Chapter 560 Heading to Kyoto City

At the gate of Earl Sinan's mansion, the handsome young man took the visiting card, glanced at it briefly, and then stared at Su Mingzhe and the others with his beautiful big eyes:
"Su Mingzhe of Suzhou Su Clan? There is Suzhou, but there is Hangzhou?"

When Su Mingzhe heard the young man's question, he smiled and replied:

"There is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. If there is Suzhou, there is Hangzhou. Suzhou is west of Danzhou and Hangzhou is south of Danzhou, both are about a hundred miles apart."

Well, Danzhou, its location is roughly equivalent to the modern Magic City.

"That's really interesting."

When the young man heard Su Mingzhe's words, he immediately smiled innocently:

"Wait, I'll let you know."

As an outlet along the Yangtze River, Danzhou has a constant stream of ships going out to sea for business.

Some merchants related to the Sinan Earl's Mansion would come to pay their respects when they arrived in Danzhou.

Over time, this handsome young man got used to people coming to hand in visiting cards. After bowing to Su Mingzhe, he patted his butt, stood up, and walked towards the mansion.

Soon, a housekeeper came out to greet us and asked us to go and meet the old lady.

Su Mingzhe handed over the gift and gift list according to etiquette.

The housekeeper saw that Su Mingzhe had sent two small porcelain bottles, and he couldn't help but open the gift list and took a look. He saw the following words written on it:

Ten pills of “Jiuhua Yulu Pills” (can detoxify hundreds of poisons, can be applied externally or taken internally. External application requires dissolution with running water, while internal administration can be done by chewing and swallowing).

Ten pills of “Nine-Turn Essence-Nourishing Pill” (to dredge the meridians and activate blood circulation, increase Qi and nourish the essence. Warriors should take one pill every ten days, while ordinary people should take one pill every month).

"Young Master, this way please."

The butler took the gift list, handed the two porcelain bottles to the servant next to him, and then led the way.

The butler explained as he walked.

There are only two owners of the Earl Sinan Mansion in Danzhou, namely, Earl Sinan’s mother, Old Lady Fan, and Earl Sinan’s illegitimate son.

It is inconvenient for an illegitimate child to entertain guests, and the old lady is not in good health, so she can only invite Su Mingzhe to the backyard to meet her.

Su Mingzhe naturally didn't say much, and only said "thank you for leading the way" along the way.

Soon, the group of people passed the screen wall, walked through the corridor, and finally passed through a hanging flower gate before arriving at the backyard.

The handsome young man who had been standing at the door and delivering a message to Su Mingzhe was now standing aside, supporting an old lady with gray hair.

Judging from their appearance, this young man should be the illegitimate son of Si Nanbo mentioned by the housekeeper.

The butler came to the bottom of the stairs five steps, stopped, and first reported to the old lady, "The guests have arrived," and then introduced to Su Mingzhe:

"Mr. Su, this is the old lady of our Earl's Mansion."

"Su Mingzhe of the Su family, meet the old lady."

Su Mingzhe has spent hundreds of years in both the worlds of "Soul Ferry" and "Sito". He is no stranger to ancient etiquette and bowed deeply in greeting.

The old lady saw that Su Mingzhe did not kneel, but did not take it seriously. She just smiled and waved her hand, indicating that Su Mingzhe should not be polite. They went into the house and sat down together. A maid served tea, and then the old lady asked:
"Mr. Su, where did you come to Danzhou from?"

"To answer the old lady, I just came back from overseas."

Su Mingzhe explained the fabricated information and then said with a smile:

"My master said that although my parents have passed away, I don't need to serve them. But as a child, I should behave myself and make a name for myself in the future to honor my parents. This is the ultimate filial piety. I am also ready to follow my master's arrangements and come back to take the imperial examination."

Su Mingzhe said this half-truthfully.

He was indeed planning to find an excuse to "take part in the imperial examination" and go to the capital of Nanqing for a trip.

In ancient times, people emphasized "learning literary and martial arts and selling them to the emperor's family."

To outsiders, it seemed very reasonable for Su Mingzhe to go out and learn skills for ten years and then come back to serve the court.

However, Su Mingzhe was not planning to take part in any imperial examinations.

After all, after taking the imperial examination, one must kneel down and kowtow three times and six times to deal with the messy human relationships in officialdom.

Su Mingzhe has no relatives or friends in this world to take care of, so naturally he doesn't want to have any more ties to himself.

"Yes, filial piety begins with serving one's parents, continues with serving one's ruler, and ends with establishing oneself."

After hearing what Su Mingzhe said, the old lady nodded approvingly and said with a smile: "You are a good child for listening to your master."

As the old lady spoke, she turned around and looked at her grandson beside her, as if to say, you are also a good child.

The handsome young man responded with a sunny smile, which made people feel like they were in the spring breeze and in a good mood.

After they chatted for a while, a maid came over to report that the dinner was ready.

The old lady used the excuse of feeling unwell and not being able to sit for long, so she asked her grandson to entertain the guests.

The handsome young man then introduced himself:

"Brother Su Shi, my name is Fan Xian. I grew up in Danzhou. I am not familiar with the customs and etiquette. Please forgive me for my poor hospitality."

Fan Xian's words were not polite at all.

Although he grew up in the Earl of Sinan's mansion and was taught by two masters, in terms of literature and etiquette, he really relied entirely on his memories of his past life to get to where he is today.

Among his two masters, one of them was Fei Jie, the chief director of the Third Department of the Nanqing Inspection Institute.

As a master of poison, Fei Jie taught Fan Xian the knowledge of "medical skills" and "poison skills".

The other master was Wu Zhu, the bodyguard left to him by his mother Ye Qingmei.

Wuzhu's way of teaching him was quite special. He would hit him with an iron rod to train his reaction and ability to withstand blows.

Therefore, when Fan Xian said that he was not familiar with worldly etiquette, it was naturally not a polite remark. Su Mingzhe also knew this, but at this time, he just thought he was being modest.

Afterwards, Fan Xian took Su Mingzhe to the side hall for a banquet.

As for the four maids, Xiaojin, Xiaoye, etc., they were taken to the west wing where the guests were resting.

At the banquet, Fan Xian was like a curious baby, chasing Su Mingzhe to ask about the geography and humanities of this world.

Su Mingzhe was very forthcoming and told Fan Xian everything he knew.

Su Mingzhe can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, while Fan Xian can drink wine like water.

The banquet, with this kind of friendly communication, lasted until late at night.

Only after the food and drinks on the table had been changed twice did Su Mingzhe offer to leave.

On the second day.

After Su Mingzhe got up, washed up, had breakfast, he went to see the old lady and said goodbye.

The old lady was considerate of Su Mingzhe who had been away from home for a long time and was homesick, so she did not try to keep him.

However, when Su Mingzhe left, the old lady asked the butler to go to the warehouse to pick out some gifts as a return gift, and finally gave him a carriage as a means of transportation.

Su Mingzhe did not refuse these gifts.

There is give and take, this is the principle of family interactions and ongoing friendship.

As the host, Fan Xian accompanied Su Mingzhe all the way to the city gate before waving goodbye.

Su Mingzhe waited until Danzhou City was getting farther and farther away from him, and then he couldn't help but mutter to himself:
"This Fan Xian is not evil..."

After leaving Danzhou, Su Mingzhe and his group of five drove a horse-drawn carriage and arrived in Suzhou that evening.

When the Su family members heard the news that Su Mingzhe had returned, they all came to visit him.

When everyone saw Su Mingzhe dressed in luxurious clothes and having four beautiful maids serving him, the ordinary people in the tribe all showed envious expressions.

Those direct descendants of the Su family also came forward to ask about the results of Su Mingzhe's ten years of studying abroad.

Su Mingzhe was worldly-wise and knew what these people wanted to see, so he didn't hide anything and just waved his palm towards the empty place.

It seemed like a light palm strike, but the palm wind was so swift that it smashed a large bluestone at the door into pieces.

When everyone was stunned and at a loss, Su Mingzhe smiled and said:

"I have been learning literature and martial arts from my master for ten years. In terms of knowledge, I have only read the Four Books and Five Classics, and some miscellaneous books. Because I did not seek to understand them thoroughly, my knowledge is still relatively shallow. However, my martial arts talent is still acceptable, and now I have reached the ninth rank. My master told me that if I want to be promoted from the ninth rank to a grandmaster, I need to temper my mind in the mortal world. So I bid farewell to my master and came back to travel around the world and gain some experience."

The answer that Su Mingzhe gave to his clansmen was completely different from the answer he gave to Old Madam Fan in Danzhou.

This is what it means to speak human words to human beings and speak lies to ghosts.

When facing Mrs. Fan, Su Mingzhe expressed his respect for teachers and filial piety.

The old lady felt extremely comforted after hearing this.

Facing these tribesmen whom he had not seen for many years, Su Mingzhe showed his power.

Seeing how powerful Su Mingzhe was, these tribesmen dared not underestimate him.

When Su Mingzhe left Suzhou, the family property that he asked the patriarch to manage was immediately sent back.

This is the sophistication of the world.

That night, at the invitation of the clan leader, Su Mingzhe attended a welcoming dinner.

In the following half month, Su Mingzhe received visiting relatives and friends while sorting out the property left by his "parents".

As for the authenticity of Su Mingzhe's identity, it's not that no one has doubted it.

After all, 'I left home when I was young and returned when I was old', 'I don't recognize old friends when I meet them'.

There will definitely be people who question the authenticity of Su Mingzhe's identity.

However, even if someone raised doubts, Su Mingzhe would not have to pay any attention.

After all, he is now a martial arts master of the ninth rank and is only one step away from becoming a grandmaster.

Although this one-step distance blocked countless geniuses, but relying on his status as a martial arts master above the ninth rank, no one dared to accuse or question him to his face.

By mid-July.

Su Mingzhe took the pass, bid farewell to the Su family members, and headed to the capital of Nanqing to take part in the imperial examination.

The imperial examinations are divided into civil examinations and military examinations, both held every three years.

(The novel says it happens once a year, but once a year is too frequent, so the top scholar is not worth much. Here it is changed to once every three years, which is relatively realistic.)
Among them, the literary examination was divided into two rounds. The first one was the provincial examination held in various counties. If you passed the examination, you would get the status of a scholar.

Then he took his scholar certificate and went to Kyoto to take part in the imperial examination.

Because the civil service examination was held in February or March in spring, it was also called the Spring Examination.

There was only one martial arts examination, which was held at the training ground of the Kyoto City Guards.

The time is set in August or September in autumn, so it is also called the Autumn Examination.

The civil and military examinations were not held in the same year.

In order to show that it attached great importance to literature, the imperial court usually held the civil examination first and then the military examination.

The most recent civil service examination was taken last year.

This year it’s the martial arts examination’s turn.

(End of this chapter)