“Zhu Pingan, you can come in, but that dead fat pig is not allowed.”
Just as Zhu Pingan was looking at a certain red-nosed fatso with an egg on his face, the door to the study opened, and Li Shu, the belly girl, poked her head out of the door, reluctantly pouting and shouting at Zhu Pingan, her face full of reluctance.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that father explained that the study was tight for you to use when he left, I wouldn’t have let you in!” The belly girl pouted and rolled her eyes towards Zhu Pingan.
A certain fat man who had his head caught in the door, sniffing, his lewd little eyes again swept back and forth between Zhu Pingan and the belaboured maiden in a bright and inquisitive manner.
“Then you wait for me outside.”
Originally, Zhu Pingan didn’t want to leave the fatty alone to go in, but seeing the fatty’s demeanour, he immediately left a sentence and patted his buttocks and left. Although the dark girl had a smelly face, but her face value was high, it was much better than looking at the fat man with this lewd face, not to mention that she was supposed to come to return the book and borrow it, so it was better to be practical.
Zhu Pingan went into the study to return the book, and quickly borrowed two more books, ready to leave when he was stopped by the dark belly girl.
“Something wrong?” Zhu Pingan asked as he looked at the belly black maiden.
“Nonsense, there is nothing to stop you!” The dark girl looked contemptuous, “The next time you come to borrow a book, you must bring me a story of five thousand, no, at least six thousand words before you can do it, to be copied, the font has to be neat, just as a practice for you.”
After the dark girl finished speaking, she looked at Zhu Pingan without blinking her eyes, waiting for Zhu Pingan’s answer.
“Okay, I’ll try my best.” Zhu Pingan nodded.
“What do you mean try as much as possible, it’s to be sure!” The belly girl was dissatisfied, revealing her small tiger teeth.
On the way back to Zhu Pingan’s house from the Li family, the fat man a fat face is full of gossip expression ah, open mouth and closed mouth to ask what the study is the place of your rendezvous ah, you are in the study for so long what did ……
“You really were born in the wrong era.” Zhu Pingan glanced at the fat man with a face full of gossip and said indifferently.
“Huh?” The fatty was puzzled.
“It can only be understood.” Zhu Pingan shook his head, pretending to be mysterious.
“Heh, you’re just changing the subject. That said, you guys are in the study ……” Fatty started gossiping again.
Frogs, birdsong, and the sound of the fat man’s gossip rang all the way ……
And to the evening time, down the river village of Rizheng led two young people carrying rice flour oil meat, etc. into the door of Zhu Pingan’s house.
“Rizheng. What are you doing?” Zhu’s father came out of his room at the sound and was surprised to see what Rizheng and the two young men were carrying.
“Elder brother Zhu, this isn’t what I’m doing, it’s the government grants that the county has routinely allocated to your family’s second son.”
Rizheng’s face was full of smiles. Waving his hand, he signalled the scion behind him to place the things in the courtyard of Zhu Pingan’s house.
“This is quite a lot of stuff.” Mother Chen came out from her room, looking at the rice, flour, oil and meat carried by the two juniors, she couldn’t stop smacking her lips, there was a bag of rice, an altar of oil, a small bag of flour and a large piece of meat, enough to eat for a long time.
Zhu Pingan and the fat man and the elder brother Zhu Pingan then walked out, Li Zheng saw Zhu Pingan, then smiled and arched his hand to congratulate, “have not yet to Zhu Gongzi congratulations it, the saint’s grand grace vastly opened the Enke, Zhu Gongzi can again try his hand.”
“Oh, almost forgot, this was sent to the town from the county. The town asked me to forward it to Mr Zhu as well.” As Rizheng spoke, he slapped his head and pulled out a piece of red paper with a seal from his sleeve and handed it to Zhu Pingan.
“Thank you, Rizheng.” Zhu Pingan took the red paper and arched his hand to thank him.
“Where where, it’s just a matter of passing by.” Rizheng shook his hand, his face full of smiles.
Rizheng in the courtyard of the Zhu family exchanges pleasantries for a while and then left, Zhu Pingan opened the red paper in his hand, and found that the above is the specific news of this Enke, in front of a large pile of Qilin la and so on and so forth, and so on and so on and so on and so on and so on and so forth and so on and so forth and so forth. Behind is the specific time of Enke, the fourth of November.
The fourth of November?
At first glance at this time, Zhu Pingan is a little puzzled, because the number four in our country has always been an unlucky number. It is taboo in the folklore, not to mention above the court. However, after thinking about Emperor Jiajing’s character, Zhu Pingan was relieved.
Emperor Jiajing was fond of alchemy and cultivation of immortality, and he also liked to seek the gods and ask the immortals in some auspicious and unlucky ways. The question will be written on paper, sealed up, a eunuch to the Taoist priests, the Taoist priests burned to the gods, and then it in the sand plate set up two branches, by two eunuchs with fingers holding down the branches, the gods show the spirit of the two eunuchs closed their eyes and pressed the branches of the sand plate in a flurry of drawings, and then Jiajing Emperor according to the sand plate shows the “book of heaven” to read the will of the gods. The Emperor then reads the will of the god according to the “heavenly book” shown on the sand table.
Perhaps the fourth day of the eleventh month came from this way.
After seeing the time, the fat man, like a burning arse, wailed, “How is this year, I thought it would be early next year, then I am not going to go back to prepare for the examination?”
The examination in the fat man’s mouth refers to the year of the Great Competition, well, that is, one year before the countryside examination, by the school officials to preside over the selection of students, supervisors, etc. to participate in the countryside examination examination, generally is the age of the examination and then presided over by the school officials to take the examination, but Zhu Pingan, they are special, is this year’s students, so only need to participate in the examination can be. The examination is divided into six grades, generally speaking, the mention of the school officer more than three grades, three grades below is very little, or even no. The first and second grades of the examination will be the only way to get to the examination. The first and second grades of the imperial examination can participate in the township examination.
The reason why Fatty is so nervous is because there are quotas for the first and second grades of the imperial examination. Each county and prefecture has a fixed number of places, and if memory serves, it will be another five or six years or so before the dynasty limits the number of places admitted to the countryside exams in proportion to previous years.
There were about two thousand three hundred or four hundred or so places in the whole of Nan Zhili, which were allocated to the counties, about ten or so per county, only fewer but not more. Each county has at least hundreds of Xiucai, can go to participate in the countryside examination only about ten people.
Even the qualification examination for the countryside examination is very difficult is not, but according to the customary words, the capital of the case is stable can pass the examination to participate in the countryside examination.
Therefore, Zhu Pingan is not very worried about this.
Soon, the day before yesterday to send the fat man to the lower river village of the retainer also drove the carriage to come, he is to get the Feng Yang Province fat man’s family overnight horse sent the news, let the fat man hurry home to prepare for the examination.
Fatty is reluctant to leave the Zhu family ah ……
“Godmother, that pickled cucumber ……” It has to be said that the way the fat man is reluctant to leave is also very special.
“Godmother gave you a whole altar.” Mother Chen held a whole altar of freshly pickled cucumbers from the courtyard and put it on Fatty’s carriage, also heartily liking this chubby godson who hadn’t lived in the Zhu family for a few days.
“How embarrassing ……” Fatty’s mouth said so, his hands were not slow, three times and then put mother Chen’s put on the carriage of a proof altar of pickled cucumbers rowed to the carriage inside.
“What’s wrong with that, I can pickle another one in a few days.” Mother Chen waved her hand carelessly.
“Godmother, that dried mushrooms ……” Fatty pointed to the dried mushrooms in the yard and reluctantly, last night godmother stewed chicken soup with mushrooms but too good.
“Godmother will fill it up for you ……” Mother Chen is very generous.
“Godmother, that ……” Fatty collected the mushrooms, and again reluctantly up ……
“There is no end, at least leave some for me!” Zhu Pingan went forward and pressed the reluctant fatty into the carriage.
Zhu Pingan’s action caused Chen’s laughter and cursing, and from home to pick up a number of fat people love to eat a brain stuffed into the fat man’s carriage, the fat man will be happy to Zhu Pingan straight squeeze eyes.
“Childish, don’t just focus on eating and sleeping, read more books, save for the imperial exams to lose face.”
Zhu Pingan spat disdainfully at the fatty’s childish behaviour.
“Master Fatty will be humiliated? You wait to be impressed.” The fat man held his fat face high and roared away in the carriage.
