A Records Of An Alpha’s Life In Ancient Times - Chapter 4

After returning home, Shen Qingshu rested for a short while before a servant came to inform her to go eat dinner.

Normally, particular great households would have everyone eat separately, but Count Chengyi’s household was truly sparse in population. If they did not gather together, it would feel far too lifeless.

In the evening, her older sister, Shen Peili, also arrived. The family sat around the table for dinner, and inevitably, they asked her about how things had gone that day. Shen Qingshu answered them one by one.

“I have indeed forgotten some of my previous lessons, but Teacher did not make things difficult for me. He told me to slowly adjust, and that after some time, things will be fine.”

Madam He served her a bowl of chicken soup and forced a smile. “Shu’er, you’re still young. There’s no need to rush.”

Old Madam Liu also said, “That’s right. It’s better to study for two more years and only sit for the exams once you’re confident. I heard today that that classmate of yours, Lord Gao’s second son, failed the county exam again this February. He has taken it several times now, and his confidence has already been worn down.”

Shen Qingshu paused. Was she talking about Gao Mingche?

Madam He asked, “Is it that Lord Gao, the one from the family with two Tanhua?”

Old Madam Liu nodded. “His eldest son, Young Lord Gao, also became Tanhua last year. For a time, it was a celebrated story in the capital.”

Shen Peili clapped her hands. “Ah, I saw Young Lord Gao ride through the streets in the parade last year!”

So that was Senior Brother Gao’s family situation. His father and elder brother were both Tanhua, yet he himself was not even a xiucai. Seeing how he kept to himself today and rarely smiled or spoke, he must usually be under a lot of pressure.

Shen Qingshu could not help falling silent.

After dinner, once night fell, it was time to sleep. Ancient people worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, but Shen Qingshu still could not adapt. To her, seven or eight o’clock was still far too early.

But there was not much entertainment in this era either. Shen Qingshu tossed and turned in bed for a while, still unable to sleep, so she simply got up and went to the study to read.

Never in a million years had she expected that she, too, would one day study by candlelight.

Emperor Shizu, since you were so all-powerful, why didn’t you invent electricity too?

Under the dim yellow candlelight, combined with the original owner’s densely packed notes, Shen Qingshu guessed as she read and barely managed to understand the meaning.

Speaking of which, the original owner’s handwriting was quite good too. Her writing was graceful and delicate. If Shen Qingshu had not just so happened to practice calligraphy in her previous life, she really would not know how to solve this problem.

Just as she was reading, there came a creak. Her mother suddenly pushed the door open and came in.

Shen Qingshu put down the book. “Why are you here?”

Madam He carried over a bowl of white fungus and lotus seed soup and gently placed it on her desk. “Mother saw the lamp in your study was still lit, so I brought you something to eat.”

Shen Qingshu reluctantly drank two mouthfuls, then set it aside. “I troubled you. I’ll drink more in a while.”

The hesitant expression on Madam He’s face was far too obvious. Shen Qingshu took the initiative and asked, “Is there something you want to say to me?”

Madam He nodded and sat down on the chair beside her, looking at her lovingly. “Your body has only just recovered. Why are you still reading this late?”

Shen Qingshu casually said, “This child couldn’t sleep, so I got up to sit for a while.”

Madam He was silent for a while before saying somewhat hesitantly, “Shu’er, you’re gradually getting older now. Actually, you don’t need to work so hard.”

Those words…

Shen Qingshu’s heart stirred. She let a bit of conflict and difficulty appear on her face. “But Grandmother has always been urging me. In a couple of years, she’ll definitely want me to sit for the exams and give it a try.”

Madam He’s face also filled with worry. “Your grandmother, she has her heart set on having you restore the count’s estate to glory. But this is a disaster great enough to overturn the heavens! Sigh. We were afraid she couldn’t bear it, so we’ve kept it from her all this time. But you absolutely cannot sit for the exams. When the time comes, I’m afraid we can only tell her.”

Although Shen Qingshu had already guessed it before, she was still a little surprised. After spending more than ten years together, her grandmother had truly been kept in the dark.

Shen Qingshu deliberately looked bewildered and said, “Then haven’t all these years of study gone to waste?”

Madam He’s heart ached. She took Shen Qingshu’s hand. “It’s Mother’s fault, Shu’er. Mother has wronged you. But Mother truly had no other choice.”

Shen Qingshu took the opportunity to ask, “Mother, what exactly were you thinking back then?!”

Madam He did not suspect anything and hurriedly explained, “At that time, your father was already gravely ill. If you had been a girl, after he passed away, the court would have taken back the title. We were just a widow and orphans. How could we have kept such a large family estate?”

“And your grandmother only had your father, that one son. Back then, she was about to follow him in death. It was only after hearing the news of your birth that she improved. We really had no choice.”

Shen Qingshu nodded inwardly. This basically confirmed the guess in her heart.

In a setting where men could have multiple wives and adopt blood relatives into the family line, cases of titles being seized because the line had died out were actually extremely rare.

But Count Chengyi’s household just so happened to have such difficulty with heirs. Her grandfather had only two younger brothers. One died young, and the other had only one son and one daughter, with no grandson.

In the third generation, there was not a single male heir!

Shen Qingshu suspected the Shen family’s Y chromosome had a problem, forcing her father to resort to such a desperate measure in order to preserve the title.

And it was only a minor Count Chengyi title. There were still so many dukes and marquises above them. No one had come specifically to inspect them, allowing them to avoid disaster.

After Shen Qingshu sorted out her thoughts, she held her mother’s hand in return and comforted her. “Mother, you don’t need to blame yourself. I don’t blame you.”

Madam He only thought she was saying what she did not mean and still felt extremely guilty. “You’ve suffered. A perfectly good daughter, yet you have to dress as a man. Not only do you have to study hard every day, you won’t be able to marry and have children for the rest of your life.”

Shen Qingshu did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Mother, I don’t think I’m suffering. Studying is quite good. If you really asked me to marry and have children, that’s what I wouldn’t be able to stand.”

Shen Qingshu did not know what the original owner had thought, but as for herself, she felt rather fortunate.

Although a transmigrator had changed history and women’s social status had improved somewhat, this was still a patriarchal society after all. As someone from a later era, if she really had to marry someone, share one husband with other women, and spend all day in the inner residence fighting for favor, getting jealous, and scheming against others, then she might as well live as a man.

Wasn’t it just being a single dog? That was perfectly fine!

Romance was not a basic necessity anyway.

She had transmigrated here and used the original owner’s body. It could be said that the original owner had given her the grace of survival. Then she had to protect the original owner’s family and let them pass this life safely and peacefully.

Moreover, the original owner had studied so desperately. She probably also wanted to take the imperial examinations and fully display what she had learned. Now that Shen Qingshu had transmigrated over, with her mental power to confuse the senses of those conducting the search, she could accomplish this.

Thinking of this, Shen Qingshu reminded her, “Mother, I’m afraid Grandmother won’t be able to accept it. Since Grandmother doesn’t know about this, don’t tell her. As for the imperial exams, you don’t need to worry. I have my own way.”

Madam He looked doubtful. “What way?”

“It’s a secret. You’ll know when the time comes.” Shen Qingshu smiled at her, but did not continue speaking. Instead, she urged, “It’s getting late too. You should hurry back and rest.”

Madam He could only helplessly rise. “All right. Shu’er, don’t read too late either.”

The next day, Shen Qingshu got up early again. This time, however, she was the only one eating. Only then did she discover, tearfully, that she was the only person in the household who got up early. Yesterday had merely been an exception because it was her first day returning to school.

From then on, Shen Qingshu began her daily student life in Great Yan, leaving early and returning late each day as she went back and forth between the count’s estate and the private school.

After all, she was an adult, and she did not have any fear of Teacher Zheng. Whenever she encountered a problem she did not understand, she would shamelessly go ask Teacher Zheng, without the slightest timidity.

After a while, her progress was extremely fast. It made everyone in the schoolroom feel as if danger was closing in, and they all worked thirty percent harder.

The imperial examination system here was very similar to the one in later generations. After passing the county exam, prefectural exam, and academy exam, one was called a xiucai. After passing the provincial exam, one became a juren. After passing the metropolitan exam, one became a gongshi. After passing the palace exam, one became a jinshi.

In terms of examination content, the xiucai stage emphasized “fill-in-the-classics” and explaining meanings from memory. It was similar to later generations’ poetry fill-in-the-blanks, classical Chinese translation, and short-answer questions. The juren and jinshi stages focused on argument essays and policy essays—in other words, writing compositions.

The difference was that, beyond these subjects, law, mathematics, history, and geography actually occupied an important place after the academy exam.

This was, of course, caused by the transmigrator.

In addition, after that fellow Emperor Shizu plagiarized numerous poems from later generations, perhaps out of guilt, he conveniently added poetry and rhapsody to the examination content too, making Shen Qingshu hate him so much her teeth itched.

As everyone knew, transmigrators were worst at writing poetry. Fortunately, poetry and rhapsody still made up a relatively small proportion of the total score.

So while teaching the meanings of the classics, Teacher Zheng would also teach them some basic mathematics, poetry, rhapsodies, and miscellaneous essays. Occasionally, he would even give them pointers on calligraphy.

Every time she had to write a poem, Shen Qingshu would first curse Emperor Shizu in her heart. Then she would rack her brains, scratch her ears and cheeks for ages, and finally write a poem so awful it was unbearable to look at. Not only would Teacher Zheng shake his head repeatedly, but her classmates would tease her too.

When it came to mathematics, however, the situation completely reversed. Shen Qingshu stood out alone. Even Zheng Heng could not compare to her.

One had to know that in her previous life, she had been a professional technical talent who had graduated from a military academy. When studying became too tiring, she had even done a couple of advanced mathematics problems to relax. Beating this group of elementary school students truly gave her no sense of pride at all.