Shao Yunan took this opportunity to educate Wang Qing. “Wang Zhisong’s reputation is completely ruined. If you were an examiner and there was such a candidate, would you let him get his merit?” Wang Qing immediately shook his head.

“No matter which era, reputation is very important. Wang Zhisong is stupid, because he is too conceited. He studied just to get the title and enjoyed the vanity that studying brought him, but forgot that his future success is not determined by his success in the exam. As the saying goes, don’t be afraid of a god-like opponent, but of a pig-like teammate.” 

“If the other scholars are Wang Zhisong’s opponents, then old lady Wang, Wang Tianyan, and Guo Zhaodi, including Wang Zaizheng, are his teammates who are dragging him down. But sadly, Wang Zhisong doesn’t think like this. Even if he really can become a scholar in the future, as long as someone pokes out his family’s affairs, his official cap will definitely be removed. So little Qing, god-like opponents are not scary… pig-like teammates are much scarier.” Wang Qing nodded his head in understanding.

“You can be friends with people of the three religions and nine personalities, but if you want to make deep friendships with them, you must keep your eyes open and observe carefully. Your family will not drag you down and will prevent the people around you from doing so. Our family is rich now. In the eyes of others, we have the county magistrate as a backer, so people who want to flatter you will come in waves. Don’t be proud because of it and don’t be blinded. Knowing only a person’s face, but not his heart… only an arrow aimed at your back can truly hurt you, so be careful of whom you trust, okay?”

“Yes! Little father, I will be careful!” While frying sesame seeds, Shao Yunan told Wang Qing a story and Wang Nizi also came to listen. Wang Qing looked at his little father and as he listened to the story, he felt a sudden longing in his heart, wanting to call his little father ‘mother.’

Their courtyard was filled with the strong fragrance of sesame seeds and when the sesame oil and sesame paste were canned, Shao Yunan suddenly remembered that he seemed to have forgotten someone in the space. Rubbing his sore and limp arms, he rushed the two children, who were still intoxicated after listening to the story all afternoon, into the house and said, “I’m going to see why your father isn’t back yet.”

The two children went into the house obediently, while Shao Yunan hid in the kitchen. After locking the door, he hurriedly went into the space. A large area of the land in the space had been tilled and the Qimen black tea branches, wild chrysanthemums, and goat milk fruits that Shao Yunan threw in the space had already been planted. Wang Shijing had also planted the golden chrysanthemum seeds that Shao Yunan had in storage and planned to go up the mountain to cut some of the tea tree branches Shao Yunan wanted to plant, and then plant the grain and seed Shao Yunan had stored.

The grain seeds in Shao Yunan’s space were very good seeds. The bags of rice and noodles that he had stored were only for his own family to eat. The children only thought it was delicious and did not suspect where such exquisite rice and noodles came from. As soon as Shao Yunan came in, he saw Wang Shijing sweating and pouring water. He called, “Shijing, it’s time to go out.” Wang Shijing raised his head, he was shirtless and only wore a pair of shorts. “What time is it?” Wang Shijing put down the bucket and walked over to ask.

“It’s time to make dinner.” Shao Yunan said. “Clean up and dress yourself before coming out, I will be in the kitchen.” Wang Shijing peeled off his shorts and underwear (boxers), jumped into a small bathing pool to wash quickly, then went ashore and took the towel handed over by Shao Yunan to dry himself. After putting on a clean pair of boxers, he took a look at the clothes and towel Shao Yunan brought to him.

Shao Yunan was not used to wearing ancient underwear, so after his space became exposed, he quickly switched to the modern one. Wang Shijing, who was not used to wearing briefs, reluctantly accepted the boxers. Once they came out of the space, Wang Shijing quickly dressed and then opened the door to look out. Seeing that the two children were in their own room with the door closed, he walked out softly, opened the courtyard door, and then forcefully closed it as he shouted, “Yunan, I’m back, I’m back.”

“You’re back.” Shao Yunan came out from the kitchen and the two of them acted very realistically. “Father, you’re back.” The two children also came out of their room. Wang Shijing responded and asked, “Yunan, what are we having for dinner?”

“It’s cold, so I stewed a pot of vegetables and meat, together with steamed buns. I also made sesame paste and sesame oil today, so you can eat them with the vegetables.” Wang Nizi said, “Dad, the sesame paste and sesame oil made by my little father are very fragrant.”

“Mmm. Your little dad is the best.” Wang Shijing went to the kitchen and pretended to wash his hands, while Wang Qing and Wang Nizi, stopped studying and went to the backyard to see their vegetable garden which had already been harvested twice. Since it was getting colder and colder, the vegetables were going to freeze soon. The water for the calf and the two sheep was filled with spiritual spring water, so they grew strong and ate a lot. Wang Qing and Wang Nizi knew that their little father bought the sheep so that they could drink milk.

As soon as the two children left, Shao Yunan whispered to Wang Shijing about Wang Zhisong and the others’ visit. Wang Shijing’s expression immediately turned ugly, but Shao Yunan told him to not be angry. “I have made it clear, so if they act stupid, they will die soon. Shijing, you go to Brother Jiang’s tomorrow. Wang Zhisong is not someone we should be afraid of. He might hold the title of child student until he grows old, we are not so stingy. Wang Zaizheng told him thoroughly after all. If brother Jiang does not want to have an enemy in the future, he won’t let him take the exam, so let’s take this as a clean break. I was going to order some things, so you might as well come along. After moving, we have to buy a carriage. It’s too cold and painful to ride on the ox-cart.”

With Shao Yunan’s persuasion, Wang Shijing was no longer upset. Shao Yunan wanted to order several sets of wooden tea trays, as well as packaging boxes, and decanters. He could make tea with the supplies he had, but it must be sold in special packaging, and he must first give some to the two great gods to taste. He should also match an appropriate tea set with it. Shao Yunan had some in the space but couldn’t bear to take it out.

After dinner, the husband and wife entered the space again after the children fell asleep. Wang Shijing asked Shao Yunan who he intended to give the sesame oil and sesame sauce to. This sesame oil was fragrant and the sesame sauce when paired with Shao Yunan’s spicy dish was also absolutely delicious. Shao Yunan said, “Let’s take a look at it first. I don’t think Wang Shuping can afford it, because the Wang clan has so many internal problems. It’s not known if Wang Wenhe can also keep his position as patriarch and to produce this in large quantities, requires some professional tools. Don’t worry. I’ll make two snacks tomorrow night, so call fourth aunt’s family and Wang Zhuanghua’s family over.”

“Alright.” Wang Shijing went to fourth Aunt’s house the next day after breakfast to borrow their ox cart and also told her to come over for dinner that evening. Then he went to see Wang Zhuanghua’s family. When Wang Shijing finally arrived at the town, he first visited Jiang Kangning and after relaying Shao Yunan’s intention, he also agreed to let Wang Zhisong retain his child student status. But Jiang Kangning also bluntly said that he would not recruit an enemy for himself and with Wang Zhisong’s current reputation, his path of studying was already ruined.

The imperial court needed to make some adjustments to the current imperial examinations and should have stricter requirements for the character of students who wanted to take imperial examination and their family background. The students participating in the examinations also needed a letter of recommendation from the local ‘school master,’ that would guarantee that his character was good, had a clean family history, and there were no criminals in the family. If the investigation was not true, not only will the student be imprisoned for three months, he will no longer be allowed to participate in any examination and the local ‘school teacher’ who wrote his recommendation letter would also be implicated and punished.

The emperor wanted to rectify the administration of the officials. Coupled with the current court officials’ dissatisfaction, they came up with these laws. Although the law was too biased, most of the people who had the status of ‘school master’ are knowledgeable and upright scholars, and most of them are from the Imperial College. The emperor also believed in their character, so after adding the recommendation letter barrier, he believed that the people selected by the court to participate in the imperial examinations, were more trustworthy and eliminated future corruption. There were already enough corrupt officials who took bribes and behaved badly.

There were only two people in Yongxiu County with the title of ‘school master.’ One was Dean Cen and the other was the master of White Moon Academy, who was also one of Dean Cen’s students from the Imperial College in the capital. After a few years as an official, he was discouraged by the darkness of officialdom and resigned his posr to return to his hometown to teach.

After returning to his hometown, Dean Cen opened the White Moon Academy and invited him to be a teacher as well as his assistant. Later, Dean Cen stepped down as the dean and this man became dean of the school. The capital later awarded him with the title of ‘School master.’ This title could be awarded only by the Imperial Academy after reviewing all the deans of schools, which was also one of the reasons the Emperor came up with this method. Old Master Weng, who was the dean of the Imperial Academy, was also the emperor’s teacher and if the emperor had a crown prince, he would also probably become the prince’s teacher, which was enough to show the emperor’s trust in him.

This edict has not yet been officially issued, but the news had already spread from the Imperial Academy in the capital, so people like Jiang Kangning had naturally already received the news. As for whether this edict will continue, it was not easy to say, but it seemed that within ten years it wouldn’t change. In the case of Wang Zhisong’s current status and the reputation of the Wang family he definitely wouldn’t be able to receive a recommendation letter from the School master.

In this regard, Wang Shijing didn’t gloat. Even if Shao Yunan did not go to the county school to make a mess, it seemed that Wang Zhisong still wouldn’t have the opportunity to take the imperial examination. If someone wanted to write him a recommendation letter he was bound to do an investigation. He also didn’t believe that Dean Cen and other School masters would allow a person like Wang Zhisong to participate in the examination.

Edited by: Jaisland

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