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

Zhou Ziming had just fought his way out of the battlefield and was not afraid at all. He aimed at the distance again and drew his bow.

Accompanied by the sound of "swoosh" breaking through the air, a moment later, there was the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

There was also a roar that echoed through the mountains and forests.

"It's a bear!" someone heard it.

The danger was over, and the accompanying officials naturally burst into praise again.

The eunuch flattered the emperor in a somewhat fawning manner, "I will go to the front to see what is going on!"

After getting Zhou Ziming's nod of agreement, he quickly rode his horse forward.

A moment later, he returned excitedly to report, "Your Majesty, it was a giant, adult brown bear. Your Majesty's archery skills are excellent, and the arrow hit the bear's vitals. The bear is seriously injured. Should we capture it alive or...?"

The eunuch asked this question because throughout history, many princes and nobles have liked to keep large wild animals as pets. It is not necessarily because they like them very much, but more of a symbol of status.

There are currently no large brown bears in the imperial palace's zoo.

"What a coincidence?" Zhou Ziming was slightly surprised. You know, large brown bears have thick skin and flesh, and it is difficult for ordinary arrows to hit them with one shot.

"Your Majesty, according to my observation, this brown bear has some external injuries. Maybe it was injured when fighting with the white-browed tiger just now. Fortunately, Your Majesty is an excellent archer, so he was able to hit the target with one shot," the eunuch replied respectfully.

"Is that so?" Zhou Ziming thought for a moment and shook his head. "Forget it. The king of the forest should die where he belongs. It's not suitable to be kept as a captive."

This means just kill him.

After receiving the order, the eunuch immediately took his men to hunt and finish off the bear. There were still many treasures on the bear, which would be very useful even if it died.

Hearing the painful roar coming from not far away, Zhang Pingan knew that this big guy would not be able to escape today.

While he was daydreaming, Zhang Pingan suddenly smelled a stronger fishy smell. Instinctively, he immediately raised his voice to warn: "Your Majesty, something seems to be wrong!"

Zhou Ziming also felt it and looked around vigilantly while riding on his horse.

In autumn, yellow leaves covered the ground like stacks of gold foil. The horses were trotting around agitatedly, making a crisp sound of falling leaves.

Suddenly, a fishy wind blew back, bringing a foul smell of rotten wood and animal stench into the nose. Another brown bear stood up, more than nine feet tall, like half an iron tower suddenly rising from the ground, and pounced from the sparse branches on the left, moving incredibly fast.

I don't know when he was lurking there, silently, and no one noticed him just now.

"On the left!" Zhang Ping'an reacted quickly and turned his horse's head to avoid it.

The other older ones were slower to react and were nearly taken off their horses, but luckily they were supported by the accompanying guards.

The brown bear's fur was brown with a hint of rust, and the hair on its neck stood up like a bulging bush. The white crescent-shaped pattern on its chest rose and fell violently with its heavy breathing, twisting like a living thing. Its small eyes were sunken in the folds of flesh, emitting red light as it stared at everyone.

Its mouth was wide open, its fangs were a mixture of yellow and black, and its saliva mixed with blood formed into sticky silk threads that fell on the dead leaves.

Zhang Ping'an felt that he could even hear the dripping sound of saliva.

Moreover, although this bear was huge, it was the only one Zhang Pingan had ever seen in his life.

But its body was very flexible and moved like thunder. Every attack seemed to shake the earth, and a large number of dead branches and leaves were wrapped up.

"My goodness, this bear has become a spirit," the Privy Councilor Lord Guo couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Everyone drew their bows and arrows, and the iron arrows pierced through the air and pierced into the thick skin, but it only made the brown bear more crazy and roared continuously.

The roar of a bear is different from that of other animals. It does not come from the throat, but from deep in the chest. It rolls like thunder, shaking people's hearts and even the horses under their crotch neighing constantly.

The big brown bear swung its huge paw and the small tree as thick as a bowl broke with a sound, and wood chips flew like rain.

The clever guards immediately blew the distress horn.

The accompanying guards also took out their rifles and prepared to shoot.

But the distance was too close, and the brown bear was in front of everyone in just a few steps.

The woods were not wide enough to dodge.

In a hurry, Zhang Ping'an remembered that he still had a lot of Thunderbolt Pills in his arms. These were genuine Thunderbolt Pills with poisonous gas, not defective ones.

He didn't count how many there were, and threw them all towards the east where the brown bear came from.

At the same time, he raised his sleeves to cover his mouth and nose and shouted, "Everyone, cover your mouth and nose, the mist is poisonous!"

Although the poison gas can be detoxified, it is of course best to avoid it.

Accompanied by the "bang bang bang" sound of explosions and the rising gray-white mist, the brown bear finally stopped moving forward. Because the target was obvious enough, the Thunderbolt Pills caused a lot of external injuries on the brown bear's body, and in some places the bones were visible.

The fighting capacity of brown bears was greatly weakened.

But the brown bear was too big. After calming down for a while, it roared again. It was obviously angry and wanted to hurt people before it died.

At this time, the guards had already loaded their ammunition and were firing without mercy.

After a while, the big guy finally fell to the ground with a bang.

Everyone then felt relieved and rolled up their sleeves.

"What is this? It is incredibly powerful and very convenient to carry," Prime Minister Lu asked curiously.

There are actually weapons that he has never seen before, which is very rare.

Zhang Pingan casually replied, "It's a little gadget developed by my sixth brother-in-law in his spare time. It's also registered with the Firearms Workshop. However, because some of the raw materials are difficult to find, it hasn't been put into large-scale production yet."

"Oh, I see," Prime Minister Lu nodded, and when he was ready to go back, he ordered Yangzhou to produce a small batch first, to be used for self-defense.

Zhou Ziming was also surprised by the power of this small projectile. He praised it and said in a deep voice, "Yangzhou sent me a batch of them a while ago. I tried them out. They are indeed quite powerful, but I didn't expect them to be so effective when used together. I guess I should carry some with me for self-defense when I travel in the future."

As he was speaking, the nearest hunting team finally arrived and wanted to rescue him.

Zhou Ziming was speechless and waved his hand, saying, "No need!"

Soon after, other teams arrived one after another.

After learning what happened, they were all scared.

Looking at the two large brown bears lying on the ground, Prime Minister Lu suggested, "Your Majesty has already made a great harvest today. Why not go back and rest for a while? We can leave the rest to these young men!"

Zhou Ziming also had the same idea. It was not because he was scared, but because he really had no interest.

Therefore, the troops who came to rescue the emperor should continue to do what they should do, and Prime Minister Lu, Grand Tutor Qian, Zhang Pingan and others should just follow them back to the camp.

On the way, Prime Minister Lu finally praised him fairly: "Just now, it was thanks to Lord Zhang's alertness. It's also because the young man has good eyesight and good skills. Master Qian is really lucky to have such a good son-in-law!"

Upon hearing this, Master Qian was not polite. Sitting on his horse, he stroked his long beard and agreed with a smile: "My son-in-law, apart from other things, is indeed a very smart and cautious person."

"Lord Zhang is indeed young and promising, and young people are formidable. But he is alone now and still feels lonely. After the period of mourning is over, I am sure that the official matchmakers will knock on his door." Lord Guo, the Privy Councilor, was feeling uncomfortable listening and made a half-seriously joking remark.

After saying this, he inadvertently observed Master Qian's expression.

Master Qian already had a plan in mind, so he just smiled and said nothing, without revealing any flaws.

Don’t say that women love to gossip. Men are just as good at gossiping as women.

Even Zhou Ziming nodded thoughtfully after hearing this, "That's right, my dear, you are young and promising, and you are also very charming and handsome. I'm afraid there are not many noble ladies in the capital who are worthy of you!"

Fortunately, he is still in the Qisuizhang period, otherwise Zhang Ping'an would really be afraid that these people would come to act as matchmakers for him.

Because of your status and position, sometimes you just can't refuse properly.

Therefore, Zhang Ping'an took a deep breath and thought that this was a rare opportunity to express his plan.

He first bowed to his colleagues around him and said modestly, "You are really too kind!"

He then dismounted, bowed respectfully, and said calmly, "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

"Oh? What's the matter? If it's not urgent, it's not too late to talk about it when we get back to the camp."

Generally, few ministers would report in public, which also means that once the content is made public, even if the emperor wants to show some favoritism, it may not be possible.

For some reasons, Zhang Ping'an is a minister that Zhou Ziming values ​​very much. By saying this, he also wants to give him some subtle advice.

But Zhang Ping'an had already made plans, so he wasn't afraid. He continued, "Your Majesty, this matter is probably a bit urgent for me."

"Well... then you say it," Zhou Ziming frowned and pondered for a moment, then waved his hand.

"Your Majesty's praise of me just now has me truly overwhelmed, and I would like to take this opportunity to speak my mind. My late wife, Qian, and I rose from humble beginnings, sharing poverty and humbleness. When I left for the north, she devoted herself to serving our parents and raising our children, never complaining. Now that our family is better off, she has passed away. Every time I see her old things, it feels like yesterday, and it's truly difficult to move on. Furthermore, I swore to her that I would marry only her, and since our children are so young, seeing a new bride will surely make them miss their mother, so there's no shortage of gossip and rumors.

Therefore, I have something I would like to ask Your Majesty to do today. I wish to emulate the ancients' "Pine Boat Oath," to protect my orphan and uphold my resolve. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this heart, and I hope Your Majesty will understand my humble intentions!"

After Zhang Pingan finished speaking, he bowed respectfully again.