Chapter 5: The Junior High School Student Who Cheated on the Imperial Examination!

Chapter 5

Ye Xiren didn't fall asleep until late at night. She had intermittent nightmares and felt very uneasy. Her eyes were tightly closed and her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat. It was as if her hands and feet were tied up and she was struggling desperately but couldn't wake up.

Ye Xiren suddenly woke up, sat up in bed, and breathed heavily in the darkness.

Hearing the commotion, Xuechan rushed in, lifted the thin veil, and asked nervously, "Miss?"

Ye Xiren stared at her stiffly, swallowed hard, and tentatively asked, "Xuechan, what's the date today?" Her voice trembled as she spoke cautiously.

Xuechan hesitated for a moment, but still answered, "The second day of the third month, is the young lady having another nightmare? Should we have a doctor take a look?"

She sat down beside Ye Xiren, tucked her in, and looked somewhat worried:

"Miss hasn't been sleeping well these past two days. Let the doctor take a look. The eldest young master was injured yesterday. The doctor is staying at the manor, so it will be convenient for him to prescribe some medicine..."

Xuechan kept rambling on, her face full of worry.

Ye Xiren smiled brightly at her words, and deep in her dark eyes, the joy of surviving a disaster surged.

Very good!

It's really past the first day of the third lunar month!

Having received a definite answer, Ye Xiren completely relaxed, her tense nerves loosened, and she finally "escaped" March 1st, leading the Ye family to avoid the fate of being executed along with their entire family, no longer having to be pinned down at the execution ground and have their heads chopped off.

"Miss?" Xuechan asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, I just had a nightmare, it's all over now, I'm going to sleep a little longer!"

She closed her eyes and finally fell into a deep sleep.

Xuechan scratched her head, looking bewildered, but seeing that the girl was asleep, she still pulled the blanket up for her so that her mouth and nose weren't covered. Then she tiptoed out and whispered the instructions:

"Miss hasn't slept well for two days and wants to sleep a little longer. Go and inform Madam. Also, everyone, please keep your voices down and don't disturb her..."

The Ye family doesn't have such strict rules, and they all dote on their daughters, so sleeping a little longer is nothing to worry about.

Ye Xiren slept soundly with a smile on her lips until past 7:30 AM.

It was still the second day of the third lunar month.

It's not a dream; I survived the ordeal and am still alive.

As Xuechan combed her hair, she smiled and said, "You seem to be in a good mood, Miss, because you've been smiling the whole time."

"Yes, being alive is happiness." Ye Xiren responded, and in a good mood picked up her favorite gold hairpin. The last time she was taken away by the Imperial City Guard, she gave this hairpin to the patrolman. After she was beheaded, everything returned to its original place.

I don't know if I encountered a fairy or a ghost.

Ye Xiren handed it to Xuechan, letting her put it on, and then asked, "By the way, did anything happen during the imperial examinations yesterday?"

Xuechan shook her head: "Nothing's wrong, everything's normal. The gates of the examination hall haven't opened yet."

The first round of the imperial examinations will last three days; it's not time to open the doors yet.

The cheating allegations were directed at Ye Changming.

Without Ye Changming entering, there would have been no cheating in the exam.

Ye Xiren was glad that he hadn't been allowed in yesterday. This cheating was targeting him alone. If he had gone in, something bad would have happened. Only by cutting off the source could the problem be resolved.

But who exactly wants to harm him?

What methods were used to harm him?

Ye Xiren frowned, her eyes serious, lost in thought.

“Oh, right,” Xuechan said, combing her hair and putting the peach wood comb back in the box. As if she had thought of something, she added, “Last night the young lady said she was going to worship Buddha. When the old lady heard about it this morning, she thought that things had been a bit unsettled at home recently, so she asked everyone to go to the Buddhist hall today to worship together.”

Ye Xiren nodded: "Okay."

She got up a little late today. Since Madam Liao had already eaten, Ye Xiren ate in her own courtyard before heading to Changshou Hall.

My grandmother, Zhao, came from a military family. It is said that she dared to fight on the battlefield when she was young. She was a Lady of Imperial Decree personally conferred by Emperor Wenzong of Liang. Now that she is old, she has become somewhat of a Buddhist. She usually eats vegetarian food and chants Buddhist scriptures and rarely leaves the Longevity Hall.

When Ye Xiren arrived at Changshou Hall, she heard her mother sighing inside:

"I don't know what's wrong with this family. Changming's hand was broken, and Xuechan said that Xixi hasn't been sleeping well for the past two days, as if she's having nightmares..."

Ye Changming immediately replied, "My sister was worried about me!"

"Who are you talking to about me?" Zhao asked with a smile.

Liao glared at her son fiercely.

Ye Changming immediately cowered, huddled beside the soft couch, and shrank his neck. "I'm just too angry. The person who did this hasn't been caught yet. Everyone else is taking the imperial examinations, and I'm here recuperating. It's so frustrating!"

He held his right hand, looking aggrieved.

"Second Miss." Liu Xu, the maid at the door, saw her and quickly bowed, lifting the curtain. "Madam, the Second Miss has arrived."

Ye Xiren hurried inside, "Grandmother."

She bowed respectfully, and Zhao wished she could stand up and wave eagerly.

Ye Xiren straightened up and went over. Zhao Shi pulled her hand and sat her on the soft couch. The old woman's warm hand held her slightly cool fingers tightly. Seeing that they were a little cold, she put her hands together, and the warmth spread little by little, warming her heart.

"Is it a nightmare? Let the doctor take a look later." Zhao tidied her hair.

Ye Xiren did not refuse her grandmother's kindness and nodded.

Beside him, Ye Changming muttered, "Everyone feels sorry for the second brother, but why don't they feel sorry for me who's injured?"

After saying that, he tried to stand up and move around a bit, but his foot was also injured. He moved too violently and winced in pain, his expression contorted. "Don't worry about me, just get some sleep. The injury isn't serious, it's just that I can't participate in the imperial examination."

He thought Ye Xiren was worried that he couldn't sleep, and was trying to comfort him despite the pain.

Ye Xiren's heart softened.

Ye Changming: "It's all that scoundrel's fault!"

Ye Xiren: "..."

"You scoundrel," he cleared his throat and changed the subject: "Brother, have you offended anyone, the kind of person who'd try to ruin your chances in the imperial examinations?"

"Who could I possibly have offended?" Ye Changming retorted instinctively, but then, under the gaze of three pairs of eyes, he gradually became guilty. "I don't think... I have."

Ye Xiren remained silent.

Liao sighed, "To sabotage the imperial examination process, is this a deliberate attempt to prevent you from passing? What kind of grudge could drive someone to such a ruthless act?"

Ye Changming counted on his fingers the people he didn't get along with.

No matter how you count them, they don't seem like the kind of people who would hire someone to stop him from taking the imperial examination. You know, if such a thing were discovered, it would be an irreconcilable feud.

Ye Xiren lowered her head, as if speaking casually:

"Yes, they definitely want to ruin my brother's chances in the imperial examination. If they were really ruthless, they could tamper with things inside the examination hall and frame my brother for cheating in the exam. That would be a crime punishable by the execution of the entire family."

Upon hearing this, the three people in the room laughed at the same time.

Ye Changming shook his head: "Who would dare to tamper with the exam? And who has the ability to do so?"

Zhao gently patted Ye Xiren's hand, her tone loving: "The imperial examination is a major event. Anyone who dares to cheat will have a bad end. Anyone who dares to play tricks will also be guilty of a serious crime that will implicate the whole family. Moreover, the imperial examination is held right under the nose of the nation, and the investigation is extremely strict. No one dares to tamper with it."

Ye Xiren lowered her eyes.

But things didn't go as planned; he entered the examination hall three times, and each time his entire family was executed.

"It's almost time, let's go to the Buddhist hall," Zhao said, getting up.

Ye Xiren reached out to help her up, and Ye Changming also tried to help, but was glared at and pushed aside by Liao Shi, "Your hand is injured like that, what are you doing? It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, you need to take good care of yourself..."

Liao kept muttering to himself.

Ye Changming awkwardly touched his nose and limped after them. Seeing that the tassels on the hairpin Ye Xiren was wearing today were pretty, he reached out and touched them, pulling at her hair. Ye Xiren turned around and glared at him helplessly, and Ye Changming raised an eyebrow.

The group gradually disappeared into the distance, their shadows stretched out, swaying gently in the wind, the bells in the corridor jingling, a scene of tranquility.

Inside the Buddhist hall.

Holding Buddhist prayer beads, Zhao knelt devoutly in front, chanting Buddhist scriptures and moving the beads in her hands. Behind her was Liao Changying with her two children. Liao Changying prayed quietly, wishing her children health, peace, and longevity.

Ye Xiren clasped her hands together and looked at the Guanyin statue.

Although she had followed her grandmother in worshipping Buddha before, as a young girl, she didn't really believe in ghosts and gods. She would often kneel and worship in a daze and had never looked at this Guanyin statue so seriously before.

The white jade Bodhisattva has a kind and benevolent face. The grandmother covered Guanyin with a red cloth, revealing only the Bodhisattva's front. Holding a flower and smiling, it seems to be looking at the world with compassion and saving all living beings.

Ye Xiren looked at Guanyin and felt as if Guanyin was looking at her too.

Was it the Bodhisattva's blessing yesterday? Granting me rebirth time and time again, until I escaped the calamity befalling my Ye family and saved the lives of my entire clan...?

Beheading is painful, especially knowing it will hurt and still having to face it.

But these things are nothing compared to the lives of her family. Ye Xiren used to be most afraid of ghosts and these unpredictable gods and Buddhas, but this time she was extremely grateful to God for giving her the opportunity to protect her family.

Ye Xiren kowtowed devoutly.

Ye Changming, with one arm in a sling, knelt somewhat bored beside her. Seeing Ye Xiren's utter devotion, he gently nudged her arm, but Ye Xiren ignored him.

Ye Changming looked helplessly at Guanyin:

"Bodhisattva, if you are watching over me from heaven, please help me find the person who harmed me as soon as possible, and make that person suffer a terrible fate!"

Ye Xiren: "..."

She silently raised her head, about to speak.

Outside, the front door was kicked open, and a group of people rushed in from the front yard, searching the area. Their footsteps were heavy and rapid, and the "thump-thump" sound grew closer and closer.

The commotion was so loud that the maids and servants outside cried out in alarm, but were quickly silenced, like birdsong being muffled. The sudden silence, accompanied by heavy footsteps, made the situation even more eerie.

Knock knock knock.

The footsteps grew closer and closer until they reached the entrance of the Buddhist hall, where the people inside turned around in confusion.

Ye Xiren was taken aback; the sound was so familiar.

The next moment, before she could even stand up, a group of more familiar people rushed in and surrounded them.

The leader still wore a black shawl on his head, his red clothes were as red as blood, his eyes were like knives, and he held a scroll of yellow hemp paper edict. The scene was completely the same as the previous times, except that the location had changed from the front yard to the Buddhist hall.

Ye Xiren: "???"

A note from the author:

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