I'm taking the imperial examinations in Liaozhai

Nearly half a month later, Ji Zihe rode a little donkey and finally arrived at the most desirable place in the world, the capital of the Great Chu Kingdom, Jingzhou.

Ning Caichen lived in Jingzhou for several years, because his wife and children were all in Jingzhou, so he simply bought a house here.As a city under the foot of the emperor, Jingzhou naturally has every inch of land and every inch of gold. In addition, the locals are holding on to their real estate and are unwilling to sell it, so the house price has been exorbitantly high.Rao is Ning Caichen who has little assets, so it is not easy to buy a good house.The house Ning Caichen bought was not too big, and since he had a wife and children living with him, it was not easy for Ji Zihe to live with him, so he rented a house for Ji Zihe.

After all, Ning Caichen is considered a half-local, and he is quite familiar with Jingzhou.Although it is not easy to buy a house in Jingzhou, it is relatively easy to rent a house.In Jingzhou, renting a house is a very common thing, and even many officials live in rented houses.Officials in Beijing are clean and expensive, wages are not high, housing prices are so high, and not every official and emperor is allocated a house, so why not rent a house.Moreover, low-level officials are transferred frequently, and officials with low positions are even more reluctant to buy a house. If you buy a house today, you may be transferred tomorrow. Why buy it and leave it there.

Ning Caichen really took Ji Zihe's matter to heart, and he rented the house as soon as he got the news that the imperial examinations would be reopened.At that time, the time for the township examination had just been fixed, and a large number of candidates from all over the country had not yet entered Beijing, and it was not the busy period at the end of the year. There were many vacant houses and the housing prices were not too high. Ning Caichen seized the opportunity decisively and rented a room for him. Cheap, spacious and well-lit tile-roofed houses.

After living in Jingzhou for a period of time, Ji Zihe couldn't help sighing that there are really people who are easy to handle.If there was no big cousin, how could he rent such a good house, maybe he would have to live in that expensive inn, and be squeezed out of his wallet by the unscrupulous bosses.

The owner of the house that Ji Zihe rented was an old couple, they were very old, their ears were still a little behind, their children were not around, and they were the only ones in the capital.This old couple was very kind, Ji Zihe rented his house, except for his dog who always liked to bark at him, to be precise, he liked to bark at his bones, there was nothing else.

After coming to Jingzhou, besides studying, Ning Caichen likes to take Ji Zihe to participate in various literary meetings.Ning Caichen stayed in Jingzhou Guoxue for several years. There are many young talents in the Guoxue. Ning Caichen is very popular and has made many friends.

As soon as Ji Zihe came, he tried his best to draw him into the circle of Jingzhou talents, after all, they were all contacts.Ji Zihe was quite moved by this, if it wasn't for his cousin, who would be so selfless and hardworking to worry about the future of others.Although he was not very interested in this, he still accepted Ning Caichen's love, put down his books, dealt with those talents, and even made a few friends.

On the ninth day of September, on the Double Ninth Festival, it is advisable to climb high following the ancient rituals.

There is a mountain outside Jingzhou City, called Zitong Mountain, and there is a Wenchang Emperor Temple on the mountain.Wenchangxing, like Wenquxing, is the favorite deity worshiped by scholars. It is a symbol of literary movement, and it specializes in the management of human reading and literary fame.

As a candidate who will step into the examination room next year, since the Double Ninth Festival is going to climb a mountain, he should just climb Zitong Mountain. If he goes up, he can pay homage to Wenchangxing.

Early in the morning, when it was daylight, Ning Caichen and his family came to Ji Zihe's room and knocked on the door.Ji Zihe yawned and walked out the door, only to be covered in a large bouquet of chrysanthemums.On the Double Ninth Festival, giving people chrysanthemums means wishing people a long life.

"Lazy cat, it's not as early as Meng'er, it's really embarrassing. Cousin is a big lazy cat, isn't it Meng'er." Ning Caichen held his three-year-old eldest son with one hand, mocking his cousin.

After Ning Caichen brought his wife to the capital, he lived a life of his wife and children.The couple had been married for many years before and had no children. Although the aunt didn't say anything, the sister-in-law was still very sorry.As a result, when they arrived in the capital, the couple finally ushered in spring because of the good feng shui at the feet of the emperor.Not to mention hugging two for three years, this is almost the same.The eldest son is three years old this year, and the sister-in-law has another one in her belly, which really makes Ning Caichen's colleagues envy.

Ji Zihe rolled his eyes, and took the chrysanthemum in his hand, "Meng'er, don't listen to your father's nonsense, cousin, I usually get up early. It's just because I went to bed late yesterday, so I woke up a little late , today is a special situation."

"It's not too late, it's not too late. Daddy and Menger are lying on the bed and sleeping together at this time." The chubby little boy said with a smile.

"What a boy, to actually tear down your father's platform, you are still not on my side." Ning Caichen had an exaggerated expression on his face, like a big devil who eats children in a storybook.

It's a pity that the little kid is used to his appearance, so he is not afraid of him at all, "Daddy is lying, shame on me, my cousin hugs me."

Meng'er stretched out his little paw towards Ji Zihe, and Ji Zihe cheerfully took Meng'er from Ning Caichen's arms.Ning Caichen held his little heart in his arms, watching his little traitor ignore his own father at all, and threw himself into the arms of others, his face full of grievances.

"Haha, cousin, see clearly, Meng'er is on the side of justice." Ji Zihe giggled.

He often brags to the bones, since his cousin has a baby, he has become a child himself, and he is very good at acting every day.As everyone knows, from Gu Gu's point of view, when Xiao Hezi met the father and son, he unknowingly cooperated with their performance and became a veritable three idiots.

"He is the only one who is just. This little bastard, if no one cares, he can tear down the house for me at home." Ning Caichen can't wait to announce the [-] crimes of this little bastard right now, in front of his cousin. Pretending to be like a quail, turning his head to look like a little bully, he really changed his face so that even his own father was amazed.

"I won't, I'm so good." Meng'er curled up in Ji Zihe's arms, like a kitten, extremely cute.It's just a little fat, and after holding it for a while, I feel numb in my arms.

But can he show it?Of course not.In front of his little nephew, he was a great hero, how could he not even be able to hold a three-year-old doll, he had to hold on even when he was tired.I don't know what Meng'er ate when he grew up. His weight is really a bit overweight. He is strong and strong, and his body shape has caught up with other people's five or six-year-old children.Ning Caichen would brag to everyone that his son would be a general in the future. Look, the conditions are there, even if you want to keep a low profile.

"Cousin, don't spoil him, put him down and let him walk by himself. Look at how fat he is, even his mother despises him for being fat, and wants him to walk a few more steps."

"I'm not fat." Xiaopang said angrily.

"Don't deceive yourself, you don't look at how thin your cousin is, so you won't be afraid of crushing him."

Hearing this, Xiaopang Zai was really lost in thought, looked at Ji Zihe and said, "Cousin, put me down, I want to go by myself."

"Don't listen to your father, I can hug you." No matter what, he is also an adult, his physique is a bit weak, but it is not enough to hug a child.Numbness in the arm is nothing, just change another arm.

"It's okay, cousin, let me down, I can walk by myself." Xiaopang Zai insisted.

"Yeah, put him down quickly, you go to clean up, your sister-in-law is still waiting outside in the carriage. It's early, it's not hot, and there are not many people on the road, let's leave quickly. Don't eat breakfast either , just buy some in the city later." Ning Caichen said.

"Sister-in-law is going too?" Ji Zihe asked in surprise as he put Meng'er down.

"It's okay. It's said to be pregnant in October. You can't go out for ten months. It's not boring. Zitong Mountain is not high, and there is a road to take a car. Her pregnancy is very stable and the month is not too old. It's all right in a carriage."

"That's good." Ji Zihe nodded. He always thought that when a woman is pregnant, she will become a weak and fragile product. After that, she will stay at home every day, unable to work or make big moves. It is best It is better to lie on the bed without moving anything.

But it seemed that what he thought was not in line with reality, and the pregnant woman was not as weak and fragile as he imagined.Just like his sister-in-law, who is pregnant for about four months, but she is still in a good state of mind. She still does what she should do every day, and she is still in charge of the housework of her cousin's house.Ji Zihe had never seen what other pregnant women looked like, but his sister-in-law was already having her second child, and her cousin must have more experience than herself, so she didn't raise any objections.

Ji Zihe didn't take Huang Jiulang with him and asked him to stay.Xiao Jiu has been busy with him all day long these days. After a holiday, Ji Zihe also wanted him to rest, so he simply gave him a day off.

Ji Zihe led his little donkey out of the shed, said hello to the landlord, and walked out the door.Meng'er sat in the carriage and looked at Ji Zihe in surprise, "Cousin, you look so good wearing flowers."

"Flower?" Ji Zihe stretched out his hand to touch it, and at some point a chrysanthemum was stuck in his hair.Needless to say, it must be the good thing that the big ghost next to him did nothing while he was not paying attention.

Ji Zihe didn't take it down either. It is a custom to wear dogwood hairpins and chrysanthemums on the Double Ninth Festival, which means to ward off evil spirits and seek good luck.The atmosphere of Dachu is open, not to mention Chongyang, even on weekdays, there are some men who wear flowers and powder, and they are as delicate as women, advocating the beauty of femininity, which is somewhat similar to the aesthetics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the parallel world.There is no way, this is a society that looks at appearances, good looks are more popular than ugly ones.

Of course, not everyone pursues this kind of feminine beauty, like Xiao Hezi.He was born with bad health, weaker than others, but not bad in appearance, quite in line with the morbid beauty that some people like.Ji Zihe doesn't object to this kind of aesthetics, but he doesn't want to be a weak and handsome man.Since he was a child, he envied other people's strong and healthy children with a good body, so he determined to be a tough guy full of masculinity. How can a tough guy wear flowers?

Xiaohezi's ideal is beautiful, but unfortunately, his strength does not allow it.Although he doesn't get sick very often now, the weak physique brought out by beating a mother's womb is not so easy to raise. Even if he consciously exercises his body, he is still a weak chicken who cannot carry his shoulders or hands.

Ning Caichen didn't know where he picked so many chrysanthemums and gave them to Ji Zihe, and there was a lot of them in the carriage.Meng Er liked the flowers on Ji Zihe's head very much, so he started to make trouble with Ning Caichen, and Ning Caichen made him a wreath with chrysanthemums.Xiaopang wore a wreath, looking extremely smug, probably regarded himself as a flower fairy, and finally became honest.

Ji Zihe rode a little donkey, followed the carriage, and set off towards Zitong Mountain outside the city.