Chapter 16016 The Crime of Deceiving the Emperor

After casually sending away the busybodies, the three sisters arrived at their new home and found the gate wide open. Yuan Ping was standing next to the chicken coop with a brick in his hand.

Du Wuya was secretly alert: "Why are you here?"

Could it be that Yuanping regrets using the house as collateral for his debt and wants to take the house back?

Yuan Ping came back from visiting the next village. As soon as he arrived at the village entrance, his cousin told him what had happened at home. Everything made him anxious and angry. He wanted to beat the stupid woman Zhu and Yuan Sheng who acted on his own to death.

However, the most urgent task at the moment is to get back the private money hidden in the chicken coop without anyone noticing.

While Du Qingtang was moving things back to the old house, he opened the door with his key, pulled out the brick, and was relieved to see that the private money was still there.

Yuan Ping had just put his purse into his sleeve when Du Qingtang arrived.

He panicked for a moment, then tried to calm himself down. He stuffed the brick back in as if nothing had happened, explaining in a way that only made it more obvious: "I don't know what happened, but this brick in the chicken coop fell off, and I'm putting it back in."

Du Wuya and Du Baya felt relieved, as long as they didn't have to go back to their house.

As expected, Yuan Ping angrily said, "I advise you to return the money and the house as well as the money immediately. Otherwise, I will make you pay for it!"

Du Qingtang didn't tolerate him and took out the deed and IOU: "The village chief is in charge, and the whole village is witnessing. My name, Du Qingtang, is written in black and white. What does it have to do with you, Yuan Ping?"

Yuan Ping relied on his illiteracy and deliberately played tricks: "I don't care, that silver was given to me by your mother, it belongs to the Yuan family..."

Du Qingtang: "In that case, why not ask the village chief to come over and judge who is right and who is wrong?"

Yuan Ping felt a lump in his throat because he did nothing all day and Fang Honghai looked down on him. If Fang Honghai came over, he didn't know how he would scold him.

"Oh right." Du Qingtang looked towards the chicken coop. "When I walked in just now, I saw you acting suspiciously. Could it be that you're hiding something shameful here?"

Yuan Ping's pupils contracted and he flatly denied it: "I didn't!"

Du Qingtang: "Silver?"

Yuanping: "No!"

Du Qingtang: "Oh, so it's private money."

Yuan Ping was anxious: "I said it wasn't true, why are you talking nonsense?"

If that shrew Zhu knew that he hid his own money and secretly helped Widow Liu, Widow Zhang and Widow Hu, she would probably skin him alive.

Du Qingtang saw a figure appear in front of her eyes and shouted loudly, "Aunt, my uncle is hiding some private money. Last time I saw him walking with Aunt Liu, Aunt Zhang, and Aunt Hu."

"Good for you Yuanping! Didn't you say that T had broken up with them a long time ago?"

After being treated by Doctor Sun, Zhu soon regained consciousness.

After waking up, she found herself back in the dilapidated old house. She couldn't accept this fact and rushed out the door like a gust of wind.

She wanted to find Yuanshi and ask her to find a way to get the house and money back.

Oh, and there’s an IOU.

The IOU must also be destroyed.

Yuan Sheng knew what Zhu was going to do and did not stop her.

The old house was dilapidated and he felt like it was full of fleas. His skin felt sticky, as if countless bugs were crawling on it, making him extremely nauseous.

Let Zhu lead the charge, it would be great if he could get everything back, but failure would not have much impact on him.

Yuan Sheng looked at the bookcase and said, "I've been on leave for a long time. It's time to go back to class."

It doesn't matter if he loses to Du Qingtang now. When he passes the imperial examination and becomes an official in the court, all those who used to ridicule and mock him will crawl at his feet.

As for Du Qingtang, she bribed Doctor Sun today and fooled everyone. Can she bribe the examiner and the prosecutor tomorrow?

Even if there was no need to remove all clothes during the body search, and even if Du Qingtang could hide the truth, he would still submit an anonymous letter of accusation on the eve of the county exam.

Disguising as a man to take the imperial examination is a crime of deceiving the emperor, and what awaits her is certain death in prison.

As for what Du Qingtang had said, that if she went to jail, she would drag the Yuan family down with her...

How could his good aunt possibly tell Du Qingtang's secret to her family since she didn't even tell her eight daughters?

Yuan Sheng smiled slowly.

Du Qingtang had harmed him to this point, and only a tragic death could relieve the hatred in his heart.

......

However, Du Qingtang brought up the affair between Yuan Ping and the widow. Zhu was furious and used the Nine Yin White Bone Claw to scratch Yuan Ping's face until it was covered in blood.

Yuan Ping screamed in pain and started fighting with Zhu, ignoring the presence of Du Qingtang and the other two.

Du Qingtang didn't want to see them fighting each other: "If you want to fight, go out and fight. If you bother me again, I will go to the village chief to seek justice."

Yuan Ping and Zhu were still afraid of Fang Honghai, the respected old village chief, and ran away in disgrace, not even remembering the house deed and the IOU.

"You damned Yuan Ping, I'll skin you alive when I get home..."

Zhu's vulgar insults faded away, and Du Qingtang finally had time to carefully look at the brick house built with money from the Du family.

The brick and tile house faces south. Opposite the courtyard gate is the main hall, and on both sides of the main hall are the east room and the west room.

Next to the east room is the kitchen, and to the south of the kitchen is the slightly larger southeast room, which has a long kang and two cabinets.

Du Qingtang decided, "Fifth and sixth sisters will live in the east room, seventh and eighth sisters will live in the west room, and eldest sister and the others will live in the southeast room when they return."

Du Wuya: "What about you?"

Du Qingtang pointed to the southwest room, which was about the same size as the southeast room, but had a long table and a simple bookshelf. "I'll live in this room."

Du Liuya thought it was not possible: "This room is too small, it is better to live in the east..."

Du Qingtang said in a tone that brooked no argument: "Put the clothes inside, we have to move the rest here quickly."

The two girls couldn't persuade the youngest one, so they had to do as she asked.

On the way, I met Du Qiya and Du Baya. Du Qiya looked unhappy and said, "Mother heard that my aunt had vomited blood and fainted, so she cut a large piece of bacon and left."

"Let her be."

Du Qingtang used to want to pry open Yuan's brain and clear out the water inside, but now he is too lazy to care about her.

Even if Yuan Shi made her unhappy, she would only punish her by not allowing her to eat.

Back in the mud house, Du Qingtang sat at the table and sorted out his books.

She didn't have many books. Except for "Shuowen Jiezi", she borrowed all the other books from her classmates and copied them word for word.

I copied books during the day and at night.

Buying lamp oil requires money, but the Du family has no money.

At that time, Du Qingtang was a good child who understood his mother's difficulties. He was reluctant to light a lamp at night, but sat outside the house, copying books in the dim moonlight, and he would copy for two hours at a time.

Du Qingtang opened the "Thousand Character Classic" and stroked the still childish handwriting with his fingertips, his eyes flickering.

Unfortunately, her filial piety was not rewarded, but instead she was pushed to a dead end by Yuanshi and her so-called relatives.

Not again.

She will no longer let herself be wronged, and only let others suffer.

Du Qingtang put the books in order, pried open the third brick in front of the kang, took out the silver reward from the academy, and put it together with the more than 1,200 taels he had just earned.

Du Qingtang hid the banknotes close to his body, and reunited with Du Wuya and Du Liuya with his books and academy uniform.

"Do you think my uncle really has some hidden money?"

"My aunt is so angry, it must be true."

Du Qingtang didn't say anything, nor did she mention that she had received a huge sum of money not long ago.

This is her confidence, and she doesn't trust anyone.

......

Du Qingtang and the four girls settled down before dark, cleaned the house inside and out, and changed the lock to prevent the Yuan family from breaking in again.

When everything was done, I was too tired to get up. I lay on the kang and didn't want to move a finger.

Du Baya's voice was muffled: "Mom really isn't coming?"

"I guess Mom is still busy serving my aunt." Du Qiya touched her flat belly, "Let's just grab a bite to eat and go to bed."

“That makes sense!”

Following Du Qingtang's suggestion, the leftover vegetable cakes and braised food from yesterday were stewed in a pot, and two handfuls of green vegetables were added. It had soup, noodles and meat, perfect!

The four girls ate until their bellies were full, and after washing the pots and dishes, they went to bed.

Du Qingtang returned to the southwest room. After washing up, he did not lie down immediately. Instead, he spread out the rice paper and wrote the five words "daily plan".

There is no order without rules. As classes at Qingyuan Academy are about to begin, she needs to make a schedule from morning to night, down to each hour, to alert herself and restrain herself.

The academy provides free accommodation for students. Students must get up at 1 a.m. and go out to memorize their lessons. During this time, they must not disturb their roommates.

After memorizing the book, I started morning exercises, which included but were not limited to jogging, radio gymnastics, push-ups, and sit-ups.

After morning exercise, I went to the college cafeteria to eat and then started class.

After class, I returned to the dormitory and continued reading and doing exercises until the lights were turned off and I went to sleep at the end of the night.

In addition to daily plans, there are also monthly plans and yearly plans.

In addition to ensuring top rankings in the academy's monthly assessments, they also have to prepare for the county exam in February next year.

After Du Qingtang finished writing the annual plan, he took out a blank piece of rice paper and solemnly wrote the "County Examination Plan".

The night was long and silent. Du Qingtang was writing at her desk. Her shadow swayed with the candlelight, covering half of her body and guarding her silently.