The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

"You have to ask the county magistrate. We only follow orders. Now you are allowed to enter the county but not leave," said the soldier guarding the city.

"When was the order given?" Zhang Pingan asked.

"The order was issued five days ago," the soldier replied lazily. "If it doesn't work, you can come back in seven or eight days. All the recruits will gather in the capital at the beginning of February, and the city gates will definitely be opened by then."

This is because the other party is a scholar, otherwise the soldiers would not say so.

"Son, what should we do?" Xu said anxiously. She had not yet realized the seriousness of the matter. She just felt that it was too late to return to the provincial capital, and the provincial school would definitely blame her.

Zhang Pingan thought for a moment and said, "Let's find an inn to stay in first, then I'll go visit Master Lin and ask about the situation."

"Well, okay, it would be best if the other party could use some connections to let us out," Xu whispered.

Zhang Laoer saw something was wrong and whispered, "Don't say anything. Wait until your son finds out the situation first."

After the family found an inn to stay in the county town, Zhang Pingan couldn't wait until the next day to visit, so he went to the snack shop to buy some snacks and then went to the Lin family.

Unexpectedly, the doorman didn't even bother to report in. He just said, "My master has been seriously ill recently and is bedridden, so it's inconvenient for him to see guests. Please come visit again another day, Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Ping'an was shocked when he heard this. When he came to visit a few days ago, Master Lin was in good health and looked in good spirits. How come he is bedridden now?

"I don't know what serious illness Master Lin has contracted. Could you let me visit him? Although I am not talented, my family happens to be in the medicinal materials business, so I know a little bit about medicine," Zhang Ping'an said politely.

The doorman said politely, "That's not necessary. My master has already seen a doctor."

His expression did not change at all, and although his attitude was polite, his meaning was very clear: he just didn't want to see him!

Zhang Ping'an had no choice but to leave his things and go back to the inn.

When Xu saw her son come back, she immediately stepped forward and asked, "Son, how are you? What did Master Lin say?"

Zhang Pingan shook his head and whispered, "The concierge said Master Lin was seriously ill and bedridden and unable to see guests. I didn't even see him."

"Oh, what should I do? I didn't get sick earlier or later, but I got sick at this critical moment," Xu sighed as she sat down.

"It's okay, I'll ask Xiao Yifei tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll go to the Tan family to ask. It's just a matter of losing some face. If there is a way, that would be the best," Zhang Pingan comforted.

What happened to Master Lin today made him feel very uneasy.

Zhang Laoer didn't ask anything, went downstairs to bring up some food, and the family had dinner and went to bed.

Early the next morning, Zhang Ping'an prepared some things and went to the Xiao Mansion. The doorman still had that arrogant look on his face.

After Zhang Ping'an explained his purpose, the doorman said impatiently, "The Second Young Master is not here!"

Zhang Ping'an's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "Then where did he go?"

“How should I know?” the concierge rolled his eyes.

Zhang Pingan saw this and quickly took out a dime from his pocket and handed it over, saying, "Sorry for the trouble. I have something urgent to discuss with him."

The doorman's eyes lit up when he saw the silver. After taking it, his attitude became much better. He replied, "The Second Young Master is really not here. There's no point in worrying. He probably won't be back for ten days or half a month. They went to the Grand Zen Temple in the city to burn incense."

"They?" Zhang Pingan muttered silently, "Who else is there? When did they leave?"

"As for the eldest lady and the eldest young master, I heard that the abbot of the Great Zen Temple is very accurate in interpreting divinations, so this time I went here specifically to predict the future of the eldest and second young masters," said the doorman.

"Is County Magistrate Xiao here?" Zhang Ping'an asked.

The doorman became impatient again when he heard this: "You have too many questions. Of course our master is here, but he is very busy. You can't see him whenever you want."

After saying that, he closed the door with a bang.

Zhang Ping'an didn't care and went to the Tan Mansion again. He knew that Tan Yaoqi was not there, but he wanted to verify his guess.

Tan Yaoqi's family had already split up a long time ago. His uncle was the Tongzhi in the provincial capital, and his uncle was the county magistrate in the county. They were both officials and it was impossible for them to live together. Therefore, Tan Yaoqi's family lived in a large house with its own entrance and exit.

The Tan family was wealthy, and their house was magnificent. Zhang Ping'an knocked on the door, and soon a doorman came to open it: "Excuse me, sir, who are you looking for?"

Zhang Ping'an smiled and said, "My surname is Zhang, my given name is Ping'an. I was a classmate of your eldest young master and we both studied at the prefectural school. This is my student ID. When I came back this time, Brother Tan asked me to bring some words to my uncle, so I came to visit."

After saying that, he handed over his student ID, which was similar to the current student ID card.

The doorman took it and looked at it for a few seconds. He could recognize a few words. After reading it, he handed it to Zhang Ping'an and said, "My master has already left for the capital. You are late."

"Oh? May I ask when did your uncle leave? Did you bring enough followers with you on the way to the provincial capital? Last time, when Brother Tan and I were taking the imperial examination together, we encountered robbers. Thanks to Brother Tan for bringing a lot of followers with him, we were able to escape safely," Zhang Ping'an asked with concern.

Speaking of this, the doorman also knew about it, and his attitude instantly warmed up a lot: "Don't worry, my master brought more than 20 followers to guard the house this time, and almost all the guards at home went with him!"

"When did you leave?" Zhang Pingan asked.

"He's been gone for about four or five days," the doorman recalled.