That evening, Song Mancang brought Old Man Song to Song Jinzhao's house.
"We'll open the ancestral hall for the worship ceremony tomorrow at Si hour. Also, I wanted to ask, which day are you planning to hold your celebration banquet?"
Most of the guests invited by the two families would overlap, so they certainly couldn't be held on the same day.
Song Jinzhao tapped her fingers on the table twice. "The worship is tomorrow. The day after, we need to visit Scholar Zheng's family, and we still lack all the necessary purchases. Let's make it the day after that."
Song Mancang nodded. A celebration banquet was best held sooner rather than later; the longer one waited, the more the celebratory spirit faded.
The next morning, before the clan ceremony, Song Jinzhao first took Song Qiming and the other two to pay respects at the graves of Third Song and his wife.
Song Qiming knelt before the graves, reading the official success announcement word by word. Old Man Song, standing behind him, didn't cry this time; he was smiling.
For this opening of the ancestral hall, nearly everyone in the village, men and women, old and young, came to join the excitement.
Song Jinzhao stood in the outer hall, watching the ancestral worship ceremony proceeding inside the inner hall. Many people inside looked at the Song family with envy.
Because of Song Jinzhao, the third branch of the Song family had risen in status within Song Village.
Now, with Song Qiming also passing the imperial examinations to become a scholar, their status rivaled that of the village chief, who even had to defer to them.
The fact that Song Qiming's celebration banquet was scheduled before Song Gaoli's was telling enough.
In the crowd, several women huddled together, whispering, "Now that Qiming has become a scholar, can Jinzhao girl get married?"
Having received the emperor's reward and being the elder sister of a scholar, even with Song Shixue and Song Anhao still to raise, those wishing to marry Song Jinzhao would be countless.
Another woman shook her head in disagreement. "They said back then that Song Jinzhao wouldn't marry until Song Qiming started his own family. This scholar lord is only twelve now; it's still very early."
"Besides, even if Song Jinzhao were to marry now, she wouldn't pick from the village's less-than-ideal options. She'd surely choose a well-off family in the city."
The women clicked their tongues. That was true; no one in the village was a match.
With a brick-and-tile house in the village, a shop in the city, assets worth hundreds of taels of silver, and land for a dowry, considering all the unmarried men in the village, none came close to Song Jinzhao's standing.
The two success announcements were hung in the inner ancestral hall, and the village genealogy recorded the entire process of the two passing the examinations in vivid detail.
The next day, the two families brought gifts to Scholar Zheng's home to express their gratitude.
Song Qiming respectfully presented a red invitation he had written himself to Scholar Zheng with both hands. "Tomorrow, this student will host a celebration banquet at home. I sincerely hope you will attend, sir."
Scholar Zheng smiled as he accepted the invitation. "I will certainly be there."
Song Dazhuang's breathing grew shallow, and he stared at the invitation with slight unease.
In the village, inviting someone to a feast was usually done verbally; they hadn't prepared formal invitations.
Immediately after, Song Qiming took out a thick stack of invitations and distributed them at the school.
Song Dazhuang leaned close to Song Gaoli's ear and whispered, "Should we go back and write some quickly? Ours is the day after tomorrow anyway."
Song Gaoli shook his head, following behind Song Qiming. "It's fine. Our classmates all know I came in last. Having an invitation or not doesn't matter."
Song Qiming's elder sister and younger sister could both help him write. In his own family, it was just him and his grandfather; how long would that take?
After leaving the Zheng residence, Song Jinzhao took Song Qiming to the county office to pay a visit to Magistrate Zhang Yuanzong.
Looking at the elder sister and younger brother standing before him, Zhang Yuanzong could almost envision the future of the Song family. They would certainly no longer be ordinary farmers; perhaps one day they might even surpass him.
The main dish for the celebration banquet was braised mutton. Since moving it to the prefectural city would be inconvenient, they decided to slaughter it for the feast.
Half of the entire ewe was used for the banquet, and the village chief bought the other half.
The original kid had now grown stronger than its mother. Song Jinzhao planned to use it for a whole roasted lamb in a few days.
At the banquet, the villagers exhausted all words of praise for Song Qiming. If the food hadn't run out and the feast hadn't ended, they wouldn't have wanted to leave.
In the old Song family house, Oldest Song and Second Song sat on chairs, staring at Old Man Song.
According to imperial regulations, those who obtained the scholar rank could have eighty mu of land exempt from taxation. They wanted to transfer the land under their names to Song Qiming's name for him to hold on their behalf.
Old Man Song broke into a sweat. "The three households have been registered separately for a long time. If Qiming holds it for you and it's discovered, it could affect his official career."
Oldest Song and Second Song gritted their teeth until their cheeks flaked.
Not only would they miss out on the grain tax reduction, but exemption from corvée labor wouldn't apply to them either.
Second Song muttered quietly to himself, "If we had known earlier, we shouldn't have divided the family. The third branch only has fourteen mu of land. Wouldn't the remaining sixty-plus mu just go to waste?"
Second Aunt Song thought of something and looked up to ask, "Then do we still have to pay grain tax on the five mu we rent?"
Wasn't that land under Qiming's name now?
Old Man Song raised his head. "Four of those mu are under Jinzhao's name. I'll go ask them tomorrow to see what they plan to do."
The next day, when Old Man Song came to ask, neither Song Jinzhao nor Song Qiming was home.
Song Shixue said, "Elder sister and brother went to the city to deal with matters concerning the shop. They won't be back until the afternoon."
Old Man Song: "Are they planning to reopen it?"
After being vacant for half a year, and with the weather hot now, they must want to restart the business.
Song Shixue shook her head: "No. Elder sister said she wants to rent it out."
Old Man Song was stunned. "Rent it out? Not reopening?"
The county-level examinations were over. If they weren't reopening the shop and had already rented out the land, had Jinzhao thought of another way to make money?
Song Anhao tugged on Old Man Song's pant leg, stretching out his arms coquettishly. "Grandpa, hold me~"
Old Man Song bent down and picked up his little grandson.
Song Shixue took the medical books from the shelf and placed them into a chest. "Brother is going to study in the prefectural city. Elder sister said we're moving. The shop is empty and useless there, and it might even deteriorate. It's better to rent it out and earn some rent money."
Old Man Song stood frozen in place.
He put Song Anhao down to sit on a stool. "Going to study in the prefectural city? Can't he stay in Xining City?"
Song Shixue shook her head: "Once you pass the scholar exams, you can study at Anyang Academy. How could he stay in Xining City!"
No one in their ancestry had ever studied, and no one in the village had ever become a scholar. Old Man Song, who had worked the land his whole life, had no idea that after passing the scholar exams, one had to go study in the prefectural city.
So far away. Wouldn't that mean he'd only come back a few times a year?
Old Man Song sat on the stool, waiting until Song Jinzhao and Song Qiming returned.
He stood up, looking at his grandson and granddaughter dismounting from their horses, his eyelids feeling slightly sore.
The children had truly grown up.
His Adam's apple bobbed as Old Man Song swallowed the words he had pondered for an hour.
He looked at Song Jinzhao and asked with concern, "Did you rent out the shop?"
Song Jinzhao shook her head. "Not that quickly. I've already entrusted it to a brokerage agency to handle. After that, we'll just collect the rent."
Old Man Song's heart felt empty. Would they come back after leaving?
His voice was faint when he asked, as if it would vanish as soon as it left his mouth.
But Song Jinzhao heard him clearly.
"Shixue said you're moving to the prefectural city. Will you come back for New Year's in the future?"
Song Jinzhao nodded. "When the academy has holidays, if we have time during New Year's, we'll come back."
In the Kingdom of Dongzhao, household registration and scholarly rank were tied together. If one moved their registration, it was equivalent to nullifying their rank.
That is to say, no matter where they went in the future, their original household registration would remain in Song Village.
The graves of Third Song and his wife still lay at the foot of the mountain behind the village. Even if Song Jinzhao didn't care much in his heart, Song Qiming and Song Shixue would still want to pay their respects to their parents each year. They could not stay away forever.
