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

After this heart-to-heart communication, the two of them couldn't help but become closer than before.

Laba Festival arrived in a blink of an eye. As the saying goes, the New Year comes after Laba Festival. Xu also started to get busy preparing for the New Year.

Although she doesn't have to do it herself now, she can't completely hand it over to the servants. Zhang is a person who doesn't care about things. Her daughter-in-law is pregnant now and can't do any work, so she has to keep an eye on the servants.

Although she was a little tired, she was happy in her heart. Seeing that the family was about to have a new baby, she was full of energy.

As the county magistrate, Zhang Ping'an has to preside over and participate in many sacrificial activities at the end of the year, as well as various blessing activities, praying for good weather and good harvest in the coming year so that he can have peace of mind.

Moreover, on the seventh and eighth days of the twelfth lunar month, beggars would freeze to death. This was the coldest time of winter, and he still had to organize wealthy families to provide porridge and do charity. At the end of the year, he couldn't bear to see poor people freeze to death.

There was still no news about Green Bean Eyes, and Zhang Pingan was worried from time to time despite being busy.

In the evening, there was hot Laba porridge prepared by Xu on the dinner table. The ingredients, including rice, millet, corn, coix seed, red dates, lotus seeds, peanuts and longan, were all carefully selected and added with icing sugar, making it sweet, soft and delicious.

Xu called out to everyone, "Drink it while it's hot! We've been waiting all afternoon!"

As expected, everyone was full in the end.

When Zhang Pingan finished washing up and went to bed, he passed by the eaves and accidentally discovered: "It's snowing!"

At this time, it was still snowflakes, accompanied by the whistling wind, hitting the tiles with a rustling sound. Judging from the sky, it might continue to snow all night.

Zhang Ping'an reached out and caught a few snow seeds, then sighed. After the snow fell, it would soon be completely frozen, and it would not begin to melt until mid-February next year.

The merchant ship with green eyes is seeing that it will not be able to return this year!

After entering the house, Qian Youyi casually asked, "Is it snowing? I heard the sound of snowflakes falling on the tiles."

"Yeah, it's snowing," Zhang Ping'an nodded, moved the hot water bottle on his side to his wife's side, and helped cover the quilt before saying softly, "Go to sleep. If the hot water bottle gets cold during the night, tell me and I'll have the servants replace it for you."

"Yeah," Qian Youyi nodded gently and pulled the quilt.

Originally, there were maids and old women guarding the room at night, but Zhang Ping'an always felt that someone was watching him while he was sleeping, and he really couldn't fall asleep and was not used to it.

What's more, when the two of them sometimes had sex, the maid would stand beside them, separated by only a curtain, staring at them with vague eyes, which made him even more uncomfortable, as if he was being acted like a hooligan.

After arriving in Ci County, he discussed with Qian Youyi and changed the rule.

If something happens, he would rather work harder at night.

With the first snow of winter, the two fell into a deep sleep.

I don’t know how long it was, but suddenly a maid knocked on the door, her voice a little urgent.

Zhang Pingan suddenly woke up. When he stood up, Qian Youyi also woke up and asked in a daze, "What's wrong?"

"It's okay, I'll go check it out, you go to sleep first," Zhang Pingan comforted her and helped tuck in the quilt again.

After opening the door, the maid bowed and whispered, "Master, I've come here after eating. I said I have something urgent to report."

"Okay, I understand," Zhang Pingan nodded.

He was a sensible person who was full, and coming here in the middle of the night was definitely not a small matter, so he simply changed into formal clothes and went to the flower hall.

A moment later, when Zhang Ping'an changed his clothes and went to the flower hall, he saw Chi Bao sitting in a chair, feeling restless.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an coming, he hurriedly stood up and saluted: "Sir!"

"What's going on?" Zhang Pingan went straight to the point.

"Just now, Lord Mai from the Water Inspection Office sent someone over to say that they found Young Master Ge and his crew's merchant ship near the coast while on patrol. The ship might have been hit by a storm or huge waves, causing serious damage and signs of leakage. Many people on board were also injured. Young Master Ge has a high fever, and only Young Master Wu may be a little more awake. They have now been sent to the clinic for treatment, and the boat has been pulled back with a hemp rope on the beach. Do you want to go over there?" Chibao reported.

"They're back?" Zhang Ping'an was surprised, then said, "Go, go now, and find the best doctor for him!"

"Hey!" He nodded after eating.

Zhang Ping'an turned his head and told the maid to get a mask.

Since the beginning of autumn, many people have been infected with colds. Now there is a pregnant woman in poor health at home. Zhang Pingan did not dare to take risks, so he asked the maid to make some masks. When he goes out to crowded places, he will occasionally wear a mask to avoid being infected.

Now that comes in handy!

It was already late at night, the coldest time of the year. Even if Zhang Ping'an didn't know anything about sailing, he knew how risky it was to sail at this time, and the difficulty index had increased exponentially!

After seeing Green Bean Eyes at the clinic, Zhang Ping'an looked at his former classmate and now good brother, and actually felt a trace of heartache like an old father.

The reason was simple. This time, Green Bean Eyes looked even worse than the last time he came back from the sea. He was thin and dark, and was wearing coarse clothes, like an African refugee. Because of the fever, his whole face was red, and his consciousness was not very clear. It was hard for Mr. Mai to recognize him.

No matter how good he was in the past, he was a rich young man with fine clothes and delicious food. But now he looks so miserable that he seems to have suffered a lot.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Ping'an turned his head and asked the doctor.

After saying that, he touched the green-eyed man's forehead with his hand. It was so hot that you could fry an egg on it.

The doctor stood respectfully by and replied, "Your Excellency, this young man has a fever mainly because his wounds were festering and not treated promptly, and he also came into contact with raw water. I have just given him acupuncture and he has also given him medicine. The fever should subside in a few hours."

"Well, where are the others?"

The doctor shook his head upon hearing this. "Alas, I have cured all the patients I could, but three of them arrived too late. They died before I could give them acupuncture. Please give them a proper burial!"

Many people died on this voyage, including the navy squadron sent by Admiral Zhou to protect them, which also lost most of its men. With so many lives at stake, Fatty Wu, as the luckiest and only intact member of the team, was afraid of being held accountable, so he spoke cautiously, "Master Zhang, let me go out and help bury them!"

It would be best if he could be made invisible and his presence minimized.

"Tell me, what happened? By the way, did you find the things that Lord Zhou asked you to look for?" Zhang Ping'an glanced at Fatty Wu, sat beside him with a big horse and a golden sword, and began to ask.

How could he not understand Fatty Wu's little thoughts? However, as the only sober person on the boat, it was obviously impossible for him to just slip away like that.

"Your Excellency, we found it. I didn't expect that there were really sweet potatoes in Luzon. It was because we brought back the sweet potatoes that General Zhou and his men wanted that we are in such a miserable situation this time," said Fatty Wu with a bitter face.

Zhang Ping'an gave Fatty Wu a look that told him to continue.