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

In fact, it’s not that Zhang Pingan is careless, but he knows that this matter cannot be rushed.

Seeing this, Qian Jie had no choice but to wash up and rest early.

When the soldier who was on duty saw that the light in the tent was out, he hurried back to report.

After hearing this, Wei Cunren raised his eyelids, smiled slightly, and gave the same comment as Qian Jie: "You really have a big heart!"

"Brother, what should we do now? Should we wait for our adoptive father to come back and deal with it? Should we..." another young man in armor asked from the side of the tent.

"What else can we do? Kill him?" Wei Cunren raised his eyebrows and asked back.

The young man was speechless, a little embarrassed: "Uh, big brother, didn't you say before that we can't kill him? Actually, it's not impossible, just pretend it's an accident..."

Seeing that Wei Cunren's face was getting darker and darker, the young man knew that he had said something wrong and could not continue.

"You, you can't even tell the difference between good and bad words," Wei Cunren shook his head.

He then said calmly, "My foster father has instructed us to remain constant during this western tour. If we can get by with it, that's the best. If we can't, don't be too worried. As long as we don't make any big mistakes in etiquette, it's fine. After all, the Great Zhou Dynasty hasn't been firmly established yet, and I don't think the court will dare to easily break off relations for the time being. This balance won't be upset for a while."

"Well, that's what I said, but this time they came with bad intentions. They are obviously here for the military power. I'm worried..." The young man still frowned.

After a pause, he continued, "Furthermore, once the imperial court has made this clear, I'm afraid that Governor Liao of Guazhou and other officials will no longer turn a blind eye to us as they did before. Without their help, many things really wouldn't be easily transported in."

"Why are you panicking?" Wei Cunren scolded lightly, still showing the same calm expression as if facing a catastrophe.

I even had the mood to adjust the wick to make the light in the tent brighter.

After being reprimanded, the young man immediately wilted, scratched his head, sighed, and stopped talking, but his face was still obviously worried.

"Okay, look at how useless you are. Tell the fifth and sixth brothers to settle Little Thirteen down and not to show up in the camp before these people from the western tour return to Beijing. My adoptive father and I will take care of the rest."

"I understand, big brother. Xiao Shisan has been settled in Yumen Pass. We have people taking care of him there, so there will be no problem," the young man nodded in agreement.

"Hmm," Wei Cunren's expression softened after hearing this. He pinched his brows before asking about the situation of Lin Junhui and the others. "How are those people outside the pass?"

The young man knew who Wei Cunren was talking about.

He replied, "The heavy snow has blocked the roads, so they can't go anywhere. They're temporarily stranded in Shache. Well, there's nothing special about them. It's just that the leader, Lin, seems to have a good relationship with the Shache prince. I don't know how they got in touch, but our spies said that the two of them often drink, play chess, and go hunting together."

"Oh? They are quite quick. They have reached Shache in just a few months." Wei Cunren was a little surprised. He had just heard that they were in Khotan a few days ago, but now they have reached Shache.

Seeing that his elder brother looked a little serious, the young man asked tentatively: "Brother, this won't have any impact on us, right?"

Wei Cunren paced back and forth in the tent for a long moment before instructing the young man, "They've had an incredibly smooth journey. We can't let them continue like this. While we can't openly do anything to the officials on the Western Tour, we can still intervene with those on the diplomatic missions to the Western Regions. I'll let Lao Wu take care of this matter; you don't have to worry about it."

The young man was a little unhappy when he heard this. "Why do you tell Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother everything? I am not a human being, how am I worse than them? Big Brother, why do you just use me and then abandon me? You never trust me. Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother are busy, so let me handle this matter!"

Wei Cunren knew the young man's unreliable nature very well, so he didn't agree. He said sternly, "Alright, Twelve, I'm the eldest brother, and I have the final say on this matter. If I say you don't need to interfere, then you should stop interfering. That Lin guy is not easy to deal with, you can't beat him. This is a serious matter, and if you leave any evidence behind, it will be troublesome!"

The young man felt embarrassed after hearing this, "After all, you are still afraid that I will hold you back, or you look down on me. Forget it, I won't talk to you anymore. I will tell my adoptive father tomorrow. I just don't believe it. My martial arts rank among the top three among the thirteen of us, but I can't even get a job"!

After saying that, he angrily lifted the curtain and went out.

Wei Cunren felt a headache watching this and secretly cursed everyone for being such a troublesome person.

Although the young man's martial arts skills were indeed outstanding and he was loyal to the Guazhou Army, he could easily suppress bandits, train soldiers, and serve as a vanguard.

But when it comes to political strategy, he is a novice. He is too young and has not had enough experience to take on big responsibilities.

There were more than a dozen of them who grew up together and had a very close relationship. They would often get angry with each other and forget about it.

Seeing that his popularity had slipped away, Wei Cunren was too lazy to chase after him. He decided to just wait until his adoptive father came back tomorrow.

At that moment, he washed up and went to bed early.

For a while, the entire camp was peaceful and the few people in charge went to bed early.

After breakfast the next morning, General Xu led his men back to Guazhou City.

Wei Cunren originally proposed to send someone to take Zhang Pingan and others to the parade ground to inspect military affairs.

But Zhang Ping'an smiled and declined: "There's no rush for that. Why don't you take us for a walk around the area first? The wind and snow have subsided today. To be honest, I've lived for more than 20 years, but I still haven't seen a snow-capped mountain properly. I'm really curious."

"Look at the snow-capped mountains?" Wei Cunren was a little unsure of what Zhang Pingan meant. What was so interesting about the snow-capped mountains?

Qian Jie was also a little confused and didn't say anything.

Zhao Renzhi's eyes flashed, and he smiled and continued, "In fact, it's not just Lord Zhang who hasn't seen it. I've never seen such a continuous and majestic snow-capped mountains in the northwest in my entire life. It's really magnificent. I also want to take a closer look and appreciate the scenery of the northwest. I'm sorry to have made fun of you, General Wei."

"Okay, then I'll send someone to take you around." Wei Cunren didn't know what these people were up to, but nodded in agreement.

They said they were going to see the snow-capped mountains, so Zhang Pingan and others really did go to see the snow-capped mountains. They rode their horses slowly for more than ten miles and stopped at the foot of the snow-capped mountains in the distance. They didn't even go back for lunch and ate dry food.

Qian Jie's cheeks were dry and cold from the cold wind. With Wei Cunren's men around, it was difficult to ask, so he could only risk his life to accompany the gentleman.

I hung out with Zhang Ping'an and Zhao Renzhi and didn't go back until almost sunset in the afternoon.

As soon as I returned to the camp, I learned that Wei Chengfeng had returned from his inspection at Yumen Pass.

Before they dismounted, Wei Chengfeng came over with his left and right deputy generals to pay their respects.

This was also the first time Zhang Ping'an saw the true face of this legendary figure.

A little different from the portrait in the Privy Council, Wei Chengfeng himself is more imposing and upright, with deep and calm eyes. Although he is in his fifties and has gray hair, he does not look old.

Although he is a military general, he has a strong scholarly air.

The mixture of the two temperaments makes him a very charming person!

Zhang Laoer is about the same age as him, or even a little younger, but his spirit and energy are completely different from that of his age.

The left and right deputy generals who followed him also looked quite old, in their forties, and were probably his personal guards who had followed him for decades.

It seems quite familiar.

Zhang Ping'an was not prepared to embarrass the man with these formalities, so he immediately helped him up and said, "General Wei, please stand up quickly. You are stationed in the northwest, locking the key to the border. You prevent the Hu horses from grazing in the south, and the court has no worries in the west. You have made great contributions to the country and are truly a minister of state. To be honest, although I am in the court, I also admire your bravery. There is no need for these empty formalities. Let's go into the tent and talk!"