Chapter 309: Crossing the River and Destroying the Bridge

Mrs. Lin couldn't help but walk forward a little further, standing on tiptoe to look again and again.

After a long while, she came back and said, "I heard Rong'er's name being called! It seems that someone has gone in."

Even so, no one left until daybreak, when everyone had gone in and the people who had sent the examinees away had left one after another. Only then did Madam Lin look at Tang Qingshan and say, "Well, shall we go back first?"

Tang Qingshan hummed, put the cloak back on his daughter, and patted her gently: "It's okay, go to sleep."

Xinbao originally wanted to say that she was not sleepy, but she got up too early and fell asleep in a daze after a while.

As a result, she dreamed of her big stone while she was sleeping:

"The brush fell to the ground, broke into two pieces, and then scattered. Someone exclaimed: "Hold the brush!"

Xinbao woke up immediately.

Her heart was pounding, and her first reaction was that someone had tampered with her second brother's pen.

But this sentence has no subject, and the picture on the stone shows that there is an open cheat sheet on the ground, and there are many people around who are panicking. Some people are breaking open a brush, and when they pull it open there is also a cheat sheet.

Xinbao hurriedly crawled under the bed. Yuru, who was sitting in front of the bed, was startled: "Xinbao? What happened? Did you fall asleep?"

Xinbao asked anxiously, "Who's home?"

"Who is Xinbao looking for?" Yu Ru said, "Your parents went out and said they were going to the blacksmith shop. Your fourth brother went to the Shen family."

Xinbao hesitated, then asked, "Where's Uncle Yuan?"

"The Marquis is at home," Yu Ru squatted down to put on her shoes, "Xin Bao wants to see the Marquis?"

"That's right," Xinbao murmured, "I want to find the Marquis. I have something urgent to do!"

Yu Ru didn't ask anything, put the cloak on her, and carried her to the study room in front.

As soon as he was put down on the ground, Xinbao spread his legs and ran inside.

This, this is God's will! ! The elder explained to her the significance of the imperial examination yesterday.

This matter is very serious. If it is really exposed, it will be a scandal. No matter Liang Ruoxu, the second brother, or the elder brother, they will definitely be implicated. Not to mention that Yan Shenjue and Tang Qingshan are not at home. Even if they are there, they cannot handle it. In the end, it still has to be told to the elder brother to handle it.

She rushed in, and the elder was startled by her: "Xinbaoer? What's wrong?"

Xinbao quickly walked around, climbed onto his chair, sat on the armrest, and cupped his ears with his little hands, "Uncle, there are strange brushes in the examination room. They look like ordinary brushes, but when you open them, they are full of rolled-up cheat sheets. There seem to be a lot of them!!"

The elder man's eyes flashed suddenly.

He asked, "How did you know?"

She said anxiously: "Xinbao can't say it, but Xinbao can't be wrong. Xinbao didn't miss it! You must believe me."

The elder looked at her deeply.

At that moment, his eyes were extremely sharp, shrewd and experienced, truly revealing the edge of an old fox in the court.

But then he withdrew his gaze and asked softly, "How many?"

“I don’t know, but it seems like there are a lot.”

"Do you remember what that pen looked like?"

"Remember."

"Do you remember who it was?"

"People..." Xinbao looked carefully and said, "I can only see one person's face clearly. No, two people's faces. One of them looks very frightened, and the other one... is the one who broke the brush. His expression is a bit weird."

The elder looked at her deeply again.

Xinbao knew that in front of such an old fox, every word she said would allow them to guess a lot.

But at the same time, only when they have enough information can they make the best response.

So she told him everything she knew.

She looked at him with her dark grape-like eyes without blinking, serious to the point of being almost solemn.

The elder asked two more questions and finally nodded: "Okay, uncle got it, thank you Xinbaoer."

He stood up, patted her on the back, and said in a gentle and slow voice: "Child, don't be afraid."

After a pause, he patted her again: "Don't be afraid, uncle knows what to do."

He immediately called Yu Ru in, holding Xin Bao, and then called a man named Zhang Ping in. He took them out, and soon bought the same brush as in his dream.

Zhang Ping bought a lot, and then Yu Ru came back holding Xin Bao.

Xinbao was in a state of nervousness, and it was not until a long time after he came back that he slowly relaxed, but he still had his eyes wide open in a daze.

She turned the whole thing over in her mind like a rumination.

She was thinking, the elder said twice not to be afraid, the first time, he should be telling her that he would solve this matter satisfactorily and it would not affect the second brother's imperial examination? Then the second time... should be telling her that he would not tell her secret to others.

If this happened before yesterday, she might have been very worried, but after talking about it yesterday, she suddenly wasn't so worried anymore.

She was willing to believe him and believe in the integrity of a gentleman.

There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!

Xinbao was in a daze for a long time, until a candied haws swayed in front of his eyes.

Xinbao blinked his eyes and followed the candied haws, as if it was being led by a small rope.

Madam Lin smiled and said, "From a distance I can see you are motionless, like a doll. What are you thinking about that makes you so absent-minded?"

Xinbao said sweetly: "I miss my mother. I want to buy candy for the most beautiful mother!"

Madam Lin couldn't help laughing: "Has my Xin Bao'er learned how to coax people?"

She gave her the candied haws and Xinbao started to eat them with a crunch.

I have to say that sweets are really the god of healing. Anyway, when Awu took a bite and put the sweet and sour taste into her mouth, Xinbao felt that all the "adult troubles" were cleared with one click. She couldn't help but give her parents a toothless silly smile.

Both her parents refused to eat any, so Xinbao finished the candied haws by herself, with candy all over her face. Madam Lin fetched some water, tied a small handkerchief under her neck, and washed her face several times while holding her head.

Then he dried her, put some ointment on her face, and rubbed it all over with his hands.

Xinbao's little face was warm. He opened his arms and rushed over, snuggling into A Niang's softness, feeling lazy all over.

After a long while, Daddy said, "Xinbao, what happened?"

Xinbao said "oh" and told his parents what happened. Madam Lin didn't quite understand what was going on, so she looked at Tang Qingshan.

Tang Qingshan said, "You mean, this could be... someone setting up a trap to target the Marquis or Liang Ruoxu? Or, someone figured out this trick and brought the transcript into the examination room to cheat?"

After Daddy's summary, Xinbao felt her mind became clearer. She tilted her head and thought for a while, then said seriously, "Maybe he wanted to harm Uncle, because that person didn't seem to know." She added, "The owner of the pen didn't seem to know!"

Tang Qingshan nodded and said nothing more.

It was not until after lunch that they went out and got on the carriage, preparing to go to the second floor of the booked restaurant to wait for the rafting.

After getting on the carriage, the elder handed them a brush.

Tang Qingshan took it and Xinbao also took a look at it.

This brush looks exactly the same as the one she bought. Even the weight is almost the same when held in the hand, and there is no visible joint on the tip. No matter how you look at it, it looks like an ordinary brush and the tip is usable.

Then the elder gestured to him: "Open it and see."

Tang Qingshan used both hands to pry it open, and saw that inside the thin layer of something similar to bamboo skin was a tightly rolled paper with extremely small handwriting on it.

The elder sneered and said, "This has been planned for a long time!!"

Xinbao asked, "What did uncle do then?"

The elder smiled and said, "Guess?"

Xinbao: “…”

Destroy the bridge after crossing it! Bad guy!!

(End of this chapter)