Time Travel: The Noble Family-Chapter 174 - 72: The Initiative

Chapter 174: Chapter 72: The Initiative

Before one knew, it was already March. March was indeed a splendid time, with trees sprouting tender buds and flowers and grasses beginning to burst into vitality as willow fluff flew everywhere.

Orchids also bloomed during March. Yueyao squatted in the courtyard, observing the orchids in the flower bed budding, with several dewdrops still clinging to the buds.

Ever since that day, after Yueyao had taken a serious look at the shape of sparrows, she began to closely observe everything around her from the grass and trees, even asking numerous questions, which made the people around her both laugh and cry.

But Embroidery Lady Mah praised Yueyao for being diligent. After all, the flowers, grass, and trees in embroidery came from real life, and the more carefully one observed, the more confident one would feel when embroidering them later.

When Yueyao heard Embroidery Lady Mah praise her diligence, she broke out in a cold sweat internally. She was observing the scenery so closely for the sake of painting, not embroidery. However, aside from Nanny Deng and Hua Lei, no one else had seen Yueyao’s paintings. The people inside and outside the Lian Mansion only knew that Yueyao was good at painting, but they had never seen her works. This was why Yuehuan had doubts.

Dong Qing said with a smile, “Miss, Fourth Young Master has returned.” Since the confirmation of their ages, everyone had stopped calling Young Master Zheng, opting instead for the unified title of Fourth Young Master.

Seeing Tingzheng returning with a book bag, Yueyao was puzzled, “Isn’t it too early for a vacation?” Perhaps Mr. Zhu had something come up, or there was an issue at the Li family.

As Yueyao hypothesized, “Sister, our teacher has to participate too, so he gave us a holiday,” he said.

Yueyao was extremely surprised, “What an odd teacher.” If one planned on taking part in the imperial examination, they should have started preparing early, not wait until the test was nearly upon them to take a holiday. That was just a waste of precious time; coming out successful in the exam would be a surprise.

It didn’t take long for Yueyao to put these matters aside. She had only met this Mr. Zhu once and was not familiar with him; usually, during holidays, they only exchanged generous gifts. Yueyao thought, perhaps he was uncertain and wanted to test the waters. Otherwise, it really didn’t make any sense.

Ordinarily, the spring imperial examination had nothing to do with Yueyao. But because Tingli and Tingyi were participating, the Lian Mansion, both inside and out, was paying special attention. It was inevitable that news from outside would make its way into the Lian Mansion, and from there into the Inner Courtyard.

Initially, Yueyao treated it as just idle gossip. But when she heard the name Yu Zida, her whole body trembled, “Yu Zida? Is it the examinee Yu Zida from Jiangnan?”

Yueyao was so familiar with Yu Zida because he was the first person since the founding of the Great Yuan Dynasty to pass the imperial examinations at the county, provincial, and national levels. Back then, she heard that wherever Yu Zida went for an exam, no one else stood a chance for the top spot.

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Yueyao had read the essay Yu Zida wrote for the provincial examination, and she still remembered it to this day. The reason it was so memorable to her was that Yu Zida’s essay was a true literary gem. Not one person who had read his essay had anything bad to say; everyone believed that Yu Zida truly deserved to pass the exams at all three levels. With such a luminary preceding them, the Second Place Scholar and the Tanhua (Third Place in the Imperial Examination) of that session paled in comparison, becoming merely his foils.

After reminiscing, Yueyao felt regretful. How wonderful it would be if she were a man; she too could have taken the imperial examination, and if she passed, she could have served in the imperial court rather than being confined to the Inner Courtyard like this, spending her days within this enclosed space.

After sighing, Yueyao continued practicing her calligraphy, but as she did so, she suddenly remembered the essay by Yu Zida written for the provincial examination. After writing just three characters, her hand trembled, and the brush slipped through her fingers.

Looking at the three characters on the paper, Yueyao was completely stunned. Remembering Yu Zida’s essay meant that she knew the topics for this session’s examination. Could there be anything more shocking than realizing she remembered the topics of this session’s exam?

Hua Lei was the first to notice Yueyao’s unusual behavior, “Miss, Miss, what’s wrong with you?” She could feel her Miss trembling. It was all fine, so what happened to her now?

Yueyao shook her head, “Nothing’s wrong, I’m just a little tired from practicing calligraphy; I’ll be fine after a rest.” Since everyone around was concerned that she was too engrossed in her calligraphy, using this as an excuse was guaranteed to be effective, ensuring they wouldn’t ask further questions.

As expected, Hua Lei didn’t ask any more questions and helped Yueyao back to her room. Yueyao lay in bed, taking deep breaths over and over, finally calming down after a long while.

Looking at the ceiling, Yueyao knew the topics for this imperial examination, but the question was whether she should use this information. And if she were to use it, how? These were all concerns. If she were careless and it leaked out, it could result in fatal trouble.

Yueyao had no intention of telling the Lian family. She didn’t trust anyone in the Lian Mansion, including the Old Madam; she couldn’t ensure they would stand by her side on such a significant matter. If, by any chance, her uncle knew she was reincarnated, her fate might be even more tragic than in her previous life. Therefore, it was absolutely impossible to mention anything to the Lian family.