Chapter 6: Shared Misery

The old man driving the cart spoke a single sentence that plunged Huang Yu, who had boarded later, into silence.

Zheng Fa said nothing either; only the old man's long whip cracking in the wind remained.

Traveling quietly at a fast pace, an hour later, the ox cart arrived within Jingzhou City.

Inside and outside the city were like two different worlds.

The scenery outside the city consisted of vast stretches of farmland, open, spacious, yet desolate.

The living people occasionally seen were merely one or two farmers bent over working in the fields.

Although Jingzhou City was large, the dense flow of people on the streets made it appear cramped and crowded.

The three were walking along what was probably the main thoroughfare of Jingzhou City.

Shops lined both sides of the road, and many people were strolling about.

The Danzhu ox, capable of traveling a thousand li a day and majestic in strength, could only squeeze miserably through the crowd here, moving forward timidly like a small cat.

Huang Yu came to life at this moment; sitting in the cart, he leaned on the railing, stretching his neck to look at the shops on both sides.

The cloying sweet scent from the pastry shop made him swallow his saliva.

The small trinkets sold in the general store kept his eyes fixed.

The young ladies lingering in the silk shop made him, now fully conscious, steal glances at them, only daring to look back a couple more times once they had walked far away.

When he finally recovered from the excitement of entering the city, he realized that Zheng Fa, sitting steadily beside him, was also smiling and observing the bustling streets on both sides, yet did not appear as excited as he was.

As if sensing his gaze, Zheng Fa turned his head and looked at him curiously.

Huang Yu coughed lightly and sat up straight.

Zheng Fa smiled at him; a look of mixed shame and anger flashed across his face.

The ox cart crossed the main street and headed toward Xicheng.

"Jingzhou City has always had the saying: East is wealthy, West is noble, South is merchant, North is lowly. Our Zhao family is in the most noble Xicheng," the old man driving the cart said with no small amount of pride.

Indeed, the further west they went, the fewer pedestrians there were.

But this place was by no means desolate.

Instead, there were continuous deep courtyards and grand mansions with strict gates; ordinary commoners dared not stroll here at all.

Huang Yu, who had been somewhat excited earlier, now had a few traces of anxiety and caution on his face.

After walking for another half incense stick's time, they arrived before a courtyard.

Calling it a courtyard was an understatement; it was actually a vast, continuous, and magnificent complex of buildings.

Looking from the street, they could not even see where the white courtyard wall in front of them ended.

The many wealthy households they had passed earlier had already made Huang Yu feel awe-struck, but upon seeing this one, he still opened his mouth wide, a deep look of admiration appearing on his face.

At the main entrance of the courtyard stood two lions, each over two people tall, looking down at the passersby with a disdainful gaze.

On the plaque at the entrance were written the two characters Zhao Fu.

The ox cart did not stop at the main gate; instead, it went around the main gate, then around the side gate, finally stopping at an inconspicuous back door.

"You're here?"

A middle-aged man in the guise of a servant was already waiting at the door; seeing the old driver arrive, he immediately urged, "Hurry up! Huang Guanshi is waiting! Just waiting for the two of them!"

"Isn't it because they live the farthest away?"

That man waved, signaling for Zheng Fa and the others to follow: "If you ask me, these two are just here to fill the numbers."

The old man did not refute, merely snorting, "The Lady said everyone of this age in the family must come; do you dare leave one out?"

"Sigh, that's what I'm saying!"

Neither of the two men spoke with any intention of hiding their words from Huang Yu and the other.

Hearing this, Huang Yu felt it was grating; he opened his mouth as if wanting to refute.

But looking up at the high courtyard walls, a trace of embarrassment flashed across his face, and he actually closed his mouth and said nothing.

Yet his expression became even more uncomfortable; he shrank his head and shoulders, his movements constrained and awkward, as if he dared not even lift his feet while walking.

He turned his head again to look at Zheng Fa beside him, only to find that this person seemed not to have heard the words at all, leisurely observing the surroundings with an air of great curiosity.

"What are you pretending for?" Zheng Fa heard Huang Yu mutter quietly; out of the corner of his eye, he saw the boy secretly straightening his back.

Zheng Fa looked at the changing small expressions on Huang Yu's face and guessed a few of the young man's thoughts.

Whether it was Jingzhou City or the Zhao family compound, they were things he had never seen before; speaking from the heart, he was not without excitement in his heart either.

But compared to when he first arrived in the modern era, this stimulation was a bit smaller.

Moreover, he had seen skyscrapers with his own eyes.

He had seen such deep courtyards and grand mansions on television as well.

Now stepping into this courtyard, his state of mind was less one of inferiority and more one of novelty.

It felt like arriving at a tourist attraction.

Compared to Huang Yu, he naturally appeared more calm.

That servant led the two men to a clear lotus pond; at the end of the lotus pond stood a waterside pavilion built beside the pool.

"This is the Second Study of the mansion; you two go over there!" He pointed toward the main entrance of that waterside pavilion, stopped going forward, and only spoke to the two of them.

Huang Yu followed Zheng Fa across the plank walkway over the lake to the entrance of the waterside pavilion.

He discovered that dozens of youths of similar age to them were already standing before the door.

Seeing the two of them, those youths first looked them up and down.

Then, they unanimously ignored the two, almost gathering in groups of two or three, with almost no reaction.

Huang Yu ground his teeth secretly on the side.

Zheng Fa saw clearly that these were all competitors for the scribe boy position.

At this moment, if they had greeted the two of them with fear, or even hostility,

it would have been more gratifying to the youth Huang Yu than this indifference.

But after examining these youths closely, a trace of dejection appeared on Huang Yu's face, as if ashamed of his own inferiority, and he lowered his head.

Just look at their clothing.

Zheng Fa wore old, coarse cloth garments.

Huang Yu's were naturally a bit better, made from new cloth by his mother, but the material was also rough and hard.

Many of the youths here wore silk clothes; even if not silk, they wore neat Confucian robes.

This was something Huang Yu's family could not afford.

This alone was not enough to make him abandon all hope, after all, the scribe boy position was not determined by family wealth.

But the silk headbands on the heads of the three people at the gate made him truly unable to muster any thought of competition.

Having attended primary school for a few years, he already knew that only scholars who had obtained the Tongsheng title could wear silk headbands openly.

The attire of these three made it perfectly clear that they were people with official titles...

Precisely because he understood this point, despair truly took hold of Huang Yu's heart, and he finally understood what the old man had said:

So what if you attended primary school for a few years?

His primary school teacher was merely an old Tongsheng himself...

By now, the breath of courage he had mustered upon boarding the ox cart was like a vessel with a hole, leaking away bit by bit until it was completely gone.

He looked at Zheng Fa; Zheng Fa still wore that expressionless look, yet at this moment, Huang Yu felt no aversion.

He even vaguely felt a sense of shared misery.

He himself was already suffering so much.

Zheng Fa wore clothes even worse than his own and had attended school even less than he had.

He should... be in even more pain?

Feeling the kindness in the youth's eyes, Zheng Fa felt somewhat puzzled: he hadn't said a single word, so why did the youth look at him with such intimacy?

As for pain...

To be honest, Zheng Fa simply didn't know anything about silk headbands or otherwise.

Seemingly waiting specifically for Zheng Fa and the other, the moment they arrived, the tightly closed door before the youths opened, and a male servant walked out, addressing the crowd: "Line up and enter one by one!"

Inside the door, dozens of writing desks were arranged in several rows, with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones placed upon them.

Zheng Fa took a deep breath, feeling as if he had returned to the monthly exam; not only did he not feel panic, he even felt a familiar sense of security.