The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 940 - 919

Chapter 940: 919

Manbao thought it over and accepted his apology, but dismissed the idea of going for drinks.

She found a shady spot at the base of the wall in the Imperial Academy, standing underneath it to avoid the sun.

Some spectating students lost interest and bid farewell to Feng Zongping and the others, leaving only three behind.

These three also took refuge under the wall; Manbao, tilting her head back, locked eyes with them and asked, "Why aren’t you leaving?"

Feng Zongping smiled and said, "We have nothing else to do, so we might as well keep you company for a while. By the way, you look quite young. Is your Junior Brother even younger? Is he even fourteen?"

Feng Zongping looked at Manbao skeptically; she seemed to be only about twelve or thirteen years old, could her Junior Brother be even younger?

Manbao knew about the rules of the Six Academies, which admitted only students between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, but then she added, "They came to study by the emperor’s decree."

That’s to say, there were no exceptions.

Feng Zongping exclaimed in surprise, "From your accent, you’re not from Chang’an, where are you from?"

Manbao looked at him but remained silent.

With a beaming smile, Feng Zongping proposed, "How about this, I’ll ask you a question and you can ask me one in return. No lies and no saying ’I don’t know.’ If we genuinely don’t know, we’ll substitute it with another question until we get an answer. How does that sound?"

Manbao thought this was a good idea and nodded.

Yun Xinjue and Yi Ziyang looked helpless by the side.

"Where are you from, young lady?"

"I’m from the Jiannan region."

Feng Zongping: ...That answer’s pretty broad, but he figured it out; although she spoke the official language, she was obviously from the Shu area.

"What’s your name?"

Manbao said, "It’s my turn to ask. From all the Confucian classics, which one does the libationer admire the most?"

Feng Zongping replied, "Definitely ’The Analects.’"

Manbao said, "My family name is Zhou, named Zhou Man. Which book does the libationer love to cite the most in terms of ink meanings?"

Feng Zongping thought for a moment and looked at Yun Xinjue.

Yun Xinjue smiled and said, "’The Great Learning’ I suppose, and ’The Analects’ quite often too."

Feng Zongping quickly asked, "What’s your Junior Brother’s name?"

Manbao replied, "Bai Cheng."

Waiting and seeing she wasn’t going to speak again, Feng Zongping asked, "And the other one?"

"Are you asking two questions at once?"

Feng Zongping, feeling a bit thwarted, said, "No, you ask me first."

"How many students do you think among those recruited this time around will actually pass the examination for the Highest Institute?"

Feng Zongping looked at her for a while and said, "Maybe two."

"Including the Junior Brother who is slightly stronger than me?" Manbao said. "You answer my question first."

After a moment of silence, Feng Zongping replied, "Including. What’s your Junior Brother’s father’s name, and what official positions has he held?"

Manbao showed two fingers to indicate that it was two questions.

Feng Zongping nodded and said, "I know. After you can continue asking me another question."

With a mischievous smile, Manbao said, "My Junior Brother’s father is named Bai Li, and he’s never held an official position."

Feng Zongping blinked, realizing her trickery, and pointed at Manbao, saying, "You are quite cunning, aren’t your two Junior Brothers from the same father?"

Manbao laughed at him and asked, "Is that a question?"

"No!" Feng Zongping quickly said. "Never mind, your turn to ask."

"In the summer, when the masters test on poetry and prose, what are their favorite topics?"

Feng Zongping looked at Yi Ziyang, who thought for a moment and then said, "Lotus, and also bamboo and such. Sometimes they just point at a corner of the garden and ask us to compose poetry about it, so there are many topics."

Manbao noted down each answer, and as Feng Zongping was about to ask another question, she stopped him and said, "That’s all, I have no further questions."

Feng Zongping, bursting with inquisitiveness, said, "I just have one last question, and you can ask me one more too."

After thinking briefly, Manbao nodded, "Alright, go ahead."

"Who is your master?"

"Zhuang Xun, styled Junmei," Manbao cheerfully asked, "Are you a descendant of a family from the Ministry of Justice?"

Yun Xinjue and Yi Ziyang also looked at her in surprise.

Feng Zongping asked, "How did you know?"

Manbao didn’t wait for his response, laughing she said, "I have a friend who looks a lot like you; his father used to work at the Ministry of Justice. When you were asking me questions earlier, I thought, ’Could your father be from the Ministry of Justice as well?’ But then I figured, if not the father, the grandfather works too, and what a coincidence, you also have the surname Feng."

Feng Zongping glanced at Yun Xinjue, who had unintentionally revealed his name, and asked, "Who is your friend?"

"You’re like him, always full of questions, but also not like him at all, as he never directly asks me these kinds of questions." Seeing Bai Dalang coming out with a basket of books, Manbao waved at them and said, "I need to go home now, maybe see you again sometime."

Bai Dalang, face blushing, came over and upon seeing Feng Zongping and the others in their Imperial Academy Confucian robes, first bowed respectfully before joining Manbao in the carriage to leave.

"Senior Brother Bai, why is your face so red?"

"It’s from the sun."

"Did you manage to get the scrolls?"

Bai Dalang nodded, pulling out two booklets from the basket and said, "They’re all here."

Manbao flipped through them, her voice charged with excitement, "They’re pretty complete, are you sure they’re authentic?"

"Nobody in the Imperial Academy would forge them, don’t worry."

"How much did one booklet cost?"

"This one, mainly with posted scriptures and ink meanings, five silver taels; this one, with topics on strategy and poetry, ten silver taels."

Manbao’s mouth dropped open, it took her a moment to find her voice, "Senior Brother Bai, these are just handwritten, only the midterm and final exam topics from the past three years, that’s so expensive?"

Bai Dalang nodded.

"I haven’t even asked about the topics for the grand exam."

"I have the grand exam topics from past years; I bought them through connections when I came to the capital for the examination. It also cost me twenty silver taels and includes all the questions from the past ten years."

Manbao marveled, "Making booklets really is profitable."

Bai Dalang agreed, "But these booklets aren’t easy to acquire. Imperial Academy booklets rarely circulate outside the school. At most, some big bookstores have a few copies, but they only secretly sell them to rich students. Ordinary people can’t even inquire about them, let alone buy them."

Bai Dalang was able to buy them initially only because Mr. Zhuang had taken him to meet Mr. Lan. Mr. Lan had given him a letter, which helped him make the purchase through a school official in the capital.

Even though there were no repeated questions in this year’s grand exam, by looking at the previous years’ exam questions, he could roughly know the scope from which the academics drew questions, which books were more frequently cited, and which were less so.

By knowing this, he would be more confident during the exams.

Manbao packed up the booklets and told Bai Dalang, "Senior Brother Bai, when we get back, let’s ask Shanbao and Bai Er for money. There’s also my five silver taels in there."

She had initially thought that preparing five silver taels, along with the silver piece Bai Shan had given her, would be enough. Little did she know the booklets would be so expensive.

Looking at the booklets in her hands, she rolled her eyes and then asked, "Senior Brother Bai, what do you think if I had my nephews copy these booklets to sell, could we make some money?"

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