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

Seeing Zhang Ping'an frowning in thought, Grand Tutor Qian continued to be direct: "The Great Zhou Dynasty has been established for less than ten years, and its foundation is not yet stable. Under normal circumstances, His Majesty would not be in such a hurry about many things."

“Unless he has a compelling reason to be in a hurry,” Zhang Ping’an concluded.

Grand Tutor Qian nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad!"

Zhang Ping'an was indeed shocked by the news; he understood very well what it meant for the founding emperor to die so young.

However, based on his understanding of Zhou Ziming, it was impossible that he hadn't made any preparations.

"Since His Majesty is keeping this a secret, it is clear that he does not want the court officials to know. Given His Majesty's personality, he must have already made some arrangements."

"What good is a meticulous plan? Chess is static, but people are dynamic," Grand Tutor Qian chuckled, maintaining a wait-and-see attitude for the time being.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an deep in thought, he waved his hand and carefully instructed, "Just keep this to yourself and don't tell anyone else. Although His Majesty is indeed ill, it won't be that soon... So, what you need to do now is to take advantage of the fact that you helped His Majesty regain control of the Guazhou Iron Cavalry and try to get promoted as much as possible and gain more real power. I think it's good that your brother-in-law went to the border; he will be an important asset to your future career."

"And your fifth brother-in-law, in a couple of years help him find some connections and get a better position. There's not much of a future in the Ministry of Rites. As for your sixth brother-in-law, he's a craftsman by trade and has firearms skills, so he doesn't need a high official position. It's fine for him to stay in Yangzhou; he won't attract much attention."

Zhang Ping'an listened quietly. It seemed that his father-in-law hadn't been idle during his leg injury; he had gone through all the available people.

"Thank you for your advice, father-in-law. I understand."

“Ping An, don’t think I’m overstepping my bounds. Regardless of whether the situation will change again in the future, given our current status and rank as father-in-law and son-in-law, it’s impossible for us not to take sides when the new emperor takes the throne. Those people are all tied to the same fate, so wouldn’t it be better to have more capable people around us?”

Grand Tutor Qian's words, though seemingly an explanation, were actually a reminder to Zhang Ping'an to prepare in advance.

Objectively speaking, that statement is not wrong, so Zhang Ping'an did not refute it and thanked him again.

The attitude during today's conversation pleased Grand Tutor Qian greatly.

Overall, the conversation was quite pleasant.

Finally, Grand Tutor Qian made a pointed compliment: "It seems you've matured quite a bit since your trip to the Northwest, that's good."

"Alright, I won't say anything more. Just keep that in mind. Come visit me more often and chat with Qian Ying and Qian Jie. You're all young, so you'll probably have more to talk about. You're already closer than others. I'm getting old, so I'll have to rely on you guys in the future."

"Father-in-law, you're being too kind. I'll come over more often in the future," Zhang Ping'an said respectfully, stopping the conversation.

An old fox is an old fox. In the past, Grand Tutor Qian was mostly dignified and calm. Although he was very polite, he always made people feel distant from him.

The sudden change in tone, with such an important message, clearly indicates an attempt to recruit him and make him an ally.

Zhang Ping'an also planned to follow his father-in-law's example and observe the situation first.

However, things cannot be accomplished overnight.

After the father-in-law and son-in-law finished their conversation, Zhang Ping'an took his leave.

The Qian family steward, ever observant, stepped forward and bowed. "Second son-in-law, my grandson is playing with the other young masters in the courtyard. I'll take you there."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble," Zhang Ping'an nodded politely with his hands behind his back.

The Qian residence was very large, and the courtyard was naturally quite spacious as well.

When Zhang Ping'an followed the butler there, Xiao Yu'er was leading a group of his cousins ​​to climb the artificial hill, ruining all the flowers and plants. It would probably cost a lot of money to repair them.

Fortunately, the artificial hill was not high, and there were servants protecting it, so there was no danger.

"Little fish, come down quickly!"

"Dad, have you finished talking with Grandpa?" Little Fish popped his head out from the artificial hill.

Noticing that his father had come to pick him up, he quickly climbed down from the artificial hill, leaving marks all over his clothes. He wiggled his bottom with surprising agility.

"We're going to visit someone's house later, how can you face them looking like this?" Zhang Ping'an said irritably.

Little Fish chuckled: "Can I wear a few of my cousins' clothes?"

At this moment, the little ones next to them also came down and ran over to complain: "Second Uncle, Second Uncle, you've finally come over! My cousin just fed all the koi in our courtyard pond to death, and he insists it wasn't him. You be the judge!"

As they were talking, the little kids stood up indignantly, hands on their hips, demanding an explanation.

Upon hearing this, Little Fish's eyebrows shot up, and he retorted in a crisp voice, "It wasn't me to begin with, so what does it have to do with me? You guys fed it the wrong food. Koi can't eat snacks, that's what my dad said, why are you bringing this up again now?!"

His words carried weight and authority!

"That's because you fed them too much fish food first, so they all died from bloating after we only fed them a little bit of treats. It's all your fault, you fed them too much!" Little Radish Head retorted.

"not me!"

"That's you!"

"It's not me, it's not me!"

"It's you, it's you!"

“If you continue to slander me, I will tell my maternal grandfather, my eldest uncle, second uncle, third uncle, and fourth uncle that you broke the celadon vase in the study of the second courtyard,” Xiaoyuer said, her anger rising and her eyebrows raised in a cold voice.

The little kids were stunned. "When did we break the vase in the study? It was clearly the tabby cat that ran in and broke it. How can you blame us? Cousin, you...you...you're lying and twisting the truth!"

Although they haven't officially started their formal education at the clan school yet, coming from a distinguished family and having been exposed to it since childhood, these little ones can still occasionally blurt out a few idioms.

Xiaoyuer smirked, crossed his arms, and said with a condescending air, "You and the tabby cat were in the study at the time. Who knows whether the tabby cat broke it or you did? Don't make baseless accusations against the tabby cat. Grandfather and several uncles have clearly forbidden children from entering the study without permission. You sneaked in anyway, so you were wrong!"

Upon hearing this, some of the children hesitated and exchanged timid glances. Only then did the leader step forward to apologize: "Cousin, we apologize to you. We wronged you, but you can't wrong us either."

A good man does not suffer immediate losses.

Although the children were young, they understood this principle at a very young age.

That celadon vase was worth a fortune, and the Qian family had strictly forbidden their children from entering or leaving the study rooms in each courtyard without permission.

It's their fault if the truth comes out.

Compared to that, feeding dead koi is nothing.

I could only swallow this bitter pill and stop taking it so seriously.

Zhang Ping'an stood by with a smile, hands behind his back, watching his son handle the matter himself.

The butler, being shrewd, pretended not to have heard anything.

These are all precious young masters. No matter how valuable a vase is, it's just an inanimate object. If he were to report them, he would truly offend everyone in the household, and he would be finished with his life.

After the matter was resolved, the steward instructed the servants to change Xiaoyuer into a clean set of clothes.

Afterwards, Zhang Ping'an took his son and left for the Ge family.

On the carriage, Xiaoyuer was still indignant and explained to Zhang Ping'an, "They were the ones who fed the koi oily snacks, causing it to roll over and die. They even blamed me and badmouthed me to you, Father. That's too much! When I go back to the clan school tomorrow, I won't let them get away with it!"

"What, you want to fight again?" Zhang Ping'an glanced at his son.

Little Fish shook his head: "I won't fight. I won't lift a finger unless absolutely necessary. If I want to, someone will stand up for me. By the way, Dad, didn't you tell me before that when you're wronged, you must never fall into the trap of proving yourself? How was it? Did I handle things well today?"

After saying that, she puffed out her little chest and gave a smug look, as if she wanted praise.

"That's good. You always remember your father's words and do them the right way. That's excellent," Zhang Ping'an praised first.

Then she gently tapped her son's head: "But they are all younger than you. Winning against them is nothing. It's not a fair victory. What will you do if you encounter someone stronger than you? Those older kids won't be easily defeated by you."

Little Fish was a little unconvinced: "I have ways to deal with the older kids too."

“It’s good to know how to protect yourself. Be serious when you need to be serious, and be magnanimous when you need to be magnanimous. They apologized to you just now. Isn’t it better to forgive them than to hold a grudge against them? You are cousins. When you grow up, you will support and help each other. Don’t let a small matter affect your relationship,” Zhang Ping’an instructed carefully.

Little Fish realized his mistake and corrected it. He quickly said, "Dad, what you said makes sense. When we pass by Grandpa's house on the way back, let's go in and tell them I've forgiven them. But... wouldn't that be a bit too deliberate?"

"Let's let it go this time. It won't feel right to say these things after things have passed."

As the father and son were talking, they arrived at the Ge family's house.

Green Bean Eyes' house in the capital was located on the eastern border of the city. Although the location wasn't the best, it was large enough.

The interior is also exquisitely decorated.

After all, the Ge family were imperial merchants, and the man with the beady eyes had extensive experience in overseas trade; they had no shortage of money.

Zhang Ping'an and his son had only been seated for a short while when Green Eyes came out to greet the guests.

His eyes are dark and bluish, clearly he didn't sleep well.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an bring his son over, he was both excited and overjoyed, almost beyond words.

"Please sit down, please sit down. Ping An, you're finally back. Without you, this capital city is so boring."

"You've been promoted and are now a high-ranking official, so why are you still so unsteady?" Zhang Ping'an chuckled and teased.

With a bitter expression, he waved his hand and said, "Don't even mention it. Being an official is much more mentally exhausting than being a businessman. I've been thinking of resigning, but my old father in Lin'an keeps sending me letters every three days, forbidding me to resign. Alas, my son isn't even on the family genealogy yet, so I can only bear with it for now!"

"Is this all that's bothering you? You look terrible. How long has it been since you slept well?" Zhang Ping'an asked seriously.

Speaking of this, the man with beady eyes had a lot of grievances to share: "There's nothing I can do. I have a baby boy who cries at night. This troublesome kid cries morning and night. I'm at my wit's end!"

Zhang Ping'an hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

Somewhat puzzled: "With so many wet nurses and servants in your household, aren't they enough? Do you really have to do it yourself?"

With her beady eyes, she spread her hands, grinning, a hint of pride creeping onto her face: "There's nothing I can do, the child only loves me and his mother. He won't let the servants hold him, he's so stubborn!"

"Oh, I see," Zhang Ping'an understood; another one who spoils children.

After thinking for a moment, he offered a suggestion: "My parents said that the child had teeth as soon as he was born and had a loud voice, which means he is healthy and well-nourished in the womb. However, it's not good for the child to cry all the time; it means the child is restless. If all else fails, I can get a letter and ask a royal physician in the palace to take a look. There must be doctors in the palace who are good at prescribing pediatric medicine."