Chapter 028: Superintendent of Education
"Mom, no matter what happens, I will let you see this scene."
Shen Yichen nodded seriously. Even if his mother didn't say these, he would stand in front of Zhu Yong with dignity one day.
But whether or not he is his son is another matter.
Shen never doubted Shen Yichen's words, even when he was in such a terrible state before. She smiled and touched Shen Yichen's head. Now her son was almost a head taller than her.
"You must be hungry. I'll go prepare some food for you."
"Um."
After dinner, Shen Yichen returned to his room and began to carefully study some examples of eight-part essays from previous imperial examinations.
These imperial examination model essays, especially those that ranked in the top three, would be counted and bound into books for sale by specialized booksellers after the announcement of the results every year, for future generations of students to study.
Regarding next year's college entrance examination, Shen Yichen's previous attitude was to try his best. No matter what the result was, at least he had tried his best.
But now his mentality has changed. He must pass the examination for the title of scholar in the next year's college entrance examination, and if possible, strive for the first place in the case. Even in the provincial examination at the end of next year, Shen Yichen is determined to win the title of juren.
Because this "generous gift" today gave Shen Yichen a big warning. That is, today Mrs. Lin was still willing to use money to settle the problem. When she found that she couldn't settle it, what would she do as a duchess?
Ancient society was a jungle of law, where common people were sometimes extremely humble in front of the powerful and wealthy, without even the most basic ability to resist.
If you want to change this situation, the only thing you can do is to protect yourself with fame and honor!
At the same time, Shen Yichen was vaguely glad that if he had agreed to Zhu Yong's offer of supervision without knowing the whole situation, and successfully entered the family tree, the mother and son would have returned to the Chengguo Mansion.
So, will what happened to Wang happen to my mother one day?
Even if Wang was not killed directly by Madam Lin, it is easy to dodge an open attack but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark. Once you enter this deep mansion, many tactics are hard to guard against.
Not to mention a gentle woman like my mother, even if I had the memory of two lifetimes, I might not be able to beat Lin.
At least now he was still a maid-born child who was not included in the family tree, and the mother and son were still excluded by Duke Cheng. Madam Lin might have sensed a hint of threat, but the status of both parties was far apart , so she should be able to hold on for a while.
I didn’t expect that after becoming famous, I would not only be famous in Yingtian Prefecture, but also face a storm…
The next day, Shen Yichen went to the private school of Duke Chengguo's Mansion as usual, and Mrs. Lin's "generous gift" was returned .
The other party did not take any follow-up action, and everything seemed to have returned to normal. However, I don’t know how long this peaceful life can last.
Time passed day by day, and soon it was the month-long holiday. Shen Yichen turned down Zhao Hongjie's invitation to go out for fun together, and according to the agreement with Mr. Li Tingxiu, he came to the corner gate of Chengguo Mansion and went with him to meet the senior.
At this moment, a carriage had been parked in the alley outside the corner gate. Li Tingxiu saw Shen Yichen coming and waved to him, indicating that he should get in the carriage.
Sitting on the carriage, Shen Yichen looked around curiously. To be honest, this was his first time riding a means of transportation in this era since he traveled through time. But it didn't feel very good. After all, there were no shock-absorbing parts such as tires and springs, so it would shake if the road was slightly uneven.
"Why, you've never ridden in a carriage?"
Looking at Shen Yichen like a curious baby, Li Tingxiu asked.
"Um."
Since childhood, Shen Yichen's life has basically been fixed around the Chengguo Mansion. He has never had the opportunity to travel far, so he doesn't need to ride in a carriage.
"The ancients talked about the six arts of a gentleman. Although it is no longer advocated now, as a descendant of a noble family, you should still familiarize yourself with horse riding and archery if you have the chance."
“Students understand.”
Shen Yichen understood the principle, and he was also interested in trying horse riding and archery, but he had to have the opportunity.
Li Tingxiu was not a talkative person, and after a few words, he began to close his eyes and rest. With the sound of squeaking wheels, the carriage stopped in front of an elegant courtyard.
"We're here, get off."
"Sir, now it's time to tell me which senior I'm going to meet today, right?"
"Lin Zhen, the top scholar in the Gengxu year of the Xuande reign."
What?
When Shen Yichen heard this name, he was stunned. Zhao Hongjie had said excitedly before that there was a champion named Lin Zhen who wanted to invite him to participate in a winter solstice poetry gathering.
At that time, I didn't take it seriously at all, but I never expected that the senior I was going to meet with Li Tingxiu today was this top scholar. Could it be that he really took the imperial examination in the same year as him?
Before he could recover from the shock, Li Tingxiu had already gotten off the carriage. Shen Yichen had no choice but to follow him quickly, and the two of them walked into the courtyard one after the other.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw two scholars in blue robes standing at the main entrance. The one on the left greeted Li Tingxiu with a bow and said, "Wei Chu (Li Tingxiu's pen name), I haven't seen you for a long time. I hope you are well."
Li Tingxiu also bowed in return and said, "Brother Dunsheng (Lin Zhen's pen name), long time no see."
Shen Yichen didn't know that Lin Zhen's name was Dunsheng, but in ancient times, the left was respected, and the other party took the initiative to welcome the guest. If nothing unexpected happened, he was the owner of this courtyard, the top scholar in the fifth year of Xuande - Lin Zhen.
"By the way, Weichu, let me introduce you. This is Sun Tixue, the governor of Yingtian's academic administration, also known by his courtesy name Yixuan."
"Student has seen the Grand Master!"
The governor of education is an official title, whose duty is to be in charge of the imperial examination and education work of a province, and also to be responsible for selection and supervision. Therefore, students and scholars all over the world would respectfully call the governor of education the Grand Master.
Although Li Tingxiu had passed the imperial examination, he did not enter the government. So when facing the governor of Nanzhili, he still regarded himself as a student and addressed the other party by his honorific title.
Shen Yichen was standing behind him , thinking about how to greet him. But when he set his eyes on Sun Tixue, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
Soon, an idea flashed in his mind, and Shen Yichen remembered where he had seen him before. Wasn't this the Sun Tixue who applauded at the Duke Cheng's family banquet after hearing Zeng Mengjian's poem?
I really didn't expect that I would meet him here. It's true that we meet everywhere in life...
"Wei Chu, this is not an officialdom, there is no need to be polite with these empty names, just call me by the name of old friends."
Sun Tixue replied with a smile that he came here today to meet an old friend, so he didn't want to go through the formalities of officialdom.
In addition, he also plans to meet a new junior.
After saying that, Sun Tixue turned his gaze to Shen Yichen, with a playful look in his eyes.
Seeing Sun Tixue's eyes looking over, Shen Yichen knew that he must have recognized him, so he could only bite the bullet and bow, "I greet the No. 1 Scholar and the Grand Master."
Lin Zhen had retired and returned to his hometown, and he did not hold an official position, so Shen Yichen called him "Mr. Zhuangyuan". As a student who had not yet entered school, he had no choice but to address the provincial education official as "Grand Master".
"Friend Shen, we meet again."
"Grand Master, I am unworthy of this title."
Shen Yichen quickly said modestly that he was not worthy of being called "little friend". Because in the Ming Dynasty, only the lowest-ranking students were qualified to be called "little friend". If it was a student with a degree, if they didn't know each other, they could politely call him "old friend".
Previously at the family dinner, County Magistrate Zhou was fooled and mistakenly believed that he was a student, so he called himself Shen Xiaoyou.
Now Sun Tixue knows his background, and if he deliberately assumes that he is his friend , it would be extremely disrespectful.
