57: Chang'an

The mountains were high and the rivers long.

Starting from Ying Zhou, he traveled a thousand li, passed a hundred cities, and went straight to Chang'an.

As a Jie Yuan of a prefecture, if Qin Chuan were to go to the capital for the imperial examination, the local government would be obligated to provide him with carriages and horses and escort him on the long journey.

But for Qin Chuan, it was just one sentence that choked Su Qing and Lu Prefect back.

—Can it be cashed out?

Naturally, it could not.

Qin Chuan's remark was also a joke.

Compared to rushing to the capital with a group of unrelated people, wouldn't it be more pleasant for him to travel with his little maid, enjoying the scenery along the way?

Anyway, there was still plenty of time, so there was no need to rush.

That being said, due to the colder weather, the two of them did endure some hardships along the way.

Fortunately, Qin Chuan had a clever trick for keeping warm!

"Young Master, can you put me down?"

The snow-white fox in Qin Chuan's arms spoke pitifully.

"No!"

He rubbed the fox's fur again until static electricity was generated, then said righteously, "Look at all this snow around. You're all white, too. What if I put you down and can't find you?"

Qing Mo rolled her eyes—muttering to herself, 'Isn't it because you said, "Transform for me"?'

She transformed, and now he won't let her change back.

"ε=(ο｀*))) Alright!"

Life is not easy, sighed the fox!

Fortunately, Qin Chuan was not entirely devoid of martial virtue. After much persuasion, when they reached the next city, he let the soft, sweet little maid change back.

—Of course, it was mainly because it's hard to go from luxury to frugality.

Playing around was one thing, but if he truly had no one to serve him along the way, Qin Chuan would even have trouble managing his ancient attire.

The two traveled through wind and snow. The journey was easy in some ways, but as for being difficult—it wasn't very difficult.

The road from Ying Zhou to Chang'an was already deep within Great Zhou territory, with dense populations.

Bandits and strongmen were out of the question, and mounted highwaymen were almost nowhere to be seen.

If not for this, Chen Zhou and Zheng would not have felt at ease letting him embark on the journey.

However, although he didn't encounter these, Qin Chuan did see many interesting things.

—The guard stations in various villages and counties seemed to be recruiting soldiers!

Was this preparation for war?

But the north had already been so thoroughly defeated that 'the barbarians dared not herd their horses south, and the scholars dared not draw their bows to complain.' Who else was there to fight?

An answer flashed through Qin Chuan's mind, but he quickly suppressed it.

—No matter who they fought, it currently had nothing to do with him.

What he needed to do was to quickly clear these two reincarnations!

After all, no matter what one wants to do—to forge iron, one must first be strong!

Thinking of this, he opened the map, located himself and Chang'an, and determined the distance between them.

The final answer was—almost there!

In the evening, Chang'an's outer city.

As dusk fell, the master and servant rested temporarily, planning to enter Chang'an the next day.

Inside a wine shop and teahouse.

Watching Qing Mo stealthily eating snacks, Qin Chuan was quite speechless.

The storyteller in front seemed to be quite famous locally. He spoke with a certain grace and was recounting current events.

"At that time in Chang'an, the court was suppressed by the various lords, and the common people navigated between two paths...

—Continuing from last time, Young Hero Wang Xuan had defeated all famous masters along the way, none of whom could withstand a single blow, and entered this place of converging winds and clouds."

"So amazing!"

Qing Mo's cheeks puffed out as she expressed her astonishment indistinctly.

Qin Chuan glanced at him with some surprise—he had just seen that this little fox had crammed an amount of food not less than twice the size of her own head into her mouth.

Are a fox's cheeks really that spacious?

Where's Newton? Do something! Darwin would also work.

The content from the storyteller allowed Qin Chuan to understand Wang Xuan's progress.

Since their separation in Ying Zhou before the provincial examination, Chen Chuan had smoothly walked the path of success, while Wang Xuan had embarked on a perilous journey from which he had not returned.

When Qin Chuan occasionally glanced at Wang Xuan's personal panel, it had reached an astonishing level.

The limits of the Innate realm were no longer an obstacle for him.

On the contrary—

The person Chen Chuan was about to meet now was!

The next day, before Chang'an.

Qin Chuan handed his travel document to the soldier in front.

The soldier lowered his head to examine the document, then couldn't help but size up Qin Chuan twice.

"This official seal is... Jie Yuan? Why is he alone...?"

Qin Chuan glanced at Qing Mo behind him, who wished she could shrink her head into her neck.

Hmm, whether he was alone or not, he was definitely the only one.

He explained with a smile, "What is learned from paper is shallow after all; I'm traveling Great Zhou."

Although the soldier didn't understand, he was greatly shocked.

He respectfully said, "Please wait, I'll go find our captain."

With that, he ran off to report, carrying Qin Chuan's document.

Qin Chuan: ...

He really wanted to say, 'Where is all this trouble needed? Can't you just let me in?'

Soon, he watched with his own eyes as the soldier handed the document to a person who seemed to be his captain.

The captain, who seemed to be a man of experience, looked over in shock.

Just as Qin Chuan thought he was coming over, he saw him take the document and run to another person.

After much going back and forth, finally, a general in armor appeared before Qin Chuan.

The man walked over, clasped his fists, and said, "May I ask if it is Chen Wenyuan, Chen Jie Yuan, in person?"

Qin Chuan said helplessly, "It is I."

The man was overjoyed and said, "You've made me wait! This humble general has been waiting for Chen Jie Yuan for a long time. Just let me..."

Qin Chuan: ???

"Wait, who are you? What do you mean by 'waiting for a long time,' did you specifically come to wait for me?"

Seeing Qin Chuan ask this, the man removed his helmet.

"My name is Li Sheng, courtesy name Boxuan. Brother Chen can call me Boxuan. It's not just me waiting for you, but all of Chang'an!"

Qin Chuan frowned, "What do you mean?"

Li Sheng smiled slightly, "Brother Chen will naturally know in the future."

—Bah! May all riddle-tellers die!

The city gate was clearly not a suitable place for conversation.

After a brief exchange, Qin Chuan took his leave.

Li Sheng, whether genuinely familiar or for some other reason, insisted on sending someone to escort Qin Chuan to the Prince's Mansion.

Qin Chuan tried to decline but couldn't, so he could only nod and accept.

As for what the 'Prince's Mansion' was?

Naturally, it was Wang Zhongshu's residence!

"Jie Yuan, we cannot proceed further here, so we will take our leave first."

Qin Chuan: "Thank you all!"

"Not at all, escorting Jie Yuan brings us honor as well."

After bidding farewell to the escorting soldiers, Qin Chuan finally focused his gaze on the mansion before him.

The Prince's Mansion!

Although it had no prefix, it was more daunting than any prefixed imperial relative's mansion in Chang'an.

Of course, what was daunting was not the mansion, but its owner.

Logically speaking, the Chen and Zheng clans were not without relatives in Chang'an, and it would have been proper to stay with relatives, just like during the provincial examination.

But—

Qin Chuan murmured, "What kind of rule is this, that one must stay at the teacher's house for the imperial examination? Besides, I haven't even formally become his disciple yet. Wouldn't it be better to stay at any Inn... even a brothel would do."

As his words fell, a voice sounded beside his ear.

"Oh? A brothel? Which brothel's courtesan has caught my disciple's eye? Shall I invite her back for you, as your teacher?"