Chapter 19 (19) Investigation Results: Everyone Has Their Own Agenda
"What?" Lianzhi was startled, as if somewhat surprised. His face showed no trace of guilt or fear. Bai Kang stared at him for a moment and said, "You smell like someone else."
He sniffed again: "It doesn't smell like green grass, nor does it smell like soapberry."
What kind of dog nose is that? Can you really tell people by smell? Lianzhi was really annoyed. He suspected that Bai Kang couldn't smell anything at all and guessed that Arus had entered his room and was deliberately tricking him. Before he could refute, his arm started to hurt. He looked down at Bai Kang's hand tightly grasping his forearm, and his mind went blank for a moment.
"Let me go first and let me put on my clothes!" Lianzhi shouted.
Bo Kang finally let go and stared at Lian Zhi, who was only wearing a thin nightgown, and touched his chin. Lian Zhi felt uncomfortable under his gaze and randomly picked up some clothes to put on.
His hair was still dripping with water, soaking his clothes. The dampness stuck to his body, making his waist look even thinner. Unlike Lianzi and the others, Lianzhi had a round face, which was one of the similarities between him and Chen Fenglian. Chen Fenglian was used to a life of luxury, so of course she wouldn't be as skinny as a child from a poor family.
But he just has a round face, but not much flesh on his body.
Bai Kang's eyes darkened and he said, "You..."
Lianzhi's hand movements unconsciously slowed down.
"You're a little thin." Bai Kang's eyes hadn't left him. There was a hint of pity in them, but it was clearly the look of an older brother looking at a younger brother, without a trace of extraneous desire. He reached up again and pinched Lianzhi's waist twice.
"Go back and eat more. Don't be so picky. You haven't even reached adulthood yet, and you can still grow at this age." Bo Kang advised. "I heard from Qinghe that you think the food at the Imperial College is bad. When we get back home, I'll prepare something good for you. What do you want to eat?"
Lianzhi seized the opportunity and named several dishes in a row.
Bai Kang was startled, then patted him on the back again: "You want to eat something very delicate? No. You..."
He thought that Lianzhi, a little orphan from Liangzhou, must have never seen the world, and she wanted to eat a lot of things, such as shrimp and sea cucumber soup, pickled goose feet and duck stomach, which he must have heard about from somewhere.
"Let's cook whatever we want. I'll talk to the cook and have some supper prepared for you." After saying this, Bai Kang saw Lianzhi was taking his time getting dressed and tying his belt. He then stepped in to help him adjust it. "After you finish eating, go to bed early."
Lianzhi nodded. After Bo Kang left and closed the door, he collapsed onto the bed, feeling somewhat dejected.
It seemed that his previous plan to seduce Bai Kang was useless. He hadn't been wearing much clothing just now, standing in front of Bai Kang, but he acted as if he hadn't noticed him and clearly had no interest in him. His previous approach had been wrong.
Is there any other way to quickly gain Bai Kang's trust...
"Sir, what's it like inside?"
Qing He walked out from behind the door and looked around warily. Bo Kang said in a deep voice, "Let the guards search for the person. Someone did go in."
Having served as a guard in the palace for several years, he naturally knew how to sneak into a room without being noticed. His words were indeed meant to trick Lianzhi, but he hadn't expected the other party to remain calm and not reveal any flaws.
"besides."
After Bai Kang finished speaking, Qing He immediately pricked up her ears and listened attentively. Bai Kang said, "Ask the cook to make some old duck soup and send it in for him. Let him drink it all."
"Sir, you still want to prepare duck soup for him?" Qinghe was very puzzled. Sir Bai was obviously very suspicious of Lianzhi, but he still prepared duck soup for her. He didn't know why Sir Bai was so nice to someone who was suspected to be a spy.
"Why are you talking so much? Are you hungry too?" Bo Kang tapped him on the head. "If you are, go ask for a bowl of drink too."
He didn't dare to say anything more and left quickly. The old duck soup was indeed delicious, and Qinghe couldn't help but ask for a bowl.
After a few days, the lotus seemed to have calmed down.
He still occasionally went to talk to a few adults, especially Mr. He. Lianzhi seemed to admire him very much and often went to chat with Mr. He. At first, the adults thought he was just a vulgar young man, and his particularly ostentatious face made them dislike him even more.
But Lianzhi's sweet words pleased everyone. Within two days, several officials from the Imperial College had happily accepted him. They wouldn't say they loved him, but when they mentioned Lianzhi, they all referred to him as "that good kid."
"Master He, I heard that you once visited Liangzhou when you were young?" Lianzhi smiled and brought a cup of tea to Master He. "Tell me about Liangzhou in the past. Maybe I can still find my parents."
"Ah, I've almost forgotten everything that happened in the past." He Lao stroked his beard, "But I met a woman in Liangzhou City..."
That night, a report of the investigation results was delivered to Bai Kang's desk.
There were only two days left of the seven-day deadline, and they'd been incredibly busy lately. This morning, a subordinate reported that one of those students had already revealed that someone on their side was selling the exam answers. Besides them, several students from Longxi had also bought them.
But for some reason, those people did not use the answers, so they only caught these few.
That person was so mysterious, it was the students' servants who went off to ask for the subject. Bo Kang had a portrait painted, and it should be ready tonight.
"Xiao Yu?"
Bai Kang looked at the name he had never seen before and frowned. "Who is this person? I asked you to draw a portrait. What is this?"
"The people at the Imperial College have already confessed. It was this young man who was selling the Imperial College exam questions and answers for money. We've already sent people to investigate, and sure enough, we found accounts and banknotes in his home that showed transactions with several candidates."
"Bullshit!" Bo Kang slammed the report on the table, crossed his legs, and snorted coldly, "Xiao Yu? What official position does he hold? How could he have access to the answers to the exam questions and then sell them? This is pure nonsense! Where are the portraits from before? Where are the people around Mr. He?"
"We've already checked. Mr. He's side..." At this point, the subordinate paused for a moment, a little embarrassed, "Mr. He has nothing to do with this matter."
The room suddenly became quiet.
Bai Kang stared at the investigation report in his hand, reading it over and over again. He resisted the urge to tear up several sheets of paper and said in a deep voice, "There's no evidence at all?"
The subordinate knew what he meant and replied, "No more."
As soon as these words came out, Bo Kang waved his hand tiredly, letting him leave. Looking at the report in his hand, he picked up the pen and began to copy the words on it.
"Sir, have a cup of tea to moisten your throat." Qinghe came over with a teapot.
"It's the King of Longxi." Bai Kang took the teacup and drank it all.
The prefect of Liangzhou took orders from the King of Longxi.
Thinking of this, he sneered. Lianzhi had just met with the people over there the day before, and today she submitted a report full of loopholes. It was easy to figure out what was going on. He finished writing the report and said to Qinghe, "Have the guards deliver it to the palace tomorrow morning."
This matter should be settled.
But Bo Kang was still furious. He had found the evidence, but it was destroyed overnight. After Qing He left, he took the lamp and returned to his room.
Lianzhi was wrapped in a blanket, curled up in bed, motionless. I don't know if he was pretending to be asleep. The sound of the door opening didn't wake him up. It wasn't until Bai Kang sat on the edge of the bed that he woke up and rubbed his eyes: "You go to the couch."
He wouldn't give up his bed, he wanted to sleep in the big bed by himself.
There were no lights in the room; Bai Kang had extinguished the candle before entering. The room was gloomy, and Bai Kang's tired yet still bright eyes stared at him intently. After a moment, Bai Kang said, "Make way."
"It's too crowded." Lianzhi said.
Since seduction was useless, he didn't want to pretend anymore - although he didn't pretend much in the first place. Seeing that he didn't move, Bo Kang kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed sideways.
"Get down." Lianzhi whined, "You're wearing a coat, it's so dirty."
Bai Kang said nothing, closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost instantly. Lianzhi pushed him a few times, but when that didn't work, she patted his face twice.
Bai Kang was tall and strong, and he was trying to squeeze him! Forget it, he was magnanimous and forgave Bai Kang.
Thinking of this, Lianzhi curled up in the corner and soon went back to sleep.
The next morning, Bai Kang had already left.
Qing He said with great joy that they could return home today. She also casually mentioned that Lord He had family matters and needed to take leave to return home for a while. Lian Zhi was drinking porridge and only hummed when she heard this.
"The porridge is too bland," he commented. "Next time I'll put more dried shrimp and ham in it."
The results of the Imperial College exam were in, and the list was quickly posted. The examiners could finally return home and enjoy a two-day break. As Lianzhi walked out of the Imperial College gates, she gazed at the sun, feeling quite calm.
"Master, aren't you happy that you can go back?" Qinghe asked.
Lianzhi is so quiet, which is really unlike him.
"Why isn't Bo Kang here?" Lianzhi glanced at him and started to get angry again, "Why isn't he the one taking me back?"
Qinghe wanted to say that Bai Kang had gone to the palace to report on his work, but she knew that no matter what she said, Young Master Lianzhi would find a reason to lose his temper, so she shut up in disappointment.
Upon returning to the Shangshu Mansion, no one greeted them except the butler and a few others standing at the door. To the Shangshu Mansion's servants, Lianzhi wasn't considered a master, and they disliked her, so there was no need to greet her. The butler, wary of Lianzhi, didn't say much. Lianzhi didn't care at all and returned to her room, where she first requested a bowl of seafood soup from the kitchen.
He was very hungry and asked the kitchen to hurry up. Eunuch Wen came back soon, his face full of anger: "The kitchen staff said they are not available now and asked you to wait a little longer."
The kitchen staff were clearly looking at Lianzhi's displeasure! When had their young master ever been so destitute, even having to depend on others for a bowl of soup? Eunuch Wen was furious and wanted to go back and urge them to come, but Lianzhi stopped him and gave him a strange smile: "No hurry. Wait a little longer."
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