The next day, Zhao Shouzheng didn't have to go to prison, but he still got up early.

He is going to attend a literary gathering at Da Baoen Temple.

While trying on the brand new shirt he bought yesterday, he sighed, "It's a rare day off, but I can't even sleep in? I have dark circles under my eyes."

"Then you can't become a protected animal." Zhao Hao rolled his eyes. Didn't he still have to get up early to help the forgetful Mr. Zhao pack his things before going out?

It's not easy for students, but it's easy for their parents?

But he still supported Zhao Shouzheng to go. After all, participating in literary gatherings has a lot of benefits. Mutual learning and consultation are secondary, and more importantly, it can improve reputation. The higher the level of the literary gathering, the easier it is to improve reputation. According to past experience, candidates with great reputations will hardly be eliminated by the master during the imperial examination, unless they are... infamous.

After all, the Grand Master is the Provincial Education Commissioner, and he is proud of the talents in his province. However, if he blocks famous talents from the Imperial Examination Hall, he will be known as a narrow-minded and jealous person, so reputation is very important in the imperial examination.

Even if the exam papers are copied under a pseudonym in the future, if your writing style is already well known, you can still gain a great advantage. Of course, for a dull scholar like Mr. Zhao, this is not an option.

He placed the agreed one hundred taels of silver in front of Zhao Shouzheng.

"Here, take the flowers."

"Grande! Really 'spending a fortune with courage'..." Zhao Shouzheng exclaimed, but then he remembered the second half of the poem and couldn't help but choke up. He shook his head and said, "Son, you still have to pay back the 2,500 taels yesterday with interest. You can't waste it. Only 20 taels will be enough for your father."

Zhao Hao couldn't help but well up in tears, feeling very relieved and secretly said, this Mr. Zhao is really becoming more sensible.

But the more Zhao Shouzheng did this, the more heroic he became. He pushed the hundred taels of silver back in front of Zhao Shouzheng and said, "Why should I pay back the money I borrowed with my own ability? My father just spends it. If he can get a penny from me, I will write my name Hao backwards!" He was basically a Ming Dynasty man, so naturally he didn't dare to joke about his ancestor's surname.

"Then you have to change your name to Zhao Chen. It sounds too ugly, and it has the same pronunciation as 'Zhaogui'..." Zhao Shouzheng frowned.

"Ah, there really is such a word?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but widen his eyes, suddenly feeling that he was uneducated.

Zhao Shouzheng dipped his hand in tea and wrote the word "昋" in "上天下日" on the table. He explained seriously, "This word is pronounced as "桂", which is a surname. There was a man named Jiongheng in Chengyang in the Later Han Dynasty. He was executed at the end of the Han Dynasty. He had four sons. One guarded the tomb and his surname was Jiong. One took refuge in Xuzhou and his surname was 昋. One lived in Youzhou and his surname was Gui. One lived in Huayang and his surname was Qin..."

Zhao Hao covered his ears in pain, and suddenly felt that all nerds in the world could be killed...

"Brother, are you awake yet?"

Fortunately, Fan Datong's voice rang out from outside the courtyard and saved his life. Zhao Hao quickly stuffed eighty taels of silver under his father's quilt and fled.

"Alas, this child, it's so hard to teach him some knowledge, but he is impatient..." Zhao Shouzheng shook his head helplessly and had to follow him into the yard.

~~

In the yard.

"Have you had breakfast?" Zhao Shouzheng asked Fan Datong with a smile while wearing his brand new pink boots.

"I guess he ate it." Zhao Hao found the tin umbrella he had just bought the day before from the east wing which was used as a warehouse.

"My dear nephew, you guessed wrong." Fan Datong said with a smile: "But don't panic, I won't eat at your house today."

"Oh? Where is the sun coming out from?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but exclaimed, and subconsciously opened the umbrella. The silver tin foil surface was so shiny that it could blind a dog's eyes.

"Hehe, my dear nephew, you don't know? The vegetarian food at the Da Baoen Temple is the best in Jinling." Fan Datong swallowed his saliva and said, "I have been waiting for this meal for three days in advance."

"Are you going to the literary gathering, or are you going to eat for free?" Zhao Hao said as he put away the umbrella and handed it to Zhao Shouzheng, saying, "Father, take a look. Is it suitable?"

Zhao Shouzheng shook his head in embarrassment and said, "You can't use this kind of umbrella by yourself."

"I know." Zhao Hao smiled and said, "I will find a book boy for my father as soon as possible. Let's find someone to play a guest role today."

Before he finished speaking, Gao Wu came out of the west wing with a hunched back, a book box on his back and two buns on his head, looking like a Barbie doll.

"Puchi..." Looking at Gao Wu's dignified face, Zhao Haoxian couldn't help but laugh.

Fan Datong laughed so hard that Gao Wu blushed and his neck became thick.

"Gao Wu, you'd better not go. It would be bad if you scare the mage." Zhao Shouzheng said with a little disdain.

Gao Wu lowered his head, feeling hurt. When he saw Zhao Hao waving his hand, he turned around and went into the house.

"Forget it, I'll hold the umbrella for you today." Fan Datong took the tin umbrella from Zhao Hao, tucked it under his left armpit, waved his right hand and said, "You don't have to save us dinner tonight."

“……” Zhao Hao was speechless.

~~

The Great Baoen Temple is located outside Jubao Gate in the south of the city, and it takes nearly 30 miles from Caijia Lane to get there. Fortunately, Nanjing has a well-developed waterway, so we hired a black-sailed boat at the small pier under the bridge, and chatted in the river breeze until we arrived.

As the black-sailed boat passed the Phoenix Terrace, the tallest tower in the world since ancient times, which stood majestically next to the Rain Flower Terrace, came into their sight.

Although they had seen this tower countless times, Zhao Shouzheng and Fan Datong were still deeply shocked by the sight of it shining brightly under the sunlight, like a treasure tower from the kingdom of God.

The nine-story, eight-sided, 26- to 27-meter-high glazed pagoda was built by Emperor Chengzu in memory of his biological mother, Concubine Gong. He mobilized 100,000 craftsmen and soldiers, and it took nearly 20 years and cost 2.5 million taels of silver to build.

"The beauty of the pagoda is that it is more than a hundred feet high, piercing the sky. It is crowned with five-colored glazed tiles and has golden beads that shine like the sun and clouds..." Zhao Shouzheng was intoxicated and chanted while shaking his head:

"There were 128 bonfires at night, like a fire dragon soaring for dozens of miles, and the sound of wind chimes could be heard for several miles. Mountains, rivers, capitals, and palaces were all within sight..."

But he heard a few rumbling sounds, and Fan Datong's stomach was rumbling. He changed color and urged the boatman, "Hurry up and row the boat. I have something urgent to do."

The boatman thought they were in a hurry, so he rowed the boat hard and took them to the dock.

As soon as he stepped onto the shore, Zhao Shouzheng pointed to the trees in the distance and said, "Go ahead. I'll wait for you."

"Brother, you are wrong. I am hungry, not going to the bathroom." Fan Datong smiled, looked up at the sun rising in the sky, and whispered, "The monk in charge of reception is not at the gate right now. We can slip in, sit down and eat, and leave after we are done. No donation is required."

"The word 'slip' is very vivid. Can you get away with it like this?" Zhao Shouzheng praised. Now that he knew that life was difficult, he would save as much as possible. That was twenty taels of silver!

"So many people are paying, but we are just eating for free. Who can tell that?" Fan Datong said as he led the way to the gate of Da Baoen Temple.

Sure enough, I saw that the temple gate was wide open. Apart from a few little monks playing, there was no special monk blocking the way.

Fan Datong blinked proudly and whispered, "If anyone blocks the way after we go in, I will deal with it."

"Oh." Zhao Shouzheng responded and lowered his head guiltily. This was the first time he did such a thing.

ps. The second update is here. It’s so cold running naked. Please vote for recommendation to keep warm~~~~