Chapter 224: Troubles
One world, one dream.
This sentence is the most appropriate to describe Gongyuan Street on the ninth day of the second lunar month.
No matter whether you are a common person or a high-ranking official, you only have one dream at this moment: to become a Jinshi, Jinshi, Jinshi!
But as soon as Sun Shaozong got off the carriage, he saw an old man with white hair and beard. In order to prevent his son from wasting his energy, he refused his son's support and ran to the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, trembling with a bamboo basket in his arms.
Seeing the old man gasping and in his twilight years, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but sigh: It's true how pitiful the love of parents is.
The son was a sensible person and was so moved that he burst into tears.
He ran after him and knelt down in front of the old man, kowtowed like crazy, and cried, "Dad, you're already 68 years old, and you haven't been very strong in the past two years. Can we not take the exam this time?"
“No way!”
The old man shook his head resolutely and said, "Not to mention sixty-eight, even if I keep taking the exam until eighty-six, I will definitely pass the exam and become a Jinshi! Even if I die, I will die in the Imperial Examination Hall!"
Uh~
This plot seems to be different from what I expected.
Retracting his gaze awkwardly, Sun Shaozong patted Sun Chengye on the shoulder and reminded him, "Remember not to panic after you go in. Put the room in order first, and then review the questions ."
Sun Chengye pursed his lips and nodded vigorously - looking at his posture, Sun Shaozong was afraid that if he nodded a few more times, he would sprain his neck.
Alas~
With his poor ability to adjust his mentality, he is likely to have a tough time this year.
"Uncle Thirteen, don't worry!"
Sun Chengtao still looked confident, patting his chest and saying, "Just wait and see! I can't say I'll get first place, but second place is definitely a sure thing!"
Oh~
With such a noisy and irritable temperament, it is hard to say whether he can pass the exam.
Yu Qian beside him also bowed and said, "Thank you for your concern, uncle."
Sure enough, it is still this...
"May I ask if it's Sun Zhizhong in person?"
Just when he was satisfied with Yu Qian's performance, a middle-aged man who looked like a servant came forward and said, "My master would like to invite Master Yu and Master Sun to come over for a talk."
Sun Shaozong's eyes rolled, but he immediately lowered his voice and asked, "Is your master the Minister of Personnel, Wang?"
Knowing Yu Qian's status as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, the only person who put Yu Qian first when inviting him could be the Lord "Heavenly Official".
Speaking of which, Minister Wang actually came in person to see Yu Qian off to the venue. It seems that he values this last disciple even more than he imagined - as I said, it's a good thing Yu Qian had already been married!
"Mr. Sun is indeed worthy of his reputation."
The middle-aged servant praised casually, gestured for invitation, and walked straight towards a carriage at the foot of the south wall.
Sun Shaozong hurriedly instructed Sun Xi, Zhang Cheng and others to send the two nephews to line up at the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall first, and then led Yu Qian to follow.
When they arrived in front of the carriage, they saw the curtain lifted, revealing an energetic old man. It was the Minister of Personnel, Wang Zhe. Although there were wrinkles around his eyes and eyebrows, his beard and hair were still as black as ink, and his deep eyes were bright and lively.
Sun Shaozong was about to salute, but Wang Zhe waved his hand first and said, "Sun Zhizhong, there is no need to be polite. I asked you to come here because I have something to tell you. The transfer of Wei Ruolan, a captain of the Dragon Guard, to the position of the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture was finalized yesterday. I believe the official document for taking office today has been delivered to the Wei family by now."
Although he had anticipated this, Sun Shaozong still felt a little depressed when he suddenly heard the truth from Wang Zhe's mouth.
When he was the Tongpan, there was a Zhizhong under pressure from above him. Now that he has become the Zhizhong, Wei Ruolan comes to disrupt the situation - how can he live a peaceful life?
After Wang Zhe revealed the bad news, he turned his attention to Yu Qian and said, "Tingyi, let's talk in the car."
Yes~
It seems that he really only wanted to tell me one thing, and he didn't want me to hear what he wanted to tell Yu Qian later.
Yu Qian bowed to Sun Shaozong somewhat embarrassedly and said, "Uncle..."
"Go up."
Sun Shaozong naturally would not stay here and act as a light bulb. He waved his hand to stop Yu Qian from talking, apologized to Wang Zhe, and then returned alone the same way.
However, Wang Zhe and Yu Qian did not chat for too long. After less than a quarter of an hour, Yu Qian leisurely got off the carriage, asked Sun Shaozong for instructions, and went to look for the brothers Sun Chengye and Sun Chengtao.
Sun Shaozong watched the three people enter the "Dragon Gate". When he looked back, Wang Zhe's frame was gone.
Naturally, he had no reason to stay here for long, so he called Zhang Cheng, Sun Xi and others, and drove two carriages slowly out of Gongyuan Street.
When he arrived at his doorstep, before the carriage had even stopped, he heard a man outside shouting in a hoarse voice, "Brother Sun, Brother Sun, you're finally back!"
Sun Shaozong hurriedly raised the curtains and responded, "Brother Xu, could it be that Xu Tai has arrived?"
"Xu Tai's ship should arrive at Datong Bridge Wharf this afternoon!"
Xu Shouye shouted as he stepped forward and grabbed the reins. When the black horse pulling the cart stopped, he jumped onto the cart and said, "But according to the information I just heard, Old Xu is accompanied by two centurions from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang naval forces."
"They were escorting him all the way, but they were actually escorting him. I heard that when they passed by Xuzhou, Ma Xingyi, who was serving as a garrison there, wanted to meet Old Xu at the dock, but was blocked by the two centurions!"
Ma Xingyi was the top military scholar in the eighth year of Guangde, and the only one among the top three who did not give up martial arts to pursue literature. As a result, he was promoted half a step ahead of others and was promoted to the position of fifth-rank garrison commander.
If it weren't for the outlier Sun Shaozong, he would have been known as the literary and military heroes of that subject together with Xu Tai.
Seeing Xu Shouye's anxious look, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but laugh and said, "When they were in Xuzhou, they were just passing by, so they naturally had a way to stop the old horse from getting on the ship. But after arriving in the capital, can they still imprison Xu Tai on the ship?"
"As long as they set foot on this small piece of land, can they allow two centurions from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang naval forces to make trouble?"
"Just relax and come with me to meet Xu Tai this afternoon."
After hearing this, Xu Shouye immediately felt relieved and said with a smile, "In that case, I will book a table outside the East Gate, and then the three of us can eat and chat!"
Having said that, he did not even go in with Sun Shaozong to sit for a while. Instead, he jumped off the carriage, led his mount, and left in a hurry.
This young man is really a reincarnation of a freak of rage...
Watching Xu Shouye hurried away, Sun Shaozong sighed helplessly, thinking that the spring of the eleventh year of Guangde was full of troubles.
