After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 867 Journey

After having the experience of long-distance travel, this trip to Beijing was not so difficult.

The road was fairly flat, and even when it was bumpy, the thick cotton padding in the carriage could help reduce the shock. If things didn't work out, Haitang could change into men's clothes and ride a horse. Like the others, she covered her head, face, neck, and neck with a thin cotton gauze to block the wind and sand, and then used a cloak to cover her body, so that most people couldn't tell she was a girl.

In fact, when she was in Shaanxi, it was okay for her to ride a horse outside in women's clothes, as long as she covered her head and face. However, after entering Shanxi, the local customs became much more conservative. She didn't want to cause trouble, so she wore her brother's old clothes all day. After Shanxi, the closer she got to the capital, the stricter her grandmother Ma controlled her. She even didn't allow her to wear men's clothes and ride a horse. She insisted that she stay in the carriage obediently, and asked Xiangcao to accompany her in the carriage every day. If there was anything that needed to be passed on or delivered, it was left to the maids to run errands. When resting at the post station at night, Ma would remind Haitang to review the etiquette norms she had learned in the past, especially the rules of the capital that Ma Shangyi had mentioned, so as not to make a fool of herself in front of others after arriving in the capital.

As the team got closer to the capital, Haitang could feel the constraints on herself more and more. The etiquette in Chang'an City was much stricter than that in the border town, but she could still bear it. But in the capital, the rules were even stricter than those in Chang'an. She had lived a relaxed and casual life for so many years, and she was actually a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, she had lived in the palace for many years in her previous life, and had served as a nanny for the royal family's noble ladies. Many things were engraved in her mind. Now she picked them up again, and it only took her two or three days to adjust.

Haitang now seems to be no different from when she was in Chang'an, but her words and deeds will not allow anyone in the capital to find any flaws in her.

At least, Chunyu, who had been with Ma Shangyi for many years, did not find any shortcomings in her.

There were not many women in the Jin family's team. Apart from Chunyu, there was only Widow Lu. Widow Lu always felt that she was out of tune with the other people in the group. Although she had worked with Chunyu for several years, they were not close friends. Apart from talking about work, she really didn't know what else she could talk about with him. The little topic of conversation was exhausted a few days after the departure. But if she didn't talk about anything, it would be very embarrassing for her to sit in the carriage and get along with Chunyu face to face all day. Therefore, after a few days, she reported to the master Jin Jiashu and ran to ride in a carriage with the servants of the Hai family. She stayed with people of similar age and status such as Mother Li and Cui Dazhuang's wife, which made it easier to kill time on the road. Several people often chatted and did needlework, and a day passed.

Widow Lu ran away, and Chunyu was sitting alone in the carriage, which inevitably made her feel bored, so she simply went to the Hai family's carriage to chat with Ma. She had been instructed by Ma Shangyi to talk to Ma about the news of officials' families in the capital, so that Ma could understand in advance how the families of middle-level officials in the capital lived and how they socialized. Ma had a clear idea in her mind, and she could quickly adjust after arriving in the capital, saving a lot of time to adapt, and not making any mistakes.

Ma had someone to talk to, so she would call her second daughter-in-law, Hu, to sit in on the conversation. Hu was now also an official's wife, and she would have the opportunity to interact with the families of her husband's colleagues in the future, so she would have to learn from them.

Ma and Hu lived a fulfilling life every day, and Haitang took the opportunity to have some free time. It was not convenient to read or practice calligraphy while riding in a carriage, but she could do some simple needlework. However, for the sake of her eyesight, Haitang did not do this often. When the road was bumpy, she could find an excuse to go out and ride a horse to get some fresh air. When it was not convenient to ride a horse, she had other ways to pass the time.

Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian, three elders, were traveling with Jin Jiashu. How could they miss the opportunity to teach their students? Previously in Chang'an, time was tight and Jin Jiashu had a lot to do, so they had no time to ask about his studies. Now on the way back to Beijing, he had to ride in a car and on a horse all day, and there was nothing else to do except sleep, so they took the opportunity to check his homework. What did he learn in Beijing? Has he made progress in his studies? In the provincial examination last year, he did not get a good ranking because of his lack of literary talent. Has he improved now? Jin Jiashu had no time to lament the hardship of the journey. He was already under great pressure just to deal with the inquiries and tests of the three teachers every day. At this time, his sweetheart Haitang had to show up, adding a lot of pressure to him.

Haitang also studied with the three elders Xie, Cao, and Lu since she was a child. Although she did not need to learn eight-part essays and military strategies, she had read all the books she could read and memorized a lot of good articles. Even though she was not as quick-witted as Jin Jiashu in writing articles, she was better in terms of extensive knowledge and memory. She had read more good poems and articles than him, could quickly find relevant allusions, knew many articles of predecessors, and was slightly better than him in terms of writing and knew how to help him embellish his words.

She claimed that she was not good at writing, but she had a good eye and taste. She could quickly judge whether the topic and words Jin Jiashu came up with were good or not, and if there were any shortcomings, how to modify them. The texts she modified often received praise from Uncle Xie. Although he could always come up with better modification plans, the writing level shown by Haitang alone was enough to make Jin Jiashu ashamed.

He had studied in Beijing for several months and had heard a lot of praise from teachers and elders, but now he realized that he was still far from being as good as he could be. Sister Hai was usually very low-key, and he only knew that she was a well-educated and well-mannered girl, but he didn't know that she was so well-educated.

Several elders thought this was normal. Cao Gengyun also said, "Tangtang has been studying with us since she was a child, along with her brother. She has also listened to lectures by other old students of Wumen when she was young. Naturally, she is not comparable to ordinary girls in the boudoir. It was in recent years that she got older, and her grandmother asked her to learn more about needlework and chores. Even if she wanted to study, she didn't have to work too hard on poetry and articles. She could learn some music, chess, calligraphy and painting. That's why she spent less time on classics and history articles. Otherwise, if she wrote contemporary articles seriously, she wouldn't be much worse than you, and her writing style could be compared with Wu Ke. She is also better in that her words are meaningful, which is much better than Wu Ke's articles full of flowery words. Don't look at her as a girl. If she were a man, she would have passed the provincial examination long ago, and she is more competitive than you brothers!"

Lu Bainian also smiled and nodded. Haitang learned painting from him and was very good at it. He was very satisfied with this student, but it was a pity that she was not a man.

Xie Wenzai stopped his two old friends and turned to Jin Jiashu and said, "Haitang has her own strengths. We tell you this because we hope you will know that learning never ends and there are always people better than you. You should not think that you are a rare talent in the world just because you hear a lot of praise from others. Others may just be complimenting you and not necessarily sincerely. If you want to make further progress in your studies and have a better chance of passing the imperial examinations in the future, you must be more humble and cautious and study hard."

Jin Jiashu nodded solemnly.

How could he dare to be proud and complacent? He did not dare to say that he was the most outstanding among his fellow students, not to mention that he had a lover who was knowledgeable and talented. Sister Hai suffered because she was a girl and could not take the imperial examination. She did not like fame and rarely showed her talents in front of others. Only in front of them, she did she not hide anything.

He had to work harder. If he couldn't even beat Sister Hai, how could he dare to compete with the talented people in the world in the imperial examination? How could he have the confidence to overwhelm others and win fame?
(End of this chapter)