In front of the gate of Zhou Mansion, the sky was dark.
Zhou Maoxue had been standing at the door for a long time with his baggage on his back.
He has not returned home since the imperial examination.
He failed the imperial examinations many times, and he knew he had no face, so he wanted to start a big career, but he was taught by society again.
After struggling for a long time, he felt disgraced, and now he had mixed feelings in his heart.
After hesitating for a while, Zhou Maoxue raised his head and sighed, then knocked on the door.
The door slowly opened, and the door peeked out from the crack.
Seeing that it was Zhou Maoxue, he was immediately surprised and said: "Ah, young master, you are back! I have sent people to look for you to find you crazy, where have you been?"
Zhou Maoxue didn't say much, opened the door and walked straight in.
The disciple hurriedly closed the door, quickly caught up with Zhou Maoxue, and ran to the inner courtyard to report in advance.
Not long after, a figure walked from the inner courtyard to the front hall.
This man was dressed in casual clothes. He was tall and looked dignified. However, he seemed to have some problems with his waist and was leaning on a crutch with one hand.
Time has left traces on his face, but he is still resolute and unyielding.
The eyes under a pair of thick eyebrows are extremely sharp, and they are looking at Zhou Maoxue at the moment.
Seeing his biological father come forward, Zhou Maoxue immediately tensed up: "Father..."
"You haven't been at home these days. I sent people to look for you but they couldn't find you. Where have you been?" As soon as Zhou Hong spoke, Zhou Maoxue's heart tightened again.
"My son is going to stay at a friend's house for a few days..." Zhou Maoxue whispered.
How many days will you stay?
Zhou Hong frowned.
He could feel that something was obviously wrong with his son's demeanor and his temperament had changed, but he couldn't tell what exactly had changed.
"You should go back to your room and change your clothes first. Let the housekeeper pack your things for you. After packing, come to the study to see me." Zhou Hong said a word and turned around neatly and left.
Zhou Maoxue secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then he threw the baggage to the steward who had just stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Does my father know about my exam?"
The housekeeper whispered: "I know, the master is very angry. I couldn't find you before and smashed the teapot. Also, you had friends who came to visit before, but they were all driven away by the master."
"Why did he drive my friend away!" Zhou Maoxue suddenly felt angry in his chest.
Seeing this, the housekeeper hurriedly persuaded: "Young Master, I will inevitably feel angry knowing that you failed the exam again, but you have been gone for so many days, so you can just talk to me properly later."
"I know." Zhou Maoxue flicked his sleeves and left angrily.
The housekeeper looked at his back and shook his head helplessly, then opened the bag and prepared to take it to have the clothes washed.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the baggage was opened, two pieces of letter paper floated down...
...
Zhou Maoxue returned to the room, where the maid had prepared the basin.
Just as he had changed his clothes and was about to wash his face, a servant suddenly knocked on the door: "Young Master, I want to see you now and ask you to come over immediately."
Hearing the urgency in his servant's tone, Zhou Maoxue felt a bad feeling in his heart.
But after thinking about it, I don't seem to have a clue.
It's nothing more than failing the exam, pulling me over and scolding me, that's all.
Stopping what he was doing, Zhou Maoxue walked out quickly and went straight to Zhou Hong's study.
At this moment, Zhou Hong was writing something at his desk, with two pieces of paper spread out on the table.
Zhou Maoxue asked cautiously: "Dad, why did you call me?"
Zhou Hong's men paused and put down their pens.
Picking up the two pieces of letter paper, he stood up and walked slowly to Zhou Maoxue. He stared at him and said, "Did you write these two letters? Did you take the lead when Juzi gathered a crowd to cause trouble in Jianyehou Mansion?"
Zhou Maoxue looked at the two letters with gradually horrified eyes.
Damn it!
When I protested in front of the Jianyehou Mansion, I wrote two articles, one for the emperor and one refuting science.
Too much time passed and he put it away and forgot about it.
It actually fell into my father's hands.
Cold sweat broke out on Zhou Maoxue's forehead: "It was indeed written by me, but dad..."
Snapped!
Before Zhou Maoxue could finish his words, he slapped him hard on the face with a swift and fierce slap.
There was a buzzing sound in Zhou Maoxue's ears, and he fell to the ground with stars in his eyes.
"Why did I give birth to such a bastard like you!" Zhou Hongboran was furious, with disappointment in his eyes, "Who asked you to take the lead in making trouble, and who asked you to go to the gate of Jianyehou Mansion?"
"It's okay if you fail the imperial examination repeatedly. You are not that material. I admit it! But how could you do such a stupid thing!"
"Blatantly disobeying the imperial decree, failing in the imperial examination and trying to find another way out, they are a bunch of worthless losers! You dare to offend Fang Zhengyi, have you ever used your brain! How much trouble do you want to cause to the family!"
Zhou Maoxue fell to the ground, listening to his father's barrage of accusations, his already painful face became extremely hot.
Tried and failed, good for nothing, rubbish, stupidity...
Every sentence stuck in his heart.
Originally, he wanted to say a few words, but seeing Zhou Hong roaring, Zhou Maoxue felt stubborn in his heart.
He slowly stood up, covered his face with one hand, looked at Zhou Hong, and sneered: "Yes, I did it! But my ability to gather people is just to follow the wishes of the scholars in the world. Why, is dad still afraid of a Founder? What?"
Zhou Hong's face turned blue and white: "Shut up! Is the matter as simple as you think?"
"I wrote a letter. You should take the letter and go to Marquis Jianye's home immediately to apologize. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude."
Zhou Maoxue's tone was slightly mocking: "I won't go! Although you are no longer in the court, you used to be the censor of Youdu, claiming to have disciples all over the world... Fang Zhengyi is only about the same age as me, and his status is also lower than yours. Why? Are you afraid of him like a tiger?"
Zhou Hong suddenly raised the crutch in his hand, wanting to hit him hard, but he got a stubborn look in Zhou Maoxue's eyes.
With a sigh, the crutch was slowly lowered...
...
