Chapter 1002

Three days, Feng Hongde estimated Xue Wen had run no farther than Guangzhou Prefecture—a down-on-his-luck Provincial Graduate, accompanied only by a servant boy and his eloped junior sister, who even with help from Chaozhou could only afford a private lodging, let alone the higher-priced Guangzhou Prefecture.

To survive, he must do something.

Feng Hongde was confident that as soon as he arrived in Guangzhou Prefecture, he would find the man.

How dare he deceive me!

Dark flashes passed through Feng Hongde's eyes—he would surely tear the man into a thousand pieces and feed the corpse to dogs.

The steward's belly still ached faintly; he dared not press further, since the master was well-acquainted with the Regional Commander, and he could always find some excuse to brush it off later.

As long as he left the house, that was enough—he truly couldn't endure this anymore; day after day, life was truly unbearable.

The master and servant had no idea they had already been in Guangzhou Prefecture for three days.

From Chaozhou Prefecture to Guangzhou Prefecture, for Pan Yun, was merely the span of an hour.

Had it not been for the Jin Yi Wei's constant exclamations of awe, Pan Yun's vanity had swelled so much that she deliberately slowed down—she could have compressed the time to under half an hour.

They reached the summit before noon and arrived at Guangzhou Prefecture's city gate before the afternoon hour.

While Feng Hongde was announcing the list of those who passed the literary exam on the stage, unable to find Xue Shao's name, the group was already strolling down Guangzhou's streets.

Guangzhou Prefecture's city gate was unusually strict, inspecting travel permits from both southbound and northbound travelers.

Pan Yun's group had rarely encountered such strict checkpoints along their journey.

It was said this was to prevent sea pirates from slipping inland through Guangzhou City.

But this posed no obstacle to the Jin Yi Wei.

An Chen patted himself and pulled out a travel permit.

He selected two and handed them to Xue Shao and Pan Yun.

The other Jin Yi Wei needed no prompting—each patted himself and produced a brand-new, flawless travel permit, their identities varied wildly, yet all guaranteed entry into Guangzhou City without arousing suspicion.

Pan Yun glanced at the physical description on the permit and thought it resembled her closely; she couldn't help asking, "Was this made specially for me?"

"No," An Chen said, "some standard descriptions are deliberately vague—on a quick glance, eight out of ten people fit. The other two don't match because they're either extremely ugly or have obvious facial marks."

An Chen glanced at her and added, "If the State Preceptor wishes to customize a permit, it's possible—but it will take some time."

An Chen looked up at the sun. "At least half an hour, because the permit must be aged after making it, or the city gate guards will grow suspicious."

Pan Yun waved her hand quickly. "No need—I was just curious, asked out of idle thought."

Why waste time waiting when ready-made ones are available? It's not something used daily, and they weren't in Guangzhou to sightsee—there might be more identity changes ahead; a custom permit would see little use, and the thought of wasting money on it pained her.

Pan Yun said, "Let's use the saved time to eat. I've heard Guangzhou has many delicacies—come, this Daoist will treat you!"

Now that you've called yourself a Daoist, who would really let you pay?

In the end, Xue Shao paid—he was the richest at the moment; all six Jin Yi Wei, including Pan Yun, together had less liquid cash than he did.

Once so poor he could only afford Pan Yun a private lodging, Xue Shao netted sixty-six taels of silver after the Piaoxiang Pavilion poetry gathering, and even sold the one-year personal dining package offered by Piaoxiang Pavilion—a single plaque fetched one hundred taels.

It was said the buyer was a merchant desperate to enter the scholar-gentry class, who bought it for his son.

The day after Xue Shao sold the plaque, his rich-son heir wore it to Piaoxiang Pavilion. This connection was arranged by their landlord, who earned five taels as a commission from Xue Shao.

A five percent commission—Pan Yun winced just thinking about it.

That sum could cover their stay in the landlord's courtyard for 125 days; if paid monthly, Pan Yun was confident they could stay even longer—two rooms, at least half a year.

But the person was introduced by the landlord; before him, Piaoxiang Pavilion's regular patrons had kept the plaque price under thirty taels.

Xue Shao earned ninety-five taels, the landlord earned five. According to the landlord's report, the rich-son heir successfully enrolled in the county school on the third day after receiving the plaque—he had gone to Piaoxiang Pavilion, used the plaque to ascend to the third floor, and happened to meet the county school's instructor.

The rich-son generously donated funds for dormitories and books to the school; the instructor then allowed him to audit classes in preparation for next year's tongsheng exam.

This deal was a four-way win—everyone got what they wanted.

Only the organizer, Piaoxiang Pavilion, suffered—according to the landlord, later someone heard shouting from the back courtyard, faintly catching the words "refund."

Xue Shao had money, and he was naturally generous; since he was treating everyone to a meal, he wouldn't pick just any place.

The Jin Yi Wei excelled at finding routes and gathering information; soon they located Guangzhou's most bustling, best-reputed restaurant.

It wasn't the most expensive, but it was certainly the most crowded and best-informed.

An Chen stopped and asked, "Lord Xue, how is this place?"

Xue Shao nodded in satisfaction. "Good."

At this time, Guangzhou Prefecture was not yet the international metropolis of later eras; its cuisine variety was limited, and dishes were mostly local flavors.

Guangzhou locals preferred light tastes, seeking the natural freshness and beauty of ingredients.

Unfortunately, most of their group were northerners who favored bold flavors and were momentarily unaccustomed—except Pan Yun.

Pan Yun ate with great relish, making up an excuse: "I'm from Jiangnan."

"Changzhou's taste is sweet, but you're only ancestral to Changzhou—you were born and raised in Jingcheng, where tastes are salty; later you went to Mount Sanqing, where Jiangxi's flavors are also salty and spicy, yet here in Guangzhou you eat with delight," Xue Shao looked up at her and concluded, "I think you're just not picky."

Pan Yun: "Is being unpickly bad? Like you all—you'd starve before me in famine years."

An Chen glanced at the dishes on neighboring tables. "Guangzhou's seafood is quite abundant."

Pan Yun: "August and September are the season for seafood—when else to eat it?"

As she spoke, Pan Yun didn't lower her voice; the neighboring table seemed to hear and turned to look at them, smiling: "That's true—Guangzhou's seafood is unmatched; we also prepare mountain delicacies excellently. Are you here for business, or just passing through?"

Xue Shao and Pan Yun exchanged glances, then smiled: "We're traveling scholars."

"Traveling scholars?" The neighbor quickly sized them up, his gaze settling on Xue Shao, and grew even warmer: "So you're a scholar—have you passed the imperial exams?"

Xue Shao said he was a Provincial Graduate.

The neighbor nearly jumped to sit beside Xue Shao.

Pan Yun cleverly stood up to clear a seat; after Xue Shao invited him, the man feigned slight reluctance, then immediately sat down at the second invitation, afraid he'd never be asked a third time.