Da Qian.
Luoyang City.
A steady stream of pedestrians bustled through the streets.
Ye Tian, having just crawled ashore from the river, stood at a street corner, bewildered as he surveyed his surroundings.
A transmigration?
Or was this a dynasty that had never existed in history?
Although he had only retained fragments of the original body's memories, he had roughly figured out his situation.
The good news: he had transmigrated into ancient times, and the original body was a Xiucai.
The bad news: the history here was completely different from what he remembered, so his plan of using historical foresight to hitch a ride on the coattails of the powerful was useless.
According to the memories he had just acquired.
Apart from Confucius, Mencius, Qin, and Han existing in this world as well, the rest of the history was an absolute mess; even the Qin and Han dynasties were different from the ones in his memory.
The only thing that gave him some peace of mind was that the present Da Qian was prosperous and powerful, with no foreign invasions for the time being, and placed a high value on civil officials over military generals.
Last year, the original body had participated in the County, Prefectural, and Prefectural Exams, becoming a Xiucai while sweeping all three top spots as the Anshou, commonly known as the Little Three Premiers.
In today's Da Qian, he could be considered a scholar with some "status"—while wealth and high rank were out of the question, earning a living shouldn't be a problem.
Of course.
The most important thing was that a few years ago he had acquired the ability of a "photographic memory," and this ability had followed him here, making the preference for civil officials over military matters the best possible news for him.
As for why he was standing soaking wet on the main street?
That was because although the original body was a scholar from Jiangnan, his fiancée's family was located in the capital of Da Qian, Luoyang, so the original body had traveled thousands of miles to fulfill the engagement. He had thought that with his Xiucai status as one of the Little Three Premiers, even if his future father-in-law had already entered the imperial court as an official, he would still hold high hopes for him and treat him with special regard.
As a result, after he stated his identity, the other party not only refused to let him in, but even tore up the betrothal document publicly and forcefully broke off the engagement, telling him to crawl right back where he came from! Having suffered such humiliation, the original body couldn't get over it for a moment, so he went to a deserted corner and jumped into the river to drown himself.
Then... he, who had been reading a book in the library, woke up in the river. Fortunately, he knew how to swim, otherwise he would have drowned by now.
"Ending up with a canceled engagement right at the start? It's a pity there was no three-year pact set up; otherwise, I could have said that the river runs east for thirty years and west for thirty years, and not to bully a young man in his poverty!" Ye Tian chuckled with self-deprecating humor.
Perhaps because the original body had spent too much time in the water, he had only received these fragments of memory.
He only remembered that the original body was also named Ye Tian, coming from a scholarly family in Jiangnan. In recent years, his close relatives had died one after another, leaving only the original body behind. This was one of the reasons he chose to come to Luoyang—not only to get married, but also because he wanted to stay and live in the Capital afterward.
What a pity...
Ye Tian sighed again and walked toward a noodle shop ahead.
After all, since things had come to this, there was no use dwelling on what he couldn't remember; knowing he had no attachments left was enough.
As for the broken engagement? Let them break it; commoners do not fight with officials. He couldn't even afford a meal, so he certainly couldn't go looking for thirty years of flowing east and thirty years of flowing west against them, could he?
Besides, even if he went, it seemed it would be useless; in his memory, his betrothal document had long since been snatched away by the other party.
"Proprietor, how much is a bowl of noodles?"
Although there was a tavern not far away, his memories were truly scarce, and on top of that, he only had three taels of silver and a few dozen copper coins on his entire person. He had no idea how long he could survive in the Capital, so naturally, he didn't dare to squander his money recklessly and could only come to a roadside diner.
Of course, this was also because he was currently unfamiliar with the situation. As long as the original body's understanding that civil officials were favored over military officers was correct,
then even relying solely on poetry and essays, Ye Tian believed he could get by in Luoyang City; at the very least, acting as a Ye "Yong" or a Ye Sanbian would be no problem at all.
He remembered when he was chatting idly with friends before, someone always said he wasn't suited for transmigrating into ancient times, but rather to a fantasy world. Because in ancient times, names tabowed characters like "Heaven" or "Emperor," whereas in fantasy, just by his surname alone, he already possessed the makings of a Great Emperor!
But in reality, it wasn't like that at all. Otherwise, how did names like Yuan Tiangang and Wen Tianxiang come about? It just depended on whether the rulers of the time cared; actually, most didn't take it very seriously. Only the Qing Dynasty was somewhat severe—anyone who happened to have the character "Ming" in their name would have their entire family executed, which was why so many people had this misunderstanding.
"Sir, ten copper coins a bowl." The proprietor quickly jogged over, asking with a beaming smile, "Would the sir like a bowl?"
Although Ye Tian currently looked quite disheveled, he was dressed like a scholar after all, so the proprietor believed that the other person wouldn't default on a bowl of noodles.
"Yes, bring me a bowl." Ye Tian nodded.
Soon,
the proprietor brought the noodles and set them on the table. Ye Tian immediately started devouring them ravenously. Who knew how long the original owner had been starving? After finishing a bowl of noodles, he actually didn't feel much of anything.
Yet the more this was the case, the less he dared to continue eating. It wasn't that he was afraid of spending money, but rather that he worried he hadn't eaten for too long and might cause problems for himself if he ate too much all at once.
After all, the most obvious drawback of ancient times was the extremely poor medical conditions. Never mind any severe illnesses; even a simple cold or fever could cause someone to kick the bucket directly.
Especially since when he first arrived over here, the original body had already considered himself a goner, and it was only because the duration was short that he was able to come back to life.
"Proprietor, check, please."
Ye Tian stood up and placed ten copper coins on the table. Just at that moment, a gentle breeze swept by, making him feel a slight chill.
Although Luoyang wasn't in the dead of winter right now, the Qixi Festival had already passed, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was just around the corner, so the weather wasn't very warm.
Of course, it was also fortunate that he had transmigrated at this moment. If he had arrived a few months later, then even if he could revive upon transmigration, he might not have had the strength to swim ashore in the water.
"Ah, they say the flowers of Luoyang are like brocade, but alas, spring has missed me when I arrive!" Ye Tian couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, a pleasant female voice suddenly rang out by his ear.
"Young master, please stay. This humble young woman heard the lines the young master just uttered; they were utterly exquisite. I wonder whose poetry it is? Perhaps it could make it onto the poetry leaderboard of the Bright Moon Pavilion next month."
Hearing this, Ye Tian turned around and saw a graceful young woman wearing a light pink long dress. She looked to be around sixteen or seventeen, about the same age as his current self. Her temperament was gentle and serene, and her deportment exuded the elegance and nobility characteristic of a young lady from a distinguished family.
It was just that his appearance seemed a bit too disheveled, so when he turned around, he could clearly sense her brow furrow slightly, as though she thought he might not be entirely normal.
The young maid accompanying her was dressed in a simple, unadorned teal-green dress that was nonetheless neat and crisp. At that moment, she was guarding the young woman tightly, as if she would rush forward the moment he made any suspicious move.
"It was merely a sigh regarding my own fortunes, casually blurted out. It is not any sort of poetry," Ye Tian replied.