Stepping on the Lake

Magistrate Zhou returned home satisfied.

The next morning.

Yan Shuoting appeared in Xiahe Village with a team of fast-moving men, carrying a huge pile of dazzling goods and making a fuss with gongs and drums, as if he wanted everyone to know.

"This is... a reward from the magistrate to Master Zhong?"

"It should be."

"Old Liu, did the sun rise in the west today?"

The villagers of Xiahe Village were all amazed by what they saw.

Everyone in Baisha County knows the nickname of Magistrate Zhou, the Skinflint. He was originally the kind of person who would pluck feathers from a passing goose. It's not that he never gave rewards, but they were very few and far between. When did he change his ways and stop exploiting people? He was even willing to send money to outsiders.

strange.

That's really strange.

Seeing this, onlookers followed Yan Shuoting all the way to the Riverside Academy.

This confirms it completely; it's definitely Zhong Xuan.

"Brother Zhong, it's me, Shuoting!"

"Open the door quickly, Magistrate Zhou sent me to deliver a reward."

Yan Shuoting personally brought a calligraphy and painting to the Zhong family's old residence.

Zhong Xuan, who was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, pushed open the door and saw Yan Shuoting excitedly saying, "Brother Zhong, this is a calligraphy personally written by the county magistrate, who said it was a gift for a close friend."

It was perfectly normal for Zhong Xuan to hear that Magistrate Zhou was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations and was fond of writing.

However, although his calligraphy is not valuable, he would not give it away to ordinary people.

At least ordinary scholars didn't receive that kind of treatment.

Done.

Yan Shuoting then revealed the large group of people behind him: "These are all travel expenses that the county magistrate gave to Brother Zhong on his journey to take the imperial examination. He said that he knows time is precious, so he saved this time for Brother Zhong."

Zhong Xuan glanced at it briefly.

It is indeed very comprehensive.

Clothes, shoes, hats, and provisions for the journey, but the most valuable item was a document.

With this document, Zhong Xuan was able to stay overnight at the post stations along the way.

In the Qing Kingdom, all post stations were run by the government, and ordinary people were not qualified to stay there. As a result, the risk of being robbed by bandits along the way was greatly reduced.

"Brother Yan, please convey my gratitude to Lord Zhou."

Zhong Xuan decisively let these men from the fast-track class come inside and put their things down.

These items are indeed what he needs right now. Since Magistrate Zhou is willing to give them to him, he should accept them generously. If he doesn't accept them, then he will be slapping Magistrate Zhou in the face.

As everyone moved the items into the house, Zhong Xuan took the opportunity to open the calligraphy and paintings.

The words written above were the two lines he had recited yesterday.

"Magistrate Zhou's handwriting... he still needs to practice."

Zhong Xuan gave it a fair assessment in his mind.

of course.

He didn't say it aloud.

The courtyard was full of government officials. Even if this wasn't considered a bad review, to the head of a county, anything that wasn't a compliment was considered bad.

Zhong Xuan knew the saying that trouble comes from the mouth, so he naturally wouldn't invite unnecessary trouble for himself.

Yan Shuoting did not come that day, so he only said that he had heard about what happened.

"Lord Zhou was in high spirits after he returned yesterday."

"He dragged the clerk and the registrar into the yamen to write Brother Zhong's memorial, scrutinizing every word and phrase, and wrote it all night long!"

He has been working in the government office for so many years.

This is the first time I've seen Magistrate Zhou so concerned about something.

Even a shrewd person like Magistrate Zhou values ​​Zhong Xuan so much, so naturally he wants to cling to his coattails:

"Brother Zhong, you are talented in both literature and martial arts. You'll probably become a scholar this year. Don't forget your little brother when that happens."

This might have been considered flattery in the past.

But today it's genuine.

Yan Shuoting was not well-versed in literature and did not know Zhong Xuan's literary talent, but he was convinced of his martial arts skills.

Who knows, he might actually pass the imperial examination this year.

Passing the imperial examination truly meant that one person's success could bring prosperity to their entire family and friends.

"Thank you for your kind words, brother."

'

Zhong Xuan smiled and agreed.

......

......

Seven days later.

In an elegant courtyard in Yongning Prefecture.

"Old Cui, take a look at this memorial submitted by Baisha County. I didn't expect that Zhou Ankang, that kid, to have some literary talent."

An old man chuckled and handed a memorial to Cui Bai, who was standing to the side.

This man was the prefect of Yongning Prefecture.

The memorials submitted by the counties to the imperial court could not directly reach the emperor's ears. They first had to go to the prefecture, then to the state, and then be reviewed by the Six Ministries and the Directorate of Ceremonial before they could appear on the Emperor's desk.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for a county magistrate to file a lawsuit against the prime minister.

The old master of the Cui family took the memorial.

This is a letter announcing good news.

This is the most common type of memorial submitted to the emperor at the county level in Qingguo.

After all, what important matters could a county magistrate possibly report to the Dragon Emperor?

Naturally, it could only be to announce good news.

At most, the content reported in the memorials was quite novel.

"An old man in his sixties has accumulated a wealth of experience and now he is able to bring about a complete transformation of the village... The stream in front of the door still flows westward, so let's not let our white hair sing the song of the yellow rooster."

Cui Bai looked at the last sentence of the memorial and laughed, then cursed:

"That bastard Zhou Ankang has done it again, plagiarizing poems."

"Don't I know how little knowledgeable he is?"

"If it weren't for that old bastard Xu Dongshan's persistent nagging, I would never have let him pass the provincial examination when I was in charge of it."

He could tell at a glance that these two sentences were not written by Zhou Ankang at all.

Now.

The prefect of Yongning also became interested.

"Mr. Cui, who do you think wrote it?"

Cui Bai remained silent.

A figure flashed into his mind.

I never expected that my casual act back then would lead to news of Zhong Xuan again several months later.

"This person and I have a special connection."

......

......

June.

The sun is getting hotter and hotter.

Zhong Xuan was wearing a single shirt and enjoying the cool air in the courtyard.

He is no longer as weak as before; his body is now muscular, though not quite to the point of being a demonic, fleshy man, but still quite strong.

"Two more months."

"You need to practice more."

Zhong Xuan stood up, and with a light tap of his toes, he leaped over the courtyard wall.

The Zhong family's courtyard wall was already higher than the others, a full thirteen feet high.

In less than a quarter of an hour.

Zhong Xuan then arrived at a valley ten miles outside the village.

"My leg strength has improved."

The most important aspect of agility is leg strength; those skilled in light-body techniques can travel three hundred miles in a day or night.

In addition to these, there is also the ability to dodge and move with agility.

According to the booklet, one must practice until one can walk on water, like a white crane gliding across a lake, to be considered to have entered the door.

Simply practicing hard won't work; the key is to combine it with the bone-strengthening methods and light-body breathing techniques recorded in "Crane Soaring Through the Void."

"After my physical constitution improved, cultivating the Crane Leap Through the Void became much easier."

His physical constitution was comparable to that of a Xuan-level cultivator, and it was only because his crane-like bones were perfectly compatible with this technique that he still found it difficult.

"I wonder what grade this technique is."

Zhong Xuan gazed at the wide, clear lake in the valley, which was at least thirty feet wide.

Stepping on the bluestone on the shore, I gather strength in my toes.

Snapped!

The pebbles beneath his feet snapped in two, and the crane bones within his body aligned perfectly with the Crane's Flight Lightness Skill.

next moment.

His body moved like an arrow released from a bow, and the moment his toes touched the water's surface, ripples spread out.

"rise!"