CHAPTER 230: CHAPTER 230: BE A LITTLE MORE RESERVED

In Su Jingchen’s bundle, there shouldn’t be any black clothes. This black outfit must be newly bought by Su Jingchen from a clothing store.

Yu Xiaolian casually praised, "You look really good in black!"

Everyone covered their faces.

You’re a girl, keep it subtle!

They also thought it looked good, but they murmured it in their hearts.

Yu Xiaolian didn’t know that her casual remark made all the girls present blush and lower their heads.

If Yu Xiaolian knew, she would definitely say, "I said it, why are you all blushing?"

She called Su Jingchen, "Come over here, I saved you a sweet potato."

Actually, she thought she could eat two sweet potatoes, but the neatly dressed Su Jingchen was so pleasing to the eye.

Hmm, she is willing to give up a sweet potato for a handsome man.

While munching on a sweet potato, Yu Xiaolian occasionally glanced at Su Jingchen’s profile.

One has to admit, appreciating a handsome man is a delightful thing.

Fourth Uncle Sun called his two sons, "Eldest, Second, you two take turns sleeping, keep an eye on the grains in the carriage and cart. If those beggars sneak back at night and steal our grains, you’ll both be in trouble."

Fifth Uncle Sun also called his two sons, "They can’t stay up all night alone. Daji, Sanji, you two switch with Daling and Erling. They’ll keep watch in the first half of the night, you two in the second half."

"Got it, Dad, just lie down and sleep!"

Sun Daji glanced at his wife, and Sun Daji’s wife immediately arranged the bedding for Fifth Uncle Sun. Actually, it was already laid out; she just smoothed it with her hand to make it look less wrinkled.

Without a pillow, Sun Daji’s wife pulled out a few ragged clothes, skillfully rolled them into a bundle, and used them as a pillow for Fifth Uncle Sun.

It was already pitch dark outside, and the fire roasting the sweet potato was dimming. After Yu Xiaolian and a few kids finished the remaining sweet potatoes, she sent the little ones off to find their moms.

She scooped out the boiled eggs, put them in a wooden tub the Sun family brought, and placed them inside the carriage.

Yu Xiaolian said to Su Jingchen, "Um... can you come out for a bit?"

The two of them stepped out of the dilapidated temple, and Yu Xiaolian took out a bottle of mineral water from her space, "Hold this for me while I wash my hands."

With Su Jingchen’s help, Yu Xiaolian hastily washed up.

After freshening up, Yu Xiaolian heard Sun Daji’s wife calling her, asking Yu Xiaolian to sleep beside her.

Yu Xiaolian didn’t want to sleep on the ground. There was space in all three carriages, so she completely declined Sun Daji’s wife’s kind offer and climbed into one of the carriages.

Yu Xiaolian’s small stature allowed her to lie completely flat, though the carriage, without horses, was severely tilted, making lying down uncomfortable.

"Scholar Su, you sleep here. I’ve already laid it out for you." Sun Manyu’s voice, tinged with shyness, came through the darkness.

The curtain of Yu Xiaolian’s carriage had just dropped when it was lifted again.

In the darkness, Yu Xiaolian peeked out and looked towards the temple.

By the weak remaining light of the charcoal, Yu Xiaolian saw Su Jingchen glance back at her, then say something in a low voice to Sun Manyu before heading her way.

Then Yu Xiaolian saw Su Jingchen walk past her and deftly climb into the carriage next to hers.

Yu Xiaolian let down the curtain and lay back down.

In the darkness, Yu Xiaolian softly sighed.

"Hmm?" Su Jingchen’s lips curled into a smile.

"What are your plans after reaching Luocheng?"

Su Jingchen rested his hands behind his head, smiling teasingly, "Didn’t you say you have a plan to cultivate a powerful minister to lean on in the future?

How about... you support me?"

Yu Xiaolian: "..."

What she meant by ’support’ was casting a wide net, catching many fish, and selecting the best.

It wasn’t the ’raising’ kind of support!

To think that Su Jingchen, a scholar, didn’t understand her true meaning.

Just as Yu Xiaolian was about to explain, Su Jingchen added, "I fear I won’t make it in time for this year’s Autumn Examination."

"You definitely won’t make it."

It’s almost the end of August now, and they’re still on the road. By the time they reach Luocheng, it would probably be mid-September.

Yu Xiaolian remembered from the book that Su Jingchen didn’t make this Autumn Examination either, because at that time, his father Su Dafu died, requiring Su Jingchen to observe mourning for three years, preventing participation in the imperial exams.

Su Jingchen’s voice held a hint of regret, "I’ll have to wait three years then."

"In three more years, you’ll only be sixteen, so why rush? During these three years, you can learn more, read more books, and accumulate more experience, which will benefit your future as an official."

What Yu Xiaolian didn’t tell Su Jingchen was that three years later, due to the internal strife among several princes, the Autumn Examination was not held as scheduled.

She recalled that in the book, Su Jingchen became a top scorer at the age of nineteen, though she wondered whether it would still follow the same trajectory now.

Su Jingchen lowered his voice, "So you say you’re willing to wait for me for three years?"

How does one leap from one topic to another like this?

Who said ancient people were reserved? Isn’t he quite the flirt?

Just when she thought Su Jingchen misunderstood the meaning of ’support,’ it turned out Su Jingchen was teasing her.

He hinted once, she didn’t get it, then he made it more explicit.

Ahem, if she still didn’t get what Su Jingchen meant, she’d be a fool.

Even if she hadn’t seen a pig run, she’d certainly seen pork, right? Surely, her idol dramas and romance novels from her past life weren’t for nothing.

Though she was a late-aged single woman in her past life, she understands the ins and outs of love affairs perfectly.

Su Jingchen has taken a liking to her.

She understands.

But when did Su Jingchen start liking her?

Yu Xiaolian had a slight feeling of glee in her heart but deliberately played dumb, avoiding responding to Su Jingchen’s teasing and instead changed the subject, "Um... did Zheng Yuanfeng take part this year?"

When mentioning Zheng Yuanfeng, Su Jingchen’s expression grew slightly serious, "Shanyue is no longer at the county school."

Shanyue is Zheng Yuanfeng’s courtesy name, usually used between two people familiar enough to refer to each other by such names.

Yu Xiaolian was puzzled, "What happened?"

"Shanyue didn’t tell me, but I guess it might be related to Prince Jin."

Because the time Zheng Yuanfeng withdrew from school coincided with the days Prince Jin stayed at his manor.

Yu Xiaolian said "Oh" as she searched her mind for the details about Zheng Yuanfeng’s story.

She remembered Zheng Yuanfeng did participate in this year’s Autumn Examination, but he made a major mistake in answering the final policy question.

Speaking of the policy questions, they were essentially argumentative essays testing views on politics and social issues, to express governance and peacekeeping ideas.

Most students praised the policies first, then subtly offered suggestions, but Zheng Yuanfeng wasn’t like that; he was critical.

The current laws, regulations, including production and taxation, he saw as full of loopholes and entirely flawed.

The examiners, upon reading his answers, thought this person was too arrogant and brazenly rated his paper the lowest.

Later, Zheng Yuanfeng’s mentor talked to him about the argument and realized Zheng Yuanfeng wasn’t answering wrongly; he wrote deliberately.

His mentor could only suppress the words of encouragement for a comeback in the next year.

Since then, Zheng Yuanfeng focused solely on making money and never took the imperial exams again.

Later, when Jun Yian ascended the throne, the national treasury was utterly drained, and it was Zheng Yuanfeng, using his identity as Young Lord of Shanyue, who donated ten million gold liang to the state treasury, thus averting the new emperor’s crisis.

Yu Xiaolian raised an eyebrow, wondering if by now Zheng Yuanfeng and Jun Yian had already reached some kind of agreement.

"What are you thinking about?" Su Jingchen asked.

Yu Xiaolian replied, "Nothing much, I’m sleepy, let’s sleep!"

"Sweet dreams!"

"Hmm, sweet dreams!"

Taking a quilt from her space, Yu Xiaolian wrapped herself in it, but she didn’t feel like sleeping.

What puzzled her was why Zheng Yuanfeng’s father, who was once a dignified Imperial Physician, ended up as a simple doctor in a small town?