The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 532 - 521: Going Out

Chapter 532: Chapter 521: Going Out

Mr. Zhuang turned around and saw Bai Shan with a distressed expression. He shook his head, lightly tapped Bai Shan’s head with a book, and chuckled, "If you can’t absorb your learning, take a rest. Fretting like this troubles both yourself and the book."

Bai Shan said worriedly, "Teacher, do we really have to take the examination at the prefectural school this year? I feel I can delay it by a year."

Mr. Zhuang smiled, "This year you’ll just try it out. It doesn’t matter if you don’t pass. You can try again next year. Besides, you should go out and see the world. Always staying in Qili Village with your mentor to study isn’t good either."

Manbao was very eager to go out. Ever since she knew they could go to Yizhou Prefecture, she had already promised Keke a lot of things, such as digging up plants, picking flowers, catching bugs, touching fish—she wanted to find everything she hadn’t collected before.

So she comforted Bai Shan, "Shanbao, don’t be nervous. We’ll all be with you. If you get tired, should I play the flute for you?"

"Better not," Bai Shan shivered and said, "I should keep reading."

Manbao felt a sense of regret.

"Right, I’m going to sit for the prefectural school exams, so you can’t use my nickname when we’re outside."

"I know, I know," Manbao replied impatiently, "You’ve said it several times. I won’t call you by your nickname, and you can’t call me by mine. By the way, isn’t Lord Yang supposed to write you a recommendation letter? Have you gotten it yet?"

"I’ve already got it back."

The recommendation letter from Yang Heshu to the school officials of the prefectural school meant that with it, Bai Shanbao could take part in the examination directly, without having to go through layer upon layer of endorsement by school officials.

Each county magistrate had some quotas for recommendations. Those could be considered both precious and unremarkable—hard to come by, yet not so hard to come by.

In fact, the most valuable privilege in the hands of a county magistrate was the direct nomination slot for the prefectural school. With this slot, students could enter the prefectural school without taking exams.

Initially, this was the quota Yang Heshu had promised to give Bai Shanbao.

However, each county magistrate had only one such quota, so many were reluctant to use it easily.

Generally, if a county magistrate offered this quota, the recipient was either talented, wealthy, or a relative.

Yang Heshu was single and hence had no sons. As for being wealthy, he hadn’t been seen short of money so far, so his quota had always been unused.

With Yang Heshu’s recommendation letter, Bai Shanbao could not only take the exam directly but should also receive some care when he arrived at the prefectural school in Yizhou.

It had just passed the third day of the third month—the time of busy spring farming—when Mr. Zhuang led his three disciples on their way.

Old Madam Liu and Old Master Bai provided a horse carriage each, driven by Zhou SiLang and Daji respectively.

Mr. Zhuang declined their offer of servants, having planned that no matter the outcome of the examination, he wanted to take his disciples on a tour, and such matters as food, clothing, lodging, and transportation should ideally be handled by them firsthand.

Indeed, handled by them firsthand.

For Mr. Zhuang, who considered himself no longer young, when a mentor had tasks at hand, naturally, it was the disciples’ duty to undertake the labor.

The prefectural school exams were in April, and Luojiang County was only a day’s journey from Yizhou Prefecture. If they feared the carriage would be slow and left at dawn, they could arrive before the city gates closed at night.

But would Mr. Zhuang rush?

He set out a month early so as not to rush. Moreover, he deliberately took a long detour. After leaving Luojiang County, they headed north first, then circled west, and from there south towards Yizhou, turning a one-day trip into who knows how many days.

The reason for saying ’who knows’ was because on the third day after they set out, they had to ask passing travelers where they were.

After all, the three children, Zhou SiLang, and even Daji didn’t recognize the way. Daji would have known but didn’t speak unless asked by his masters, and Mr. Zhuang, even when asked, would not tell, instead urging them to ask the travelers on the road themselves.

But this official road was in disrepair, where would they find travelers?

After walking a good distance, they barely discerned some smoke ahead. Bai Shanbao immediately stood on the shaft, grasping the roof of the carriage to look ahead, and upon confirming it was cooking smoke, shouted, "There’s a household ahead!"

Bai Erlang, who was barely hanging on and parched, immediately crawled out of the carriage and also attempted to stand.

Manbao climbed out as well and, seeing him wobble, said, "Alright, alright, don’t stand up. What if you fall?"

The carriage driver, Zhou SiLang, nodded repeatedly, "Exactly, exactly, Second Young Master, you must stand firmly. If you fall, I don’t have Daji’s skills to protect you."

Bai Erlang then sat down on the shaft, saying, "Who would fall? I’m just fine."

Both Daji and Mr. Zhuang in front secretly breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that Zhou SiLang had come along, for managing three chatterboxes was truly too noisy.

Since the three of them had come out, they might as well not go back inside the carriage. They just squeezed onto the shaft and chattered away.

The problem was Zhou SiLang was also quite talkative. He shuffled a bit, made room for them, and joined in their chatty conversation.

The official road was lined with shady green trees on both sides, obscuring the view. They could only see the smoke rising halfway into the sky, thinking the destination was still far away, but who knew that there was a turn ahead, and after that, they saw a teahouse when they advanced a bit further—the source of the smoke they had seen before.

Not only the four people in the horse carriage behind them, but also Daji and Mr. Zhuang in front were also relieved. It was already past lunchtime, and without finding a place to rest, they would have had to search the nearby woods for a water source.

The two carriages stopped outside the teahouse, and a young fellow dressed like a helper ran up to lead their horses, asking with a smiling face, "Would the guests like to feed the horses?"

Daji jumped down and nodded, "Give them two buckets of medium-quality fodder."

"Yes."

Daji helped Mr. Zhuang down from the carriage, while the three disciples had already bounced down and ran up to support Mr. Zhuang.

After sitting for so long, Mr. Zhuang’s legs were indeed a bit numb, so he extended his hand for them to assist him.

As they walked forward a few steps, they realized the teahouse was quite crowded with people dressed like farmers, as well as others who, like them, seemed to be just passing through.

Manbao glanced at their carriage and noticed the young helper had already pulled it to the side, then unhitched the horses and led them to the left where five tall, large horses were standing.

Manbao secretly marveled, feeling certain that the group sitting at one table must be very wealthy. The horses looked fine, and there were five of them.

Even the wealthy Bai family owned only three horses.

The four disciples entered the teahouse, smiled, and nodded as a greeting to the people sitting inside, then found an empty table to sit down.

Daji went to see the horses, while Zhou SiLang ran off to find the innkeeper, asking, "What food do you serve here?"