The next day, Fang Xin returned to Congjiang Mansion from the provincial capital, riding in a carriage, dragged by two horses, and running very briskly.

Lan Ji gave her an entourage and brought her eldest son Li Ningwen, although Li Ningwen was only two years old, he was already very well-behaved and sensible, Fang Xin looked at it, touched his head, and didn't say much.

Lan Ji wanted to meet the old lady, so naturally she had already bought a carved wooden cane, of course, gifts for the main wife and the peace wife were also essential, but now they were a few points lower than themselves, for a simple reason - they had a son, and they didn't even have a daughter.

Thinking of this, Lan Ji felt a little more proud, but in this society, reputation is extremely important, as long as one day, the husband does not abolish his wife (in fact, according to the moral principles of that society, it is unlikely to be abolished), he must be a little more respectful.

On May 17, the air was clear and the wind was clear, and the convoy traveled for a day, and arrived at his own residence in Congjiang Mansion at dusk, which is the Li family's main garden, and the key is that the ancestral hall was built here.

When I went back, I saw that someone was actually looking at the garden, of course, this garden is the outer garden, and it is impossible to enter the inner courtyard, and those who come to view the garden must be familiar with Li Rui's readers.

"Anyone who has a little family background and literary style has created a garden, so it is very fashionable to raise a garden, that is, from Jiangfuzhong, the garden is bigger than this, more exquisite than this, more luxurious than this, there are many people, but carefully experienced, I always feel that this garden has a unique taste, with a single ingenuity, and the plain place to see the real fun, Li Xiandi is really good, I saw it last year, and I have to come to see it this year!" When the carriage approached, he saw three men in green shirts talking.

"It's a pity that Brother Li Xian is not at home, otherwise, I can wait to take a look inside, and the inside is even more exquisite."

"Nope. Speaking of which, is Brother Li Xiandi back? ”

The three of them looked over. Really. I saw Fang Xin get out of the car and said, "Oh, it turned out to be three brothers, there is a loss of welcome, there is a loss of welcome!" ”

In the past two years, Li Rui has met three people from Congjiang Mansion: Zheng Chengyi, Zhu Mingyi, and Zou Lixing

Of course, there are more than three people from Jiangfu, but there are only three people who are under the age of 30 and get along with Li Rui.

"It's really coming. Hurry up, let's go inside and watch the garden and drink! "The one who spoke was Zheng Chengyi, he was twenty-six years old this year, with a medium family background, warm and generous, open-minded, good at talking, and got along with Li Rui very happily.

Zhu Mingyi. Wearing a brocade shirt, twenty-four years old, with a good family background, it is the second son of the prefect, although this person is a little arrogant, but confident, reckless, and has an appearance, and the relationship is also good.

Zou Lixing, 23 years old. Like Li Rui, he is a scholar who has risen from poverty, but of course he has not secretly and inadvertently accumulated a lot of wealth like Li Rui, and he will only live on thirty acres of raised fields, so he is relatively poor. Maybe it's influenced by where you come from. Therefore, he always has a serious and authentic face, and he is obsessed with books. Admitting some truths to death is a kind of clean official reserve.

It's just that these three people have a good impression of each other's letters, and the four of them often read and communicate together, so when they saw him coming back, they greeted him and said.

"Of course, Brother Rong will first settle in the inner room, meet his mother, and then come to meet the brothers." Fang Xin said with a smile.

"You go, we'll be waiting for you in the inner garden!" Zhu Mingyi said with a smile.

At that moment, a group of people went in, the essence of the inner garden, it is far better than the outer garden, only ten acres of land, there is only one acre of man-made pond inside, everyone can enter the door, and set foot on the path.

The weeping willows by the pond are reflected in the water, the rockery divides the space, the green and green water correspondingly, and there are all kinds of trees and flowers planted around it, and the height is staggered and combined.

The leaves are green and green, and the lotus leaves are large, floating on the water.

With the fit, the elegant atmosphere is full, and when the group enters, they feel this artistic conception, and even Zou Lixing can't help but say: "Good!" Every time I come here, I feel a clear feeling, which shows that the virtuous brother is talented. ”

"Actually, no, the point is just one point, that is, shrinking the world in square inches, and being born in the spring and autumn." Fang Xin said indifferently, in fact, it was not a big deal to put it bluntly.

These methods are nothing more than borrowing from mature garden art to express, using rockeries, ponds, bamboo forests, and corridors to create a small world.

The three of them went to the pavilion to sit down first, and Fang Xin went to see Lan Ji and his eldest son to see his mother He first.

"Mother, okay?" Fang Xin made a simple salute and greeted, in fact, looking at his complexion, he knew that He was very good.

In the past two and a half years, the incarnation has been trying his best to accumulate merit, and part of this merit has increased the merit incarnation itself, but seventy percent has become the yin virtue of this family, which has greatly changed the fate, and now he is naturally healthy and has a long life.

But Lan Ji bowed respectfully, bowed, the eldest son, who was almost two years old, also stepped forward to meet his grandmother, He saw his grandson, and he couldn't even open his eyes when he smiled: "Okay, my mother is very good, hurry up, good grandson, let grandma hug!" ”

I don't know why, she just likes this grandson very much - of course, Fang Xin knows why.

"Husband!" The two wives saluted.

"I've seen the eldest sister, I've seen the second sister!" The flat wife does not need to kneel down to bow to the concubine, just bend down, and Lan Ji salutes.

Fang Xin looked over, his wife He Yao and his wife He Rong were all born beautiful, but in fact, they were only seventeen or eighteen years old, they were all hairpin ring skirts, and they all saluted, but they had some grievances in their expressions.

Especially his wife He Yao, eighteen years old, already with a trace of sorrow, she has been married for two and a half years, has no children, and is under the most pressure, in fact, if in modern times, she is still a child, but she has to preside over a family, and suffer from this day and night.

But these two wives have always been respectful and gentle to He, have a good family, sincere feelings, and are not mean people, so He also likes them very much, the only pity is that there are no children, which is a great sin that is difficult to forgive for the family, although He has the heart to protect, but it can't be more than treating Lan Ji - mother is more precious than son!

After serving fragrant tea and fruits, and talking about some homely things, He asked: "How much time is at home this time?" ”

It was obviously asked for the two daughters-in-law. After all, after having a son, the son lived in Lanji Garden for two-thirds of the time. But no one can say that it is bitter.

Fang Xin replied like this: "Mother." I want to live for half a month, so I will go to Beijing to catch the exam, and this time I must get a Jinshi and the first for my family, as for Lan Ji and Li Ningwen, they live here. ”

Although the tone is modest and docile, it is full of confidence, which is not only confidence in his own talents, but also in the yin virtue accumulated in the two and a half years of incarnation—to put it practically, a robot with modern knowledge and only knows how to accumulate merit according to orders is terrifying. In the past two and a half years, the merits accumulated through various aspects are really scary!

He was very satisfied with Fang Xin's answer, nodded, and said, "Then you are busy with your affairs, the dinner, He Yao will prepare very well, isn't it?" ”

The last sentence was of course said to He Yao, and He Yao said respectfully: "Of course, please rest assured that my mother and husband are at ease." ”

Seeing this happens. Fang Xin was actually a little compassionate, he naturally knew now that in this society, a childless woman was under terrible pressure, but this problem was actually very easy to solve, and he made a decision at the moment, said a few words, and then excused himself. to the garden.

On the garden pavilion, the three of them were laughing and laughing.

Small red clay stove, charcoal boiling water. Put selected water in a kettle and bring to a boil over charcoal. But not all boiling, add the tea powder. Tea blends with water. When the second boiling, foam appears. The foam is a small camellia, and the gluttony is a large flower. All are the essence of tea. At this time, the foam is ladled out and placed in the cooked bowl for later use. Continuing to boil, the tea and water are further fused, and the waves are rolling and surging, which is called the three boils.

The tea soup is boiled, poured into the bowl, and the water vapor of the soup noodles rises with the tea fragrance, like clouds steaming in the clouds. In order to make the color, aroma and taste of tea fully brewed, so that the nutrients of tea can be used by tea drinkers as much as possible, the proportion of tea and water should be paid attention to. This heat time is not easy to control. Rely entirely on experience.

When he came back from talking just now, he happened to drink it, Zheng Chengyi said with a smile: "It's still a good life, just drink it when you come, this is not good, you must be punished, how about a poem?" ”

These words immediately caused the two of them to laugh out loud, and they responded again and again.

Fang Xin smiled bitterly, in fact, there are many poems in his heart, but theft also has an occasion, so he refused to leak it casually (fortunately, the incarnation did not leak many verses), so he said: "Hey, just now my mother said that I went to Beijing to catch the exam, and there will be no poems today, I was willing to leave on the first day of the first month of next month, what about the three brothers?" ”

Speaking of this, there was a moment of silence, and all three of them smiled bitterly, drank the tea, and put it down.

It's May, starting in June, and you can go to Beijing at the end of June, and in August, you will go to the Ministry of Rites to participate in the tribute test and obtain the qualification for the tribute test, but in fact, the tribute test is equivalent to a jinshi.

Because below, it is the palace examination, the emperor himself serves as the examiner, the subject is uncertain, as large as the country's major policies, as small as the government and the opposition, can be asked, and the subject answers the policy for the emperor to "read", and then the emperor decides on the jinshi.

In fact, unless there is a problem with the king in front of the palace, otherwise, the tribute test will not be on the list, but the order of ranking is different.

A list of three people, divided into champions, Bangyan, Tanhua, in accordance with the rules of the imperial court, given Jinshi and the first (that is, to seal the parents' wife Haoming), and, the champion directly from the six-grade official rank, Bangyan and Tanhua to give the seven-grade official rank, generally into Hanlin first to learn the rules of officialdom, and then decentralize the place

The second class, generally twenty people, was born as a jinshi, and generally the first official rank is from the seventh grade

The top three, generally fifty people, are given the same Jinshi background, and the official rank of the general beginner is the eighth grade

Don't look at the lifting of people, you can also enter the nine grades, but the jinshi is promoted very quickly, and it is not something that can be followed by a lifter.

All of this is not only a one-person matter, but also a family matter, and the three of them can only say with a wry smile: "At this point, what else to say, only to catch the exam, next month, let's go with you!" ”