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

However, this is a matter of human life and seriousness. As a survivor, I cannot stay out of it. I cannot go home now. I must go to the River Transport Bureau and the State School as soon as possible to report this matter and ask them to send someone to check the situation immediately.

Even if the hope of rescue is slim, we have to give it a try.

It was already late at night, and the evening breeze blew. Zhang Ping'an felt cold all over. He couldn't help sneezing, and his head felt a little dizzy. Could this be a sign of typhoid fever? He raised his hand and touched his forehead. Fortunately, he didn't have a fever.

Oh, what an unexpected disaster! Zhang Pingan couldn't help but sigh!

After asking the people at the dock about the location of the River Transport Bureau, I decided that the provincial school was closer after weighing the pros and cons.

Zhang Ping'an called a car at the nearby dock to take him to the provincial school.

In the provincial school, there are a very small number of students who live far away from home and live directly in the dormitory, so there are teachers on duty every night, so he is not worried about not being able to find anyone.

Even though Zhang Ping'an urged the driver several times on the chariot, it was already more than a quarter of an hour later when they arrived at the provincial school.

After paying the fare, Zhang Ping'an got off the car quickly and walked towards the gatehouse. After explaining the interests involved to the gatehouse, the gatehouse did not dare to delay and immediately led the way and took Zhang Ping'an to the night duty teacher.

Coincidentally, the person on night duty today happened to be Master Huang from Class A of the Middle Dormitory. After Zhang Ping'an reported this, Master Huang's face changed drastically. He stood up in shock and shouted, "What? How could this happen? You escaped alone?!"

Zhang Pingan heard Master Huang's subtext: "Why did you, an unimportant character, escape..."

Zhang Pingan: ...

Regardless of what he was thinking, Zhang Pingan said with a sincere and anxious expression, "Master Huang, let's go to the Heyunsi Yamen and ask someone to go over and take a look. Maybe there are other classmates who have escaped. There are several people in our class who come from military families and their martial arts skills are not bad!"

Master Huang thought it made sense, so he didn't delay and said as he walked out the door, "Okay, let's hurry up, you come with me!"

Zhang Ping'an knew that he would not be able to get away from this matter for the time being, so he did not refuse and followed Master Huang to the River Transport Bureau.

Master Huang was a juren himself and a teacher at the provincial school. He was also a man of his time and most of the students he taught had good backgrounds and identities, so he had a lot of connections in Lin'an City. He didn't go to the Heyunsi Yamen to wait for notification, but took Zhang Ping'an directly to the Hedao Governor's Mansion of the Heyunsi Yamen.

The Governor's Office of the Rivers was not too far from the River Transport Bureau. It took less than a quarter of an hour to arrive there in Master Huang's carriage.

After Master Huang handed over the visiting card, the doorman took a look at it and led the two of them directly to the flower hall.

After a while, the housekeeper came out and ordered the servants to serve tea. He smiled and bowed to Master Huang, saying, "Mr. Huang, please sit down. I have already asked the servants to report to my master!"

"Yeah," Mr. Huang nodded, looking anxious as he sat in his seat. As a teacher, he could not escape the blame for such a thing and would be implicated. He cursed in his heart that it was an unprovoked disaster.

After the two of them sat for a while, the river governor Yan Jinzhi came out. He was a middle-aged man with a serious expression, a slightly fat figure, and a great official authority. He wore an emerald green ring of excellent quality on his thumb.

Huang Juren and Zhang Pingan were about to stand up and salute when Zhang Pingan raised his hand and said sternly, "No need for formalities. Sit down and talk. I heard from the housekeeper that something happened on the pleasure boat. Maybe a lot of people died?"

Mr. Huang said anxiously, "Yes, Master Yan, today is the day when the students of our Class A are having an outing. We don't know the identities of those villains who boarded the ship. The situation is critical now. Please send someone to rescue them as soon as possible. I will be very grateful!"

Upon hearing this, Lord Yan turned his gaze to Zhang Ping'an and asked, "I heard that you were on the boat at the time. Tell us about the situation!"

Zhang Ping'an took a deep breath, stood up and recounted, "Your Excellency, at that time, most of my classmates were drinking and writing poetry on the third floor, and a few others were on the first floor. I felt a little unwell, so I went to the second floor to find a guest room to rest. Who knew that before I had slept for long, I heard screams and noises from the third floor. I quietly looked out the second-floor window and saw classmates collapsed on the first-floor deck. At the same time, masked black-clad villains came up from the second floor. After a fight, I fled to the first floor and jumped into the water to escape. After that, I swam south until I was rescued. After reaching shore, I immediately went to the provincial school to inform Master Huang. That's basically what happened."

Lord Yan listened to Zhang Ping'an's concise and clear words, which cleared him of all responsibility in the matter. It sounded very reasonable at first, but after careful consideration, he still had many doubts. He could not help but pay more attention to this person, and stared at him with eyes as fast as lightning. The timid person could not resist at all.

Zhang Pingan suddenly felt under great pressure. Momentum is something that is hard to explain, but it will give people invisible pressure. It is undoubtedly impossible to dodge at this time. Zhang Pingan forced himself not to avoid Lord Yan's gaze.

After a moment, Master Yan turned his gaze to the butler and instructed, "Take my warrant and send someone to the River Transport Department to dispatch someone. Immediately rush to the pleasure boat on the Wutang River where the incident occurred."

In fact, everyone present knew that if they rushed over now, the food would be cold, but they had to be prepared.

Zhang Ping'an was glad that he had said goodbye to his family before leaving this morning, saying that he might not be back until very late. At least his family didn't have to worry about him too much now.

With Lord Yan's warrant, things went smoothly. It involved the only son of a second-rank official, so Lord Yan went along to show his importance. The three of them took the same speedboat.

The officers of the River Transport Bureau are all very good at swimming, and Lord Yan also dispatched a group of sailors to ensure safety.

Professionals do professional things, and in less than two quarters of an hour, everyone arrived at the houseboat where the accident happened.

From a distance, the painting studio where the accident occurred was no different from other pleasure boats on the river, and the lights were still on, but when you got closer, you could smell a strong smell of blood.

After everyone got on the boat, they found that no one was left alive. The attendants, servants, singers and musicians were all dead on the ground, most of them were killed by a single knife.

"You two follow the officers to see if the bodies of the students in your class are all there." Lord Yan stood on the deck with his hands behind his back and raised his chin, motioning Master Huang and Zhang Ping'an to follow him to check the bodies.

They both nodded and followed him.

There were a total of 28 students in the class who went on the trip today. After final verification, only 21 students died on the boat. Except for Zhang Pingan who escaped, there were 6 students missing, including the only son of a second-rank official, that is, classmate Jiang.

This news made Lord Yan and Master Huang both happy and worried. They were happy that if the person was still alive, they could give an explanation to Lord Jiang. But they were worried that there might be some conspiracy waiting in the wings. After being in officialdom for a long time, one always thinks too much.

After Zhang Ping'an wrote down the list of the other six people, Lord Yan ordered his servants to send Zhang Ping'an back.