The next day is also the day the results were originally scheduled to be released.

It started to rain in Bianjing in the middle of the night.

 The rain is not heavy, but it is the first rain since the beginning of spring in Bianjing.

The continuous rain fell silently, and the ground was not even wet at all. People in Bianjing did not realize that it had rained in spring last night until they left their homes.

But soon the rain became heavier and heavier, and I could hear the sound of rushing and the tinkling of roof tiles, while the people went one after another to announce the good news from house to house.

 With this spring rain, the spring drought in Bianjing and near has finally been slightly alleviated.

　　Many people attributed this spring rain to the Emperor who went to Taiyi Palace to pray for rain, while others inexplicably attributed this merit to the joy of the provincial examination results.

This new scholar on the list made God happy, so he sent this spring rain to congratulate him.

Now in front of Zhang Shi’s house, there is a different scene.

Because I lived in a narrow alley, my car would stop as soon as I drove far away, and many people came to my door holding umbrellas. Most of them were women with yellow ribbons in their buns.

 Such a attire is that of a matchmaker.

 Early in the morning, several matchmakers came to Zhang Shi's house.

Jiang Yan, the first person in the family, is already married in his hometown.

Wang Kui, who is third on the list, is the grand-niece and grandson-in-law of Prime Minister Fu Bi, and there were rumors that he was flirting with a girl from a good family some time ago.

Zhang Yue, who is second on the list, has become the gold in the matchmaker's eyes, even though the Zhang family has confided to them that Zhang Yue is already engaged.

 One is young, only seventeen years old, the second is good-looking, and the third is a poor scholar.

 The first two are easy to say, but why do poor people have the advantage?

The Hanshi explained that the family status was not high before, and it was difficult to find someone who was well-matched for the so-called marriage contract. If a woman from a small family before was now ranked second in the provincial examination, and she is still a future Jinshi, then it is the time for her status to change.

 Hence, many matchmakers come here to try it unkindly because they are greedy for the bonus as a thank you gift.

 Zhang Shi said that Zhang Yue was engaged, so they asked which girl it was from and whether she had received a Gengtie wedding.

 Zhang Shi refused to say which girl was from the family, and also said that he had not given a posthumous invitation, so they believed that Zhang Shi was just trying to evade her, so they were even more unwilling to leave.

However, it is hard to tell the actual situation. Although there is a marriage contract, it is only a verbal agreement. After all, there is no Gengtie tie.

 When Zhang Shi came to Bianjing, Zhang Yue repeatedly told him not to talk to outsiders.

Zhang Yue knew that Zhang Shi had a show-off temperament, so he figured that if he didn't tell him, the whole Bianjing City would know about the marriage, so he warned him again and again. Zhang Shi was not trying to trick his younger brother. Although he wanted to tell him, he remained tight-lipped in the end.

Already.

Now the matchmakers came to ask which family the girl was from. Zhang Shi thought of Zhang Yue's words and couldn't speak directly. The matchmakers immediately thought that the engagement was a lie.

 Hence Zhang Shi’s trouble came when he was blocked by a group of matchmakers at his door.

After finally sending away the matchmakers, Zhang Shi turned around and saw an ordinary-looking woman in her thirties sitting in the hall, but very smart and capable.

Zhang Shi saw the other party and said hurriedly: "Madam, as I said just now, my brother-in-law has really made an engagement. It's really unbearable to show love. Madam, please come back."

But when he saw the other party, he smiled and said, "This official has misunderstood. I'm not here to be a matchmaker. I'm here to be a matchmaker on your behalf."

“Meet the matchmaker for us?” Zhang Shi was stunned.

But when he saw the other party holding a round fan, he patted Zhang Shi on the shoulder and said: "You just said that you have made an engagement, but you haven't handed over the marriage certificate yet. So in that case, you didn't invite a matchmaker to come to arrange the marriage. Can you let me do it for you?"

?”

 Zhang Shi was startled. Yesterday Zhang Yue and Di Hou were so happy that they stayed up all night. Today, a matchmaker came and blocked the door. He really didn't think of this at the moment.

 But Zhang Shi will inevitably be suspicious when he sees the other party. Can you handle the matter of proposing marriage?

Then the matchmaker gently waved his fan and said: "The slave family's surname is Zhuang. It was also a branch of the popular surname in the past, but now it has declined. I have to take care of this business. However, I often move around Bianjing City to the high-ranking officials and nobles, even if I have never been to some of them.

, I also know which way the door opens. I don’t dare to say it’s guaranteed, but most of the mistresses and women in the boudoir of the big families in Bianjing City have heard of my reputation as the eldest lady of the village."

"Although I don't know what kind of marriage your Zhang family has made, there is a saying at the beginning. If it is a merchant family, then that's it. I won't say anything if you ask me, so as not to ruin my reputation in the future."

 Zhang Shi couldn't help but ask: "Why is this? There are quite a few marriages between our officials and merchants."

Mrs. Zhuang smiled and said, "Others can do it, but your husband can't."

 “Why?”

Mrs. Zhuang said: "Your husband is second in the provincial examination. His writing skills must be excellent. He will definitely join the palace in the future. But if you want to join the palace, it is best not to marry a woman from a merchant family."

 Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu looked at each other and Zhang Qiu said: "It seems that there is such a thing, but I don't know where it came from."

Mrs. Zhuang smiled and said, "You don't know something. This is still a rule set by Academician Ouyang."

It turns out that it is indeed true. In the early Song Dynasty, officials were greedy for the money of merchants and had many marriages with them. There was even a case where two prime ministers competed to marry a rich widow, and the lawsuit was brought before the emperor.

Because of this, the officialdom has become somewhat corrupted.

When the imperial examination was held in the third year of Qingli, an official named Ling Jingyang passed the examination, but Ouyang Xiu stood up and said that you cannot enter the imperial examination.

The reason is that Ling Jingyang married Sun, a hotelier in Beijing. Ouyang Xiu said in the memorial: "If you look at this section, you can see that the discussion of things is noisy and everyone thinks it is ugly."

  It means that if you are the person you are marrying, you will know that your character is not very good.

This matter was later investigated in detail. In order to marry Sun, Ling Jingyang was afraid that the other party would think he was too old, so he lied about his age and hid himself for five years.

It wasn't until Ling Jingyang got married to Sun that he learned that the woman had also lied about her age. She even went so far as to hide her age by ten years.

This incident was passed down as a joke by people in Bianjing, and even Song Renzong laughed at it.

 Listening to Mrs. Zhuang's detailed explanation, Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu were greatly enlightened.

 Immediately Madam Zhuang said her goodbyes and left.

 Zhang Shi Zhangqiu returned to the inner room and talked to Mr. Yu about the marriage proposal.

Zhang Shi said: "At the beginning, we agreed to get engaged after winning the Jinshi, but haven't the third brothers not yet taken the imperial examination? But I wonder if this matter should be settled early. If not, I see the matchmakers in Bianjing these days

The threshold of our family has been broken. When word spread like this, the Wu family thought we had other thoughts, and finally complained."

"To be honest, our family is all honest people. We can't do things like eating from the bowl and looking at the pot, looking at the mountains. I think Mrs. Zhuang is quite good. Why don't we ask her to be a matchmaker for us?

Come to Wu's house and say goodbye."

Mrs. Yu was also happy for Zhang Yuezhong's Jinshi. Now after hearing Zhang Shi's words, she said: "Ms. Zhuang is a careful person, but it's hard for us to make a decision on this matter. We still asked the second aunt before making a decision. In addition, we also

I need to ask uncle what he means."

 Zhang Shi said: "Hey, third brother always listens to me, we can just decide this matter."

Yu said: "It was easy to say in my hometown before, but the third brother went all the way to Bianjing and took the third and second provincial exams. Now his knowledge must be much better than the two of us. How can we make the decision for him?"

It’s better to ask him what he means.”

Zhang Shi said: "No matter what, he is brought up by me. The elder brother is like father and the elder sister-in-law is like mother. This cannot be changed. But we should wait until he comes back. Why doesn't Xi'er see your third uncle coming back?"

Zhang Qiu said: "Third brother came second in the provincial examination. My classmates in Taixue must have a good time to congratulate me. I guess I'll have a drink somewhere."

Zhang Shi said: "Hey, why don't I go home early? I have to send someone to announce the good news to my hometown ancestral hall. I think because my family is from the Han clan, the second brother and the third brother were not even allowed to enter the clan school. Now both brothers are in the exam.

After becoming Jinshi, who among the same clan dares to look at us like this? When the news reaches our hometown, not to mention old neighbors and relatives of the same clan, the ancestors of our Zhang family are proud of themselves! It’s a pity that we can’t go home in person.

.”

Mrs. Yu scolded: "Save it for yourself. Fortunately, we are in Bianjing. If you were in your hometown, you would have to spend a lot of money and how many people would come to benefit from our family. Think about how many people came to our family when we left Pucheng."

How many people you have supported in the past are thinking about your kindness. If you hadn’t squandered all the money, would our family have come to Bianjing to live under someone else’s roof? If it hadn’t been for the third brother’s nomination to the yellow list, it was hard to make a living, our family, our family...

…”

Yu Shi started to cry as she spoke.

Zhang Shi felt a little guilty after hearing this and said: "It's a happy day for my wife today. My third brother came second in the provincial examination. I should be happy no matter what. Why did you neglect me?"

"Is it okay if you don't say it? You still have the nerve to say what you said about taking care of the third brother, and you brought up the past kindness and said repeatedly that the whole family has been ruined. From now on..."

 Zhang Shi immediately pulled away and said, "Xi'er will go shopping with me and buy some things to share with the neighbors."

 Zhangqiu's expression changed and he said, "Dad, you're still here."

"It's not worth a lot of money. Anyway, I don't care about this family's affairs, let your mother take care of them."

"What does it matter if I don't care?" Yu Shi said, "Uncle has won such a great honor for us, so it doesn't matter if we do something for him. You have people prepare the car, and I will go to my second aunt to discuss it."

 Zhang Shi and Zhang Qiu were very happy when they heard this.

Yu immediately arrived at the Zhang Mansion in a carriage to meet Yang.

As soon as Mr. Yang saw Mr. Yu, he smiled and cried: "My ancestors bless me, my ancestors bless me!"

Yu said with tears: "Yes, I know that third brother came second in the provincial examination, and he was so happy that he didn't sleep all night."

Yang smiled and cried: "Aren't you happy that my elder sister-in-law is like a mother? Now that Brother Yue has made it through, I am also happy for my sister and brother-in-law. Our two sons have won the Jinshi. If they know anything, they don't know what to do."

What a joy, what a pity, what a pity.”

Yu Shi thought to herself, didn’t you take one away?

But Mrs. Tai hurriedly advised: "Second aunt, your health is not good, don't shed more tears."

Yang wiped her tears and said: "It's okay to be happy, but I didn't sleep a wink last night. If it weren't for my bad health, I would have gone to your house to sit there. If you came to visit today, tell me something important."
To be continued...