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

The people on the opposite side could also see Zhang Ping'an clearly with the help of the lanterns and firelight hanging on the carriage, and the atmosphere suddenly became much more relaxed.

"Mr. Zhang, why are you here?" asked the man sitting next to the coachman opposite. It was the eldest son of Doctor Fu, who had sent Zhang Ping'an and others out of the city a few days ago.

Doctor Fu also lifted the carriage curtain, squinted his eyes and looked over here, saying with a half-smile, "My dear nephew, what a coincidence!"

His smile was very fake, and after he finished speaking, he patted his head as if reminiscing, "Hey, I remember a few days ago my nephew told me that you guys had to rush back to the prefectural capital to go to school because you were worried about being expelled from the prefectural school. How come after a few days, you're still around the county town?!"

Being caught in the act, Zhang Pingan could only feign ignorance and said with a smile, "We've already lost all our luggage. It's freezing cold, and it would be bad if we caught a cold. So after we left the city, we thought about it and went back home to pack some more before setting off again."

"Oh? I see," Doctor Fu drawled, pausing before glancing around. "So, are all these people with their families also going to the capital to accompany you in your studies?"

"There's no future in farming in the countryside, so let's go to the city to find a job," Zhang Ping'an sighed.

Doctor Fu cursed inwardly when he saw this, "What a little bastard, you're pretending so well!" But he nodded and replied, "Very good!"

It seems like he accepted this statement.

"Then let's rest here for one night," Doctor Fu asked the family to get out of the car.

"Dad, didn't we agree to go to the village ahead to rest? It's better than sleeping in the wilderness," said Brother Fu, puzzled.

Doctor Fu got out of the car on his own after hearing this. "Your Uncle Zhang and his family can rest here, so why can't we? Besides, there are many people and we have company. We are all going to the capital, right?"

The last sentence was said while looking at Zhang Laoer.

Zhang Laoer stepped forward and said with a simple smile, "Yes, it's nice to have company. We just made a fire and cooked dinner. How about having something hot together?"

"Okay, then I won't be polite," Doctor Fu walked over and sat by the fire.

After Xu served each of her two daughters a bowl of soup noodles, she urged them to get in the car to eat. The other families did the same. The unmarried daughters and young wives all returned to the car, while the remaining older people sat where they were and took care of the food in the pot.

The Fu family had a total of four vehicles for travel, two horse-drawn carriages and two mule-drawn carriages. Doctor Fu and his two sons each sat in one, and the remaining one was used to carry the family's luggage.

Both the eldest brother Fu and the second brother Fu are married. They brought the women and children of their families with them on this trip. Each family has four children, all of whom are relatively young. The oldest one is the eldest son of the eldest brother Fu, who is estimated to be about six or seven years old. He is being taken care of by a maid who is accompanying them.

Only the men, children, and a few accompanying maids and guards got off the car. None of the female members of the Fu family got off.

When Mrs. Xu saw that the dinner prepared in the pot was obviously not enough, she quickly scooped out a few bowls and gave them to the guests first.

Doctor Fu and his two sons took the bowl and ate half of it. They probably thought the food was not good, and they couldn't finish the rest. Giving it to the servants or pouring it out would be rude. They were just wondering what to do when Liu Sanlang saw them from the side, came over, handed them the bowl, and said, "Give it to me if you can't finish it!"

"This...this is not good," Brother Fu said in embarrassment.

"It's okay, don't waste food. Give it all to my eldest son-in-law. He has a big appetite," said Zhang Laoer.

They then poured the remaining food into Liu Sanlang's bowl, and Liu Sanlang sat back and ate it with relish.

Xu filled a few more bowls and brought them to the carriage for the women of the Fu family, but they politely declined, obviously showing disgust. However, Xu didn't care and brought the food back for her husband and son to eat.

Doctor Fu smiled and tried to smooth things over, "Sister-in-law, if they don't want to eat, just ignore them. They've been spoiled!"

"Oh, it's okay," Xu said stiffly.

"Uncle Fu, why are you going to the provincial capital too?" Zhang Pingan asked casually.

Doctor Fu glanced at Zhang Laoer and replied, "Why are you going to the capital city? That's why I'm going there too!"

"How long do you plan to be gone? What about your work at the medical department with Brother Fu, Big Brother Fu, and Second Brother Fu?" Zhang Pingan pretended not to understand and continued to inquire.

"We've been feeling unwell recently and have asked for leave from the medical department. We need to rest for a month or two. If we're still not fully recovered, we may have to rest for three or four months," Doctor Fu smiled meaningfully.

When it was time to rest after dinner, Qian Yongde came over to help with the running around. He had heard everything from the side. The person who came was Doctor Fu from the county government's medical department. He was a small boss in the medical department. His father-in-law's family's medicinal materials business was also supported by the Fu family. Qian Yongde felt that his chance had come.

That flattering look was unbearable to look at.

But he didn't understand that the upper class people looked down upon such spineless lackeys the most.

Doctor Fu is well versed in the ways of the world and appears polite. Who knows, this money might come in handy in the future. This kind of person is the easiest to bribe.

Zhang Ping'an arranged people to take turns guarding the night. Among the group, only Liu the Butcher and Brother Liu had good fighting skills and were ruthless, so Zhang Ping'an separated the two groups.

After a rough night's sleep on the mule cart, the older women in the family got up early the next morning to prepare breakfast.

The Fu family brought a maid with them, who cooked a big pot of lean meat and egg drop porridge and added a lot of lard. The aroma was so fragrant that the younger children stood aside and drooled. However, they were well-educated at home and no one asked for it.

Xu’s breakfast still consists of soup noodles, which are both convenient and delicious.

After breakfast, Doctor Fu came over and said with a smile, "My dear nephew, we are both going to the capital, why don't we go together?"

"That's great, of course. We'll be more numerous if we go together, and we won't have to worry about being robbed or anything like that," Zhang Ping'an said cheerfully.

The group started to drive towards the provincial capital. If it was summer, it would only take three or four days to reach the provincial capital, but it was still the first month of the lunar year and the road was not easy to travel. It took nearly five or six days to return when they came back before, and Zhang Pingan estimated that it would take about the same time this time.

In the first two or three days, many people complained secretly, thinking that Zhang was getting old and confused, and that Zhang Laoer and his wife were indecisive and followed Zhang Ping'an in making trouble. Even though Zhang Ping'an passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he was still young, timid, and not steady enough, and he had dragged the whole family down. They were also stupid at the time and actually followed them.

On the fourth day, when they were halfway through the journey, people from other counties gradually began to join the official road with their families in horse-drawn carriages or mule-drawn carts, heading towards the provincial capital. Similar to the Zhang family, their convoys were connected in long lines. Everyone then realized that something was wrong and that something might have really gone wrong!

Now everyone started to panic and no one dared to complain anymore!