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

It was not until dusk that Daya brought Xiaoyuer back.

Maybe he was too tired from playing, so Xiaoyuer lay in Daya's arms with his eyes half open and half closed, yawning from time to time, and it was obvious that he was sleepy.

When Xu saw this, she felt so distressed that she quickly took the child and put him on the bed, and then ordered the servants to take off his shoes and socks.

Xiao Yuer called out "Grandma" in a sleepy state, then saw the familiar environment, rolled over twice on the bed, and fell asleep completely.

After a while, the snoring sound began to sound regular.

Daya's heart softened watching from the side. After she lowered the mosquito net and went out into the outer room, she smiled and said to the others, "Dad, Mom, little brother, you don't know that although Xiaoyu'er is small, he's very smart. Today, Madam Du has intentionally brought up the topic of marriage for the children several times, but Xiaoyu'er always messed it up!"

Thinking of Mrs. Du’s aggrieved look, Daya couldn’t help laughing.

"Oh? What happened? This child, I have known that he is eccentric, but as long as he keeps his mind on the right path, he will be fine." Zhang Pingan shook his head and laughed, with a hint of pride that only comes from being a father in his heart.

Xu was also very interested and asked, "What happened to him? Tell me quickly. He wasn't bullied, was he?"

"Mom, look at what you said. Xiaoyuer has a father like me to support him. Who dares to bully him? It's good enough that he doesn't bully others!" Daya joked.

Then he talked about what happened in the afternoon: "When I went to the Du Mansion in the afternoon, Mrs. Du praised me in every way, praising our Zhuzhu to the skies. I'm not stupid, I knew right away that the Du family wanted to become relatives with my family!

Logically speaking, our two families have the same official rank, and the Du family is a civil servant with more prospects. It wouldn't be unfair to Zhuzhu if she married into the family.

But I only have Zhuzhu as my daughter. If I really marry her off to the capital, how many times will we ever see each other? I can't bear to let her go! It would be best to go to the capital and find someone else! I've discussed this with Sanlang, and he thinks the same way. Whether she's a high-ranking official or not isn't important. What matters most is a clean family background, good character, and ambition.

Mrs. Du is quite assertive. I've politely declined twice, but she still insists on talking about how wonderful her family is. I was about to be too blunt, but I was afraid of offending her. Thanks to Xiaoyuer, who kept interrupting Mrs. Du several times, asking for water, going to the toilet, and complaining of a stomachache, we didn't let things get too awkward! Our Xiaoyuer is a lucky charm!"

"Wow, such a little kid can understand what adults say?" Xu was surprised.

"That's right. Don't always say that children are still young. Some children are very smart, like Xiaoyuer!" Daya nodded in affirmation.

"At first, I was really frightened by him. I actually thought he was unwell. Madam Du even sent for a doctor. Later, I found out he did it on purpose. You didn't see it. Madam Du's face turned green, but she couldn't argue with a child, so she just held back her anger, haha."

"This trick doesn't work everywhere. What if I meet someone with a higher official position than me and he doesn't buy it? That would be embarrassing. He's so young but so cunning." Zhang Ping'an felt amused and helpless.

"So, he is sure that Madam Du won't dare to do anything, but he will take advantage of her power, and things will be terrible in the future," Daya said with a smile.

Then he stood up and prepared to go back. "Okay, I won't say much. Remember to clean the child and change into clean clothes later. I'm going back first. I have to get up early tomorrow to go back to the county!"

"Okay!" Xu nodded in response.

Zhang Ping'an stood up and told the servants to help his son wash and change his clothes so that he could sleep more comfortably.

I was worried that any loud movements would wake my son up and make him grouchy, but unexpectedly, Xiaoyuer was sleeping soundly, and my worry was completely unnecessary!

"What a little pig!" Zhang Ping'an found it funny and gently pinched his son's nose before going back to his room to rest.

Early the next morning, the servants got up early and packed their luggage, waiting for the government guards and officials who came to see them off to say goodbye, and then set off back to Wushan County.

Because everyone did some small shopping at the government office, their luggage was almost as much as when they got off the boat, so they had to move around a lot on the carriage before they could finally put it down.

This was the scene Du Zaiqing saw when he and his officials came to see him off.

"How about I borrow two more carriages from the government office? I can bring them back when Ruxin comes back!" Du Zaiqing suggested considerately.

"No need, I appreciate Lord Du's kindness. It would be troublesome to move it around, so let's just leave it at that!" Zhang Ping'an thanked him politely.

"However, my colleagues have prepared a lot of gifts, which are all from everyone's heart. You can't refuse them, sir!" Du Zaiqing bowed.

He moved sideways to let Zhang Ping'an see the boxes of varying sizes held in the hands of the servants beside the officials behind him.

Although I don’t know what it is exactly, it must be very valuable, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to show it off.

Zhang Ping'an had anticipated that this might happen, so he let the servants take their time and only tied up the luggage at the last moment.

He was not prepared to accept generous gifts from his officials in the capital.

He immediately put on an awkward expression and said politely, "Master Du, I know that everyone below is well-intentioned. It is hard to refuse such a kind invitation. However, my luggage is indeed full and I have nowhere to put it. How about this, I take some snacks and other food with me on the road. They can also be used as dry food to fill up when I get hungry on the road. As for the rest, you can take it back. We are all colleagues, there is no need to be so polite!"

"Only snacks?!" Du Zaiqing frowned, with a hint of surprise in his tone.

"It's enough to accept a little kindness. A gift of a feather from a thousand miles away may be worth more than what is thought. The amount of money given as a gift doesn't matter as long as the intention is there!" Zhang Ping'an said calmly with his hands behind his back.

The officials below looked at each other and wanted to persuade them again, but Zhang Ping'an and Liu Sanlang declined.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an was so insistent, the servants couldn't push or shove him anymore, and those who didn't bring snacks asked the servants to buy some snacks.

In the end, the two of them didn't take anything valuable. They just took some snacks and left it at that.

Such behavior, coupled with what his wife said yesterday about what happened at the flower viewing banquet, made Du Zaiqing label the two of them as difficult to make friends with.

One even feels that the two are playing the role of pigs in order to eat the tiger, practicing the doctrine of the mean to the fullest extent.

Especially Liu Sanlang, who seems quiet and doesn't socialize much, but it is often this kind of people who can accomplish great things.

Liu Sanlang really didn't know that Du Zaiqing gave him such a high evaluation. When he found out, he could only laugh.

These people just like to make things so complicated!

Du Zaiqing led his men to send the Zhang family all the way to Shili Pavilion, and only then did the two sides say goodbye to each other completely.

The rest of the journey was escorted by Tan Yaoqi and the government guards.