Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 377 Before Leaving and "You Who Have Free Time" [Thank you! Goodbye! I owe you words]

After speaking,
Xu Zaijing bid farewell to the Queen and left the palace under Zhao Fang's reluctant gaze.

Xu Zaijing was on his way home.

East of the Imperial City
Huihefang

Lian Guogong Mansion, Lu Family

Inner Courtyard,
There were bright yellow candles lit in the room.
Mrs. Li, the head of the Lu family, was sitting on the embroidery cushion with a smile on her face. She was holding an unfinished inner garment in her hand. When she was about to continue threading the needle, the maid beside her said:
"Madam, please stop it. It hurts your eyes when it's dark!"

Mrs. Li smiled and said, "It's okay, just these few injections."

After saying that, she glanced at Lu Zezong who was exercising with two small stone locks in the open space of the room and said, "Zong'er, take a break!"

"Mom, I can't rest until I have lifted thirty!"

At this time, a maid came in from outside, bowed and said, "Madam, the front yard said that an eunuch from the palace has come. The Duke and his wife invite you to come over!"

"it is good!"

As she spoke, Madam Li put down the things in her hands, signaled the maid in the room to keep an eye on Lu Zezong, then stood up and walked out.

When Madam Li arrived at the reception hall in the front yard, the eunuch had already left.

Duke Lian motioned for Madam Li to sit down and said, "Just now, the eunuchs conveyed the emperor's oral order, saying that Zong Ge'er's sworn brother may go to the Marquis of Yongyi in a few days and will need a lot of feather arrows. Now your brother from your mother's family is in charge of the arrow-making department of the Ministry of Works, so let him select some of the best feather arrows for preparation."

Although Mrs. Li was confused, she still nodded.

Duke Lian looked at Madam Li's expression and said solemnly, "Don't think too much. If Your Majesty directly issues an order to the Ministry of Works, it would seem like a fuss over nothing. It would be too serious and would not sound good if it were spread out!"

"Yes, daughter-in-law understands! What about the details?"

Duke Lian pondered for a moment and said, "Xu's brother is going to the north, so we should have more inch-gold chisel arrows and awl-shaped armor-piercing arrows!"

Madam Li said, "Yes, father! I will send a message to my parents' home right away! When will Xu's Wulang go? I will ask Zong Ge'er to see him off!"

Lord Lian said, "The eunuchs didn't mention this matter. I'll ask Zong Ge'er to ask about it in the next two days."

"Yes!"

later,
A steward from the Lu family went to the Li family with a letter from Madam Li.

The Bian Jing Arrow Factory was very busy that night.

at night,

Yong Yi Hou Mansion,

In the wooden house next to the racecourse,

Xu Zaijing's master Yin Bo was sitting under two candles, concentrating on checking the arrows in the quiver with his one eye.

After putting the defective arrows aside and putting the neatly feathered arrows back into the quiver, he moved his lame leg and picked up Xu Zaijing's armor.

Under the candlelight, Yin Bo carefully looked at the armor plates on the armor to see if there were any damages on the ropes that tied the armor plates.

When Yin Bo untied the ropes on the handles of a pair of steel maces, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the door.

After a moment, Xu Zaijing pushed the door open and walked in:

"Master!"

"How is it? Did you get the approval?"

"His Majesty said to let the Queen make the decision. The Queen didn't make a decision today, but only said that Mother will be allowed to enter the palace tomorrow!"

Yin Bo nodded and said, "Since the Madam has agreed to your entering the palace, the rest will naturally be agreed to as well!"

"Master said so!"

"Go!"

After Xu Zaijing left the wooden house, Yin Bo began to carefully wind the rope.

On the first day after the college entrance examination,
early in the morning,
After exercising, Xu Zaijing went to his mother's yard to have breakfast.

at the dinner table,
Zai Zhang wanted to say something several times, but was silenced by Sun's eyes every time.

after breakfast,
Xu Zaijing and his brother went to Sheng's house.

Sun asked Zhu Mama to comb her hair again, put on formal clothes, and then took a carriage to the gate of the palace.

Royal Palace
In the Queen's Palace,

The princess, who was less than two years old, was lying on the couch in a daze, feeling a little sleepy due to her full meal.

The Queen Mother, sitting beside the bed, felt her heart melt when she saw her daughter's long eyelashes as she slept.

At this time, the personal female official walked aside quietly and whispered:
"My lady, the wife of Marquis Yongyi has arrived!"

The Queen Mother took another look at her daughter, then stood up and walked to the outer room.

"Your Majesty, the Queen!"

"Thank you for being so polite, madam. Please sit down!"

"Thank you, empress!"

Looking at Madam Sun sitting on a chair beside her, the Queen was silent for a moment and then said, "Madam, Jing'er wants to go to Marquis Yongyi. Have you heard about this?"

Sun bowed slightly: "Your Majesty, I have already told you!"

The Queen sighed, "Alas! I have watched Jing'er grow up, and we have a special bond. He said he wanted to go to the northwest, but there are no mercy on the battlefield, and I don't agree!"

Sun nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right. I had the same idea as your Majesty at the beginning."

"But he is a child of a military family after all. He has practiced martial arts diligently since he was young and has developed some skills! The college entrance examination is over. He wants to do his part for the Great Zhou and share his father's worries, but I cannot stop him."

The Queen nodded and said, "Okay! Since the Madam said so, I will tell His Majesty about this!"

Sun forced a smile.

The Queen continued, "But, I also need to set some rules for Jing-ge'er and assign him more people!"

"Let the He family boy come to the palace gate!"

"Yes, madam!"

After the female official responded, the other female officials lifted a screen and placed it at the door.

Seeing Sun's puzzled look, the Queen said, "He is a child from our Bianjing, and has some connection with the Cao family! He is two years older than Jing'er, and he has real skills!"

Sun blinked.

after awhile,

At the entrance of the hall, a tall and long-armed young man stopped behind the screen.

Perhaps someone had reminded him, the young man bowed and said, "I am He Guan, your humble servant, and I greet Her Majesty the Queen, the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi!"

"Be flat!"

"Thank you, empress!"

"Brother Guan, in two days, the fifth son of the Xu family will go to serve under the command of Marquis Yongyi. You must stay by his side and protect him. Remember this!"

"Your Majesty, I will keep this in mind!"

"Okay! When the wife of Marquis Yongyi returns home, you can go with her to see Brother Jing!"

He Guan outside the door bowed and responded, then was led out of the palace by the palace maid.

After Sun and the Queen said a few more words about setting some rules for Xu Zaijing, they stood up and said goodbye.

As soon as I came out of the Queen's Palace, I saw Madam Chai and Chai Zhengzheng walking towards me.

After approaching, Chai Zhengzheng smiled and bowed in a very standard way, saying, "Good morning, madam!"

Sun smiled and nodded in greeting.

Mrs. Chai, who was standing by, smiled and said, "Madam, what are you doing?"

"My queen told me something!"

"Oh! By the way, how did Jing-ge feel after his college entrance examination?"

"It is said that the scholar talked about it, and it feels good to read it."

Chai Zhengzheng, who was listening on the side, had a smile in his eyes.

Madam Chai nodded happily: "That's good, that's good! I'll go have tea with the lady when I'm free!"

With that, the three of them separated.

Arriving outside the palace gate,
Sun met the 'bodyguard' that the Queen 'introduced' to her youngest son: a very strong young man.

Around 6:00 PM

Moriya
After school time,

After everyone bowed to express their gratitude, Zhuang Xuejiu walked out leisurely, fanning himself.

Xu Zaijing and Yun Xiang, who were standing at the back of the crowd, gestured and then quickly chased after them under the curious gazes of Gu Tingye, Changbai and others.

On the path leading to the courtyard of the institute,
In front of the Moon Gate, beside the bamboo forest

"pedant!"

Zhuang Xuejiu turned around and looked at Xu Zaijing who had caught up with him: "Zaijing? What's wrong?"

Xu Zaijing bowed slightly and said, "Scholar, I will come back in two days."

Listening to Xu Zaijing's words, Zhuang Xuejiu slowly stroked his beard.

After Xu Zaijing finished speaking, Zhuang Xuejiu let out a long breath and said solemnly:
"Zai Jing, I have heard from Lao Gu (the prefect of Kaifeng) about what you did in Bian Jing before, and I know that you are a capable person!"

Xu Zaijing bowed and said, "Scholar, thank you for your compliment!"

Zhuang Xuejiao waved his fan to indicate that he had not praised the wrong person, and continued:
"You have a heart to serve your country, so I shouldn't stop you. But! With this incident, you will miss two months out of the past six months, or even more!"

"Next year is the provincial examination. Have you ever thought that you might fail?"

Xu Zaijing nodded to indicate that he had thought about it.

Zhuang Xuejiu looked at Xu Zaijing and shook his head helplessly. After thinking for a while, he said, "Come to the academy tomorrow and I will give you 30 questions. If you can't finish these questions when you come back, don't come to me!"

"Yes! Thank you, Xuejiu!"

Zhuang Xuejiu looked at Xu Zaijing with his hands behind his back and said earnestly: "Swords have no eyes on the battlefield, protect yourself!"

"Yes, pedant!"

Looking at the scholar turning and leaving, Xu Zaijing bowed again.

When I returned to the school,
The three Lans had already walked out of the school and were looking curiously at Xu Zaijing at the intersection.

After seeing Xu Zaijing coming out, the three Lans hurried towards the inner courtyard.

Yong Yi Hou Mansion
Racecourse,
A fine horse was tied to a wooden fence, and from time to time it neighed at the little black colt in the field.

The horse had a complete saddle and bridle on its back, and a strong bow was inserted in the hanging bow bag.

On both sides of the saddle were two large tubes full of feather arrows. The owner of the horse, He Guan, was walking slowly in the field.

From time to time, he looked at the two dragon horses and the little black horse in the court with envy.

Then he would look at the target placed nearby.

He is similar to Xu Zaijing. He practices martial arts diligently and is not an ignorant person.

He Guan looked at the marks on the target and smacked his lips. When he walked to Yin Bo's side of the wooden house, he bowed and said, "Old man, can I see Jing'er's bow and arrow?"

Yin Bo stood up and nodded, then opened the wooden house behind him and said hoarsely:

"Mr. He, please!"

He Guan bowed slightly and walked in.

Looking at the long steel spear placed horizontally on the table in the most conspicuous position in the wooden house, He Guan slowly walked over.

He first tilted his head to look at the luster of the spear blade, then he let out a sip. Then He Guan leaned in front of the spear blade and sniffed it. He raised his eyebrows and thought to himself: This matter doesn't seem to be as difficult as I imagined.

It's getting dark
After supper
Chai family
Qiushengyuan,
"Girl? Girl?"

Hearing Yunmu's shout, Chai Zhengzheng woke up from his distraction and asked, "Ah? What happened?"

"Girl, it's time to look at the next page!"

"Oh!"

Looking at the messy account book, Chai Zhengzheng closed it irritably, put down the brush, and said, "Forget it, I'll look at it tomorrow!"

"Yes, girl!"

As he spoke, Yunmu reached out to pick up the account book on the table, then walked out with it in his arms.

Yunmu came to the outer room and looked through the beaded curtain at his own girl who was resting her chin on one hand and was lost in thought again. He asked Zi Teng beside him, "What happened to the girl tonight?"

Zi Teng shook her head and said, "I don't know. It became like this after the young lady and the lady came back from the palace!"

After putting the account books away,

When Yunmu and Fuyi were about to go to the inner room to make the bed for their daughter,

The maid outside the room lifted the delicate bamboo curtain and walked in, bowed and said:

"My two sisters, the housekeeper in the front yard has sent a message saying that the fifth daughter of the Duke of England Zhang family has invited our daughter to taste tea at Beishan Teahouse on Jiucaomen Street tomorrow."

"Wait a moment, sister. I will tell the young lady right away!"

Having said that, Yunmu walked inside.

Chai Zhengzheng, who was still listening to Yunmu's words, suddenly sat up straight: "Wu Niang? Is her elder brother under the command of Marquis Yongyi?"

Yunmu thought for a while and nodded, "Yes girl!"

"Go! You must go tomorrow!"

On the second day after the college entrance examination,
On the old Caomen Street,
Beishan Tea House,

Private room on the second floor.

Zhang Jia Wu Niang sniffed the tea in the teacup and nodded approvingly:

"I heard from Miss Feiyan before that the new tea from this teahouse smells delicious. I tried it today and it's true! Zhengzheng, what do you think?"

Chai Zhengzheng nodded in agreement.

The two chatted about Bianjing's gossip for a while, and Chai Zhengzheng put down his teacup and said, "By the way! When I entered the palace yesterday, I heard that Xu's Wulang was going to serve under Marquis Yongyi!"

Wu Niang: "Ah? Could it be that Brother Jing is not going to take the imperial examination?"

Chai Zhengzheng said uncertainly: "I haven't heard of it. It's about the imperial examination, right?"

Wu Niang: “Oh!”

Chai Zhengzheng waited for a while, and seeing Wu Niang had no further words, he could only say, "Wu Niang, isn't your eldest brother also under the command of Marquis Yongyi? If Xu's Wu Lang goes there, wouldn't he be able to help you take the things over?"

Wu Niang's eyes lit up: "Huh? Yes! I wonder if Brother Jing will pass by Taiyuan Prefecture. If he does, he can bring some things for Chaoyun!"

Chai Zhengzheng: "How about we go and ask?"

"Let's go! Unfortunately, Brother Jing will definitely not pass by Brother Xiao's place! Alas!"

Wu Niang stood up and walked downstairs with Chai Zhengzheng.

The two ladies came to Quyuan Street in a carriage.

Before entering the Xu family's gate, I heard some noisy sounds in the yard.

Wu Niang lifted the curtain and saw several carriages with awnings in the Xu family yard: "Brother Jing, are you going to the northwest or moving? Why are there so many carriages?"

Chai Zhengzheng took a look and said, "It may be a relative of the Sun family or the Zhu family. We should also prepare something for Xu Jia Wulang to take with him!"

Wu Niang nodded: "Zheng Zheng is right!"

Afterwards, after the carriage entered the mansion, Chai Zhengzheng and Wu Niang walked through the somewhat busy courtyard and arrived at the mistress's courtyard together.

After seeing Sun, Wu Niang smiled and bowed: "Madam, we are here to trouble you!"

Sun said with a smile: "What are you talking about, Wu Niang! Come, Wu Niang, Zheng Zheng, come and sit down!"

As soon as they sat down, Xie came over with a piece of fur in her arms, saying, "Mother-in-law, look at this fur. Oh! Wu Niang and Zheng Zheng are here!"

Sun said, "Take it to Zaiduan!"

Xie responded, smiled at the two girls and left.

When Wu Niang was about to speak, Hua Lan held a piece of fabric in her hand and said, "Mother-in-law, look at this fabric and make a new quilt cover. Hello, Wu Niang, hello, Miss Zheng Zheng!"

Wu Niang and Zheng Zheng hurriedly stood up and bowed: "Hello, Sister Hualan!"

Sun said: "Then we have to ask the maids to hurry up!"

"Yes, mother-in-law!"

Wu Niang and Zheng Zheng looked at each other awkwardly. It seemed that the two of them came at the wrong time.
Afterwards, Wu Niang quickly got to the point and found out that it was the day after tomorrow morning. Then she took Chai Zhengzheng's hand and ran away from Xu's house.

The third day after the college entrance examination

East Gate of the Imperial Palace
Donghuamen

He Guan walked out with Xu Zaijing.

Behind the two men were three carriages full of arrows.

"Wu Lang, please remember the three rules set by the Queen!"

Xu Zaijing nodded: "Brother He, remember this! First, don't fight recklessly just because you have a good mount; second, don't get close if you can use a bow and arrow; third, protect yourself first before you make any contribution."

He Guan smiled and said, "Just remember it clearly!"

Looking at the imperial guard sergeant who was bowing in the doorway, He Guan asked casually, "Where is Rong Xian?"

"Return to the level, Rong family's Erlang is taking a day off today!"

He Guan nodded.

When they reached the Donghua Gate, Xu Zaijing rode on the little black horse and said, "Brother He, shall we meet tomorrow morning?"

"it is good!"

After saying this, the two separated.

Xu Zaijing looked at Qingyun who was waiting beside him with a happy face and said with a smile: "Qingyun, how is it, did I pass the college entrance examination?"

Qingyun bowed and smiled, "Sir, I passed! Eleventh place!"

"Where are my brother and Changbai?"

"Brother Bo is seventh, Brother Ye is thirteenth, the Third Young Master is fifteenth, the Young Master is twentieth, and Brother Feng is twenty-ninth, and he almost didn't make it!"

Xu Zaijing smiled and nodded.

Rong family
Return to Snowyuan

Rong Feiyan sat in front of the embroidery frame, threading the needle and embroidering something.

The maid walked over hurriedly with small steps.

Seeing Xi Bu, Rong Feiyan smiled and said, "How is it, did he pass?"

Xi Bu squatted down in front of Rong Feiyan and said hurriedly: "Miss, of course you passed, you are the eleventh one!"

Rong Feiyan smiled and nodded. With a smile on her lips, she lowered her head and threaded the needle faster.

Xi Bu said hurriedly: "Girl! There is one more thing!"

Rong Feiyan looked over with a smile: "What's the matter?"

"When I went to the Hai family, Miss Chaoyun's sister Zhujian said that she couldn't go to Miss Zhengzheng's shop to listen to the pipa as agreed the next day. She said she wanted to see off Xu's fifth son!"

"What? See you off? Hiss!"

Rong Feiyan quickly retracted the finger that was pricked by the needle, then put it in her mouth and looked at Xibu with an urging look in her eyes.

At dinner time,
The Rong family's eldest lady glared and asked, "Yan'er, are you going to Ansu Gate tomorrow morning?"

Rong Feiyan nodded and said, "Let's go enjoy the autumn scenery and then go to the seed garden to collect some dew!"

Madam Rong curled her lips and said, "You are so free! If you want to go, go!"

Early on the fourth day,
Huihefang West,

There is a constant rumbling of cars on Yanglou Street, which runs north and south.

In the Chai family carriage,
Yunmu lifted the curtain and looked at the lantern on the carriage not far ahead, saying, "Miss, it's the Rong family's carriage!"

As he spoke, the Rong family's carriage slowed down.

When the two cars were side by side, Xi Bu lifted the car curtain and asked, "Excuse me, is this Miss Chai?"

Yunmu replied, "Yes! Sister Xibu, is Miss Feiyan in the car?"

Afterwards, Rong Feiyan and Chai Zhengzheng appeared in the carriage window.

"Miss Feiyan, where are you going?"

"Sister Zheng Zheng, I'm going to Ansu Gate and picking some dew from the breeding garden. What about you?"

"I am also going to Ansumen to accompany Wu Niang to see someone off."

On the fifth day,
Shengjia Book School,

Minglan, who was sitting in the last row, looked at the empty desk of her cousin on her right.

Xiao Tao, who was standing behind Chang Feng, was also looking at the wooden platform beside her, where neither Sister Qing Cao, nor Sister Hua Xiang or Sister Yun Xiang were standing.

The master and servant both sighed.

(End of this chapter)