What Sun An said before leaving was not just a threat. If these barbarians really dared to leave the warehouse despite the ban, he would definitely drive them away and kill them all!
Back at Xifeng Inn, Sun An sat alone in the guest room, lit by a weak candlelight, unfolded a letter, and picked up a pen to write a letter to Bai Jingtao.
After some consideration, Sun An felt that it would be better to start with Maowu's death and tell Bai Jingtao everything he had encountered since he came to Qinghe County in detail.
"The death of Mao Wu is suspected to be the work of barbarians. Unfortunately, there is no evidence, so we can only monitor him for the time being and let my subordinates take their time to figure it out."
"There is also Zhao Cheng, a scholar from Liuxi Village, who has passed the county examination and won the title of Chief Examination. The government examination will be held in one month. With the qualifications of the Chief of Case, even if he does not get Jieyuan, he will not fail the exam. He can easily get the status of Gongsheng."
"In order to prevent him from entering the officialdom, the only way to stop him is to set up obstacles in the government examination. Therefore, my subordinates need the young master to take action to put pressure on Yunzhou..."
After writing the entire letter, Sun An read it from beginning to end, dried the wet ink on the letter paper, put it into a bamboo tube and sealed it with wax mud.
After Sun An finished all this, he looked at his figure reflected in the candlelight and sighed slightly.
Sun An, who is now over 40 years old, is a Gongsheng student. He failed to pass the provincial examination for ten years, so he was forced to take the path of being a staff member.
The imperial examination system of the Chen Dynasty was inherited from the Sui and Tang dynasties. Only after passing the provincial examination can one be considered an official. Even so, he still had to pass the official examination, otherwise he would have to wait for three to five years.
And those Gongsheng students who failed to pass the provincial examination are even less likely to be able to hold an official position. If you want to enter the official career, there is another way, and that is the path of staff.
The so-called curtain refers to the shogunate. In the Tang Dynasty, powerful generals or military governors could open a shogunate and recruit some tribute students as staff.
If a staff member does well and is appreciated by the general or military governor, he can also be recommended to enter the official career and become a real official.
Because Sun An failed the provincial examination, he was only a tribute student. If he wanted to enter an official career, he could only become a staff member of a high-ranking official.
Fortunately, a pavilion elder like Bai Dongjiang appreciated him and assigned him to Bai Jingtao as his long-term follower, which gave him some hope in his life.
If the errands are done well, it may not be impossible for the staff to take charge of the party.
But it is precisely because of Sun An's status as a Gongsheng that he has an indescribable sympathy for Zhao Cheng, who is also a Gongsheng.
Sun An took the county examination for five years, from the age of fifteen to twenty. As for the government examination, he took it for eight full years, and failed in the provincial examination for ten years.
His youth and most of his life were spent in examinations. Because of this, Sun An could better understand how hard-won it was to win the county examination, and how many days and nights of hard work had gone into this achievement.
And what he has to do now is to destroy the future of a criminal with his own hands. Looking at the wax-sealed bamboo tube in his hand, Sun An feels like it is a very important thing.
He still remembered how many times he woke up from his dreams when he was preparing for the exam, so he washed his face with cold water and continued reading.
How many times have I searched for my name on the list when the list was released, but found nothing.
At that time, Sun An comforted himself countless times, doubted himself countless times, and told himself countless times that the reason for not being on the list might just be that he offended people he shouldn't have offended, rather than his lack of effort or lack of knowledge.
He was arrogant and arrogant, and indeed he had talent, but he was not recognized for his talents. At the age of forty, he was only a tribute student.
No one will ever understand the bitterness in his heart and his humble attitude in front of others.
He lamented the unfairness of fate and said, "There is no shame in being rich and noble in a country." He felt that he looked at the world with a cold eye and that the world was failing him.
But after delivering the bamboo tube in his hand today, there will be another Sun An in the world.
No! Not even as good as Sun An.
Because Sun An still has hope of entering officialdom, but this Zhao Cheng will never have hope.
His lifelong glory will end with the case of this county examination. From now on, his life will be full of ups and downs.
And the beginning of it all was the light bamboo tube in his hand.
After hesitating for a moment, Sun An finally stood up, opened the door, and handed the bamboo tube to the attendant standing outside the door.
"Send it to Shangjing as quickly as possible!"
The attendant took the bamboo tube with respectful hands and took the order.
Closing the door again, looking at the figure stretching and shaking due to the beating of the candlelight, he said to himself: "I can't be the only one in this world, Sun An..."
Early the next morning, I arrived at the warehouse in Moon Bay.
"Tell A-chi to come out and see me!"
After Zhao Cheng said something to Ahufeng, he sat on the bank of Qingshui River and watched the river flow quietly.
After a while, Zhao Cheng heard heavy footsteps behind him and knew that it was A Chi who was coming.
"Sit!" Zhao Cheng did not look away from the waves of Qingshui River.
A Chi sat down next to Zhao Cheng obediently.
"I have a lot of time today, you can say slowly, I want to know what all this is about."
What A Chi could not say to his clansmen could easily be said to Zhao Cheng.
"I am a member of the She tribe. I grew up at the foot of Phoenix Mountain. It was my mother who raised me, but it was the leader Ahufeng who taught me knowledge."
"He regards me as his own and wants to train me, an incompetent person, to be his successor."
"But actually I don't deserve it!"
A Chi smiled self-deprecatingly: "Children my age are very envious of me and say that I am the next clan leader, but I am actually not that good and not worthy of taking on this important responsibility."
"When I was twelve years old, the leader Ahufeng asked me to take my friends to the forest to chop wood."
A Chi seemed to be still frightened when he said this, and his eyes revealed a complicated look that was not only sad but also guilty.
"Who knew there was a fire in the woods. I stupidly ordered my friends to put out the fire, but the fire grew bigger and bigger..."
Achi choked up.
"When he was eighteen years old, Chen Ting sent border troops to station near Fenghuang Mountain. The leader Ahufeng told me that these soldiers and horses were the swords hanging over the heads of the She people."
"In order to unlock this knife, I left Phoenix Mountain and went to Shangjing."
A Chi glanced at Zhao Cheng with complicated eyes, and then said: "A big shot accepted me, and then I became a spy."
"I admit that I killed Mao Wu in Bai Mansion!"
"Because that's part of my mission."
"And now, I have a way to unlock the knife on my tribe's head, so I can't die. You saved me and my tribe."
"From today onwards, my life, A Chi, will be yours. But before that, please allow me to return to Phoenix Mountain and untie the knife from the heads of my tribe."
