Chapter 11 The Top Scholar Who Murdered His Wife and Daughter (Part 11): The Farmer's Son's Counterattack...

The next day at noon, Yu Lou arrived at the county government office with a three-tiered food box in his hand. The constables at the gate saw him and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Young Master Yu."

Yu Lou smiled and agreed, exchanging a few casual words before entering the county government office. Du Zhiyuan, seeing it was him, put down the official documents in his hand and said with a smile, "Lou'er's here."

"Uncle." Yu Lou didn't stand on ceremony. He placed the food box on the low table beside him and said with a grin, "This morning, Uncle sent someone to tell you that you wanted to eat the food from the county school canteen. As soon as I heard that, I went to the canteen myself to pack a few portions of your favorite dishes and brought them to the county government office!"

Du Zhiyuan laughed, picked up the official document on the table and tapped him, saying, "You're the most talkative one."

Yu Lou pretended to rub his head, took the food out of the food box and arranged it, saying, "Uncle, don't be busy, have some food first."

Du Zhiyuan nodded, and the two washed their hands, picked up their bowls, and began to eat.

"Lou'er, your mother wrote to us a few days ago, asking about your situation. Your mother... has had a hard time too. As her son, you should be more understanding."

Yu Lou picked up a chopstickful of greens and put it into his bowl without looking up: "Uncle, if Mother really misses me, she should send me a letter. I've been in Qingzhou City for over five months now, and she hasn't sent me a single letter, not even a verbal message!"

Du Zhiyuan placed a piece of pork rib on his plate and sighed, "Let's not talk about that. Now that you're at the county school, are you settling in well?"

“It’s a habit, a habit.” Yu Lou grinned. “Uncle, let me tell you, you used to praise Song Ce a ton of things, but I didn’t really appreciate it, I just thought he was a bit arrogant. Yesterday, after I went to Miaojin Pavilion with my classmates…”

Realizing he had said the wrong thing, Yu Lou quickly shut his mouth.

Du Zhiyuan: "..."

After giving a stern but not harsh reprimand, Du Zhiyuan continued, "Lou'er, what do you think of Song Ce? Is it inappropriate?"

"No, that's not true." Yu Lou glanced at Du Zhiyuan cautiously and whispered, "Uncle, we just went to listen to some music and had a couple of drinks yesterday. It's perfectly clean inside."

Du Zhiyuan thought to himself, "Whether it's clean inside or not, I know better than you."

"After yesterday, I realized that Brother Song is truly magnanimous. Brother Chen mocked him so much, but he acted as if nothing had happened. Brother Zhao only gave Brother Song half a bowl of rice wine when he was still poor, and he still remembers it now! It has truly broadened my horizons. And that Miss Bishuang, she is so beautiful and charming, but Brother Song was unmoved and said that he had someone he loved. Such behavior is truly that of a virtuous gentleman!"

Du Zhiyuan took a sip of tea and casually asked, "Oh? Is that so?"

Yu Lou nodded hurriedly, becoming more and more enthusiastic as he spoke. He then put down his chopsticks and continued, "Uncle, Brother Song once declared that he would never take another woman in his life. Such devotion truly earns my admiration."

Du Zhiyuan nodded. After hesitating for a moment, Yu Lou asked in a low voice, "Uncle, there is something I don't understand. Please enlighten me."

"you say."

With no one else in the halls, and given Yu Lou's close relationship with his uncle, he simply asked directly, "Uncle, would you be interested in having Brother Song as your son-in-law?"

Du Zhiyuan was taken aback, put down his chopsticks, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Yu Lou chuckled: "The day before yesterday, I went to Xue Xue's house to return that rare collection of poems, and I accidentally overheard his conversation with his wife."

Du Zhiyuan lowered his eyes slightly, looked at Yu Lou for a long time, and sighed softly: "That is indeed the intention."

Upon hearing this, Yu Lou stared blankly at his uncle's graying hair, thinking, "Parents who love their children will surely plan far ahead for them. That's good. Song Ce seems like a reliable man; my cousin's future will surely be bright. My aunt passed away early, and it was my uncle who raised my cousin from childhood; the hardships they endured are unspeakable." He said softly, "Uncle, rest assured, I will definitely help my cousin a lot in the future and will never let that scholar bully her."

Du Zhiyuan nodded slightly and smiled, "Then I thank you on behalf of Wan'er."

After leaving the county government office, Yu Lou felt as if he carried out some kind of mission, and he paid even closer attention to Song Ce's words and actions at the county school in order to observe him. But that's a story for another time.

Half a month passed uneventfully. Song Ce discovered that the scene where his senior Xue Ziyi and County Magistrate Du Zhiyuan were supposed to invite him to their residence for dinner was missing. May 20th was no different from any other day. He waited all night until dawn.

Song Ce did not go out today. He went through all of the original owner's memories in his room several times, so thoroughly that he knew every detail by heart.

When the mission progress diverged from the original owner's memories, Song Ce decisively called out the 702 system in his mind.

The voice of System 702 changed to a sunny and lively youthful tone, and it asked, "Questioner, what are you doing?"

Song Ce replied, somewhat puzzled, "I... am on a mission?"

“Yes.” The voice of System 702 said leisurely, “Your mission is to achieve an ending completely different from that of Soul 796’s past life. Every time you make a change or decision, the course of the mission becomes uncontrollable. Therefore, you can only use Soul 796’s memories as a reference. Do you understand?”

After finishing speaking about System 702, he left, leaving Song Ce sitting in the chair in a daze for a long time.

Time flew by at the county school, and before we knew it, it was early July, with the provincial examinations in August fast approaching. At this time, scholars would all set off for Jinling City to prepare for the provincial examinations and focus on their studies there.

After class, senior student Xue Ziyi called Song Ce into the study, stroked his beard and smiled, "Song Ce, are you confident about this provincial examination?"

Song Ce was slightly taken aback, then bowed and said, "This student dares not make a rash promise, but is willing to give it a try."

Xue Ziyi nodded, then took out a heavy purse from his pocket and said, "You have always been diligent in your studies, which your teachers have all noticed. Things are expensive in Jinling, and it is not easy to live here. Here is fifty taels of silver, please take it."

Before Song Ce could refuse, Xue Ziyi continued, "Don't refuse. Just assume you're borrowing them from me. With these, you can concentrate on your studies and won't have to worry about worldly matters."

Song Ce's reaction indeed pleased Xue Ziyi greatly. He accepted the purse with both hands, bowed and thanked him, saying, "Senior, your kindness is appreciated, and I will not refuse."

Xue Ziyi glanced at the screen a few times, while Song Ce pretended not to know anything, bowed again, and left the room.

After watching Song Ce walk away, Xue Ziyi went behind the screen. At this moment, Du Zhiyuan was sitting upright in a chair, slowly sipping a cup of tea.

Xue Ziyi sat opposite Du Zhiyuan, poured himself a cup of tea, and sighed, "Brother Zeyi, this boy is indeed destined for greatness. Why didn't you settle down with Wan'er when he was still in humble circumstances?"

Du Zhiyuan shook his head and said worriedly, "I don't know why, but for the past month I've been having the same dream. I dream that after I married Wan'er to this man, Wan'er and I died at home. It was so tragic. The dream was very real. I think it's a warning from heaven. I have to think about it carefully."

Xue Ziyi was taken aback: "Is that so?"

Du Zhiyuan nodded with a stern face.

Another thing that made Du Zhiyuan hesitate was that he felt it was a dream, yet it didn't seem like a dream. The reason was simple: the dream was too real. It was so real that as soon as he closed his eyes, all the long and complicated events in the dream were still vivid in his mind: the scene of Wan'er's marriage; the appearance of her daughter Chan'er; Song Ce's face after he achieved fame and success; and even the details of how he and Wan'er were murdered.

He had the same dream for a whole month and a half.

Thinking this, Du Zhiyuan became increasingly tense. He deliberately avoided the day of Wan'er's engagement to Song Ce. He wanted to see if the subsequent developments would be as he had dreamed, or if he was just being paranoid.

Seeing Xue Ziyi's concerned face, Du Zhiyuan's mood gradually calmed down. He smiled and said, "It's just a dream, it doesn't count. We'll see when the time comes."

Xue Ziyi nodded in agreement.

After leaving the county school, Song Ce first went home to say goodbye to Granny Zhao, packed a few clothes, and then rented an oxcart to return to Chenjia Village.

Fang was sitting at the door with Zhou Yunhui, picking vegetables, when she unexpectedly saw her eldest son carrying a bundle and walking home. She quickly went to greet him, looked Song Ce up and down, and said happily, "Ce'er, why are you home?" Zhou Yunhui had already run into Song Ce's arms, calling him "brother" repeatedly.

Song Ce patted the little girl's head in his arms and said with a smile, "Mother, I'm going to take the provincial examination in Jinling soon. I was thinking of going home to tell you and Uncle Zhou."

Upon hearing this, Fang felt both joy and worry.

She was happy that her son was successful, and that he was still an unmarried young man who was much better at studying than his unfortunate scholar father. She was worried because Jinling City was far from Chenjia Village, and he was all alone. How could his mother not worry?

Fang held Song Ce's hand, her heart aching. "My son, you're in the county school, why don't you find some classmates to travel with? You've never been far from home since you were little, and I'm worried about you..."

“Mother.” Song Ce patted Fang’s hand and comforted her, “Most of the students in the county school go alone. Everyone has different schedules. I’m one of the earlier ones. I thought that if I went a day earlier, I could get used to the environment in Jinling and focus on the exam.”

Fang nodded, and Zhou Yunhui obediently slid off Song Ce. Meanwhile, Zhou the carpenter, having heard the news, hurriedly returned home.

When does the eldest brother plan to set off?

Song Ce sat in the main room, while Fang Shi and Zhou Yunhui went inside to prepare some dry food and water for Song Ce to use on the road. Looking at the man in front of him who was already showing signs of aging, Song Ce said softly, "Let's go today, as soon as possible, so we can be more at ease."

"Good, good." After saying "good" twice, Zhou the carpenter rubbed his hands together and then took out a bag of silver from his pocket.

“Brother, people say that a poor family should be frugal on the road. Here is twenty taels of silver, which our family has scraped together for you. Don’t be stingy on your journey. If you run out of money, send someone home to let us know as soon as possible.”

“Uncle Zhou, you don’t need that much!” Song Ce took it and said, “The head of the county school lent me fifty taels of silver, which is enough for the journey.” He then took out a third of the silver and handed it over, saying, “I’m just a scholar, I’m only going to take the exam, how much can I spend? You shouldn’t be too frugal at home.”

Carpenter Zhou hurriedly stood up and said, "Brother, what are you doing? Your exam is the most important thing. Listen to your uncle, take this money. Even if you can't spend it all, just bring it back later." As he spoke, he stuffed the bag of silver into Song Ce's hands and rushed into the house, as if afraid that he would return it.

A note from the author:

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Thank you for your support. The wind was really fierce today! [crying emoji]