Li Ru stood outside the dilapidated threshold, letting the wind and sand whip his face. The official gazette in his hand felt heavier than a thousand pounds at that moment.

"Wenyou! An opportunity! This is a golden opportunity!"

Neighbor Zhang was still so excited that he was incoherent, his cloudy old eyes glistening with tears, as if he saw Li Ru carrying the hopes of the entire Liangzhou.

Li Ru took a deep breath, letting the icy, dusty air fill his lungs, cooling his boiling blood slightly.

He nodded vigorously: "Uncle Zhang, thank you! Li Ru will remember this kindness!"

Startled by the commotion outside, the mother struggled to sit up, leaned against the headboard, and weakly asked, "Ru'er... what's all the noise outside?"

Li Ru turned around, walked quickly to his mother's bedside, squatted down, and tightly held his mother's withered and cold hand.

His voice still trembled slightly: "Mother! Good news! Huge good news! The newly enthroned emperor has killed those eunuchs who brought disaster to the country and the people, and has also issued an edict that all talented people in the world, regardless of their social status, can go to Luoyang to take the exam."

"If I pass the exam, I can become an official, Mother! Your child... your child has a chance!"

A glimmer of light suddenly appeared in the mother's cloudy eyes, as if they had been infused with life. She grabbed her son's hand tightly and said, "Good...good! Heaven has eyes."

My son... my son is determined to go, to Luoyang, to pass the imperial examination and return with honors! Mother... Mother is waiting..."

As he spoke, another heart-wrenching cough erupted.

Li Ru felt as if his heart was being torn apart. He quickly patted his mother's back, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "Mother, don't worry, I will definitely go! I will definitely pass the exam! You need to take good care of yourself and wait for me to come back so we can live a good life together!"

After settling his mother in, Li Ru immediately got to work.

Opportunities are fleeting, and the assessment in Luoyang is just around the corner.

He searched every corner of the house and poured out all the copper coins his mother had painstakingly saved over the years, hidden at the bottom of earthenware jars and sewn into tattered coats. There were only a hundred or so coins, clinking and clanging.

He then pulled out several old scrolls left by his father, which he knew by heart. With a heavy heart, he took them to the only bookstore in the county town to sell them cheaply. The shopkeeper recognized him and knew that he was poor but determined, so he gave him a fair price and added a few dozen copper coins.

By scraping together what he could, he finally managed to gather enough money for a solo trip to Luoyang.

He carefully sewed most of the money into the inner layer of his close-fitting clothes, leaving only a few copper coins and dry food in his satchel.

On the eve of his departure, Li Ru knelt before his mother's bedside and kowtowed to say goodbye.

His mother, forcing herself to stay awake, repeatedly urged him, "Be careful on the road... When you get to Luoyang, study hard... Don't worry about me..." Under the dim light, his mother's face was sallow and withered. Li Ru held back his tears, deeply imprinting his mother's face in his heart.

Before dawn, Li Ru shouldered a simple bag, clutching the official gazette, and amidst his mother's suppressed coughs, braved the biting morning wind to embark on the long road to Luoyang.

Instead of choosing the relatively safe but expensive official post road, he took the country roads and trails frequented by merchants and migrants.

Braving the elements and traveling day and night, with every step they took, they moved further away from the suffering of Liangzhou and closer to the hope in their hearts.

However, what he saw on his journey was like buckets of cold water, constantly dousing the flame of hope that had just been ignited in him, confirming his previous understanding of the Han Dynasty's chronic illness, and even more shocking.

Having just crossed the border of Longxi, we arrived at the edge of the Guanzhong Plain.

This place should have been a prosperous land, but along the way there were groups of emaciated refugees.

They were young and old, dressed in rags, with empty, numb eyes, like a flock of sheep being driven, wandering aimlessly through the desolate fields.

When asked why, some said their hometowns had suffered from floods, droughts, and locust plagues, and that government taxes had increased instead of decreased; others said their land had been seized by powerful local tyrants, leaving them nowhere to live; still others said they were fleeing the Qiang rebellion and had to leave their homes...

A few days later, they passed through a post station.

In my memory, post stations should be places bustling with carriages and horses, and filled with the noise of people.

But what they saw before them was a scene of crumbling walls and deserted courtyards. The post horses were emaciated, and the postmen were all pale and listless.

Li Ru wanted to ask for a bowl of hot water, but the postmaster glanced at his shabby clothes and lazily twirled his fingers between them, the meaning of which was self-evident. Li Ru felt a pang of sadness and silently took out a few copper coins. Only then did the postmaster slowly point to a broken earthenware pot.

A few days later, Li Ru traveled to the heart of Guanzhong, near the territory of Jingzhao Yin, to the outskirts of a county town called "Heyang".

Having missed his lodging, Li Ru decided to seek shelter in a village by the roadside.

As they approached the village entrance, they heard a cacophony of cries and commotion. A group of ruthless servants were seen shoving and jostling several farmers, forcibly loading their meager sacks of grain onto a cart.

A man who looked like a butler arrogantly shouted, "Master Feng's rent this year, not a single grain less! Anyone who dares to be late will have their legs broken..."

"Master Feng?"

Li Ru's heart stirred; there was also a Feng family in Didao, Liangzhou.

He casually inquired from an old farmer next to him who was sighing.

The old farmer wiped away his tears: "Which Master Feng could it be? The biggest master in Heyang! He owns thousands of acres of fertile land, and even the county magistrate has to treat him with respect! Alas, in this year, it's hard to even collect costs, but the rent is getting heavier every year... How are we supposed to make a living like this!"

Li Ru frowned as he looked at the arrogant servants and the desperate looks in the farmers' eyes.

"The Feng family of Heyang..."

The name, along with the typical image of powerful people oppressing the common people, was deeply imprinted in his mind.

He clenched his fist, then slowly relaxed it, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. If he had the chance, he would eliminate these parasites as soon as possible!

The journey is not all gloomy.

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