They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 2 There's a Monkey Under the Five Finger Mountain

Chen Guangrui breathed a sigh of relief after successfully delivering the letter to Wei Zheng's residence.

"Let's go! Let's go back to the inn!"

"Huh?" Chen An was a little confused, still wondering why "it's good to marry an ugly woman"?
"Brother, are we not going to the other officials' residences? We visited fifteen yesterday, why are we only visiting this one today?"

"I'm not going." Chen Guangrui weighed the jade pendant in his hand a few times. "Let's pawn this. It'll be enough for the next few days."

Before being granted an official position by the imperial court, the top scholar lived in a post station in Chang'an, where he needed forty to fifty coins of silver per day.

In the past few days, in order to pave the way for his visit to Wei Zheng, Chen Guangrui visited many officials and spent a lot of money, so he was running out of money.

In the morning, the postmaster had already given them a cold shoulder. When he returned at noon, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and said with a smile,

“Scholar, I know you’re busy, and I know you’ll be receiving your official salary in a few days, but there are some rules about this post station…”

Upon hearing this, Chen An, who was standing nearby, became displeased. "Hey? You know my brother is going to be appointed to an official position in a few days? Aren't you afraid that he'll get rid of you once he becomes a high-ranking official?"

The postmaster smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid! How could I not be afraid? It's just that rice is expensive in Chang'an, and it's not easy to stay here. Plus, the expenses for this post station are too high..."

Chen Guangrui didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he let Chen An pay the money. He just said lightly, "You, as the postmaster, are paid by the imperial court. The expenses of your post station are allocated by the state granary. If you are short of forty or fifty coins today, it will be difficult for you to stay here."

The postmaster didn't answer, but just smiled and said, "Scholar Chen, you've just taken office, and there are some things you might not know. In Chang'an, not only is rice expensive, but houses are even more expensive. Look at Wei Xima, he's already forty-seven and still renting a place in Yongxingfang. I'm afraid your salary will be..."

He somehow learned about Chen Guangrui's visit to Wei Zheng. As he spoke, he raised his eyebrows and slowly put his hands behind his back, as if he had a great understanding of the officialdom in Chang'an. Although Chen Guangrui was the top scholar in the imperial examination, he was still a novice in the officialdom.

This gesture made Chen An clench his fists in anticipation, and just as he was about to make a move, Chen Guangrui said with a smile.

"The postmaster's advice is correct. There is something to learn in every aspect of life. As a newcomer, there are still many things I haven't learned. I feel like a headless fly, which is really inappropriate."

As he spoke, he subtly handed the postmaster a string of silver coins.

Chen An watched from the side, his eyelids twitching. Their jade pendant hadn't brought them much money to begin with. They had just given the postmaster nearly a hundred coins, and now Chen Guangrui had spent another string on him. If they did the math, they really wouldn't have any money left.

He kept looking at his elder brother, meaning that as long as he spoke, he would definitely do it without hesitation.

But Chen Guangrui acted as if he hadn't seen it, still smiling at the postmaster.

"Wow, you're pretty quick-witted!"

The postmaster chuckled and slipped the string of silver coins into his sleeve.
"Learning more will definitely not be a mistake."

Chen Guangrui nodded again, "I just don't know... oh, I'm a slow learner, I just don't know how to learn."

"Look at that Imperial Censor Sun, he was the first top scholar in the imperial examination of our Great Tang Dynasty."

The postmaster, carried away by his pride, had barely uttered two sentences when he realized something was amiss. He fell silent, his gaze fixed on Chen Guangrui.

Chen Guangrui still had that smiling face and nodded very seriously. "I said, you, the postmaster, are a fifth-rank clerk without any official rank. Why are you speaking so confidently today? It turns out you have Imperial Censor Sun backing you up."

"But this post station has always been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War's Department of Transportation for assessment. Why did you listen to Censor Sun's words?"

He wasn't even looking at the postmaster; he was talking to himself.
"As officials who speak out, censors serve to supervise all officials and have always been separate from them."

“Sun Fujia is a fifth-rank Imperial Censor. Just two months ago, he submitted a memorial entitled ‘Three Remonstrances’, criticizing the Prince of Qin for having too much influence. He was reprimanded by the Emperor and resented by the Prince of Qin. If people find out that a postmaster is colluding with him, I wonder what others will think. Will they kill him?”

He sat there at the table, pouring water and talking to himself, looking like a top scholar who had just entered officialdom.

However, at this moment, the postmaster's expression had already turned somewhat grim.

“What are you saying, Scholar Sun? I know Censor Sun by nature. He lived here when he passed the imperial examination. It’s perfectly normal for me to mention Censor Sun.”

Chen Guangrui nodded. "Yes, yes, you're right. Then I guess I was overthinking it." As she spoke, she picked up her teacup, indicating that she was about to see the guest out.

The postmaster was about to explain something more, but seeing Chen Guangrui nodding and serving tea, he swallowed back the words he was about to say, gave her a deep look, and turned to leave.

"Hey? Chen An, did you see that string of cash I just had?"

Chen Guangrui muttered to himself, touching the sleeves of his robe as if he were searching very carefully.

The postmaster's lips twitched slightly, then he chuckled and pulled a string of coins from his sleeve. "Scholar, keep the change. I saw your money."

"Thank you, thank you. It's all my fault for being careless. I found the string of cash, but I don't know where the hundred coins went."

Watching the postmaster slink away, not only returning the one string of cash but also the hundred coins for the inn, Chen An was overjoyed.

"Bro, you're amazing! I almost punched that guy just now!"

"Also, who exactly is this Sun Fujia you were talking about? Why haven't we visited him in the last couple of days?"

Before Chen Guangrui transmigrated, he didn't have much of an impression of Sun Fujia, but since they both followed the imperial examination path, he had paid considerable attention to him. Hearing Chen An mention him, he didn't take it seriously, fiddling with the cup on the table.

"He is the top scholar before me. After being appointed to an official position, he stayed in the capital and served as a fifth-rank censor. He didn't run away or ask for anything, and he hasn't been promoted in the past few years. A while ago, he wrote a memorial entitled 'Three Remonstrances,' which offended the emperor, the Prince of Qin, and the Crown Prince. If no one protects him, who knows what his fate will be?"

He lazily got up, marveling at his accumulated knowledge from before his transmigration. He had even written books and made them into TV series about the rules of officialdom. Otherwise, he would not have been able to understand many of the secrets of this era.

"He was the top scholar, and so was I. I've visited many officials these past few days, but I haven't gone to see this senior. Perhaps he's a little jealous, so he specially sent a postmaster to make things difficult for me. Heh!"

Chen Guangrui scoffed, trying hard to recall if he remembered this person before, and what his final fate was.
However, I regret that I didn't have a deep understanding of history and knew nothing about it.

After careful consideration, Chen Guangrui concluded that this person posed no threat to him. If he could get in touch with Wei Zheng and also get close to Yin Kaishan, he would not be afraid of Sun Fujia, at least in the early stages of his career in the Tang Dynasty.

However, he didn't completely offend the person, after all, he had just left the postmaster a lot of room for maneuver, just waiting for him to make amends.

He sat there, waiting for the postmaster to knock on the door.

Perhaps worried that he might have left something in Chen Guangrui's hands, or perhaps he saw that this newly crowned top scholar was not simple, the postmaster soon came to visit again with a plate of peaches.

This time, he walked lightly, a smile on his face, completely devoid of the arrogance he had displayed in recent days.

Chen Guangrui was not surprised by the arrival of the postmaster, and patted his chest with a smile, assuring him that he had forgotten everything that had happened that day.

However, the more he acted this way, the more worried the postmaster became, and he cautiously promised that he would not affect his relationship with Sun Fujia.

Chen Guangrui didn't say anything, but he felt he had achieved his goal. He wondered whether he should visit this senior after the Xuanwu Gate incident had passed.

After all, from this moment on, the entire officialdom of the Tang Dynasty will undergo a reshuffle. Just as Wei Zheng will rise to prominence in this reshuffle, Yin Kaishan might have his trajectory altered by marrying a top-ranking scholar as his son-in-law. As for Sun Fujia…
Let's wait until he survives before we talk about it.

Chen Guangrui was still pondering how he should place his bets and speculate next when he naturally took a peach that the postmaster had brought him.

Very sweet.

Seeing that Chen Guangrui was silent, the postmaster wondered what he was thinking. After a moment's thought, he started a conversation.

"This peach is comparable to the peaches of Liangjie Mountain."

"Oh, it's the western border of our Great Tang Dynasty, there's a mountain called Liangjie Mountain. It's said that there's a Five Finger Mountain there, and a monkey with a hairy face and a thunder god's mouth is trapped under that mountain. The peaches there are said to be the sweetest. I think the peaches in our Chang'an are no worse than those peaches."

Five Finger Mountain?
Hairy face and thunder god's mouth?
Chen Guangrui took a big bite of the peach, even cracking the walnuts inside, and a name seemed to spring to mind like a thunderclap.

(End of this chapter)