Xia Jingyun placed his bet and walked back to Feng Xiuyun, "Sir, I have already placed my bet. As I said just now, if you lose, it is mine. I will collect the money to pay you back. If you win, we will split it half and half."
Feng Xiuyun smiled slightly and said, "No, just treat this money as what I gave you, and you don't have to pay it back."
Xia Jingyun didn't say much. He buried a hook here. If he really wins in the future, he will have a reason to give money to the other party openly. Maybe the matter of redress will be settled.
Although she is just a female official in the palace, she is a member of the palace after all. It is not a simple matter to control the local magistrate.
With the five hundred taels as a base, he would have the courage to ask the other party for help.
Xia Jingyun said goodbye and left. Looking at his back, Feng Xiuyun sighed slightly.
She didn't have much money. She relied on the salary and rewards from the palace to save some money. She spent a lot of money on collecting half of the copybooks during this trip, and she only had dozens of taels left. She spent a lot of money on this trip. Twelve.
That's all, just think of it as the money you spent to buy the calligraphy. Speaking of which, I made a profit.
As for the fact that Xia Jingyun could win, she had never thought about it at all.
Not to mention that the odds set by the casino are very particular. How can people win so easily with a small amount of money? In fact, just looking at the names of these participants, it is difficult to think that Wenkui will be left behind. idea.
She had only been here for less than a month, but she had heard so many names on the sign, including Zeng Jimin, the most talented man in Jiang'an County, Lin Feibai, the great-grandson of Mingquan Confucianism, and Zheng Tianyu, the leader, that her ears almost went numb.
The son of a prefect, who is among the best among men, whose literary talent is the best among his peers, who is the number one son of Sishui Prefecture, etc. If there is such a person participating, from his true talent and learning to his background and prestige, this literary leader is his and there is no escape.
Thinking of this, Feng Xiuyun wanted to bet all her remaining money on Zheng Tianyu.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to forget it.
Inexplicably, it felt like he had betrayed Xia Jingyun privately.
...
After successfully signing up and returning home, Xia Jingyun dove into the house and began to sort out all the memories about literature in his mind.
This is not only related to the future life of this big family and the vindication of the crime, but also related to whether he can take that crucial step in restarting his life.
He wants to combine his own accumulation with the classics of this world and summarize something that belongs to him.
Once inside, it takes most of the day.
Fortunately, no one came here to urge him to work. When everyone heard Xia Ning Zhenyi say that he was going to attend a cultural gathering, they were stunned at first, and then felt helpless and distressed.
If it weren't for the fact that the Xia family was targeted by evil people and became sinners, now would be the time for him to prepare for autumn with peace of mind!
"This kid, as we are now, there are adults willing to help us. If we want money or do something else, why not go to some cultural gathering!"
Aunt Xia Zhang was a straight talker, and she accidentally said what was on her mind.
Xia Ningzhen immediately came out to uphold justice and gave her mother a critical blow, "Mom, how can you say that! That is the second brother's own ability. The second brother has rescued us from the labor force. Now we have food, clothing and clothing." My second brother gave me the degree, so what’s wrong with me going to a cultural gathering? How can you be so ungrateful!"
Xia Zhang's ears turned red immediately.
"Go, go! You damn girl, you are trying to make me angry to death, right?"
She stroked her breasts and glared at her daughter, who had grown a traitorous body for no apparent reason, "Go and kill chickens with your brother! Don't be an eyesore here!"
Xia Jingyun's mother, Xia Li, was sitting aside picking vegetables, silent.
Xia Zhang quickly went over to explain, "Brother and sister, I didn't mean that. Don't listen to that damn girl's nonsense."
Xia Li reluctantly said, "Sister-in-law, we don't speak the same language as our family. It'll be fine."
She took a long breath and her eyes were slightly red, "It's nothing else. I just saw that child studying so seriously and diligently, and I felt uncomfortable. You said that our Xia family has always been honest, why did this happen? Disaster!"
Xia Zhang stood up and sat next to her, holding her hand, "Brother and sister, I think that kid from Gaoyang is just idle and interested in this literary society. He is not still thinking about the imperial examination. Don't think too much about it. .Although Gao Yang has become a lot better now, his knowledge and literary talents are still the same. Going to the literary meeting is just to make up for the numbers. Can he really be better than those who are reading? "
Mrs. Xia Li looked at her sister-in-law resentfully and almost cried.
In the evening, Xia Jingyun basically figured it out. His mother, Xia Li, came in with a bowl of chicken soup with chicken legs. Seeing him studying hard and writing hard, she wiped her tears and went out.
Xia Jingyun was stunned for a moment.
...
At night, in another side room, two brothers were sleeping together.
In the darkness, Xia Hengzhi suddenly said, "Brother, after a few more days, I plan to go around the city and see if I can hire a teacher somewhere."
Xia Mingxiong was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized it and said, "Well, that makes sense. After a few more days, I'll go out and see if I can find a job as a housekeeper. With such a big family, it's always difficult to find a job. We can’t put all the burden on juniors and women.”
After saying that, the two people fell silent at the same time.
Both of them are already in their early forties and are no longer young and strong. Finding a job that can support a family is not as easy as they say.
After a while, Xia Mingxiong said softly: "Is Gao Yang really going to attend that literary meeting?"
Xia Hengzhi hummed in a low voice, "Let him go. He has nothing to do if he stays at home. He has been living in poverty for more than ten years and cannot take part in the imperial examination. Having such a literary meeting can be considered as showing what he has learned in his life. Think about it all."
Xia Mingxiong thought for a while, "Yes, he was taught by you, and he has never gone out to seek help from a famous teacher. After attending a cultural gathering and knowing how much he weighed, he just stopped his thoughts, which is not necessarily a bad thing."
"Brother."
"Um?"
"Go to bed early."
...
The next day, Xia Jingyun got up early, washed up slowly, had breakfast, walked out of the door, and headed towards the cultural meeting venue next to the county government office.
Along the way, the sounds of those selling goods along the street could be heard all the time, as if the live broadcast room had augmented reality technology, which made people excited.
As expected, the most persistent frugality is having no money. Xia Jingyun didn't have any other thoughts at all, and walked straight through the chaos and arrived at his destination.
The place that was still a mess yesterday has now been set up and tidied up. A group of soldiers holding swords surrounded an open space and separated the crowd of onlookers.
A high platform was set up at one end, and the floor was paved with red silk, showing the joy and dignity.
There are several desks and chairs on the table, presumably for those famous scholars to sit on, to preside over literary gatherings and judge the merits.
There are viewing platforms on both sides of the venue, with several rows of chairs on each side. These should be reserved for the dignitaries watching the ceremony.
In the middle of the venue, four large tables were gradually placed. In front of each table, there was a chair, as if leading to a high platform required passing these four levels.
Although I don’t know what this is for, I am sure that this is the core place of the cultural conference.
At the opposite end of the high platform, there are rows of long benches. Needless to say, these are for the scholars and students participating in the literary conference, because there are already many scholars standing in twos and threes inside.
Xia Jingyun handed in his registration voucher and was successfully admitted.
When people inside saw an unfamiliar face, someone familiar came forward to chat, "Brother, I live in Xiajiang'an County, Xu Dapeng, whose courtesy name is Boyi. I'm polite here."
Xia Jingyun was still a little unfamiliar with this kind of greeting, so he hesitated and said, "Xia Jingyun from Wanfu County, named Gaoyang, has met Brother Xu."
This name was also unfamiliar, so Xu Dapeng asked: "Which great scholar is Brother Gao Yang studying under now?"
Xia Jingyun smiled and said, "I'm just here to see the world. I can't compare with all the talented people."
He stretched out his hand not to hit the smiling person, but the other person already felt inadequate. Xu Dapeng also said politely: "Everywhere, we are jointly participating in the grand event!"
"Brother Boyi is so humble." Xia Jingyun asked with a smile: "Brother Boyi, what are the activities at this cultural gathering?"
Xu Dapeng's mouth twitched after hearing this, you really came here to see the world, you don't even know this.
"Normally, the cultural gathering is about drinking and ordering, or playing games such as Touhu, Aipu, Shuanglu, etc., but this time it is to participate in a grand event and to congratulate the Empress Dowager De, so naturally there will be no drinking and having fun at the cultural gathering. , have you seen the four tables? They are word puzzles, couplets, calculations, and poetry. The first three levels are all about elegance, and poetry will determine the winner in the end."
"Thank you, brother, for clearing up the confusion."
"Everyone knows this. It's nothing. Just follow me honestly and don't embarrass yourself."
Seeing that Xia Jingyun didn't even understand the most basic things, Xu Dapeng's tone became much more casual.
As he was talking, there was a sudden commotion around him, and many people stood up.
Xia Jingyun turned around and saw an ordinary-looking young scholar walking in. At least one-third of the scholars who had already entered greeted him and saluted respectfully, "Brother Zize!"
Xu Dapeng's expression also changed, "Oh, I'm only here to chat with you."
As he said that, he hurried forward to greet him, "Xu Boyi has met Brother Zize!"
The young scholar returned the greeting gently, and then calmly sat down in the first row.
Xia Jingyun whispered: "Brother Boyi, who is this?"
