Chapter 12: Little Pepper_1

"Come on then..." Yang Ruxin suddenly threw back her head, "Kill me today and spare me from hanging myself..."

"Me too," Sanni said fearlessly, tilting her head back, "Second aunty cracks sunflower seeds without working and never gets beaten, while we work every day and still get beaten. Might as well be dead..."

Yang Ruxin glanced sideways at Yang Sanni; this girl was capable. With a little cultivation in the future, she would definitely be a firecracker, no problem standing on her own.

Feng Caie immediately felt guilty, hastily stuffing the sunflower seeds in her hand into her pocket and thinking, how did this damned girl bring her into this?

Yang Anshi had just found a rattan cane, and upon hearing these words, she wasn't sure whether or not to bring the raised cane down.

Yang Peili's face also darkened.

"Mother ah..." Feng Caie tugged at the corner of her mouth, but still stepped forward to tug on Yang Anshi's arm again, "Rusong's examination is a big deal, there will be plenty of chances to discipline this damned girl in the future." She didn't care about the lives of the members of the main house, but she couldn't ignore her eldest son's academic examinations—after all, she had aspirations of becoming the recipient of an Imperial Edict.

In this era, academic examinations were quite strict, following a family responsibility system. The contender not only needed good academic knowledge but also had to pass character assessments. To qualify for the Scholar rank, one needed a teacher's nomination and two current Scholars to jointly recommend them. Moreover, the family must not be involved in any sordid affairs. If word got out that someone from the Yang Family had hanged themselves, it would ruin the family's reputation and inevitably affect Yang Rusong.

The Yang Family's vigorous cultivation of scholars had deep roots.

It is said that the ancestors of the Yang Family had produced scholars, even officials, the highest position being Minister of Revenue. However, no one knew when the family fell into decline. Nonetheless, the descendants of the Yang Family have always remembered the ancestral teachings, to diligently cultivate descendants to study, so that one day they could restore the glory of the Yang Family name.

The old man of the Yang Family also never forgot the ancestral instructions.

He first cultivated his eldest son, Yang Baiyue, who did bring pride to the family by qualifying as a Scholar, but turned out to be short-lived. Afterwards, he chose his eldest grandson, Yang Rusong, to continue the legacy, sparing no expense on him. The boy was passable, at least having already passed the scholar exam, and this year, if he passed the imperial examination, the Yang Family would boast two Scholars, which would be a remarkable story.

If in the future he could pass the examination for higher office, that truly would be worthy of the ancestors' pride.

Now that Yang Ruxin was using Yang Rusong as a bargaining chip, it was naturally causing unease among the people.

Of course, there was another reason: this year, there were only two students from the village entering the examination, Yang Rusong and Guan Qingshu. Although no one spoke of it, everyone was making comparisons in their hearts. Whichever family's son became a Scholar would gain greater prestige...

"Go get more money..." Yang Peili let out a heavy sigh, then sternly looked towards his wife, "Don't sacrifice the important for the unimportant..."

This time, Yang Anshi really had no choice but to turn back again, throwing out twenty copper coins, "That's all there is, no more available, do whatever you want..." While the logic was clear to her, when it actually came to giving up money, that was worse than stabbing her with a knife.

Yang Ruxin eyed the pile of copper coins on the ground, about thirty or so. Although she didn't know if it was enough, she guessed she wouldn't be able to get anymore and thus let go of Sanni's hand.