Chapter 292 Rejection
Tang Yichen discussed with his family and decided that it would be best to rush to the capital as soon as possible to prepare for the imperial examination.
These days he was busy bidding farewell to his teacher and classmates. His teacher asked him to share his experience of the provincial examination with other students in the academy and to review the examination questions.
The teachers gave a very high evaluation of his answer sheet. He did not become the champion this time because his left-handed writing was not amazing enough and his ranking was lowered.
However, the teachers comforted him. When he went to participate in the provincial examination this time, not only did outsiders not think highly of him, but even the teachers who were optimistic about him were not confident. It can only be said that such a result was beyond their expectations and was a blessing in disguise.
After bidding farewell to the master, Tang Yichen began to buy things to bring to Beijing. First, Qin Huiyin asked him to choose an attendant and a book boy. The attendant must be good at fighting and take on the role of protecting him along the way. The book boy must be smart and know how to remind him of some social etiquette.
Qin Huiyin accompanied Tang Yichen to several dental clinics. After choosing for several days, she asked the dental clinics to provide better candidates. On the ninth day, they finally picked two people.
The indentures of these two people were in Tang Yichen's hands and had been registered with the government.
Qin Huiyin asked Shouhou and the others about the origins of the two men and learned that the follower used to be a security guard for a wealthy family. Because the wealthy family committed a crime, their house was raided, their property was confiscated, and their slaves were sold. Only then did she feel relieved.
As for the bookboy, he was not very old and had been a bookboy of a scholar before. He had red lips and white teeth, and was clever and well-behaved, but his former master had other ideas. He was unwilling and made a big fuss, which made everyone know about it. The master of the house was furious and sold him out.
Qin Huiyin observed for two days and found that the attendant Zhang Zhen and the servant Chen Yu were both doing pretty well, so the matter came to an end.
It was raining heavily. Tang Yichen stood at the door of the bookstore, looking at the storm with embarrassment.
Chen Yu said, "Sir, don't leave here. I'll go buy you an umbrella."
At this time, Zhang Zhen drove the carriage to the door of the bookstore. He took out an umbrella from the carriage and jumped down to greet Tang Yichen and Chen Yu.
Tang Yichen went from being a poor farmer to being a young master with people serving him, and he was still a little uncomfortable being served. He got on the carriage with the help of Zhang Zhen and Shen Yu.
Suddenly, the horse kicked its hooves, splashing water, and the master and servant who happened to be passing by exclaimed in surprise.
Tang Yichen and the two new servants looked at the master and servant who were splashed with water by the horse.
He had already boarded the carriage, but he got off immediately and apologized to the master and servant, "I'm sorry, it rained so hard today that the horses got frightened. I'm sorry for causing trouble to the two girls."
"Master Tang..." the maid said, "My young lady's clothes are all wet. How can she face people like this?"
Only then did Tang Yichen realize that the master and servant were actually Gong Qianyue and her maid.
He learned from his younger sister that Gong Qianyue and her servant had come to the county. However, it had been ten days and he had never met them. He didn't think that the daughter of the prefect had anything to do with him. The so-called friend was just a few times of exchanging poems, and they did have some common language in poetry. However, there were many scholars who could write poems. If they were friends because of this, then his friends might not even be able to accommodate the entire county. He didn't take Gong Qianyue's polite words to heart, and naturally never paid attention to her.
I heard that Miss Gong has been eating at the Food City every day recently, and she orders a lot of food every time. The food that she can't finish goes into the mouths of the poor.
"Miss Gong, there is a clothing store in front. How about I take you there to buy you a new set? I'm really sorry to trouble you."
"Actually, there's no need to go through so much trouble." Gong Qianyue said softly, "Although it's a little wet, it's not dirty. It will dry after a bake. It's just that the inn I booked is a bit far from here. If I rush back, I'm afraid..."
"That won't do. My young lady is delicate and will easily catch a cold if she wears wet clothes for so long. Is your home not far from here? Why don't we go to your house to warm up? Mr. Tang, is that convenient?" asked the maid.
Tang Yichen said calmly: "It's my fault, I should be responsible. If the young lady doesn't mind, please move to my humble abode to dry some clothes."
"I was in a hurry to go out today and didn't arrange a carriage to pick me up..." Gong Qianyue lowered her head.
"Miss Gong, if you don't mind my carriage, you can ride with me." Tang Yichen held an umbrella for Gong Qianyue, watched her get on the carriage, and then let the maid get in.
After the maid got on the carriage, Tang Yichen followed suit.
The master and servant entered the carriage, and the servant Chen Yu had to follow Zhang Zhen and sit outside the carriage. The rain was so heavy that the servant was soaked in a short while.
Zhang Zhen was fine, he wore a straw raincoat just to withstand the rain.
The little book boy was trembling beside him.
After Gong Qianyue entered the carriage, she took off her veil, revealing a pure and otherworldly face.
She looked at Tang Yichen shyly: "Is Mr. Tang going to Beijing to take the exam?"
Tang Yichen said seriously, "From the county to the capital, even if it's fast, it will take two months. If there is a delay on the way, it will be three months. I am indeed preparing to go to the capital. After all, I know nothing about the capital, so it's better to go sooner rather than later."
"I have to go back to Beijing." Gong Qianyue said, "Mr. Tang, you don't know that although my father is an official in a remote place, my grandfather and uncle are both in Beijing. They sent me a letter asking me to go back to Beijing as soon as possible. Since we are all going to Beijing, why don't I go with you? We can go by water and reach Beijing in a little over a month at most."
Most people don't like to travel by water, because pirates are troublesome. If you encounter pirates, you can't even escape if you can't swim. On the contrary, if you travel by land, at least you have a chance to escape.
However, for the Gong family, they have official ships to pick them up, and no matter how powerful the pirates are, they dare not rob the official ships, so the safety index is still very high.
Tang Yichen knew that it would be much safer to follow Gong Qianyue into Beijing. If the Gong family wanted to let Miss Gong return to Beijing, it would be impossible to arrange only a few followers. I'm afraid they would need a convoy of followers to protect her. A wealthy family like the Gong family would also arrange all the food and drink expenses along the way. If he agreed, not only would he save on safety issues, but he would also save on travel expenses.
but……
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Gong. However, I have already discussed with a few friends that we plan to go to Beijing together, enjoy the scenery along the way, and learn about the local customs and practices. If I take Miss Gong's motorcade, I'm afraid I will miss a lot of scenery." After Tang Yichen finished speaking, he opened the curtains and looked outside. "We're here. I'll get off first, Miss, wait a moment."
The maid curled her lips and lowered her voice and said, "Miss, is this Mr. Tang a wooden idiot?"
During this period, their young lady had met so many scholars, but so far, there were only two people who had not impressed their young lady, one was Tang Yichen, and the other was Meng Shushen. Their young lady had already shown her goodwill in this way, but Tang Yichen still didn't understand what she meant.
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