Chapter 1010 - 430: Spring Imperial Examination (Part 2)
The Lian Mansion sent over good news, Lian Tingchao passed the examination, ranked sixty-eighth in the second class. Yueyao looked at the bright red announcement, her expression momentarily dazed. Tingchao also passed as a Palace Graduate, but in the previous life, Tingchao had died young. It’s evident that she has changed the fates of many people. Fortunately, these changes are for the better.
After the Lian family’s good news, the Qiao family’s good news also followed. Ma Linlin’s husband Qiao Wenmao also passed as a Palace Graduate, ranked one hundred and thirty-second in the second class.
Yueyao thought of Li Han, and also Loo Ying’s and Yueying’s husbands who also participated in the examination. She wondered whether they had passed or not.
Xi Yu laughed and said, "Miss, if Young Master Zhang and Young Master Yao pass, they will surely send congratulatory announcements to you."
By evening, someone from the Zhang family came to deliver the good news. Only then did Yueyao learn that Loo Ying’s husband, Zhang Mingcheng, also became a Palace Graduate, although it was a bit regrettable that Zhang Mingcheng entered the third class. Of course, despite the limitations of the future, a third class is still a Palace Graduate. As for Yueying’s husband, Yao Xiuran, he failed, as did Li Han.
Yueyao thought that Li Han was only sixteen this year, and if he took the exam again in three years, he’d only be nineteen, so there was no rush. As for Yao Xiuran, Yueyao didn’t even inquire about him.
With Tingchao becoming a Palace Graduate, the Lian family was preparing to host a grand banquet. No matter what, with Tingli as the Tanhua and Tingyi as the top scorer, now the Lian family had another Palace Graduate. Three brothers as Palace Graduates, what an honor.
Yueyao had just finished her monthly cycle and was preparing to bathe and fast while painting the Picture of Guanyin for Blessing with Children, so she didn’t attend the Lian and Qiao families’ banquets, but merely prepared generous gifts for each.
Yuehuan, less than two months pregnant, definitely wasn’t going to attend. However, this didn’t stop her from preparing a thick gift to have her husband send it back to her maiden home.
The Lian Mansion’s splendor also earned Yuehuan much praise from those in the Qian family. Even the Old Madam of the Qian family praised her for producing talents, and her mother-in-law wished dearly that the child in her belly would inherit her maternal uncles’ brains.
Yuehuan felt a bit embarrassed, the child in her belly was only two months along, and they didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl, but her mother-in-law was adamant that it was a son, putting a lot of pressure on her.
Yuehuan once again heard the Second Madam Qian praising her maiden family’s brothers, and she sighed. Even if her son followed in the footsteps of the brothers and could study, merchants didn’t qualify to participate in the imperial examinations. Previously, Yuehuan didn’t feel much about it, but in the past year or so, she understood the gap between them.
The Lian family’s banquet was lively, and almost all the invited guests showed up.
Nowadays, the relationship between Yueyao and the Lian family was rumored to be improving, but her absence during such a major celebration raised doubts about the authenticity of this rumor.
Zhou Yue, born into the distinguished Zhou family, was full of confidence. Hearing some sour remarks, she smiled and said, "It’s merely a coincidence, my third younger sister has been eating a vegetarian diet and chanting Buddha in these half a month, so she couldn’t come." As long as the relationship was good between the Lian family and Yueyao, others couldn’t slander.
Even if the guests at the Lian family found it confusing, An Zhichen almost got angry when he got home and learned that Yueyao was to eat a vegetarian diet and chant Buddha.
Since the abbot of Zhaohua Temple said that Yueyao previously wanted to become a nun, An Zhichen’s heart had been uneasy. Hearing now that Yueyao was eating a vegetarian diet and chanting Buddha, he couldn’t rest easy. Furthermore, Yueyao planned not to stay in the same room as An Zhichen for the next half month but move to the side room to sleep, which made An Zhichen feel more collapsed inside.
Yueyao, seeing An Zhichen’s displeased face, smiled and explained it to him.
An Zhichen suspiciously asked, "You’re not lying to me? Is your Picture of Guanyin for Blessing with Children really that effective?" An Zhichen wondered, if it was so effective, why didn’t she paint it earlier, but waited until now?
Yueyao always believed that there should be honesty between husband and wife, so she didn’t hide it from An Zhichen and expressed her previous thoughts: "Mingzhu said it’s quite effective, and I wanted to give it a try." Their bodies were fine, but after half a year without any children, she hadn’t been in a hurry, but seeing An Zhichen anxious, some of that anxiety rubbed off on her.
An Zhichen, half-believing and half-doubting, said, "So it really is to paint the Picture of Guanyin for Blessing with Children?"
Yueyao asked, "Why do you say that?"
An Zhichen didn’t have the courage to say that he was worried Yueyao might become obsessed with eating a vegetarian diet and chanting Buddha, eventually wanting to become a nun. He only hesitantly expressed that he didn’t want her to move to the side room to sleep.
Yueyao looked at An Zhichen, not saying a word.
An Zhichen, feeling pressured, asked after some consideration, "Zichang, the abbot of Zhaohua Temple said you once thought of becoming a nun? Zichang, this isn’t true, is it?"