That second brother of hers had nothing, yet he dreamed of striking it rich. It was no surprise that after several years, he had nothing to show for it.

When he saw how much Chen Wanqing had earned this time with her Moonlight Fragrance, he was so consumed by jealousy that he made a desperate, foolish move.

The matter was quickly uncovered. The man was thrown in jail and exiled a thousand li. Chen Wanqing, for her part, blacklisted all the spice shops connected to him by family ties. All this goes without saying.

Meanwhile, Xu Su Ying proved her resourcefulness. Within two days, she traveled between two different county towns and bought all the spices her daughter needed, ensuring there were no delays to their important business.

And so, after the funeral for the Zhao family’s matriarch, they hired more women from the village and managed to deliver the order on schedule. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

When Zhao Jing and Chen De’an left Moxiang Pavilion, each clutched a wooden plaque in his hand. It was a Book Borrowing Order from Moxiang Pavilion. With this Token, they could read any book for free at any of its locations, including the main branch.

Moxiang Pavilion operated a total of fifteen private academies throughout Xinghuai Prefecture. Leaving aside the ones in the county towns, its two main branches in the Prefecture capital alone housed a collection of tens of millions of volumes. A significant portion of these were books related to the imperial examinations, as well as the personal study notes of past scholars and Advanced Scholars.

This was a truly incredible treasure. To have access to it was like standing on the shoulders of giants for the examinations. The advantage gained was far beyond what a single person, working in isolation, could ever hope to achieve.

But at the moment, it wasn’t just Zhao Jing who had no time to spare for the order; De’an didn’t either.

The two walked onward, numb. A gust of night wind made their backs turn cold, and they couldn’t help but shiver.

It was only then that they belatedly realized they had broken out in a cold sweat without even noticing.

De’an let out a shaky breath. "That was too close. So, so close."

Zhao Jing’s voice was lower, deeper, melting into the thick, inky darkness of the night.

"It’s all thanks to Big Sis’s caution. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise, this wouldn’t have just been a matter of losing our fortune. If someone had a sudden attack and died because of it, my sister... she might have had to..."

"Stop it! It would never have come to that! Big Sis is blessed with incredible luck. She would never be forced into a dead end."

"Right, right! My sister is always doing good deeds, too. She’s the best person there is. Anyone else might fall into such a trap, but not her."

But still, it had been a genuinely close call.

If Chen Wanqing hadn’t been so sharp—if she hadn’t noticed something was amiss and immediately tested the ingredients by making a batch of incense—everything might have been ruined...

It was very late now, and all the shops had closed up and extinguished their lights.

The lanterns hanging on either side of the shops went out one by one, and the entire street gradually fell into silence.

The two walked back through the night, their steps heavy, their hearts heavier still.

Never before had a single moment made them miss home so acutely. Never before had they felt such a burning desire to make something of themselves—to become so powerful that no one would dare cross them, so they could protect their family.

...

「Two days passed in a flash, and the day of the Prefectural Examination arrived.」

The procedure for the Prefectural Examination was almost identical to that of the county examination.

The differences were that the number of guarantor scholars required for the Prefectural Examination increased to two, and the exam consisted of three sessions over four days, during which candidates could not leave. They had to wait until all four days of exams were completed before they could exit the examination grounds.

Under the previous dynasty, candidates for the Prefectural Examination were forbidden from bringing anything except their examination permit. Writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, cotton quilts, charcoal, food, and water were all supplied by the local government office.

But the current dynasty was newly established and beset by constant threats both foreign and domestic, so the court’s coffers were tight. Consequently, for the Prefectural Examination, only fresh water and the old cotton quilts already present in the examination cells were provided. Candidates had to bring everything else themselves.

Fortunately, having already been through the county examination, they all had a good idea of what to bring into the exam hall.

Worried that food from outside might not be clean, they decided to simply cook their own.

But it was now the fourth month of the year, and many foods spoiled quickly. Bringing in something like braised meat was clearly impossible. The food had to be filling and non-perishable. In the end, Zhao Jing and the others fried a large batch of flatbreads and prepared plenty of fresh vegetables and seasonings. They planned to cook a palatable meal each evening after the day’s exam to soothe their stomachs.

As for what to eat during the day, they would have to make do with thin congee, jujube cakes, and flatbreads with pickled vegetables.

Even these items would surely be broken to bits during the search, completely ruining one’s appetite. But they were all young men with hearty appetites; they couldn’t possibly last on nothing but thin gruel all day without any solid food.

With that in mind, they also specially prepared a large quantity of pork jerky, bought some mature ginger for treating colds, and packed various other medicinal pills and oilcloth, stuffing their examination baskets to the brim until, finally, everything was ready.