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

Only after realizing that nothing serious was happening to him did the Wang family child slowly stop sobbing.

Xiao Yuer was very contemptuous and secretly made a face behind the adults' backs.

The Wang family child felt a little embarrassed. After a soft "hum", he finally stopped crying and the tent became quiet.

But Lord Wang was still frightened and scolded the servants who were accompanying him.

If Zhou Ziming hadn't just lost his temper over the mistreatment of servants and reprimanded the Second Prince, and if it weren't for the fact that they were on an autumn hunt and things got out of hand, he would have had to punish these useless servants and sell them off.

Only now could Lord Wang calm down and ask his great-grandson what had just happened.

If it was really his great-grandson who suffered a great loss, even if Zhang Ping'an's official position was slightly higher than his, he would still want an explanation.

When the Wang family child heard his great-grandfather's question, he immediately told the whole story in detail.

It turned out that the two children were playing Cuju with other children nearby, but later they got tired of it and found it boring, so Xiao Yuer suggested playing hide-and-seek.

"Xiao Yu'er told me that the stables were stinking, and no one would guess we were hiding there, so I went there. But after we hid there, no one came looking for us. I was a little bored, and Xiao Yu'er said that his father would take him to the river on his days off and throw Thunderbolt Pills into the water to fry fish. It was so much fun, so I... I couldn't help but try it. I blew up some horse manure, and then the horses got scared and started running around. One horse even broke free and ran away. I didn't have time to hide, so I got bit by the horse. If that guy hadn't saved me, I would have died!"

Speaking of this, the Wang family child felt aggrieved and couldn't help wanting to cry, but he didn't want to be looked down upon by Xiao Yuer, so he reluctantly endured it.

At the end, he added: "I think he did it on purpose, just to get revenge on me!"

After saying this, he nodded his head affirmatively to enhance his credibility.

"What are Thunderbolt Pills?" Lord Wang asked in confusion, then got to the point: "So, Xiaoyuer gave you the Thunderbolt Pills and asked you to fry horse manure?"

The tone became very bad when he talked about it later.

"Yes, Wang Qingtan, tell me yourself, did I give you the Thunderbolt Pills on my own initiative? Or did I ask you to fry horse manure? If you hadn't begged me to give you a few, I wouldn't have given them to you. And when you were frying horse manure, didn't I try to stop you?!" Xiao Yuer asked, looking very confident.

The Wang child felt a little guilty now. Under everyone's gaze, he couldn't lie and mumbled, "Yes...I wanted to go there myself. I went to fry the horse manure myself, but...but if it wasn't as fun as you said, I wouldn't have gone. It's your fault. You deliberately tempted me!"

"Aren't you just the bad guy who's complaining first and forcing it upon me?" Xiao Yu'er wasn't panicked at all after hearing this.

With his hands folded across his chest, he replied in a clear and logical manner: "When trying a criminal in court, you have to present evidence. Well, you said it yourself, you asked me to give you the things, and you did the work yourself, so how can you put the blame on me? You are slandering me!"

"Master Zhang, what do you think about this matter..." Master Wang understood about 80% of it as soon as he heard it, and asked hesitantly, looking up.

Zhang Ping'an didn't rush to draw conclusions or reply. Instead, he walked over to the Wang family child and sat down. Then, he asked gently, "Tan'er, you just said that Xiaoyuer was deliberately harming you to get revenge on you because you said something bad about him. Can you tell me what bad things you said? If Xiaoyuer is really wrong, I will definitely punish him and give you justice. But I have to find out the whole cause and effect of the matter first, and then I can make a decision. I can't wrongly accuse anyone, don't you agree?"

Although the Wang family child always tried hard to act mature, he was still young after all and was usually spoiled. Zhang Ping'an could see that he was not yet at the age where he could completely confuse right and wrong, so he asked this question and grasped the cause of the whole thing.

The original Xiaoyuer might have been a little overbearing, ignorant of the sufferings of the world, and not taking human life seriously.

But since he came back and brought the child with him, after several months of careful teaching, Xiaoyuer has changed a lot in many aspects of right and wrong.

He believed that his son would not harm his friends for no reason, and he did not want to wrongly accuse the child or deal with the matter perfunctorily based on one-sided testimony.

Adults often think that children don’t understand anything, but in fact, the shadow of some things will remain in children’s hearts for a lifetime.

Especially since Xiaoyuer is so smart, he doesn't want to make a final conclusion on the matter and let the child down.

"Tan'er, what bad things did you say about Xiaoyu'er?" Lord Wang also asked.

Then he stroked his beard with a look of disapproval and said, "The kids were just joking. No matter what the reason is, this matter is always related to him."

"A child's reputation is also of great importance! How could I forget it?" Zhang Pingan immediately retorted solemnly upon hearing this. His face was serious, "Although my son is young, his reputation is important, and it's not just for the strong. If Lord Wang insists on handling this matter by avoiding the important issues, then I won't agree!"

The last sentence was said a little seriously, indicating that he was not joking.

Lord Wang's expression immediately froze on his face, looking a little unpleasant.

Then he turned around and asked, "Tan'er, what did you say? It's okay to just say it. Great-grandfather is here!"

Seeing that the two adults had serious expressions, the Wang family child suddenly became a little scared and stammered for a long time without being able to explain what was going on.

Although he was young, he knew that some words were unpleasant to hear, and if he said them, he would definitely not be on his side.

Out of instinctive premonition, I could only keep silent.

When Lord Wang saw it, he guessed that what was said was definitely not something nice, and most likely not the childish talk of a child.

"Master Wang, what do you think about this matter..." Now it was Zhang Pingan's turn to ask calmly.

Lord Wang was indeed a seasoned veteran, a long-time official. Seeing that he couldn't get any more information out of this matter, he forced a smile and said, "Lord Zhang, I'm so sorry. It's just the child being naughty and ignorant. I'll have his father teach him a lesson when we get home. It's a child's business, so adults shouldn't get involved!"

"Lord Wang is right. Let Brother Tan recover from his injuries first. I'll take Xiaoyuer out for dinner," Zhang Ping'an continued as he walked down the stairs.

After a pause, he reminded, "I hope there won't be any rumors spreading about this matter later!"

"No, that won't happen. They are just little mischiefs of children. No one would have the time to pay attention to them," Lord Wang replied without changing his expression.

That's how the matter ended.

Xiao Yuer felt very happy in his heart. No matter what time, his father always stood on his side.

And my dad is so powerful, even more powerful than Uncle Li. It seems that no matter what happens, he can always solve it easily.

Although my mother is gone, I have my father around and no one can bully me.

This feeling of being fully cared for is like honey to children.