Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 24 Attacked on the Way Home

Zhou An waited outside Wangjiang Tower with Shi Tou to welcome the guests.

In a few days, he will be setting off back to Qinghe. In the past six months, he has made some good friends at the academy, and naturally he will host a farewell banquet before leaving.

A carriage arrived and stopped outside Wangjiang Tower. The curtain was lifted, and a young man of about twenty years old, dressed in a light blue robe, leaned out.

"Huai De!"

"Boyong!"

Zhou An greeted him with a smile.

The boy in blue was named Shi Ji, courtesy name Boyong.

His identity is quite extraordinary; he is the eldest son of the Pacification Commissioner of Jiangnan East Circuit.

The Pacification Commissioner was a third-rank official responsible for civil administration in Jiangnan East Circuit, making him a true regional governor.

However, at the Lu level, the Great Zhou adopted a system of separation of powers among the four branches.

The so-called four powers are civil administration, military affairs, finance, and criminal justice.

Each had its own chief official, but they were not subordinate to each other.

Even so, there are very few young masters in Jinling with a higher status than him.

He was able to get to know Shi Ji through Hai Simian.

Shi Ji looked up at the half of the couplet hanging at the entrance of Wangjiang Tower and laughed, "Huai De, I wonder how long it will take for anyone to be able to match your couplet."

Who knows?

Zhou An laughed and said, "Perhaps someone will be able to answer the question in next year's provincial examination!"

"impossible."

Shi Ji shook his head and said, "It's already spread throughout Jiangning Prefecture. If someone knew the answer, they would have come long ago."

I heard this couplet has even reached Bianjing (Kaifeng), but no one has yet come up with a matching line.

"Actually, even I, the one who came up with the couplet, couldn't come up with a matching one."

"Are you truly out of ideas for a matching couplet, or are you simply trying to save face for the scholars of Jiangning Prefecture?"

"I really didn't have a matching line. It was just a flash of inspiration that came to me with this couplet."

Zhou An grabbed his arm and said, "Don't worry about this anymore, let's go, they're all waiting!"

The two arrived at the Jingzhe Hall on the fourth floor.

"A good choice. I hope that the spring thunder will sound the year after next," Shi Ji said with a smile.

The Awakening of Insects is the third of the twenty-four solar terms, signifying the warming of the weather and the first rumble of spring thunder.

At this time, insects that have been hibernating underground will also end their hibernation.

The ancients believed that the spring thunder awakened the insects, hence the name.

The imperial examination was called the spring examination. Shi Ji said this because he and Zhou An agreed to take the examination together the year after next and both passed with flying colors, making a name for themselves.

"I don't even know if I'll pass next year's provincial examination, so I can only wish Boyong good luck in passing it." Zhou An said with a smile as he entered the private room.

Shi Ji has already passed the provincial examination, but he failed the metropolitan examination last time.

Passing the county and provincial examinations once grants permanent official rank, allowing one to participate in the next examination without needing to retake it.

Shi Ji could go directly to the capital to participate in the metropolitan examination the year after next, but Zhou An needed to pass the provincial examination first.

Five people were already seated in the private room, chatting, including Hai Simian.

Seeing the two enter, Hai Siqian stood up and said, "I heard you talking at the door just now, why did it take you so long to come in?"

"Haha, Boyong invited me to take the imperial examination together the year after next!" Zhou An laughed.

"Boyong, that's where you're wrong."

Hai Simian feigned displeasure and said, "We haven't even taken the provincial examination yet. Aren't you putting pressure on us by saying this? Brother Du, don't you agree?"

"That's right. I failed the provincial examination last time and was confined to my home by my father for a month. With the provincial examination coming up again, I'm terrified that I won't do well."

"The provincial examination in Jiangning Prefecture is too difficult. If I weren't afraid of losing face, I would have gone back to take the exam."

Three of the other four had not yet passed the provincial examination and all spoke out against Shi Ji.

Only Tang Jian, who had passed the provincial examination, spoke up for Shi Ji.

"Brother Shi is wishing you all success in the provincial examination in advance. Gentlemen, think about it: if we all take the imperial examination together and pass with flying colors, wouldn't that be a wonderful story? Perhaps we could even leave behind the name of the Seven Sages of Jinling!"

"Brother Tang's words are truly insightful..."

The group chatted and laughed for a while, and then drank and talked as the food and drinks were served.

Since Zhou An was about to reminisce, they didn't discuss academic matters, but instead drank and chatted about the future.

They drank until late at night before each of them, supported by their attendants, left Wangjiang Tower and went home.

.........

"Even after a thousand miles of travel, we must part ways. Let's stop here!"

Outside Jinling City, Hai Simian and others who came to see them off bowed respectfully.

"Huai De!"

Shi Ji took a wooden box from his attendant and handed it over, saying, "I can't attend your wedding, so this is a wedding gift I prepared for you!"

Thank you!

Zhou An bowed and thanked him before accepting the wooden box.

Hai Simian and the others also presented their respective congratulatory gifts.

Although Qinghe County is not far from Nanjing, it only takes about ten days to travel there and back, including attending weddings.

But they were all busy studying, and some were preparing for the provincial examinations next year, so they really couldn't go.

Zhou An thanked them one by one, accepted the gifts, bowed with his hands clasped in front of him, and then got into the carriage.

"drive!"

The coachman waved his whip, urging the tired horse forward.

Zhou An reached out of the window, waved, and then withdrew his hand after a long while.

Let's go!

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Hai Simian said to the others, "Huai De might come to Jinling again after the provincial examination next year. It's not like we'll never see him again!"

.........

"They're all incredibly generous!"

To ease the sorrow of parting, Zhou An opened each wooden box and checked the gifts given by the guests.

The gifts from Hai Simian and his group were not cheap; Zhou An estimated their value to be between tens and hundreds of taels of silver.

"That Tang Jian guy, we'll have to give him a big gift when he gets married!" Zhou An shook his head.

He came from the worst family among them, followed by Tang Jian.

However, Tang Jian presented Tang Jian with a high-quality piece of Huainan purple gold stone.

Although Huainan Zijin Stone is a stone, its texture is similar to jade. Scholars love to use it to carve personal seals, and it is quite valuable.

Gifts are simply a token of affection; they are neither noble nor worthless.

But he remembered that Tang Jian did not have a personal seal, so this piece might be the one he was preparing to carve a seal for.

Zhou An carefully put away the gifts. He was both excited and a little nervous at the thought of seeing his parents and sister in a few days.

He's getting married this time he goes back.

The city of Jinling is about ten miles from the dock, and there are many merchants passing by on the road.

The coachman skillfully drove the carriage along the road, at a slow pace.

Several men dressed in coarse linen were walking towards Jinling City. When they were still a few meters away, one of them suddenly collapsed in the middle of the road.

"Whoa~"

The coachman quickly reined in the horse, and fortunately, the speed was not fast. The carriage stopped when there were still about two or three meters to go.

"How did you manage to get here? Are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated?"

The stone sitting on the carriage shaft frowned slightly. Weng Sheng said, "Young master, be careful, don't get off the carriage!"

"What happened?"

The carriage was already bumpy, and the sudden stop almost caused Zhou An, who was caught off guard, to crash into the carriage.

Fortunately, Jiang Fan reacted quickly and helped him up.

Just as he regained his composure, he heard a commotion outside, followed by Shi Tou's words, and quickly lifted the carriage curtain to check.

The carriage was arranged by Hai Simian, and the driver was naturally a member of the Hai family.

He hadn't hit anyone, but the other party falsely accused him of it. He couldn't stand it and immediately got out of the car to confront the other party.

Although this place was outside the city, it was not far from Jinling City. He only thought that the other party wanted to extort money and was not afraid at all.

However, as soon as he got out of the car, the men who had been checking on the person who had fallen to the ground rushed towards him.

Seeing this, Shi Tou didn't have time to answer Zhou An's question. He braced himself on the carriage shaft, leaped into the air, and landed in front of the coachman.