Chapter 6: Yingchun Borrowing Books
The maids each paid their respects to their masters without saying anything. Daiyu stepped forward and asked, "Why are the second and third sisters here?"
As he spoke, he sat next to Tanchun.
Daiyu and Tanchun are the same age, but Daiyu is nearly a month older, so Daiyu calls Tanchun "third sister".
"I'm bored in my room, so I came to Sister Lin's place to see if there's anything fun to do, so we can have fun together!" Yingchun smiled as she sipped her tea, and Tanchun spoke while holding Daiyu's hand.
"Is there anything in this shabby that is worth my third sister's attention?"
Several girls were joking with each other, but mostly Daiyu and Tanchun were talking, with Yingchun only occasionally speaking! The maids around them were also familiar with each other, and they gathered aside to gossip in low voices.
The few of them were chatting excitedly, and ordered Zijuan to get the chessboard, so that they could start playing chess against each other!
Daiyu and Tanchun were equally good at chess, but Yingchun was one step ahead of them! Later, Daiyu and Tanchun teamed up to defeat Yingchun on equal terms.
At noon, without Daiyu's instructions, Zijuan ordered the maid to bring the food!
They ate together, and then sat down to drink tea and chat.
"To be honest, I do have a thing here. If I tell you about it, Third Sister will definitely miss it!" Daiyu said with a roll of her eyes.
"What kind of treasure is this? Why don't you let someone get it so that my sister can broaden her horizons!"
Daiyu saw Tanchun's expression and said with a smile, "Would you like to take a look at Master Liu's "Fushen Tie"?"
brush!
Tanchun stood up suddenly, grabbed Daiyu's hand and asked, "Is what you said true, sister?"
Master Liu is Liu Gongquan. Because he once served as the Prince's Master, he was often called "Master Liu" in later generations! Yuanchun is good at playing the zither, Yingchun likes chess, Xichun likes painting, and Tanchun is most obsessed with calligraphy. For her, the original works of Liu Gongquan are absolutely incomparable.
"Let Xueyan accompany Third Sister. I still want to play a game with Second Sister. If I can't beat Second Sister today, I will definitely not be able to sleep well."
Tanchun didn't care and followed Xueyan into the inner room, while Yingchun and Daiyu were fighting again with their black and white swords!
The two were fighting fiercely when Daiyu asked, "Second sister, is there anything going on today?"
How perceptive was Daiyu? She had noticed that Yingchun hesitated several times, and it was obvious that she had something to say! Considering Yingchun's shyness, she found an excuse to get rid of Tanchun and talk to Yingchun alone.
"I'm sorry to make Sister Lin laugh! I came here today to ask Sister Lin a favor!"
"Why are you so polite, sister? Between you and me, is there anything that cannot be discussed? Please tell me, sister. If I have a way, I will not let you lose face."
Yingchun pursed her lips after hearing this, and then said shyly, "Sister Lin, do you know that I have a third half brother!"
Daiyu thought for a moment before she suddenly said, "Second sister, are you talking about Third Brother Cong?"
Although she had been in the mansion for more than a year, Daiyu had no impression of Jia Cong. She just vaguely remembered that there was a big event in the mansion and all the masters were there, but there was only this kind of person.
"It's Cong'er!" Yingchun nodded, "Cong'er has been studying hard recently, but he has no teacher, and the master doesn't think highly of him! This is it, he has read 3000 volumes by heart, but he can't even get other books! I know that Sister Lin has a lot of , so I came to find Sister Lin with a thick face to see if I can borrow one or two suitable books for Cong'er to read."
"Brother Cong, are you going to take the imperial examination?" Daiyu's words were full of surprise! Although she was young, she was very smart. After more than a year here, she knew everyone in the mansion.
Although the Jia family is still nominally the most powerful family in the capital, they are now in a very difficult situation!
Jia Zhen and his son in the East Palace are greedy and lustful. The two uncles in the West Palace, one has inherited the title but has no real power, and the other is just a minor official.
The young men in the mansion, including the second brother, Baoyu, and Jia Huan, are more useless than the other. There is no one in the whole mansion who has made any progress.
Now, the third brother Cong from the eldest wife is actually studying hard for the imperial examinations. How could Daiyu not be surprised?
"If my sister is in trouble..." Yingchun couldn't help but sigh in her heart when she saw that Daiyu didn't respond.
"Don't blame me, second sister. I just thought of something else. Since Third Brother Cong is determined to study hard, it's just a few books. What's the big deal?"
"It just so happens that when my sister came to Shenjing, she brought a set of the Four Books with her. What's rare is that my father also annotated them. I think they can provide some help to Third Brother Cong!"
"I will sort it out myself later and ask Xueyan to send it to my second sister!"
Yingchun was overjoyed when she heard this, and she stood up and bowed to Daiyu. The Four Books annotated by the top scholar in the imperial examination would probably be worth a fortune if they were given to others. How could Yingchun not be happy that Daiyu was willing to lend them to her?
"Why are you so polite, second sister? If you really want to thank me, then you might as well leave out a few pieces from this game!"
Yingchun put aside her worries, relaxed, and focused on the chessboard. Daiyu was defeated and killed by Yingchun without leaving a single piece of armor...
A day passed in a flash. After breakfast in the morning, Jia Cong stretched out his fists and feet in the yard! Although he didn't know any tricks, it was good to exercise his strength.
"Is the Third Master here?"
Hearing the sound outside the door, Xiao Que, who was sitting next to him, quickly got up and ran out.
"Third Master, Sister Siqi is here!"
After greeting each other, Si Qi said, "Yesterday, the girl went to Miss Lin's place and borrowed a few books for the Third Master! The girl said that these were books that Uncle Lin had studied and annotated in the past. I hope the Third Master will study them carefully!"
Jia Cong bowed deeply, "Thank you, sister Siqi. Please thank my second sister for me! I will go and pay my respects to my second sister in a few days when she is free!"
Si Qi agreed to all the requests and without further delay, turned around and left.
Jia Cong took the small bag from Xiao Que'er's hand and opened it. As expected, there were several neatly stacked books inside.
Put the book away first, then go into the house to clean it up, and then take the book in your hands to look at it!
When I opened the book, I found a lot of notes and thoughts written in smooth and flowing handwriting. Although I can't be called a master, I am still a master.
After slowly flipping through a few pages, he could remember the contents word for word. Even after closing his eyes, the handwriting on each page was as if imprinted in his mind, without any error.
"With such a memory, I just need to study hard, and at least the first few levels will be easy!" Jia Cong thought to himself.
The first stage of the imperial examination was the Tongsheng test, which was not too difficult. It was usually presided over by the local county magistrate and consisted of five sections: eight-part essay, test poem, classics, regulated verse, and policy essay. Although there were also essays, many of them required rote memorization, which was a piece of cake for Jia Cong, who had a photographic memory.
