Chapter 147: The Lone Wanderer 1/2

On the way to the prefectural city, Governor Zhang took out the articles that Lí Qīngzhí had revised for him to read.

At first glance, Governor Zhang was attracted by Lí Qīngzhí’s handwriting, then he proceeded to read the articles…

The original articles written by Lí Qīngzhí were just okay. After he helped with the revisions, the articles looked much better. And now… Lí Qīngzhí had made some further modifications to the articles based on his revisions.

Now, the articles looked pleasing to the eye, reading smoothly, and the content was also deeper.

Governor Zhang suspected that the two previous policy essays were casually written by Lí Qīngzhí, without much effort.

Actually… that’s true. Those two policy essays were hastily written by Lí Qīngzhí the day before he decided to visit Chief Zhou, without much thought put into them.

He didn’t dare to write too much… after all, this was a feudal society, and he was afraid of accidentally writing something he shouldn’t.

Regardless… after seeing the articles revised by Lí Qīngzhí, Governor Zhang had a feeling – these articles could definitely be published in the “Ānjiāng Collection”!

“Did you write this? You finally have some free time?” Fang Shanchang took the two articles.

He admired Governor Zhang’s sharp literary style. After Governor Zhang was demoted to Héxīng Prefecture as the prefect, he had approached him several times for contributions, wanting Governor Zhang to write articles for the “Ānjiāng Collection”.

For ordinary scholars, having their articles published in the “Ānjiāng Collection” was a very prestigious thing.

But for Ānjiāng Academy… articles written by people like Governor Zhang would also enhance the weight of the “Ānjiāng Collection”.

“It’s not written by me. Take a look first.” Governor Zhang said.

Fang Shanchang looked down and read, then said, “Not bad… your handwriting isn’t this steady, who wrote this? A newly appointed official in Jiāng’ān Province? How come I haven’t heard of this person before?”

Fang Shanchang, upon seeing the articles and the handwriting, first felt… this was written by a fairly old jinshi (successful candidate in the imperial examination).

The article wasn’t stunning, but it was solid without any mistakes, and even each character was neatly arranged… Was this deliberately practiced? It should be someone who had recently become a jinshi.

Such articles were a bit too skilled, lacking in personal thoughts. He didn’t feel much after reading it, but it was already eligible for the “Ānjiāng Collection”.

Most importantly… those who bought the “Ānjiāng Collection” liked such articles.

Fang Shanchang felt that the imperial examination system had buried some good talents and instead allowed those who were not particularly talented but safe to rise, which was quite boring.

But he also knew that he couldn’t change this situation.

Governor Zhang said, “It’s not written by a newly appointed official.”

“Then which juren (successful candidate in the provincial examination) wrote this? You came from Héxīng Prefecture, and there’s actually a juren in Héxīng Prefecture who writes so well?” Fang Shanchang was surprised. “This article is almost as good as Chief Zhou’s from Chóngwén Academy.”

“Not exactly,” Governor Zhang said, “He hasn’t even become a xiùcái (successful candidate in the metropolitan examination).”

Fang Shanchang was stunned, then asked, “Could this be ghostwritten by you?”

Governor Zhang was speechless, “Could I write this kind of handwriting?”

Indeed… Fang Shanchang read it again, “How could he not have become a xiùcái yet?”

Governor Zhang said, “He participated in the county examination for the first time earlier this year, topped the county examination, then participated in the prefectural examination, and topped that too. It won’t be long before he comes to the provincial capital to participate in the metropolitan examination. It’s not a problem for him to become a xiùcái.”

“Don’t talk about becoming a xiùcái, even becoming a juren or jinshi with this article is not a problem.” Fang Shanchang said, “Why didn’t he take the exams before, and now that he’s quite old, he’s taking them?”

“What ‘quite old’, he’s just in his twenties.” Governor Zhang said.

Fang Shanchang was stunned, “In his twenties? Can someone in their twenties write this?” Someone in their twenties could write such an article, but this handwriting… must have been practiced for decades, right?

“He’s a genius!” Governor Zhang laughed, “These two articles, can they go into the ‘Ānjiāng Collection’?”

“They can,” Fang Shanchang said. It was indeed not easy to get into the “Ānjiāng Collection”, but it was published monthly after all, so it wasn’t completely impossible.

And all along, including himself, those responsible for sorting out the manuscripts for the “Ānjiāng Collection” had a consensus, which was to give young people opportunities.

They would relax their requirements for young people. Just consider two articles of roughly the same quality, one written by a forty-year-old and the other by a twenty-year-old… they would without hesitation choose the one written by the twenty-year-old.

The author of this article is barely in his twenties. Even if the quality of the article isn’t that great, I’ll still have him included in the “Ānjiāng Collection”.

“That’s good,” Governor Zhang chuckled as he stroked his beard, “He will continue to write articles. When he does, I’ll come find you.”

Fang Shanchang said, “Good articles are rare. He can’t possibly produce two good articles like this every month!”

Governor Zhang replied, “…that’s not necessarily true!”

After all, Lí Qīngzhí was someone who… within less than ten days, completed a hundred thousand-word “Record of Injustice”.

Lí Qīngzhí was truly talented in writing!

Thinking so, Governor Zhang took out a set of “Record of Injustice” that he bought at the lantern festival in Chóngchéng County and gave it to Fang Shanchang, saying, “Fang Shanchang, this is an extraordinary book, I’m giving it to you.”

“The ‘Record of Injustice’? The book that changed the course of the capital? Although I’ve heard of it, I haven’t read it yet. I must read it carefully… Who wrote this book?” Fang Shanchang asked Governor Zhang, “I’ve heard rumors saying you wrote it.”

Governor Zhang replied, “It really wasn’t me!”

“Oh, I see…” Fang Shanchang felt a bit disappointed, then looked at the name printed on the book, the author: “The Lone Wanderer, I thought it was you.”

When Lí Qīngzhí wrote the “Record of Injustice”, he didn’t want anyone to know who he was, to the extent that he didn’t even think of a pen name at first.

But later, he thought that having a pen name might come in handy in the future… so he casually came up with the name “The Lone Wanderer”.

“The Lone Wanderer” signifies being alone, solitary.

In his previous life during the apocalypse, he had always been alone.

What’s even more interesting is that in this life, he was surrounded by his beloved wife and young son… and had nothing to do with being a lone wanderer!

Fang Shanchang speculated that the book was written by Governor Zhang, which was also related to this pen name.

Who didn’t know that Governor Zhang was all alone?

Governor Zhang remained silent.

He also didn’t know why Lí Qīngzhí chose such a pen name, after all… his home was too lively!

Could it be that Lí Qīngzhí yearned to live alone?

Unlikely, right? He saw how much Lí Qīngzhí loved his child, and how he enjoyed talking to people, chatting with everyone he met…

Lí Qīngzhí should have chosen this pen name deliberately to conceal his true identity, giving a name that was completely opposite to his actual situation.

“I don’t have time to write this book,” Governor Zhang said, changing the subject with Fang Shanchang.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Héxīng Prefecture, Chief Zhou was also reading the “Record of Injustice”.

This book had already spread in the capital, but over here in Héxīng Prefecture… it wasn’t until the magistrate of Gǒu County sold the book at the lantern festival that everyone got to see it.

Chief Zhou had heard of the “Record of Injustice”, so as soon as he saw it at the lantern festival, he immediately bought two sets. Upon the recommendation of the vendor, he even bought some books about the magistrate of Gǒu County… and when he returned to the prefectural city, he opened the “Record of Injustice” first.

The articles written in this book are all in plain language: “After Steward Lou took Azhen and all the grain away, life became even more difficult. Xiao Hua crouched on the ground, picking up every grain of rice that fell, stuffing them into Xiao Cao’s mouth. Xiao Cao’s body was small, but her head was unusually large. She slowly ground the grains with her teeth and swallowed them down. I stole some vegetables from outside and brought them home, but there was no firewood at home, so I just ate them raw… I don’t know how long passed, but one day I woke up and found Xiao Cao had no breath…”

“I was starving, and when I saw a child ahead eating, rice grains fell to the ground. I bent down to pick them up, and the child’s mother was startled and quickly took the child away.”

“My father went to beg Mr. Lou for a few days’ grace, but Mr. Lou said my father was too dirty, and had the servants kick my father aside. My father’s head hit the stone lion in front of the Lou family’s gate. When we went to look for him, he was already lifeless. The gatekeeper of the Lou family said we were unlucky, dragged my brother away, and I never saw him again.”

“That year’s harvest was poor, and the harvested grain barely covered the grain tax. My father was afraid of starvation at home, so he hid some grain. When they came to collect the grain tax and found it wasn’t enough, they beat my father and dragged my sister away. My sister was only fourteen and was sold into a brick kiln. She got sick and died within a few months. When I went to collect her body, I saw that there was not a good piece of flesh on her, and her eyes couldn’t even close… People who knew her said she kept calling for our mother when she died, but she didn’t know, our mother had already passed away, and so had our father, leaving only me at home.”

…

“Record of Injustice” was recorded by common folks and compiled by The Lone Wanderer. The words in it are completely different from contemporary writings.

Those narrating the tales were also numb; they didn’t know how to express their own pain.

One tragic event after another was written in the book as if it were written offhand.

But those who read this book could feel the indescribable pain of the narrators.

As Chief Zhou read on, his eyes became sore, and he couldn’t help pressing the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief.

The people from Lou’s family in Linhu County, that strict magistrate, deserved their deaths!

Peng Jingliang and Chief Zhou read the book together, and they couldn’t help sobbing.

Did the common people really live such miserable lives?

If he were to become an official in the future, he would definitely be a good one.

And this book was extremely popular in Chóngchéng County.

In Li Xiucái’s school, more and more people had read this book.

Originally, Guo Ying didn’t want to read this book because everyone said it was very sad.

Why read something that would make you cry?

But since everyone around him had read it… Guo Ying borrowed the book and started reading it, and when he did…

Guo Ying burst into tears. By the time he arrived at Lí Qīngzhí’s place that evening, his eyes were swollen.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lí Qīngzhí asked.