met free Chapter 108 First arrival in the capital
Chapter 108 First arrival in the capital
The Chinese New Year is here again. This year, there are two more little kids in the family, and it is much more lively than last year.
When Shen An took Sun Liu to the Ren City for the first time, he brought him a wife.
She was sixteen years old. She was not very pretty and was thin, but she had a round face with two dimples when she smiled. Sun Liu fell in love with her at first sight.
She was sold from the south. I heard that her old father was ill all year round and they had no money to buy medicine, so they sold her.
After observing him for a few days, they found him to be an honest and capable man with no ulterior motives, so Li Shao and Zhao Ye held a simple wedding for them before the New Year. Sun Liu is now married.
In the days following the Chinese New Year, Li Shao and Zhao Ye had almost no free time.
The date of the imperial examination was set for April 11, and it would take at least half a month to get from Zhaojia Village to the capital.
Moreover, they were traveling with their family this time, and their two children were still young. After thinking for a while, Li Shao and Zhao Ye decided to leave in early February.
By arriving in the capital early, you can find a house to live in first, and your family can adapt to life in the capital earlier.
If Li Shao passed the imperial examination successfully, his family would most likely stay in the capital. Relatives and friends all invited them to get together before they left.
The Zhao family members also came several times. Every time Zhao's mother came, she basically said the same old things. She first hugged her two children and kept saying how reluctant she was to let them go.
Then she held Zhao Ye's hand and said that this young man was really destined to enjoy a good life. The capital city was a place that the villagers in their village dared not even think about in their lifetime. The farthest place she had ever been to was the town. The capital city was not like home, and she had to take care of herself when she was away.
Finally, behind Li Shao's back, she secretly told Zhao Ye to keep a close eye on her man. What kind of place is the capital? The girls and boys there are not comparable to those in their small place. In addition, her brother-in-law is so capable, those girls and boys will keep throwing themselves at him.
At first, Zhao Ye tried to comfort her by saying that her husband would definitely not do that. However, Zhao Ye could not stand her mother's nagging, so he had to agree with her and said that she would definitely take good care of her husband. Only then did Zhao's mother stop.
At the very end, he hugged Zhao Ye and cried, saying that if he became successful in the capital, he must not forget his parents at home. Only then was the whole process completed.
After meeting all the relatives and friends they needed to meet and arranging the family business, Li Shao and Zhao Ye took their two children, Shen An, and Shen Qing, and the six of them packed their luggage and set off in a carriage.
The journey to the capital was long, so Li Shao and his family followed the Liu family's caravan.
Boss Liu's eldest brother has a big business, and the family's caravan travels all over the country. One of the stops of this caravan happened to be in the capital, so Boss Liu took the initiative to ask Li Shao and the others to go along as it would be safer with more people.
Li Shao did not refuse his kindness. After thanking him, he said that his family was just following the caravan and they would take care of all the food and accommodation on the road by themselves.
Before setting off, I brought a lot of dry food, clean water and other things with me. The carriage was also covered with thick cushions, but traveling in a carriage is never very comfortable.
Originally, Zhao Ye was a little worried about whether the two children would cry or get sick, but he didn't expect that Li Han and Li Jin were so excited all the way.
Not only did he not have any difficulty adapting, but he was very energetic every day because he could see the outside world. Everyone in the caravan said that they had never seen such a strong and smart child.
Fortunately, the closer we get to the capital, the more prosperous it becomes, and there are many food stalls and inns where we can rest along the way.
The group walked and stopped like this for about half a month before finally arriving at the capital. Before entering the city, they separated from the caravan.
As we approached the city gate and looked up, we saw the towering city walls with battlements and corner platforms manned by soldiers.
The city gate is tall and wide, with the three big characters "Jinghua City" carved in the middle. There are three doors at the bottom. The largest door in the middle is closed, while the doors on the left and right are open, allowing people to enter from the left and enter from the right.
There were many soldiers wearing armor and wearing swords at their waists standing at the entrances and exits, checking the pedestrians and vehicles passing by.
This was Shen An's first time in the capital, and he couldn't help but sigh: "Boss, this capital is different, even the city gate is so majestic."
Zhao Ye and Shen Qing in the carriage also held their children and looked outside through the window, exclaiming in admiration.
Li Shao nodded, "Yes, after all, it is where the emperor lives."
"Boss, let's go line up to enter the city."
"Well, let's go."
After the two of them finished talking, they led the carriage and lined up at the back of the team. When it was almost their turn, Li Shao asked Zhao Ye and Shen Qing, who were in the carriage, to come out holding their children.
The inspection to enter Jinghua City is extremely strict. Not only the pass and identity documents are checked, but also the items inside the carriage are checked.
Li Shao brought his family with him and also had his ID as a military candidate, so the officers and soldiers did not make things difficult for them. After checking their documents and finding no problems, they asked a few simple questions and then let them go.
After entering the city gate, I saw wide and flat streets paved with bluestone, with pedestrians and vehicles bustling about. I could also see obvious foreigners, who might be merchants from other countries.
There are a wide variety of shops on both sides, as well as various stalls and street performers, and the crowd watching is cheering continuously.
Zhao Ye felt that his two eyes were not enough to see it all. "Wow! This is the capital city! It's so prosperous! So beautiful!"
Shen Qing on the side also echoed: "Yes! Husband, I used to think that Linhe County where I lived was prosperous enough, but now it seems to be far behind the capital!"
"It is really thanks to you and the boss that we can come to the capital to see the world."
Shen An chuckled and said, "Yes, without you two, we would never have the chance to come to the capital in this lifetime."
The two children were also watching intently, interested in everything, like two big caterpillars, trying desperately to escape from the adults' arms and stretching their bodies towards the lively places.
Zhao Ye and Shen Qing couldn't hold each other any longer, "Husband, husband..."
Li Shao quickly took the two children and held them steadily. After kissing each of them on the forehead, he said, "Since you all think the capital is good, then we will live here permanently. No matter what the result of the imperial examination is, our family will be here."
Zhao Ye stuck to Li Shao's side, looked up at his face, and said, "My husband, I'll do whatever you say. Wherever you are, the two children and I will be there."
"Yes, Master, my husband will follow you. Besides, you are so capable, so I'm sure you will have no problem taking the exam."
"Okay, let's find an inn to stay in first. We are all tired from the journey, so let's have a good rest today."
"I'll take Shen An out for a walk tomorrow. After we rent a house and settle down, we can go shopping slowly."
Then I found an inn with a reasonable price and relatively clean.
They asked for a big room for the four members of the Li family to live in, and a small room for Shen An and Shen Qing to live in.
Although a small room costs 300 wen a day and a large room costs 500 wen a day, hot water for bathing is included. Moreover, the inn has a cattle pen where you can store your horse for free, and if you pay another ten wen, the horse will be fed three times a day.
Li Shao felt that the price was acceptable, after all, this was the capital.
After all the hard work along the way, everyone was a little tired. After checking in, they simply packed up, took a shower, ate something, and went to bed early.