Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 436 Retreat

Under the persuasion of his mother, Lu Xu walked out of the city and arrived at the gate of Qingfeng Temple.

Looking at the open, old gate of the Taoist temple, he made his last struggle, "Mom, let's go back. We can't believe these fictitious things."

Mother Lu glared at him: "You are so old, how can you speak without knowing the occasion? Can you say such nonsense in front of the gods and Buddhas? What if you anger the Heavenly Lord and he doesn't help you resolve it?"

"You can get angry over just one sentence. How can a god be like that? These are just tricks used by liars to fool people. Don't believe them. Instead of spending this time, I might as well go back to the academy and read more books." Lu Xu was speechless.

His words frightened Mother Lu, and she quickly put her hands together and bowed, saying repeatedly: "Master Tianzun, the young man is ignorant, you can't argue with him..."

"Don't worry, the Heavenly Venerable has profound Taoism and is detached from the world. He will not care about the words of the younger generation." As the voice was spoken, an old Taoist wearing a half-new green Taoist robe and holding a whisk appeared at the door.

Mother Lu hurried forward and asked, "You must be Taoist Master Yuanrong, right? I've heard that you have profound Taoist skills and have always wanted to come and pay your respects, but I'm very busy every day and don't have the time."

Taoist Master Yuanrong stroked his beard and smiled, "It is I, the old Taoist. Are you two here to burn incense?"

"Uh, come on, come on!" Mother Lu nodded repeatedly, dragging Lu Xu inside and saying, "There's one more thing I need to trouble you with. My son's hands and feet become weak and he can't stop shaking whenever he takes the college entrance examination. Could you please take a look and see if there's an evil spirit harming him?"

Taoist Master Yuanrong flicked his whisk and stared at the reluctant Lu Xu for a while. His brows suddenly frowned, and he tilted his head to a different angle, continuing to examine Lu Xu, while the hand that was not holding the whisk began to calculate.

Mother Lu was so nervous that she couldn't help but hold her breath. Suddenly, she saw him turn his head to look at her, frowning even tighter. Mother Lu's heart tightened even more, "Master, did you see anything?"

Taoist Master Yuanrong pinched his beard, pondered for a while, and asked in a deep voice: "What is your birth date..."

*

The afterglow of the setting sun slanted in through the window, casting orange spots of light on the table. After seeing off the last patient, Song Ying stood up and shook his neck. It was finally time to get off work!

She went to the pharmacy and completed the inventory with Lin Wenxuan before leaving.

As soon as I came out of the alley, I saw Yuan Qing and Shen Jing coming from the other side of Yandian Street. Yuan Qing was holding a small cloth bag in his hand.

Song Ying was extremely surprised. "Why are you two here? Isn't today the day for the exam? Oh, yes, you should have finished your exams by now, but don't you still have to take the third and fourth exams? How come you have the time to wander over here?"

The second round of the county examination is also called the first round.

Yuan Qing raised the cloth bag in his hand and shook it. "I came here to buy some candy. I was just about to come find you. I'll have to leave the candy with you. Please tell my family to come to the city to pick it up."

"Ah?" Song Ying looked puzzled.

Shen Jing explained with envy and jealousy: "He was selected by County Magistrate Chen in class, so he doesn't have to take the exam again."

Song Ying was stunned for a moment before he realized that the candies were bought to be distributed to those who came to congratulate. Given the financial resources of the Yuan family, they naturally couldn't afford to spend so much money. They could only give out some candies to let everyone share in the joy and have some fun.

"Congratulations!" Although Song Ying knew that Yuan Qing had passed the exam, he was still very happy when he got the definite answer.

Yuan Qing was also happy from the bottom of his heart. He handed over the bag with a faint smile and said, "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome. We're all fellow villagers. Wait a moment, I'll take him to the clinic." The villagers from North Street didn't go there often, so they just took him to the clinic and found someone familiar to take the message to the Yuan family tomorrow.

Song Ying took the bag and turned around to walk back, which made Shen Jing feel very resentful. "You're leaving like this without any comfort?"

Yuan Qing rolled his eyes at him, "You didn't fail the exam, so what's there to comfort you about? Besides, the reply is not important. If you can finish writing it early today and let County Magistrate Chen take the test, you will be selected in the first round with your ranking in the top 20."

The second exam also has three questions. The first one is about the Four Books. The second one is about the Book of Filial Piety. You need to first copy a passage from the Book of Filial Piety and then write down your own insights and thoughts. There is no fixed format for this question. It is entirely up to your own expression as long as it is not too outrageous.

The imperial examination tested this mainly to show that the country ruled the country with filial piety, and that was all.

The third imperial edict was the laws and regulations of the court. Scholars were required to memorize it, so the exam content was to select a paragraph from it and write down 500 to 600 words from memory.

There is not even a mandatory requirement for you to recite a certain passage. Instead, you can choose a passage yourself. As long as you are an educated person, 99% of the time you can write it down.

Shen Jing was even more resentful, "Do you think I didn't want to? I thought the first question on the Four Books went quite smoothly and didn't take me long, but I didn't even finish the first one when I saw you handing in your paper."

Although there were much fewer candidates in the second exam than the first one, only six or seven hundred, County Magistrate Chen could not read so many people's papers in class. He only read the first few papers that were handed in. As more candidates handed in their papers later, he naturally asked them to collect them directly.

"Don't worry, the next exam is less important than the previous one. With your performance in the first exam, you will definitely be selected. You just have to take a few more exams."

Even so, Shen Jing was still a little depressed. "No matter what, she should have asked me a question. She just congratulated you."

Yuan Qing's eyes flashed with a smile, "Brother Shen, you are too fussy. I was just in a hurry and didn't care about it."

Shen Jing didn't want to pay attention to him.

Not long after, Song Ying came back after putting the candy away. Since they lived together on North Street, the three of them naturally went back together.

Shen Jing suppressed the bitterness in his heart and asked curiously, "I heard that you were the one who introduced Brother Lu to Qingfeng Temple. Is it really that effective?"

"It may not work for others, but it certainly works for him."

This answer made Shen Jing even more curious, "What do you mean?"

Yuan Qing thought for a moment and asked, "Did you trick him into thinking of Qingfeng Temple?"

"How can it be called a lie? It's just a way to cure an illness." Although the final result will not be known until the college entrance examination in August, Song Ying is very confident. He feels that he can not only cure physical illnesses, but also have some ideas about mental illnesses.

"The method of curing the disease? Tell me quickly, what's going on?" Shen Jing urged anxiously.

"I can tell you, but you must not tell him, otherwise this method won't work."

"Don't worry, we can't see Brother Lu now. He came to the academy yesterday and asked for leave from the teacher. He is going to Qingfeng Temple to study hard in seclusion."

"Studying hard in seclusion?" This time Song Ying was surprised. "Lu Xu is going to live in Qingfeng Temple directly instead of going to the academy?"

No one from the Lu family had come these days, and she had no idea how Taoist Yuanrong had deceived Lu Xu and his mother. Taoist Yuanrong had meant to let Lu Xu live in the Taoist temple, but she thought he would only stay there at night and study in the academy during the day.