The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 416 I Look Like My Uncle
Pan Jun raised an eyebrow, "Can I have a bowl of big bone meat?"

Zhu Qiyu was very generous and nodded, "Okay."

Pan Yun immediately said to the store owner: "Give me another bowl of pork bones!"

Xue Shao said: "Give me a bowl too."

Seeing that they all wanted some and that it seemed delicious, Zhu Qiyu said to the shopkeeper, "Give me three bowls."

Three extra-large bowls of meat with bones were served. The heavy meat was loosely attached to the bones. When poked lightly with chopsticks, the meat bounced a few times and almost fell off the bones.

Each person’s bowl was filled with two large pieces of meat and bones, as well as soup.

The store owner brought over a small bowl of chopped green onions and asked them to add as they pleased.

Pan Yun and Xue Shao both grabbed a handful of chopped green onions and sprinkled them into the bowl, then lowered their heads to drink the soup.

The pork bone soup with pepper and chopped green onions is heart-warming.

Zhu Qiyu followed their example and added a handful of chopped green onions. He lowered his head to drink the soup, his eyes slightly bright, "It's a delicious soup."

Xue Shao said: "At first, the store only sold dumplings, and business was average. Later, after being advised by someone, the store used bones to make soup and cook dumplings, and business improved a lot."

"I was advised to sell bone soup with dumplings at one cent a bowl. Then I was advised to select large bones with meat for soup. Besides dumplings and soup, I could also sell bone meat."

Zhu Qiyu was stunned and asked, "How do you know?"

Xue Shao smiled and said, "You'll understand after you eat more."

Pan Jun took a sip of soup slowly and asked, "Who is that person?"

Zhu Qiyu didn't react for a moment: "Who?"

Xue Shao: "Former Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple."

Pan Yun started to pay attention. There were only three tables of people at the stall, including them. The other two tables had officials at one table, wearing official robes.
The people at the other table didn't look like ordinary people either. Their arms were thicker than the average person's legs.

"Is this place close to the Dali Temple?"

Zhu Qiyu pointed to a house not far away and said, "Isn't that it?"

Pan Jun took a look, noted the location, and then looked away.

Zhu Qiyu: "The former Dali Temple Junior Official Xue Xuan?"

Xue Shao nodded.

Zhu Qiyu reacted and looked at Xue Shao with wide eyes, "You, you have a relationship with Xue Xuan?"

Xue Shao nodded: "It is somewhat related."

Zhu Qiyu: "I remember that your majesty has ordered that Xue Xuan cannot enter the capital during his lifetime, and his descendants for three generations are also not allowed to enter the government."

Xue Shao: "I'm not his son."

Zhu Qiyu breathed a sigh of relief, "Who are you then?"

"I'm his nephew."

Zhu Qiyu: "…Is there a big difference?"

Xue Shao: "Of course, we are not in the same household registration, so I can take the imperial examination and become an official."

Xue Shao paused, and in order to distance himself from Xue Xuan, he explained, "Seriously speaking, Xue Xuan should be considered my cousin, not my biological uncle. My father and he just have the same grandfather."

Zhu Qiyu still looked at him silently. Aren’t they close to each other since they have the same grandfather?

Xue Shao lowered his head to drink the soup, then used chopsticks to peel the meat and eat it.

Pan Yun poured a little vinegar into a dish, peeled the meat, ate a bite of the meat in its original flavor, and then dipped it in a little vinegar.

Xue Shao turned his head to look at her, "Is it delicious with vinegar?"

Pan Yun nodded: "It's delicious. It would be even better if it had some spicy sauce."

Xue Shao said: "I heard that there are places in Shu that use dogwood fruit to make sauce. It tastes spicy and is often eaten with soy sauce, vinegar, etc. It is commonly known as spicy pepper."

Pan Yun's mouth watered with delight after hearing this and he ate even more happily.

Zhu Qiyu: "...But Master Pan, aren't you from Jiangnan? People in Jiangnan also...like spicy food?"

Pan Yun said: "I am from Jiangxi, I can eat spicy food."

Xue Shao also nodded, "The food in Jiangxi is spicier than that in Nanzhili."

Zhu Qiyu was envious when he heard that they were familiar with local customs. "I wish I could travel around and study like you guys."

Pan Yun sighed and said, "It's true that people in the city envy those who stand outside the city, and people outside the city look at people in the city. We envy you for having no worries about food and clothing, a life of wealth and no grievances."

Zhu Qiyu: "How can there be anyone in this world who has never been wronged? Even the emperor has to suffer injustice."

"He is different," Pan Yun said, "Those who do great things always have to suffer great injustices."

Zhu Qiyu had wanted to ask, "You knew he was the emperor, so why didn't you want to kowtow?"

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm not unwilling to kowtow," Pan Yun refused the hat and said quickly, "I just don't want to recognize him today."

"Why?"

"Because it's hard to talk," Pan Yun said, counting on his fingers, "If he were the emperor, I would be his subject. There are many things that a subject cannot do to his emperor, and there are many things that cannot be said. I haven't learned those etiquettes yet, and I really want to say them, so I can only deny them for the time being."

Pan Yun said, "Your Highness Prince Qing, when we go back to see the emperor, please explain to me and say a few nice words. Don't hurt my second brother because of me."

Zhu Qiyu smiled and said, "Your Majesty is not the kind of person who would vent his anger on others."

Pan Jun smiled and said nothing.

Xue Shao did not say anything. They both lowered their heads to eat meat, thinking to themselves: If he had not taken his anger out on others, Xue Xuan's unjust case would never have happened.

Zhu Qiyu's experiences today were very strange. He didn't know why, but he liked Xue Shao and Pan Yun very much.

Especially towards Xue Shao, perhaps because he had bought articles from him three times and had experienced a day together that was quite strange compared to the past, he felt very close to him.

So Zhu Qiyu not only treated them to dumplings and big bones, but also took off his purse and gave it to Xue Shao.

Xue Shao tried to push him away, but he held him down tightly.

He said seriously, "Although I don't know why you, as Xue Xuan's nephew, are so short of money, the Spring Examination is coming soon, and you should focus on studying. This amount of money is not much, and I will send someone to send you some later. You don't have to worry. You can pay me back after you finish the Spring Examination."

He smiled and said, "I think with your ability, you will definitely be admitted to high school. If you are admitted to high school, why worry about money coming in?"

Pan Yun sighed: "Studying is really good. Even the prince who is not interested in worldly things knows that the imperial examination can make money."

Xue Shao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He couldn't refuse and could only accept it. However, he still explained: "My family is not rich, but we are not short of money for the exam. I just spent all the money. As for my uncle..."

He paused and said helplessly: "Why do you all think that the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple is rich?"

"In fact, my uncle's family is not as wealthy as mine."

Pan Yun immediately said, "It can be seen that Xue Qian Shaoqing is an honest person. In the Ming Dynasty, it is harder for a truly honest official to become wealthy than for a juren to pass the imperial examination. But in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, it is harder for an official to be honest than to ascend to heaven."

Zhu Qiyu: ... He didn't know how to respond, so he pushed the purse back with all his strength, "Whether you need it or not, just take it first, and return it to me after you pass the palace examination."

For this, Zhu Qiyu gave him a jade pendant from his waist and said, "If you want to see me, take this jade to the palace."

Xue Shao was forced to take the two things, and before he could say anything else, Zhu Qiyu strode away on his own.

Pan Yun and Xue Shao stood together and watched him run away in a hurry.

Pan Jun couldn't help but sigh: "What a good person~~"

Xue Shao tilted his head to look at her, "But I saw that you didn't seem to like him very much before."

"I hate the rich. I don't like people who are more powerful and richer than me."

"Really?" Xue Shao smiled and said, "Not at all."

"Then you don't know me well enough."

Seeing her turn around and walk towards the north of the city, Xue Shao followed her with a puzzled look on his face, "It's getting dark, aren't you going home yet?"

Pan Yun: "I have to get my things back before going home."

"what?"

Pan Jun winked at him slyly, "What do you think?"

Pan Jun called out, "Pan Xiaohei!"

A black cat jumped down from the roof and landed in her arms with a plop.

Pan Yun carried the banner in one hand and held the fat cat in the other and returned to the alley where Wang Zhen's house was.

She touched Pan Xiaohei's back and said in a low voice, "Go, bring out the things that belong to us. Tomorrow I will buy you some small fish and fry them for you myself."

Pan Xiaohei kicked his legs and bounced out. After a few kicks, the whole cat disappeared over the wall.

Xue Shao: "...What a smart cat."

Pan Yun smiled complacently.

The two of them leaned against the wall with their arms folded, each in silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Xue Shao said, "The emperor is very tolerant of you. In order to maintain this trust, you'd better not mention the unjust case."

Pan Yun: "If it wasn't for overturning the verdict, why would I go to so much trouble to gain his trust?"

Xue Shao: "I can bring it up."

Pan Yun turned her head to look at him, "You are really a good person. I mentioned that I am Pan Hong's daughter, so I can be said to be filial. After the failure, he at most drove me to Datong for exile. That was where I was supposed to be, so it can be considered a return to my original position."

"But you are different. You are not implicated by Xue Xuan. You have finally passed the imperial examination and become a Jinshi. If you fail to overturn this case, not only will you be stripped of your fame, but you may also be imprisoned or exiled. Like your uncle, you will never be able to enter the capital and become an official."

For a scholar, this is equivalent to ruining his future.

At Xue Shao's age, his life has reached its end before it even began.

Xue Shao smiled at her and said, "My family is a little different from other gentry families."

Pan Jun: "What's the difference?"

"The rich want power, and the powerful not only want money, but also want more power." Xue Shao said: "So, everyone wants to take the imperial examination, everyone wants to be an official, and after becoming an official, they want to become a higher official."

"But my Xue family has been teaching and educating people for generations, and we don't aim to become officials." Xue Shao said: "My grandfather died young. He was a teacher before he died. My father has lived with my great uncle's family since he was a child."

"My great uncle was called the Priest. He served as a Priest in nine different places. The shortest tenure was three years. It can be said that he taught in different places throughout his life."

"My father is also a teacher now. He inherited the legacy of my great-uncle. My uncle was very smart since he was young. He grew up in the county school. He could recite the "Elementary School" and the Four Books by heart when he was six or seven years old. He could write poems and essays when he was eleven years old. He was famous far and wide."

"But he never thought about taking the imperial examinations, nor did he ever think about becoming an official."

Pan Yun became curious, "Then how did he become the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple?"

Xue Shao smiled and said, "Because when my great-uncle was a teacher in Yanling County, no one had passed the imperial examination since his predecessor, and he tried hard for two years but failed to train a juren."

"According to the imperial court's decree, if no one in a place passed the imperial examination for a long time, the local teacher would be exiled to a remote place to serve. My great-uncle didn't want to be exiled, so he let my uncle take the exam."

"He started taking exams the following year, from the Tongsheng exam to the Xiucai exam. In August, he took part in the provincial exam and was ranked first in Henan Province in the Gengzi year. The following year, he entered the Beijing imperial examination and was ranked first."

Pan Jun opened his mouth wide.

Although she did not take the imperial examination, she knew how difficult it was, and even more so how difficult it was to pass it.

Many talented people who are famous all over the world have to take the provincial and metropolitan examinations two or three times, and some may even fail repeatedly.

It is rare to find someone like Xue Xuan who can pass the round.

I am so jealous. Others may worry about the exam for three to five years, or even ten years, but it only took him one year from the time he decided to take the exam to the time he completed the whole process.

Pan Yun praised it with admiration.

Xue Shao said: "My uncle has no intention of becoming an official. Once he becomes an official, he will just fulfill his duties and do his job."

"So even though he was dismissed from his post and driven out of the capital, he was actually not sad at all. He was very happy and contented in his hometown."

"Then why do you come to seek justice?"

Xue Shao said helplessly: "Because Yue and He and others died unjustly, this is what uncle is worried about."

"He knew why he was dismissed from office. He lost and he was not angry or dissatisfied. He just felt sorry for the injustice done to Yue and He."

Xue Shao said: "I think he is really upset, so I want to come and seek justice for him."

"Like my uncle, I don't value fame and honor very much. After redressing my grievances, if I am driven out of the capital, I will just not be able to enter a city."

"And I have been to the capital, and I already have memories of it in my mind. Although I won't be able to witness its changes in the future, this regret is not worth mentioning."

Pan Yun: "In other words, you don't mind being stripped of your honor and driven out of the capital?"

Xue Shao smiled and nodded, "I don't mind."

"What if I'm exiled?"

Xue Shao said: "I don't mind. I didn't commit a serious crime and I'm young. There will always be a chance for me to escape through amnesty. Besides, I still have an elder brother at home. My parents don't have to rely on me alone. Exile won't be a big psychological torture for me."

Pan Yun gave him a thumbs up, and after a pause, he said, "Since you said so, I will be disrespectful to refuse. I will leave this matter to you."

Xue Shao agreed immediately, "Okay, I like people like you who don't refuse. Refusing is a waste of effort."

Pan Yun nodded, "I think so too, but I still want to remind you, my second senior brother said that this unjust case itself involves a court struggle. If it is brought up in public, although it can force the emperor to conduct a thorough investigation, it will cause an uproar, and I'm afraid many people will die."

Xue Shao said: "So I have to thank you for letting me see the emperor today. I will find an opportunity to bring it up."

Not only did he have the opportunity to take the palace examination, he also had the opportunity to attend the palace banquet after the examination.

Seeing him like this, Pan Jun raised her eyebrows and asked, "Are you so confident that you can pass the exam?"

Xue Shao said: "People in my hometown say that I look like my uncle."

(End of this chapter)