Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 116 Wen Linlang

"Yes." Li An looked directly at Liu Xuewen and nodded calmly.

"Whoo~"

Liu Xuewen took a deep breath and said, "This will be of great benefit to you, but it also has disadvantages. You must study harder in the future."

"Teacher, I understand." Li An nodded.

"It's good that you understand. When we were at court this morning, Shanda told me that Zhuang Xuexue will arrive in Beijing the day after tomorrow, and that You and Wan'er will go to the Sheng family to study the day after tomorrow. You should study hard at home these two days and don't go out. Liu Xuewen said.

"Ah."

Liu Xuewen didn't say anything, and he didn't plan to go out recently.

After he called out Hengqu's four sentences, more scholars might go to the teahouse to look for him.

If he didn't show up, those scholars would naturally not go.

Otherwise, he would be blocked every day, and he would not be able to do business in his teahouse.

"Okay, you go back."

Liu Xuewen originally wanted to ask Li An about his studies, but what Li An said made him feel a little uneasy, so he simply asked Li An to go back.

"Teacher, students, please leave." Li An bowed and left.

……

Early the next morning, Li An and Shi Zhu followed Shi Lin in the yard to practice marksmanship and had breakfast. Shi Lin took Shi Zhu to the teahouse, while Li An sat in the yard reading.

He had been practicing marksmanship for a few days. He originally thought he could learn some moves or something, but in the end he still practiced basic skills.

He practiced holding and raising the gun every day, which made him a little disappointed.

However, Li An also knows the importance of the foundation when a tall building rises from the ground, so he still practices very seriously.

"Master Li."

Desheng hurried in and said, "Someone from the palace just said that there will be an imperial edict coming soon, asking you to go to the front yard quickly."

"Imperial decree?"

Li An was stunned when he heard this, quickly put down his book and ran to the front yard.

When he came to the front yard, Ms. Zhang was directing her servants to set up the incense table.

"Zi Qian, why don't you put on the new clothes I made for you? Go and change them quickly." Mrs. Zhang said.

"oh oh!"

Li An remembered that in ancient times, when receiving imperial edicts, all those who attended the ceremony had to bathe and change clothes. However, seeing how anxious Mrs. Zhang was, it must be that time was limited and it was too late.

What makes Li An feel a little strange is that Liu Xuewen has just been promoted to Bianjing. Even if the officials appreciate him and promotes him, the decree should be given directly to Liu Xuewen. How could he come to his home?

However, Li An didn't think too much and hurried back to change into the new clothes Zhang had someone make for him a few days ago.

After Li An's family conditions improved, Mrs. Liu often made him new clothes. The fabrics used were just ordinary fabrics, which seemed a bit shabby in Bianjing.

He himself didn't care much about these things, but Zhang had someone make him two straight black robes worn by scholars.

Li An changed his clothes and came to the front yard. The incense table was already set up.

"Zi Qian, come here quickly!"

While Zhang was arranging Li An's clothes, she warned: "Someone from the palace just informed me that the official has awarded you a reward. When I receive the order later, you need to..."

"Wait a minute, Mistress, you said you rewarded me?" Li An interrupted Zhang and said, "Is there a mistake?"

"Don't talk nonsense." Ms. Zhang glared at Li An and said, "This is Bianjing. Who dares to talk nonsense about this kind of thing? The palace official just said that it was a reward for you. It is impossible to do such a thing. Incorrect."

"But I'm a commoner, I don't even have any fame, so why would the officials reward me for nothing?" Li An asked confused.

Of course he knew that this kind of thing couldn't be wrong, but if a good emperor wanted to reward him, this was even more outrageous than pie in the sky.

"I asked the internal officials who came to notify me. They said it was what you said that made the officials so happy that they rewarded you." Zhang said.

Li An was stunned, what he said?
  Could it be because of Hengqu's four sentences?

But no matter how good these words are, he won't be rewarded by officials, right?
  Historically, Zhang Zai didn't seem to be rewarded for speaking out, right? Otherwise, it should be recorded in history books.

"Okay, let's not talk about this for now. The internal officials will come later. When the decree is read out, remember to kneel down to receive it. After the decree is read out, you should say thank you to His Majesty for the reward and kowtow. Then you can stand up and bow to receive it. Imperial edict, do you understand?" Mrs. Zhang warned.

"Yeah." Li An nodded dizzy.      “Why haven’t you come yet?”

Mrs. Zhang arranged the clothes for Li An and looked at the door.

"Housekeeper Hao, have you sent someone to guard the outside? The internal officials are here. You must come back and report it quickly." Mrs. Zhang said.

"Madam, I have sent several people to watch at the intersection. As long as people come, they will definitely come back to report." Hao Rong said.

Mrs. Zhang nodded, but she always felt that something was missing.

After taking a look, I saw that the incense table and other items were complete, and the clothes were well-dressed.

"Where's Wan'er?" Mrs. Zhang patted her forehead and said, "Go and hurry up. This girl, it takes so long to change her clothes."

"Yes!" The maid behind Zhang ran away.

"No, I still missed something." Mrs. Zhang muttered.

Li An was a little nervous at first, but when he saw Mrs. Zhang acting like this, he felt less nervous. He smiled and comforted her, "Master, you are just too nervous."

"No, I always feel like I'm missing something. What is it?"

Mrs. Zhang muttered a few words, clapped her hands and exclaimed: "Housekeeper Hao, go to the accounting room and get me a hundred taels of silver notes."

"Yes." Butler Hao responded and hurried away.

"Master Wife, let me pay for this."

Li An knew a little bit about the rules in this area. When someone came to announce the decree, he would always give him a red envelope.

Don't underestimate this point. As the saying goes, the king of hell is easy to mess with, but the devil is difficult to deal with.

If you don't give benefits, the official who announced the decree will say a few bad words when he goes back, and if it reaches the ears of the emperor, he will be in trouble.

"You bring honor to your teacher, and this little money that Master Madam has paid for you should be treated as a reward." Mrs. Zhang waved her hand.

Li An opened his mouth, but in the end he did not refuse Zhang's kindness.

After a while, Hao Rong came back with the banknote and handed it to Zhang.

Mrs. Zhang collected the banknotes and when she saw Liu Waner coming over, she grabbed her and gave her instructions.

"Come on, come on, the people from the palace are here, they are already at the intersection."

After waiting for about ten minutes, a servant hurried back and said.

"Come on, Zi Qian Wan'er, follow me out to meet the officials." Mrs. Zhang said.

Zhang took Li An and Liu Waner out of the gate and saw a dozen soldiers wearing armor and holding spears, guarding a carriage approaching.

After a while, the carriage stopped at the door of the house, and a man in his thirties wearing eunuch clothes got out of the carriage.

"Welcome the angel!" Mrs. Zhang led Li An and Liu Waner in salute.

"Yes." The eunuch responded lightly and asked, "Is the incense case ready?"

"The return angel is ready, please come in."

Mrs. Zhang respectfully welcomed the eunuch in. Seeing the prepared incense table, she nodded with satisfaction and said, "Then get ready to receive the order."

After the eunuch finished speaking, he came to the front of the incense table, opened a box held by the soldiers behind him, and took out the imperial edict from inside.

Li An and the others quickly knelt down in front of the incense table.

"Zhao said:..."

The imperial edict praised Li An a lot at the beginning, and finally said that Li An would be named Wenlinlang. From the ninth rank, there was nothing else.

The eunuch closed the imperial edict, looked at Zhang An who was stunned, and said, "Thank you."

"The common people thank God for their kindness!"

Li An reluctantly kowtowed, then stood up and bowed forward to receive the imperial edict.

Mrs. Zhang quickly stepped forward and gave the eunuch the banknotes she had prepared.

After receiving the banknote, the eunuch finally showed a smile on his face and left with the people.

(End of this chapter)