GBP Chapter 147 A near miss
Chapter 147 A near miss
It was not until dawn, when everyone got up, that Zhang Pingan realized that everyone had actually run towards his field yesterday. There was a huge crowd of 70 or 80 people. The timid ones were still lying there, silently muttering "God bless you."
The leading escort was braver and ran back to the official road first. Three or four mules broke free from the reins and pulled the cart away, leaving six or seven mules standing there, barking from time to time and looking very listless.
The leading escort was very distressed, as he had suffered a huge loss on this trip.
After seeing that everything was fine, everyone returned to the road one after another, all of them in a mess. Except for four or five people with the same extraordinary status as Lin Junhui and Tan Yaoqi, everyone else had no car to take and could only walk.
Liu Shengyuan and Jiang Yaozu were slow to react yesterday and started running. After reaching the field, they were stepped on several times by others. Now both of their feet are swollen. Jiang Yaozu is fine because he has two uncles who can take turns carrying him. Liu's father himself looks like a weak scholar. After being frightened all night, he has been coughing all the time. He wants to carry Liu Shengyuan but he is unable to do so. In the end, Liu Sanlang helps him carry him.
The group walked from dawn to bright day before reaching the county town. When passing through the hilly area, many trees on both sides fell down and a section of the road was blocked by huge rocks. It took a lot of effort for everyone to get through. The escorts had to unload the cart and abandon the cart with the mules, which was another loss.
Therefore, when they lined up at the city gate, they no longer had the demeanor of scholars and looked as if they had been robbed by bandits.
Tan Yaoqi had never suffered such great hardship in his life. In the second half of the journey, the mule was exhausted and almost foaming at the mouth. It could not carry a person at all, so several followers had to take turns carrying the mule back. However, the followers were all grown men, and they were covered in sweat and were very dirty, which made Tan Yaoqi disgusted.
There weren't many people queuing at the city gate today, and even half the guards were gone. Tan Yaoqi stepped forward and shouted, "Quickly send someone to the Tan Mansion in the east of the city to have my family come and pick me up."
After taking a closer look, the yamen runner hesitated and asked, "Is it Mr. Tan?"
Tan Yaoqi roared: "You are so blind that you can't even recognize me!"
After hearing this, the bailiff nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes, yes, Mr. Tan, please wait a moment. I will send someone to the Tan Mansion to call someone over."
Lin Junhui stepped forward and said with a smile, "Please stop by the Lin residence to let them know."
Two people from the county school also came out and said, "Let's go to the Xie Mansion and the Tang Mansion by the way."
The yamen runners were overwhelmed. Last night's earthquake had caused many houses to collapse in the county, and today they were short-staffed everywhere. They even had to deal with these noble young men. They could only respond, "Yes, yes, please wait a moment, gentlemen."
Lin Junhui and a few others sat down at the city gate and waited, while the rest of them wanted to go into the city and go home first, so they lined up first.
Zhang Ping'an was also exhausted, but fortunately there were no major casualties.
With Lin Junhui and a few others showing their identities in front, the inspection when entering the city was very quick, and everyone was checked in a short while.
Master Yang said, "Everyone should go home first and have a good rest. We can discuss anything tomorrow."
Everyone bowed and said goodbye. Jiang Yaozu felt reluctant to leave: "Brother Zhang, I will visit you in a few days!"
Zhang Pingan nodded weakly.
After Liu Sanlang helped send Liu Shengyuan home, the three of them walked towards their own home. Brother Liu had to rush to the street office to file taxes.
Zhang Laoer was a little worried, not knowing what was going on at home. His hands were shaking slightly when he knocked on the door.
Fortunately, there was no harm!
After Xu opened the door and saw that it was her husband who came back with her son and eldest son-in-law, she couldn't help but burst into tears: "Wow, you scared me to death. I thought something happened to you. I almost didn't want to live"!
Zhang Pingan saw that his mother's eyes were swollen, and she must have been crying for a long time. He couldn't help but step forward to comfort her: "Mom, we are home safely, don't cry, is everything okay at home?"
Xu cried and said, "Everything is fine, but the kitchen collapsed during the earthquake last night. I have to build a new one for the landlord."
As soon as the voice fell, the voices of Li and Ma came from the room: "Are you back safely?"
Zhang Ping'an and his father looked at each other. Why were his aunt and third aunt also in the county?
After entering the room, I found that not only my aunt and third aunt were there, but also my uncle and cousins Dazhu and Erzhu, as well as my third uncle and cousin Dahe.
Seeing Zhang Lao Er and his companions enter, Zhang Lao San stepped forward and said excitedly, "I was saying that our ancestral tomb finally produced a scholar, so it's impossible for him to be good or bad. Ping An is destined to be rich and noble."
Li also smiled and stepped forward to comfort Xu, saying, "Second sister-in-law, you can rest assured now. I told you that they and their sons are fine."
Xu sobbed and wiped her tears with her sleeves, saying, "At least nothing happened. A monk had his fortune told before our family was safe. He said we are destined to be blessed with great fortune!"
Ma felt very bitter, but she knew that she would never be able to compare with her second sister-in-law in this life if she compared her son to her. She could only wait until she could compare with her grandson in the future. She had to build a good relationship with her now, so she also stepped forward and complimented him: "Our family's peace is the fate of the official master."
Xu rolled her eyes and didn't respond. She still remembered that her third sister-in-law said this morning that it was a pity that her son had gotten into trouble just after passing the exam!
Ma was embarrassed and stopped talking.
Zhang Laosan stepped forward to smooth things over and said with a smile: "Second brother, you didn't know that the county government sent people to our village the day before yesterday to announce the good news. The scene was magnificent. It is said that this time in the whole town, only our family passed the imperial examination safely. People in the surrounding area know about our Zhang family. Even dad was so excited that he said he would open an ancestral hall to record this event in the family tree. The villagers also said that they would raise money to hold a banquet for our family. We don't know when you will be back, so dad asked us to stay in the county for a few days to wait for you"!
Although Zhang Lao Er was exhausted, he grinned and said, "The children have made their own way. Why would we need the village to collect money? We can pay for a grand banquet ourselves."
The conversation was lively. Seeing the tired look of the father and son, Xu thought they must not have had breakfast yet, so she quickly ordered Si Ya in a hoarse voice, "Hurry up and cook some egg noodles for your father, your eldest brother-in-law, and your brother. Crack a few more eggs!"
"Oh!" Si Ya went to the kitchen happily. Her younger brother passed the imperial examination and she knew that her status would be different from then on. No one would dare to bully her after she married into the Sun family.
After sitting down in the main hall, Zhang Laosan asked about what happened to his second brother and his group last night. Zhang Laoer was very tired and didn't want to say much. Zhang Pingan smiled and replied, "At least there were no dangers along the way. Everyone is safe."