Do you know: I, a commoner prime minister

Chapter 49 Demons and Monsters

Watching Sun Zhigao leave, Zhou An sat down again, picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and looked thoughtful.

Although he didn't have high hopes for this provincial examination, it would be a lie to say he had no expectations at all.

If there was cheating in the provincial examination, his already slim chances would become even smaller.

"I'm just worrying unnecessarily!"

Zhou An chuckled self-deprecatingly, realizing he had made a foolish mistake.

Although marrying Shulan changed some of Sun Zhigao's trajectory.

But by the time he finalized his marriage to Shulan, Sun Zhigao had already returned to Youyang.

In other words, the butterfly effect will only affect what happens after Sun Zhigao returns to Youyang, and will not affect his interpersonal relationships in Tongzhou.

Later, Sun Zhigao stayed in Youyang, which shows that he didn't know any of the young masters from the prefecture.

There must be people in the prefecture who know the chief examiner's identity in advance, but such people are not people Sun Zhigao can get in touch with.

Zhou An thought that Sun Zhigao had most likely been deceived.

Once he understood these things, he had nothing to worry about.

As for whether Sun Zhigao lives or dies, that's none of his business.

The dishes on the table were barely touched. Zhou An called Shi Tou over to eat with them. After the two of them had eaten and drunk their fill, they paid the bill and went home.

After arriving home, he told his parents and Shulan that he would be leaving the day after tomorrow, and they immediately got busy.

They had already prepared everything they needed to, but they were still worried and felt that something was missing, so they checked it again.

Zhou An tried to persuade them a few times, but his mother scolded him instead, so he let them be.

Before long, the day of departure arrived. Zhou An, accompanied by his parents and Shulan, arrived at the Qinghe County Wharf and met up with Sun Zhigao and others.

Except for the two older men who were alone, Sun Zhigao and the others all had family members seeing them off.

Sun Zhigao looked at Zhou An's family, his gaze lingering on Shulan for a moment, a fleeting look of jealousy flashing in his eyes.

After he returned to Youyang, his mother mentioned his marriage, saying that initially she wanted to marry the eldest daughter of the Sheng family.

Before they could even ask a matchmaker to propose marriage, news spread that Zhou An's family had proposed to the Sheng family, and the Sheng family had already agreed.

After a selection process, they chose the second daughter of a wealthy family in Qinghe County.

Not only was his dowry inferior in every way, but he also realized that his appearance was inferior to Shulan's after meeting her.

His wife wasn't ugly, but she wasn't beautiful either; her looks were quite ordinary.

"Father, Mother, you should go back now, the boat is here!" Zhou An said.

"We're not in a hurry to go back. We'll head back after you board the ship!"

Madam Hao instructed, "It's still a bit chilly at night, remember to buy a thicker quilt when you get to Tongzhou!"

"knew!"

Zhou An nodded and said, "Father, Mother, I'm leaving now. Wife, please take good care of the family!"

"Yes, my lord, you don't need to worry about home. I will take good care of my parents-in-law."

Shulan turned to look at the stone beside her and said, "Stone, protect your husband!"

"Don't worry, young mistress, I will definitely protect the young master!" Shi Tou assured her.

"My son is gone!"

Zhou An bowed respectfully, then took the stone and went to meet up with Sun Zhigao and the others before boarding the ship.

"Gentlemen, please be seated!"

The boatman gave a reminder and then rowed the boat away from the shore.

Zhou An waved to his parents until they were out of sight, then lowered his hand.

.........

The ship arrived at Tongzhou Wharf the following morning.

After everyone disembarked, they hired an oxcart to enter the city.

"Gentlemen, let's find an inn to stay in first, and then go to Wanxianglou later to visit and meet those talented young men who have come to take the imperial examinations," Sun Zhigao said with a smile.

On the way, Sun Zhigao introduced Tongzhou's situation at length, mentioning that Wanxianglou was the number one brothel in Tongzhou.

Upon hearing Sun Zhigao's suggestion, the two middle-aged men immediately shook their heads.

"I'm too old, and the journey is too tiring, so I won't go and join the crowds."

"I'm not going either, I want to get some rest."

Both of them opened a private school in the countryside, almost giving up the idea of ​​taking the imperial examinations.

The reason they participated this time was to try their luck again. If they could pass the provincial examination, even if they failed the metropolitan examination later, it would still be of great benefit to their private school.

After all, it's completely different for a scholar who has passed the county-level imperial examination to teach than for a scholar who has failed the provincial-level examination to teach.

Even if they raise the tuition fees, many parents will still send their children to their private schools.

Because they had a clear goal and a good attitude, the two were unwilling to go to brothels with a few young people who were about the same age as their son.

Another young man, Guo Xun, was somewhat interested. His father was a clerk in Qinghe County, and being able to serve as a minor official meant that the family was a prominent one in Qinghe County.

But because his family was very strict, he had never been to a brothel. Now that he was free from his family's control, he naturally wanted to go and see for himself.

"I'm not going either, I'm not feeling well," Zhou An said casually.

"Brother Guo, let's go!"

Sun Zhigao didn't care; his target was Guo Xun.

"Let's talk about it later. Right now, the most important thing is to find a place to stay," Guo Xun said, somewhat embarrassed to agree immediately.

"Yes, yes, let's find a place to stay first."

Sun Zhigao could tell that he was already interested, so he smiled and didn't say anything more.

The driver drove the oxcart to several inns, but either the inns were full or there weren't enough rooms left.

After much trouble, they finally found a very ordinary inn. Since they were all well-off, they each booked a superior room.

The so-called superior room is a suite, with a small living room in the outer room and the bedroom in the inner room.

When sleeping at night, attendants can make do in the outer room.

After the waiter arranged the room, Zhou An looked around. Although it wasn't particularly nice, it was clean enough.

Hearing a knock on the door, Zhou An came out from the inner room and saw Shi Tou closing the door.

"Young master, Scholar Sun said he and Scholar Guo are going out for a stroll and will be back later."

"knew!"

Zhou An nodded and told Shi Tou to tell the waiter to bring some food over.

After finishing his meal, he took a nap, gave the waiter some instructions, and left the inn with Shi Tou, then wandered around Tongzhou City.

Because of the provincial examination, scholars could be seen everywhere on the streets of Tongzhou.

While strolling around, I even overheard some people discussing who the chief examiner might be and what policy essay questions would be asked in the provincial examination.

In fact, not only can the examiners guess, but the policy questions can also be predicted.

Generally, policy essay questions are presented in two ways: one is to use controversial historical events as topics, and the other is to use current political events as topics.

The former is hard to guess, while the latter is relatively much easier.

It's nothing more than some major and minor events that have occurred in the central government in the past year or two.

Many people speculate that this year's provincial examination might include questions related to the reform as policy essay topics.

As Zhou An passed by an alleyway, a middle-aged man acting suspiciously approached him.

"What do you do?"

Shi Tou reacted quickly, shielding Zhou An behind him and looking at the middle-aged man with a wary expression.

Some passersby nearby were drawn to it.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man hurriedly whispered, "I think you must have passed the imperial examination this time. There are some things you might be interested in."

"Let's go, let's find a quiet place to talk."

After a moment's thought, Zhou An spoke to the middle-aged man.

"This way, young master!"

The middle-aged man was overjoyed and quickly led the way.

"Young master, be careful!" Stone whispered a warning.

"I know what I'm doing," Zhou An nodded.

It is currently the period of the provincial examinations, and patrol officers can often be seen on the streets of Tongzhou City.

With stones following us, as long as we don't go to too remote places, there's nothing to worry about.

He wanted to see what kind of monster the middle-aged man was.