The daily routine of the ancient imperial examination

When Lu Xiuyuan's heart was shaking.

Shi Yunchen who was behind him slightly raised the corner of his mouth, took a book from behind, and shook it at Lu Xiuyuan.

"Lu Erlang, I brought you the book you want to read."

Lu Xiuyuan turned his head to look, and found that the other party's hand was the Annotation of Chapters and Sentences of the Four Books that he had reviewed before.

His eyes lit up in an instant, he turned his head and saluted Doctor Xu embarrassedly, and without hesitation in his footsteps, he directly got into Shi Yunchen's carriage.

Shi Yunchen secretly laughed.

Doctor Xu, who was behind him, patted the car body angrily, sighed heavily, put down the curtain and sat back in the car.

Simply out of sight.

After Lu Xiuyuan sat down firmly, the rest of the people had already packed up, the wheels of the car creaked and turned, and the large army started to leave Ping'an Town.

Lu Xiuyuan in the carriage looked at Shi Yunchen, surprised in his heart, but pretended to be calm and said: "Didn't your elder brother say that you can only read it in the book store, wouldn't it be good for you to sneak it out?"

Shi Yunchen gave him a slight sideways look, "Isn't it because someone wanted to read it, so I went back to the bookstore to get it."

After hearing this, Lu Xiuyuan felt that the heartstrings in his heart were being plucked by a certain young master. He looked at the other party, and under the blessing of the book, he felt that Shi Yunchen was so kind and beautiful. Feeling moved, Lu Xiuyuan took the book and put it beside the carriage.

When Shi Yunchen saw that he put the book aside, he felt a little puzzled in his heart, and asked directly: "Lu Erlang, why don't you read the book after I brought it here for you?"

Lu Xiuyuan leaned back on the carriage cushion, thinking of his physique, he explained helplessly: "To be honest, I tend to get dizzy after reading in the carriage for a long time..."

When the other party heard his reason, he burst out laughing, "This carriage has been refitted to make it more stable. Will it make me dizzy?"

Lu Xiuyuan took a deep breath, and shook his head regretfully, "It's fine just sitting, but if you stare at an object for a long time, you'll get dizzy."

Only then did Shi Yunchen know that the other party would actually get motion sickness. Thinking of the long journey this time, he couldn't help but feel a little worried, "The journey will be delayed for at least ten days, can your body hold it?"

Looking at the other party's concerned eyes, Lu Xiuyuan thought for a while and said, "Don't worry about it. It won't take a few days. We probably have to get down and walk with our legs."

Shi Yunchen didn't believe what he said. The reason why he brought so many guards was to open the way for them and let their carriage run smoothly.

But believe it or not, five days after they set off, the road became more and more difficult.

In the first few days when they set off, there were post stations on the side of the road to provide them with recuperation. Afterwards, the land was deserted, the roads were all covered with ice and snow, and the surroundings looked deserted.

The driving speed became slower and slower, and finally at noon on the sixth day, the carriage stopped.

The reason for the stop was not only that the driver could not find the direction, but also that the road ahead had been covered with ice and snow, making it impossible to move on.

Seeing this, Lu Xiuyuan jumped out of the car and went to the front to find Dr. Xu. The two of them compared the two maps to find the correct route first.

The map in Dr. Xu's hand is a folk map, I don't know if it is accurate or not, but what Lu Xiuyuan has in his hand is the route map of his elder brother's previous departure from Shi Yunchen, which should be reliable.

The two of them compared and looked around. Some time ago, Yunzhang and the others just passed by here, and it is estimated that there will be another snowfall in the next few days, which will cover up the traces of their passing.

Combining the maps of the two of them, after finally determining the correct route, it was only through the subtle changes on the side of the road that they could barely make out the traces that Yunzhang and the others had walked before.

As long as the route is right, you can go with confidence.

Because there is too much ice and snow on the road, the carriage is prone to slipping, even if a chain is added, it cannot guarantee complete safety.

Lu Xiuyuan briefly told Shi Yunchen about the situation outside, and the other party put on a dark cloak and jumped out of the car after listening.

Shi Yunchen looked around, and waved his hands to tell the guards to quickly act as they said before.

When the guards found out that it was time for them to appear, they all rubbed their hands, ran to the carriage behind to find tools such as shovels, and started digging the soil on the side, spreading it on the road in the middle.

How far the guard shop is, how far the carriage goes.

Fortunately, this is the sandy soil in the northwest region. Otherwise, if it is sticky and thick frozen loess, the soil is as hard as ice, and they can just give up.

The speed of manual paving was very slow, so they drove for half a day, and it was getting late, so Lu Xiuyuan and the others hurried to find a suitable place to rest before the sun went down.

Fortunately, the weather has been relatively stable recently, and there is no heavy wind or snow. They finally stopped to rest temporarily at a shelter from the wind next to a high ground.

The carriage stopped, and several guards went around to find some branches and came back to light the fire.

Because on the road, eating and drinking were kept simple, Shi Yunchen only ate some snacks in the carriage, and after drinking a few sips of snow water from the snow, he stopped eating.

Lu Xiuyuan shared his scallion pancake with the young master, but the other party shook his head and said he had no appetite.

The conditions are difficult, and the young master can only be wronged for the time being.

Lu Xiuyuan reluctantly ate a few mouthfuls to fill his stomach. He opened the curtain and looked at the guards outside.

It was discovered that their food was actually relatively good, and the guards guarding the carriage could only eat steamed buns that were frozen hard, and gnawed two mouthfuls of snow when they were thirsty.

It's all for living, put down the curtain, seal the gap, Lu Xiuyuan went to Doctor Xu's carriage in front, squeezed with each other, and made do for another night.

It may be because of the cold weather, the surrounding is very quiet, and the night is safe until dawn.

The sky was bright and it was a new day. They followed the route on the map and continued to move forward. Finally, after walking for several hours, they could see the shadows of some villages in the distance.

Lu Xiuyuan saw that the name of the village ahead marked on the map was Xiaoxing Village, and there were other villages such as Daxing Village not far in front of Xiaoxing Village.

According to their current speed, they finally don't need to sleep in the wilderness tonight, and can spend the night in the village.

When Lu Xiuyuan told the guards about the situation, those people were instantly excited. Thinking that they could rest peacefully at the farmer's house in the village tonight, they began to shovel and pave the road with great enthusiasm.

Afterwards, they kept rushing non-stop, except for half an hour's delay in the break and meal, and the group of them finally arrived at Xiaoxing Village before dark.

Seeing the extremely quiet Xiaoxing Village covered in ice and snow, Lu Xiuyuan and Shi Yunchen looked at each other with an ominous omen in their hearts.

They parked the carriage at the entrance of the village, and Shi Yunchen sent two guards into the village to investigate the situation.

The two guards rushed into the village very happily at first. They walked on the street and found that all the houses around them were either collapsed by snow or the doors were wide open. After that, the smiles on their mouths gradually disappeared.

After feeling the deathly silence around them, they finally realized something was wrong. Their legs trembled a little, and they supported each other to check quickly. When they saw fresh graves on the edge of the village, one of the guards' legs went limp. Slumped to the ground.

The other person was taken aback by his actions, and the other person slapped him on the head directly, "Er Gouzi, can you still do it, you are so timid, be careful that the young master will not take you with you next time you go out!"

The guard named Ergou hurriedly got up, "The young master is only going out this time to be physically strong and able to exert great strength. What does this have to do with courage?"

……

After the two guards explored the village clearly, they went back and reported to Shi Yunchen.

The group of them stood at the entrance of the village, feeling a little heavy.

But now that the sun had set and it was getting dark, the group of people still entered the village and stopped to rest at a random house.

The guards were responsible for lighting the fire and cooking, and Lu Xiuyuan and the three of them hurried to check the place where the person was buried.

With the faint light, Shi Yunchen recognized the familiar characters on the wooden tablet, "This is written by my elder brother."

Dr. Xu stroked his beard, "It seems that the boss has already come, and he did a good deed."

After confirming the situation in the village, they returned to the previous place.

After a peaceful night, they passed by Daxing Village and other villages one after another.

Like Xiaoxing Village, all the people and animals in the village were frozen to death and buried on the edge of the village.

The guards also fell silent, no longer making jokes, and just shoveled the dirt along the way.

As he continued to move forward, the cold wind in front became more and more fierce, and after the tightly packed carriage no longer kept warm, Shi Yunchen couldn't bear the constant bumps, so he simply wrapped his cloak and walked on the ice outside.

After they survived this arduous journey, finally at noon on the tenth day, Lu Xiuyuan raised his head and was able to see the city wall on the far border with his naked eyes.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked around, "Is this the legendary Longmen Pass?"

Looking at the border town in the distance, like a winding dragon, blocking the invasion of the nomadic tribes in the north and protecting the safety of the people, Lu Xiuyuan felt emotional.

The guards also raised their heads one after another, looked at the city not too far ahead, rekindled their passion, and swung their shovels even harder.

Even if the soil has turned into loess, the enthusiasm of the guards will not change.

Finally, with everyone's efforts, they arrived at the gate of Longmenguan before dark.

Looking at the one-way city gate in front of them, the group of people drove the carriage and entered the city without hesitation.

This time, Yun Chen's carriage was in the front, leading the vehicles behind to the General's Mansion.

Lu Xiuyuan lifted the curtain and looked outside.

Many infected people lay pale and motionless on the straw mats by the side of the road. The woman and several children next to them were crying around these people.

The surrounding soldiers and doctors came and went, but there were too many sick people, and the outbreak suddenly occurred. There was not enough manpower at all, and the whole city was filled with mourning.

Shi Yunchen didn't dare to look at it, turned his eyes away, and urged the driver in front to go faster.

He couldn't wait to know how his brothers were doing.

The author has something to say: This chapter is mainly about transition.

Thanks to Yi Changan for the two bottles of nutrient solution~~Love launches biubiubiu!