Chapter 96: Arrived at the Prefectural City

Chapter 96: Arriving at the Prefectural City

In the following days, Gu Chaoning found time to visit Chen Family Village once more, and he once again sweet-talked Young Master Chen and Master Chen into beaming smiles.

After taking his leave, he mentioned that he would soon be heading to the provincial examination.

Young Master Chen, who had been smiling at him, changed his expression slightly. Seeing Gu Chaoning about to leave, he immediately offered to see him out, addressing Master Chen.

Gu Chaoning acted delighted that Young Master Chen had come to see him off, and Young Master Chen, pleased by this, took the lead and asked, "When do you leave for the prefectural city?"

"Three days from now."

Young Master Chen paused, then asked again, "What's the prefectural city like?"

Gu Chaoning wore a look of reminiscence and longing.

"The prefectural city is bustling and thriving—there's no curfew at all. You can still get hot food even late at night. The streets are lively and brightly lit, and passersby are all dressed in fine cottons, silks, and brocades. Even the officials are very kind..."

The more Young Master Chen listened, the more his heart stirred.

Gu Chaoning went on, "Ah, if only Young Master Chen could come to the prefectural city too."

"Of course I can go—it's only the prefectural city. I was just asking casually." Young Master Chen quickly interjected.

Gu Chaoning, realizing his words had come out wrong, hastily explained, "No, no, I would never look down on you, Young Master Chen. It's just that the prefectural city has two great academies, where the teachers and students are all exceptionally talented in literature, and I long to go there. I felt an instant connection with you, Young Master Chen, and I've often marveled at your remarkable literary talent. Though I don't know why you haven't passed the county exam, if we could study at the academy together, we would surely both enter officialdom and become good officials serving the people and the court."

Outstanding literary talent, entering officialdom together, becoming good officials for the court and the people?

Young Master Chen felt a little lightheaded, almost intoxicated by Gu Chaoning's simple words.

In the end, he didn't even know when Gu Chaoning had fully left—he could only dwell on those words: outstanding literary talent, entering officialdom together.

Even the top scholar of the entire prefectural city thought his literary talent was outstanding?

Yes, he remembered that when he was studying, his classmates and teachers had all liked him very much. Though he had unfortunately failed the exam later, everyone had advised him not to take one failure to heart.

It was he himself who had given up on the examinations first. But what if his literary talent was actually outstanding, and it was just that his mindset had been off, or the examiner's views hadn't aligned with his own?

He remembered that when he last spoke with Gu Chaoning, Gu Chaoning had mentioned that some candidates, exhausted from their journey and nervous on the eve of the exam, could perform poorly. And some examiners favored steady, conservative views—if a candidate's ideas were too novel and sharp, they might not win the examiner's favor, causing their essays to fall behind others.

Young Master Chen's eyes sparkled as other thoughts came to mind. He then hurried back to find Master Chen.

"Father, Father, I want to go to the prefectural city to study!"

...

On his way back, Gu Chaoning spotted a wild fruit tree by the roadside.

The tree looked somewhat like a wild apple tree, with small, perfectly round red fruits hanging from the branches. The lowest branches had mostly been picked clean.

Gu Chaoning paused beneath the tree, hesitated for a moment, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then rolled up his sleeves.

Though the red fruits were on the upper branches, fortunately he had some tree-climbing skill. In no time, he had scrambled up to the fork of the tree, grabbed the upper branches, and picked some red fruits.

Just as he was about to climb down, he saw Yin Hongxue getting off a donkey cart with a book box.

The little boy silently watched him, and so did the others on the donkey cart.

Gu Chaoning froze mid-motion. Climbing up and down a tree when no one was around was one thing, but now that he was in front of people, he felt as if he'd been doused in paste—unable to move.

Fortunately, the donkey cart soon left. Yin Hongxue walked to the base of the tree and looked up at him.

"Chaoning Ge, that red one."

The little boy had slipped into the role quickly, and Gu Chaoning decided to stop feeling embarrassed about it.

Holding his shirt front with one hand and steadying himself against the tree with the other, he looked up and saw the fruit he'd just noticed. But the position was a bit tricky—with one hand holding his shirt, it was hard to manage.

Yin Hongxue slung his book box onto his back and grabbed the hem of his own shirt with both hands. "Chaoning Ge, just toss the fruits to me."

Gu Chaoning slowly crouched down and tossed the fruits from his shirt into Yin Hongxue's makeshift pouch, two at a time.

As the red fruits landed in his arms one by one, and then Gu Chaoning stood up again to pick the one he'd mentioned, Yin Hongxue beamed with joy, his eyes curving into crescents. He casually picked one that looked good, rubbed it on his shirt, and popped it into his mouth.

The red fruit was tart and sweet—surprisingly delicious.

"Chaoning Ge! You're so good at finding trees! Try one—it's so tasty!"

Gu Chaoning looked down at the little boy hopping around beneath the tree and realized that since his examinations had started this year, it had been a long time since he'd played with his two younger brothers.

A smile spread across Gu Chaoning's face as he picked every fruit he could reach in one go.

This time, he didn't care about looking dignified or not—he slid down the branch, kicked his legs, and jumped off.

When he landed, dust kicked up in a puff. Yin Hongxue, as expected, immediately covered his fruits and ran to the side.

Gu Chaoning, being mischievous, deliberately stomped his feet and chased after him, kicking up more dust.

"Chaoning Ge!" Yin Hongxue shrieked in fright, glancing back and catching sight of the dust particles glittering in the sunlight as they slowly drifted down, while Gu Chaoning laughed on purpose not far away.

The two walked home together. When Gu Muan saw the wild fruits, he jumped for joy on the spot. Fortunately, the courtyard was paved with blue bricks, so no dust was stirred up.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. On the day before his departure, Gu Chaoning received word from Young Master Chen's servant.

He was going to the prefectural city with Gu Chaoning and the others to study!

Gu Chaoning put on a show of excitement in front of the Chen family servant. The next day, as expected, he met up with Young Master Chen at Dukou Town before setting off.

Gu Rong and Shen Zhenghao were a bit surprised to see Young Master Chen tagging along but didn't say much.

The group of three, along with Young Master Chen, his servant, and the family coachman—six people in total—joined a merchant caravan and headed to Chuanyang Prefectural City.

They arrived at the prefectural city at noon. Shops and eateries throughout the city were bustling with noise. Young Master Chen lifted the carriage curtain for just a brief glance and was utterly captivated.

Gu Chaoning hadn't lied—the prefectural city was incredibly prosperous and lively.

Because of the crowds, the carriage could only move slowly. Young Master Chen also spotted large carriages drawn by three horses, with pearl and gemstone tassels hanging from the carriage eaves. As they moved, the gems clinked together with crisp, pleasant sounds.

Just then, a breeze blew past, and the long strands of gems hanging from the four corners of the carriage swayed gently in the wind, glinting in the sunlight. A spot of light spun and landed right at the corner of Young Master Chen's eye.

Young Master Chen squinted, stunned.

These prefectural city folks were filthy rich! Hanging such beautiful gems outside their carriages!

The thought made him itch with temptation—if he sneaked the carriage away in the middle of the night, would anyone even know?

The caravan was the same crew as before; they had their own place rented in the city. After checking with a few scholars, they left first.

Their hired coachman asked if they wanted to grab a bite first, so Gu Chaoning and the others asked Young Master Chen.

He was starving by now, so of course he wanted to eat first.

But when he saw Gu Chaoning and the others leading him toward the food stalls, Young Master Chen's face fell.

"Hey, hey, where are you dragging me? I don't eat at street stalls—who knows if they're even clean."

The stall owner happened to overhear him, looked him up and down, and an obvious flicker of surprise crossed his face.

It was like he was thinking, "You call yourself a young master?"

Gu Chaoning and the others put on a hesitant look: "Young Master Chen, the food at restaurants is very expensive. Let's just hit the stalls."

"What's there to fear? I've got..." He instinctively wanted to say "plenty of money," but after just seeing that carriage with gem pendants, compared to his own ride, the words died in his throat. "I've got money. Come on, I'll treat you."

Shen Zhenghao felt awkward and wanted to say Young Master Chen should go eat there while they'd stick with the stalls, but before he could speak, Gu Chaoning and Gu Rong jumped in first to thank Young Master Chen.

When the coachman heard he was treating, he happily joined in with thanks and flattery, so Shen Zhenghao had no choice but to tag along.

Gu Chaoning casually led them to a restaurant with great food but equally steep prices. When Young Master Chen saw it wasn't some high-end tavern, he loosened up and got more generous.

Once inside, he had the waiter rattle off the menu and boldly ordered every signature dish.

Young Master Chen was such a big spender that the waiter was grinning ear to ear, dishing out a stream of flattery and even throwing in two plates of peanuts before leaving.

The coachman and the servant piled on more praise, and Young Master Chen was absolutely delighted.

Seeing this, Shen Zhenghao secretly tugged at Gu Chaoning's and Gu Rong's sleeves, but after getting reassuring looks from both, he just quietly buried his head in his food.

And sure enough, the signature dishes were no joke—the braised squab and tea-scented shrimp had Shen Zhenghao still craving them come evening.

Young Master Chen was clearly pleased too; the food was tasty, the flattery was sweet, and he felt even more sure that coming to the city had been the right call.

But when the meal wrapped up and the shopkeeper rang up the bill at ten taels of silver, his brow twitched despite himself.

How could it be so expensive!

Young Master Chen's first thought was that he'd been scammed, and he also felt a twinge of resentment toward Gu Chaoning and the others—but they had warned him the place was pricey, and he'd insisted on treating.

The servant and coachman wore the same expression, and the coachman, dumbfounded, even blurted out the question.

The shopkeeper immediately smiled and explained where their ingredients came from—the squab fed on fine rice from a young age, the tea-scented shrimp using top-grade Maojian tea leaves, and so on.

Young Master Chen told the coachman to shut up, maintained his dignity by having his servant pay, and pretended he knew all along and that it was nothing.

After pocketing the money, the shopkeeper launched into another round of flattery, buttering up Young Master Chen until his stiff face loosened up a little.

After the midday meal, the carriage and coachman hired by Gu Chaoning's group drove off. Having just spent a large sum treating them, Young Master Chen was displeased with the three, so when Gu Chaoning suggested they rent a place together, he chose to go his own way.

Gu Chaoning and Gu Rong expressed some reluctance before parting ways.