"Are you truly going to leave this place?"
The elderly Old Master sat upright in the county yan's public school.
The young man in front of him, though dressed in simple clothes with cuffs washed until white, had a spine as straight as a pine.
His eyes were like stars, especially those eyebrows, thick and straight, almost connecting together.
"Lord Tang has already greeted the people in Changming Prefecture. If I don't go, it would be truly inappropriate."
"Master, please rest assured. On the day your student returns, I will definitely make a na for myself!"
The Old Master said, "Even without an official rank, one can still pursue scholarship and equally make a na for oneself."
The young man shook his head, "That Education Intendant relies on his power to bully others, saying my scholarship is nothing more than this and I will never have a day to pass the exam. I must fight for this breath of pride!"
Seeing his persistence and firm gaze, the Old Master knew he couldn't persuade him, and could only ask, "Have you spoken with Respected Guest Chu?"
"I have already knelt and bid farewell to Mister with my father."
"What did Respected Guest Chu say?"
"Mister said, drawing a sword to cut water, the water flows more. I can go, and should not disappoint the Master's teachings. Regardless of whether I can obtain an official rank in the future, I must not forget to be a good person."
The Old Master silently repeated a few tis, "Drawing a sword to cut water, the water flows more..."
"Although Respected Guest Chu has no official rank, he is full of literary talent. Very well, go then."
"In the future, if you return, you can still co here to study."
The young man nodded, took three steps back, respectfully knelt down, and kowtowed three tis to the Old Master.
Then he got up, turned, and left.
Watching his back as he walked like the wind, the Old Master's eyes held both admiration and worry.
Many years ago, outside the school, he saw a child in ragged clothes.
Secretly holding a branch, squatting on the ground learning to write.
Although the writing wasn't beautiful, it was written very earnestly, better than all the children in the school.
The laws of the Kingdom of Jing did not allow commoners to learn secretly.
So the Master called him over and hit his palms.
Hit him every ti he ca.
After the beating, he had to wipe the tables and sweep the floor.
Then wash the Master's writing brush and inkstone clean, and finally organize the bamboo paper filled with writing before he was allowed to leave.
This child dawdled while working, having to work until dark every ti before going back.
The other children watched, laughing and taking pleasure in his misfortune.
However, a few years later, recomnded by County Magistrate Zheng Xiuwen.
This child smoothly passed the county exam and prefectural exam, earning the title of Xiucai.
He was A'qiao, and his father was Chu Xun's tenant farr.
Failing the college exam multiple tis was not due to insufficient literary talent, but because he offended the Education Intendant in charge of the college exam.
That Rank 4b official dispatched from the Ministry of Rites was only forty-six years old, arrogant and haughty.
When A'qiao first participated in the college exam, because his dress was too simple, he was reprimanded by him, saying sothing about insulting the learning of the sages.
A'qiao was unconvinced and retorted, "A gentleman seeks the Dao and not food, worries about the Dao and not poverty. Shabby clothes and coarse food are not an insult; being unlearned and incompetent, a monkey dressed in human clothes, that is an insult!"
These words were what the Master had said to bail him out when he was secretly learning at the county yan public school and being mocked by others. He had always kept them in his heart.
That Education Intendant flew into a rage, stating, "As long as I am here for a day, you will never pass the exam!"
Huan'er and A'qiao were considered familiar. After learning of this, he asked Tang Shijun to help, but it was useless.
The other party was dispatched by the Ministry of Rites. Although his rank was not higher than Tang Shijun's, he was an independent entity.
He said he would only consider giving Prefect Tang face if A'qiao ca over and perford three kneelings and nine kowtows, but how could A'qiao be willing.
Fortunately, Tang Shijun provided a way, letting A'qiao transfer to another prefecture to avoid this person.
Outside the school, a tall and thin farr, and an equally thin and weak woman, carried a bundle.
A'qiao took the bundle from his father's hands and said, "This trip will take one year at the fastest, and two years at the slowest before I return. Father and Mother, take good care of yourselves. When your son returns, I will fulfill my filial piety!"
After kneeling and bowing to his parents again, A'qiao got up, carried the bundle on his back, and left just like that.
In front of the school, the tenant farr couple supported each other, just watching their son's figure gradually drift further away.
Pinecone Village.
Chu Xun sat on the wooden chair at the door of the house, two small weasels nestled between his legs.
This was already an unknown generation of the little guys, becoming increasingly unafraid of strangers.
Half-squinting his eyes and dozing, occasionally shaking their furry tails, very comfortable.
The Spirit Pearl Grass by his feet, the cyan fruit had grown a circle larger, and the color was slightly deeper.
Irrigation with spiritual mist once every seven days, and turning the soil, never interrupted.
Zhang Anxiu ca in from outside the courtyard and said, "Li Chang'an really moved away, I guess he won't co back in the future."
Chu Xun nodded slightly, not making a sound.
Since Huan'er obtained the Second Place Graduate, it was impossible for Li Chang'an to stay in Pinecone Village anymore.
His face had been completely lost. So what if he relied on the title of Juren to earn several hundred taels of silver a year.
Every sum of silver smashed him until his nose was bruised and his face swollen, unable to face people.
"Did A'qiao really go to another prefecture? So far away, all by himself, what if he encounters so trouble on the road..." Zhang Anxiu said worriedly.
Although A'qiao was the child of a tenant farr, he often ca to pay respects to Chu Xun and Zhang Anxiu.
His address for the two was Mister and Mistress.
It was Zhang Anxiu's first ti being called Mistress, plus A'qiao's straightforward personality, he was very much to her liking.
Chu Xun then opened his mouth and said, "Didn't Huan'er also go hundreds of miles away to serve as a County Magistrate? If young people want to fly higher, they have to go further. There's nothing inappropriate about it."
"You ah, other people beco more timid the older they get, how co you beco bolder the older you get." Zhang Anxiu muttered a few words, and then asked, "Lord Tang went to the Capital City to serve as the Vice Minister of Revenue, and you didn't even send a gift. Later people will say you lost your manners."
Chu Xun smiled, "Even if the people of the world say I lost my manners, I can't let Lord Tang say I don't know my limits."
Seeing soone get promoted and going to send a gift, with Tang Shijun's temper, he would only feel that you were insulting him.
The friendship between gentlen is as pure as water; sending gifts would instead seem superfluous.
Zhang Anxiu originally wanted to say a few more words, but seeing the few white hairs growing at her husband's temples, she swallowed them back.
Never mind, never mind, he's getting older, if he doesn't send it, he doesn't send it.
Picking up the dried radishes from the courtyard, Zhang Anxiu walked towards the woodshed.
After taking a few steps, Zhang Anxiu turned her head and asked, "What was A'qiao's na again?"
Always calling him A'qiao, A'qiao, actually this was a childhood na.
Chu Xun held the small weasel's tail, stroking its fur circle by circle, and said,
"Huang Qi."
Zhang Anxiu muttered, "Why does it sound like a dicinal herb."
---
Year 4 of Yongji.
The Emperor issued a decree to campaign against the barbarian tribes in the southwest, intending to expand the territory.
The barbarian tribes lived in the mountains and forests, keeping company with wild beasts.
It was difficult for a large army to deploy, destined to be a protracted war.
Fortunately, the Kingdom of Jing had laid a good foundation under the rule of Emperor Taizu.
The national treasury was abundant, and rations and fodder were sufficient, so there was no worry about supply shortages.
Shitou, who was supposed to return ho to visit relatives, was promoted at the front lines to Vanguard Chiliarch.
He wrote a letter back, saying he would use the blood and corpses of the barbarians to pave a broad road for his ascent.
This was not an exaggeration; expanding the territory was an unparalleled achievent.
If he could truly fight bravely and establish illustrious military rits, it wouldn't be surprising to be enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed as a general in the future.
Shitou said in the letter that he wanted his son Liao Licheng to also join the army.
In the future, a tiger son from a family of generals, wouldn't that be wonderful?
But Qiaohua absolutely refused to let Liao Licheng go no matter what. Her husband fighting at the front lines already made her so worried she couldn't sleep. If her son also went to the battlefield, she would probably have nightmares every day.
On the contrary, after Qi Ermao heard about this, he had his son take a few peers from the village to join the army.
Back then, he and Shitou, one left and one stayed, and now their statuses were worlds apart.
How could he not have regrets in his heart.
What he failed to achieve himself, he wanted his son to take over and complete.
After Zhang Anxiu heard about this, she angrily ran over and gave Qi Ermao a scolding.
The child is only fifteen years old, what's wrong with honestly farming at ho.
In case there's a mishap on the battlefield, to say sothing unlucky, that would be the tragedy of a white-haired person sending off a black-haired person.
The thirty sothing year old Qi Ermao could only put on a smiling face to the half-white-haired Zhang Anxiu, "Auntie, don't be angry. If you ruin your health from anger, Brother Xun will co looking for trouble with ."
"Then you're right. If you really make her angry, I will definitely whip you," Chu Xun said, coming in from outside the courtyard.
A few crows flew over and landed on the wall.
Their pitch-black pupils stared at Qi Ermao until his scalp went numb.
Chu Xun ca over and talked a lot of sense before finally persuading Zhang Anxiu to leave.
Qi Ermao's wife, Chunni, looked at the backs of the two leaving and said, "Brother Xun must be almost fifty this year, right?"
"Yeah, forty-nine."
Chunni sighed, "Even Brother Xun is getting old..."
"Don't talk nonsense, how is forty-nine old. Look at the way Brother Xun walks, he's still very robust, it's exactly the age to do great things."
[End of Chapter]
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