, my sister will slap your hand."
The child subconsciously put his little hands behind his back and whispered: "I can learn it!"
"Okay, don't cry when the time comes." Yingbao took a three-character scripture and taught him to read it word by word: "In the beginning, human nature is inherently good..."
The children studied very seriously and could pronounce a few sentences decently.
"Sister, I can read!" He raised his little head for praise.
Ying Bao nodded: "Well, that's right. I'll have to read one every day from now on."
The child shrank his neck and responded in a low voice: "Okay, then sister will teach me every day."
Ying Bao hummed and gave him a piece of milk cake: "This is to reward you. Only by studying hard in the future can you be sensible."
The child happily took it, slid off the kang, and quickly ran to find Mr. Wu: "Dad! Sister gave me the cake!"
Thanks to Yan and Mie Baobao for the reward.
Thank you all for your continued support.