bestfiction Chapter 203 Youcheng Brothers Enroll
Chapter 203 Youcheng Brothers Enroll
Wen Yuxia spent the morning playing with the children in the leisure town. At noon, she took the children to a snack shop run by the Yang sisters-in-law. The three Yang sisters-in-law all smiled when they saw Nangong Youcheng and his three siblings.
In the afternoon, the children continued to play in the town, riding the train again and again, and the four siblings repeatedly entered and exited the climbing room and maze.
As the sun began to set, Wen Yunjiang, Wen Yunbo, and Wen Yunchen finished their work, and the Yang sisters-in-law closed the shop. Everyone then followed Wen Yuxia and her son back to Gujia Village.
Madam Wen had already prepared a sumptuous dinner, with the table laden with various dishes. Knowing that Madam Yang and the others would be returning with Wen Yuxia, Madam Wen had specially prepared extra food and invited all her children and grandchildren from Gujia Village to come over.
Having not seen her for ten years, Wen Yuxia didn't recognize many of the younger generation in the family. As soon as she entered the courtyard, the younger generation respectfully bowed to her and affectionately called her "Auntie."
Madam Yang pointed to the younger generation and introduced them to Wen Yuxia, pointing out which were her grandchildren, which were Wen Zibai's grandchildren, and the rest were naturally Wen Zihua's grandchildren.
The four siblings, including Nangong Youcheng, stood beside Wen Yuxia, listening attentively to Yang's introduction, regardless of whether they were older or younger than them.
Every time Yang introduced someone, the four siblings would politely address them as "brother," "sister," "younger brother," or "younger sister," and the person being addressed would chuckle foolishly.
Wen Zibai looked at the Wen family's grandchildren with some helplessness, and sighed inwardly. The Wen family's children only knew how to smile foolishly, while the Nangong family's children were so polite.
"Princess, ten years ago you said you would buy land for us in the capital and let us raise enough money to exchange for land deeds. Now, can these lands still be sold to us?"
When the Yang family finally scraped together enough money to go to the capital, Wen Yuxia was traveling. Wen Yunhong admitted that Wen Yuxia hadn't told him about it, saying they would discuss it again when Wen Yuxia returned.
Yang, Wen Zibai, and Wen Zihua all have sons working in the Imperial Guard in the capital. They want to buy the land, build houses, and then move to the capital with their daughters-in-law and grandsons.
After a ten-year wait, Wen Yuxia finally returned. After dinner, at the prompting of her two sisters-in-law, Yang asked the question they were most concerned about.
Wen Yuxia smiled at Madam Yang: "Aunt, I will definitely keep my word. The fertile land will cost fourteen taels of silver per mu, and each family will receive ten taels of silver for the homestead. You will receive the land deed upon payment."
With a beaming smile, Madam Yang said, "Princess, please wait here. We'll go back and get the silver right away." Then, she called to Madam Zhang and Madam Hua, and they ran out of the courtyard.
Back then, Wen Yuxia bought 60 mu of land in Baijia Village on the outskirts of Beijing, of which 54 mu were fertile farmland and 6 mu were residential land.
Ten years ago, a mu of fertile land cost fourteen taels of silver; now it costs twenty taels of silver per mu, and residential land has increased from five taels of silver per mu to ten taels of silver per mu.
Wen Yuxia did not raise the price; she transferred the land to Yang and the others at the original price. After receiving the money for the land, Wen Yuxia, using her handbag as cover, found the land deed and handed it to Yang and the others.
With a faint smile, he said, "Go to the capital and find Yun Hong. Have him take you to transfer the property." Madam Yang and the others took the land deed and nodded in agreement.
Wen Yuxia glanced at the sky, bid farewell to Wen Linshi and the others, and returned to the neighboring courtyard with the children. Not long after, Nangong Wenrui appeared in Wen Yuxia's room.
Nangong Youyu said with a worried look, "I still have to go back to school tonight!" Nangong Wenrui nodded slightly, then waved his hand and threw Nangong Youcheng and his three siblings back to the Nangong family's mansion in the black market.
The next day, after breakfast, Wen Yuxia took the children and left Fancheng. Upon returning to Beijing, she immediately contacted Li Jiating.
Besides helping Xia Yichen manage his business, Li Jiating also works as a teacher at Shengshi Academy. Wen Yuxia sought him out to inquire about the academy's entrance examination dates.
Upon learning that Nangong Youcheng and Nangong Youqi were going to take the academy's entrance exam, Li Jiating waved his hand and said generously, "Why bother with the exam? I'll just write them a letter of recommendation and they can enroll directly!"
To be honest, Li Jiating didn't believe Wen Yuxia's claim that 7-year-old Nangong Youcheng and Nangong Youqi were already well-versed in the Four Books and studying the Five Classics.
But considering Wen Yuxia's title as a princess and Nangong Wenrui's status as a marquis, he was willing to do this favor and send the two children to the academy.
Wen Yuxia smiled faintly and shook her head, saying, "They are both young. If they don't pass the exam, the academy might arouse suspicion from others. Let them take the exam with the other students and enter the academy openly and honestly based on their exam results!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jiating was taken aback. Wen Yuxia's words didn't sound like a polite remark. Eighty percent of the content tested at the academy came from the Four Books. No wonder the Nangong brothers, Youcheng and his brother, were indeed well-versed in the Analects, Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean, just as Wen Yuxia had said.
Soon it was time for Shengshi Academy to open its doors to students. Wen Yuxia asked Nan Yi to register the Nangong Youcheng brothers. Five days later, Wen Yuxia personally took the brothers to the academy to participate in the examination.
Li Jiating was worried that his two children would fail the exam, so he specifically asked the proctor to give him the children's test papers to grade.
After reviewing the two children's exam papers, Li Jiating couldn't wait to take them to the dean's office. The current dean of Shengshi Academy was his father, Li Zhaofeng.
"Father, look," Li Jiating said, handing the exam papers of the Nangong brothers to Li Zhaofeng, his voice tinged with excitement.
Li Zhaofeng calmly glanced at the test paper and said, "Jia Ting, is a test paper of above-average level really worth your excitement?" Li Jia Ting excitedly said, "Father, they are only 7 years old, only 7 years old!"
"What did you say?" Li Zhaofeng was no longer calm.
These two exam papers wouldn't be anything special if they were done by a scholar who had already achieved the rank of Xiucai, but since they were done by a seven-year-old child, they must be taken seriously.
“I said they were only 7 years old,” Li Jiating said with a smile, seeing Li Zhaofeng’s surprised expression.
He told Li Zhaofeng that Nangong Youcheng and Nangong Youqi were the children of Wen Yuxia and Nangong Wenrui.
Wen Yuxia and Nangong Wenrui were both exceptionally intelligent; how could their child not be intelligent? Li Zhaofeng stroked his beard and said, "No wonder they are both so clever."
He personally wrote the admission notices for the Nangong Youcheng brothers and asked Li Jiating to sound out Wen Yuxia's opinion on whether she would allow the two children to become his students.
If the Nangong brothers were to become Li Zhaofeng's disciples, they would be Li Jiating's junior brothers. The thought of Li Jiating being on friendly terms with Nangong Wenrui made Li Jiating quite conflicted, unsure how to bring it up with Wen Yuxia.
A few days later, Wen Yuxia received a letter from a spy sent by Steward Li from Yunyi Tower. The letter said that after Wen Dashan and his group arrived in Xinchuan County, Wen Zhihua's family really did not want to move out of Wen Yunhong's house in Xinghua Village.
Later, Wen Yunhe went to the county town and sought help from the constables. Under their eviction, Wen Zihua's family slunk out of the house.
Grandpa Wen's condition worsened and he was estimated to have little time left. Grandma Wen's mental state was also very poor. Wen Dashan decided to stay in Xinchuan County alone to take care of them.
Upon learning that Wen Yunqing and the others were already on their way back, Wen Yuxia instructed Nan Yi to immediately go to Yunyi Tower to find Zhang Jinxuan and ask him to deliver a message to Steward Li, instructing him to bring Wen Dashan and the old man and his wife back to their residence in the west of the city.