0p0 Chapter 472 The Korean Civil Service Examination
Chapter 472 The Korean Civil Service Examination
Chapter 472 The Korean Civil Service Examination
"Help! I can't swim..." Wang Wenzhou struggled desperately. He was a landlubber and swallowed several mouthfuls of seawater in the blink of an eye.
Li Mei and Qi Siyan could swim, so the two of them quickly swam over and lifted Wang Wenzhou up.
"Baby, baby, I love you! You still have to rely on your baby in this crucial moment," Wang Wenzhou said, holding Li Mei with deep emotion.
"Woof woof..." Huang Taiji leisurely swam over.
"Damn it!" Wang Wenzhou scoffed at himself, "I'm not even as good as a dog!"
"Lord Wang, stop fooling around and quickly find a way to get on the ship," Li Mei said hurriedly.
Wang Wenzhou nodded and immediately shouted, "Help! I've fallen into the sea!"
However, the wind and waves were too strong, and the people on the ship could not hear the cries for help at all. Even though the three of them shouted until their voices were hoarse, it was to no avail. In a short while, the fleet went further and further away and gradually disappeared from the sight of the three of them.
"Damn it!" Wang Wenzhou exclaimed in fear, "Babies, this is bad! We might end up as shark food!"
Li Mei comforted him, "Lord Wang, there shouldn't be any sharks in this area. But with such big waves right now, how are we going to get ashore?"
Wang Wenzhou said with a wry smile, "Sister-in-law, we're practically family. Don't call me Lord Wang anymore, it's too formal. Just call me husband."
"Alas..." Li Mei sighed. Dorgon gave her to Wang Wenzhou, so it wasn't unreasonable for her to call Wang Wenzhou her husband.
With such big waves, even if you can swim, it's very tiring to float in the sea. After a while, Li Mei was exhausted and said, "Qi Siyan, why don't you take your husband swimming for a while?"
"Okay!" Qi Siyan nodded and took over from Li Mei, letting Li Mei rest for a bit.
And so, the three of them spent the night in the sea, and by dawn, they were all exhausted.
Wang Wenzhou said with a wry smile, "Xiao Yan Yan, let go of my hand and let me feed the fish. That way, you two might be saved. Otherwise, all three of us will die."
"No!" the two babies said in unison.
With tears in her eyes, Qi Siyan said remorsefully, "Husband, it's all my fault. I am a White Tiger Woman! No matter what, I will not let go. If I have to die, I will die with you."
“My little Yan Yan, you’re so silly! There’s no such thing as a curse! You can only blame my bad luck, it has nothing to do with you,” Wang Wenzhou said with a smile.
"No! I won't let go!" Qi Siyan held onto Wang Wenzhou tightly.
"Qi Siyan, you rest for a while, I'll take care of it." Li Mei didn't want Wang Wenzhou to die because her daughter was still in the capital. She couldn't imagine what the consequences would be if Wang Wenzhou died.
"Mmm!" Qi Siyan released Wang Wenzhou and let Li Mei take over.
"Woof woof woof..." Huang Taiji suddenly barked.
Looking up, Wang Wenzhou saw a small boat sailing towards them from afar on the horizon.
"Phew..." Wang Wenzhou breathed a sigh of relief, finally saved.
"Help!" the three people shouted with all their might.
Hearing the shouts, the people on the boat came over, and Jin Jizhong threw down a rope and pulled the three people aboard.
"Woof woof woof!" Huang Taiji probably felt that people and dogs were treated differently, and protested strongly.
Wang Wenzhou lay on the deck, panting heavily, and said, "Dude, help me get my dog onto the boat."
Jin Jizhong asked, "Are you from the Ming Dynasty, brother?"
Wang Wenzhou nodded. Although this person spoke Chinese, his accent was a bit strange; he might be Korean.
"Haha!" Kim Gil-chung said to his companion in Korean, "Young people these days are really shameless. Another one pretending to be a Ming Dynasty person."
Li Mei was Korean, so of course she could understand their conversation. She was too embarrassed to argue, since these two were their saviors. Li Mei could only pretend that she didn't understand Korean.
After resting for a while, Wang Wenzhou quickly got up and tried to pull Huang Taiji onto the boat.
Jin Jizhong quickly stopped him, saying, "What if the dog bites someone?"
Wang Wenzhou quickly said, "Brother, don't worry, my dog is very obedient and won't bite. Please help me!"
Jin Jizhong helped Huang Taiji get on board.
As soon as Huang Taiji boarded the ship, he shook his body, splashing water all over the people on board.
Wang Wenzhou cupped his hands in greeting and said with a smile, "Please forgive me, gentlemen. I will never forget your life-saving grace today. May I ask your honorable surnames?"
"Alright! We're all Koreans, why pretend to be from the Ming Dynasty?" Kim Gil-chung said disdainfully.
Wang Wenzhou looked bewildered and said with a wry smile, "Brother, I am truly a person of the Ming Dynasty!"
Kim Gil-chung said irritably, “I’ve seen plenty of young people like you! The Ming Dynasty is richer than our Joseon Dynasty, but as a Joseon, how can you act like a Ming person all the time? Look at your accent, it’s obviously not standard! My Ming dialect is the authentic Ming dialect.”
"Pfft..." Wang Wenzhou was both amused and exasperated. You speak fluent Mandarin? I've been Chinese for two lifetimes, and my Chinese isn't standard? You're really funny!
During this era, Korea was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty and idolized the Ming Dynasty. This was also true of its people. Any Korean who had received an education could speak Chinese because Korea had always used Chinese characters.
Wang Wenzhou cupped his hands and said, "Brother, what is your honorable name? I am indeed a person from the Ming Dynasty. Last night, I encountered a storm and accidentally fell into the sea from the ship."
Kim Gil-chung finally believed that Wang Wenzhou was a Ming Chinese, and he replied, "I am Kim Gil-chung, and this is my friend Park Jin."
"Greetings, Brother Pu!" Wang Wenzhou cupped his hands in greeting.
Park Jin doesn't speak Chinese, but he nodded to Wang Wenzhou.
Wang Wenzhou pointed to the two babies and introduced them, saying, "I am Wang Wenzhou, and these two are my wives and concubines."
Jin Jizhong said with a smile, "Your two sisters-in-law are as beautiful as angels. You are so lucky to have two wives, it's the envy of everyone."
"Brother Jin, where are you from? Could you get us ashore?" Wang Wenzhou asked.
“I am from Xunwei Island. My brother wishes to go to Seoul?” Kim Gil-chung asked.
Wang Wenzhou nodded and said, "I am indeed going to Seoul."
Wang Wenzhou had no idea where his fleet was, and he figured the crew on board must be frantically searching for him. But waiting for him anywhere wasn't going to help; Korea was so vast, they might not be able to find him. In any case, once they reached Seoul, they would surely find a way to contact their fleet.
Jin Jizhong said, "This ship is too small. We can only return to Xunwei Island first, and then I will help you find a larger ship to take you to the mainland."
"Thank you, Brother Jin! I am deeply grateful and will repay your kindness in full." Wang Wenzhou quickly expressed his gratitude.
"You're too kind, my brother!" Kim Gil-chung said with a smile. "I didn't have anything to do. I just came out to get some seafood to treat myself. It's fate that I ran into you, my brother. There's no need for thanks. I'm on my way to Seoul to take the civil service exam, so it's perfect that we can travel together."
Kim Gil-chung is 48 years old this year. He has repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, but he is unwilling to give up and participates in every examination. This year is the year of the North Korean imperial examinations, and Kim Gil-chung is planning to go to the capital to take the exams in the next few days.
"Yoshi!" If Kim Gil-chung hadn't said that, Wang Wenzhou wouldn't have known that Korea also had a civil service examination system. Wang Wenzhou smiled slightly, already thinking about how to repay Kim Gil-chung for saving his life.
"Oh no!" Park Jin's expression changed, and he said in a panic, "Pirates!"