PNB Chapter 124 Barbarians Appear
Chapter 124 Barbarians Appear
Bai Zhi said: "That's not what I've heard. People say that the richer a person is, the less conscience he has."
"That depends on how you put it."
"tell me the story?"
"Money is a good thing. Having money can buy you a good life. Whether one has a conscience depends on whether the money in his hand is enough to live the good life he wants. Boss, your life is not particularly good. It is far inferior to those rich people in the county, but you are satisfied. You have much more conscience than those greedy bosses."
"Isn't my life particularly good?" Bai Zhi pondered over Zhou Shensi's words, smiled and shook her head, "My life is already very good, and it is precisely because my life is good that I am satisfied."
Zhou Shensi brought two more pancakes to Bai Zhi and grinned. His dead face finally had some life on it: "So, boss, I won't leave. Money is not easy to make, but a good boss like you is even harder to find."
There were many towering old trees nearby that had survived the turbulent times. Bai Zhi and Chu Yunchuan found a deserted spot under the shade of a tree and sat down. There were many other candidates like them sitting around them. It seemed that Zhou Shensi's donkey cart business could still make a small profit.
Chu Yunchuan took the still steaming pancake, tore off a piece and stuffed it into Bai Zhi's mouth, then tore off another piece and stuffed it into his own mouth, his eyes always lingering on the tightly closed door not far away.
Bai Zhi chewed a sesame seed cake, raised her hand and waved it in front of Chu Yunchuan, and asked, "I wanted to ask you yesterday, why do we have to accompany the exam? If they know we have been waiting here, they will be panicked, right?"
"Is that so?" Chu Yunchuan was caught off guard and was a little confused. "I thought they would feel more at ease knowing that someone was waiting outside."
A woman in her forties who was also sitting in the shade interrupted, "Aren't these Shopkeeper Bai and Brother Yun? Are you two here to take the exam with me? Oh, Shopkeeper Bai, your Wenxianglou has been closed for a while. My child really wants to eat smoked chicken. He dreams about it. When will it open?"
In the past two months, there have been people blocking her door every day asking when she will open. Bai Zhi has long been accustomed to it, and her mouth is faster than her brain and she blurts out the prepared words: "The chef has gone to the capital to learn from an apprentice. We will open the shop when he comes back. Then I will make more delicious food for everyone. Don't worry."
"Why go to the capital to learn from a master? What can be better than your Master Bai's Thousand Hammered Chicken?"
Bai Zhi just smiled and passed it off.
The eldest sister had no intention of stopping, and continued to talk to herself: "But it's good to go far away. When the imperial examination begins, there will be many barbarians coming. It's better to meet people in the capital than to meet barbarians. After all, we have the same ancestors, right? As for the barbarians, there is an old saying that those who are not of our race must have different hearts. Who knows what they are thinking?"
Ten days before the imperial examination, Chu Yunchuan was in the house dealing with piles of official documents. Bai Zhi was too lazy to move, so she followed him and stayed at home, practicing martial arts. Apart from Fang Zhiheng's letters, the two of them almost ignored everything else. They really didn't know that the imperial examination had attracted barbarians. Chu Yunchuan vaguely sensed something was wrong and asked, "Sister, where have you seen barbarians?"
The eldest sister smiled heartily: "How can I tell you this? There are barbarians everywhere. If the Wenxiang Tower is not closed, ten barbarians can enter every day."
"So many?" Bai Zhi was shocked.
According to this, there are at least dozens of barbarians who have entered Qing County.
When a barbarian appears at this critical juncture, it is hard not to think of Ge Zhen.
In the joint deduction of Bai Zhi and Chu Yunchuan, the final result was that Ge Zhen had formed an alliance with the barbarians, or she used the barbarians to plot poisoning in the Thirteen States. Chawacuo was just a trigger she threw out, but Suhe's toxicity had not been adjusted to the effect Ge Zhen wanted, so she had not taken any action.
Bai Zhi's head buzzed and she immediately looked at Chu Yunchuan, only to find that he was still sitting still, but his eyes were already looking around with a sharp look.
If you don't pay attention, you really don't know that there are three barbarians around here. Bai Zhi frowned and stared at the group of barbarians in front of her with hostility.
Bai Zhi's prejudice is to be sneaky. After Ge Zhen appeared, she thought all the barbarians were sneaky. It's a pity that the law of Dayan didn't say that barbarians were not allowed to enter Dayan, otherwise she would catch them all and send them all to Qiao Wanwan... Oh, Qiao Wanwan was still recovering from her injuries, so she sent them all to General Zhu.
We can't do anything to these barbarians openly, but we can keep a close eye on them behind the scenes.
Chu Yunchuan happened to be good at keeping an eye on people behind their backs.
The county examination lasted for three days, and there were people failing every day.
Qiaoqiao and Lin Chuqi made it to the third day, which was quite unexpected by Bai Zhi. When sending them to the exam that morning, Bai Zhi still calmly comforted the two children. Seeing that Bai Zhi's nonsense was useless this time, Chu Yunchuan simply took the lead and asked in a gentle and serious voice: "Have you remembered all the questions I tested you with yesterday?"
The two children nodded uncertainly.
"You have answered the questions five times, so you must have remembered them. Since you have made all the preparations, what are you afraid of?" Chu Yunchuan gently pushed the two children towards the door and said with a smile, "Go ahead, relax, and answer the questions as you would do your homework on weekdays."
The time had come, and the city guards closed the gates. Zhou Shensi's donkey cart continued to operate.
Bai Zhi scratched her eyebrows and muttered, "It's the last day and I still haven't adapted."
"It's the last day. It would be fine if I failed on the first day, but now I'm only one step away from passing. How can I accept that I failed here?" Chu Yunchuan thought for a moment and looked at Bai Zhi and said, "If I really fail, they will be as unwilling as I am to watch the old emperor enjoy his old age."
Bai Zhi's eyebrows twitched - Chu Yunchuan had really let it go, and he could even use this bloody old incident as an analogy, even though she felt that it didn't matter at all that she couldn't let it go.
"Okay, okay, I understand. You are really unwilling to accept this." Bai Zhi asked, "You went to test them yesterday? Doesn't that count as revealing the questions?"
Chu Yunchuan smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. I know nothing about the questions in this imperial examination."
"...You, King Jing, don't know the test questions?"
"For this imperial examination, I only took care of trivial matters such as when to start the examination and how to arrange the defense. I also looked in advance at where the thirteen states were short of talent. I didn't even touch the examination questions."
"This is an unprecedented three-test series. There are so many questions and you don't get involved. Fang Zhiheng is the only one in charge. Isn't he busy?"
"In April, I borrowed twelve well-read and knowledgeable scholars from the emperor. They are experts in their fields. This exam will not be in charge of me or Zhiheng, but only of them."
"What about the palace examination?"
"The palace examination will naturally be held in the capital."
Bai Zhi then realized that she had asked a stupid question.
"Why?" Chu Yunchuan stroked his chin and asked Bai Zhi with interest, "If you want me to be the emperor, I might give it a try."
Bai Zhi: "...Let's just live a quiet life."