Zhu Ping'an gradually went away, and his back figure slowly lost its outline, turning into a drop of blurry light ink, slowly blending into the withered autumn colors.
By the Qinhuai River, the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl held the calligraphy left by Zhu Ping'an in both hands, looked at Zhu Ping'an's back, and could not calm down for a long time.
"Let's go, Susu. We can't afford to marry a young man like him." The girl of seventeen or eighteen shook her head, put the red-eyed girl's scattered hair into a bun, and comforted her in a lonely voice.
The fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl's eyes turned redder when she heard this. She bit her teeth and nodded silently. Then she walked to the other side of the Qinhuai River with the seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl...
After this performance by the two girls, it was almost dusk.
After Zhu Ping'an left the Qinhuai River, he strolled casually in Yingtian City to see if there was any delicious food he liked. He would go home in two days. There were many delicious foods in Yingtian and he had not yet eaten enough.
While Zhu Ping'an was strolling casually, the postman who had changed horses three times on the official post road had already ridden into Huaining County, carrying with him the good news about this year's new students.
Sunset and sunrise
When Zhu Ping'an was rushing from the inn in formal attire to Mingyuan Tower of Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall, several yamen runners dressed in black and red clothes also rode out from Huaining County, with happy faces, holding gongs, good news, suonas and other things.
The sky is covered with red clouds, the ground is covered with golden waves, and the red sun illuminates the eastern sky.
Zhu Ping'an and a group of new students wearing square scarves and blue robes walked into the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall under the red sun with high spirits and stepped onto the Mingyuan Building. The word "Mingyuan" is taken from the meaning of "carefully remembering the past and cherishing the past, and the virtue will return to the great" in "The Great Learning". Mingyuan Building is three stories high. Zhu Ping'an walked into the third floor with the crowd. At this time, the Supervisor of Education had not arrived yet, so Zhu Ping'an and the others quietly waited for the Supervisor of Education to set up a banquet and wear flowers.
The ground floor of Mingyuan Building has doors on all four sides, and the two upper floors have windows on all four sides. Zhu Ping'an stood near the window and looked down, and indeed he could see the Imperial Examination Hall.
While Zhu Ping'an and others were waiting for the educational official, Xiahe Village was already in an uproar.
After breakfast in the morning, people who went to work in the fields saw from afar five or six red-robed yamen runners riding horses. As soon as they arrived at the boundary of Xiahe Village, they dismounted and hung a plate of firecrackers on a tree, which made a deafening sound.
Then, there was the sound of loud gongs and drums and the sound of suona.
As soon as they entered the village, they were filled with joy. This was only the treatment that the first place winner could enjoy.
"Sir, what's going on?" A brave old farmer came forward and asked.
"Congratulations, congratulations to Mr. Zhu from your village for getting the first place in the examination for the status of a scholar." The yamen runner holding a red paper congratulated with a smile on his face.
Hearing this, the old farmer stopped hoeing the land, threw the hoe into the ditch by the roadside, and ran towards the village nimbly.
"Uncle Li, why are you running?" asked a curious man.
"Hurry up. Our village has a scholar. We have finally had a scholar after so many years. Go to Old Zhu's house and tell him the good news."
The old farmer trotted breathlessly while excitedly talking about the good news about Xiahe Village.
"Is it true?" The man was overjoyed.
"I'm an old man. How could I be kidding you? Don't you see the yamen runners setting off firecrackers and making noises over there?" The old farmer blew his beard and glared.
The old farmer had just finished speaking when he saw the man roar and run ahead of him. He could only follow behind and eat dirt.
"You little bastard, wait for the old man." The old farmer was so angry that he looked like he was at least twenty years older.
"Hahaha. Uncle Li, let me, your nephew, do the errands." The man smiled foolishly. He didn't even look back, but ran forward with all his strength.
"You little bastard..." the old farmer scolded with a smile.
The man just smiled foolishly. The more he was scolded, the happier he ran.
Along the way, more and more people heard the news and joined the army of reporting the good news.
This is great news for the entire Xiahe Village. Why is Xiahe Village inferior to Shanghe Village? It is not only because Shanghe Village is richer, but more importantly, it is because Shanghe Village has a scholar like Master Sun in charge.
Now finally, finally Xiahe Village has a scholar, and he’s topped the list at that. Wow, the old farmers didn’t know what topped the list meant, but from the tone of the official who brought the good news, he seemed very proud, as if he was even higher than the scholars.
More and more people heard the news, and more and more people joined the army of announcing the good news. A large group of people rushed to the Zhu family's old house, anxious to inform the old Zhu family before the official announcing the good news. The house must be tidy and bright, and fruits, melon seeds and reward money must be prepared. This is the first scholar in Xiahe Village, and we can't lose face for Xiahe Village in front of the official. If the old Zhu family is short of anything temporarily, we villagers can also take it from our own homes, but we can't let the official announcing the good news look down on our Xiahe Village.
As for why it is the old Zhu family
You can figure it out with your ass. The officials said congratulations to our village master Zhu for passing the Tongsheng exam. As for Master Zhu, the eldest and the youngest grandson of the old Zhu family are the only ones in our village who are studying. They are the only ones who went to take the exam. The one who can be called master must be the eldest Zhu family. The last time the youngest grandson of the Zhu family also passed the exam, but that was a Tongsheng. The town also congratulated Master Zhu, but no one said congratulations to Master Zhu. The eldest Zhu family has been studying for 20 or 30 years, and the youngest grandson has only been studying for a few years. The eldest Zhu family passed the Tongsheng exam ten years ago, and the youngest grandson of the Zhu family passed the Tongsheng exam some time ago.
Therefore, the old farmers took it for granted that Mr. Zhu was referring to Zhu Shouren, the head of the Zhu family.
Xiahe Village is not big, and these people ran from the village entrance into the village in a short while.
Zhu Ping'an's mother, Chen, was sewing shoe soles under the gate when she saw a group of people rushing out of her house into the village, raising a cloud of dust. She couldn't help but ask a familiar villager out of curiosity what was going on.
"The second family, you may not know yet, but your Shouyi's eldest brother Shouren has passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. Just now, Ermaizi said that he saw the man who brought the good news rushing towards the village entrance." The villager described it vividly.
Upon hearing this, Chen, who was sewing shoe soles, accidentally pricked her hand.
"Then, what about my pig?" Chen asked anxiously.
"It seems that we heard that one of them was caught in our village." Someone else added, and then hurriedly urged the villager, "Hurry up, we have to tell Uncle Zhu in front of the officials and let Uncle Zhu clean up his family."
"Your little pig didn't pass the exam, but luckily he's still young, so it's okay. Let's go, second brother, let's go tell your eldest brother Shouyi the good news."
"That's right. After the second brother's family left, it's good enough to have a student. Don't think too much about the second brother's family. I believe your little pig will definitely pass the exam next time."
The villagers who followed behind him were all talking and comforting, and then a group of people rushed past, anxious to get in the new scholar's good graces so that they could talk to him if they had any problems in the future. But he was a scholar, on an equal footing with the county magistrate, and there would be many times in the future when he would ask for help.
Zhu Ping'an's mother, Chen, stared blankly at the crowd rushing toward the old house, tightly grasping the sole of her shoe in her hand, and she didn't even notice that the needle had pierced her hand again and drawn blood. Although she didn't expect her second son to pass the exam, she was still very upset that his uncle passed and her second son didn't. (To be continued)
ps: Last night's chapter was a bit watery, I'll find time to revise it.