Chapter 180 Encountering Bandits
Hefeng Academy.
The students had all left after class, but Wan Ziyan sat in the classroom, repeatedly tidying up the books on the table.
"You want to put on a show?" Tao Ran stopped in front of Wan Ziyan and sighed softly. "Who are you worried about?"
Wan Ziyan couldn't stand how they were arranged, so he simply left them on the table, saying, "They're everywhere."
He worried about his father's illness, about Wan Qiqi's comfort, and about whether the bandit suppression would go smoothly.
News came from the county government that since Magistrate Fang's daughter was arrested, several bandits have been captured and taken up the mountain, all of whom are children of wealthy families.
If this is not controlled, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Tao Ran stared at him for a long time. "If you are so worried about these things, why didn't you take over the position of county magistrate in the first place?"
Wan Ziyan not only passed the provincial examination, but also won first place in the provincial examination, becoming the youngest Juren in Daxing in decades.
With his abilities, passing the provincial examination would be a piece of cake. If he passed and participated in the palace examination, he could become an official in the capital and benefit the people.
But this man deliberately missed the imperial examination, and even gave up the official position arranged by the Ministry of Personnel. He returned to the town with the seriously ill Master Wan and became a teacher at Hefeng Academy.
Wan Ziyan looked up at him, gave a wry smile, and said nothing.
He didn't regret his decision, but he felt that God was unfair and wondered why his father was treated this way.
I'm also glad I'm here, because that's how I met Wan Qiqi and reunited with my sister.
If there's any regret, it's that he let Bai Lingxuan down by failing the imperial examinations, causing her to wait for years and remain unmarried to this day.
He sighed, "It's all in the past, no need to talk about it anymore."
Tao Ran glared at Wan Ziyan with a look of disappointment, "If I could pass the exam, I would definitely take it!"
Despite saying this, he couldn't let go of the academy in his heart, so much so that he hadn't participated in the exams in recent years.
But Wan Ziyan disagreed.
Master Wan's days are numbered. After the New Year, Wan Ziyan can still register for the imperial examination. Even if he fails the palace examination, he can still become a local official, which is better than just watching and doing nothing.
Cao, the advisor beside Fang Ziming, was a classmate of Wan Ziyan. Although he was not an official appointed by the court, he still held considerable influence in the county government.
Tao Ran stared at Wan Ziyan for a while and then advised, "Even if you don't think it's for your own sake, think of it as your sister's sake and give it a shot. She's begging for help everywhere because her family has no power to rely on. If you had an official position, no one would look down on her."
"Brother Tao, you don't need to provoke me with Qiqi." Wan Ziyan straightened his sleeves. "I'm going back now!"
After saying that, he turned and walked out.
Tao Ran watched his departing figure, sighed, and bent down to tidy the table.
There was a piece of paper pressed down inside the book, which was clearly different from the paper in the book.
Take out the paper, and a portrait of a gentle woman appears before your eyes.
He suddenly smiled, shook his head, and looked somewhat helpless.
A biting wind howled outside the window, and snowflakes pattered against the fallen leaves.
The snow fell without warning, leaving Wan Qiqi and Wu Gousheng nowhere to hide as they hurried along their journey.
The snow came earlier than expected, but it didn't seem like it would snow for several days in a row. After a while, it turned into a light rain.
They can continue moving forward when it snows, but they have to stop and take shelter under the trees when it rains.
Wan Qiqi bought an oil-paper umbrella from the mall, opened it, and had Wu Gousheng hold it up.
Although Wu Gousheng didn't know when Wan Qiqi had prepared the umbrella, he felt that with her intelligence, she should have prepared it long ago, so he didn't ask any further questions.
But as the rain intensified, he frowned.
He disliked rain because it always reminded him of the plague and the countless deaths in the village.
"I don't know how long this rain will last, and it'll be too late to get back!"
This was the first time Wu Gousheng had been away from home for so long since he was a child. He couldn't help but wonder if his parents would worry about him.
After thinking about it for a while, he decided against it!
Because they have a younger brother, they no longer care about them!
Wan Qiqi could hear a hint of sadness in his tone. She looked up at Wu Gousheng, whose youthful face was filled with unhappiness, just like a child throwing a tantrum at home.
Missing home?
"No way!" Wu Gousheng denied it outright, then asked, "Sis, am I really that bad?"
Wan Qiqi was taken aback, seemingly not expecting a child to ask such a question.
She smiled gently. "What do you think a bad person is?"
Wu Gousheng thought carefully and replied, "Like the bandits of Lianshan, burning, killing, looting, and committing all sorts of evil deeds!" He gritted his teeth as he said this.
He had lived for seventeen years and had never eaten meat with every meal. However, the scene from that night seemed to be etched in his mind, making him feel nauseous at the smell of meat. It was truly distressing.
Wan Qiqi nodded. "Have you ever done it?"
"How could that be? If I hit someone, I'd get scolded when I got home. If I did that, wouldn't my parents beat me to death?" Wu Gousheng was straightforward and spoke his mind without any concealment.
Then he suddenly realized that he hadn't done anything wrong; he just liked to stand out and let his parents see him.
When the village was plagued, he only wanted to help the villagers and prevent those around him from getting infected, so he led people to stop people from entering the village. He thought his parents might praise him for doing so, but he ended up getting a scolding from Chen Lizheng.
He didn't want things to turn out that way, but it just happened by accident!
In Wan Qiqi's eyes, Wu Gousheng was just an immature child, a child who desperately wanted to show off and let his parents see his strengths. He hadn't done anything immoral.
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