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Three days later, Jiang Jie and his cousin Jiang Yuanbao went to the county town to meet the County Magistrate, bringing along some special products from their home store.

Yingbao didn’t go anywhere. After all the guests at home had left, she went to Deer Garden to let out a few horses.

After a period of careful nursing, the injured horses were healed, but they couldn’t be ridden again.

However, they were still capable of carrying some things or grinding mill from time to time.

As for the dead horses, Yingbao also took the time to let them out, allowing their father to sell the meat.

The two horse-drawn carts were kept in her cave dwelling, to be used whenever needed.

“Sister, what are you doing?”

A little boy ran into Yingbao’s room, bent over to climb onto the Kang bed.

“No climbing allowed.” Yingbao pushed him back: “And don’t call me sister!”

The little boy blinked his eyes: “Then what should I call you?”

Yingbao ignored him and continued reading her book.

The little boy was determined and climbed onto the Kang, squeezing next to Yingbao, peeking at the book in her hand and asked, “Sister, what are you reading? Show it to Yuanbao.”

Yingbao pushed his head away and said: “I’ve told you not to call me Yuanbao.”

The little boy looked hurt and pouted: “But my mother calls me Yuanbao.”

Yingbao put on a stern face: “Then you go find your mom.”

“Alright, I will call myself Xiaotong from now on.” Xiaotong finally compromised, looking expectantly at Yingbao: “You should give me candy now.”

Yingbao was worn out by the child’s persistence, and took out a piece of candy from her bag for him: “Go play, and don’t bother me anymore.”

Xiaotong took the candy, laughing gleefully as he slid off the Kang and ran off to find Mr. Wu.

“Dad! Dad! Sister gave me candy! Yuanbao… Xiaotong will save some for dad.” Xiaotong threw himself into Mr. Wu’s arms, forcefully shoving the piece of candy into his mouth.

Mr. Wu had no choice but to bite off half, giving the other half to Xiaotong, and said, “From now on, call me Grandpa.”

Xiaotong seemed not to have heard, accepted the piece of candy and then snuggled into Mr. Wu’s arms: “Dad, do you miss Mom? Yuanbao… Xiaotong misses Mom.”

Mr. Wu sighed and changed the subject: “Should we read a book together?”

Xiaotong nodded and shook his head alternately, seemingly confused: “Only if Dad is reading. Xiaotong will just listen.”

So, Mr. Wu recited a section of the Three Character Classic. When he looked again, Xiaotong had already fallen asleep.

A few days later, Jiang Jie returned from the county town, bringing back many books, including a few that his sister specifically asked him to find.

“This is the Qinchuan County Gazetteer, which I requested from the County Magistrate.” Jiang Jie took out a Gazetteer to give to his sister.

Yingbao was thrilled and immediately began reading it.

This Gazetteer recorded major events that had occurred in the county over the years, noteworthy individuals, and some strange anecdotes, but there was no mention of Jiuyang Temple.

However, there was a strange story that stated more than a hundred years ago, a forest fire broke out in the Chuanhe Town area, destroying a large part of the forest. The surrounding villages were not spared either.

The tale went on to say that the fire blazed for over two months before being extinguished by heavy rain.

Yingbao knitted her brows.

If the Taoist Temple had been burnt down by a wildfire more than a hundred years ago, then where did Chen Wan’s memories come from?

Chen Wan’s implications were clear. She was abandoned soon after birth, then raised by a Taoist priest or nun from the Taoist Temple, and later claimed by the Han Family.

This scenario was similar to her own past life or current life.

Regardless of which life, she seemed destined to be abandoned.

The repeated cycle of being abandoned and then retrieved, seemed to be constantly disrupted by her resistance, maybe that’s why the plot couldn’t get on track.

What on earth did that book want her to do?

Yingbao closed the county chronicles and decided to look for the Taoist temple in the mountains come spring.

Before she knew it, December had arrived.

The County Government suddenly issued a notice stating that the Imperial Court would be selecting warriors in every county from next February, inviting eligible families to sign their children up to take the exam. Anyone aged twelve to twenty could participate.

Not only were warriors being recruited, the court was also selecting individuals with exceptional medical skills, regardless of gender, encouraging aspirants to sign up.

The notice was posted under the big jujube tree at the entrance of Dongchen Village, attracting many villagers to gather around.

Yingbao was not affected, but her younger brother, Jiang Wu, was thrilled.

“Sis! I want to take the martial arts exam!” he would turn twelve after the end of the year — well, he’d be twelve by Chinese reckoning, which was just eligible.

Yingbao: “Alright, if you pass, our entire family will move to Jiankang.”

Her younger brother Jiang Jie was already a scholar and would surely become an official, at that point, he would definitely go to Beijing.

If Jiang Wu also passed the martial arts exam, then their family would be a bonafide official family, staying in the village would no longer be an option.

After Jiang Jie became a scholar, even some strangers from out-of-town came to present their gifts and establish connections. If you didn’t accept it, it would be as if you were looking down on them.

People might be tempted to use her family’s connections if they got into any trouble, by then, her family’s doorstep would be frequently transgressed.

Any carelessness might affect her younger brother.

Therefore, Yingbao hoped Jiang Wu could pass the martial arts examination, then they could all move to a prefecture city or Beijing.

The martial arts examination was scheduled for the eighth day of February, so they had to register in December with their household registration.

Jiang Sanlang and Chen Zhu took several kids with them to the county city in two horse-drawn carriages.

That’s right, not only Jiang Wu went to register, but Huzi, Wei Zhan, Wen Hengyin, and Zhang Min also went too.

Huzi and the boys were taking the martial arts exam, while Hengyin was applying for the medical school exam.

Luckily, this time, the new Imperial Court was very lenient in recruiting talent. Anyone with a household registration and a local person who could be a guarantor was eligible to participate.

That’s how Wei Zhan and Zhang Min could take the exam locally.

After registering, the boys devoted themselves to practicing mounted archery. At night, they needed to study military tactics and formation arrangement, all of which had to be tested.

Thanks to Zhang Meng knowing some of this, and Mr. Wu giving further guidance on military tactics, the boys made rapid progress.

The child had been living with Mr. Wu in Jiang Sanlang’s house, and he ate and played with Jiang Wu and the others.

Occasionally he would play with Niuniu from the Chu family, but Niuniu always teased him about being illiterate.

The boy felt aggrieved, and seeing his “daddy” was too busy to deal with him, he went to find Yingbao.

“Sister, I want to learn to read.” The boy climbed onto the kang bed and squeezed up in front of Yingbao, pointing to the book on the table and saying, “Sister, teach me how to read.”

Yingbao didn’t understand why the child wasn’t afraid of her and even quite liked being close to her. All she could do was to say, “If you can’t learn, I’ll slap your hand.”

The boy instinctively hid his hands behind his back and whispered, “I can learn!”

“All right, but when I slap your hand you can’t cry.” Yingbao took out a Three Character Classic and taught him to read, word by word, phrase by phrase: “People at birth, are naturally good…”

The boy took his studies seriously and could chant a few sentences quite decently.

“Sis, I can read now!” He looked up at her, seeking praise.

Yingbao nodded, “Well done, you need to recite a chapter every day.”

The boy lowered his voice, “OK, but you have to teach me every day.”

Yingbao hummed in acknowledgment and gave him a milk cake, “This is a reward for you. Study hard in the future, it’s the only way to understand things.”

The boy happily took it and, with a giggle, slipped off the kang bed. He ran to find Mr. Wu quickly, “Daddy! Sister gave me a cake!”