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

"That's right, marry a man to provide you with food and clothing. It's not good to have too many cunning thoughts. A boy like the Yu family is a perfect match for Liu Ya," said Zhang Laoer.

After saying this, he made the final decision: "Mother, tomorrow you should catch an old hen, buy two bags of good snacks, and go to the matchmaker's house to report and finalize the marriage."

"Okay, I'll go early tomorrow," Xu said happily.

Zhang Pingan looked at his sixth sister, without any special reaction, and seemed quite calm.

On the contrary, the fifth sister seemed a little restless and her eating speed slowed down.

He knew what was on his fifth sister's mind, but he had already spoken twice. He could do nothing about it. He hoped that his fifth sister could understand her parents' painstaking efforts for her in the future.

There was no news from the bearded man, and Zhang Ping'an was worried about it. On the morning of the next day, he was about to take advantage of his last day of free time to go to the Human City, when the bearded man came to his door.

Zhang Pingan had a stern face and didn't give the other party a good look, "Mr. Li Ya, what a rare guest!"

"Master Zhang, what are you talking about? I've been remembering your instructions," the bearded man said with a flattering smile, rubbing his hands. He defended himself a few times, "This child's background is indeed a bit questionable, so it took some time. I was going to come to you yesterday, but something went wrong, so I had to come to your house today to apologize."

"Oh, you still know how to apologize," Zhang Pingan sneered, "What went wrong?"

"Master Zhang, please don't be angry. The truth is, I went to the kid's home in the south of the city and saw a dead body. It was hot, and I was worried about maggots, so I took my men and spent some money to bury the body at Shilipu outside the city. I wanted to find out more about the kid's whereabouts after I was done, but he refused to talk. It really pissed me off!"

Speaking of this matter, the bearded man was so angry that his teeth were itching. This kid is a big eater and can eat three bowls of rice in one meal.

When he saw this kid acting like a quail in front of Mr. Zhang when he was sent over, he thought he would be easy to deal with, thinking that it would be a good opportunity to make some money.

As a result, as soon as Mr. Zhang left, this kid became like a gourd with a sawed mouth, unable to make a fart even after three kicks. He received the order, but did not dare to punish the man harshly. How frustrating!

The palm-sized piece of burial material just used up all the money given by Mr. Zhang. He even paid for food and labor, but the person still ran away. What bad luck!

The bearded man complained bitterly.

Zhang Ping'an frowned and concluded, "You mean, he didn't say anything to you, and you asked the neighbors in the south of the city, and they all said that this father and son moved here half a year ago, have no relatives or friends, and no one knows them. And then yesterday, this child sold himself to the family of a military official?"

"That's right. This kid's background is a bit unclear. I heard that his father has never left the house. When I went to collect the body, his eyes couldn't close and his nails were all black. It looked like he was poisoned," the bearded man nodded.

Continuing on with yesterday's story, "I was originally planning to bring someone to your house as soon as I was done with my work, but this kid got lucky and ran into a man who was looking for a servant. The steward somehow chose him over everyone else I had chosen. He acted smart and likable in front of the steward, and just like that, he sold himself."

"Is there such a thing? Did you deceive me and sell him out yourself?" Zhang Ping'an said coldly.

"It's unfair, Master Zhang. Although I, Li Si, am greedy for money, I have always done business with integrity. You can ask around in the market and it's absolutely not a case of fraud. It's very cheap to buy a person now. A young man like him can be bought for less than five taels of silver. I really won't ruin my own reputation for such a small amount of money." The bearded man felt that he was more wronged than Dou E!

"Please tell me which official it is, and I will go and find out," asked Zhang Ping'an.

"It's the residence of Mr. Song, the Minister of War, on Xiangqing Street in the east of the city," the bearded man said quickly.

"Okay, I get it. If I find out that you're lying, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself," Zhang Pingan said coldly.

What is going on? It's so inexplicable and weird. Zhang Ping'an just feels uneasy, as if there are eyes staring at him everywhere in Lin'an, making him very uncomfortable.

"I dare not, I dare not," the bearded man said hurriedly. He didn't even dare to ask for any hard work fee and left in disgrace.

Xu went out to the matchmaker early in the morning, and Zhang Laoer went out to look after the shop. Now that the family has money and free time, they have to do something to make money more money.

Before Zhang Ping'an could find out the truth, the next day, the day for him to enroll in the Imperial College, arrived.

Zhang Ping'an got up early in the morning, and after breakfast, Old Man Lu drove him to the Imperial College.

When passing Chengdong Street, I suddenly saw a lot of people gathered under the city wall, talking among themselves, and I could vaguely hear the words "talent show".

Zhang Pingan took a closer look and saw that it was an imperial edict posted on the wall.

"Pull the car over for a moment, I'll get off and take a look," Zhang Pingan said quickly.