Qing Yao

Chapter 82 Zhao Youlu, he's just a student of the Imperial Academy!
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The head of the teaching department was baffled by the principal's instructions: "Sir, you're going to the government office on official business, why are you bringing armed guards?"

Little did they know that the headmaster was feeling guilty.

This isn't a normal time for office work or meetings. It's almost time to leave work, and we're notifying people to go to a meeting. How can the principal not panic when he's completely out of touch with reality?

He wondered if his false identity had been discovered, or if his former superior, County Magistrate Ding, had finally given in to the torment of his conscience and moral condemnation and mustered the courage to confess to the Prefect for leniency.

It's not impossible.

Even a one in ten thousand chance is still a possibility.

Zhao An's only advantage at the moment is that the school officials are not under the jurisdiction of local officials. Therefore, even if the scandal comes to light, the Yangzhou prefect has no power to take him down. He has to report to the provincial education commissioner, the provincial judicial commissioner, the provincial governor, and the provincial governor, and then the four commissioners must jointly report to the imperial court before they can take down this seventh-rank prefectural professor.

The procedures cannot be messed up; if they are, it will be considered that Yangzhou Prefecture is acting recklessly.

Even if the outcome is just, a violation of procedure is still a violation of the law.

The imperial court is like an old master.

The old master's birthday celebration is still in progress, and Zhao An was promoted five ranks by the old master's special decree. The officials of the four provincial government offices are certainly more comprehensive in their considerations than those in the mansion, and most of them will not displease the old master at this critical juncture.

Moreover, the matter of the fine was handled by He Zhongtang. If He Zhongtang hadn't reported it to higher authorities, the provincial authorities wouldn't have been able to arrest the person even if they wanted to.

Can the central government really expect Jiangsu to take over the national model that was just established?

If an official from Jiangsu dares to slap He Zhongtang in the face like this, then he truly doesn't know what's good for him.

Moreover, Zhao An's appointment as the Imperial Academy student registrar was personally arranged by the Provincial Judicial Commissioner, so if anything goes wrong, the Provincial Judicial Commissioner will not be able to escape joint responsibility.

This gives us enough room to maneuver.

The premise is that Principal Zhao must ensure his personal freedom, and not be controlled by the Yangzhou government in a designated place, otherwise he would be helpless.

He couldn't not go, since Zhao An didn't know what kind of meeting the government was going to hold. If it was an education-related meeting, it would be too inappropriate for a professor like him not to attend.

Just in case, it's necessary to have a few armed guards with you.

Your Yangzhou Prefecture has no right to take my place!

As long as he can escape the government office, Principal Zhao should be safe until the end of the old master's birthday celebration.

If I'm really worried, I can just pack my bags and run away overnight.

Although he didn't know why the principal needed to bring guards when he went to the government office on official business, Instructor Tong made arrangements immediately.

These four armed guards made the headmaster dizzy. They were far from being imposing or majestic, and they had no spirit or energy. They were truly old, weak, and disabled soldiers.

True, do you expect a security guard at a middle school to become a retired special forces soldier?

The only thing that pleased Principal Zhao was that a seventh-rank official could ride in a sedan chair and no longer had to endure the bumpy ride of a horse-drawn carriage.

However, when the sedan chair was brought over, Zhao An was dumbfounded again.

Completely different from the spacious and grand official sedan chairs he remembered, which were carried by four people, his official sedan chair as a professor at the prefectural school was not only small and low, but also carried by three people.

Two people in front, one person behind.

What's even more infuriating is that the sedan chair didn't have windows. Instead, there was a square opening in the front, about 30 centimeters long and 30 centimeters wide. When a person sat down inside, their head and neck were just sticking out. This was complemented by the black and white sedan chair body.

Hmm, it looks a bit like a portrait of a deceased person held in the hands of a dutiful son.

Having confirmed that this was the standard official sedan chair for professors—something that couldn't be added or removed, as it was a unified regulation of the imperial court—Zhao An had no choice but to grit his teeth, bend down, and squeeze inside. Instructor Tong immediately shouted, "Lift the sedan chair!"

"Whoo!"

With the three sedan bearers pulling at the same time, the moment the sedan chair was suspended in the air, Principal Zhao felt as if his feet were off the ground.

"Boom!"

The guard in charge of clearing the way struck the gong in his hand seven times.

There are specific rules about how many times to knock. County-level officials can knock seven times, prefectural-level officials nine times, provincial, circuit, and ministerial-level officials eleven times, and if the patriarch is traveling, then he knocks thirteen times to show his supreme authority.

Besides the four guards and three sedan chair carriers, there were also two constables holding wooden signs that read "Scholar" and "Silence" respectively, making a total of eleven people including Zhao An and Instructor Tong.

When an official travels, he is bound to attract the attention of passersby. As a result, Zhao An, who was sitting in the sedan chair with only his head and neck showing, was stared at by the people of Yangzhou all the way.

He showed no smugness whatsoever, and kept a straight face the whole way, as if someone owed him money.

Upon arriving at the government office, before the sedan bearers could even alight, Zhao An, in a fit of frustration, pushed aside the crossbar and jumped down, making the sedan bearers think that the professor was dissatisfied with their sedan-carrying skills.

The guards at the prefectural government office certainly wouldn't dare to stop the professor from coming, but Zhao An didn't go in directly. Instead, he pretended to casually glance around and silently observed the gatekeeper at the entrance.

There were five or six yamen runners and a clerk in charge of registration inside. Everything seemed normal, and there was nothing wrong with it.

"grown ups?"

When Instructor Tong, who had arranged for the sedan chair bearers to wait on the side, came over, he couldn't help but feel troubled when he saw that Professor Zhao was taking so long to enter the government office.

Zhao An nodded slightly, signaling Instructor Tong and four armed guards to accompany him inside. He then saw a familiar face emerge from the yamen; it was Magistrate Cui from the Bureau of Records.

Upon seeing Zhao An standing at the entrance of the yamen, Magistrate Cui gave a wry smile to himself and took the initiative to greet him: "Lord Zhao, the Prefect is waiting for you in the main hall."

His gaze was rather complex, exactly the same as that of his predecessors, Professor Jiang and Ma Xuezheng, when they heard that Zhao An had been promoted.

This kid really hit the jackpot!

"What business does the Prefect have summoned me for?"

Zhao An wore a smile on his face and looked at Magistrate Cui with a friendly gaze, but he was very nervous inside.

"Oh, the people from the Provincial Education Office have arrived. Lord Zhao is a professor in this prefecture and also the deputy examiner for this prefectural examination. Of course, the Prefect must invite you over."

After saying this, Magistrate Cui found it amusing. A mere student who had donated money to become a professor in the prefecture and was even in charge of the prefectural examinations together with the prefect himself was simply absurd.

Heaven knows what the Emperor is thinking!

"I see."

Zhao An felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders. During the county examination, the prefectural school had sent him to supervise the exams, and now that the prefectural examination was being held, the province would naturally send someone to supervise the exams. As the deputy examiner of the prefectural examination, he naturally had to come over and greet the other examiners.

Ah, if I had known it was this, I wouldn't have scared myself like this.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Zhao An casually waved his hand, indicating that the guards with swords and Instructor Tong didn't need to go in. He then swaggered into the government office with his standard bow-legged gait.

Along the way, they received many envious and disdainful glances from government officials.

Upon reaching the outside of the prefectural hall, his expression immediately became incredibly humble, even his pigeon-toed gait turned into small, hurried steps. Just as he was about to enter, panting heavily, to make a good impression on the prefect, he heard an extremely arrogant and disdainful voice beside him:
"What ability does Zhao Youlu, a mere student of the Imperial Academy, have to be an examiner? I heard he didn't even pass the county exam. It's a disgrace to Jiangsu to have someone like him as a professor at the prefectural school!"

(End of this chapter)