Chapter 802 - 413: The Belated Messenger

Chapter 802: Chapter 413: The Belated Messenger

By now, Zhang Huai understood what was going on. Feeling a surge of anger, he waved his hand to stop his father from speaking and asked in a deep voice, "What exactly is going on here? Please explain in detail, officers, so we can decide what to do. The rumors have been growing wilder lately, and my father and I have been extremely unsettled. We were just about to invite the families of Scholar Zhao and Scholar Liu to go to Huzhou Prefecture with us to investigate. Judging by what you said, is there some hidden truth to all this?"

Sweat poured down the faces of the two officers. They originally thought that since these were country folks, they could just kowtow a few times and get away with it. Who would have thought that Scholar Zhang’s older brother would be so hard to fool? It seemed they had no choice but to confess honestly and beg for Old Mr. Zhang’s forgiveness—he seemed much easier to talk to.

The two stammered as they explained the reason. Inevitably, they still tried to cover up some details, but unable to withstand Huai Zi and Juhua’s probing from all angles, they ended up confessing everything at once.

As it turned out, although Zhang Yang and the others had left in a hurry, they had all written letters home on the spot. They asked Ding Xuezheng to find two attendants to deliver the letters back to Qingnan Village so their parents wouldn’t worry. These two men had actually left the government city a step ahead of Zhang Yang and the others.

However, although these two lackeys didn’t dare look down on Zhang Yang and the others, they didn’t take this errand seriously. They felt it was just delivering a letter to the countryside, and a day early or a day late wouldn’t matter much as long as it arrived. Thus, when they bumped into an old friend on the road, they couldn’t resist drinking a few extra cups and ended up being delayed for the night. The next day, that friend insisted they stay for another day, which was why the delivery of the letter was delayed.

Huai Zi frowned at the two of them. He thought that since the letter was already delayed and the rumors had spread, being unforgiving would not only be unhelpful but also needlessly offend people. He knew that although these men were subordinates, as the saying goes, "It is easy to meet King Yan, but hard to deal with his little imps," and he might need their help someday.

Therefore, he smiled faintly and said, "Please get up, officers. Everyone has relatives and friends. Since it was just a temporary delay, we shouldn’t hold it against you. However, this matter absolutely cannot be known by Lord Academic Administrator. Otherwise, punishing you for incompetence would be the least of it. If His Lordship thought you two were hiding out drinking and visiting prostitutes, thereby delaying your official duties, then you would be in real trouble."

Hearing this, the two officers were scared out of their wits. Wasn’t drinking and visiting prostitutes exactly why they had delayed their errand? They had thought they had successfully fooled him, but little did they know the man knew exactly what was going on.

From then on, the two did not dare underestimate this farmer ever again and kept kowtowing, begging for mercy.

Only then did Huai Zi allow them to stand up. Afterward, he and Juhua read Yangzi’s letter. Sure enough, the three of them had gone to the Capital City.

In the letter, Zhang Yang sent his greetings to Zhang Dashuan and He, telling his family not to worry. He mentioned that they would definitely reunite in five years at most, or three years at the earliest. He also instructed Zhang Huai not to deliberately speak of this matter to outsiders, adding that they would regularly have people bring letters back in the future.

Huai Zi ushered Zhang Dashuan and He into the room and explained the contents of the letter to them.

The elderly couple’s eyes turned red as they touched the letter. With this departure, wouldn’t it be several years before they could see him again?

Juhua held He’s hand and comforted her, "Mother, this is an honor others could never achieve even if they begged for it. Imperial College isn’t a place just anyone can enter to study. It’s incredibly difficult to be selected. Some of those who are chosen merely hold the title of imperial student and don’t actually go there to study."

He wiped her tears with the back of her hand and asked, "Really? How do you know?"

Juhua smiled. "I read about it in a book. For example, the county school in Qinghui County is bigger than the school in our Qingnan Village, and the Prefecture School in Huzhou Prefecture is even more impressive than the county school. Imperial College is a school even more formidable than the Prefecture School."

She compared them level by level like this just to coax He, which made the older woman’s eyes light up. Finally, He smiled brightly as she held the letter and looked at it over and over again, completely unaware that she was holding the paper upside down.

After comforting them for a while, the family went back out to ask the two officers about the situation that day. This time, the two were very forthcoming, earnestly detailing to the Zhang family how Zhang Yang and the others had been picked up.

According to the two of them, the visitor had brought a squad of guards and went straight to Ding Mansion to request an audience with Lord Academic Administrator. Then, they went to the Prefecture School to pick up Scholar Zhang and the other two. After they had made brief preparations and written their letters home to hand over to the two officers, they set off for the Capital City. They did not even meet with the governor.

"We left a step ahead of Scholar Zhang and the others. However, when the two of us set out, those guards were already packed and ready to go. Scholar Zhang entrusted us to send his regards to Old Mr. Zhang and Madame, asking you not to worry about him."

Recalling the events of a few days ago, the two suddenly wanted to slap themselves. They cursed their own blindness in their minds. Setting aside the fact that it was their duty as subordinates to execute their errands properly, Scholar Zhang and the other two were clearly bound for greatness. Yet, they had failed to curry favor with the man’s family and even dared to treat them as insignificant. By delaying the delivery of the letter by two days, they had caused Old Mr. Zhang to worry. If Lord Academic Administrator found out about this, he would probably skin them alive!