Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

When Qin Yunhe returned home, his fourth sister-in-law Lianhua had already finished making dumplings for his mother and went home.

Qin's mother guessed that her son had gone to the town to see Yu Ru and Laidi. She didn't say anything, but just sighed in her heart. For the first time, she especially hoped that her son would quickly bring his daughter-in-law back.

"Your fourth brother is ready, hurry over, it will be dark soon."

Qin Yunhe agreed, picked up the items needed to welcome the ancestors and went out.

When they arrive at the ancestral grave, they burn yellow paper, recite words to welcome the gods, and welcome the ancestors all the way back home. They offer freshly-cooked dumplings, and the altar is considered complete.

"Go call your fourth brother and Chen Er to come for dinner. It will be served soon."

What we want for the New Year’s Eve dinner is a festive and sumptuous one.

Originally, Qin's mother had already prepared a lot of New Year's meat, snacks, etc., and Chen Er and Qin Si also sent a lot of chickens, ducks, fish, dried fruits, etc. Qin's mother was busy all day and finally filled a large table with food.

"Grandma~"

"Grandma~"

Qin An and Qin Shi are lively children to begin with, and they are especially happy today as it is the New Year. As soon as they heard Qin Yunhe calling for dinner, they immediately ran over.

"Hey——" Mother Qin was delighted when she saw her two precious grandsons: "Come here, darlings!"

Then he took out the sesame candies and honey fruits that he had prepared earlier and said, "Eat some candy first to sweeten your mouth, and then we'll have dinner."

"Mom, you just love to spoil them. In the afternoon, they went to my eldest brother's place and cheated him out of a lot of candy. When they got home, they made a fuss for a long time and ate several more pieces. Now they come to cheat you out of candy again."

"How can you cheat me of my candy? I'm willing to give it to you."

Mother Qin always listened to Lianhua, except for her grandsons. Not only did she not stop giving candy to her two grandsons, she also placed several plates of cakes and crisps in front of the two children: "It's the New Year, of course we have to eat delicious food, come, you and Asi each have one."

Lotus could only smile helplessly and shake her head.

"Auntie Qin!"

Chen and the other man arrived before they entered the room. They lifted the door curtain and walked in, and Qin Yunhe followed closely behind them.

"Fourth brother, fourth sister-in-law."

Qin Si and Qin Yunhe were both tall, and Chen Er was even taller. The main room was not big to begin with, and with so many people coming in, it instantly seemed full and lively.

"Hey, everyone, sit down!" Qin's mother quickly asked everyone to sit down.

Everyone sat down crowded together, and the two children Qin An and Qin Shi were chattering.

Chen Ermo said that he was alone now, and even when his family was around, he had never eaten such a lively and sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner. Looking at the people in the room, he felt touched and had some indescribable feelings.

"Auntie Qin made so many delicious dishes."

"Hey, they are just ordinary dishes, not delicacies."

Chen Er laughed.

"Okay, we've been busy all day, let's eat quickly."

Mother Qin said as she picked up a piece of tofu with her chopsticks, and Qin Yunhe and the others also picked up their chopsticks.

"Auntie Qin, the fried dough sticks you make are so delicious!"

Mother Qin was naturally happy to hear people praise her cooking: "It's delicious, eat more. Don't just eat oily fruits, eat more fish and meat. We have to eat meat during the New Year."

"Yeah! Everything Auntie Qin cooks tastes good, especially the vegetable dumplings. I can never get enough of them."

"Hey, what's so delicious about vegetable dumplings? It's New Year's Day, why don't we eat vegetable dumplings?"

Chen Er chuckled twice and said, "When I was a kid, I loved the vegetable dumplings made by Aunt Qin the most."

Lianhua smiled and said, "Isn't it? I remember when you were a kid you often brought peaches and cicada monkeys to exchange for vegetable dumplings..."

Chen Er's face turned red, and he scratched his head and said, "I just always eat Aunt Qin's vegetable dumplings, so I wanted to give her some peaches and cicada monkeys that I picked myself, not to exchange for vegetable dumplings."

"I thought you gave it to me because I couldn't pick up the cicada monkey, but it turns out you gave it to me to pay for the vegetable dumpling."

As soon as Qin Yunhe said this, everyone at the table started laughing.

Everyone was chatting and laughing in a lively and harmonious atmosphere. Eating became secondary, and the New Year's Eve dinner lasted until after the 12th hour.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, Qin's mother and Lianhua were busy cleaning up the dishes. Chen Er went home to see if the incense should be relighted, while the two children, Qin An and Qin Shi, went next door to play with Feng Laosan's grandson.

Suddenly, only the brothers Qin Yunhe and Qin Si were left in the room.

"Ah Wen, I heard that you are going to take part in the college entrance examination next year?"

"Yeah, I haven't taken the exam for a few years, and I want to try again."

Qin Si nodded: "It's time to take the exam. With the title of scholar, I can save a lot of taxes and labor service, and I don't have to pay for these things every year."

Ever since some unknown ancestor of the Qin family passed the imperial examination and was exempted from taxes and corvee labor, it was as if the Qin family had suddenly realized the truth.

From then on, every generation of the Qin family ordered their descendants to study hard. They did not seek to get a place on the imperial examination, but at least to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar. Once they became a scholar, they would be exempt from taxes and labor service.

Therefore, the matter of taking the exam for a scholar was almost written into the Qin family precepts. The descendants of the Qin family were also very hardworking, and almost every generation had a descendant who passed the exam for a scholar. It was not known whether it was a talent for studying that was passed down from generation to generation or just good luck.

However, although there were people who passed the imperial examinations in every generation, it was difficult to make further progress. No descendant had ever passed the imperial examination, let alone become a jinshi.

The Qin family was not greedy, so they identified the scholar. After he passed the exam, he settled down to manage a few acres of land and educate his descendants, which could be considered as passing on the family tradition of farming and studying.

As for the Juren exam, he was not so concerned. If his descendants wanted to take the exam, he would naturally support them, and if they did not want to take the exam, he would not force them.

It was not until Qin Yunhe passed the imperial examination and became a scholar at the age of thirteen.

Qin Yunhe was more talented than other children when he was young. He learned to read and write very quickly, and he was also quite clever in composing poems.

In addition, Qin's father and his brothers were very happy that he passed the imperial examination at such a young age. They all felt that if this child was cultivated carefully, he might really be able to pass the imperial examination. So they made inquiries from various sources and took him to Mr. Gu to be his teacher.

"Fourth brother, are you going to participate in the next provincial examination?"

"The provincial examination... I'm not sure about it, so I'm not going to participate for the time being."

In his previous life, Qin Si did not take part in this provincial examination, but took part in the next one and passed.

Before that, Qin Si, like other descendants of the Qin family, had not shown any special enthusiasm for the provincial examination, so when he was going to take part in the provincial examination, everyone in the family felt it was sudden.

"The provincial examination is beyond my reach, so I won't talk about it. But you, since you are going to take the exam, you should prepare well and don't play around. You still need to be a scholar."

Qin Yunhe originally thought that his brother had been preparing for the provincial examination, so he passed it at once. But now hearing him say this, it seems that he is not very interested.

"Don't worry, Fourth Brother. I know. My teacher told me to stay at his house after the New Year so that I can prepare for the exam with peace of mind."

Qin Si finally felt relieved and nodded: "That's good. With Mr. Gu's constant guidance, you will definitely be able to enter the school this time."

As the two brothers were talking, Chen Er came in through the curtain.

Qin Si stood up and patted his brother's shoulder: "Okay, you two can chat, I'll go back and check on the incense table."