Chapter 38: Has the academy changed staff?

It's late at night.

The moon stepped on the treetops, like a fried dough ball on a wooden skewer.

Su Zhizhi, Xue Che and Kong Wu all fell asleep.

Inside Hao Ren's room, Old Man Qin lightened the lamp a little:

"That bastard Li Qiong, his men bully men and women in the countryside, and he himself has accepted bribes of at least 50,000 taels in the past two years."

"We also need to pay attention to his whereabouts. There might be something wrong with Biehe Villa in the suburbs."

Hao Ren dipped his slender fingers in water and wrote the word "salt" on the table.

Old Man Qin: "You suspect him of trafficking in illegal salt? Tell Governor Gu about this?"

Hao Ren tapped his fingers on the table slowly and calmly.

"Even if Governor Gu knew, he has no right to dismiss Li Qiong. Gather evidence first and don't alert the enemy. The imperial inspector has already arrived in Lingnan. Once the inspection reaches Xunzhou, he will expose Li Qiong's secrets."

In the candlelight, Hao Ren's temperament was gentle and reserved, but his jaw was outlined by the shadows, making it look as sharp as a knife.

Old Man Qin looked at Hao Ren for a while, his eyes narrowed into slits.

He couldn't figure out Hao Ren, nor did he know Hao Ren's background. He only knew that he used to be the son of a wealthy family in Chang'an, but his family suffered a disaster and he was exiled to this remote place, where he became a bandit with them.

At first they looked down on this literary man, but later they found that this man was more complicated than anyone else.

"I'm going to Biehe Villa tonight." Old man Qin picked up the wine-sweetened naan from his waist, took a sip of wine, and disappeared into the night.

Hao Ren blew out the lights but did not fall asleep.

He went to the kitchen to boil a pot of hot water for Yingniang to use when she came back in the evening.

The agile Wu Yingniang was lying on the roof of Li Changshi's mansion at this moment.

She visited Li's house tonight to find something to hold against Li Qiong.

Seeing that the light in the side yard was still on, Wu Yingniang carefully removed the tiles and looked at the situation inside the house through the gap.

Aunt Feng was wiping her tears and crying:

"My Shao'er has such a miserable life. She was born into a useless mother like me and was born out of wedlock. It's fine, but she is still the master's daughter after all.

But Shao'er was studying diligently at the academy, and he was robbed for no reason. How could I, as his mother, not feel heartbroken? "

The man next to her with a greasy face and a big belly was Li Qiong.

Aunt Feng saw Li Shao'er returning home yesterday. There were red marks on her neck and bruises on her face from falling.

She was so distressed that as soon as Li Qiong came back tonight, she was busy dragging people to complain to her.

Li Qiong hugged Aunt Feng into her arms and comforted her:

"Xiao Feng'er, the doctor said Shao'er is fine, just frightened. I'll have someone make you some new hairpins in a couple of days. Don't look so sad."

Aunt Feng wiped her tears and leaned against Li Qiong's chest tenderly:

"The master really loves us mother and daughter. Humph, I don't know which vicious-hearted kid released the snake in the academy. It would be better if this person and his entire family died."

Li Qiong wiped away Aunt Feng's tears with her fat thumb:

"If I catch him, I'll throw him into the firewood pile and burn him to vent my anger for Xiao Feng'er."

Li Qiong hugged the person and walked into the inner room...

Wu Yingniang closed the tiles, flashed, and landed on the roof of the study as light as a swallow.

She moved the tiles away and sneaked in from the roof...

The backyard of Li Mansion.

Li Zhangsheng tossed and turned in bed until late at night but couldn't fall asleep.

He opened the window and vaguely saw a black figure passing by in front of the full moon.

When I rubbed my eyes and looked again, there was nothing.

Maybe my thoughts were confused and I was dazzled.

It was late at night and there were two drumsticks beating in Li Zhangsheng's heart.

He remembered that he threw the snake into Xue Che's bookcase with his own hands, and it turned out that Li Shaoer was the one who got bitten.

Li Shaoer is really stupid. He wanted to frame someone but failed and ended up making such a big fuss.

Li Zhangsheng was glad that he did it secretly and no one knew about it.

Only Acai, who helped him catch snakes, knew about this, but he had already warned Acai that if he dared to tell anyone, he would be sold as a prostitute.

Thinking that Xue Che had escaped and was still safe, Li Zhangsheng felt unhappy.

He raised his hand and threw the pillow to the ground in annoyance.

"Master, are you still awake?" Acai, who was sleeping in the outer room, got up.

Li Zhangsheng: "I'm upset and can't sleep."

Ah Cai went around to the inner room, picked up the pillow on the floor, and said with a flattering smile:

"Master, are you still worried about that country boy from the academy?"

Li Zhangsheng glared at Acai but did not deny it.

Ah Cai walked to the bedside and lowered his voice:

"Master, if you tell me, this matter won't be so troublesome."

Li Zhangsheng sat up suspiciously: "If you have to fart, do it now and stop talking nonsense."

"I know a few brothers in the suburbs who are good at fighting. Even if the young master wants that boy's tongue, they can dig it out without dirtying the young master's hands. Even if something goes wrong, it has nothing to do with the young master."

Ah Cai smiled slyly, and changed his tone.

"It will only cost some money."

Li Zhangsheng swallowed his saliva and said, "I don't want Xue Che's tongue, I want his hand! Break his hand so that he can't write."

"Master, this is a simple matter."

Acai whispered a few words in Li Zhangsheng's ear.

In the moonlight and wind shadows, Li Zhangsheng's tense expression gradually relaxed, and malice spread in his eyes.

"Okay, let's do it."

…

After a short break, the students returned to the academy.

This was the first time Gu Qingning was looking forward to going to school.

My mother embroidered two very beautiful purses, one with lotus flowers and the other with colorful butterflies.

The purse was bulging with sesame candies.

Gu Qingning ran into Su Zhizhi when she got off the carriage:

“Zhizhi!”

Wu Yingniang held Su Zhizhi and Xue Che, one in each hand.

Su Zhizhi let go of Wu Yingniang's hand and ran towards Gu Qingning:

"Lime!"

The two little girls hugged each other, looking so happy as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"Zhizhi, my mother embroidered two purses, you can choose one." Gu Qingning held it in front of Su Zhizhi like presenting a treasure.

"Your mother embroiders beautifully."

Su Zhizhi took the colorful butterfly purse and smelled the aroma of sesame as soon as she opened it.

"Sesame smells good too, thanks Qing Ning."

The two children couldn't wait to have a bite. There were many people at the door, and some students were chasing each other and bumping into Su Zhizhi's hand.

The sesame candy in Su Zhizhi's hand fell to the ground.

Suddenly, a hand came from the side, and the palm just caught the sesame candy:

"Be careful."

Su Zhizhi and Gu Qingning looked in the direction of his hand and saw a strange face standing by the door.

The little doorman who was often seen before was gone.

Su Zhizhi looked at the new doorman. Although he was a stranger, she felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.

She took the candy, thanked him, and went in with Gu Qingning.

Wu Yingniang saw this scene and looked at the doorman twice.

There was a hint of understanding and relief in her eyes, and she lowered her head to straighten Xue Che's collar:

"A Che, just study in peace in the academy. No one will disturb you this time."

Xue Che thought Wu Yingniang was trying to comfort him, so he nodded.

"Don't worry, Aunt Ying."

Xue Che spoke less in the academy and spent more time observing, and sometimes he could notice some details that others disdained.

From the entrance to the student dormitory, and from the student dormitory to the Wen Dao Hall, he noticed that a lot of people seemed to have changed in the academy.

There are new faces in the concierge, cleaning and logistics staff.