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

The Qian Mansion's house was also a gift from the Emperor. Compared with Zhang Ping'an's three-courtyard house in Zhuque Lane, the Qian Mansion is much larger, with pavilions and towers everywhere. It is undoubtedly a great honor to have such a house in the central location of the capital where every inch of land is valuable.

The Qian family school was located in a side courtyard of the Qian Mansion. On weekdays, the children went in and out of school through the side door, which was convenient and did not disturb guests in the front hall.

At this time, the Qian family father and son had already returned from court.

When he saw Xiaoyuer, he was very warm and loving towards the child.

After knowing that Zhang Ping'an was going to send his son here to study, Master Qian hugged his grandson and affectionately kissed him for a few times before handing the child over to the servants and ordered them to send the child to the clan school.

"Studying should never be neglected. Xiaoyuer has been absent for a long time. It's time to catch up."

Xiao Yu'er didn't resist at all and happily followed the servant.

I thought it would be like when I was studying in Lin'an, where I could fish for three days and dry the nets for two days.

After the child passed away, Grand Tutor Qian sighed and said sadly, "Alas, I was busy with official duties when Yi'er passed away, and I wasn't able to see her off. This child... such a beautiful woman with such a tragic fate... I heard the funeral was very grand. She and you were destined to be husband and wife, but now it's over. It can't be forced, and it's beyond your control. Now... I only hope you take care of yourself, raise Xiaoyu'er to adulthood, and continue his bloodline. Only then will you live up to her wishes, and she can rest in peace in her grave."

"My father-in-law is a pillar of the court. He cannot leave Beijing due to official duties. I understand this very well. Xiao Yuer is my only child. I will do my best to raise and cultivate him. Please rest assured, my father-in-law," Zhang Ping'an replied with a bow.

"Of course I have confidence in you. I didn't make a mistake in choosing you," said Grand Tutor Qian slowly. He then asked about taking up his post, "When are you going to the Privy Council to take up your post?"

"My dear father-in-law, I will go to the Ministry of Personnel to cancel my leave and take up my post tomorrow."

"That's good. It also allows His Majesty to see your heart for the country and the people." Grand Tutor Qian stroked his beard and nodded, very satisfied.

Uncle Qian knew that his father and brother-in-law didn't get along well, so when they saw that the conversation was almost over, he helped to smooth things over and brought up the recent major events in the court. "By the way, brother-in-law, did you know that the crown prince is getting married soon?"

"I've heard before that the Empress wants to help the Crown Prince choose a Crown Princess. Could it be that the candidate has already been decided?"

"That's right!" Qian Ying didn't keep anyone in suspense and said directly, "The Crown Princess is none other than Qin Qingshan, the eldest daughter of King Qin. It's said that they were childhood sweethearts, a man of talent and a woman of beauty. They're a match made in heaven. The news will be announced to the world soon!"

"Haha, it seems that we, as the ministers, have to prepare gifts as soon as possible," Zhang Pingan said with a faint smile.

"The King of Qin has always been the emperor's confidant. It is understandable that they are close relatives," said Qian Jie, the second uncle of Qian.

"Don't talk nonsense. As his subjects, the prince's wedding is a happy event. We just need to congratulate him sincerely," Master Qian scolded gently after hearing this.

At noon, we should stay at the Qian Mansion for lunch. There is food at Xiaoyuer's clan school, but we don't eat together before school is over.

In this regard, the Qian family has very strict rules.

After lunch, Zhang Ping'an said goodbye and left, going to the Ministry of Personnel to report for leave.

The people in the Ministry of Personnel were the most well-informed. They had already heard about Zhang Ping'an's return to Beijing, so they were not surprised that he came to cancel his leave.

He also offered some words of comfort to him regarding the death of his wife, with obvious compliments in his words.

Zhang Ping'an politely returned all the greetings. He knew very well that the King of Hell was easier to deal with than the little devils. Although the officials from the Ministry of Personnel were not as high as his, they could not be neglected easily.

He spent quite a bit of time in the Ministry of Personnel, and it was already dusk when he came out. Zhang Ping'an thought about it and decided to go pick up his son from school.

You should take the first day of school seriously.

Unexpectedly, when I went to the Qian family again, the servants looked very strange and hesitant.

When we arrived at the courtyard of the clan school, we could see three children standing in the corner as punishment. Among them was our own little boy, whose face was covered in ink and looked so dirty and pitiful.

"What's going on?" Zhang Pingan asked coldly.

The servant quickly explained, "Sir, a few young masters got into a fight in the school for some reason, so the teacher made them stand there as punishment. The old master said, 'Just take care of it!'"

"When did this happen?"

"The quarrel started during the lunch break, and you happened to leave at that time," the servant replied.

Although Xiao Yuer was punished to stand, he looked defiant and unconvinced. Only when he saw his father coming did his expression relax a little.

Zhang Ping'an didn't rush to reprimand his son. He first took out a handkerchief, wet it, and wiped the ink off his son's face and neck. Then he said, "Come on, follow me to see the teacher!"

The two children nearby seemed to be gloating over the situation. Zhang Pingan turned around and said coldly, "And you two, come here together. Making noise in the school is disrespectful to the teacher. No matter what the reason is, you should apologize to the teacher first!"

The teacher who managed the clan school was a member of the Qian family. He had once passed the provincial examination and had more than enough knowledge to teach a few children. When he saw Zhang Ping'an, he was neither humble nor arrogant, and looked a little serious.

When asked about the reason for the fight, the teacher shook his head and said, "I asked, but the boys refused to tell me, so I made them stand outside as punishment. Now it's just in time for you to come and ask the kids about it."

In fact, after persisting for the whole afternoon, Xiao Yuer had accumulated a lot of grievances. Zhang Pingan slowed down his voice and told him everything when asked. It turned out that the two cousins ​​laughed at him for not having a mother and that he would definitely be abused by his stepmother in the future.

Xiao Yu'er was also a little bully, and he couldn't stand such humiliation, so he started fighting immediately, and the pen, ink, paper and inkstone were scattered all over the floor.

When the Qian family's cousins ​​saw this, they didn't know whether to help or not, so they had to quickly find a teacher to come and seek justice.

This led to the following incident. No one explained the reason, and the teacher gave each of them fifty lashes.

It would be easier to talk about it after finding out the reason. Zhang Pingan looked at the teacher and said, "Master Qian, what do you think we should do about this?"

Master Qian's face had already darkened. After hearing the whole story, he immediately scolded the two Qian family students in a stern tone: "The 'Discipline for Students' says, 'Don't expose people's shortcomings; don't speak of people's private affairs.' Your classmate's mother passed away young, which is a great misfortune in life. You should show more friendship and care to make up for this loss, and thus demonstrate the spirit of benevolence and righteousness in our school. Now, not only do you have no sympathy, but you are even using swords to discuss things. How can you be a learned and rational person? You must know that there is a dragon spring on the tongue, which can injure people without bleeding!"

The two boys lowered their heads and dared not answer after being scolded. Master Qian waved his hand and ordered his followers: "Go and invite the two elders over!"

Xiao Yuer looked at his father, and Zhang Pingan gave his son a soothing look, telling him not to be afraid and that he would give him justice.

By the time they finished dealing with the situation and left the Qian family academy, it was already quite late. Xiao Yu'er's face was no longer gloomy, and he said crisply, "Hey, those two fat guys' hands were swollen from being beaten, and they still had to copy the "Discipline for Children" a hundred times. How satisfying! Next time they say something bad about me, I'll beat them up too. I was really afraid that you would say that to me just now!"

"This is not your fault, why should I blame you? Remember when I went to school on the first day, I was also slapped on the palm by the teacher." Thinking of his childhood, Zhang Pingan couldn't help laughing.

Then he taught her, "Although you're not wrong, there are obviously better ways to handle this matter. However, you chose to use the most brutal method, which is still inappropriate!"