Chapter 14014 Returning a Favor
"mother!"
Although Yuan Sheng despised Yuan Ping and the Zhu family for their lack of achievements, he could not sever their blood ties. He also did not want to be accused of being cold-blooded and ruthless, which would make his already bad reputation even worse.
Seeing Zhu vomiting blood and fainting, he immediately rushed forward.
Du Qingtang watched coldly: "My humble abode is simple, so I won't keep you two here."
Yuan Sheng took a deep breath, not looking at Du Qingtang's annoying face, and helped Zhu leave.
Du Qingtang thanked Fang Honghai, but the old man waved his hand and said, "Don't stand here, go away."
The farce came to an end, and the villagers had nothing to watch, so they scattered like birds and beasts, and in the end only one person was left there.
"Sir." Du Qingtang stepped forward and bowed, "I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself."
That’s right, the person who came was Liu Tongsheng.
Liu Tongsheng twirled his beard and handed a stack of rice paper to Du Qingtang. "It's winter, and I'm bored, so I made a few questions. My kids have already done them, so they're just taking up space at home, so I might as well give them to you."
After just a few days of getting along, Du Qingtang was well aware of Liu Tongsheng's duplicity. He didn't expose Liu Tongsheng's words, but took the test paper with both hands and said, "Thank you, sir. I will complete it carefully."
Liu Tongsheng nodded in satisfaction and continued, "According to past practice, when new students first enter Qingyuan Academy, the instructor should test their memorization and dictation. Are you ready?"
Perhaps it was due to the teachings of the past few days that Du Qingtang relaxed in front of Liu Tongsheng for a rare moment: "What does it mean to be fully prepared?"
Liu Tongsheng was so choked that he blew his beard and glared, and said angrily: "How dare you, a boy from the Du family, tease me!"
"I know I was wrong, please don't blame me, sir." Du Qingtang said, "I've troubled you to make this trip today. Today is worse than tomorrow. Why don't you test the student right away to verify whether he is fully prepared."
Liu Tongsheng was quite straightforward and agreed without saying a word.
The kitchen was in chaos because of the previous chase, so Du Qingtang took Liu Tongsheng to her room.
The yellow mud house was small and cramped, with little space left except for the kang, table and low cabinet.
Du Qingtang invited Liu Tongsheng to sit down: "My humble abode is simple, please don't be offended, sir."
Liu Tongsheng smiled and said, "You used the same excuse to drive Yuan Sheng and his mother away before."
Du Qingtang: “…”
"Let's get started." Seeing that Du Qingtang was about to get angry, Liu Tongsheng decided to stop while he was ahead. "Let's start with the Four Books."
Before the admission examination, Du Qingtang recited the entire text while deeply interpreting the Four Books and Five Classics.
In the past few days, she recited the books every morning and had already memorized them by heart.
Du Qingtang stood respectfully with his hands hanging down, adjusted his breathing, and began to recite "The Great Learning".
"The way of the university is to manifest the bright virtue..."
She recited at an extremely fast speed, far beyond that of ordinary people, and finished the whole book in a short while.
Next is "The Doctrine of the Mean".
After memorizing the Four Books, students will memorize the Five Classics. After memorizing the Five Classics, they will be tested on their dictation.
Liu Tongsheng came up with the second half of the sentence, Du Qingtang filled in the first half, and vice versa.
After finishing, Du Qingtang's hand holding the pen had red marks on it, and Liu Tongsheng also pounded his lower back and said, "I'm old and my body can't take it anymore."
Du Qingtang thanked him repeatedly, went to the kitchen and packed up six large fish, passed straw ropes through the fish lips, and handed them to Liu Tongsheng: "Thank you for taking so much time to test me. These fish are freshly caught from the river, and they are alive and kicking. You can take them back and eat them with your family. You can braise them or make soup."
Liu Tongsheng declined, but in the end he was unable to convince Du Qingtang and accepted the "Shuxiu".
"If you study hard at Qingyuan Academy, you will definitely learn something. Even if you don't take the imperial examination, it will be enough to benefit you for the rest of your life."
"Yes, I will remember your teachings."
gentlemen.
Liu Tongsheng laughed and left the Du family with the fish.
......
After seeing Liu Tongsheng off, Du Qingtang went to find Yuanshi.
Yuanshi hasn't shown up yet, so she has to go and see if this person is causing trouble again.
However, before his left foot stepped over the threshold, Du Qiya hugged him.
Du Qiya was so happy that she shouted and jumped: "Ahhh, Tang brother, you are so amazing!"
The other three girls also grinned, their eyes shining, and they were even more excited than when they caught four buckets of fish.
"So we're going to live in a new house and don't have to eat wild vegetables every day?"
"It's so wonderful, it's like a dream."
"But even if you have money, you can't squander it carelessly. You still have a long life ahead of you, so it won't hurt to save some more."
"I understand the principle that money should be spent wisely, but the quilts at home are too worn, and Tang Ge'er's jacket has the lint coming out. It's not warm at all, so we need to replace it..."
Du Qingtang listened to Du Wuya's chatter, and the corner of her mouth raised in a curve that she didn't even notice.
All this is thanks to the jade pendant.
Because of it, Doctor Sun didn't realize that she was a woman.
This function provided an additional layer of security for her secret, further eliminating the possibility of villagers suspecting that she was a woman.
But Du Qingtang hopes that one day she can take off this jade pendant and walk proudly in the imperial examination arena or even in officialdom as a woman.
Du Baya thought more: "When mother wakes up and knows about this, she will definitely be angry."
"Then let her live with the Yuan family." Didn't the Yuan family always put Yuan Ping first? She decided to be a good person for once and reunite the Yuan siblings. "Wake up? What's wrong with her?"
Du Qiya quickly answered: "My aunt knocked me unconscious."
Du Qingtang: "...I'll go take a look."
When I entered the house, Yuanshi was lying flat on the kang. Apart from the bright red fingerprints on her face, her breathing was steady and her expression was peaceful, more like she was asleep.
"It's okay as long as you're not dead." Du Qingtang muttered.
The imperial court had clearly stipulated that one was not allowed to take the imperial examinations during the period of mourning. She intended to take part in the county examination next year, and she absolutely could not let her plans be disrupted because of a Yuanshi.
Du Baya was close by, and when she heard these four words, her heart was filled with shock.
She had been feeling that something was wrong for a while, but she couldn't put her finger on why. It was only now that she understood what the problem was.
Tang Ge'er was too calm, neither happy nor sad. He looked at his mother as if he was looking at an insignificant stranger, with a frightening indifference.
Du Baya: "Tang Ge'er..."
"I know what Eighth Sister wants to say." Du Qingtang interrupted her, "Give me a peach, and I will repay her with a plum. She treats me well, so I will return her kindness."
"Over the years, mother has become increasingly tactless, caring only about the Yuan family and completely disregarding our lives. Now that things have come to this, I will no longer tolerate it. Perhaps you will think I am heartless and that my methods are harsh, but I will not change."
Du Qiya shook her head like a rattle. "Tang'er is trying every possible way to get back the money that mother sent to her uncle's house. I'm so happy that I can't even blame you. Mother is really getting more and more outrageous. If we don't restrain her, one day she'll be sold and have to count the money for her."
The other three girls didn't say anything, but Du Qingtang knew they had heard him through their thoughtful eyes.
"Um......"
Du Qingtang looked in the direction of the voice and saw Yuan Shi slowly waking up. Seeing her standing in front of the kang, she grabbed her hand and said, "Tang'er, your aunt..."
When he found that there was someone else in the room, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue: "Where is your aunt?"
Du Qingtang: "Leave."
Yuanshi: "Gone?"
Du Qiya hid the thoughtful look in her eyes and said with a smile, "Aunt cursed Tang'er and even said in front of so many people in the village that Tang'er was a girl. In the end, Tang'er asked for back all the money you sent him over the years and broke off the engagement."
Du Liuya could tell that Qimei was doing this on purpose, and she suppressed her laughter with great difficulty: "My uncle's family didn't have that much money to pay off the debt, so they used their house as collateral for part of it. When we move to our new home, we won't have to sleep on the same kang anymore."
What my mother did in the past was even more infuriating than this, so I just consider it as a way to vent my anger for myself and my sisters.
When Yuan heard this, she immediately started to get angry: "This is the money I gave to your uncle. Who allowed you to ask for it back? Send the money back immediately. You are not allowed to take the house that was used to pay off the debt. Where will your uncle live if you move there? You actually broke off the relationship without my consent. This is unfilial and you will be struck by lightning!"
Du Qingtang has died so many times and experienced all kinds of death. If she had the chance, she really wanted to experience the feeling of being struck by lightning.
"I'm going out for a while, you guys pack up and move when I come back."
"Okay!"
"Tang'er! Tang'er, come back here!"
Du Qingtang turned a deaf ear to Yuan's shouts, went to the kitchen, took out a knife, put it behind his waist, and went straight to Yuan's house.
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