Chapter 65
In the end, Zhan Shunan and his team were unable to take a long vacation.
That night, Jiang Wanning was placed in an empty house in the side yard. In order to avoid suspicion, the rest of the people in the yard went to stay next door for the night, and the bedding in her room was replaced with brand new ones. At night, she left half the window open, lit a candle, and was half asleep and half awake.
Lu Shang summoned Zhan Shunan and his eleven companions and spoke frankly, "The people I asked you to find in the north are extremely important to my wife and me. You must have heard many rumors over the years, so I won't hide it from you. These people are none other than my wife's relatives, my in-laws."
"Let's not talk about the past for now. Madam has been separated from her family for a long time. Since we got married, I haven't even had a proper visit to my parents. Now, we've finally found some news about Yue's family. Madam and I can't wait any longer, fearing something unexpected will happen in the next three to five months. So, I ask you to set off without delay, return to the North, and get to the bottom of it all."
Lu Shang didn't say it too bluntly, but Jiang Wanning's origins were no secret in Lujia Village. Although it was less talked about in the town, the long-term workers of the logistics team often traveled between villages and towns. It was normal for them to talk about Lu Shang and his wife when they met people from Lujia Village.
These eleven people had guessed this before, but it was not a glorious thing after all, so they just guessed it privately and would not ask Lu Shang about it. It was only after hearing him mention it that they realized that the Jiang family was not as shady as they had imagined.
On the contrary, people still value the Yue family, who are guilty of crimes.
Lu Shang added, "I know you've all been away from home for a long time, so I'll give you the freedom to choose. If you're willing to make the journey for my wife and me, your wages will be multiplied fivefold, regardless of the outcome. If you can find them, each of you will receive an additional fifty taels of silver. If you feel you've been away from home too long and don't want to travel that far, that's fine too. You can take a two-week vacation as usual, and then return to work as usual."
"This is really urgent. Please make a decision as soon as possible. I hope to get your response tomorrow morning at the latest. It doesn't matter whether you go or not."
There will always be brave men when there is a big reward, not to mention that these people have nothing important to do.
In terms of how long they were away from home, they were away for no more than half a year. For those merchants traveling around Dazhao, it was not uncommon to be away for three to five years, so a mere one or two years was nothing. Besides, every time they went out to deliver goods or run errands, Lu Shang would take care of their relatives for them.
For example, in the summer of the year before last, Dahui's mother caught a heat stroke while working in the fields. When she was sent to the town for treatment, she was spotted by Lu Shang. Lu Shang not only helped to advance all the medical expenses, but also invited a doctor to Pingshan Village to check the pulses of all the farmhands' families.
With a boss who cares about them like this, they work harder and have no worries when traveling.
Besides, the journey from Tangzhen to Beidi was safe because they were not carrying any goods and were taking the official road. It just took a long time, and there were many accidents when they arrived in Beidi. But as long as they were more careful, there would be no big mistakes.
Lu Shang originally wanted to ask them to think it over carefully, but after nodding slightly, he stood up and prepared to leave.
But as soon as he stood up, Zhan Shunan said, "Boss, I'll go. We'll leave tomorrow morning, right?"
After him, three more people said the same thing: "I don't have anything to do at home, I can go too."
"How about... count me in too?"
In just a few moments, all eleven people gave their answers, and without exception, they all agreed to go.
Lu Shang slowly exhaled, took a half step back, and bowed deeply to these people: "No matter what the result is, I thank you first."
He told Zhan Shunan and others to return to their rooms as soon as possible and rest early to get enough energy. He then called Jiang Wanning and asked her to draw three portraits, of Jiang's father, Jiang's mother, and Jiang's eldest brother, even drawing every eyelash clearly.
Lu Shang stroked the top of her head and said, "Brother Zhan and his men will leave at dawn tomorrow. Aning, please wait a little longer until they go again. If they still can't find my parents and brother this time, I'll take you to the north as soon as they come back."
Since he didn't want Jiang Wanning to go north, and the other party didn't want him to take risks, the best way was to stay in the capital and wait for news from others.
Jiang Wanning lowered her head, her expression unclear in the dim candlelight. It was not until Lu Shang was about to leave with the portrait that she softly said, "Thank you..."
Lu Shang paused and smiled, "We're all family, what's there to thank me for?"
Early the next morning, Lu Shang and his companions set out together with Zhan Shunan and others. The couple personally saw them out of the city gate, and waited until their figures disappeared from the official road before turning around and getting on the carriage and heading back to the provincial capital.
The whereabouts of the Jiang family will not be revealed overnight, but life must go on.
The autumn examination is over and the spring examination is about to begin. Both Lu Lin Academy and Wuming Private School are caught in a new round of tense atmosphere.
There are a total of twenty-two people from Lu Lin Academy who have passed the provincial examination this time. In order to ensure that they arrive in Beijing on time to take part in the metropolitan examination, they must rush to Beijing at the end of January at the latest. These last two months in the academy are their last chance to sprint.
Most of the teachers in the academy gave them lessons overnight, and there was one-on-one tutoring after class. The dean of the academy also invited the county magistrate of Songxi County to give a half-day lecture on current affairs to all the students in the academy.
Normally, the teachers were fully focused on the newly-passed candidates and were less attentive to other students. Lu Shang skipped classes even more frequently. He would only go when the county governor came and the teacher called out the names of all the students.
Hundreds of people in the academy were all sitting cross-legged in the courtyard, and behind the table under the eaves in front sat a group of people headed by the county magistrate. On the left and right of the county magistrate sat the dean and the vice-dean, and further out were several respected teachers in the academy.
The county magistrate looked to be only in his forties. It was said that he was newly transferred three years ago. He had a solemn face and was intimidating without even getting angry.
Lu Shang did not fall asleep because the county magistrate was talking about current affairs today, not those nonsense. However, after listening to a few sentences, he found that the cases cited by the county magistrate were almost the same as what he heard from Jiang Wanning. They were all the contents of the "Current Affairs Essay". Some of his personal opinions afterwards were indeed more profound and experienced than those of the teachers in the academy. However, with the "Current Affairs Essay" annotated by Jiang Wanning himself in front of him, Lu Shang always felt that his lectures were a little shallow.
After listening for half an hour, his interest had almost faded.
Unfortunately, the courtyard was guarded by officials and soldiers, and the teachers were also sitting around it, so he couldn't escape even if he wanted to, and could only endure it for the whole afternoon.
While he was counting and fiddling with ants with his head down, he didn't notice that the county governor above him glanced at him several times. There was a look of scrutiny and scrutiny in his eyes from time to time, sometimes satisfied and sometimes displeased, and even the speed of his lecture slowed down.
The county magistrate was already thinking about how to find a reason to call the person over after school, but he didn't expect that he would tell the ending just now. However, when he lowered his head to drink tea, he looked up again and found that Lu Shang was no longer in the seat that originally belonged to him.
Instead, he was the first person to run out of the academy gate not far away.
"...Such a rotten piece of wood!" The county magistrate could not help but scold.
The deans and vice deans on both sides were so frightened that they all looked at him and asked tremblingly, "But has anyone offended the adults?"
The county magistrate: “…” You can’t say that your eyes were hurt by the cow dung you saw stuck in the flowers, right?
Lu Shang was completely unaware of what happened next. After leaving the academy, he first went to the private school and said a few words to Jiang Wanning. He soon left the city by car and rushed to Linzhen to discuss a spice transportation business.
Just like Lu Lin Academy provided supplementary lessons for candidates taking the imperial examinations, the courses at the private school also became more compact.
The private school originally only had classes half a day, but now it has been changed to a full day. Those who have passed the provincial examination have to stay in the private school all day. Jiang Wanning teaches in the morning, and in the afternoon she goes to the next door to teach the scholars. The candidates stay in the private school to review their lessons. If they encounter any difficulties, they can ask Jiang Wanning for help at any time.
The eleven students who passed the provincial examination will all take part in the metropolitan examination. Just as Jiang Wanning said to Feng He, no matter whether they pass or not, they must always try so that they will not have any regrets.
All Jiang Wanning could do was to seize the time to predict the topics for them, help them sort out the various current affairs background ideas, and occasionally mention a few taboos in Beijing. As for how far they can go in the end, it all depends on their own luck.
The weather was getting colder day by day, and the New Year was approaching, but the private school could not stop classes.
The private school was not closed until this group of candidates packed their bags and went to Beijing for the imperial examination, and Jiang Wanning also took a break.
Years ago, Zhan Shunan sent a letter back, saying only that they had arrived in the north and were about to go deep into the hinterland and spread out to search for people. After that, it was inconvenient to exchange letters, and they were afraid that the news would not be transmitted back in time.
In early April, the imperial examination was held in Beijing. The results were announced at the end of the month. Two of the eleven students from the unknown private school passed the exam, and Feng He failed.
At the end of May, in the palace examination, the two of them ranked in the top three and were granted the same Jinshi status. After the Lu Ming Banquet, they had a month's leave to visit their families. After the visit, they rushed to the town and county to take up their posts in accordance with the imperial edict.
In this imperial examination, it seemed that no remarkable figures emerged from the private school, but only the people in the private school knew what they were like six years ago. In just six years, they were able to become members of the gentry. If this move were to be announced, it would probably shock the court and the public.
As this imperial examination came to an end, more and more people came to study at the nameless private school.
The remaining nine people who had passed the imperial examination all chose to continue their studies, including Feng He, who was determined to try again.
The remaining dozen or so scholars were also inspired by the two classmates who were appointed officials, and they studied even harder.
The nameless private school was expanded from the original two classrooms to four, and more than twenty new students were enrolled, with half of them being boys and half being girls. These boys came here to take the imperial examinations, and in addition to the female students who really wanted to learn something, there were also a few who were influenced by their families and wanted to come to the private school early to meet some young talents in advance for their future.
Regardless of gender, and regardless of their purpose, as long as it does not affect the class, Jiang Wanning treats them equally.
It's a pity that she is the only teacher in the private school. She can only teach the scholars in the morning and the common people in the afternoon. She has a break once every ten days so that she won't be too tired.
Only Lu Shang, as always, was lazy in his studies and devoted himself to Lu's Logistics. Every time he faced a test, he was always wavering between dropping out and not dropping out. The teacher looked at his answers as if they were flies, but he could do nothing about it and could only despise him more and more.
However, the situation of the Ding class in the academy, which consisted of boys from merchant families, became increasingly difficult.
There is no other reason, it's just that people's prejudice against businessmen has not disappeared, especially some teachers are biased. Under their influence, other students also avoid them. Over time, these boys from merchant families were isolated.
In the blink of an eye, it was another hot summer. As early as early summer, Lu Shang felt that something was wrong with the climate.
As June approached, the entire city seemed to be trapped in a steamer. The temperature was much higher than in previous years. There was no rain for two consecutive months. The fields in the countryside were all cracked, and even Lu Shang's mountain farm was affected.
Lu Shang returned from Nanxing Village that day. When he saw Jiang Wanning, he looked troubled and said, "I have a feeling there might be a severe drought this year."
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