Married to a Villainous Minister - Chapter 170

When Lin Shen remembered that Yu Qizhe had won the xiao sanyuan three years ago, his attitude became noticeably warmer. He began chatting with him about the Four Books and Five Classics, and the two hit it off quite well.

(Note: A Xiao Sanyuan was someone who ranked number one at the local levels of the imperial exam system. First place at the county exam, the prefectural exam, and the provincial exam.)

Yu Jiao sat quietly to the side, listening. At that moment, a servant entered and said, “Miss heard that Physician Yu is here and has asked me to invite her over.”

Lin Shen looked at Yu Jiao, who stood up with a smile and said, “I’ll go see Miss Lin.”

Yu Qizhe gave her a nod, and Yu Jiao followed the maid to the rear courtyard.

The maid led Yu Jiao into the western garden. Once inside, she said to the woman lying in bed, “Miss, Physician Yu is here.”

Lin Shuang propped herself up slightly. Her delicate face still looked a little pale, but she smiled warmly and said, “Physician Yu, please sit.”

Yu Jiao took a seat on the cushioned bench by the window, while the maid brought out refreshments and tea.

“How has Miss Lin’s health been these past few days?” Yu Jiao asked with a smile, lifting her teacup for a sip.

Lin Shuang replied softly, “Thanks to your skilled care, Physician Yu, apart from occasional fatigue, I’ve had no other discomfort. I never got the chance to thank you personally for saving me.”

“You’re too kind, Miss Lin,” Yu Jiao said, putting down her cup and offering a gentle smile. “There’s no need for thanks, healing the sick is simply a physician’s duty.”

Still full of gratitude, Lin Shuang said, “If not for you, Physician Yu, both my son and I might not have made it.” She turned to the maid and said, “Go ask the wet nurse to bring Bao-ge’er here. Let Physician Yu take a look at him.”

Before long, the wet nurse came in holding a swaddled infant. Yu Jiao looked at the chubby little face, and couldn’t help but gently stroke his cheek with her fingertip. The baby’s face was soft and tender, and he sucked on his fingers, his round, dark eyes like black grapes, wide with curiosity as he stared at her.

“Did Miss Lin name him Bao-ge’er?” Yu Jiao asked, pulling her hand back as she looked at the little one, her heart melting at the sight.

Lin Shuang’s face held the tender expression of a new mother as she smiled and looked at her son. “His father gave him that nickname. He said the child was delicate and made me suffer a lot while I carried him.”

Yu Jiao stayed in Lin Shuang’s room for a while, playing with Bao-ge’er. When it was nearly noon, a maid came to say that Master Lin had returned, and she was invited back to the main hall.

When Yu Jiao arrived at the front hall, Headmaster Lin was in the middle of talking with Yu Qizhe. There was an expression of admiration in his eyes, clearly having read Yu Qizhe’s essay.

“Miss Yu, I didn’t realize your brother was the winner of the xiao sanyuan three years ago. I’ve read his essay, it’s excellent. He’ll have no problem passing the provincial exam this autumn,” Headmaster Lin said warmly as Yu Jiao entered, his white-bearded face lit with a smile.

Yu Jiao was truly happy to hear that and sat down. “To be honest, I didn’t come just to ask you to review my brother’s essay. There’s something else I’d like to trouble you with.”

Headmaster Lin smiled and said, “Miss Yu, speak freely.”

“I have three other older brothers who also study at the county school. We originally wanted to ask the teachers there to write recommendation letters so they could sit for the provincial exam this autumn. Unfortunately, while treating patients recently, I accidentally offended Master Zhang, who has significant influence in the county school and academy. He had the teachers remove my three brothers’ names from the student registry.”

Yu Jiao made no effort to hide the truth and explained her entanglement with Master Zhang in full. Then she continued, “This time, I’ve come on their behalf, hoping you might be willing to write three recommendation letters for them to qualify as shengyuan candidates.”

Headmaster Lin listened thoughtfully for a while before asking, “Have your other three brothers passed the tongsheng exam?”

(Note: Tongsheng (童生) literally means “child student.” It referred to students who had not yet earned the first official degree. The tongsheng exam was the very first entry-level exam in the imperial examination system.)

Yu Jiao replied, “I’m embarrassed to say, they haven’t. Our family patriarch places great importance on scholarly pursuits and dreams of his descendants passing the imperial exams and bringing honor to the family. He’s spent quite a bit of silver to send them to the county school, mainly for the chance at those shengyuan nominations.”

(Note: Shengyuan (生員,) also called xiucai (秀才, “licentiate”) – A title awarded to those who passed the entry-level tongsheng exam. This was the lowest official degree in the examination system, granting recognition as a scholar and eligibility to sit for the provincial exam to become a juren.)

Headmaster Lin found this puzzling. “Your elder brother here achieved the xiao sanyuan at such a young age. Why would your family spend money for your other three brothers to become shengyuan candidates?”

He glanced at Yu Qizhe. “Judging by your brother’s talent, I would assume your other brothers aren’t poor students either. Buying titles with money can never compare to truly advancing through merit.”

“Headmaster Lin is right.” Yu Jiao sighed. “But our grandfather is set on having all my brothers enter as shengyuan this year. He spent money to keep them in the county school, unwilling to see the chance slip by. Our family is not wealthy, but he has strained himself to support four sons in their studies. Now he only wishes to make one last attempt. If my brothers fail, then they will simply give up and find other livelihoods.”

Hearing this, Headmaster Lin was sympathetic. Ordinary families would never send a daughter out to practice medicine, yet the Yu family was supporting four scholars. That was already no small feat.

Still, as the head of the county school, he usually avoided meddling in shengyuan affairs. In his eyes, purchasing student nominations was little different from buying status outright, something he privately disapproved of.

After some thought, he said, “Very well. Since you saved both my daughter and grandchild, it is only right that I grant your request.”

“Thank you, Headmaster Lin. I’m deeply grateful for your trouble.” Yu Jiao stood and bowed respectfully.

Headmaster Lin gestured for Lin Shen to fetch brush, ink, and paper. Lin Shen, however, harbored some unkind thoughts toward the Yu family after meeting Yu Jinshu and the others before. Especially after his enlightening talk with Yu Qizhe, he felt this young man was truly gifted and could hardly believe he was related to those three.

But since his father had agreed, he said nothing more and went to fetch the writing tools.

Headmaster Lin soon finished three letters of recommendation. Once the ink dried, he handed them to Yu Jiao and added, “I’ll have their names reinstated on the county school’s shengyuan list. As for Master Zhang, you needn’t worry. If mediation is needed, I can step in.”

Yu Jiao carefully accepted the letters and said sincerely, “Thank you, Headmaster Lin. As for the Zhang family, I’ll deal with them later.”

In truth, she despised the Zhangs’ behavior. Even if Headmaster Lin helped mediate, without power or influence, people as arrogant and spiteful as the Zhangs would never truly reconcile. And besides, the matter with the Zhang family’s daughter had nothing to do with her. It’d be best if the Zhangs never came seeking her help again. 

With the matter settled, Yu Jiao and Yu Qizhe didn’t stay for a meal at the Lin household. After leaving, they stopped at a tavern, ordered a few dishes to fill their stomachs, then strolled through the city.

“I’ve heard the autumn exam lasts three sessions over three days and nights. What things do we need to prepare? With just over ten days left, we should start early,” Yu said, glancing at the shops lining the street.

Yu Qizhe held her hand and replied, “Just prepare some medicine for heatstroke and colds for me. Everything else, don’t worry, I’ll have mother help with the preparations.”

Yu Jiao nodded. She remembered Yu Fuling saying the autumn provincial exam actually lasted nine days and seven nights. Candidates had to live in the examination cells for the entire duration, so food, clothing, and daily necessities all needed to be prepared carefully. Truly, examinees had a hard time of it.

(Note: The provincial exam was held in three sessions. Each session lasted about three days and two nights, so one might casually describe it as “three days and three nights.” However, when all three sessions are counted together, the exam actually stretched to around nine days and seven nights in total. This is why the text sometimes refers to it in shorter terms and sometimes in the full duration.)