However, Cousin Zhou is fond of solving cases and often acpanies Lord Zhou to resolve various cases. He is quite talented, which is why Lord Zhou values this nephew from his wife’s family.
As for his own son, well, as long as he doesn’t act like a little tyrant in the capital, that’s good enough.
"Hmm, I’m just joking, really." Zhou Jiaojiao quickly pleaded, "But sneaking into the private room to listen to stories is quite thrilling!"
"So being an examiner is that hard, and also reading, the silver spent, but what the book says is true; they are weak and frail, only know how to read, but don’t understand farming, which doesn’t seem all that great either."
The storytelling today has only reached the second volume.
That’s just the first six thousand characters.
But the contrasting experiences of the two scholars are already evident.
"It’s definitely not good," Huo Hongyan, who understood these realities well, said. "If you only know how to read, how can you handle government affairs?"
"Ms. Huo, Jiaojiao, shall we play cards?"
proposed Chu Ziluo.
Because the storyteller only tells one volume each day.
With guests ing and going, they obviously can’t keep going on.
Listening to the front part then bees repetitive.
But it takes care of most customers.
So Chu Ziluo and the others have already finished the first two volumes. Although they were curious about what followed, they understood the rules and had to remain curious and leave it at that.
Luckily, they can still play cards, so they don’t feel bored for the moment.
The same is true for the guests in the bathhouse below.
If someone presses the storyteller to narrate the next part, they are instead introduced to play cards.
Except for a very few who won’t be distracted, most people don’t mind this rule.
For several consecutive days,
the bathhouse’s business was excellent.
It became a place where those with some leisure money in the capital go for recreation and entertainment.
Once again, Zhou Jiaojiao left in the afternoon and only returned after two hours.
As she entered the mansion, she met her second brother.
Young Master Zhou, the second young master, at fourteen, was just at the age of loving to broaden his knowledge.
Seeing his sister, he hurried over, "Sister, you went out again today?"
"Why, can’t I go out?" Zhou Jiaojiao crossed her arms and snorted lightly, "Didn’t you go out too?"
"I went to listen to storytelling," Zhou Erlang proudly raised his chin. "Have you heard of the recent Yonghe Bathhouse? A place even the Emperor has visited, the poker game is really interesting, and the stories there are different from anywhere else."
As Zhou Erlang spoke, he couldn’t help but talk at length, "That Yan Sanlang’s family background is similar to mine, but for some reason, I always feel that in the book, Yan Sanlang can’t pare to that Zhou Wulang."
Yan Sanlang and Zhou Wulang are the two main contrasting characters in the book written by Ye Muyu called The Imperial Examination Path.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiaojiao also became interested, "Hey, you think so too, right? Let me tell you, Ziluo said that Yan Sanlang has many flaws, and he won’t do well in the official circle. But that Zhou Wulang is more stable in his work, and Great Chu needs pragmatic talents like this."
Indeed, at that time, Ye Muyu, considering the content about the official circle, had certain taboos, fearing writing too deeply might provoke the higher authorities’ displeasure. Of course, the characters crafted couldn’t have real-life prototypes; otherwise, it would unnecessarily offend others if someone used them for ulterior motives.
So she even specifically sought Chu Heng for revisions, and in passing learned that the current Emperor indeed prefers practical talents and dislikes officials who only know how to flatter and please their superiors.
Thus, this biased expression eventually came through.
Zhou Erlang was a bit unhappy, "But Yan Sanlang is excellent at reading and posing poetry!"
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