Dark clouds covered the sky and earth, lightning ripped through the inky sky, thunder rolled in, and then heavy rain poured down, as if Tianpeng neglected his duty and spied on Chang'e, causing the Milky Way to burst... ...
On the official road in the distance, a horse-drawn carriage covered with tarpaulin was staggering in the storm. The strong horse was soaked like a buffalo, panting heavily and moving with difficulty on the muddy official road.
"Sir, Yingtian is less than three miles ahead. The wind and rain are too strong. Let's take a rest and wait until the wind and rain subside before we can continue our journey." The man in the straw raincoat and hat turned around and asked inside the car.
Maybe the wind and rain were too noisy and the sound was too small.
There was silence in the car.
Che Ma Shi asked loudly again.
After a while, a lazy voice as if just woke up came out, and it was a young boy, "Oh, sure, sure, of course, it's up to you, Brother Zhao."
The horse driver in a straw raincoat and hat laughed when he heard this and said jokingly, "I really admire you, young master, for being able to sleep well in this kind of weather."
"The sound of wind and rain is so rhythmic that I couldn't help but fall asleep while listening to it." A silly voice in the carriage explained as if a little embarrassed.
"Sir, you are joking. I can sleep even though others don't. In the past, you always read in the carriage. Today, the weather is so bad that you can take a rest. But I admire you for being able to sleep in such weather." The man driving the horses stopped the carriage on the side of the road, put a woven reed mat on the strong horse, and talked to the young man in the carriage with a chuckle.
The horse driver loved his horses, but he didn't dare drive the carriage to the woods to take shelter from the rain during a thunderstorm. He had to stop the carriage on the side of the road to avoid the rain.
"Brother Zhao, come to the car and take shelter from the rain."
A corner of the carriage curtain was lifted up, and a slightly fat and silly boy stuck his head out. He looked at the wind and rain outside and said to the man standing outside the carriage.
By the light of lightning, it can be recognized that this slightly fat and silly boy is Zhu Ping'an who came to Yingtian to take the exam.
The horse driver in a straw raincoat shook his head and said, "That won't work. I'm soaked and I won't go in."
Zhu Pingan, who had slightly leaned out of the carriage, waved his hand nonchalantly, "It's okay, Brother Zhao, just come in with your straw raincoat, and I've put all the luggage and books in the bag."
The horse driver hesitated for a moment, then at Zhu Ping'an's repeated request, he took off his straw raincoat and got into the carriage to take a short rest.
This carriage was a coincidence. In ancient times, there were no direct buses to anywhere like in modern times. In the Ming Dynasty, even the carriage and horse companies could not say that there were carriages to wherever you wanted to go. This was also the horse driver who happened to be on his way to Yingtian to transport goods after Zhu Ping'an had been transferred twice. After a little negotiation, the horse driver readily gave Zhu Ping'an a ride and only charged a small fare. In ancient times, under the constraints of etiquette, there seemed to be more good people.
A field of tobacco, a city full of catkins. Rain when plums turn yellow.
Outside the carriage, the wind and rain roared down, and the rain was so energetic that it rained non-stop. Zhu Pingan looked out through the window, and it was all water. He was even more impressed by the plum rain in the south of the Yangtze River. In the past, it was only recorded in textbooks: in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, there will be a continuous cloudy and rainy weather phenomenon in June and July every year. Because it is the ripening period of plums in the south of the Yangtze River, it is called "plum rain", and this period is called the plum rain season. Now Zhu Pingan has a deeper feeling about the plum rain. He has been traveling for several days and has not seen a sunny day.
From the morning till the afternoon, the wind and moon did not stop, but just a little less. Zhao Ge, the horse driver, put on his raincoat again and drove the carriage along the official road.
The road was muddy and full of water, and the carriage was shaky and slow. Even the ancient official roads could not compare with the modern roads, even if they were shoddy.
It took more than half an hour, or more than an hour in today's terms, to walk less than three miles to Yingtian, which is now Nanjing City.
As soon as he lifted the curtain of the carriage, Zhu Ping'an was shocked by the majestic city of Nanjing.
Majestic, magnificent, majestic...
The Yingtian City Wall is like a giant dragon winding around and guarding Yingtian. It is endless and stretches for dozens of kilometers. The wall is newly built and looks newer under the baptism of heavy rain. The Yingtian City Wall was completed at the end of the Hongwu period. It is the largest city wall Zhu Ping'an has ever seen. It is more majestic than the Xi'an City Wall and can almost be called the world's largest city. Of course, Shuntian (Beijing) should be the largest at this time, but this does not affect Zhu Ping'an's feelings.
Especially at this time, rainwater poured from the city to the drainage outlet of the city wall, and flowed out through several protruding stone dragon heads on the city wall. The water was abundant, and the water flowing out of the dragon's mouth was like a real dragon spitting water, which was extremely spectacular and added to Zhu Ping'an's emotion.
Outside the gate of Yingtian City at this time, even in this kind of weather, there were still many pedestrians and vehicles coming and going. There were also people who looked like scholars and students outside, holding paper umbrellas, sighing outside the city about the "dragon spitting water". Despite the heavy rain, they were inspired to write poems and left behind excellent works, but it was hard for the book boys and servants who were holding umbrellas to protect the paper and ink.
Not long after entering Nanjing City, the journey was delayed due to heavy rain. The horse driver Zhao Ge was in a hurry to purchase goods, so he dropped Zhu Ping'an off in front of an inn, apologized, and drove away in his carriage.
Zhu Ping'an stood outside the inn with his luggage on his back, waved to the departing carriage and thanked loudly.
"Hey, isn't this Zhu Ping'an, the first in the case? I haven't seen him for a few months. How come... How come he has become so fat..."
Among the scholars and students who were watching the dragon spit water from outside the city, one of them heard Zhu Ping'an's voice and felt it was familiar, so he looked up and stared for several seconds before recognizing Zhu Ping'an.
This Zhu Pingan really lives up to his title of glutton. He eats a lot after not seeing him for a few months... ... He has gained weight... ...
When Zhu Ping'an heard what he said, he looked and saw a person among a group of scholars and students looking at him in surprise. The person looked familiar, but he could not recognize who he was. He should be someone from the Jingxian Poetry Meeting or in Zuijun Tower in Yingtian Prefecture.
"How dare I claim to be the first in the case, it's just luck. I got fat, uh, and my mother's cooking skills make me unable to control my appetite..." Zhu Ping'an bowed from a distance and said with a naive smile.
"Brother Zhu, you are too modest." The man also bowed.
After the man finished speaking, he whispered a few words to the students next to him. After a while, several people looked at Zhu Ping'an with dissatisfaction and perhaps a bit of disdain.
"The wind is strong and the rain is heavy. You should go and have a rest first. I will come to visit you another day, Brother Zhu." The man bowed and left with his companions.