Chapter 373

The carriage reached the official road. Although it was still a little bumpy, it was very light.

Ye Xiaotian leaned over the table and wrote a letter to his family. When he put down the pen, he picked up the letter and blew on it. Seeing that the ink was dry, he took an envelope and sealed it with wax. He also wrote the address and recipient on the envelope, "To Brother Xiao An."

Ye Xiaotian gave the letter to Zhao Wenyuan and said with a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble Brother Wenyuan to deliver this letter."

Zhao Wenyuan said with a smile, "No problem. It's a relay station, after all. Our job is to welcome and send people off. Helping you deliver a letter is nothing. Heh, heh, this is the first thing I've done since I took office. "

The two of them laughed. Zhao Wenyuan looked at the handwriting on the letter and praised, "Worthy brother, your handwriting is very beautiful."

Ye Xiaotian said, "My handwriting is not bad. This is all I have to show off. When it comes to knowledge, I can't compare to you."

Zhao Wenyuan shook his head and said with a smile, "You're embarrassing me. I won't hide it from you. My Juren title was not obtained through proper examination. "

Ye Xiaotian took the opportunity to ask, "Oh? As far as I know, the imperial court only gives preferential treatment to the Chieftains who guard the land. Could it be that Brother Wenyuan is from a Chieftain's family? "

Zhao Wenyuan said with a smile, "Not really. But my father is Bozhou's Ah Mu. He is highly regarded by Chieftain Yang of Bozhou. My brother is not good at literature or martial arts. My father could only ask Chieftain Yang to help me win this title. "

Ye Xiaotian said, "Ah! So your father is Bozhou's Ah Mu. My apologies, my apologies. "

As Ye Xiaotian said this, he thought to himself, "This Zhao Wenyuan doesn't hide his background at all. Does he not know my identity or does he not care? Although Yang Yinglong cares about who the Venerable position belongs to, I don't think he will rely on Zhao Wenyuan to win me over. It must be a coincidence that he and I passed the imperial examination at the same time and became officials in Hulu County at the same time. "

Just as Ye Xiaotian thought of this, one of Zhao Wenyuan's retainers rushed to the carriage and said, "Young master, we will arrive at Tongren soon."

Zhao Wenyuan nodded and smiled at Ye Xiaotian. "Our journey has been smooth. Based on our current speed, we won't be late to Hulu County. Now that we've arrived at your hometown, do you want to go back and have a look? It's only human nature to return home in glory. "

Ye Xiaotian reported that he was from the Tongren Prefecture's Myriad Mountains Department, which was why Zhao Wenyuan said this. However, Ye Xiaotian had no relatives in the Great Mountains Bureau. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it. Business matters are more important. My family will understand. When we rest in Tongren, I will write another letter and ask someone to send it home."

But Ye Xiaotian didn't have any relatives in the Great Mountains Department. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it. Work is more important. My family will understand. After we rest in Tongren, I will write a letter and ask someone to send it home."

At this time, another retainer rushed over and said loudly, "Young master, there is someone waiting at the Five Li Pavilion in front. He says he wants to see Ye Xiaotian."

Ye Xiaotian didn't have any relatives in Tongren, so he couldn't help but shudder when he heard this. "Don't tell me that crazy woman Mother Xue heard about me from somewhere and is here to pester me again?"

Ye Xiaotian braced himself and walked out. He saw a grass pavilion on the side of the road, and in front of the pavilion stood a young boy. As soon as he saw Ye Xiaotian come out, the boy welcomed him with a smile and bowed, saying loudly, "Congratulations, Lord Ye!"

When Ye Xiaotian saw him, he quickly jumped off the carriage and said with a smile, "Xiao Zhu, what are you doing here?" This young boy was the personal servant of Tongren Province's Prefect Li Zhongyin. He has had many dealings with Ye Xiaotian so Ye Xiaotian naturally recognized him.

Xiao Zhu giggled and said, "Under the orders of my family's teaching master, I am here to welcome Master Ye. I heard that Master Ye has passed the provincial examinations and was given an official position. The prefect and my master are very happy and told me to welcome you here. The prefect has already prepared a banquet for you to welcome you. "

Ye Xiaotian was a little dizzy from all these "masters". He shook his head and said with a smile, "Xiao Zhu, you don't have to be so polite with me. You are my old friend, just call me Master Ye. How did the prefect and Prefect Li know that I am in Tongren? "

Xiao Zhu said, "Master Ye, you have been staying at the relay station. Yesterday, there was an official from Tongren Province at the relay station. When he came back, he mentioned this and the prefect found out about it. So this morning, I have been waiting for you here. "

Zhao Wenyuan had already gotten off the carriage and was following behind Ye Xiaotian. When he heard this, he smiled and said, "Brother Ye, you have passed the Xiucai, Juren, and now you are an official of the court. Prefect Zhang is really proud of you. Don't let the prefect wait for too long. You should go now."

Prefect Zhang had set up a banquet for Ye Xiaotian. Ye Xiaotian naturally could not make the decision to bring Zhao Wenyuan along. Moreover, Zhao Wenyuan had the backing of the Yang family in Bozhou, so it was not good for him to get close to Zhang Yi, who had the Tian family's brand. So, Ye Xiaotian only gave Dong Tian and Yaoyao a few words before rushing to the city with Xiao Zhu.

Prefectural Magistrate Zhang was watching the play in the back garden. When Dou E sang about the flying snow in June, Big Fatty Zhang held onto his handkerchief and was already crying his eyes out. Li Zhongyin, who was sitting beside him, was depressed, "You've seen this play over a hundred times. Do you have to cry every time?"

Prefect Zhang used a small handkerchief to wipe his tears and blew his nose. He said to Prefect Li while sobbing, "This Dou E is really wronged."

Li Zhongyin said with a sad face, "Yes, yes!"

Prefect Zhang threw away the handkerchief and reached out to touch the teacup. His eyes were still looking longingly at the stage. Coincidentally, a maidservant was refilling his cup of tea behind him. When she saw her master reach out, she quickly put away the teapot. However, in her haste, a few drops of tea splashed onto Prefect Zhang's hand, causing Prefect Zhang to cry out in pain.

The maidservant turned pale with fright and quickly knelt down. She kowtowed like pounding garlic and said, "Master, please don't be angry. Master, please don't be angry."

Prefect Zhang suddenly jumped up from his chair a few times. Unfortunately, the fat around his waist was stuck in the armrest, so he could not stand up. He could only angrily point at the young maidservant and say, "Lowly maidservant, do you want to murder me? Drag her down and beat her to death! "

The maidservant was scared out of her wits. She only kowtowed and begged for mercy. The two servants who had rushed up to drag Prefect Zhang out of his chair turned to the maidservant and carried her away. The young maidservant cried out in despair, "Master, have mercy, have mercy …"

Prefect Li and the others sat there without saying a word. Although they felt that Prefect Zhang's actions were somewhat disregarding human life, the Zhang Clan of Tixi was a hereditary clan. Prefect Zhang was the local tyrant here. Don't be fooled by how he was normally a bit silly, especially when he thought of himself as elegant and refined. He would make a fool of himself, but who dared to laugh at him?

The gatekeeper of the prefect's manor had already received orders that there was no need to report Ye Xiaotian's arrival. So Xiao Zhu led Ye Xiaotian, accompanied by a servant of the Zhang manor, straight into the back garden. They just happened to see the young maidservant crying in despair as he was dragged away.

Fatty Zhang blew at his white and plump hands. Seeing that there were a few red spots on the back of his hands, he angrily cursed and called over two servants to drag him out of his chair. As he turned around, he happened to see Ye Xiaotian, and he couldn't help but grin.

Ye Xiaotian hurried two steps forward and bowed deeply to the ground. With a face full of excitement, he said, "Ye Xiaotian greets my teacher, my teacher! I haven't seen you for a long time. Little Tian misses you very much. Are you well? "

Ye Xiaotian had interacted with Fatty Zhang before, so he knew how to flatter him. He knew that calling Prefect Zhang 'old parent' or 'Master Zhang' was far less intimate than calling him 'teacher'. Fatty Zhang liked to be cultured, so he would definitely like to be called 'teacher'.

Sure enough, Zhang Yi's chubby face almost turned into a chrysanthemum. His eyes were so squinted that they almost couldn't be seen. He said to Ye Xiaotian pleasantly, "You're here. Quickly get up, quickly get up. Hahaha, you went to Guiyang, became a juren, and became an official. I'm very happy."

Zhang Yi turned his head and proudly said to Li Zhongyin, "I have a good eye, right? At the beginning, I said that this child would definitely have a bright future."

Li Zhongyin nodded and said with admiration, "Your Excellency has a good eye and can be called a talent scout."

Prefect Zhang looked up to the sky and laughed, "Hahahaha, who is this talent scout?"

Li Zhongyin was stunned. Ye Xiaotian quickly took a step forward and said with a smile, "This talent scout was an ancient person who was very good at choosing talents. However, his story has always been spread around the central plains. Teacher, you live in Tongren, so it's no wonder you don't know about him."

Prefect Zhang suddenly said, "Oh, so he's an ancient person." Li Zhongyin secretly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. If he really let Fatty Zhang make a fool of himself in front of everyone, this person had a big chest but a small heart. In the future, he wouldn't have a good life.

Ye Xiaotian bowed to Li Zhongyin again. Obviously, Li Zhongyin was his teacher, but at this time, he could only call him Teacher Li to show the difference between him and Zhang Yi.

Prefectural Prefect Zhang happily invited Ye Xiaotian to sit down. He had just been pulled out of the chair, and he had to use all his strength to squeeze back the fat on his body. Ye Xiaotian said, "I see that Teacher's eyes are a little red. Is it because you have been busy with official business and haven't rested well?"

Prefect Zhang said, "Oh! It's nothing. I was just watching the show and saw that Dou E was framed and was about to be dragged to the execution ground. I felt pity for her and couldn't help but cry. "

Ye Xiaotian said, "Teacher is really merciful. That's right, when I just came in, I saw a girl being dragged out and crying. Who was that? "

Prefect Zhang said hatefully, "That lowly servant, she can't even pour tea properly and scalded my hands. Drag her out and beat her to death."

Ye Xiaotian hurriedly said, "I'm indebted to teacher's promotion and have today's glory. Now that I've returned to Tongren, I have to reunite with teacher. Teacher, on such a joyous day, please be magnanimous and don't bicker with that ignorant girl."

Fatty Zhang was still willing to listen to people who were pleasing to his eyes. When he heard this, he waved his hand and the servant beside him hurriedly went out to stop the execution.

Fatty Zhang beamed with joy and said to Ye Xiaotian, "Shi Qian's residence, Sinan's residence and Zhenyuan's residence all laugh at my Tongren Province for not having a single Xiucai. What do you think, I, Zhang Yi, am quiet, but when I do, I scare people to death. Heh heh, Little Tian, you've easily become a Xiucai and a Juren. In my opinion, you can easily become a Jinshi in the capital. "

When Ye Xiaotian heard his boasting, he couldn't help but jump in fright and quickly said, "Teacher is flattering me. If I go to the capital, I will definitely become a Jinshi. But if I become a Jinshi, I may not be able to go back to Guizhou to become an official. I still want to be closer to teacher and listen to teacher's teachings. "

Fatty Zhang muttered, "Oh! That makes sense. Then forget it, we don't want this Jinshi anymore. "

Li Zhongyin and the others looked at each other and thought, "This pair of master and disciple, they are indeed of the same origin. They boast so much, they are shameless to the extreme!"

Fatty Zhang smiled and said, "When I heard that you came, I was very happy and specially prepared a banquet to welcome you. Zhongyin, you guys go to the hall first, Little Tian and I will come later. "

Li Zhongyin and the others hurriedly left. Ye Xiaotian knew that Fatty Zhang had something to say to him, so he quickly leaned forward and listened attentively.