bdsm-fiction Chapter 1 The Prodigy Test
Chapter 1 The Prodigy Test
In the warm spring of March, flowers bloom.
Ordinary people have already started working in the fields. Although they are tired, their faces are full of smiles, and they are hoping for a good harvest this year.
The sons and daughters of wealthy families would go on outings in groups of three or five.
Meanwhile, in the right courtyard of the Wang family in Doufu Lane in Shouzhou City, Wang You lay on a rocking chair with his hands behind his head, gazing at the azure sky.
The crabapple trees in the courtyard are in full bloom, and a few petals fall as a gentle breeze blows.
One of the petals, swaying in the wind, landed on Wang You's face.
"Ugh."
Wang You snapped out of his reverie, sighed softly, and brushed the petals from his face.
Before I knew it, I had been in this world for more than nine years.
He didn't know if he had time-traveled or if Meng Po had taken a break and forgotten to give him the Meng Po soup.
They are born with memories of their previous life.
As he grew older, he gained some understanding of the outside world.
I thought this was the Northern Song Dynasty in history.
But when he learned that he had two aunts, one married into the Kang family of Bianjing and the other married into the family of Sheng Hong, the son of a third-ranked scholar, he realized that this was actually the world of "The Story of Minglan".
He was the nephew of Lady Wang's maternal family, and his grandfather was Grand Tutor Wang, who was honored with a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
The current dynasty is called Song, and it is ruled by the Zhao family, but there are some differences between this and what is recorded in official history.
After Emperor Taizu established the Song Dynasty, he did not "release military power over a cup of wine," but instead established the Privy Council, which was managed by civil officials, thus limiting the power of military generals.
Although the situation of civil officials being valued more than military officials still existed, it was not as low as in official history.
Many of the families of those who were among the founding military heroes still held some influence in the court.
A tabby cat was lying on its side next to the rocking chair when it suddenly jumped up and ran towards the crabapple tree in the corner.
Upon reaching the tree, he nimbly leaped up and climbed it.
The sudden commotion interrupted Wang You's thoughts.
Wang You looked at the crabapple tree, smiled and shook his head.
The fact that the tiger was so frightened that it hid in a tree shows that his adorable little sister had arrived.
"Second brother!"
The thought had just crossed Wang You's mind when a childish voice rang out from outside the courtyard.
Then the courtyard gate was pushed open, and a little girl of about three years old, wearing a pink ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), appeared at the gate.
The little girl was exquisitely beautiful, with chubby cheeks that were incredibly cute.
It was Wang Youcai's three-year-old younger sister, Wang Mu.
"Second brother."
Wang Mu, with his short legs, stepped across the courtyard gate, cheered, and ran towards Wang You.
Wang You quickly stood up, squatted down, and opened his arms.
The little girl was more than a meter away from Wang Youshang when she suddenly lunged forward.
Wang You, who was prepared, caught his younger sister precisely and then picked her up.
"Hehe, Second Brother is really amazing."
The little girl let out a silvery laugh, offering her praise.
"Sister Mu!"
Feng, who was lagging behind, saw this scene as soon as she reached the courtyard gate. She said sternly, "How many times have I told you not to rush over like that? What if your second brother doesn't catch you and falls to the ground?"
"But my second brother caught it."
The little girl looked at her mother with a puzzled expression, wondering why her mother would say something so silly.
"you…"
Looking at her daughter's innocent expression, Madam Feng could only glare at Wang You.
"Why are you glaring at me?"
Wang You was speechless for a moment; this wasn't something he had taught him.
Having lived two lives, he was filled with patience towards his younger sister.
When the little girl was learning to walk, albeit unsteadily, he was usually the one watching her from the side.
Every time the little girl was about to fall, Wang You would catch her immediately.
The little girl thought it was fun and often deliberately fell down.
Now that they're a bit older, they're not like they used to be.
However, whenever she sees Wang You, she always likes to run up to him and pounce on him so that he can catch her.
He knew this was somewhat dangerous, and he had even spoken to her about it before.
But the little girl looked at him with tears in her eyes and asked him if he didn't like her anymore.
Wang You had no choice but to let her have her way.
"How old are you? Still fooling around with her. What kind of behavior is this for a young lady?" Madam Feng said irritably.
Wang You glanced at the chubby little girl in his arms and thought that taking the blame for her wasn't such a big deal.
"Mother, my sister is still young. She will naturally understand when she gets a little older."
As Wang You spoke, he put the little girl down. After all, he was only nine years old, and it was tiring for him to hold his sister for a long time.
"Little sister, shall I ask Shan Jun to play with you?"
"Okay, okay, where's the mountain king?" The little girl looked around, searching for the mountain king's figure.
"Mountain King, come down!"
Wang You shouted towards the crabapple tree.
Meow~
The mountain lord, hidden in the tree and out of sight, let out a cry of discontent upon realizing he had been sold out by his unscrupulous master.
However, it obediently climbed down from the tree.
"You gave a raccoon dog such a name, aren't you afraid of bringing it bad luck?"
Even months later, Mrs. Feng still couldn't help but grumble a few words about her son's haphazard naming.
"Shan Jun" is another name for tiger, meaning the chief of mountain beasts.
The ancients were very particular about choosing names, and they would not use certain characters easily, even if the meaning of the characters was very good.
They might even give their child a lowly name to avoid misfortune.
How can a cat bear the nickname of a tiger?
It's only because the little guy is so lovable that the Feng family wouldn't care about these things.
Wang You looked at the tabby cat that jumped down from the tree, resembling a tiger cub, smiled, and said nothing.
Putting aside whether it brings disaster or not, let's just talk about whether it looks like it.
"Mountain Lord!"
The little girl didn't care about any of that. When she saw the mountain tiger come down from the tree, she ran over to it.
The mountain lord saw Mu Jie'er running towards it and immediately lay down on the ground.
His face had an expression of utter despair, which was very human-like.
Even Madam Feng couldn't help but laugh when she saw it.
"Good boy, I'll play with you."
The little girl struggled to pick up the mountain tiger and rubbed its head.
Wang You looked at Chun Tao, the maid who came out of the house after hearing the commotion, and said, "Keep a close eye on things."
"Yes!" Chun Tao replied quickly.
"Mother, please." Wang You said, stepping aside.
The mother and son entered the main hall. Madam Feng sat down on the soft couch at the head of the table and looked at Wang You, asking, "Do you still resent your father?"
"Your son wouldn't dare," Wang You said, bowing.
"If you don't dare, then you're pregnant."
Madam Feng sighed, "You're a famous child prodigy in Shouzhou, even the prefectural school's academic director, Kong, praised you as having the talent to be the top scholar. Why not just take the imperial examinations in a few years? Why do you insist on participating in the prodigy exam?"
"How could I resent my father? It's just that I don't understand the difference between entering officialdom through the imperial examination and entering officialdom through the prodigy test. Why is my father so insistent on not letting me participate?" Wang You asked, looking puzzled.
"Your father didn't let you participate in the prodigy exam, and it was for your own good. In the hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there have been at least twenty prodigy exams, but those prodigies all grew up to be just ordinary people," said Madam Feng.
"Wasn't it Grand Chancellor Yan who entered officialdom through the prodigy examination? Didn't he also rise to the rank of Chancellor and Privy Councilor?" Wang You retorted.
The "Grand Chancellor" mentioned by Wang You is Yan Shu.
He entered officialdom by being granted the title of Jinshi through the prodigy examination.
He successively served as Vice Censor-in-Chief, Commissioner of the Three Departments, and Vice Chancellor (Deputy Prime Minister).
After the current emperor assumed personal rule, he was promoted to Chancellor and concurrently served as Privy Councilor.
This can be considered the pinnacle that civil officials can reach; above that, there are only honorary titles such as Grand Tutor and Grand Preceptor.
These positions were usually conferred upon officials after their retirement or posthumously.