In Love With My Fierce Farming Wife!
Chapter 1219 - 1131: Do you understand the three urgencies?

Chapter 1219: Chapter 1131: Do you understand the three urgencies?

On Imperial Street, people flowed like a woven tapestry, and watchtowers stood symmetrically on either side, with buildings and shops densely packed, making one feel as though still in a dream.

He narrowed his eyes and sank into thought.

He had miscalculated!

The heavier his thoughts became, the more he dragged his hesitant steps, walking up to the carriage. Just as he was about to step into his own carriage, Xue Qian came sprinting from behind.

"Su Brother, wait for your foolish brother!"

Su Ke had just stepped onto the carriage when he heard this, only pausing momentarily before still climbing into the carriage.

The next moment, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Xue Qian, laughing, squeezed his way in.

"Su Brother, you’re headed to our mentor’s place, right? Perfect, our paths align, and we can keep each other company on the way."

Su Ke: "..."

He really hadn’t planned on visiting the mentor’s house; he had wanted to go home to rest.

Yet the Xue Qian at his side clearly thought otherwise; he was still instructing his own page boy, "Send the carriage away, Young Master will return home directly in the evening. If father asks about it, just speak frankly. Understand?"

"Yes, Young Master."

The pages were no longer surprised at their own families’ actions of competing for a ride on the Su Family carriage.

After responding, they drove the carriage away.

The carriage left the Imperial Palace and once on Imperial Street, the carriages and sedan chairs lined up in a long queue ahead; the Tribute Scholars were leaving aboard their family carriages or sedans.

Even those Tribute Scholars from impoverished families, if without carriages, had servants coming to meet them.

For these students who had just passed as Tribute Scholars, according to the current Great Zhou system, they had already set both feet through the gate of becoming Jinshi Scholars. There was no longer a sense of "poor scholarly families."

Even those with destitute family conditions, after winning the examinations, would receive stipends from the Imperial Court and gifts from their clans, not to mention the deliberate currying of favor from well-known scholars and local gentry through monetary gifts, land, and acts such as "Add Fragrance to Red Sleeves."

After winning as Tribute Scholars, their treatment was at least twice as good as that of successful candidates. They were also involved in the rush to curry favor amid factional strife. Anyone who wasn’t too "pretentiously high-minded" could manage to obtain a servant or a carriage. After all, those who could participate in the palace examination were also increasingly endowed with generous gifts from the Imperial Court.

Xue Qian let down the curtain and winked at Su Ke, "How about that, am I not a good brother? I’m risking ’life and limb’ to keep you company; shouldn’t you give some indication of appreciation?"

"Indication? Isn’t it true that certain people just want to avoid work and that’s why they’ve sought refuge in my carriage?"

Su Ke unapologetically exposed his true intentions.

"Heh heh heh, even if you know, you shouldn’t say it. Brother, what does being brothers mean? It surely means sharing wealth and troubles alike, right?" Xue Qian had the resilience of a cockroach.

Su Ke gave him a sideways glance, ordered the coachman to drive, and then closed his eyes without speaking further.

Xue Qian kept praising His Majesty for his sagacity and admitted that he couldn’t restrain himself on the dossier, suggesting many governance proposals in one breath. He talked animatedly for a while until he noticed Su Ke was not in high spirits and out of curiosity asked, "What’s wrong with you? Did you not do well in the palace examination earlier?" After a thought, he added, "That shouldn’t be the case, right? Such simple questions couldn’t have stumped our great talent Su, could they?"

"Stop joking around, I think I messed up the test this time!"

Su Ke sighed, shook his head, and leaned against the carriage, looking somewhat dejected, as if enduring something.

Seeing this, the smile slowly faded from Xue Qian’s face: "Did you really perform poorly?"

"It seems so."

Su Ke hesitated, then nodded slowly. The more he thought about the previous exam questions, the heavier his mood became.

"If I didn’t do well, then I didn’t do well. Since it’s the palace examination, even if I did badly, I won’t fall out of the second class, right?"

Xue Qian patted his shoulder to comfort him, "You! You just put too much pressure on yourself. Anyway, the exams are over now; whether they went well or not, isn’t it all the same?"

It seemed this had been his plan from the start!

Su Ke looked at him with disdain, "Who told you I’m upset because of that?"

"Then what else?"

"Do you not understand what ’Three urgents’ means?"

Su Ke’s complexion seemed to worsen.

Xue Qian was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

He laughed so hard that the originally pale face of Su Ke blushed with a tender pink.

This morning, he had drunk half a bowl too much soup, thinking it wouldn’t be an issue. He had already felt the urge to urinate while answering questions in Jiying Hall but didn’t like how the guards stared at him as if watching a thief whenever he went to the latrine, so he had held it in until now.

Xue Qian kept slapping the cushion beside him with his hand, laughing so hard that he was bending forward and backward, "Oh my! I was wondering why you looked so glum; turns out there was another reason. You’re really killing this young master with your antics! Haha..." Xue Qian laughed.

It wasn’t until he saw Su Ke’s face turn from pink to a pale shade of green that he let out a sneaky chuckle.

Changing the subject, "Anyway, now that the exams are over, why don’t we go to Wentao Pavilion for a bit? We can find a couple of girls to recite poetry with us, it’ll be a good way to unwind. What do you say? Just one word from you, yes or no!"

"No! I’m going back to the estate. I’ve been tired for so many days, it’s time to go back and have a good sleep."

With that, he closed his eyes to rest, paying no mind to the chatter of Xue Qian beside him.

Although Xue Qian was talkative, he was right about one thing; whether the exam went well or not, it was done. It might as well be time to let go and rest thoroughly.

Human effort is the decisive factor, but the final outcome is beyond our control; he had done his best.

Upon returning to the estate, Su Ke didn’t wait for the carriage to come to a complete stop before rushing inside.

Su Lao Si and Mrs. Su-Hua were already waiting in the hall. Upon seeing him return, they hurried over, "Ke’er, you’re back? Are you tired? Mother has prepared some chicken soup for you; take a few sips at least."

Mrs. Su-Hua was supposed to have entered the palace to take care of the pregnant Su Pan’er, but thinking of Su Ke’s need for nourishment during the Spring Imperial Civil Service Examination, Su Pan’er had decided to let Mrs. Su-Hua stay. They would send Mrs. Su-Hua to the palace after Su Ke’s exams were done.

Mrs. Su-Hua hurried out, and then noticing Xue Qian following Su Ke into the hall, she quickly stopped in her tracks.

"What about me? Do I get a share? Uncle Su, Auntie, Xue Qian is bothering your household again!"

Before Su Ke could reply, they heard a hearty laugh and a handsome figure emerged behind them, greeting them with folded hands, "Just now, Xue Qian and Brother Su left the palace gates together, so we came over. Xue Qian is imposing upon you uninvited; I hope Uncle Su and Auntie won’t mind."

Xue Qian acted as if he were quite at home. In front of Su Lao Si, he rarely referred to him as father-in-law but rather as the younger generation would.

Su Lao Si laughed heartily, his eyes narrowing into slits, "It’s Young Master Xue! It’s our fortune that Young Master Xue can visit our home. Su Ke, what are you waiting for? Hurry and invite Young Master Xue in; your mother just made some soup, let’s have a couple of sips together." The latter half of the sentence was addressed to Su Ke.

Su Lao Si was a perceptive man; a mere country bumpkin like himself could hardly match the company of such a handsome young gentleman.

Now that the visitor showed up every other day, was it not because he valued his son Su Ke?

If he shouldn’t be the host, then who should?

Su Ke could hardly hold it in any longer, his physiological need pressing to the brink. Yet, just as he was reaching his limit, these people were still here, making idle chit-chat.