It was early summer in the first year of Zhongping. The weather started to get hot very early that year. I was walking towards the school on the street with no shelter. I was sweating all over after running for a while. Although there were few people on the street at that time, I still didn't dare to take off my heavy robe and walk. I would have felt embarrassed to do so, as it would have tarnished the image of a scholar.
When I arrived at the thatched cottage, my clothes were already soaked. I wiped the sweat off my face outside the wooden gate and knocked on the teacher's door.
The teacher lived in the yard behind the school. The yard was full of various unknown wild flowers. I could smell the faint fragrance when I was studying in the school. I often fell asleep happily like this, and then was woken up by classmates or the teacher hitting my head with a ruler. The teacher was alone in Xiangyang, and usually no one came to disturb him. I don’t know if he called me this time because I was too much at noon.
Then being scolded to death by the teacher is a good thing, right? Just as I was thinking about it, the teacher's voice rang out.
"Zi Rui? Come in."
"Yes, sir." To be honest, it's not easy to call him Lord Wei.
"Zi Rui, your behavior this morning was too absurd."
"Yes, sir." I wasn't going to argue.
"But you came at the right time. I am almost annoyed by those officials."
"Sir, how did you get elected as the governor of Jingzhou... Uh, why are you still here... Yes... There is not even a guard outside the thatched cottage."
"You see, I am the kind of person who is greedy for wealth and pays attention to ostentation." The teacher said to me with a smile.
I shook my head.
"Do you remember Mr. Huangfu who came last time? You talked to him about the situation in the world. He recommended me to be your teacher. The world is in chaos now, and most of the high-ranking officials in Xiangyang and even Jingzhou were bought by the court. The court knew that these good-for-nothings could not stop the Yellow Turbans from going south, so they had no choice but to lift the 'Party Imprisonment', recruit famous people from all over the world, and set up eight lieutenants to relieve the danger in Luoyang. That's how I became the governor of Jingzhou."
"How can you carry out your plans if you have those useless people holding you back?"
"That's why I came to you."
"Teacher, could it be that..."
"You will take up your post tomorrow as the garrison commander of Xiangyang. Go to the garrison camp. I will have someone send your official uniform to you in the evening. Come on time tomorrow and don't be late. Is that okay?"
"Once a teacher, always a father. If you do not obey your father's orders, it is considered unfilial. Students dare not do so, but obey."
"Hmm... what about my classmates?"
"They will be your colleagues."
The teacher was quick-witted, decisive, and caring until I left his house. It took only an incense stick of time. Although I had no ill feelings towards the Yellow Turban Army, all I could think of at that time was a battle with them. Yellow Turban bandits, you are really in trouble.
Teacher Wei really does what he says and is really efficient. In the evening, I received the official uniform and official seal for "Mr. Xie" from several officials. My sister insisted that I wear it for her to see. So I put it on. It's so hot, I really don't want to wear this kind of heavy clothes. But if my sister wants to see it, then forget it. After putting it on, the situation was different. I suddenly blurted out: "These bastards really know how to enjoy themselves."
My sister really didn't understand what was going on and just stood there in a daze.
"Oh, sister, I didn't expect that the clothes looked big and thick, but they were actually very light and comfortable to wear."
"Then why are you cursing?"
"It makes me angry to think that those guys usually do nothing but act arrogantly, yet they dress so well. Why are you smiling at me, sister?"
"Nothing? I just thought you were interesting."
I shrugged.
The next morning, I got up before the rooster woke me up, because from this morning on, I was no longer a scholar, but the garrison commander of Xiangyang City. I didn't want to disturb my sister, so I tiptoed to the kitchen to get something to eat.
But when I got to the kitchen, I found someone inside, doing something.
"Thief? Although our family is still okay, we don't have any valuables." Because it was still dark, there was only a glimmer of light, so I couldn't see clearly. Suddenly I saw this guy holding something and walking out. I couldn't bear it anymore, so I rushed out and shouted, "Who!"
There was a sound of something breaking, and then the man quickly approached me, raised his hand, and shouted at me, "Squat down."
When I heard that, I immediately squatted down, and then a fist hit me on the head.
"Okay, you can get up now!"
I got up immediately and stood there, motionless.
"Sister, I thought it was a thief?"
"thief?"
"Yeah, it was dark and I couldn't see anything... so I just..."
"Your head is so hard that my hand still hurts now."
I knew my sister had calmed down because she started to change the subject. I hurried to where the broken thing was, I guess it was my breakfast.
"Don't eat it, it's dirty. I'll make it for you."
"fine."
"Why are you up so early?"
"I was excited. I woke up very early and couldn't fall asleep. Do I have to go to work today? Do you?"
"My brother is an official now. It's not good to be late on the first day. I will cook for you early. When the time comes, I will call you to eat immediately and you can leave. Are you a sleepyhead?"
"I have to go!"
"Wait." My sister came over and adjusted my hat. "You are already the garrison commander of Xiangyang City. You need to pay attention to your image."
Then he looked at me again, and I looked down to see if I had missed anything.
"Well, very good. Sister is proud of you."
"Yes, I went."
"Is this Lord Xie?" When I opened the door, there were already several soldiers waiting outside. One of them was an old soldier, who saluted me.
"Yes, yes, yes, old man, please don't do this kind of ceremony. It will kill Xie."
"Thank you, sir. Can you please get on the horse?"
I really didn't expect this to happen. I had someone to pick me up when I went to work, so what were my legs for? It must be a broken rule left by those good-for-nothings. I still got on the horse, but after walking a street, I got off and said to the soldiers behind me: "You, don't come tomorrow."
Seeing that they wanted to talk more, I added two more words, "The horse will stay with me. All you have to do is send fodder to my house every 15 days."
“That doesn’t seem to be in order.”
"Mine are the current rules." I wondered if my tone sounded like Mr. Wei's.
"Okay, you can go back now."
"yes."
I got on the horse with satisfaction. I'm not very good at riding, otherwise I would whip the horse and get to the post quickly. Now I'd better ride slowly, otherwise I'd be thrown off the horse. I'm very familiar with the garrison camp. I've been around this city for 16 years, and I don't know where it is. It's only two more streets to get there, so I'm not in a hurry.
The soldiers behind me didn't mean to leave. They seemed to be talking about something. After a while, the old soldier came up to me and said, "We would like to thank you for your kindness in saving me from this mission."
"No problem." I smiled. So that's why.
After crossing another street, I started to get angry.
He turned his horse's head and shouted, "Didn't I tell you to go back? Why are you still following me? Are my words useless?"
"Sir, we came out from the garrison camp to pick you up, and we also have to go back to the garrison camp. If you think we are an eyesore, we can take a detour."
"No need." I smiled at them apologetically and turned my horse's head again. I felt like a fool again.
Finally I arrived at my post, got off the horse, and was led by them to my office. It was a big house with a black desk in the middle. It seemed that I would have to do my homework here from now on.
At this time, a soldier came running in from outside the door, and knelt down on one leg when he saw me.
"Sir, Lord Wei has something important to discuss with you at the Mu Mansion."