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

Zhang Ping'an and Liu Sanlang finally managed to calm Uncle Daqiang down, and called Xiaohu to help them help him into the room.

Only then did I realize that there were three other people in the room.

Zhang Pingan looked carefully and saw that the person lying on the bed with a sick face should be Brother Dahu. He didn't know whether he was asleep or what, but he had his eyes closed and didn't move.

There were two thin, dark children lying on the edge of the bed. They might be Da Hu's children. They looked no more than six or seven years old. They immediately huddled together when they saw a stranger coming in.

It was Xiaohu who first regained his composure. He explained in a hoarse voice, "My eldest brother's leg was broken by a mule cart years ago, and it hasn't healed yet. Now the wound is black and oozing with pus, and he can't walk. So when we came to the inn, we carried him along. He just fell asleep after drinking some medicine. The older boy next to them is my eldest brother's child, and the younger one is my second brother's. They haven't had a good life since they were born, and they're very shy. Brother Ping'an, please don't be offended."

After saying that, he walked to the table and poured tea for a few people. His hands were covered with chilblains.

"Xiao Hu, don't be polite. We came here after dinner," Zhang Ping'an said gently.

He then ordered someone to go out and ask a doctor to check Da Hu's leg after he had eaten. If he became unable to walk in the future, it would be very inconvenient for his life.

"Sir, I asked a doctor to see me yesterday. He prescribed some Eight Treasures Soup to relieve the pain, but it only treats the symptoms and not the root cause. He said that the main reason was that I had delayed treatment for too long, and the broken bones were deformed and there was suppuration. We need to ask an old doctor who specializes in bone setting to come. This..." He was about to speak after eating, but stopped talking.

The meaning is very clear, that is, ordinary doctors cannot handle it.

"Hmm, so that's it!" Zhang Ping'an pondered, "Go to the camp and invite Doctor Liu over. When it comes to bone setting, there's probably no one better than him in the entire city of Kaifeng."

The most common disease in the military camp is trauma and injury, so military doctors are best at treating trauma and trauma.

It is more useful to ask them for help than to ask doctors from outside.

After eating and receiving the instructions, he did not dare to delay and went back immediately.

Daqiang was barely able to speak at this moment. He raised the back of his wrinkled hand to wipe his eyes and said, "Ping'an, Ping'an, I didn't expect it was really you! You've made it!"

"It's me," Zhang Pingan replied with a smile, "I sent people to look for you outside the city for a long time. Hard work pays off, and I finally found you."

"You've changed a lot, you're taller and more handsome, and you have an air of authority. I didn't dare recognize you for a while, and only recognized you when I saw Sanlang next to you. Sanlang hasn't changed much, he's still tall and strong," Daqiang said with tears and laughter.

"It's a good thing that I have my eldest brother-in-law here. He really hasn't changed much," Zhang Ping'an continued.

"When I first heard someone was looking for us, I thought they had bad intentions. It was only when I found out they were looking for fellow villagers from Shuanghe Town that I responded. I thought that if fellow villagers were together, we could keep each other warm and our lives would be better. When the weather gets warmer, it would be safer to go back home together," said Daqiang.

"Uncle Daqiang, are you also planning to go back home?" Zhang Pingan was a little curious.

"What else can I do if I don't go back? It's not easy to live in Kaifeng. After I go back, at least I can return to my roots and have a few shabby houses to live in. If the court shows mercy, maybe I can even have land to farm. It's better than waiting to die in Kaifeng," Daqiang explained.

Although I know that the journey back home is extremely dangerous, there is always a glimmer of hope.

This coincides with what Master Luo and his family had thought at the time.

"Uncle Daqiang, we need to think long and hard about returning home. Let's heal Brother Dahu's leg first, and then you can get your bodies back on track. It's still early for the weather to warm up!"

"I understand, I understand. Now that you are here, we have a backbone and naturally we are not in a hurry to return home," Daqiang nodded repeatedly.

Then he asked, "Are your grandparents and parents all right? You look like you've become a high-ranking official or passed the imperial examination?"

"My grandparents and parents are all in Lin'an now. They're doing fine. As we get older, we always have some minor ailments and pains, but it's nothing serious. As for me, I was a second-class Jinshi in the previous dynasty. I was sent out to be a county magistrate, and then I worked my way up to where I am today. I was just transferred to Kaifeng."

Zhang Pingan replied and briefly talked about his recent situation.

He didn't brag about how well he was doing. Comparing the two, isn't that just rubbing salt into other people's wounds?

But even so, Uncle Daqiang and Xiaohu opened their eyes wide in surprise: "A second-class Jinshi? Oh my God, the Zhang family's ancestral tomb is really smoking! No wonder I always felt that your house was so spacious when I passed by your door before. It must be that the location of the old house and the ancestral tomb was well chosen. You have made great progress, really made great progress!"

"These things happened several years ago. I hope the younger generations can study more and there will definitely be more talented people," Zhang Pingan could only say modestly.

"We can't even eat now, how can we talk about studying? Let's talk about it later. A safe and peaceful family is better than anything else. What is destined to be yours will come to you eventually, and what is not destined to be yours will not come to you unforced. How rich a person is is all determined by fate," Uncle Daqiang waved his hands and sighed.

"It will be fine in the future," Zhang Pingan comforted him, and then hesitantly asked, "Uncle Daqiang, are all the family members here?"

"They're all here," Daqiang nodded, his face filled with sorrow. "Except for me, Dahu, Xiaohu, and my two grandsons, everyone else in the family is dead."

At this point, Daqiang gave a bitter laugh before saying, "People who read more are smarter. When your family said they wanted to move south together, the villagers laughed at you. But what happened? Now you're living the best and most comfortable life. I regret it!"

"Uncle Daqiang, I was just about to ask, how are your family members back home doing? How did you come to Kaifeng?" Zhang Pingan asked.

"To be honest, I'm not very clear about the situation of the villagers," Daqiang said helplessly.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an's surprised look, Daqiang continued to explain: "Speaking of which, it was thanks to Dahu and Xiaohu's cleverness. After your family left, I later heard that Liu the butcher's family and Xu's second son in the town had also left. I felt uncomfortable thinking about it, so I was cautious in advance and stored a lot of food at home. I also listened to Dahu and Xiaohu and sold a small part of the land and exchanged it for cash. This way, if there is any disturbance, it will be easy to deal with and there will be a way out.

As expected, news gradually came that the world was in chaos. Frequent conscription made us miserable. Later, my family made up our minds and decided to do the same as you did. We packed up our belongings and went to Yueyang to find you.

As a result, we took the wrong road and ended up on the other side of Taihu Lake without knowing how. Refugees were swarming everywhere, and it was impossible to get on a boat. Everyone said that Henan was stable, so we had no choice but to follow them to Henan.

There were many males in the family, so we lived a peaceful life near Zhoukou for a while. Later, the Tatars and the people from Baichao started fighting each other, and we were captured and forced to do hard labor. We spent two or three years in the mine, and only after Kaifeng was recovered did our family be released.

It’s not easy to make a living in this world, and I’ve barely managed to survive until now.”

After saying this, except for the two children, Daqiang and his two sons were already in tears.

The sadness of this cannot be expressed in just a few words.