first minister

Chapter 24 Is My Erlang So Powerful?
In Jiang'an City, in the mansion of a rich merchant, there were two people sitting in the gatehouse.

One of them was thin and haggard, his clothes were neat but he couldn't hide his tiredness, his sitting posture was upright, and he showed a sense of uneasy tension. He was Xia Jingyun's father Xia Hengzhi.

He turned his head to look at the concierge next to him who was drinking tea leisurely, and said respectfully: "Brother, when will your master come back?"

The concierge glanced at him, "How will I know when the master will come back? Why should the master not inform me?"

Xia Hengzhi, who had never dealt with outsiders before, was so stunned that he didn't dare to speak anymore.

After fidgeting and waiting for a while, he finally heard the cry of getting off the sedan chair from outside the door. He hurriedly shook off his clothes and got up, only to find that the concierge, who was still drinking tea leisurely with his legs crossed just now, was already standing respectfully and hunched over at the door, waiting.

A rich middle-aged man and a charming young woman stepped out of a sedan chair and walked towards the gate.

"Master, there is a scholar who wants to hire a teacher in the house, and has been waiting at the concierge for a while."

The man's footsteps stopped, and Xia Hengzhi on the side hurriedly mustered up the courage to step forward, stuttering a little nervously, and said in a trembling voice: "Xia Hengzhi in Xiawanfu County, has read poetry and books since childhood, and wants to be a teacher in your residence, please take the test."

The man looked Xia Hengzhi up and down, "Do you have any fame?"

Xia Hengzhi shook his head, his ears turned red.

The man sneered, "How important a teacher is, it can't be done by just a scholar in the countryside. Take some food and rice back."

After speaking, he walked straight in, and the concubine at the side whispered: "Master, isn't that Wen Kui today just a rural scholar?"

"What's his ability? His literary talent is amazing, his bearing is extraordinary, that can be compared to anyone who comes here? Look at that person's poor face, is he comparable to Wen Kui, he is not worthy to carry someone's shoes!"

"The master is still wise!"

As the voice faded away, the concierge glanced at the dazed Xia Hengzhi, and said calmly, "Please, Your Excellency?"

Xia Hengzhi was taken aback for a moment, "Didn't the master of your mansion say that there is still food and rice?"

The concierge smiled and said nothing, clapped his hands and said nothing.

No matter how stupid Xia Hengzhi was, he still understood, and staggered towards the house in a daze.

After walking for a while, I ran into my elder brother Xia Mingxiong in the alley of my house.

The two knew at a glance that neither of them had a good result, and they both sighed.

"Hey! Difficult!"

"Yes! It's not easy to find something to eat!"

"Let's think about it in the long run! There is still some money at home, and it can last for ten and a half months."

At home at the moment, three women are busy.

All day today, the three of them didn't even leave the house, thinking about making some cooking cakes and the like, and going hawking along the street tomorrow, trying to earn some money to supplement their families.

Now that the powder has been ground, I wait to get up in the middle of the night to make it, and pick it out early in the morning to sell while it is hot.

Although it was hard work, it was much better than the days in the labor camp.

At this moment, Xia Ningzhen was sitting in front of the stove lighting the fire, Xia Jingyun's mother Xia Li was cutting vegetables, and Xia Zhang was cooking by the side of the pot.

"Sister-in-law, I'll get up and do it tonight, you and Ning Zhen have a good rest first."

Xia Lishi, as always, endures hardships and stands hard work, without fighting or grabbing.

Mrs. Xia Zhang shook her head, "It's okay, let's go together, it's been a while, who is going to be the mistress and young mistress?"

Xia Li advised: "There is no need to be like this, the three of you are so tired, how many days can you be tired!"

Mrs. Xia Zhang insisted: "I am mainly afraid that you will not cook well, and all of a sudden the capital will be invested."

Xia Li immediately stopped talking.

As soon as Xia Zhang’s words came out, his brain came to his senses, and he hurried to make amends, “Sisters and sisters, I didn’t mean that, I mean, we have less than three taels of silver left now, a family of seven, we have to be careful, otherwise we will have to drink northwest wind.”

Xia Lishi hummed.

After all, Xia Ningzhen is still young, and he has no interest in these fussy things, so he muttered: "I don't know how the second brother went to participate in the literary fair."

Mrs. Xia Zhang blurted out, "What else can I do, I just need to gain more knowledge, and you still expect him to win the first place in the essay?"

Xia Lishi was silent, but when chopping vegetables, the sound of the knife chopping the cutting board seemed to be a little louder.

The two brothers Xia Hengzhi returned home and were watching Xia Yunfei shirtless chopping firewood in the yard, chopping the big firewood they bought into small strips, which would be more economical and convenient to use.

Seeing his son sweating profusely, Xia Mingxiong looked gloomy, "Both children are not bad, so I can only do these jobs in this life?"

Xia Hengzhi also sighed, remembering the news he had just heard at the Yuanwai's residence.

On the way back, I also heard some people talking about it, and it seemed that their surname was also Xia.

They are also from a poor family and have the same surname Xia, how can there be such a big gap between people!
The two shook their heads, pushed the door open, and suddenly there was a shout behind them.

"Brother Xia!"

The two brothers turned their heads at the same time, and seeing that they were neighbors, they hurriedly turned to greet each other.

Xia Hengzhi clasped his hands, and said politely: "I remember that your Excellency went to watch the literature meeting today, why do you have time to come to my house to talk?"

The neighbor smiled and said: "As expected of someone who can teach Wen Kui, what he said is very interesting."

"Your Excellency, it's absurd, sour words, but." Xia Hengzhi replied subconsciously, and was interrupted by a thunderous voice next to his ear.

Xia Mingxiong stared like an old cow, his face full of shock, "What did you say?"

The neighbor smiled and cupped his hands and said: "Congratulations to the two elder brothers, Mr. Jing Yun of your mansion defeated all the talented people in the prefecture today, and won the Wen Kui of the Wenhui!"

Bang!

At the door of the kitchen, Xia Li, who heard the voice, stood there in a daze, and dropped the kitchen knife in his hand to the ground.
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"Speaking of which, Mr. Zheng, as the son of the prefect of Jianning, is a master of Zhouxuexuezheng, a master of literature and martial arts, and is recognized as the number one talent in Sishui Prefecture. He came riding a white horse, and the laughter came. It made Zeng Jimin and Lin Feibai, who had previously shined brilliantly, dim in an instant."

In the small courtyard, everyone immediately moved chairs, asked the neighbor to sit down, and then sat in a row, listening to him talk about the incident that just passed.

"Mr. Zheng looked around and said that he wanted to pick someone to go through the barrier with him. Everyone was nervous. If they acted together with such talents, wouldn't they be humiliating themselves! But the matter is already in front of them, and Mr. Zheng would not listen to them. Mr. Zheng just looked around and randomly selected someone. Guess what, it is Mr. Xia!"

Xia Li's body trembled and almost fainted, but Xia Hengzhi who was at the side gave him a hand, "Don't panic, don't panic, our son won in the end!"

It was only then that everyone came to their senses and breathed a sigh of relief, but their hearts that had already been raised in their throats did not sink.

"Young Master Xia is also courageous and brave, and we fought directly. At that time, we only regarded him as an ignorant and fearless man. Only later did we realize that he has his own confidence!"

"After listening to Mr. Zheng's poems, everyone felt that it would be difficult to write better poems than him. However, Mr. Xia pondered for a while, and then recited [Since ancient times, autumn is sad and lonely. I say that autumn is better than spring. A crane in the clear sky will lead the poetry to the blue sky]. Once the poem is written, everyone in the audience is shocked!"

Everyone in the Xia family was overjoyed when they heard it, as if they had seen Xia Jingyun create a miracle with their own eyes.

As for Xia Jingyun's "professional mentor", his father Xia Hengzhi has a dull face. Is this what I taught?

Who can write such a poem?Was it taught by a scholar of my level?
"But it's not over yet. There is a great Confucian who is close to Mr. Zheng who has no conscience, and wants to give the position of Wen Kui to Mr. Zheng without conscience."

"He dares!" Xia Mingxiong, Xia Yunfei and his son exploded thunder at the same time.

The other three women were also aggressive, so Xia Hengzhi quickly persuaded: "Don't panic, don't panic, Gao Yang won in the end."

The neighbor took a sip of water soaked in crushed tea, "Fortunately, the crowd was very excited, everyone argued hard, and many big figures came forward to uphold justice. In the end, Mr. Xia won the position of Wen Kui! Not to mention him, not to mention your family, even our entire Nantian Lane is honored!"

Everyone looked at each other with surprise in their eyes.

Xia Ning was really excited, she didn't expect the second brother to be so powerful, she immediately turned her head and said, "Mother, didn't you say that the second brother can only go through the motions to see the excitement?"

"You damn girl, are you trying to piss me off!"

Xia Zhang cursed with a blushing face, everyone laughed, and the room was filled with joy.

(End of this chapter)