Chapter 302 Jiaojiao Beats Someone Up (First Update)
What's wrong with me?
There have been times of restlessness before, but they were always quickly suppressed. This time, however…
This feeling of being out of control left Xiao Liulang feeling lost and even somewhat irritable.
Did he read so many classic texts, only to end up as a beast?
He shook his head, forcing himself to clear his mind of distracting thoughts.
The results, however, were not satisfactory.
It was as if the more he tried to suppress it, the more it surged like molten lava, burning his entire chest with intense heat.
Ultimately, having no other choice, he got up, went to the old well in the backyard, fetched a bucket of water, and took a thorough cold shower.
Gu Jiao, on the other hand, was much more carefree. She was genuinely flirting, and it was also true that she would fall asleep after flirting.
Someone fell asleep almost immediately upon touching the pillow.
However, she was destined to have a restless sleep.
She had another dream.
She dreamed of Xiao Liulang, who was an official in the Hanlin Academy.
Xiao Liulang came from a poor family and surpassed Prince An to become the top scholar in the imperial examination, which aroused the envy and jealousy of many people.
The Hanlin Academy was also under the control of Grand Tutor Zhuang, so one can imagine his situation there.
However, gold always shines. No matter how his colleagues suppressed and ostracized Xiao Liulang, Xiao Liulang's intelligence and talent still got a chance to shine.
However, it wasn't in the Hanlin Academy, but in the Ministry of Justice.
It turned out that a murder case had occurred in the Ministry of Justice. The murderer was captured by a passing Hanlin Academy official's subordinate and handed over to the Ministry of Justice. However, not long after, the murderer's family came to the Hanlin Academy and said that the Hanlin Academy had arrested the wrong person and that his father was not the murderer.
That was a nine-year-old child.
No one would believe a child's words, except for Xiao Liulang, who went to the Ministry of Justice and discovered that the child's father was indeed not the murderer.
Xiao Liulang helped the Ministry of Justice capture the real culprit and earned the high praise of the Minister of Justice.
At this point in the story, it seemed that Xiao Liulang's official career was truly on the rise and he had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel. But little did he know that on his way back from the Ministry of Justice, he was hit by a young Taoist nun who fell from a building.
He was knocked unconscious on the spot, and the young Taoist nun also fainted.
In broad daylight, a man and a woman were found lying unconscious on top of each other, and anyone who didn't know the situation would assume that something had happened to them.
At the time, Xiao Liulang was wearing the official robes of the Hanlin Academy, and the matter quickly spread.
Xiao Liulang's reputation was ruined, and his official career came to an end.
Gu Jiao woke up and sat on the edge of the bed, hugging the blanket, when she suddenly felt a toothache.
My husband is really having a really bad run of bad luck.
He's truly intelligent, and he's also truly unlucky.
Being hit by something in the street is about as likely as winning the lottery in my past life. How could this happen?
It would actually be easy to avoid it. She remembered that when Xiao Liulang left the Ministry of Justice, he was stopped and reprimanded by a Hanlin official surnamed Yang. If it weren't for this incident that delayed him, Xiao Liulang could have perfectly avoided that disaster.
Gu Jiao got up before dawn.
Xiao Liulang usually got up early, but never earlier than Gu Jiao. Today was an exception.
He fetched water from the backyard, first drawing it from the old well, then carrying buckets of it back to the kitchen and pouring it into the water vat.
Judging from his sweaty appearance, it's not hard to guess that he's been working for quite some time.
"Why so early? You didn't sleep last night, did you?" Gu Jiao asked curiously.
I have too much energy, so I have to do some physical work to burn it off, otherwise I'll get irritable and restless.
Of course, Xiao Liulang didn't say this.
He said seriously, "I went to sleep. It was a bit hot, so I got up early."
It was quite hot, especially since people in ancient times wore a lot of clothes.
Gu Jiao felt that the capital was hotter than the countryside. After taking a nap, her nightgown was soaked with sweat.
She fetched water, went back to her room, and took a shower.
Hearing the rushing water, Xiao Liulang felt his blood surging in his chest, realizing that he had wasted the whole morning.
Xiao Jingkong didn't go to school today. He practiced his kung fu in the backyard for a while, ate breakfast, and then went to play with Zhao Xiaobao next door.
Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun also took a ten-day holiday, and they slept in late at home.
Gu Jiao didn't tell Xiao Liulang what she saw in her dream, and went to the clinic as usual.
Xiao Liulang went to the Hanlin Academy.
As soon as he entered the main gate, he saw many Hanlin officials standing in the open space in front of the hall, discussing something in a heated atmosphere.
He was always averse to crowds and had no intention of joining them, so he went straight to his office.
But after taking only a couple of steps, he saw Ning Zhiyuan quietly waving at him from around the corner of the corridor.
After thinking it over, he decided to go there anyway.
Ning Zhiyuan pulled him to the other side of the corridor and whispered gossip, "Have you heard? Prince An did a great service this morning!"
"Oh," Xiao Liulang replied perfunctorily, showing no interest.
"Hiss—" Ning Zhiyuan gasped. "He's your rival, aren't you curious about what he did? You're the top scholar, he's the second-best. Logically, you should climb faster than him. If he's faster than you... well, it's normal for him to be faster than you. Who told you to be less successful than him in terms of family connections?"
This is the truth. Even if a student from a poor family works hard for ten or eight years, they may not be able to reach the starting line of others.
Some people are born to be their final destination.
But Ning Zhiyuan still wanted to say: "A murder case occurred on Beifang Street. The case was reported in the middle of the night, and the murderer was caught this morning."
"Was it captured by Prince An?" Xiao Liulang asked.
Ning Zhiyuan said, "That's right. He came to work and ran into his uncle, the Vice Minister of Justice, when he passed by the Ministry of Justice. The Vice Minister told him about the incident, and based on the bloodstains at the scene, he led his men and caught the real culprit in no time! He can't leave the Ministry of Justice right now, so he asked someone to ask for leave from the Hanlin Academy, saying he'll come back this afternoon. Can you believe how amazing he is?"
It's one thing to have a good background, but to be even more outstanding and hardworking than ordinary people is how ordinary people are supposed to live!
The entire Hanlin Academy was abuzz with news of Prince An solving the case. Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.
"You've arrested the wrong person! My father isn't the murderer! It wasn't him!"
It was a child's voice.
Xiao Liulang looked in the direction of the sound.
Ning Zhiyuan said, "Let's go take a look!"
He thought Xiao Liulang would refuse, after all, he was not the type to enjoy watching a spectacle.
To everyone's surprise, Xiao Liulang actually followed.
There was a commotion outside the door.
A child dressed in plain clothes, who looked to be less than ten years old, was thin and his clothes were disheveled. Perhaps because he had been running all the way, he was covered in sweat and had lost one of his shoes.
He tried to rush in, but was stopped by Kong Mu of the Hanlin Academy.
His eyes reddened, but he fought back tears: "Your Hanlin Academy arrested the wrong person! My father is not the murderer! He didn't kill anyone!"
He was just a child, and when he heard that a Hanlin official had helped solve the case, he assumed that his father had been arrested and brought to the Hanlin Academy.
He screamed desperately, but no one present believed him.
Kong Mu was getting impatient: "How would we know if your father is the murderer? If you want to make a scene, you should go to the Ministry of Justice. Our Hanlin Academy isn't a place for handling cases!"
"Where is the Ministry of Justice... I finally found the Hanlin Academy..." The child finally couldn't hold back and cried in despair. It was clear that he could no longer walk, and his feet were covered in blisters.
The murderer's child.
Not many people truly sympathize with him.
Just as he was crying uncontrollably, a tall and slender figure came to him: "I will take you to the Ministry of Justice."
His crying stopped abruptly. He raised his tearful eyes and looked incredulously at that handsome, otherworldly face: "R-really?"
Everyone looked at Xiao Liulang as if he were a fool.
Is he crazy to help the child of a murderer?
"I need to ask for leave," Xiao Liulang said to Kong Mu.
Kong Mu was so shocked by his behavior that he didn't utter a single word.
Xiao Liulang hired a carriage and took the child to the Ministry of Justice.
The child's narrative ability was fairly clear. From his account of Xiao Liulang, we learned that he had a stomachache in the middle of the night, and his father went out to fetch a doctor for him, but did not return all night. The next day, he heard that his father had been arrested as a murderer.
His mother had already fainted.
Xiao Liulang asked, "Is there anyone else at home?"
He shook his head: "No, sir. My father wouldn't kill anyone! He really wouldn't! You have to believe me!"
Xiao Liulang only believed in evidence.
If his father really was the murderer, then he needs to understand that the imperial court has not wronged anyone.
If his father wasn't, then the imperial court would also give his father justice.
Xiao Liulang took the man to the Ministry of Justice.
Upon seeing that the visitor was a Hanlin scholar, the guards from the Ministry of Justice were very polite. They led Xiao Liulang to a side hall, where Prince An was discussing the details of the case with his uncle, Minister Qin.
Because the murderer refused to confess, they had to find more evidence to bring him to justice.
"Lord Qin, someone from the Hanlin Academy has arrived," a guard reported from outside the door.
Minister Qin asked in confusion, "Why are people from the Hanlin Academy here?"
Prince An shook his head: "I don't know."
He was also confused.
"Come in," said Minister Qin.
Xiao Liulang led the child in.
"It's you?" Prince An frowned, his gaze falling on the child. "Who is he?"
“He is the suspect’s son, and he went to the Hanlin Academy,” Xiao Liulang said neither humbly nor arrogantly.
Minister Qin had heard a little about the newly appointed top scholar, and seeing him leaning on a cane, he could pretty much guess who he was.
Hmph, it was this kid who stole his nephew's top scholar title?
The child said, "My dad isn't the murderer! He didn't kill anyone!"
"Who gave you permission to bring him in? Get him out of here right now!" Minister Qin shouted sternly. Seeing that Xiao Liulang didn't move, he said coldly, "Guards!"
A guard came in and took the crying child out.
Xiao Liulang looked at Prince An.
He didn't say a word, but Prince An felt uneasy under his gaze. He sighed, "It was the middle of the night, and his appearance on the street was suspicious. When Wu Yang found him by following the bloodstains along the way, he was just about to bury the tools he used to commit the crime."
"My father didn't do anything suspicious! My stomach hurts! He went out to fetch a doctor for me! You're the suspicious ones! You're wronging an innocent person!"
From the hallway outside the door came the child's stubborn roar.
"May I go and take a look?" Xiao Liulang asked.
The Hanlin Academy is not supposed to interfere with the Ministry of Justice's affairs. Prince An was simply helping his uncle. However, since he has already intervened, it's not a big deal to let Xiao Liulang take a look.
The body was kept in the ice cellar of the Ministry of Justice.
Xiao Liulang first went to see the body, and then went to see the child's father.
"The child's father is a butcher."
Prince An said to Xiao Liulang.
It was as if it were telling Xiao Liulang that those who have killed many people seem to find it easier to kill others.
“You’ve arrested the wrong person. He’s not the murderer,” Xiao Liulang said.
Minister Qin was so angry he almost laughed: "You say it's not, so it's not?"
Xiao Liulang said, "The wound is on the lower right abdomen of the deceased, with the back of the knife on top and the blade on the bottom, and the tip of the knife slightly deviating from the left back. It is a slanted stab wound. It would not be easy to make such an angle with the right hand. The murderer held the knife with his left hand. His dominant hand is likely his left hand."
Prince An frowned: "You mean he's left-handed?"
Xiao Liulang nodded.
Prince An: "That butcher..."
Xiao Liulang: "I've tried it, he's not left-handed."
Prince An's expression turned serious.
Minister Qin scoffed, "What nonsense are you spouting? How could the Prince possibly arrest the wrong murderer?"
Qin Shilang was not usually so autocratic. He had too much confidence in Prince An and thought that anything sent by Prince An could not possibly be wrong.
"Are there any footprints at the scene?" Xiao Liulang asked.
“Yes.” Prince An handed Xiao Liulang the drawings the painter had made at the scene. “The footprints are darker on one side and lighter on the other, indicating an injury, and the suspect happens to have an injury on his leg as well…”
Looking at the blueprints, Xiao Liulang said, "This is not an injury, but a congenital limp. The footprints are messy and of varying depths, but they all follow a very regular pattern."
Prince An was speechless.
I wanted to ask how you knew, but when my gaze swept over his legs, I instantly understood.
There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, suggesting that the perpetrator was likely an acquaintance.
The other party was a man, about five feet tall.
At first, Vice Minister Qin did not believe it, but others did. Another Vice Minister, surnamed Ming, led his guards to find the murderer.
Based on the characteristics provided by Xiao Liulang, the murderer was apprehended without much effort.
The Vice Minister's eyes were practically crooked from laughing.
My goodness, this is like a gift from heaven! Who would have thought you could catch a fake murderer instead of a real one!
He patted Minister Qin on the shoulder and laughed, "Strike first doesn't always guarantee victory, right?"
Qin Shilang's lips were practically twitching.
When Vice Minister Ming went to curry favor with the Minister of Justice, he naturally didn't forget to bring Xiao Liulang along.
The Minister of Justice was surprised: "How do you know all this?"
Surely the Hanlin Academy wouldn't teach this?
Xiao Liulang paused for a moment and then said, "My elder brother used to be a coroner."
In order to support his mother and young Xiao Liulang, Xiao Dage gave up the opportunity to study and entered the lowly profession of coroner.
The Minister of Justice suddenly realized that he had heard a little about the background of this newly appointed top scholar. He had heard that he came from a poor family, but he did not expect that he had an older brother who was a coroner.
The Minister of Justice asked, "Your elder brother is now..."
Xiao Liulang said in a low voice, "He has passed away."
"ah……"
The Minister of Justice didn't have a good impression of the Hanlin Academy officials, probably because he himself hadn't entered the Hanlin Academy, so he was a bit like a sour grapes.
But he felt that Xiao Liulang was quite different from those Hanlin officials who considered themselves superior, and before he knew it, he had been chatting with Xiao Liulang all night.
It was noon when Xiao Liulang came out of the Ministry of Justice.
It was about the same time as Gu Jiao had predicted.
Meanwhile, news of Prince An arresting the wrong person had already reached the Hanlin Academy, and Yang Shidu rushed to the Ministry of Justice in a huff.
What's wrong with Xiao Liulang? Does he think he's so great just because he's a little clever? How dare he undermine Prince An? Does he even want to keep his job at the Hanlin Academy?
Why didn't he secretly offer advice to Prince An instead of publicly humiliating him?
Yang Shidu was furious!
The carriage was parked in a small alley near the Ministry of Justice.
As soon as Yang Shidu jumped off the carriage, someone stuffed a sack over his head!
The distance from the Ministry of Justice to the Hanlin Academy is not too far. The reason for hiring a carriage in the morning was that the child could not walk, and now Xiao Liulang plans to walk back.
He took a shortcut.
As he walked down that quiet alley, he had a feeling something was going to happen. He looked back, but saw nothing.
strangeness.
Suddenly, I had the illusion that I had survived a disaster.
In a stable near the Ministry of Justice, Yang Shidu was beaten with a sack over his head, howling in pain.
"Help—ow—"
"My life—ooh ooh ooh ooh—"
"Aww—"
You're bullying my husband, hehehe!
Gu Jiao's small fists rained down on him like snowflakes.
Yang Shidu was beaten so badly that he questioned the meaning of life.
It's hard to believe that someone could be murdered right outside the Ministry of Justice.
Gu Jiao was so engrossed in beating someone up that she didn't remember her real business for a while.
oops!
I forgot there was a little Taoist nun we needed to save!
It would be terrible if she fell to her death!
She didn't fall to her death in her dream because Xiao Liulang cushioned her fall. Now there's no one to cushion her fall!
"snort!"
Gu Jiao kicked Yang Shidu, grabbed her own little burlap sack, and quickly ran towards the alley where the little Taoist nun had fallen.
Unfortunately, she was too late.
The young Taoist nun has lost her footing and fallen from the third-floor window.
Gu Changqing had just come out of the military camp when he caught a glimpse of his younger sister acting suspiciously near the Ministry of Justice.
Curious about what the little girl was doing, he rode over.
They had only gone halfway when a loud crash came from above, and a small figure burst out of the window and fell down.
Gu Changqing's eyes flickered, and he leaped into the air, catching the other person mid-air and slowly landing back on his horse.
The young nun glanced at him in shock, then her eyes lit up: "...General Fu?"
His head lolled to the side, and he fainted!
—Tell me, did you write General Fu's name based on Gu Changqing's appearance?
Old Chief Priest: Cough! As long as I don't admit it, it doesn't exist!
Little Taoist nun: Today is a day I've actually met a real person! ^_^
(End of this chapter)
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